Yesterday,I read a short story entitled " The Death of Tommy Grimes". It was posted on the UTAR WBLE site by our Creative Writing class teacher.The short story was written by R.J. Meaddough III.
In the story,a boy of twelve was trying to be like a grown man.He yearns for his father's approval and tried hard in hunting and killing a buck.In the end,he succeeded in shooting the buck right through its heart with his rifle,using all the skills he learned from his father.Thereafter,he was declared a true man by his father and his father's mates.
So why did the title of the short story read "The Death of Tommy Grimes"?Tommy Grimes did not die in the end after all.The reason was hidden in the first page of the six-pages long story.As Tommy's father said to him,"A man always dies a little when he kills something."
Before Tommy killed the buck,he had already killed a lot of other animals.At the start,when he was eleven,he did not dare to kill even a weasel,and was chided by his father for it.But in the end,his skills with a rifle got so good that he could hit targets a good way out.The moment he killed the buck,he was considered truly "dead" in his heart.
The author's use of the word "death" as the metaphor of a heart that has gone cold and merciless was interesting.It shows that when humans kill something at first,they would feel guilt in their hearts.But as time wore on and they continue killing,their own heart will be shut off to emotions like sympathy and guilt.They will have become killing machines with no sense of remorse for their actions.They would have died inside.
Ah, but you did miss one other but impo tant "death:" that of Tommy. Remember, When he shot the buck he became "dman" and would thereafter be Tom, like his dad. So, in fact, that night was the end of Tommy, the innocent boy with no blood on his hands
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