Billy vs. Jane The Collective Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje and Jane (a murder) by Maggie Nelson, are two works of literature with a unique story line. Although the books are very different, after comparing and contrasting the two, one is able to find similarities between the two books. The Collective Works of Billy the Kid depicts the last year of the famous outlaw’s life. Michal Ondaatje tells the story using a series of pictures that move the reader to the final confrontation of Billy’s life. Jane (a murder) tells the story of the life and death of Maggie Nelson’s aunt Jane. Jane was murdered in 1969 while attending University of Michigan; her murder was unsolved. Jane takes the reader through the emotional journey of the unsolved …show more content…
In the Collective Works of Billy the Kid Ondaatje uses pictures and historical facts which he then combines with his own thoughts and puts into prose to tell of Billy the Kid. For example, "From the head there'd be a trail of vertebrae like a row of pearl buttons off a rich coat down to the pelvis….And a pair of handcuffs holding ridiculously the fine ankle bones”. Describing what it would have been like to be at Billy’s funeral, Ondaatje takes historic accounts of his death and puts it into prose form to describe the scene. In Jane (a murder) Maggie Nelson uses passages from her aunt’s diary in order to further explain what here aunt was like while she was still alive. To further tell the story of her aunt she combines the journal entries with her own thoughts written in prose, to tell the complete story. “I can become a very tragic figure in my own mind if I don’t make an effort to be gay. Treating things lightly is indeed the answer to so much” wrote Jane (107). The following passage after this journal entry is the talk of her funeral and how it was an open
Most people think of education as only happening in a school but there are many different ways to get an education. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain, a young boy named Huckleberry Finn finds adventure and learns lessons along the Mississippi river with A runaway slave, Jim. Huck's unorthodox education is given to Huck by four different people: Pap, the King and the Duke, and Jim.
Do you think billy the kid (Henry McCarty Jr.) took a stand?Most people wouldn't think he does because he kills and he robs places. But that’s why because people don't see the good side of him like how he stood up for his boss or how when he stole butter as a kid he did it for his city. Billy the Kid moved to Arizona briefly before joining up with a gang of gunfighters called The Boys to fight in the Lincoln County War. Known as “The Kid” Billy switched to the opposition to fight with John Tunstall under the name “The Regulators”. Barely escaping with his life, McCarty became an outlaw and a fugitive. He died on July 14th, 1881 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. He was born November 23, 1859, in New York City. Billy the kid had sandy blond hair and blue eyes and wore a signature sugar-loaf sombrero hat with a wide decorative band. He could be charming and polite one moment, then outraged and violent the next, a quixotic nature, he used to great effect during his heists and robberies.”
In the short story “Where Have You Gone Charming Billy?” by Tim O’Brien, Paul faces the task of being in the Vietnam war, which brings out his fearful character. One example of this fright inside of Paul is when he says that, “He did not want to move. But he was afraid, for it was his first night at the war” (1). Paul does not want to move, but his fear of being left alone at war springs him up and into line behind his comrades. Another example of Paul’s terror is when he is thinking of all the things he will tell his mom about the war, like the smell and the leeches as big as mice, “But he would not tell how frightened he had been” (1). This shows that not only does Paul have this fear, but that he also is ashamed of it. The last example of
Another question to ask is this, why would the townspeople give Pat Garrett the reward money for killing Billy the Kid if Garrett could not prove the dead man was Billy the Kid? Conspirators claim that no one actually saw the body besides the four men, but according to Bell (1999) “We asked permission to remove the body,’ Jesus Silva said, ‘Pete Maxwell suggesting removal to the old carpenter shop. We laid the body on the carpenter’s bench and placed lighted candles around the corpse.” This statement proves that Jesus Silva also saw the dead body of Billy the Kid. Later, Bell claims that “And consequently a large number of Billy’s friends were gathered at the wake. Everyone’s grief at the Kid’s death was genuine and sincere.” Billy the Kid was buried and a funeral
Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is based on a young boy's coming of age in Missouri in the mid-1800s. The adventures Huck Finn gets into while floating down the Mississippi River depict many serious issues that occur on the shores of civilization, better known as society. As these events following the Civil War are told through the young eyes of Huckleberry Finn, he unknowingly develops morally from the influences surrounding him on his journey to freedom and in the end, becomes a mature individual.
The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between
In the novel The Lovely Bones written by Alice Sebold, describes the story of a teenage girl Susie Salmon, who after being raped and murdered, “watches from her personal heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on.” This essay will discuss how the loss of Susie affects the Salmon family, how the loss of Susie affects Abigail Salmon specifically and the author’s purpose of the idea of loss in the novel.
My topic is Billy the kid. He had blue eyes, he was small and skinny, and he had small girlish hands. He was born in New York or Indiana; no one is positive on which one it is, in about 1859. In his time, he had killed 9 people, that we know of, and now people speculate how many he actually killed, some people think it was 21 people, one person for every year he was alive. Although Billy the Kid is a solved mystery one suspect has been established including his different names, including William Henry Bonney, Billy, and The Kid.
Mark Twain once said, "We are creatures of outside influences -- we originate nothing within. Whenever we take a new line of thought and drift into a new line of belief and action, the impulse is always suggested from the outside." In the memoir This Boy’s Life, by Tobias Wolff Jack shows that he is a creature of outside influence. Some examples of this are that he copies what his friends do, he doesn't try to shape his own life, and he is heavily influenced by the male figures in his life.
Finally, the reader is introduced to the character around whom the story is centered, the accursed murderess, Mrs. Wright. She is depicted to be a person of great life and vitality in her younger years, yet her life as Mrs. Wright is portrayed as one of grim sameness, maintaining a humorless daily grind, devoid of life as one regards it in a normal social sense. Although it is clear to the reader that Mrs. Wright is indeed the culprit, she is portrayed sympathetically because of that very lack of normalcy in her daily routine. Where she was once a girl of fun and laughter, it is clear that over the years she has been forced into a reclusive shell by a marriage to a man who has been singularly oppressive. It is equally clear that she finally was brought to her personal breaking point, dealing with her situation in a manner that was at once final and yet inconclusive, depending on the outcome of the legal investigation. It is notable that regardless of the outcome, Mrs. Wright had finally realized a state of peace within herself, a state which had been denied her for the duration of her relationship with the deceased.
Billy the Kid is one of the most famous outlaws in American history. He has been a widely told figure in American history as well as folklore. The have made movies from his history and have also wrote many books on him. Most of Billy the Kids life remains a heated controversy throughout America.
Essay Question: “Books that engage directly with contemporary concerns and issues will always involve a reader”
John Boyne has created a sophisticated and meaningful novel in The Boy in the Striped
Billy a troubled neighborhood boy, effected Jeannette’s childhood. He was constantly trying to mess with her. One day when all the kids were out playing hide and seek Billy hid with Jeannette. He forced himself on her and said he “raped her”.
A Child Called "it" In his two novels A Child Called "it", and The Lost Boy, the author, Dave Pelzer explains about his childhood. During that time, author was a young boy from an age 3 to an age 9. David’s mother has started to call him " The Boy" and "it." The author mainly covers the relationship between his family. His main focus point is the bond between his mother and him. He describes his mother as a beautiful woman, who loves and cherished her kids , who changed from this " The Mother," who abused him because she was alcoholic and was sick. The Mother used David to take her anger out. An abusive mother who systematically closed down any escape he may have from her clutches. Shuts