The Character of Billy in Drummer by Guy Vanderhaeghe Essay

"Drummer" is a story about a boy who is trying to be normal in a society full of people who like big, strong, athletic people. The people are looked at as flawless, or else they can't anything wrong. Billy is the exact opposite of what the community accepts. We are very sympathetic toward Billy in Vanderhaghe's "Drummer" because he lives in the shadow of his older brother Gene, Billy's dad won't let him do what he wants, and he takes the blame for getting Nancy home late when it was actually Genes fault. The main reason we feel sympathetic for Billy is his brother, Gene. Billy lives in the shadow of his brother. Gene is the most popular boy in school, the best athlete in the town, and the girls love him. Although Billy has good morals, takes responsibility, and is the more educated son, Gene is "God" in the eyes of the town. "Shit, last year they passed the hat around to all the big shots on the recreation board and collected the dough for one of Gene's liquor fines and give it to him on the q.t." (Vanderhaeghe, p.591). Gene went out on a date with a girl on a date on a bet. Gene lied to her to get her to go out with him. "What I do, Billy," he told me once, "is make myself believe, say... well an H-bomb went off, or that some kind of disease which only attacks women wiped out every female on the face of the earth but the one I'm talking to. That makes her the last piece of tail on the face of the earth, Billy! It's just natural then to be extra nice." (Vanderhaeghe p.593). Gene and Billy went out on a double date. Billy went on the date because he wanted to see Gene get turned down by his date. Not only did Gene get this girl to go out him...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Comparison Between Mel Gibson's Directed Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh's Directed Hamlet Essay

Comparative Essay Shaping Hamlet on the Silver ScreenTwo popular film renditions of Shakespeare s great tragedy Hamlet present us with two very different interpretations of the title role. In the first act of each we come to know Franco Zeffirelli s Hamlet, played by Mel Gibson, as authentic, believable, never exaggerated and not altogether puzzling in stark contrast, Kenneth Branagh directs and plays a Hamlet who is fantastic, larger than life, intensely tortured, and enigmatic. Arguably Zeffirelli s interpretation, taken on a purely literal level, is more true to the playwright s intent (regardless of its fairly free rearranging and cutting of lines and passages) yet for that his Hamlet is somewhat lacking in the complexity of character so central to the drama. Branagh s Hamlet, although initially less plausible, ultimately draws us in toward the real themes of the play in a much more convincing and satisfying way.The first and most immediately obvious contrast between the two films ...
Read more

Painting Genius Vincent Van Gogh Suffers Bipolar Disorder Essay

Bipolar affective disorder has been a mystery since the 16th century. History has shown that this disorder can appear in almost anyone. Even the great painter Vincent Van Gogh is believed to have had bipolar disorder. It is clear that in our society many people live with bipolar disorder however, despite the amount of people suffering from it, we are still waiting for explanations for the causes and cure. The one fact of which we are aware is that bipolar disorder severely undermines its' victims ability to obtain and maintain social and occupational success. Because bipolar disorder has such debilitating symptoms, it is important that we keep looking for explanations of its causes and for more ways to treat this disorder.Bipolar has a large variety of symptoms, divided in two categories. One is the manic episodes, the other is depressive. The depressive episodes are characterized by intense feelings of sadness and despair that can turn into feelings of hopelessness and helplessnes...
Read more

An Analysis of Bloodflowers by W. D. Valgardson Essay

1.1Plot Synopsis Summarize the story in ten sentences. 1. Danny Thorson moves to the isolated Black Island on a teaching job. 2. He spends time on the island and finds out that it is nothing but rock surrounded by water. 3. He meets Sick Jack and his daughter Adel and finds Adel very attractive he likes her a lot. 4. Mrs. Poorwilly reveals to Danny that people on the island usually die in "threes." 5. Sick Jack dies and they set him out to a sea burial. 6. Danny witnesses Michael Fairweather die in a sea-storm. 7. Marj Fairweather, Micheals mother, commits suicide from being overwhelmed with Michaels death. 8. Mr. And Mrs. Poorwilly then volunteer to take in Marj Fairweather's kids which results to Danny moving out and moving in with Adel. 9. Danny then falls in love with Adel and wants to marry her back at the mainland, off of the Island. 10. Danny tries every possible way to get Adel and him off of the island but realizes he is cursed by the Blood flowers and...
Read more