An Essay On 'The Simple Gift' By Steven Herrick

When Caitlin first sees Old Bill with Billy, she sees him as a dirty no good hobo, this also puts her off Billy ‘…seeing Billy/with that old hobo/made me think of Billy/as a hobo”. The author uses repetition here to state the fact that they are ‘hobos’. Later when Caitlin invites Billy and Old Bill to her house for dinner “Old Bill called [her] ‘Miss’/and offered [her] a box of chocolates”. This showed Caitlin that Old Bill was a nice man so at the end of the novel Caitlin reflected on what she thought of Old Bill “I start to cry/because I think of Old Bill/and what I thought/when I first saw him.” The author has used repetition of the word ‘I’ to show that Caitlin is ashamed of her original thoughts on Old Bill.

When Billy first met Old Bill in the early chapters of the book, it happened to be his birthday which he decided to celebrate with a bottle of beer. Billy describes old Bill as a man is his late forties with long messy hair and a grey beard stained with smoke. Old Bill gives Billy a bitter welcome to the Brendarat Hilton,(the train yard) and says "I've been here since March 2nd 1994. May your stay be as long if you wish." Then Billy shivers as he watches the sunrise. Seeing old Bill for himself makes Billy realise the real effects of homelessness, how a man in his forties can look 20 years older, how he is alone

Through studying texts one can gain a greater understanding of how individuals can transition into more prosperous and positive phases of life as well into new and differing social contexts. This is explored in the texts The Simple Gift composed by Steven Herrick, as Billy transitions into a new life in the town of Bendarat and in Jasper Jones as Charlie develops new outlooks in his life and moves into social contexts he would have once perceived as taboo. Through the portrayal of transitions in these texts, the responder gains a wider perception how circumstances can create transitions into new phases of life and gain a greater understanding of contrasting social contexts.

Herrick shows that a relationship has ‘centred’ Billy. His life has direction, routine and meaning. Billy’s identity at first was seen as a loner, he was isolated and a rebel. His mother was absent and his relationship with his father was intimidating. The lack of connection to family extends to Old Bill, whose daughter and wife died, and to Freya and Danny, who do not have the guidance of responsible adults. Herrick symbolises his disconnection and loneliness in ‘I didn’t go inside for hours./I looked through the back window/watching him/reading the paper/in front of the television/as if nothing happened’. Billy’s sense of belonging allows him to reforms his identity. Herrick shows this by juxtaposing Billy eating like a hobo in the first person narration in ‘And wait for the family of five to leave. / I can see dessert/ waiting for me’ and later eating like a refined mature adult via the descriptive language in ‘with a white tablecloth/and napkins/ and proper cutlery and plates.’ Comparatively, Freya grows up after Danny helps her deal with her miscarriage. This highlights that a person’s identity is defined by their connection to others. Both composers show an understanding of each other, allow them to nourish one another.

| Growth in maturity is shown as both Billy and Old Bill show signs of growth as they help each other. Billy's growth is demonstrated as he becomes a 'different' individual from the beginning of the narrative poem showing positive thinking “sure there's hope in the world...even for hobos like us".

The receiver of the gift is better off in a utilitarian sense, if he chooses not to return the favor. Yet why does he have the desire to repay? Why does receiving a gift put him at a social disadvantage? The economy of gift of Bataille differs from Nietzsche’s creditor-debtor relationship with regard to the psychology behind these two dynamics. While Bataille delved into the mentality of the giver, who has the upper hand in this power relation, Nietzsche focused on the psychology of the debtor. Bataille construed the economy of gifting as an act out of man’s “animal factor” that goes beyond the want of acquisition – a human instinct to win and to overpower. It is in man’s nature to covet “prestige, glory and rank” (Bataille, 1997, p. 376), yet they do not come without comparison and competition. Thus, the giver of the gift has to deliberately create a rivalry, and thus, an inequality that favors himself in order to acquire prestige, glory and rank. It is this desire for superiority that gives man the ultimate incentive to give away his wealth. Gifting is to win by losing. It also explains the increment value in the return of the gift, for the receiver of the initial gift not only wants to recover his equality with the initial giver, but also to overpower him, to defeat him. The same desire that fuels the endless cycle of gifting rituals like moka and potlatch. One good potlatch deserves another, and

As Thomas Aquinas states, “There is nothing on this earth more prized than true friendship.” Friends cheer each other up when they are sad and support them when they are happy. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, two migrant workers, George and Lennie, arrive as newcomers on the ranch. Throughout the story, different problems are thrown their way, and their friendship is tested with each one. George shows how true friendship requires sacrifice because friends sacrifice personal freedom, they protect each other, and they sacrifice emotional energy.

