George was that cruel neighbor, he beat his wife and children regularly and did not take proper care of his house. One day his wife dies (though everyone believes George killed her) and he goes on to be a very lonely man. During the rest of the story he turns to drinking, other women, beating his daughter more brutally and converting his house into a whorehouse. His daughter is presented as a happy girl that strives because of the beatings. We can prove this when the boy mentions: "... but the daughter, Dolly, thrived on it. She grew fatter and fatter, and giggled more and more every year". Near the end of the story George marries off his daughter and the author reveals her true sadness behind her giggles. Also, George ends up dying alone and forgotten.
Violence and loneliness are the most important topics in this story. George used violence when he beat his family in order to feel strong and in control. When his wife died (because he probably beat her to death) George felt guilty and regretful. We can see this when the boy says:" George was very sad for the first few days after the funeral. He drank a lot of rum and went about crying in the streets, beating his chest and asking everybody to forgive him and to take pity on him, a poor widower".This led him to become a drunk and "womanizer" and to mistreat his daughter even more. His daughter on the other hand hid her sorrow and loneliness behind her giggles. At the end of the story we can see that both George and his daughter end up destroyed because of these two factors.
In order to not end up like these characters we must try to eliminate these factors from our life as much as possible. Since they seem to be inevitable in our society we must search for help as soon as we find ourselves involved with one of these terrible situations.
I'm agree with the two important topics you expose, violence and loneliness are the exactly words to describe this story. It's important to care about the people we have or we go to die like George, alone. That's the other point that make this story want to express, appreciate the things we have before you lose it.
ReplyDeleteSo can you can say that children are affected by the problems of them parents?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was reading I was thinking of all those poor children that suffer this kind of situation.
I like your summary it's very clear and easy to understand.llo
I also like this sentence: "Since they seem to be inevitable in our society we must search for help as soon as we find ourselves involved with one of these terrible situations."
I share with you your point of view.
Nasherine Flores
I totally agree with you when you say that violence and loneliness are the main topics of this story. I reaaaaaaaally liked that you talked about getting help because this is the reason why situations like the one from the story happens.
ReplyDelete