Alistair MacLeod's "No Great Mischief" In No Great Mischief, Alistair MacLeod proves to the reader that it is impossible to talk about the Scottish-Canadian heritage without mentioning tradition, family and loyalty. MacLeod wrote this book about loyalty to family tradition. It is common to talk about these three things when one describes his family or his past in general, but in this book, MacLeod has included every single intricate detail about each one of the three aspects. Family plays
pass that "fork in the road", we need to move on, accepting what we have done, because what has happened has happened and there is nothing we can do to change the past. Such is a case in Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken';, and Alistair MacLeod’s short story “The Lost Salt Gift of Blood';. While the persona in Frost’s poem has knowingly come to a dilemma, in contrast, the narrator in MacLeod’s story makes a decision without glancing to the future. Everyone
Christmas is a season for all ages young or old, but for this eleven year old east coast boy, from Cape Breton, it is a source of conflict and a coming of age. In the short story “To Every Thing There is a Season”, Alistair MacLeod makes three arguments that captures the main themes and conflicts within the story, ignorance to knowledge, innocence to reality, and idealization to realism. MacLeod short story is a metaphor for growing up and a rite of passage. The narrator is in a tug of war with
A household is a precious and sensitive system of a group. Everyone has a role and responsibilities and even if someone took a sliver of more than the rest the balance could be broken. In the short-story “The Boat” written by Alistair MacLeod, the mother controls decisions in the house and abuses them even if they are not for the better of the house. She refuses to accept the daughter’s gifts, she discourages her family towards getting a better education and she married their father and pressured
A misconception that we often have about family is that every member is treated equally. This fallacy is substantially portrayed in Alistair Macleod’s short story, “In The Fall”. Typically speaking, in a family, the Mother is the backbone for kindness and provides love and support with no unfair judgements. However, when we relate to the portrait of the Mother in Macleod’s short story, we perceive the portrait as a self-centered woman whose affection is only shown upon what interests her. The Mother’s
Alistair MacLeod has a unique style of writing in the story, “The Boat”, which is composed of fairly simple words to present the reader with a smooth read. The context of the passage is witnessed in the eyes of the narrator, and it voices the dedication of his father; whom works diligently as a fisherman with his son following his footsteps. The excerpt from the story relates to the story as a whole since his father carried on the tradition of fishing at sea from previous generations - despite his
This passage defines the character of the narrators’ father as an intelligent man who wants a better life for his children, as well as establishes the narrators’ mothers’ stubbornness and strong opposition to change as key elements of the plot. Alistair Macleod’s “The Boat” is a tale of sacrifice, and of silent struggle. A parent’s sacrifice not only of their hopes and dreams, but of their life. The struggle of a marriage which sees two polar opposites raising a family during an era of reimagining
The search for and importance of family and identity of the Calum Ruadh clan in Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief is significant to the concept of blood being thicker than water. The importance of family, as indicated in No Great Mischief, is very apparent in regards to the main point of prominence in this deeply emotional Gaelic- Canadian tale. An idea that arises No Great Mischief[, is MacLeod’s ability to prove to the readers that it is impossible to talk about the Scottish-Canadian heritage
in order to fully understand the horrific realities of the First World War, then attention must be paid to the bloodiest battle of the bloodiest war, the Battle of Verdun. In his skillful narration of the battle, The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916, Alistair Horne describes Verdun to be the First World War in microcosm, “an intensification of all its horrors and glories, courage and futility” (Horne 327). Naturally, the death toll at Verdun was astounding, with 700,000 total casualties and 300,000 dead
a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” At some point in life one is faced with a decision which will define the future, but only time will tell whether or not the choice was right or wrong. The Boat by Alistair MacLeod demonstrates that an individual should make their own decisions in life, be open to new experiences and changes, and that there is no way to obtain something, without sacrificing something else. The story describes the protagonist who is
more so in our day and age, that children often feel burdened by the expectations that one’s parents have. Blinded by their own pretences, parents pressure their children to follow a path which they themselves think is best. As seen in “The Boat” by Alistair MacLeod, the narrator endures a tremendous amount of pressure from his parents. In comparison to my own life, my parents also put a lot of pressure on me because they want me to be successful. However, I find that the pressure exerted by my parents
story, we follow the life of a young boy finding his place growing up with his family, and finding out where he fits in. Not only with his family, but in society as well. We learn all of this in the story To Everything There Is A Season written by Alistair Macleod. Throughout this story, the Narrator/Protagonist guides us through a time when he was 11 years old and shows us his journey from innocence to understanding. The protagonist is shown realizing that he is growing up and cant get younger which
Consider this question: Is it better to follow your dreams, or to forfeit your dreams for the needs and wants of others? The Boat by Alistair MacLeod and The Two Kind by Amy Tan are two contrasting stories where the protagonists are confronted by the same question. However, the stories become disparate as Jing-Mei from The Two Kind chooses to rebel against her mother’s reign to turn her into a prodigy while the father from The Boat sacrifices his dream of attending university for the sake of what
The short story “The Boat’ by Alistair Macleod, takes place in the roughly around the 1940’s in Cape Breton. It is about the harsh reality of the lives fisherman in Nova Scotia lead. The narrator is faced with numerous tasks. His decision that he has chosen not to live by the ocean and to pursue the life of a fisherman was the right decision for him in the beginning. The narrator is constantly trying to decide if he has chosen in the right career and life style for himself. He contrasts his past
prove without a doubt that “The Return” was written by author, Alistair Macleod. The mother character in “The Return” shows resemblance to the female characters in other stories written by Macleod. Also the tense of the story is also the same as most of the stories Macleod had written. As “the return” is a story based around a family, just like many of Macleod’s stories,. After reading this essay, it will be clear and obvious that Alistair Macleod did write the short story “the Return. One of the main
that these professions they wished upon us have the littlest to no interest towards many young individuals. This is evident in The Boat by Alistair MacLeod, which tells us that many adolescents have been shut down without a proper statement about our future, this is because our future was either influenced by our parents
Is Calum a hero or villain? In Alistair MacLeod’s No Great Mischief, Alexander’s oldest brother commits violent crimes and by all accounts could be considered an antagonist. However, this is not the case. To outsiders Calum appears violent and rough, but within his clan he is their guiding compass. An intrepid leader who falls victim to his own history, Calum lacked guidance as a young man and this contributes to his later struggles with the law. Through anecdotes and flashbacks Calum is revealed
A Clan Connected through History No Great Mischief by Alistair Macleod is powerful in its art of storytelling, and provides a clear and concise, yet artistic view into a story told from the view point of Alexander MacDonald, an orthodontist and member of the Chalum Ruaidh clan. Alexander travels regularly to see one of his older brothers, Calum MacDonald, in his apartment in Toronto, Ontario in Canada, where most of the story takes place. The story centers on Alexander more so than Calum’s interactions
The reading of “The Boat” by Alistair Macleod, and “Simple Recipes” by Madeleine Thein, both display many components that draw attention to different family dynamics, as well as how each member is tested when if comes to love. The reading of “The Boat” by Alistair Macleod is an interesting and sad story that displays many elements figuratively and literally. The first figurative element is the boat. At a literal perspective, the boat is used for fishing and boat rides, although these are not the
From the second we are born to the final moments of life, our perception of life is recounted by our experiences—both past and present—that shape our identity. While many of us hold onto vivid memories from our childhood, such as the thrill of losing a first tooth or getting ice cream on a sunny day at the park in 2007, these memories become a natural facet of our sense of self. Yet, the course of our lives often unfolds beyond our control, subjecting us to unforeseen and sometimes traumatic events