Literary Analysis of The Englishman’s Boy
In the novel The Englishman’s Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe is a very intriguing story. The author was creative in terms of the novel being written in a frame within a frame within a frame; meaning that he tells three different stories in one novel. One story being the perspective of the people who stole the horses during the Cypress Hills Massacre, another being the people trying to find the horses and the people who stole them, and one where a filmmaker is trying to find the story of the massacre from a guy named Shorty McAdoo. The writer of the novel exemplifies skilled writing in the setting, character development, and imagery.
The novel is set mainly in the 1920s where the filmmaker is trying to make
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a story but transitions back and forth to the 1870s where the story is actually occurring. In the beginning of the novel, the setting is the 1870s where the men are outside searching and travelling. Eventually, it is mentioned that they are sleeping outside next to a fire with some blankets and minimal food supply, this suggests that it is warm and dry outside. This is a clear indication that it is the 1800s because sleeping outside without a tent or a camper today would be completely bizarre. Further on into the story, the setting changes to the 1920s and the filmmaker is speaking with his boss in an office building, this is clear that it is the 1900s because office buildings and jobs as such did not exist while the massacre was occurring. The setting was very well placed within the novel and the description of each setting was accurate in the sense that it made readers truly believe the story’s setting and when it was taking place. An important asset to a novel is character development and in this novel, the writer did a wonderful job at making sure each character were to be known by the readers.
First off, he introduces the cowboys that raided Cypress Hills by explaining their outfits containing the tassles and the cowboy boots with a horse to accessorize that which makes them appear as though they are set to be living in the 1800s. The character development of the cowboys was not very well descriptive for individual characters, but it was well written in the sense that readers did not need to know each individual for that story. The next character development would belong to the people that got the horses taken from them and they are explained a small bit more than the other cowboys because they have a longer piece to the story. Either way, their character development was essential and contained the perfect amount of descriptions because all readers need to know is that they were a big group of cowboys looking for their horses. The last character development would be for Shorty McAdoo and the filmmaker who brought along Wylie on his way to find Shorty. The filmmaker is a very determined and the writer makes it seem as though he is a kind hardworking man who cares about his job and others. He seems to be the business type of man who dresses nice with the fancy shoes and the expensive suits. Whereas, Shorty is more of a laid back careless type of man who keeps to himself because the writer put him in
the novel as a more quiet type of person not releasing too much info to other people. Wylie is quite the outgoing man who tends to show himself as more adventurous, especially when he stands on guard to watch out for the “Mexicans”. All of the character development is sufficient in terms of the readers being able to get a view of everyone and how they relate to the novel. Imagery is important in this novel, seeing as there are multiple stories for the readers having to imagine what it looks like without being able to see it. The point of imagery is for readers who need to visualize the story in order to better understand it. In this novel, the writer provides detailed descriptions of the character’s surroundings which is beneficial to the story because it is easier to picture what the story would look like in real life. Imagery is important in every novel because without imagery, readers would not be able to comprehend what is going on and good imagery is where readers can actually feel as though they are in the story while they are reading and witnessing it instead of reading it. This author did a spectacular job because readers should be able to imagine the story as a real life scenario and most readers are easily able to do that. The author of the novel The Englishman’s Boy was successful in creating a well written novel which was established through setting, character development, and imagery. The author was efficient in terms of presenting a well written story for readers to enjoy because of these elements. It is an enjoyable story with a realistic storyline because the writer did an excellent job at portraying such a framed story.
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