MRS FLEMING “RUN” BARRY MILLIKEN MAJOR THEMES 1 GROWING

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SHORT STORY READING ANALYSIS TEMPLATE

Mrs. Fleming

“Run”

Barry Milliken


MAJOR THEMES


  1. Growing up and moving out

Peter makes a decision that changes his life forever. He must leave behind all he knows and loves in order to escape the shame and sadness that he has faced for some time regarding the loss of his father and the crumbling of his family. He feels a rage within him growing, and needs to leave before it gets any worse. He literally leaves with the clothing on his back, and only a vague sense of where he’s going to go in terms of spending the night in the city.


  1. Grieving the loss of a loved one

Peter and his family have to face the horrible loss of their father. Unfortunately, the family is not able to move beyond their sadness and do not grieve in effective ways. Rather than talking to each other and sharing their feelings, they isolate themselves so that there is no support. His sister drops out of school, gets tangled up with a boy (Tucker) who is wrong for her, drinks, has a child, and leads a life of irresponsibility and shame. His mother spends her time cleaning up after her daughter and friends and takes care of the baby. Unable to survive without the financial assistance of Glenda (Tucker’s mother?), Peter’s mother just surrenders to being a servant to her daughter’s destructive life.


MAJOR CHARACTERS:


  1. Peter -- Protagonist

He is fifteen and tries hard not to let his emotions show. He feels guilty for contributing to his mother’s sadness, but cannot endure the shame of his family any longer. His best friend is Boog, his dog that his father gave him when he was ten. Peter will be respectful to others even if they pay no respect back. His biggest fear is that others will laugh at him. He doesn’t want to fail and he hates being ashamed of himself and his family. He is a fast runner and uses it as a means to release the anger he feels. He also catches glimpses of his father when he runs. He is very angry with his mother for allowing their family to fall into shame, and he believes that this shame betrays his father’s memory. Because of these feelings, Peter decides to leave home – something that takes courage. However, at the same time, he leaves without any money or possessions, and it is unclear how he will survive in the city beyond looking up Carman. Peter is willing to sacrifice his love of Boog for the dog’s well-being, and leaves him in the care of Aunt Budge. He doesn’t write anything in his goodbye letter to his mom or sister, but instructs Aunt Budge not to worry.


  1. Peter’s Mother

She is now only a shell of who she once was. Rather than standing up to her daughter or going on welfare, she surrenders and becomes a servant in her own home. She obviously cares about some quality of life, because she takes care of her grandson, a symbol of shame, without her daughter’s support. She also addresses Peter in their native language – showing that she still maintains some traditions. It is unclear whether she had a sense that Peter was going to be leaving soon, but she sent him on an errand to deliver a photo to his aunt that Peter ends up keeping as a memento of his family and the love they shared. Her final words to her son, whether she knows it or not, is “Don’t forget” as she gives him the photo. She has sad eyes and more wrinkles since her husband’s death.


  1. Peter’s sister – Antagonist (?)

She is on a downward plunge due to her inability to cope with her father’s loss. She has turned to alcohol, has dropped out of school and runs with a bad crowd. She does not take responsibility for her baby and so her mother does all of the work for her.



  1. Tucker and his friends (Sly and Manny) – Antagonists (?)

These people have no respect for other’s property. They leave a mess everywhere they go and take no responsibility to clean it up. Ironically, Manny has tattooed a compass onto his arm himself when he clearly has no direction. They abuse alcohol and drink and drive, probably because they suffer from their own issues. Tucker takes no responsibility for his child, although it appears that his mother pays for him to live with the family. The friends provide some comic relief, however unsettling, because they show up drunk and can barely keep conscious.


  1. Carman Fisher

He is three years older than Peter and “fronts” Peter when a bet is made about how fast he can run. He has a job, owns a car (is a Carman?) and lives in the city at 13 Turtlewalk Road. Carman believes in Peter and says he’ll make it to the Olympics one day. Carman is someone Peter looks up to, although they don’t interact much. Peter plans to see Carman when he gets to the city.


  1. Aunt Budge

She is the only pillar of strength in this family. Peter has a good relationship with her because he leaves Boog in her care. Also, Peter’s mother wants to send a photo to her (although it may have intentionally been for Peter, knowing he was going to leave). Budge attends church and Peter knew she would talk him out of leaving. Peter writes a goodbye note to her.


SETTING:

The story takes place on a reserve near a lake about 50 miles from a city on a Sunday morning in the span of about an hour. The mess in the yard where Peter lives represents the mess in their lives. The sky is filled with clouds, dark and light, and there is no sun, so the lake doesn’t have its usual sparkle. As a result, the atmosphere is one of mourning with some hints of better times ahead. The mood is one of sadness and anger, as Peter leaves his family behind, and the mood at the end is agony as Peter’s heart is ripped apart as he runs away to the city.


PLOT: Outline the following


  1. The inciting moment is the tense and brief exchange between Peter and his mom as he is going “up the road” but seems unsure of a specific destination and when he’ll be back. The reader wonders about their relationship and what decision he is about to make.


