robert thomas eng 318 paper 1. an analysis

8/9/2019 Robert Thomas ENG 318 Paper 1. an Analysis...

1/8


2/8

Thomas 2

in re)eal that the real reason this collection of stories is a Bildungsroman is

!ecause of how %ic" uses his friends and family as pi)otal pieces while he

tries to form some "ind of moral code for himself. He essentially creates a

thatch1wor" sense of self$ and )alues$ !y stealing the ones that seem most

reasona!le from his personal relationships. (ithout the guidance of his

friends$ and a!ility to re/ect his ideals o- of them to see which shined

!rightest$ he would )ery li"ely ha)e ended up forming a much di-erent set

)alues. 2urthermore$ this cycle of emulation and adaption of the )alues of

others creates a self1sustaining system of creating a personal moral system

from pieces of your past$ and !etter conforming to accepta!le societal

mores and norms. Based on this$ we can loo" primarily to two stories

featuring %ic" from “In Our Time”3 “The Three1'ay Blow$” and “4ross

4ountry 5now” to illustrate 6ust how hea)ily other people in/uenced %ic"’s

maturation. By loo"ing at these stories$ what stages in %ic"’s life they

represent$ and how his relationships impacted his choices$ we can !etter

see the full impact that these relationships had on his growth and

psychological de)elopment.2irst loo"ing at “The Three1'ay Blow” we can e*amine the childhood

friendship$ and the way it in/uences the interactions !etween %ic" and Bill.

Throughout this story !oth %ic" and Bill’s actions emulate how they

percei)e adults.7 More importantly$ their dialogue is !eing !ounced !ac"

and forth !etween each other. They use this discourse as a way to see how

someone would percei)e$ or react to their ideas +or how well they are


3/8

Thomas 3

emulating adult !eha)iors,. A prime e*ample of this type of e*perimental

discourse is shown !etween pages 89 and 8:. 5tarting with their

con)ersation a!out the whis"ey3 “ ;It’s got a swell$ smo"ey taste$’ %ic" said$

and loo"ed at the &re through the glass. ;That’s the peat$’ Bill said. ;


4/8

Thomas 4

%ic" and Bill were trying to show the actions that they thought pro)ed

maturity +mainly !eing a!le to hold li=uor in this speci&c case,$ !ut are also

!oth respectful of each other’s mista"es so as not to em!arrass one

another. The importance of these early e*changes is that they are creating

a mutual safe ha)en where they can practice emulating older &gures in

their li)es$ and recei)e feed!ac" !efore adopting these !eha)iors$ actions$

and ideals into their personal )alue systems. This shows from an early age

how it is not 6ust his personal choices that ma"es %ic" mature$ !ut in large

part he matures !y incorporating ideals from others into his personal

)alues.%e*t loo"ing at “4ross14ountry 5now” we can e*amine how nic" still

leans toward his friend Bill to further con&rm his personal ideals and

)alues. Here he generally has much more comple* feelings$ as his life has

!ecome much more comple*$ !ut he still is using his friend Bill as a

sounding !oard$ still &lling similar roles as they emulated as children

sitting for a drin" +after s"iing,$ and ha)ing general con)ersations$ li"e they

had done while emulating Bill’sC dad during their childhood. They

essentially ha)e now fully incorporated this as a ritual of friendship$ and

how they still percei)e that mature adults act in the world.: They are still

howe)er creating a safe area to further re&ne how they act$ as e)ident after


5/8

Thomas 5

recei)ing the wine on page #9:3 “The girl !rought the wine in and they had

trou!le with the cor".” and “ ’Those specs of cor" in it don’t matter$’ said

%ic".” Once again they !oth non)er!ally agree to ignore each other’s

shortcomings$ the fact that neither of them can properly open a wine !ottle

without destroying the cor"$ for the sa"e of "eeping this safe space in their

friendship to re&ne their morals$ !eha)iors$ and ideals. A contrast !etween

how di-erently e)eryone matures !ased on those around them that they can

adopt )alues from is also present in this story3 “The door came open and a

gang of woodcutters from up the road came in$ stamping their !oots and

steaming in the room. The waitress !rought in three liters of new wine for

the gang and they sat at the two ta!les$ smo"ing and =uiteD” +##9, (hile

they may share similarities to %ic" and Bill in that they were here to unwind

and ha)e a drin"$ in contrast to %ic" and Bill they were sitting =uietly

smo"ing. The woodcutters had li"ely pic"ed up smo"ing from those they

saw as role models in their li)es$ and had adopted =uiet contemplation +or

6ust not tal"ing, as their manner of !onding within their circle of immediate

relationships.This !rings us to the 4oup de grEce#9 against the argument that the

Bildungsroman style of de)elopment presented in “In Our Time” results

solely from %ic"’s personal choices and e*perience. Instead we ha)e seen

that %ic"$ from an early age +as we saw in “The Three1'ay Blow”, is

incorporating )alues and mannerisms of those around him into his own

moral standards as he matures$ and molding himself to &t his perception of


6/8

Thomas 6

the role of maturity$ from what he has seen. He does this largely through his

interpersonal relationships$ his friendship with Bill !eing the one featured

prominently in the stories +the others mostly implied,$ !y creating a safe

en)ironment where !oth he and his friend can re&ne their ideals of what it

means to !e a mature adult +and get small !its of feed!ac" that are later

incorporated into his mannerisms and )alues,. This continues later into his

life +as we saw in “4ross14ountry 5now”, as well$ as he and Bill !oth are

still wor"ing to re&ne what they percei)e as a mature adult and &t into that

role. They ha)e !uilt upon how they used to drin" and try to act as they

thought adults should act while con)ersing$ into adults that are still trying

to &t that ideal role +who still cannot properly uncor" a wine !ottle,. In

contrast to the wood cutters who site =uietly while drin"ing and smo"e to

&ll the roles that they percei)e as that of an adult. (e are all the products of

what we are e*posed to. Our personal )alues are a patchwor" of what is

present around us. 4onsider if %ic" had spent his life without "nowing Bill.

He may ha)e instead emulated his own father who ne)er dran"$ and !ecome

a completely di-erent person. Fnless raised in a complete )acuum$

e)eryone will pull )alues$ mannerisms$ and ideals from those around them$

and use them to form their own moral )alues and perceptions this is how

people create the ideal role that they stri)e to &ll o)er their lifetime$ e)en as

they ma"e ad6ustments and re&nements to their core !eliefs along the way.

2urthermore$ this is how we all come to &t into our roles in society$ not only

as prede&ned !y others !ut also as we percei)e them to !e de&ned.


7/8

Thomas 7


8/8

Thomas 8

(or"s 4ited

GBildungsroman.G Merriam-Webster . Merriam1(e!ster$ n.d. (e!. 0: an.

09#@.

G4oup 'e rEce.G Merriam-Webster . Merriam1(e!ster$ n.d. (e!. 9# 2e!.

09#@.

GasyBi!3 The 2ree Automatic Bi!liography 4omposer.G EasyBib. %.p.$ n.d.

(e!. 0: an. 09#@.

Hemingway$ rnest. In Our Time. %ew

robert thomas eng 318 paper 1. an analysis

Documents