Just like in the book Montana 1948, I would like to write to you about how human nature is explained through loyalty and justice. As we have gone to school together for seven years, I would like to show you how the faults of our human nature can be explained through what has happened in Montana 1948. Throughout the book, the faults of human nature are seen as loyalty outweighs justice as seen through Frank molesting Native American girls. His loyalty to his brother, Frank, and his prejudice towards Native Americans questions the belief of justice. He has received all his power from his parents, so it is nearly impossible for him to go against his family. However, Wes is stuck between his father, a powerful, intimidating man and his wife, …show more content…
Whatever he may do, it may be a catastrophic decision. Like us today, Wes is stuck between the past versus the present, loyalty versus justice, and the fear that takes over when the decision is finally made. Unlike in Montana 1948, we must make decisions based on our morals, justice, fearing nothing. In the book, Wes protected Frank’s immoral behaviors surrounding the Native American women by justifying that it could not happen since you could not prove anything that Frank had done. However, there was proof by the Native Americans. However, instilled by `his loyalty to his prejudice father, Julian, Wes could not trust or believe the beliefs of the Native Americans. Wes never feared the wrath of Gail, who supported the Native Americans, since the power he received came from Julian. This power that he received, the loyalty he had, was overpowering justice. Dave …show more content…
After Wes had found Frank guilty of murder, Wes decided to lock Frank up in a bathroom in the basement of Wes’s house. However, although Wes feels that he has found Frank guilty,the father of Wes, Julian, believes that Wes should not lock his brother, Frank, up. Trying to get Frank out of Wes’s basement, Julian sends his foreman in order to get Frank. However, they were not successful and Frank remained locked up in the basement. Julian and Wes were now at odds with each other. The past and the present were becoming two opposites. On one side was loyalty, and on the other was justice. Suddenly one night, the unimaginable happened when Wes,Gail,and David heard Frank smashing jars in the basement,” That’s just what he wants. No,let him get it out of his system. He’ll run out of jars eventually.”p.147 In this quote, Wes is saying that Frank wants to break the jars. For me, the jars symbolize loyalty and how the Hayden family is screwed tight to the jars, symbolizing the closeness of the family. Wes is saying that he can break the jars, since he will eventually run out of jars. The breaking of the jars in the middle of the night fears Gail, however it does nothing to Wes. Wes believes that since the jars are breaking , they have to stop symbolizing how the family is crumbling, but the crumbling in going to stop. In other words, the fear, the crumbling, will lead to change. Mark, I remember when the nurse’s son was
The only thing that the other Wes Moore saw was a jail cell. He will be on in inside looking out onto what would be a loved one. Wes had no future but the jail cell. When you are all alone in life it is easy to loose hope. When he first started off in life Wes never tried to do anything to better himself. Selling drugs and stilling were the only things that he knew
Racism is a driving force in David’s town specifically towards Native Americans. Uncle Frank is accused of raping young Indian girls who he is supposed treat medically, Wesley the town sheriff interviews Ollie Young
Everyone is affected by the environment they grow up in. Not everyone will have the same opportunities in life because of where they live. Similarly, the setting influences characters into their decisions and beliefs. The setting is a major factor in how the characters make their decisions.
I think that through these statements Wes is trying to pass the blame of his current position on the people who expected that he would be put in jail eventually and not take full responsibility for the actions that he made himself. However, I do think that these statements have held true for both of these men. In the author’s life, his mother, grandparents, and even people in positions above his at Valley Forge held high expectations for him. He eventually adapted those expectations as his own and worked hard to exceed them. Despite initial expectations of people such as police officers fearing that he would be caught disobeying the law again, he eventually lived up to the positive expectations of the people surrounding him. In the life of
Recent insufferable events in Stillwater, Oklahoma, illustrate the injustice that exists in society. Oklahoma State University hosted its annual homecoming on October 22, and during a parade, a woman who was under the influence committed a lugubrious act by driving through the crowd, killing four people and injuring forty-six. Her puerile decision to drink and drive is a decision that affects, many lives. Similar issues of identity, and critical thinking - albeit on a larger scale-- play out in Sherman Alexie’s 1995 novel Reservation Blues, which deals with decision making, and how decisions affect multiple people. For instance, Alexie, through Thomas and Robert Johnson illustrates how every decision someone makes, no matter how big or small,
Julian was a sheriff a symbol for the law. Julian doesn't like the fact that Wes turns in his own brother. He thinks he is betraying his own family. Wes affirms that “this isn't about family, this is a legal matter". Julian blatantly says "Ever since the war, ever since Frank came home, you've been jealous" straight to Wes face telling him that’s why their family is being torn apart, the family name dragged through the mud.
