Although I loved the writing in this story, my "wait a minute" moment was in having to believe a 9 year old would respond to accidentally shooting his brother by calmly going to pick peas rather running back to his parents crying and screaming. Sure, denial can be very powerful, but this powerful? For a 9 year old? It didn't work for me,…
Although I loved the writing in this story, my "wait a minute" moment was in having to believe a 9 year old would respond to accidentally shooting his brother by calmly going to pick peas rather running back to his parents crying and screaming. Sure, denial can be very powerful, but this powerful? For a 9 year old? It didn't work for me, so for the rest of the story this was looming large. Not the way the shooting happened but the response to it. It felt contrived.
Hi John. My reaction to Arnold going to pick peas was that he knew he’d done wrong and he was going to get into trouble so if he picked the peas while they were cold that would be one less thing to get into trouble over. The enormity of what he’d done hadn’t sunk in then, but living in an agricultural area, he knew that it was essential that the crops were picked and preserved at the right time of day to see the family through the year. Perhaps his nine year old brain thought that by picking the peas he was helping to preserve his family, even if he couldn’t save his brother? Just a thought…
Thanks for your thoughts Alison. Maybe some kids could compartmentalize that way, but I can't imagine too many. I hope not too many anyway. I find it chilling that any 9 year old could watch his brothers blood drain out of the back of his head and then calmly go pick peas for an hour. That is more serious denial than I would think possible. Run away and hide out of shock and fear maybe, but not pick peas. Oh well, I'm the only one that seemed to bother or surprise, so it's probably just me.
Although I loved the writing in this story, my "wait a minute" moment was in having to believe a 9 year old would respond to accidentally shooting his brother by calmly going to pick peas rather running back to his parents crying and screaming. Sure, denial can be very powerful, but this powerful? For a 9 year old? It didn't work for me, so for the rest of the story this was looming large. Not the way the shooting happened but the response to it. It felt contrived.
Hi John. My reaction to Arnold going to pick peas was that he knew he’d done wrong and he was going to get into trouble so if he picked the peas while they were cold that would be one less thing to get into trouble over. The enormity of what he’d done hadn’t sunk in then, but living in an agricultural area, he knew that it was essential that the crops were picked and preserved at the right time of day to see the family through the year. Perhaps his nine year old brain thought that by picking the peas he was helping to preserve his family, even if he couldn’t save his brother? Just a thought…
Thanks for your thoughts Alison. Maybe some kids could compartmentalize that way, but I can't imagine too many. I hope not too many anyway. I find it chilling that any 9 year old could watch his brothers blood drain out of the back of his head and then calmly go pick peas for an hour. That is more serious denial than I would think possible. Run away and hide out of shock and fear maybe, but not pick peas. Oh well, I'm the only one that seemed to bother or surprise, so it's probably just me.