In the short story "Traplines" the writer, Eden Robinson, shows the internal conflict the main character, Will, has trouble in finding his true identity by showing his relationships with the Smythe's, his family, and his friends. Throughout the story, the Smythe's seem to be some sort of safe place for Will, yet he cannot be true to himself if he were to stay there. Will is afraid of what others, his friends in this case, might say about living with his white teacher, Mrs. Smythe. "I didn't want to spend the night at my eglish teacher's house. Tony and Craig would never shut up" (Robinson, 13) Of course Will would be much safer and happier living with the Smythe's, but as he is trying to find his place, he could not bear to have his group of friends judge his decisions and possibly shun him. Will is afraid the Smythe's might find out what happens in his home and take action. "'Why'd you lie?' he said quietly. We were alone in the kitchen. I swallowed. He was a lot bigger than me. When he reached over, I put my hands up and covered my face. He stopped, then took the phone out of my hands. 'It's okay,' he said. 'I won't hurt you. It's okay.'" (Robinson, 13) Will reacting this way shows he is afraid that Mr.Smythe might hurt him. This might have raised some suspision. Of course, Will does not like his brother, and we are not fully sure on how he feels about his parents, so we can assume he would not want to give his family problems. If his parents found out, Will
When they got home they found a note on the door that read “I know you have escaped and I know where you live, even if you leave the city I will find you.” These people are serious, Will was really scared. The started preparing for whatever comes next. Captain Tory was hiding something from Will, because we knew who was on the schooner, but Will was blind to who it was. It was Captain Tory’s son and daughter-in-law. They just did not know how to write a proper message. Tory never told
From the book Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, Will Tweedy is the novel’s narrator and protagonist. Throughout narrating the novel, Will Tweedy experiences many feelings towards actions of other people or people. However, one character trait that most describes Will is good-hearted. Throughout the novel, Will sees many things happening that are new to him, things that he has never experienced before. For example, after 3 weeks of his grandmother, Granny Blakeslee dying his grandfather, Grandpa Blakeslee announces to Will Tweedy, Mary Wills (Will’s mother) and Aunt Loma (Will’s Aunt) that he has decided to marry Miss Love Simpson. Miss Love is a milliner that works at Grandpa Blakeslee’s store. When both Will’s mother and aunt heard about what Grandpa Blakeslee said, both had disapproved their father’s action. However, Will thought it was a good idea and supported his new marriage. After Granny Blakeslee had died, Will saw that his Grandfather couldn’t do things by
Will did not know what he wanted to do with his life and did not think that he was good enough for anything outside of South Boston.
If the story is viewed through a lens in which Will is of Native descent, the feeling of being restricted within one’s self does not only have an impact of his sense of self-identity, but on other people’s perception of him as well. The text states, “When he [Mr. Smythe] reached over, I put my hands up and covered my face. He stopped, then took the phone out of my hands. ‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘I won’t hurt you.
Overall, Will has had a troubling life, never feeling like he actually belonged. He was afraid to be smart and at the same time afraid to not be. The physical and mental abuse he suffered at the hands of those who are supposed to protect him, definitely scared him
Will uses anger, denial, and sarcasm as defense mechanisms to push people away from him. He told people that he did not have a problem and that they were the ones with the problem. He used
His presenting self was the safeguard to his private self. Will was very much aware of his gift and his enormous potential but shunned it like some burden, or at least that's what he wanted others to believe. He often told Sean Maguire, his shrink with whom he had developed a bond, that his gift was something he didn't ask for, and he'd be perfectly fine working an honorable blue-collar job with his buddies. Despite his assertion regarding his gift as an aggravation Will's actions contradict, for he is asked why he just so happened to get a custodial job in the world's foremost institute for technology, M.I.T if he wanted nothing to do with his genius. Maguire sees behind Will's visage, he realizes Will is a wounded soul who really knows nothing about life for he hasn't experienced it, it is so much more that what he read in a book. It is hard to say what Will should have done for he had a difficult past one that most cannot relate too, or have any idea what it may be like to live it. However, If Will had been a little more open to the people who wanted to love him he would have been much happier. In his quest to never be hurt he was headed for a life where he would never be loved. His thoughts were becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy; where one's expectations of an event make that event more likely to occur (Adler, 65). Had Will been honest with himself and more willing
Through guilt, Will wants to make his point clear that he should not taunt his friend. “Were you going to plagiarize the whole thing for us?” he says, the confidence in his words growing. “Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter?” He wants to make sure that Clark knows where his place is, and that his attempt to put down his friend, Chuckie, was not justified. “...you come into a bar, you read some obscure passage, and then pretend, you pawn it off as your own, as your own idea just to impress some girl and embarrass my friend?” his voice softens as he asks. With this question, Will brings his own emotions and ethics to light. At this point in the conversation, it is assumed that Clark feels the most guilty. The entirety of his plan is splayed in front of everyone, making them aware of his scheme. Clark doesn’t come to the bar to converse with friends-- he comes to the bar to glorify his image for women to see and for men to cower
During the Depression, many people were worried about what was going on in Washington. When Will pointed out some politican who said one thing and did another, or criticized some program in Washington he didn't approve of, he'd disquise his criticism behind a joke so as not to offend. But Will would also get straight to the heart of the matter, letting the American people know that he thought just as they did.
