A Different Road opens with the narrator zoomed out, telling us about the Kitteradges, how they used to be and how they are now. Henry does not go out of his way to say hello when he is in town, nor does he linger and chat. Olive, although she had always been outspoken and unfriendly, has turned even more so now. Through constant flashbacks, we learn what happened to the Kitteradges. On their way home from dinner on a Saturday night, Henry stopped at the hospital because Olive needed to use the bathroom immediately. Olive was forced to have a check-up after using the bathroom and during this time two men attempted to rob the hospital for drugs. They held Olive, Henry, the nurse and the doctor hostage in a bathroom. In the hospital bathroom, …show more content…
When the flashbacks are over, the story in present time, we see some of this openness has stayed. Olive moves through her day, shopping, then home to Henry, and here we see what the narrator meant in the beginning of the story. Another conversation takes place at the story’s end, where both seem to say things to each other that we would have never imagined before. What makes readers feel close to Olive and Henry is hearing their interiority. The stories are so compelling because we are allowed access to their secrets and intimate lives. However, what’s most compelling and appreciated with A Different Road is how readers see Henry and Olive revealing these secretive parts of themselves to one another. And even though we are closest to Olive in this story through the point of view techniques, Strout is clever through the linking of stories, and readers can infer some of Henry’s thoughts. Based on other stories and other moments, we are seeing and hearing Henry in ways we know he has never been. This change in …show more content…
Through the flashbacks, Olive admits how muddled her thoughts were during the time of the chaos (the man shoving her into the bathroom, seeing Henry and the rest sitting on the floor trembling).The conversation between her and Henry, however, she remembers vividly. It all starts after Henry tells the intruder to watch his mouth, that he shouldn’t use such bad language. The man presses the gun against Henry’s cheek and the conversation begins: “‘Please!’Olive cried out. ‘Please. He got that from his mother. His mother was impossible. Just ignore him’”(Strout 117). While it’s not unrealistic to imagine Olive saying this on an ordinary day (not in the midst of chaos and crisis), we get a sense of shock from Henry next. Also, the extent of harshness Olive displays is more than what even Henry and readers are used to. On the same page, after the man calls Henry a nut, she continues with: “‘He can’t help it,’ Olive said. ‘You’d have to know his mother. His mother was full of pious crap.’ ‘That’s not true,’ said Henry. ‘My mother was a good, decent woman’” (Strout). Of course readers can look at this moment with serious human compassion. Olive is saying things she does not mean. A gun is being held to her husband’s face and she is in panic mode. But readers must dig deeper than this. We must think carefully, deeply, for we are flashed back to this very moment for that exact reason. Olive is not thinking clearly; therefore,
Recorded during 1980 a total of 87.2% of American homes owned at least one vehicle, while 51.5% of Americans owned more than one vehicle.[2] The increasing amount of sales resulted in an increase in the amount of cars that were on the road. The large amount of cars made the time of traveling from one destination to another longer than it was when not as many vehicles were on the road. Reducing the amount of time it took to travel lead to the idea of the highway system in 1938.[4] The extensive process of figuring out where the highways should lay and how they should be created did not allow the building process to begin until 1956.[4] Besides reducing the amount of time that it took to travel to each destination the highway system will
In the novel, “A Different Road” seemed unfinished with the couple’s conflict. Henry says, “We were both scared. In a situation most people in the whole lifetime are never in. We said things, and we’ll get over them in time” (123), in an attempt to resolve everything. “But he stood up, and turned and looked out over the water, and Olive thought he had to turn away because he knew what he said wasn’t true” (124). Near the end of the chapter, the Kitteridges can never look at each other the same way again, but in the miniseries implied that the couple somehow resolved the struggle but there will be tension and doubt present in the
Henry's first-person narrative is the most important element of these stories. Through it he recounts the events of his life, his experiences with others, his accomplishments and troubles. The great achievement of this narrative voice is how effortlessly it reveals Henry's limited education while simultaneously demonstrating his quick intelligence, all in an entertaining and convincing fashion. Henry introduces himself by introducing his home-town of Perkinsville, New York, whereupon his woeful g...
