Ordinary Grace Analysis

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Karma Círculo Karma—an Analysis of Ordinary Grace
Life and death are two frequent topics in William Kent Krueger’s Bildungsroman, Ordinary Grace, affecting all of its characters in one way or another. The novel takes place in 1961 New Bremen, Minnesota where a World War II veteran and minister, Nathan Drum, and his nuclear family reside. This Steinbeckian novel mostly revolves around his children and their real life exposure to an evasive topic: death. Numerous times in the novel, it is heavily implied that Nathan Drum has killed in the war, and suffers some sort of post-traumatic stress which will later be transferred to his two sons, Frank and Jake. The multiple deaths disturbing Nathan’s sons and daughter both indirectly and directly affect …show more content…

Doyle, a New Bremen police officer, is also a suspected victim of aggression and the horrors of war throughout chapter nine. Around page 93, for the sake of having fun, Doyle commands Gus to hand him an M-80 as he picks up an innocent bullfrog and lights the explosive in its mouth. This reveals that Doyle may be suffering from an aggression-based disease. Frank simply stands there, paralyzed, and watches in horror as bullfrog blood and innards explode all over his being. “My shirt was spotted with frog gut and blood. It was in my hair and dripping along my jawline”(Krueger, Ch.9) This can compare to the depictions of war where soldiers are photographed drenched in the blood of friends and enemies. In particular, World War II was notorious for using land mines. When one treads on a land mine by mistake, their entire body explodes, like the bullfrog in Ordinary Grace. The eerie descriptiveness of this section and Krueger’s inclusion of a veteran character partaking in abuse leads me to think that Nathan’s children are sharing similar experiences that Nathan was forced to partake in. Frank becomes delusional soon after this death. After heading back to the house in pure disgust and aggravation, he looks to his sister, Ariel, and sees the bullfrog in her place—“Her head turned and she looked at me and for a moment it was not Ariel but a creature much afraid and I thought of the frog in that moment when …show more content…

In the beginning of the novel, Frank and Jake are rather adventurous and fun-loving, but as the story progresses, the boys lose themselves individually more with each death. However, their overall bond never seems to be broken. Perhaps this very bond is what lessens the intensity of each demise—it provides safety and comfort because they confide in each other. Nathan never had the pleasure of having someone to latch onto during the all-out effects of war until he returned home with surviving soldiers. Although Frank and Jake didn’t witness the deaths of thousands, they were robbed of their innocence, which was something Nathan would have never wanted for them at such a young

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