Mental Health In J. C. Burke's The Story Of Tom Brennan

‘The back page of the Billi Weekly ran a photo of me throwing a dive pass to Daniel’ (p. 120)

When disaster strikes, two responses exist: lose hope, or find an inner strength to rise above. “Werner” is an essay where the author, Jo Ann Beard, presents the idea of rediscovering yourself, rebuilding a life after loss, and rising above adversity. Werner, Beard’s main character, finds that the only way to truly move on after a tragedy is to take a leap into what is unfamiliar. After a fire burns down everything Werner has, he is forced to grow and become a new man, leaving his old life behind. Throughout the essay, Beard illustrates a man who faces challenges to his sense of self, and who sequentially must change and become someone new to find who he is again. Beard’s use of the third person, candid diction, and conflict resolution compose an elaborate work that focuses on the concept of becoming a new and better person after a traumatic event.

The author’s melancholic, yet, optimistic tone expresses his resolve to forgive his father. Bragg’s harrowing, but coveted recollections of the past paint a far-flung, yet hopeful chance of remission:

This powerful characteristic that transitional phases possess have the potential to be a rewarding experience, as they provide an individual with the opportunity for growth and knowledge development through newfound relationships. In ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’, Tom exhibits this through his bond with Chrissy following the dark trauma he endures caused by his brother Daniel. Initially, Tom feels detached from his own identity as he refers to himself in third person “I missed…simple Tom Brennan”, emphasising his deteriorated mental state. However, the relationship he forms with Chrissy is instrumental in his recovery as he begins to find himself again. His passionate tone in “Today I kissed Chrissy Tulake, I felt like Tom Brennan” epitomizes how this bond empowers him to assert a stronger sense of personal identity. Burke, therefore, is able to reveal how transitional

As the novel begins, Tom has a completely independent outlook on life; concerned only with returning home from prison to indulge his own comforts and wants. It is only later after he has endured the hardships of the journey, in Jim Casy’s death, and his own exile, that he has time to think and realizes that it is united we stand, and divided we fall. He thus sacrifices his personal concerns and safety and leaves the family to go out into the larger community and help his people. He will go out and work to complete what Jim Casy had started. Whereas Jim Casy was too much of an idealist, Tom will try and put his plan into action: “Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there.” (537)

As the novel progresses, Tom transforms from this selfish nature to become a caring person. Several examples of this transformation are seen throughout various chapters. When the Joads are traveling west to California with the Wilson’s, Tom offers to help them when their car breaks down. “Tom said nervously, ‘Look Al. I done my time, an’ now it’s done… Let’s jus’ try an’ get a con-rod an’ the hell with the res’ of it.’” Tom is showing a little more care for other people’s problems, however, he still has a selfish side because he still does not regret killing a man. He knew he had to pay for it by going to prison, but he still believes he did nothing wrong by taking a man’s life. By offering to help out with the Wilson’s’ car, he is on his way to becoming a less selfish person. As the book draws to a close, Tom stumbles upon Jim Casy again, who is murdered in front of his own eyes. As a result, he is thrown into a silent rage and kills another man which causes him to hide in the forest. He realizes that he is a danger to his family, so he sacrifices his safety in order for his family to be safe. ‘“Ya can’t do that, Ma. I tell you I’m jus’ a danger to ya,”’ (391). There is a clear transition from Tom acting selfish at the beginning of the book to him acting completely selfless at the end. This selflessness also contributed to him being a figure committed to bettering the

This shows the reader that Tom still believes in his own violent system of justice. Instead of coming up with a peaceful way to leave, Tom immediately thinks of a violent way to stop the police even if it might lead to him going to jail. Tom until the near end of the novel is a very violent and careless person.

“The Swimmer,” a short fiction by John Cheever, presents a theme to the reader about the unavoidable changes of life. The story focuses on the round character by the name of Neddy Merrill who is in extreme denial about the reality of his life. He has lost his youth, wealth, and family yet only at the end of the story does he develop the most by experiencing a glimpse of realization on all that he has indeed lost. In the short story “The Swimmer,” John Cheever uses point of view, setting and symbolism to show the value of true relationships and the moments of life that are taken for granted.

Tom never does anything without doing it to the fullest, good or bad. Tom has an overall extremely short temper, assertive,confident and aggressive nature. Tom’s wild, emotional, and uncaring attitude end up getting three people killed. Tom in the end is ultimately concerned with himself and his lavished ,intense, and high paced

Throughout the novel “The Story Of Tom Brennan” Burke cleverly employs an enormous amount of changes as a result of one tragic event. The event involves

Facing transitions and dealing with dramatic change has a influencing aspect on family and personal relationships, through the text we see the dynamics of relationships and roles of family shift to meet the needs of each individual as they face the challenge of moving in to the world before them. the manner in which the various members of the Brennan family relate to each other, as well as the horrible

Tom had a double role in the play as both the narrator and a main character that lived through a recollection of what life was like living with his mother and sister before he abandoned them to seek adventure. Tom’s behavior in the play could lead to question if his memory is truly accurate. SparkNotes comments, “…But at the same time, he demonstrates real and sometimes juvenile emotions as he takes part in the play’s action. This duality can frustrate our understanding of Tom, as it is hard to decide whether he is a character whose assessments should be trusted or one who allows his emotions to affect his judgment” (SparkNotes.com). Through his behavior a person is reminded that memory can be flawed by emotions or time elapsing, this would need to be taken into account when analysis of such a character is done. Tom is full of contradictions as he reads literature, writes poetry, and dreams of an escape; however he also felt bound by duty to his sister and mother. Another contradiction was that while he professed to care about his sister as seen in his ending comments in the play, “…I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!...” (Williams), Tom never went back to reconnect with his sister. This could be because of the great shame he felt for abandoning his sister or because of another reason. He stated that he had been in several cities over the years but never speaks of going back to St. Louis, making it unclear if he

The author continuously characterizes Tom Walker in a way that makes the readers pity and resent him to not want to follow the example of his life. For example, after Tom's wife takes all their valuables and tries to strike a bargain with the devil when Tom wouldn’t do it himself, he goes looking for her in the woods. Irving shows just how little Tom cared about his wife when he describes his reaction to her disappearance and death. He is more concerned about the safety of his silverware, which she had taken with her. "He leaped with joy; for he recognized his wife's apron, and supposed it to contain the household valuables.” That shows that he is really greedy and ruthless. However, Tom shows no remorse for his dead wife and has evidence that shows that his wife had beaten up even the

At the onset of the book, Young Tom has just been released from prison and is interested in making up for lost time and enjoying himself. He is a strong family support during the journey but is among the first to begin reaching out to a larger family. At the end he has focused on the plight and abuse of all the homeless farmers and recognizes that they must

The reader receives the impression that Nick’s self analysis of his own character tries to influence their opinion of him. Therefore the reader becomes inclined to question his judgements. Nick Carraway’s narration takes the reader into his confidence; he describes significant experiences in an almost voyeuristic way. Nicks narrative style uses elaborate and very mature vocabulary that gives extra depth and description to his account; drawing the reader further into the story. Additionally Nick’s tone creates a sense of authority and immediacy which encourages the reader to read on.