Brandon Pashby
English 1010
10/10/07
The Rake
My first response to the essay was Wow! This was some kind of childhood. Who could have lived under these circumstances? I can only imagine what kind of effect this upbringing will have on these children.
This essay had a sort of depressing effect on me. After all it is a story of kids being abused and mistreated. This was just a taste of what these children have to live through everyday. It is bad enough to have to grow up with out the presence of your father, but to be abused by your stepfather is a whole other story. Although the essay is depressing, it also angers me. It is very disturbing that someone would treat a child the way these children were treated. I would hope that anyone that acts in this manner will be prosecuted and serve the maximum sentence.
The scene where the boy throws the rake at his sister is critical to the story. It brings an end to the story and explains everything that has been talked about. When the boy’s sister says something that offends him he picks up the rake and throws it at her. The rake strikes her in the face and puts a bad gash on her lip. She immediately starts crying and runs inside. Neither of the kids will tell their mom what happened so they are forced to sit down at the table and eat. Once again they are back at the table eating in silence. This pulls all of the aspects of the story together. This also gives us the title of the story. The rake is used to represent the cleaning up of things, but it is also perceived as violent and harsh.
4 comments:
Your post really made me think about the relationship between the parents and the children. Should the stepfather or even the mother be prosecuted? I think almost anyone you would ask would say "yes." I wonder what kind of effect, having their stepfather imprisoned would have on the children? On the mother? I can only think the effect would be negative. I'm not saying he shouldn't be, he should, but think about it. Maybe abusers should be identified and put down before they can have children....just kidding...kinda.
You are so true about what you said. I know what a childhood is like in an abusive household and it is not good. No one should have to live like that.
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