Friday, October 16, 2015
Who is the real "Man Child"?
The story "The Man Child" was one that was filled with suspense but it left me with two questions. What prompted Jamie to kill Eric? Who is the real man child in the story, Eric or Jamie?
The entire story starts in the present where Eric is walking through the woods by himself. Then we go into a flashback of 2 months before during Jamie's birthday party where you can tell tension is really being brought to the surface. To answer my first question, I went back through the story and looked at Jamie's actions as well as his reactions. It is clear from the interactions between Jamie and Eric's father that there is some tension between them. Later it becomes apparent that Eric's father bought Jamie's land from him. Throughout the birthday party, we find out that Jamie doesn't have a lot. He doesn't have land he owns anymore and he doesn't have a wife or a family. Maybe Eric was jealous of Eric's father and even Eric to a point. It is clear to Jamie that when Eric's father passes that all of the land, including the land that he feels is rightful his, will be passed down to Eric. To me, I believe that after Jamie hears that Eric's mother loses the baby, he is prompted to strangle Eric because in his mind if he can't have his land than nobody can. I was also thinking that if there is nobody to pass the land down to, Eric's father might have to pass it down to Jamie, giving Jamie his land back and more.
I think both Jamie and Eric are the "man child" in the story. They both encompass different aspects of what a "man child" is. Jamie is a man that acts like a child. Jamie has to be taken care of by Eric's father and mother like he there own child. He is clearly that he doesn't have the life Eric's father has but instead of working towards creating a life like that he acts like a child. He is trying to find a way of making Eric's life his instead of making his own life better. It is possible that Jamie sees himself as a child of Eric's father and that he deserves the land more than Eric does. On the other hand, Eric is a child that acts like a man. He is much more knowledgeable about what is going on around him than a typical kid. He had to grow up before his time and deal with situations that he shouldn't have had to as an eight year old boy.
These are just some of my thoughts about why Jamie did what he did. I wish we were able to hear more about what was going on in Jamie's mind and what prompted him to do this. What are some of your theories about why Jamie killed Eric?
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Well, to start with Jamie was drunk and not thinking clearly. This probably strengthened the feelings of ineptitude that Jamie had. Interestingly these feelings are always kept strong because Eric's father brings up the fact that he himself has everything a man can want constantly. This is in contrast to the fact that Jamie has neither wife, land, or son. Therefore, Eric's father is in some way responsible for making Jamie angry enough to kill Eric. Since Jamie is childlike, he acts on these strong emotions that night while under the influence of alcohol, killing Eric
ReplyDeleteI agree with what both Isaac and you said about why Jamie probably killed Eric, Keisha. As to who represents the true man child in this story, I would definitely say it's Eric. His whole life is a reversion to childhood: not taking care of himself, being violent in fits of jealousy and anger, not taking on the necessary responsibilities to maintain land, etc. On the other hand, Eric doesn't seem to be completely consumed with trying to be a man before his time, he is simply more mature, and ready to step up to manhood when his time comes.
ReplyDeleteI think that, like you said, Jamie is shown to be a "man-child" in this story. Althoug, as Isaac brought up, he is very drunk and that could have exaggerated his feelings, I get the sense that this is how he feels most of the time. He has nothing left and is living on the charity of his friend, and so when he sees that Eric is to inherit everything he previously had and that Eric is in a position that he wishes he could be in, that's when he decides to kill him.
ReplyDeleteTo me Jamie is the man-child. He cannot support himself, he has no one except for Eric's dad who own the land that he previously owned. Eric's father bought the land out of good will in order to give Jamie the most money possible for his land and Jamie lashed out by killing Eric. His actions are selfish and childish.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Isaac and Timmy said before about why Jamie killed Eric, but I think that the biggest reason out of the ones that Isaac listed was the issue of land. I don't think that Jamie really wanted any children, but he probably did want land. Land seems to play a huge role in this story, as it seems like a part of a landowner's identity. Therefore, Jamie probably feels kind of worthless and has the attitude that, like you said, if he can't have the land, than no one can. So if he kills Eric, then the land of Eric's father has no real future, which seems to take the value out of it. Furthermore, even if Jamie didn't want kids, by taking Eric away from his parents, he took away another source of Eric's father's pride.
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