In the book “The Other Wes Moore,” Wes is a boy that gets in trouble way too often. For example he is in prison for life right now. It is his fault, yet he has other people to blame.Who was this to blame? His biggest inspiration is his brother, who sells drugs on a daily basis. His mother is another one to blame for. Wes himself put most of this on him.
In the novel, Montana 1948, written by Larry Watson, a story of a young boy named David and the events of a cataclysmic summer holidays are recounted. Set in the heart of North America in the 19th century, when Native Americans were considered B class citizens and persecution was inevitable ever since the Europeans first arrived on the continent. David matures in a short span throughout the text from naivety to maturity as a result of the series of horrendous events he experiences. The murder and sexual assault of Marie Little Soldier evokes a case in which Wes, David’s father and sheriff of the county must re-moralise his choices as his brother Frank is to
The occasional frustration in being a bigger person and the ability of a person to grow over time are expressed through the literary devices tone and direct characterization to further develop the importance of rising above challenges in The Other Wes Moore. When Wes was a high schooler at Valley Forge, he became such a high ranking cadet that he was granted more freedom than he had years prior. With this freedom Wes walked to town with his friend of similar ranking, Dalio. On a walk to the pizza parlor Dalio and Wes were harassed because of their skin color and were left running back to their camp in dissatisfaction. Wes felt extreme frustration in allowing the white boy to treat him with such disrespect “because after being called a nigger and having [his] tooth broken, [he had] decided to flee back to campus” (Moore 121). The anger that is conveyed through Moore’s tone exemplifies how unhappy he was to
Both Reginal Rose and Larry Watson shows the importance of achieving justice in their stories. However, what they achieved is different; justice was attained in 12 angry men, while it doesn't in Montana 1948. The prohibiting factors that makes the justice harder to achieved are the prejudice, bias and misuse of power. They also shows the relationship between power and justice, just in contrasting way.
Layla Cruishank quote “The truth does not always please us and it is not always easy, but there is no compromise for what is right and good” connects to the book Montana 1948 because they both talk about truth and how even when the truth is bad it's better than a lie. Throughout the book there is one secret that David's family that they have lied about and kept quiet for what the book makes out to be many years. The secret is that David's uncle Frank has been sexually assaulting Indian girls since he was very young. When David's father has always seen this as not that big of a deal because of his racist and opinion of Indians and never took any lawful actions. Know David’s father is Sheriff and needs to decide if he's going to do what his father
Within the justice system lays complex connotations that are either ignored or spun in a way that interprets different meanings. What is even more complex is how to guarantee justice in a society, more specifically the Chippewa society, where the legal system contains cracks that make it hard to bring justice for Native Americans. In The Round House, Erdrich explores this concept of bureaucratic intricacy that divides the United States jurisdiction and the Native American tribal lands. After Joe’s mother, Geraldine, is raped, he learns how the law not only doesn’t protect her, but also how there is no justice being served. Therefore, Joe decides to take law into his own hands and give his mother the justice she deserves. He does so by turning to the old Chippewa traditional system called the wiindigoo justice system. Joe struggles throughout the book with the law and how the justice system works. There is also an internal struggle that he doesn’t realize yet, with the image of Native American women on the reservation and how men, throughout the story, treat them. While jurisdiction plays a big part in how Native Americans receive their justice, it also boils down to how the crimes being committed against Native American women decide the fate of many characters.
In the novel Montana 1948, by Larry Watson, we witness this through the eyes of David a 12 year old narrator, the sickness and death of his beloved caretaker Marie Little Soldier by the doing of his Uncle Frank whom he has always looked up to. An important character central to the story is David’s father Wesley the sheriff of Bentrock who is brave, courageous, conflicted and, protective of his family. A message Wesley helps us understand a thought-provoking message that it is difficult to choose between family and doing the right thing.
Larry Watson in “Montana 1948” uses the motif of light and silence in many ways to reinforce ideas about truth and injustice. He illustrates the injustice in Bentrock, a town barely inside the state’s border, through the motif of light/dark. Watson then demonstrates to the reader the occurrence of something wrong through the motif of silence. In certain places, the motif of light assists the motif of silence to emphasize the significance of the event. Watson further explores the themes of racism and coming of age using the motifs. Watson in his text uses recurring motifs to develop ideas making them clearer to his audience. Setting is used to emphasize the motif of silence.
It also suggests that the possible actions of Wes would be on the basis of emotions alone, rather than that of logical thought. Just like the imagery that author Moore uses, the other Wes’s emotions are also emphasized in the idea that he chooses to remember; “Send a message” (104). This single thought shows that, in his anger, he is going to fulfill the loaded meaning of how he feels at that