ISU Comparative Essay Destruction is generally defined as the action or process of causing so much damage to something that it can no longer be repaired. In The Englishman’s Boy and The Sisters Brothers, destruction is prominent in both novels through Shorty McAdoo and the Sisters brothers and the people that surround them. However, destruction can also be the result of an action, such as betrayal, which occurs often in these novels. The characters of these novels commit many acts of betrayal that also tie into the destruction that follows. Therefore, in The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe and The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt, betrayal leads to destruction through individuals and those around them. First off, The Englishman’s Boy …show more content…
is full of destruction and betrayal simply due to the mass amount of death and heartbreak. The idea that betrayal leads to destruction is shown when Shorty McAdoo was a young boy. He betrays the group of hunters he was traveling with when he says he raped the little native girl like the others had and “curses” those who “mix [their] seed with [his]” (Vanderhaeghe 306). In reality, McAdoo didn't actually rape the little girl and only tries to scare off the savages from doing so. Although this strategy does work, the hunters felt very betrayed by this, since they had done so much for McAdoo such saving him from being hung or jailed for killing a man. Not only was something that the hunters enjoyed so much, ruined, but the trust they had for McAdoo was betrayed. This resulted in the little girl being burned to death as she was left in the cabin the hunters lit on fire. Proven destruction of that of a little girl through the actions of a boy, this is not the only individual to inflict destruction by betrayal. Charlie of The Sisters Brothers, betrays his younger brother, Eli, and causes him personal destruction. Charlie does this by having a sexual encounter with a girl Eli has a crush on. Eli puts himself through hell going on a diet for this girl and at one point begins “wishing, frankly, to lick [the food from a plate]” (DeWitt 84) all because of how hungry he is. This destruction occurs through Eli losing all will to take further care of his body and health as soon as charlie reveals to him that he paid the girl, Sally, a small price for sextual acts. Eli soon began to eat his problems away once the truth of this girl, who he tried so hard to impress, had done such a terrible act. Individuals inflicting betrayal is present in both The Englishman's Boy and The Sisters Brothers. Shorty McAdoo has shown that betraying his group leads to the death of an innocent girl. Charlie showed that betraying his brother and having sexual acts with a girl proved to destroy his emotions ending his healthy behaviour. Individuals have clearly shown that betrayal leads to destruction, but the people around these individuals also prove this point In The Englishman's boy, those who come in contact with Shorty McAdoo also prove that destruction leads to betrayal. An example of this is when Harry Vincent and Chance change the story of McAdoo’s past for their film. The story McAdoo tells Harry, was of a very difficult point in his life and took a lot of effort for him to share it. Harry went as far as earning the trust and friendship of McAdoo for this information. However, Chance was not entirely impressed with the story, so he decided to change the character of the little girl to make the film more interesting. As soon as McAdoo found out that Chance “ain’t going to do right by her” (Vanderhaeghe 278) he decided to visit him every day to try to talk with him in order to get him to remove the little girl from the film entirely. After constantly being denied the ability to talk with Chance, McAdoo and his follower Wylie confronted him right after the premiere of the film. This confrontation resulted in a physical dispute that lead to Chance and his guard/assistant, Fitz, dead, Wylie in jail who later hanged himself and McAdoo who escapes custody and remains on the run. Totally destruction of people who come in contact with Shorty McAdoo all due to one act of betrayal. Many people around the Sisters in The Sisters Brothers often betray them or experience it themselves, which results in their own destruction.
Firstly, the little boy the Sisters meet on their way to California, is betrayed by his family. The boy was completely abandoned when his uncle Tom, his friend and his friends wife died. Leaving his dad, uncle Jimmy and him until Jimmy stole the money leaving the just the two of them. His father left to look for california, but never returned, clearly showing betrayal as his entire family has left him. The destruction that follows this is total emotional destruction as the kid “being so engrossed with his own sadness” (Vanderhaeghe 112) bursts into a cry. An example of when the sisters are betrayed is when one of Mayfield's men frame the brothers for stealing the red bear fur. The Sisters brought the bear fur to Mayfield for a large price and had been celebrating this event with Mr. Mayfield. The Sisters, especially Charlie had set a strong friendship with Mayfield until the trapper broke this trust by framing them for stealing the fur. Not only did this act of betrayal destroy the friendship between the brothers and Mayfield but also resulted in the death of all of his men, including the trapper that framed them, and the death of mayfield and loss of everything he owned. Another way the Sisters brother are betrayed is by their boss. The Commodore, lies to them about Hermann Warm being a guilty thief and assigns them the task of murdering him. The brother eventually figure out that Warm was an innocent man and the Commodore only wanted him for his chemical that reveals gold in water. The brothers then planned for revenge, which resulted in the death and destruction of the
Commodore. The novels The Englishman’s Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe and The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt have proven that betrayal leads to destruction through individuals and those around them. Individuals such as Shorty McAdoo and the Sisters brothers act with dishonesty and betrayal causing destruction in ways of death or emotional breakdowns. In addition, the people around these individuals also express or experience dishonest behaviour that leads to destruction. Whether it’s physically or emotionally, destruction causes immense damage to the point where it can no longer be fixed.
The love they shared will save them. The “boys” faced their troubles on a simple level. They avoided the complications of adult views and judgments. Karl had read the Bible and believed he knew the difference between right and wrong, but was faced with the problem of protecting Frank from a painful future with Doyle. Karl knew that Doyle would manage to poison Frank’s life, or worse, just as Karl’s parents did to him.
