Descriptive Essay : ' A Sigh '

He was often punished when his brothers weren 't, even if they were doing the same thing. He was able to be adventurous but instead was stuck with guilt. Throughout his years he also faced the emotional toll of abuse in many ways. One way his mother did this was by no longer calling him by his name, and not referring to him as a human. Dave states in his book, “that death would be better than my prospects for any kind of happiness. I was nothing but an “it”.” Children and adolescents go through a stage where they are trying to figure out who they are. With an abusive mother who takes away your identity it would be really hard to figure out who you are and you would be confused on what roles to play. Erikson’s stages emphasize family and culture. Erikson noted that psychological conflicts, especially in childhood within families, affect people lifelong.

The loss of his brother and other family situations may have brought his predisposition to the front.

J.C. Burke’s coming of age novel The Story of Tom Brennan construes the evolving life of Tom Brennan after a tragic accident. Narrating in a first-person point of view, Tom guides the reader through the raw details of his inner conflict and finding his way back to being a better version of himself. This essay aims to analyse the author’s portrayal of mental health, internal conflict and the effects of grief, loss and tragedy that are presented through each of the characters’ troubled perspectives.

In ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’, the protagonist confronts a traumatic incident which compels him to undergo a physical relocation and sudden emotional change. The transition Tom predominantly faces is sudden as moving into the town of Coghill where he has to deal with social alienation and the horrific trauma inflicted through past events including Daniel’s anger and selfishness which hinders his physical and mentally growth and development. Tom experiences flashbacks of the ‘usual’ Australia Day with his family showing the complete paradox with what is now their reality and horror juxtaposed towards his flashback of the tragic accident of his older brother Daniel: “Running towards the car. Running into the headlights. Running into the silence of death.” The anaphora and repetition of ‘running’ highlights his emotional and physical devastation which emphasises the initial stages of the novel and negative connotations of ‘death’ assumes the setting. As a result of the crisis, Tom responds rather opposing towards transferring to a new setting of Coghill. Depressing motifs are frequently implied throughout the novel to express the feeling of despair and sadness: “There aren’t words to say how black and empty pain felt. It was deeper than the

His lack of sympathy contributes to the idea that the poor discipline he receives as a child results in a poor attitude. Contrary to Tom, the neglect Chambers receives as a child leads him to become extremely self-sufficient. Twain states, “Chambers was strong beyond his years” (27). This shows that the discipline Chambers is given instills a sense of strength within him; a strength that is not provided by his

The young sisters, who know little about their father’s suffering, make fun of the hole without knowing the consequence of their action. The father is unable to intervene on his daughters’ behalf, as he sits there “face paled.” (40), till the mother orders the children to keep quiet. Apparently, his role in the family structure prevents him from expressing his emotion directly to his children. Nevertheless, after a visit to the doctor, it turns out that the father’s internal organs are intact despite their state of severe deformation, which shows the father’s incredible determination to remain functional in his family role after his tragic loss. Ironically, the doctors “pronounced him in great health” (41), which implies that apparent defects in mental health could be suppressed by the father’s unwillingness to challenge his image as a man, thus they are not easily detectable. The father’s behavioral patterns after his father’s death are in accordance to many stereotypical views of men.

The Narrator feels suffering is something we cannot control and is ridiculous to cry over as she

The first passage reveals the parallel suffering occurring in the lives of different members of the family, which emphasizes the echoes between the sufferings of the father and the narrator. The narrator’s father’s despair over having watched

“I saw them in Santa Barbara when they came back, and I thought I’d never seen a girl so mad about her husband. If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily, and say: “Where’s Tom gone?” and wear the most abstracted expression until she saw him coming in the door. She used to sit on the sand with his head in her lap by the hour, rubbing her fingers over his eyes and looking at him with unfathomable delight. It was touching to see them together — it made you laugh in a hushed, fascinated way. That was in August. A week after I left Santa Barbara Tom ran into a wagon on the Ventura road one night, and ripped a front wheel off his car. The girl who was with him got into the papers, too, because her arm was broken

Tom was still on the couch, the light from the television illuminating his pale, tear-stained face. He lay on his side, his body pulled into the fetal position with his hands tucked between his thighs and his lackluster eyes staring blankly at the flickering screen. He was the very picture of wretchedness; a lost soul whose life was a litany of physical pain and psychological suffering.

A stillness settled around them, all the hospital sounds fading into the background as the enormity of Tom’s admission finally hit home. The dark-haired officer rose to his feet, his movements slow and clumsy. But as a surge of adrenaline secreted into his system, his eyes darted wildly around him and the sudden need to escape the close confines of the room overwhelmed him. “I can’t...I...I’ve gotta go!” he blurted out, and spinning around, he stumbled out the door, hot blinding tears blurring his

He was used to live in his brother’s shadow, but when the boat accident happened to them, he was the only one to survive. As he was always indentifying himself the less important one, he considered it was wrong that he was the one who would still have a life. As a result of nervous breakdown, he tried to kill himself with cutting his wrists in the bathroom, fortunately his father found out and save him. Then he went to the psychiatric for four months. When he comes back, there are still issues he needs to deal with.

Besides, the writer captures a transformation of himself in the instance where he fails to connect with his brother by either visiting him in prison or even writing to him. The above shows the manner in which he had a non-accommodative personality

Tom’s reading, along with his vast sense of imagination, is probably the greatest influence on his behavior. When prompted with a dilemma, he recalls to a similar situation

My eyes drifted around the room before settling on the tea, now lukewarm in my hands. Maudie’s nonchalant face came to mind, and her firm, strong voice commanding Jean Louise and I back into the kitchen played in my head. The sudden news of Tom’s death had upset her, but she revealed nothing as such. She said to Jean Louise to stop her shaking and instructed me to control myself. Maudie maintained her composure, and assisted in upholding mine. I wondered how she had done it, but nevertheless I was grateful.