In Miriam Toews novel A Complicated Kindness there are many references to pop culture. There are references to music, books and films. These all lead to the development of key ideas in the novel. East Village is supposed to be a town free form the influence of most media. The children are allowed to watch certain films but only the ones the church deems fit. Yet somehow the un-holy films find their way into the procession of kids in the town like Nomi. The films are used to develop key ideas by showing that not everybody is happy with a strong importance on religion, where Nomi gets some of her influence for wanting to move to New York and how the church uses the ban on films to remain in control. The church isn’t successful on banning

Another element, characterization, the way a writer reveals the personality of a character, showed how oblivious Billy was. “Billy was seventeen years old. He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit, and he was feeling fine. He walked briskly down the street. He was trying to do everything briskly these days. Briskness, he had decided, was the one common characteristic of all successful businessmen” (pg. 62). As young businessman, this was most likely his first trip outside of his hometown. His current goal was to become the best businessman he can and focused his priority on briskness because he thought all successful businessmen were brisk in their actions. Too innocent to know otherwise, Billy focused all of his attention on being the best possible worker and let his life itself on the line. The characteristics of the landlady should also have given Billy a bit of a worry. “She seemed terribly nice. She looked exactly like the mother of one’s best school friend welcoming one into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays” (pg. 64). Rather than noting the landlady as “extremely nice” or “very nice” Dahl chose to describe her as “terribly nice”. Billy was blinded by her kindness and didn’t see through the hidden threat.

Due to his strong love for her, the narrator wanted to make her happy and he believed buying her a gift would make her happy. He put a lot of pressure on him going to the Bazaar and buying her a gift. He associated him buying her a gift with him being with her. They both took encounters they had with the girls they loved and made them more than they actually were.

Once inside the store, Sylvia can no longer ignore the blinding imparity between the rich and the poor. Her discovery of an overly priced toy clown prompts her to consider what could be bought for its price: "Thirty-five dollars could buy new bunk beds for Junior and Gretchen’s boy. Thirty-five dollars and the whole household could go visit Granddaddy Nelson in the country. Thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill too" (605). Sylvia is forced to finally address the socioeconomic inequality that works against her while simultaneously conferring certain luxuries on the rich: "Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats? What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it?" (605).

In addition, the crowd was excitedly “pink and beaming” and they waited for Billy’s speech. The immense support shown through the the crowd’s positive response and Billy’s new, powerful position reveals the power associated with masculinity. Not only did Billy’s new adoption of masculine qualities result in an increase of popularity, but Billy’s simple transformation of a deeper tone of voice also allowed him to garner approval from the public about his absurd stories about Tralfamadore. Previous to adopting his new voice, individuals dismissed even simple statements from Billy Pilgrim. For example, when Billy insisted that he was in Dresden, his hospital roommate named Rumfoord brushed Billy off, stating that “He’s simply echoing things we say” (Vonnegut 246).

Billy, before he gets his dogs, is faced with a dilemma, he very badly wants dogs, but being in the middle of the Great Depression, Billy cannot find the money to buy the dogs he so very badly wants to hunt with. This is where Billy finds the drive to undertake his mission. Billy’s mission was to raise the money for two hounds. He needed fifty dollars. For this mission, Billy shows determination, bravery, dedication, and compassion. Determination and dedication are shown when Billy starts working for his money. It took Billy two years to raise fifty dollars. Also, when Billy sneaks out to town, by himself, to pick up his hounds, he shows his bravery and dedication to the job. Then, Billy shows bravery when he hunts with his dogs. Alone at night, with the threat of mountain lions, Billy takes his hounds out to hunt, with no idea of what could happen. He also shows his drive by saying, “I told him I wasn’t giving up until my dogs did.” Finally, Billy shows compassion to his dogs by taking the dogs everywhere with him. They never leave his side. Billy was driven by love, for the most part, to take this mission into his

It is clear that there are many things that shape people’s identity. It could be family, surrounding, culture and many other things. These things help people to become who they are and affect the way they see the world around them. The question what shapes the identity is discussed in the works “Selection from love 2.0: How our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become” by Barbara Frederickson, “The Naked Citadel” by Susan Faludi, and “The Myth of the Ant Queen” by Steven Johnson. The authors view this question from different perspectives. However, there is one common thing that could be seen in all the three works. The authors prove that person’s identity is mostly shaped by interaction with other people and the

Schieffelin describes gift exchange as a ‘rhetorical gesture in social communication’, it can be used as a method of solidifying, integrating and defining social relationships through the non-market exchange of goods, it is a social, cultural and economic experience. This ritual creates a respectful bond between both the giver and receiver. Previously gift exchange was considered more of a cultural tradition and religious practice, however contemporary gift exchange does not commemorate the rituals’ heritage to the same extent, it just creates an emotional hierarchy. This emotional hierarchy signifies power within a relationship and the expectation of the recipient to reciprocate, in other words; ‘I give so that you can give in return’