The Flowers That Killed Him Analysis

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In regards to “The Flowers That Killed Him”, the entire story is told through a first-person perspective of Joe, a thirteen year old boy whose two friends were sexually assaulted and murdered. By using this technique, Ross allows the reader to understand the thoughts and feelings of Joe, while also providing information about the history and background of the characters. As the short story is similar to a murder mystery, with the reader wondering who the killer of Joe’s two friends is, the first-person perspective gives the reader an insight of clues through flashbacks. It allows the reader to understand what the murderer may be like and to constantly suspect which character introduced within the story is the killer or not. Furthermore, it …show more content…

Ross makes allusions to religious songs such as “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” and “Lead, Kindly Light”. These hymns create an unsettling and nervous atmosphere, as these hymns are sang with religious purpose such as to be an addition to a prayer. Ross specifically chooses certain lyrics from the hymns as well that makes the reader question as to what is the purpose of the allusion to these hymns. In “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind”, Ross suddenly inserts the first two lines of the song which are, “Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Forgive our foolish ways” (Ross). Out of all the lines that he could have chosen from the prayer, he has picked one that asks for forgiveness. This hymn also is known for not promoting a sense of newfound energy but it is rather for quiet meditation and to wait for the answer of God (Hawn). It’s an interesting choice and it alludes to being a reference to the killer, as within this point of the story, no other character has been revealed to have sinned. As a result, it gives off a sense of forbearing that the killer will make an appearance within the story relatively soon and with each hymn that is referenced, it’s as if the reader is getting closer to source of the danger. It can also be argued that one could interpret these hymns for Joe himself, as in this point of the story, the reader believes that the murderer is still at large and

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