The Shipping News - Essay Example

The Shipping News The world today is full of unusual and undesirable events which occur in life. Some of these events either happen intentionallyby an individual while some of them unintentionally. The events happening in life which are undesirable can be remembered and lamented upon in the future. Mostly the individuals in this world suffer from this kind of problem i.e. they lament their wrong doings of the past. However, there are also individuals who learn to face their past and move ahead with their lives. Annie Proulx writes a book named ‘The Shipping News’ which certainly explains the influence of past on the life of an individual. She beautifully portrays her characters’ understanding of their past and its results on their lives. This essay would further discuss the impact of past on the characters’ existing life and the way they dealt or handled the situations spotting their past. The story revolves around a person Quoyle who has been destructed by the happenings in his life. Not only is he treated unjustifiably in his childhood but also in his adulthood. Quoyle is an individual who was not liked by his parents in his childhood. This had a huge impact on his life as he only had a small social circle which mostly comprised of his family. Thus after being affected by family problems in his life he was not able to work properly in any field. Similarly when he reached his adulthood he fell in love and married a girl named Petal. However this marriage also turned to be drastic when Petal started to cheat on Quoyle. But the major theme of the story lies in the rehabilitation of Quoyle from a man of drastic past to a man who looked forward to his future. Not only the character of Quoyle exhibits this kind of nature but also do the characters of Jack, Wavey and Agnis. The character of Wavey enters the story when Quoyle migrates to Newfoundland (his ancestral city) and finds her there. Through the very start of their confrontation Quoyle feels an urge of attraction towards her. The writer tries to build a similarity between them by putting a similarity in their pasts. Writer portrays the past of Quoyle and Wavey as the same by declaring that the partners of both died. The character of Wavey exhibits signs of dealing correctly with her past when she learns to trust Quoyle. This happens when she starts to tell the secrets she had to Quoyle and she begins trusting her, leaving her past behind. The trust endowed by her to Quoyle helps her to retain from the trauma of her husband’s death. This can be viewed as the first sign in the story which shows how people should react to painful past incidents. Similarly the aunt of Quoyle even has a regretful and painful past in her thoughts which makes her refrain from keeping any contact with the Quoyle’s family. In the beginning of the story when Quoyle’s parents die, his aunt does not come to visit them until she comes back to get the ashes. By Agnis’s character the writer Annie Proulx, explains how people try to get rid of their pasts and feel helpless in certain situations. It can be said that the character of Agnis (Quoyle’s aunt) also has a desire to leave behind her past. The ruthless rape of Agnis done by her brother (i.e. Quoyle’s father) had sowed a seed of mistrust in her which she though she would never be able to leave behind. However, after having close contact with Quoyle she comes in terms with her past and even when she sees the sight where the incident happened she does not pay heed to the sight. As described in the essay "small, uninteresting. No reason to go down to it" (Pg 225). In the end, it is important to discuss the character of Quoyle, which can be viewed as very strong in recovering and facing the past the way he does. It was observed that as Quoyle was deeply in love with Petal even after she treated him wrong, he was haunted by her dreams and thoughts. However after coming to Newfoundland he came to terms with the reality and with the help of his friends, aunt and Wavey he learned to leave behind his past. The secrets shared by Wavey help him to realize that the tragedy which happened with him is not one of a sort. And he learns to act stronger when he learns about the act that his father committed with his aunt as when such a drastic event can be forgotten by his aunt, he can also leave behind his memories. Wavey acts as a strong friend to Quoyle, who not only helps to retain the life of Quoyle but also makes him face the realities of life. The shipping news can be judged as a story of miseries faced by the characters and its impact on their lives. Quoyle’s past had a long-lasting effect on his whole life as he lost his confidence due to his parents’ carelessness and negligence. The story revolves around the negative incidences emerged in Quoyle’s life and the lives of the characters’ associated with him. The story discloses the chapters’ of human life and the influence past has on the present and future of a person. For instance, Quoyle’s life was drastic and awful throughout the novel because of the low self esteem but eventually he finds a life satisfying and sustaining. Wavey starts a new life by truly telling all the secrets to Quoyle and becomes successful in finding a peaceful and happy life. Wavey gets rid of the miserable moments of past and tries to help Quoyle to develop confidence in him. Hence it can be concluded that the story was based on the memories of past and its influences on the characters’ present. The story ‘The Shipping News’ revolves around the concept of dealing with the past properly. It shows one individual that how through support and acquaintance dreadful incidents can be handled. The character of Quoyle exhibits strong behavior in handling all the events which occurred in his life. Bibliography Proulx, Annie. The Shipping News. New York: Scribner, 1993. Read More