  1. One interesting development is that we learn of how talented Peter is with regards to his ability to run. He clearly has the potential to go to the Olympics, but he will undoubtedly get no support to train successfully. While Peter was expecting a euphoric release (freedom?) as he ran to the city, he instead feels tormented from his decision to leave home.


Another interesting development is the brief appearance of Tucker’s friends, Sly and Manny. Both are so lost in the world and cope with their problems very differently from Peter. They juxtapose Peter’s outlet of running to their abuse of alcohol to survive in the world that surrounds them. They also fuel Peter’s desire to leave as he is reminded of the shame that will haunt him if he remains living at home.


As Peter’s decision to leave becomes more firm in his mind, so does a “feeling” of something not “right”. Because he has suppressed his emotions concerning his situation for so long, it has become lodged within him. As he begins to run to the city, these emotions block his ability to feel euphoric when he runs.


One possible climax could be when he locks Boog in the shed, signalling the finality to go through with his decision, as he even questions himself at this point about whether he is really going. Another possible climax could be at the end when he realizes that he won’t feel any feeling of joy from leaving, only sadness.


The resolution to this internal conflict is brief: he will make himself go on even though it tortures him to do so. The reader is left knowing that the pain will continue, but it will only be a memory now rather than something he has to endure every day.


STYLE:


The author employs a number of devices to get his point across. He uses a couple of similes to draw comparisons, like when he talks about his mom’s hair hanging like droopy antennas. This gives the reader an image of defeat of a worker ant or bee that toils all day while the drones and queen play on. The syntax of the dialogue between Peter and his mother is short, reflecting the tension between the two of them. Sound effects including consonance bring out the bitterness and sadness of the story. Additionally, irony is used when a tattoo of a compass is etched into a directionless man, a person with no morals is named “Sly”, and the Aunt who is the pillar of strength is named “Budge” (as in she won’t budge!) An allusion to Tom Longboat, famous Canadian long-distance runner, helps to show Peter’s potential as an athlete.


The author does a great job developing distinct voices of his characters that are believable. Because it is a first-person perspective, we get to hear very accurate inner thoughts of the character, and the words are carefully constructed to reflect a teenager.


FNMI ISSUES:


Relationships

Relationships (or the absence of) are strongly portrayed in this story. Peter has become so disconnected from his family that, other than mourning the loss of what once was, he has little concern about leaving them behind. Peter has his strongest tie to his dog, and will miss him terribly when he is gone. Peter has to sacrifice his love for his dog in order to end the pain he has from witnessing the shame of his family.


Identity

Peter doesn’t have a place where he belongs. He does not fit with his family, and he does not share the values of those around them. He hopes that by going to the city and looking up Carman, he will start over. He has pride in his talent of running, but does not have the means to develop them on a competitive level. He does understand some of the native language as his mother speaks it to him.


Challenges

Peter’s family faced the challenge of enduring a death in their family. Unfortunately, they were unable to hold it together. Peter’s future challenge will be to survive in an urban centre, off a reserve and away from his family. Will he be able to find employment? A place to live? Education – he’s only fifteen; will he continue with his studies or will they be lost forever?


Sovereignty

It would appear that there is a lack of community support systems in place to help Peter’s family. Coping with the loss of a loved one is such a difficult thing to take on alone. Either these systems don’t exist or they are unable to access them. Either way, it is important for a community to establish these supports. It is unclear about whether the absence of supports is due to funding or otherwise. In many communities, there are also supports set up to help young couples who have children; however, access to these types of programs are not mentioned in the story.




CONNECTIONS:


Text to Self

While I can’t relate specifically to Peter’s predicament, I can certainly empathize with how the loss of a loved one would feel. The need/ want to escape the feeling that there is a lack of support and that the foundation that kept the family together has been lost would be incredibly overwhelming; especially for someone so young.


Text to Text

This may sound far-fetched, but I can relate this story to the movie Superman. Clark Kent, who has amazing talents, was forced to live a restricted life on a farm and also struggled with his identity. When his adoptive father dies, it becomes a catalyst for Clark to leave home even though he knows he’ll be breaking his mother’s heart. Clark feels compelled to go out of obligation to both his self and to society. While Peter doesn’t have any allegiances to society, he needs to leave in order to save himself from the shame he is facing. Both know that their decisions will change their lives forever and that they will experience discomfort for the choices they make.


Text to World

September is a tough time for families because of the transitions into new schools, colleges, universities or just moving out and starting over. Most teens will face the day when they have to move out of immediate contact with their family in order to pursue their lives and dreams. It is usually a bittersweet time for them but one of choice and ascension towards a better life.


Unfortunately, Peter is far too young to be starting out on his own. It is sad that there aren’t more social services put into place to help Peter through this transition, although I know this problem isn’t limited to his reserve. Every day, teens flee from their homes, regardless of culture, because home has become unbearable. It’s hard to place blame on anyone, but to know it is happening, without any way to make things better, can be very frustrating.



MRS FLEMING “RUN” BARRY MILLIKEN MAJOR THEMES 1 GROWING
PRACTICAL ETHICAL REASONING DAVID A FLEMING MD FACP MU
SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH FLEMING ISLAND FLORIDA MINISTRY DIRECTORY


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