Friday, September 23, 2011

Desperate

Time passes on and there is still no sign of improving circumstances for the man and his kid. All they have found on the abandoned ships are practically useless. They found a flare gun, a very ironic object to find. On regular conditions, a flare gun would have been a priceless object. They would have been able to signal someone to come to their rescue and finally end the nightmare. However, in this situation, who can you call for, the good guys, God?  They are completely alone, forsaken by anyone able to help them. There is nothing they can do and no one they can call to. All they can do is work it out unaided.
Desperation is beginning to crawl into the man as things begin to get ugly. Not only is his cough getting worse, but his son gets sick, potentially threatening his life. The feeling of complete impotence drives the man to despair, “sobbing in rage” (250) for his weak child. Fortunately he gets better, but then they encounter an even greater problem. Someone had stolen their food cart. This cart held all their food, their clothing and their shelter, and just like that it was gone. This definitely aroused the most savage and primitive instincts in the man. In his brain, all that existed was the thought “retrieve the cart at all costs”. They found the thief, and this planted one of the toughest moments between the man and his son. The man was engulfed by a sudden surge of savageness. Brutal feelings of anger and revenge completely took over his mind, and despite the kid’s desperate pleas, he pitilessly left the thief naked in the freezing cold. This he did out of utter anger and thirst for vengeance. They had retrieved their cart and the thief posed no further threat. He just needed to make the thief suffer the way he’d done to them.
The kid on the other hand is completely horrified at his father’s actions. He implored mercy for the thief, and despite the thief’s wrongdoings, he didn’t want him to die. After finally convincing his father, they walk back to give him his clothes back, but to no avail. Regardless of the man’s apologies, there is no hiding the tone of disappointment when he judgingly tells him, “But we did kill him" (260). 

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