Will is defensive towards everyone he comes in contact with. He experiences incongruence with his cockiness of being smarter than most but he doesn't feel he deserves better than living as a nobody.
Though the film fails to delve into the specifics of his childhood, it does become evident that Will bounced between foster homes and was often a victim to physical and emotional abuse. These childhood factors play a huge role in behavior as an adult. A recent study concluded that, “Toxic childhood stress alters neural responses to stress, boosting the emotional and physical arousal to threat, and making it more difficult for that reaction to be shut off” (LaBier). An inability to rationalize and control emotions and responses after abuse would indeed be seen as true in this film. This can be seen in the numerous fistfights Will found himself in. Despite the fact that Will could typically weasel his way out of convictions, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer. His conviction would turn out to be life altering. When Professor Gerald Lambeau saw potential in Will, he was offered a life that could include more than beers with friends and janitorial work. The arrangement Lambeau worked out
After a difficult start, Sean concludes that Will's defensiveness is the result of years of physical and emotional abuse, (as well as intense isolation), and that his hostile, sarcastic, and evasive behaviors are all defense mechanisms. The two work together to break through Will's considerable barriers, using a certain type of psychotherapy, and to get at the heart of the problem, dealing with Will's complex emotions. The two begin to relate to each other more, with Sean telling Will about his past and his happiness with his now
For example, when confronting an old foster home “Friend”, by the name of Carmine, Will unleashed an onslaught of punches, which lead to Will Knocking out Carmine then being arrested for assault by the local cops. When Will saw his old friend, memories of the abuse that his foster family gave him sprang onto Will’s head and triggered his mind to give some payback for everything that he experienced as an abused kid in the foster home. Not only that but his mood drastically changed from the moments prior to seeing Carmine. Before seeing Carmine, Will was planning to have a good time with his friends at a baseball game, But that changed as he saw Carmine at the game as well. Once he saw Carmine, Will was determined to beat Carmine up, as carmine did to him when he was a kid. Clearly in the movie, Will is a mathematical genius, as he was able to solve the problem that Professor Lambeau wrote on the chalkboard outside his room. However when Lambeau confronted Will, after he found out who solved the problem, Will ran away from the professor instead of being congratulated for his success in solving the problem. A valid reason why Will did not accept the praise from the professor was because he had a negative self-image of himself. To understand what a negative self-image is, it is important to know what the term self-image means. Karl Perera, from the website, More-selfesteem.com defines the term self-image as, “ how you see yourself. This may be how you see yourself physically or your opinion of who and what you are which is normally called self concept. It is important as it
Will is afraid of what others, his friends, in this case, might say about living with his white teacher, Mrs. Smythe.
In his last therapy session, Will reveals to Sean that he was beaten as a child. As a result, he has a tough time believing that he is capable of achievement in life. Children who endure such hardships can feel unworthy and not have a desire to succeed in life. Will also has a tough time accepting love. When Skylar, his girlfriend asks him to go to California with her, he chokes her. Shortly after, he breaks up with her. This most likely resembles Cluster C avoidant personality disorder. Avoidant personality disorder occurs when people have feelings of insufficiency and are extremely sensitive to rejection. Connors wrote, “Specifically, individuals with an avoidant attachment style who have been rebuffed by caregivers in childhood will be defensively constricted and unable to love in adulthood” (475). Will did not feel like he was capable of being loved and feared being rejected, so he ended things with Skylar. It wasn’t until he was court ordered to see a psychiatrist that he began to value himself.