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Changing Faces by Billy Sayers
Beliefs and love should always be two emotions that a person should confide in and stick with all through life through thick and thin. Love should be forever. In John Gardner's "Redemption", two of the main characters, Dale and Jack Hawthorne turn there back on God and their family. Does it take a drastic event or a change in heart to turn a person's back on something they believe in or someone they love? Or should a person change their beliefs as they mature through life?
With a death of a family member, a family should stay strong and unite, not fall apart and abandon each other. In the story "Redemption", the son of Dale Hawthorne, David, dies in a freak farming accident. Dale immediately shifts the blame to others in the family. Dale, the father figure who should stay strong and stable for everyone during a crisis does not. He, instead backs down from the problem at hand and runs away like a fugitive from the law. He is gone for an extended period of time, chasing after "unfaithful farm wives", and leaving his family without a father figure and the overbearing work load. The reader must realize Dale is running away from the stress. He must have thoughts of hating Jack for killing David, even though he blamed his own "unwisdom". But, should a father put one child in front of the other even though he could not "consciously hate his own son"? Dale must understand that Jack has enough grief with the mental image of a cultipacker that he controlled ripping every inch of his brother's body apart. A person can't get that out of his mind and it will haunt him forever. To Jack, he thought of himself as "his brother's murderer", but was he really the murderer?
With the mental image of David's death in Jack's mind, he must carry a big emotional package, the thought of his family isolating him away from them hurts him. He has created his own mental prison due to the event of the death of his brother. He thought that "he was incapable of love" and "bad and evil", just because a freak accident caused his brother's death. These thoughts would rush through his mind as he would drive the farm machinery around like he had on that "clear, blue day in April". His life used to be simple and easy with no worries, but one tragic event, as quick as a flash of lighting can really change someone's life, causing depression and hatred towards oneself like it did in David's case.
In the case of the story "Redemption", many characters including Dale and Jack both turn there back on the one thing they should rely on in a crisis; GOD. Having faith in God is one thing that can help anybody through any crisis. Was this the smart thing to do in the situation of a death? Not to the reader, but to the characters it was. Dale is the first one to go against his faith. "So far his belief held firm", but as the days passed "Dale's mind swung violently" to "savage, black-hearted atheism". This was when he had "rage at God's injustice" or he even went as far as to "doubt His existence". How could someone change so quickly? Jack on the other hand was slower to turn away from his faith in God. He would draw himself away from his family in little ways like, not saying prayer, which would prove to elude his faith from God.
Was it right for the death of David to turn into a family dividing event? The family should have stayed strong and formed a unique bond that would have comforted everybody. Casting out family members was not the smart thing to do. As a unit they would have survived with no disappointments, except for the loss of David. As one they would been strong, divided they lost each other to lean on. They are forced to deal with their own emotions, and in a time of need they aren't ready for that. The character should also keep their belief in God firm. Without him guiding you through life, a person is like a lost puppy searching for home with no sense of direction. God is the leash in the story that could bring the characters back to reality and back together and help them through the tragic event.
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