Ralph the Duck - 1646 Words

ï ¿ ½PAGE ï ¿ ½ Wilson ï ¿ ½ PAGE ï ¿ ½1ï ¿ ½ R E N E W A L Vomit. Its neither pretty to see nor pretty to clean up. Ralph the Duck begins with the retching sound of the narrators golden retriever being sick on the carpet . As the narrator, who goes unnamed throughout the whole story, carries seventy-five pounds of heaving golden retriever to the door and pours him onto the silver, moonlit snow (1), he thinks to himself, He loved what made him sick (2). We learn the dog vomits because he has been eating the rotting carcass of a deer, which he continues to go back to, night after night. Through the dog we see the correlation to the narrators current destructive lifestyle. Like the dog, the narrator shows an apparent lack of concern for his own†¦show more content†¦The narrators thoughts when he is around the professor also show that he is often reminded of the Vietnam stereotype. For instance, the narrator thinks, Slick characters like my professor like it if youre a killer or at least a onetime middleweight fighter (8). Another example of the narrator making fun of the Vietnam stereotype is when he thinks, I figured I should have come to work wearing my fatigue jacket and a red bandana around my head. Say Man to him a couple of times, hang a fist in the air for grief and solidarity, and look terribly worn, exhausted by experiences he was fairly certain he envied me (44). One night the narrator encounters a red-haired girl standing in the snow without any shoes on, in just a bathrobe. She is clearly distraught and claims that He doesnt love anyone†¦his ex-wife, or the one before that†¦and he doesnt love me (11). The narrator takes her to the deans house and thinks that she is beautiful and she was someones red-haired daughter, standing in a quadrangle how many miles from home weeping (10). The girl reminds the narrator of the daughter he once had. Evidence of this when the narrator thinks, I thought of her as someones child, which made me think of ours, of course (21). He suspects that the girl is having an affair with his professor after noticing that she shows up at the professors office and the professor calls her his advisee with a sly grin. After witnessing this he calls inShow MoreRelatedComparing the Similarity in Themes in Alex Garlands The Beach and William Goldings Lord of the Flies1412 Words   |  6 Pagesincreasingly isolated a s the plot progresses. Similarly in Lord of the Flies, Simon begins as a respected member of the community and is selected by Ralph, the leader, to accompany him exploring. However, as the novel develops, Simon becomes gradually more isolated, until many hardly notice he no longer spent time with them. Ralph says of him, Hes queer. Hes funny Lord of the Flies He is isolated from the group mentally and physically, for, in his mind he believesRead More Lord of the Flies Essay1591 Words   |  7 Pagesinhabitants. Young boys were probably chosen because they would have had less time to be moulded by society, and their individual characteristics would be more prominent. The first two characters to appear are Piggy and Ralph. They are both probably about twelve years old. Ralph is an attractive boy, built like a boxer. His name, Anglo-Saxon in origin, means counsel. He, along with Piggy, depicts the struggle for order and democracy. 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