Tom Franklin
Contents
Introduction: A
Grit: C
Shubuta: C
Triathlon: B
Blue horses: A
The ballad of duane Juarez: B
A tiny history: A
Dinosaurs: C
Instinct: D
Alaska: B
Poachers: A
Blue Horses
Tom
Franklin captures his readers from the very first paragraph in this short story
as he begins with a mysterious situation of a character who is aware of someone
sleeping outside in his truck. He uses the tactic of grabbing his readers right
from the start in many of his short stories, as he usually places something
strange within the first couple of sentences in order to pull the reader in;
not allowing them to put the book down. He continues this style throughout this
story; the reader is only given hints as to what is going on, leaving them to
make their own assumptions. He will drop these hints throughout the vivid
descriptions that he provides, mainly through the setting and the rough
characters that he creates. Franklin foreshadows the issues of the story
through setting, placing the atmosphere as raining and freezing cold,
emphasizing the loneliness of the situation, chilling his characters and his
readers to the bone. He describes buildings that are boarded up and abandoned
with old rusted box cars. While reading the reader is able to visualize the
scenery which provide much more than just a visual image, but the mood,
foreshadowing the loneliness of the sickness that Mike is enduring and the
situation he feels he needs to escape. Franklin also provides several hints to the
main issue through the dialogue of his characters. For example, Jimmyboy
describes how his old lady feels about the situation by saying, “it ain’t
right” leaving the reader wondering exactly what “it” is and why is she opposed
to it. (72) The characters that Franklin
describes match their surroundings as they are rough and seem very real. The
characters have actual real world issues such as not being able to pay their
power bill or the heat not working in Earl’s truck. Issues such as these make
the characters relatable and authentic, allowing the reader to connect with
them, pulling on their emotions as they read. Franklin does not reveal the
actual issue that Mike faces until two pages before the story concludes. By
this time the reader is invested in the characters and the setting; emotionally
attached to the situation and finally being able to connect all of the dots. Even
after the conflict is exposed, Franklin continues with the lonely tone of the
story. Still including lengthy vivid descriptions, he describes the train that
Mike is staring at and its surroundings, his only source of companionship.
These long detailed descriptions sometimes seem hard to find the purpose of,
but they provide the reader with a lens that allows them to look through the character’s
eyes and connect with their emotions, like they are standing right in the room
where Mike will possibly take his own life. He ends the story, not completely
tying up the loose ends as the last line reads, “’Im freezing to death.’” (79)
Again not coming directly out and stating what the next actions will be, but
giving enough information that the reader will be able to assume. This short
story was full of anticipation and wonder, I thoroughly enjoyed this short
read.
Instinct
This
story was my least favorite out of Franklin’s Poacher’s. It evoked no sense of urgency or feeling within me as I
read. I felt as if the main character had no sense of yearning, what does he
really want or desire from his life? It seemed almost aimless at times, I kept
waiting for something to actually happen and as soon as suspense would build
the scene would change or the narrator would switch to a different part on the
stories timeline. Franklin still hooks the reader with his first paragraph,
making it extremely intriguing, forcing the reader to continue reading.
However, after this I felt nothing else in me that wanted to finish the story,
I continually told myself that it would get better, I was hopeful at times such
as when Brenda entered the story, but nothing actually happened there either. Franklin
continually set up different scenes where something interesting and exciting
could occur, but for some reason he never inserts any real action. I felt that
this story was very confusing at points, and jumped around too much. Even
though the main character remained constant throughout, it was as if there were
four different stories that were not related at all; like the narrator was just
rambling on about whatever happened to come to mind at that moment. Although
the stories structure is consistent with Franklin’s style, containing short
fragmented sentences and vivid description of the surroundings, I felt that it
did not show the usual elements of suspense and sentiment that show up in his
other stories. I found no significance in this short story, nothing that left
me wondering; therefore, Instinct is
my least favorite out of this collection, resulting in the lowest grade given.
Poachers
Again
Franklin begins this short story with an interesting, strange scene; three boys
walking through the woods with a skinned dog, a fawn and a bag of dead eels.
Providing vivid descriptions, the third person narrator takes the reader along
with the boys as they distribute these odd items to their buyers as they
receive their payments. Franklin forms his characters in this story in a way
that almost forces the reader to connect and feel for them; on their side no
matter what. For example, the boys are poaching, they are rough and do not seem
kind, however I could not help but feel for them. I was on their side no matter
what, even if a punishment would have been justly given to them, I was so
closely bonded with the boys and their story while I was reading that I feel I
would have seen it as unfair; just wanting them to be left alone. I felt the
same for Kirxy when the narrator would speak about his wife or his sickness;
wishing for something to happen that would bring him peace or happiness. The
boys and Kirxy are almost opposite characters, as Kirxy is kind and caring and
the boys are not what so ever, however Franklin manages to attach the reader to
all of these characters even though they seem so opposite. This story is full
of sentiment which can be felt through the emotions that are evoked throughout
the story and the small details and hints that he would give to what was
happening in the story; not explicitly stating it. The reader is left to create
their own details of the boy’s deaths, we assume that Frank David is responsible,
but we do not really make a solid assumption of it until the very end of the
short story. Franklin also leaves many cliff hangers throughout this short
story, many times right before he would switch scenes, forcing you to continue
reading. You just simply could not put down the book until the story was over. I felt that I knew the characters, when they
hurt I hurt, I was completely vulnerable to the story. This was by far my
favorite story in Poachers.
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