Guilt In The Sweet Hereafter By Russell Banks

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Guilt in The Sweet Hereafter Guilt is a powerful emotion and is the theme for many different works of art. It is the basis for many decisions made by people in their everyday lives. Guilty people avoid their demons by distracting themselves but that seldom absolves their guilt. The Sweet Hereafter is a novel by Russell Banks that shows different characters dealing with their guilt in different ways. Dolores feels survivors guilt and uses the community as a jury, Nicole feels guilty for how she and her family react to the accident, and Mitchell feels guilty for the way his daughter turns out and buries himself into his work to avoid dealing with his dysfunctional family. This novel is a powerful tribute to grief and the guilt associated with …show more content…

He feels guilty because he thinks that he has failed his daughter and he distracts himself from that guilt by burying himself in his work. Mitchell thinks that he has not done enough to keep his daughter from becoming a drug abuser. “It’s like I'm in the position of having to buy her clean needles to protect her against AIDS. Forget protecting her against the drugs. Forget healing her mind.” (101) Mitchell feels guilty that he is fueling his daughter’s drug addiction out of desperation. He thinks that he should have done more to have not gotten to this point and is ashamed that he has given up. This pent up desperation leads to him using his work as a means of escape, as a means to vent his anger. “Five years of this and what happens? You get pissed off - believe me, enough rage and helplessness, your love turns to steamy piss….except when I'm burning myself out on something like the Sam Dent school bus case, I'm dizzy and incoherent, boiling over, obsessed, useless - mad.” (101-102) Mitchell uses his work as a means to vent his anger in a constructive manner. He is attracted to being a lawyer as it provides him with a thrill that nothing else does. Unlike the situation with his family, he has complete control of the situation when he is at work. Mitchell also tries to solve negligence cases in which he is helping a victim get reprimands for something they have lost due to the recklessness of a higher power, something he could never get with his daughter whom he believes rehab and anti-drug institutions have failed, as he says he has done everything “the loving father of a whacked out drug addicted child is supposed to do.” (100) Mitchell’s workaholic nature shields him from his failed family

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