To have a good story, there must be good characters. Characters help the reader relate to the plot and struggle of the story, as well as creating a picture of the scenes on each page. But what exactly makes a character? What defines their personalities and relatableness to the reader? The way a character thinks, acts, and views the world are influenced, much like in the real world, by the people and places around them. In essence, they are ideas that are forged and refined by the author and other supporting aspects of the story into the living, breathing lenses through which we view the story. In the case of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Henry is our window into the world of wartime Seattle. Through him, we can view
The western style 2013 Australian feature film Mystery Road centres around indigenous detective Jay Swan as he investigates the murder of indigenous teenager Julie Mason. Swan’s continued struggles to convince the rest of the local police – who all happen to be white males – to help him to solve the case lead him to find a drug ring. Sen represents the idea that indigenous people do not receive justice through the construction of Jay Swan and the unjust way the rest of the Indigenous community are treated by the white community and predominately white police force, encouraging my empathetic response. Sen also explores the police as corrupt and apathetic. In recent years, all over the world, but particularly in Australia in the 1980’s onwards,
...s inner self. What is seen as a relationship amongst these two young men is now torn apart by the transformation of Henry caused from his witnesses during warfare.
Throughout this short story the use of metaphors and symbolic imagery allows the reader to feel what Lyman, the narrator feels as the story unfolds. In the very first paragraph, where the characters are introduced we are given a horrific view of what is to come. The narrator tells us henry will meet
Stories and poems are very different in many ways. Poems are often shorter than stories and have rhyme and meter. Stories do not have rhyme and meter and are usually much longer in length. Nevertheless a poem and a story can have many similarities. “Cherrylog Road” by James Dickey is a poem about a taboo relationship between two teenagers, while “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel García Márquez is about an “angel” that has washed up on the shore of this small town. Both “Cherrylog Road” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” have somewhat twisted theological parallels to the Bible.
In Flannery O’Connor’s short story A Good Man is Hard to Find, there are two main characters whose faith should be analyzed: “the grandmother” and “the Misfit”. We can use Paul Tilloch’s six components to analyze their faith. The grandmother seems to have a great understanding of what faith is in five of the
According to Ellen Douglas, the "evil in human hearts, and the possibility of grace, the gift of love, are made terrifyingly and magnificently real" when the grandmother, at gunpoint, admits that The Misfit really is, in her standards, a good man at heart (381). He is better able to express his beliefs about religion, but she has no firm foundation. When he says, "She would [have] been a good woman, if there had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life," he is revealing the fact that her pride, instead of her faith, has carried her through life (O'Connor, "A Good Man" 392). She has merely acted out the life of a typical Southern lady of he...
King Henry was not very proud or accepting of his son. This is shown very early in the play when he speaks about him to Westmoreland. The king states:
Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North explores the depths of human emotion and how far some people will go during times of war. The novel shows that there are many sides to the one story and also how people change with life experiences. Major Tenji Nakamura is a perfect example of this as he is a ruthless officer in charge of the POW camp. But he shows that he is only doing any of this for the honour it will bring him and his empire. On the other side of the coin, there is Dorrigo Evans, who is an Australian surgeon in the POW camp who is only trying to save the men under his care from starvation, cholera, and beatings. The differences between both Evans and Nakamura are quite telling, yet they still manage to mnake it to the
We recommend that you stop reading the book at the end of Henry's story (p. 86). You won't want to, because the ending is very bleak and you will be looking for some respite from the story, something to encourage you. Unfortunately, the final part of the book consists of H.L. Roush's theological reflections on the story, and for the most part they aren't edifying. Best to think through the story yourself, perhaps even read it to your children, and together as a family consider what went wrong for Henry, how he might have avoided the downward spiral, and what lessons can be applied to your own circumstances.
Mary’s mother, Betty, was a poor example of what a mother should be. A prostitute by profession often abandoned Mary to perform sex acts. Unfortunately, Mary was not always abandoned and was brought into the sex acts, abused sexually, and used as a prop for Betty’s customers. Mary reported that she was forced to perform sex acts starting at the age of five at the bequest of her mother. Mary’ mother was physically abusive to her, reportedly choking her and attempting to kill her on multiple occasions. Even as a baby, Mary was not nurtured by Betty, treating her as an object rather than a child. Actually, Betty attempted to give Mary up for adoption, which was thwarted by Betty’s sister.
One of the roads is more popular and the other one is not popular. As he was on the road, he started being unsure about which one to take. Finally, curiously, he goes to the less traveled one.