To Hear and to Listen: an Analysis of Heron River

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To Hear and To Listen - An Analysis of Heron River The meandering path of life's journey as described in Hugh Cook's Heron River is mirrored in the lives of the characters. All humans are created to live in relationship with one another and language and communication are given as a vitally important tool to support man's emotional and spiritual wellbeing. The influential power of dialogue and inner speech has many facets and has the ability to disperse the emotions, thoughts and actions of the individual and to guide them in the choices they make. Therefore, the conversations which occur between people, in general, can have the ability to enhance relationships and may even encourage strangers to become friends. The secret words of his internal conversations may also echo how the journey of a person's life can affect his emotions and how it can serve as a catalyst for his actions. Madeline Harbottle's life is a complicated one. Not only does she have to contend with the effects of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), but she also has to deal with the daily concern for her mentally injured adult son, Adam, and the deteriorating condition of her aging father, who both reside in special care facilities. Madeline spends as much time with her loved ones as possible and her motherly instincts are so finely tuned to the nuances in Adam's demeanor that she senses his distress without him saying a word: Did something happen, Adam? A policeman came to the house, he says after a moment. A woman policeman. Oh? What was that about? Again, he doesn't answer immediately and she knows he's sorting things out in his mind. Somebody broke the neighbours' garage window. Ah. She understands now . . . . She can tell that by talking about it he's relieved the matter is off his chest and he begins telling her what else is uppermost in his mind (Cook 29-30) This conversation

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