Writing Prompt:
In a topic-driven, well-developed, and tightly
focused paragraph, offer a brief, limited literary critique of PART II: The
Huntsman.
NOTE: After posting on the blog, open up the CANVAS assignment (by the same name) and do copy and paste the URL address into the CANVAS "WEB URL" text box so that I have record of your submission on Canvas. Thanks.
NOTE: After posting on the blog, open up the CANVAS assignment (by the same name) and do copy and paste the URL address into the CANVAS "WEB URL" text box so that I have record of your submission on Canvas. Thanks.
Mikkaela Bailey
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
ENGL 3353
2 September 2015
Picturing Patrick as A Huntsman
Throughout her novel, We Were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates foreshadows the violent event that Patrick will instigate by explaining his obsession with a painting called “The Huntsman,” and she describes how it influences his decisions regarding Zachary Lundt. The painting depicts a robust young man who is about to kill a strong mountain ram; however, it is unclear if the hunter will actually follow through or if they will part ways. “It was that kind of drawing: the more you studied it, as Patrick did, frowning distracted from his homework, the more like a riddle it became” (238). This riddle is solved when Patrick faces off against his opponent, Zachary Lundt, in a similar manner. “His [Patrick’s] plan how like an artwork he’d created, out of his guts, the anguish of his Mulvaney pride” (299). In his pride, Patrick sought to redeem himself and his status as a man, as if taking down his rival and match would prove that he was not like the foe he compared to the ram. His true desire was to prove that he was superior to Lundt and not victim to animal instinct and evil that is programmed into men (272). Through his actions to prove that he has chosen a better path, he sank down to a primal rage and then changed his mind once he felt he had regained his pride, realizing that he had turned into someone he no longer recognized.
Ashton Dickerson
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ENGL 3353
2 August 2015
Patrick’s Identity
In Part II, it is made clear that Patrick is the only character in We Were the Mulvaneys who is not tied down to his identity as a Mulvaney. He has always been the one to say what was exactly on his mind unlike Corinne or Marianne who tell small lies to cover up their true identity. In a conversation with Patrick about evolution and creationism, Marianne says, “It’s just that there are different ways of perceiving the same thing. I mean –aren’t there?” Patrick replies, “There are scientifically demonstrable ways, and there are superstitious, self-deluding ways. You can choose one or the other but not both” (222). Patrick is chiding her for the way she says she has completely forgiven Zachary for raping her and has made it out to be her fault all along. Additionally, he is mad at Marianne for how she has just forgiven their father for shipping her away because he couldn’t stand to look at her. Later into the conversation, Patrick confirms this by saying, “’Dad’! –how can you call him ‘Dad’! He’s a blind, selfish man. He’s cruel. He’s crazy. The way he’s treated you –crazy! Why care about him, or her? Let them go” (233). Patrick looks at the world in a scientific way full of reason whereas Marianne’s perspective is “superstitious, self-deluding.” Marianne has constructed this completely ridiculous story that everything was her fault instead of actually telling the truth. If she comes out into the open with her story, the illusion of Marianne Mulvaney, good Christian girl, polite, kind, etc. will be shattered because that is not who she is any more. Patrick, unlike the rest of the Mulvaneys, is not scared of revealing his true self, his true opinions, which is why he basically tells Marianne that she is crazy. Patrick tells it like it is and is not restricted by an identity crisis because of his last name.
Katy Dyches
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ENGL 3353
2 September 2015
“The Huntsman” Critique
In the second part of We were the Mulvaneys, “The Huntsman”, author Joyce Carol Oates addresses the blurred lines between justice and revenge. This section of the novel follows Patrick as his rage towards Zachary Lundt, who escaped justice for raping Marianne, drives him to attempt to take the matter into his own hands. Patrick states that “[he] couldn’t go on with [his] life… Until justice is executed” (272). This term, the execution of justice, recurs throughout Part II. It is how Patrick refers to his plan to Judd and in his own thoughts. He believes this plan to make Zachary pay for his crime is to execute justice, as the law failed to do. Perhaps, in some ways, it is: a rapist should not be allowed to walk free with no punishment. But later in the novel, it is said that “[Patrick] was not the Mulvaney man you’d have expected to exact revenge but there was no other, and no choice” (294). This is the only time that Patrick recognizes that what he truly wants is revenge for his sister. He needs to believe that it is justice, so that he can live with the guilt of his actions. This revelation leaves the reader wondering where the line between justice and revenge is really drawn.