Sexual Dalliance and its Outcomes in Victorian Society: Christina Rossetti’s “An Apple Gathering” and “Cousin Kate”
Throughout the story, it has been Sister who has tried to persuade the reader to take her side in the debacle with her family. The truth is that it was Sister who caused the entire dispute that is going on with her obsession to compete with her sister that goes back to her childhood where she feels that Stella-Rondo is spoiled and continues to be spoiled up to the end following Sister’s desperate need for attention.
The film chronicles the histories of three fathers, and manages to relates and link their events and situations. First is Mitchell Stephens and his relationship with his drug-addict daughter. Second is Sam, and the secret affair he is having with his young daughter Nicole. He is somewhat of a narcissistic character because of his preoccupation with himself and pleasing himself, and his lack of empathy throughout the film for the others in the town. Third is Billy, who loves his two children so much that he follows behind the school bus every day waving at them. Billy is also having an affair with a married woman who owns the town’s only motel. On the exterior the town is an average place with good people just living their lives. But, beneath all the small town simplicity is a web of lies and secrets, some which must be dealt with in the face of this tragedy.
Besides physically attacking his sister by twisting her arm the Second also verbally abuses her severely. Since the author uses very descriptive dialogue in the excerpt the reader can form their own view of the character of the Second Brother. When the Second Brother thumps his sister
In the short stories Responsibility written by Russell Smith and Boys and Girls written by Alice Munro both deal with family mishaps between parent and child. Each family in both stories face many similarities when dealing with traditional life classification. The daughter in Munro’s story Boys and Girls who is unnamed wants to live life as she pleases instead following the normalities females are perceived to live by. James the main character in Smith’s Responsibility story is also faced with the same situation on wanting to live life how he wants and pursue his dreams but is faced traditional fallacies on how a men should live their life. There is also similarities between the attitude James and the daughter have with their parents. Also
Gender roles have been the one of the longest conflicts since the creation of man. Females have been struggling to gain way in the country since the foundation of the United States. For most of our country’s life up until the 1940’s women predominantly were supposed to stay at the house and do all the house work. For a fictional unnamed female child in the short story “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro, the life of the average woman is not the life she wants to live. She wants to work the hard labor with her father who sells fox pelts but, she is constantly getting “harassed” by her mother to do lady like work. The women’s struggle for rights can be divided up into centuries starting with the 19th and continuing to present day. At the end of the story the girl finally accepts her role as a female because she messes up and her father says, “She’s only a girl.” Men on the other hand, have had always had any opportunity they wanted but, generally their role is the
The story “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro and the story “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell have similar themes. They both are coming of age type stories that show the growth of a character because of a situation they were put in or things that happened to them. In “Boys and Girls” the narrator enjoyed helping her father with his work much more than helping her mother with the house, she thought that work that her mother did was boring and she dreaded it. Throughout the story they refer to the word “girl” in a negative way, “The word girl had formerly seemed to me innocent and unburdened, like the word child; now it appeared that it was no such thing. A girl was not, as I had supposed, simply what I was; it was what
In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” she tells a story about a young girl’s resistance to womanhood in a society infested with gender roles and stereotypes. The story takes place in the 1940s on a fox farm outside of Jubilee, Ontario, Canada. During this time, women were viewed as second class citizens, but the narrator was not going to accept this position without a fight.
Have you ever thought about the antihero in Little Brother?Seriously have you ever thought. Is Marcus Yallow a good role model for kids? Well that's what this essay will be talking about. The book portrays Marcus as a trouble maker who saves San Francisco. However he did quite the number on random innocent people to save San Francisco. He was hacking into the school and he always was sneaking out and by passing security. He didn't care about the other peoples consequences for the crimes or actions that he committed.
have failed her as a mother, being a mother is the epitome of femininity, the ability to care for and protect one’s children. Sara is a strong character in my opinion because I feel like she experienced the most changes all through the novel than her family and the other fundamental characters.
Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” is a story about a girl that struggles against society’s ideas of how a girl should be, only to find her trapped in the ways of the world.
When adapting a novel, there are three different ways directors can translate that into a film. They may take on the literal, traditional or radical interpretation of their adaptation of the novel; in Joe Wright’s 2005 Pride and Prejudice, he takes on the traditional interpretation. This translation demonstrates the same ideas, central conflicts, and characters as those of Austen’s novel 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice. Linda Costanzo Cahir, the author of Literature into Film, gives sufficient evidence to prove that this adaptation is in fact a traditional one.
The main protagonist of the story, Elizabeth Bennet (nicknamed both Lizzy and Eliza), is the second daughter in the Bennet family. Second only to her elder sister in beauty, Elizabeth’s figure is said to be “light and pleasing,” with “dark eyes,” and “intelligent…expression” (24). At 20 years old, she is still creating her place in society. Known for her wit and playful nature, “Elizabeth is the soul of Pride and Prejudice, [she] reveals in her own person the very title qualities that she spots so easily” (“Pride and Prejudice”) in others. Her insightfulness often leads her to jump to conclusions and think herself above social demand. These tendencies lead her to be prejudice towards others; this is an essential characteristic of her role
“The book was better” is the mundane response when inquiring as to books and their respective film adaptations. Pride and Prejudice is no exception. Written by Jane Austen in 1813, Pride and Prejudice reflects the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett, and her ideal match, Fitzwilliam Darcy, as they struggle to overcome their differences, and obstacles otherwise existing within the accompanying characters (social hierarchy, jealousy, selfishness). Elizabeth’s realization and acceptance of Darcy’s true goodness leads her to overcome her harsh, initial prejudice of him and Darcy’s tempering of his pride throughout the novel allow him to eventually applaud, and love Elizabeth for her strong-character. Hence the title: Pride and Prejudice. The film adaptation