Manhood Essay

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Essay Analysis ”Just Like That” (1987, by Michael Richards) is a story dealing with a boy, properly about 14-15 years old, and with a man. They are out “hunting” (or wiping out) kangaroos. The story takes place in Australia (present time), in the early morning, and the grass is still wet and cold. In the start they are discuss however the boy is ready to shoot a kangaroo for the very first time. When they walk the boy lag, it makes the man uncomfortable and he tells him “Don’t walk behind me” (p. 25 line 9) and again in line 22 he tells him to watch where he points the gun. We have only one location through the story, which is in the wilderness, because that’s where they will find the kangaroos. The location doesn’t play a big part in the story, it could be anywhere in the world, like in “Indian Camp” there is the location not the most important thing, it’s the plot. The man in the story pushes the boy to shoot a kangaroo, because it will make him a man! Just as in “Manhood” by John Wain where the father wants his son to be a sports expert, to do what he couldn’t do himself. In the story the boy tells his father that he is in the school boxing team, but it turns out to be a lie, that the father first discovers when he calls his so-called boxing trainer. When the man shots the kangaroos, he doesn’t hesitate. He shoots them in cold blood, even though the second kangaroo freezes and stares at him, like its begging for mercy. When the man has finished the two first kangaroos, he and the boy walk up beside them and check them for the shooting marks. The first kangaroo got a direct hit and didn’t feel a thing, the second was still alive and the man puts it out of its misery. When the boy ask what they are suppose to do with the dead kangaroos, the man replies “Let them rot” (p. 26 l. 6) The boy is fascinated by the dead kangaroo, the way it looks so peacefully at
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