Amanda McMahon
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ENGL
1 September 2015
Part II: The Huntsman
Throughout part two of Joyce Carol Oates’ We Were the Mulvaneys, Patrick transforms into “the Huntsman.” From the beginning Patrick is described as analytical, cold, and inquisitive, but as the novel progresses Patrick becomes fueled by passionate hatred and obsessed with executing justice against his sister’s rapist. He grows to mirror the Huntsman more and more. As the tension builds and Patrick moves closer to attacking Zachary Lundt, Patrick resembles the hunter and Zachary resembles the ram. The Huntsman is described as “a young male as hunter, warrior, killer” and Patrick is entranced by him, questioning whether he, too, is coded to kill (239). Patrick already identifies with the Huntsman and, after the Plastica! concert, he chooses his prey (241). Once he decides justice must be rendered to Zachary Lundt, Patrick begins to change. He shifts from believing that “in nature, no one’s to blame” to placing all of the blame on one person (218). Patrick is no longer the focused student he once was as “he’d grown impatient with that world which had so little to do with his own” (175). Patrick also begins to resemble Michael Sr. more. Judd notices that Patrick “curled his lip in disgust like Dad” (274) and that when Patrick calls home drunk he speaks “the way Dad talks when he’s been drinking” (253). Finally, Patrick abandons the truth that proclaims Zachary a murderer (302).
Sadie Wyant
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
ENGL 3353
2 September 2015
Chance Follows Design
“‘Chance follows design’—what’s that mean?” Judd asks Patrick. “You make careful plans, and ‘chance’ seems to favor you. Things go your way that look to a neutral observer like luck. But it’s luck you’ve engineered” (288). This conversation between two brothers in Part Two of We Were the Mulvaneys creates a motif that is seen throughout all of “The Huntsman.” The concept of “chance follows design” is evident in multiple situations throughout “The Huntsman.” It is seen mostly in Patrick’s careful plotting and execution of his plan of revenge against Zachary Lundt. He is constantly training himself to expect the absolute worst while still expecting to succeed no matter what. When Patrick finally abducts Zachary, the phrase comes up again, “Chance follows design. Yet how much more readily than Patrick had imagined” (299). This concept even helps support Patrick’s rejection of faith and the divine. By explaining chance as favoring someone for the luck that they have engineered, he removes any sort of coincidence or fate from the situation.
Callie Brothers
ReplyDeleteProf. Kirk
ENGL 3353
September 4, 2015
Part II
“Don’t make enemies! Patrick counseled himself uneasily. You will need all the help you can get.” 207 This quote, this is life goal that we all set for ourselves at one point or another in our lives. A strong, sensible quote or saying that Patrick repeatedly told himself because he wasn’t sympathetic nor understanding, even if the people he was dealing with was “supposedly” like him. Being emotionless is key, The Mulvaneys were quiet good at that, showing no emotion, unless God was the topic of conversation, and even then emotions were bleak. But not only did Patrick not want to make enemies with the folks that he had to be around, he also didn’t necessarily want to make enemies with God nor His believers. Ironically, Patrick did not believe in God nor the idea of being created in His image, yet Patrick needed to constantly tell himself there was no need in believing the unexplainable issues of God himself... a “Typical Scientist”. “Don’t you see how ridiculous it is to believe ‘man is made in the image of God’?” he wanted to shout into their startled faces. HOW ridiculous people like YOU are, to believe.” 207
The Mulvaneys, the “Christians”, the family with many secrets that shall never be revealed. These secrets will be kept, people/children will be abandoned, wounds will never heal, and hearts will never show grace, mercy, nor forgiveness.
Kelsey Wheatle
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 3353
4 September 2015
Part II: The Huntsman
"Afterward he would wonder why he wasn't ashamed of himself, why not stricken with remorse. But in fact he felt excited. Elated" (247). This quote from Joyce Carol Oates explains the mindset, compulsiveness, and the demeanor of Patrick throughout the novel. When Patrick had found the drawing "The Huntsman" he studied it closely. The painting which depicts a huntsman on a mountain just before he is about to shoot a mountain ram. What is so unclear in this picture is whether or not the huntsman will really kill the animal. The more Patrick looked at the painting, the more it became like a riddle. While Patrick was at the Plastica concert with his friends thinking about Zachary Lundt, the more he became hypnotized by the compelling beat of the music, the more he became like the huntsman in the picture, contemplating whether or not to kill Zachary Lundt for raping Marianne. The compulsion of his need for justice for Marianne and his family lead to Patrick's anger and will to kill. Patrick became a huntsman because he followed through with his plan to kill Zachary, however, after he noticed what a monster he had become while Zachary was drowning, Patrick realized that his want for justice had turned him into a monster.