Theme analysis of 'The Outlaw' by Sinclair Ross

His mother treats him like a slave, giving him daily chores and unbelievably ruthless punishments. He has become inhuman to her as she refers to him as “It.” The only hope of survival relies on his dad, in God, or in a miracle. His story promotes the courageous human spirit and the determinate to survive.

Conflict was used effectively in the short story to reveal the theme of the story. The boy has an internal conflict about which parent to stay with, and because his father left, he seemed to have favored him. He wanted him back so badly that every night, he watches him on the six o’clock news while wearing his old jackets. He was blinded by his father’s sudden departure that he forgot about what is really important. Additionally, another development in the short story’s conflict has been used effectively to reveal the theme. When the boy went to Macdonald’s to see his father’s true colors, he thought: “I finished my drink quickly, thankful that he had to be back in the studio for the news.” By the time he saw his dad for the first time in a while, he knew he was not the man he thought he was. At that moment, he also realized that he lost sight of what he had all this time: His mother’s unconditional love. If it wasn’t for the characterization of

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, is a realistic story that deeply discusses issues involved with the 1930’s that still resonate today. The struggles of life are evident within the believable characters of Maycomb County which is a microcosm, reflective of universal issues. Along with the authentic characters, setting and style also helps to convey Lee’s controversial notions of racial and gender prejudice, and persecution of the innocent, discussing many other ideas within.

Parenting played a big role in shaping the two boys lives. Having a parental mentor is important because they assist and guide children to take the right decisions about their lives. The author had his two parents at the beginning of his life. Also, the author’s parents, especially his mother, tried to raise him in an effective way wanting him to know the right from wrong at an early age. “No mommy loves you, like I love you, she just wants you to do the right thing” (Moore 11). This quote was a live example of the author’s life with his parents. It reflected the different ways his parents used to teach him “the right thing.” Though his mother was upset from his action toward his sister, his father

The boy is very warm-hearted and appears to struggle to understand that danger could occur at any moment, whilst his father knows a lot more about what some people, “the bad guys”, do in order to survive. It could be seen that the child is very naive and therefore trusts others more than his father. However his trust in others teaches his father a valuable lesson; that not everyone is a “bad guy”. For instance when the pair come across Ely, the father is wary about him but his son is adamant that they give him a tin of food. This shows to readers that the boy has faith unlike his father. Another example is when the son sees the little boy; he begs his father to go back and help him and asks if he can go with them. I believe that he wants to help others as

The transition of the boy’s opinion of his father (from exasperation at his carelessness to admiration of his free spirit) reflects a relaxation of the boy’s severity and of the story’s serious tone. Initially, the writer uses clipped phrasing during the son’s dialogue with his father – such as the blunt “I guess” (1) and the lack of the playful response “Right, doctor” (1) – to create an

He began again to daze off staring at the fire and imagining the hairy man crouched down in the summer sun. The Call of the Wild written by Jack London is an adventure book that follows the life of a once tamed dog known as Buck to a dog that has retrogressed to a more primitive state during the Yukon Gold Rush. Buck who eventually answered the call of the wild had to go through many difficulties to get there.The theme power of the primitive is reinforced by the retrogression of a dog despite the love of mankind.

His wife’s family dislikes him, and even, “He wouldn’t like a guy like himself” (Casares 97). The guy is a walking failure. Through Jesse’s failings, he creates a machismo persona that entails him to be tough on the outside, but emotionally vulnerable on the inside. Furthermore, Jesse extends his prideful behavior to Little Jesse, so that his son doesn’t become a failure like his father. He wants his son to be tough so society will accept him. However, Jesse believes his son’s physical condition is what’s causing the two of them to be public failures. Jesse gets arrested by police after his brawl at the carnival, which breaks his pride. While Jesse is led out by police (handcuffed), the surrounding crowd publicly humiliates him. He even walks strangely as he lost his shoe during the altercation. Thus, he learns what it must feel like to be in his son’s footsteps. The humility his son must continuously endure because of his disablement. Instead of acting tough or defending himself to the surrounding public he just, “lets them keep laughing.” He embraces the humility so he can learn to, “grow up already and stop acting like he’s eighteen” (Casares 113). Through his own understanding of humiliation, Jesse can learn how to be a better man to his

When they are leaving, the boy’s mother waves but the boy “like Lars, simply [lifts] his hand” (1). He follows Lars’s actions and suppresses his fear indicated by his fidgets. At the same time, the boy understands his father’s urge to create an exciting hunting experience for him, but “when they [turn] back for camp, the boy [feels] only relief” (16) because he does not need to pretend anymore. This means that he suppresses his real emotions when his father feels the frustration of finding no prey in order to meet his father’s expectations of a good hunter. Therefore, he conforms to the expectations of the adults by concealing his feelings and faking his

Boy realizes what he is guilty of and what he repressed for so many years. Boy

The teenagers realize they are still children, who still need to grow up and still need their moms and dads. The narrator makes it very clear at the end of the story that the boys have realized that they are not really ready for the real world, and that they still have a lot of growing up to do. “I wanted to get out of the car and retch; I wanted to go home to my parents’ house and crawl into bed” (128).

Mattie Ross shows maturation through her bravery to look for her father in the dangerous country of the wild west. She does not fear of what everyone else would fear of, such as murderers or robbers. Mattie shows this bravery when saying “People do not give it credence that a fourteen year old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood.” (Portis, 1). In this quote Mattie Ross speaks of how she is young to be doing what she is doing. It is very dangerous out

The boy and the father have strong morals demonstrating a high level of authenticity, especially in a world where morality is extremely uncommon. To be ‘authentic’ means to genuinely be yourself. Although, as presented by Existentialism, one cannot be their true self until one has defined themselves. First, one must create their authentic selves, then they must live according to that (Varga). The father and the boy have strong principles to do what is right, even when their fellow survivors have completely abandoned morality altogether. At times, the father struggles with following said principles, however, he then justifies his actions which are purely for the safety of his son. This depicts that the father will do anything and everything to assure that the boy lives. The father expresses that “He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke” (5). When a man holds a knife to the son's neck, the father does not hesitate to kill him. Although this is

The boy who travels with his father finds purpose to survive in believing that they will one day find the good guys. In this he believes that they themselves carry the torch of being the good guys and finds hope in that. Throughout the novel, the boy expresses his heart for helping others several times when he gives an old scraggly man on the road a can of peaches, pleading to help a man who got struck by lightning, and by being worried about a boy who was alone they had passed on the road. The boy evidently through his actions expresses a need to help others. When the boy spotted another little boy from the road, he ran over to where he had seen him and searched for him. When the Father saw that the boy ran off, he grabbed the boy by the arm and said “‘Come on. There’s no one to see. Do you want to die? Is that what you want?’” Sobbing, the boy replied, “I don’t care, I don’t care” (85). The boy sees the little boy as alone with nothing and he feels like it is his responsibility to his own

However, his words are a key element to the story because they reflect valuable lessons that the children may need for future reference. The narrator wants to save the children from heartache and disappointment; however he fails to realize that all children must experience these emotions for themselves in order to become mature. As the narrator stares into the lives of the children, it seems as though he is reliving his own life. His