William Bell’s Novel Crabbe: How Crabbe Finds Pride in his Pilgrimage

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Overcoming obstacles in one’s life can lead someone along the path of ultimately taking pride in themselves. This is apparent in William Bell’s novel Crabbe, in the case of young Franklin Crabbe. Firstly, Crabbe’s ordeal in nature teaches him to put others before himself. At the beginning of his journey, he is self-centred whilst making decisions, whereas at the end of his journey, he is able to consider others first. Secondly, during Crabbe’s time in the wilderness, he gains self-satisfaction from hard work. Crabbe learns about how good it feels to accomplish something in his waking hours, and continues to realize this after his encounter with nature. Lastly, throughout Crabbe’s time in the wilderness, he learns to take responsibility for his own unhappiness. In his bounty of moments for reflection, Crabbe realizes his parents are not to blame for his every moment of depression. During Crabbe’s journey in the bush, he overcomes frequent obstacles which send him back to civilization as someone he can be proud of.

To begin, Crabbe’s expedition teaches him to put the needs and emotions of others before his own. In the primitive stages of his trek, Mary saves Crabbe after he takes a death defying plunge from the waterfall. Crabbe quickly realizes he would not have done the same for anyone in need. Because of this he “followed her, ashamed” (85). This action validates that before Crabbe had his full experience in the outdoors he only valued himself. Since Crabbe can say with certainty that he would not have helped someone in such a desperate situation, he proves that he

has not yet developed the trait of selflessness. Later on in the heroin’s journey, Crabbe and Mary find themselves at a hunt lodge. Crabbe does all that he i...

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when one feels good about something they have accomplished. Considering its grueling circumstances, Crabbe must feel good about his triumph in the wilderness. His testimony of strength in the wilderness could do nothing less than lead him to believe he is capable of taking responsibility for his unhappiness.

There is no doubt that Crabbe’s quest in the wilderness, and the challenges involved, change him into someone he is proud to have become. He can be selfless when necessary, hard working for good reason, and believes he is capable of controlling his own emotions. When an individual is faced with extreme challenges, and overcomes them with integrity, the result is an individual who takes pride in their conquest, and therefore the person it has allowed them to become.

Works Cited

Bell, William. Crabbe. Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside., 2006. Print.

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