Analysis Of `` Ragged Company `` By Richard Wagamese

Whenever you’re about to leave for vacation, do you often feel like you’re forgetting something? But no matter how many times you go over the packing list, you can’t seem to find what it is that’s missing. So you move on, with that feeling still in the back of your mind. Imagine feeling like that, but knowing exactly what it is that’s missing and not being able to do anything about it. Imagine having that feeling with you at all times, maybe not always your number one thought, but always there. That’s just a gist of what loss is. It’s a broad term, making it hard to define; Everyone thinks of it differently and so it is compiled into several definitions. Loss is defined universally as the absence of something meaningful

Richard Back once said “ The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life”. Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese is about a group of homeless individuals that struggle through the streets until they find a lottery ticket that wins them millions, but the battle does not end there. Little do the main characters know that the struggle of transitioning from the cold nights on the streets to the warmth of a home and family leaves them with only each other to count on to let go of their past and build towards their future. Each character goes through their own hardships that leave them relying on each other for support. The following paper will explore the different relationships that flourish throughout

What is lost is not always easy to replace, and losses suffered are not always easy to overcome. Grief hangs heavily and normal life suddenly becomes hard to go through with the impact of recent events. Rick Reilly addresses this in his essay The Real New York Giants. His nostalgic and somber tone reflect the gravity of the situation, remembering his dear friends who were lost in the tragic event. In his essay The Real New York Giants, Rick Reilly uses imagery, rhetorical questions, and diction to convey the impact of loss on people and how they recover and return to their daily lives without the familiar presence of people they lost.

In “Whoever We Are, Loss Finds us and Defines Us”, by Anna Quindlen, she brings forth the discussion grief's grip on the lives of the living. Wounds of death can heal with the passing of time, but in this instance, the hurt lives on. Published in New York, New York on June 5, 1994, this is one of many Quindlen published in the New York Times, centered on death's aftermath. This article, written in response to the death of Quindlen’s sister-in-law, and is focused on an audience who has, currently is, or will experience death. Quindlen-a columnist for the New York Times and Newsweek, Pulitzer Prize winner and author-has written six bestselling novels (Every Last One, Rise and Shine, Object Lessons, One True Thing, and Black and Blue) and has

The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with

A second loss which is not associated with grief could be loss of an individual’s independence. I am familiar with a case where a boy who had been living freely at home was then moved into residential care. The impact of this loss on the said individual was feelings of confusion, anger and fear. He developed behavioural issues and problems sleeping due to the stress of the change. He felt trapped and unable to make basic

To begin with, the death of Aunt Bernie brings great grief to the narrator and affects his performance at work. His reaction to the event exemplifies the way the society has taught people to react to sorrow. After Bernie’s death, he comes to work not in high spirits as required for a stripper, and female guests are disappointed in him. As a result, Mr. Frendt advises him, “Grief is good, grief is fine, but too much grief, as we all know, is excessive” (Saunders 19). The statement makes it evident that the society does not expect one to grieve to the extent of affecting their daily life. Specifically, Frendt discourages the narrator from mourning too much “like one of those Comanche ladies who bite off their index fingers when a loved one dies” (Saunders 19). Through such words, the author alludes to the culture of this community that requires people

The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with

In Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss gives life to The Four Corners of Civilization through his storytelling. Storytelling gives the author an opportunity to show their experiences and reflect their beliefs within the world they are creating. During the time this book was being written, there was the Iraq and Afghanistan War taking place which had been sending many soldiers back home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Rothfuss parallels this disorder within his book through the main character, Kvothe, when he experiences trauma and he shows how Kvothe copes with the persisting trauma through grief theory, “four doors of the mind” (135) . His four doors of the mind is similar to the Kubler-Ross Model, which is widely accepted by practitioners, but challenges it by believing the mind copes with pain through the central idea of numbing. However, this mindset of categorizing emotions experienced within grief can be destructive behavior towards any griever rather than helping them cope; stages of post-loss grief do not exist.

He seems to suggest here that grief is but an illusion, because man is incapable of touching the human soul. Emerson continued with, “Grief too will make us idealists. In the death of my son, now more than two years ago, I seem to have lost a beautiful estate, - no more. I cannot get it nearer to me.” Now, Emerson reveals his inspiration for writing Experience. With the death of his son, Emerson had suffered the fourth major loss in his family, which had been long plagued by tuberculosis. His first wife died of the disease and had claimed the lives of his two beloved brothers. Emerson was no stranger to grief, and the more he tried to psychoanalyze it, the emptier he felt. After sustaining so much loss, one must steel oneself from any further blows.

In the novels Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, the theme of loss can be viewed as an umbrella that encompasses the absence of independence, society or community, love, and order in the lives of the two protagonists. They deal with their hardships in diverse ways. However, they both find ways to triumph over their losses and regain their independence.

Many people define their lives by the relationships within their family. They are someone’s daughter, someone’s wife, or someone’s mother or father. The loss of a family member, especially due to death, creates a radical readjustment to people’s day to day lives and how they see and feel about themselves. Sometimes the process of grief can last over several years and how it is mentally processed and dealt with is different for everyone. “Mud” by Geoffrey Forsyth, shows an insightful view of a grieving man who had already lost his father and grandmother and is now just coming to terms with the loss of his wife two years prior. The entire story is written in first person point of view which allows for the reader to fully engage themselves in the grief and strife of the narrator’s life. Geoffrey’s story “Mud” begins in the home of the narrator where he encounters these dead family members and has to decide if he is ready to move on from his grief and say goodbye or stay behind and be consumed by it.

This essay explores several models and theories that discuss the complexities of loss and grief. A discussion of the tasks, reactions and understanding of grief through the different stages from infants to the elderly, will also be attempted.

“Ordinary people” everywhere are faced day after day with the ever so common tragedy of losing a loved one. As we all know death is inevitable. We live with this harsh reality in the back of our mind’s eye. Only when we are shoved in the depths of despair can we truly understand the multitude of emotions brought forth. Although people may try to be empathetic, no one can truly grasp the rawness felt inside of a shattered heart until death has knocked at their door. We live in an environment where death is invisible and denied, yet we have become desensitized to it. These inconsistencies appear in the extent to which families are personally affected by death—whether they

The death of a loved one can result in a trauma where the painful experience causes a psychological scar. Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones explores the different ways in which people process grief when they lose a loved one. When young Susie Salmon is killed on her way home from school, the remaining four members of her family all deal differently with their grief. After Susie’s death, her mother, Abigail Salmon, endures the adversity of losing her daughter, her family collapsing, and accepting the loss of the life she never had the opportunity to live. Abigail uses Freud’s defence mechanisms to repress wounds, fears, her guilty desires, and to resolve conflicts, which results in her alienation and