The Underlying Effect of Forgiveness The story The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (2008) begins with a small, very pregnant, calico cat abandoned by her family, left to die on the side of the road. She started to wander trying to find a place to sleep, finding a abandoned nest to curl up into in hopes of getting out of the terri-ble storm. The next day she awakes to a song being sung by an old hound. The song, sad and lonely, she heard it from miles away wanting to find where it was coming from. The calico cat followed to sorrowed song until she found an old hound, at a terrifying looking house, chained to the porch that belongs to his brutal abusive owner, Gar Face. The calico cat and the hound, Ranger, raise the calico’s two kittens, Puck and
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When Grandmother Moccasin was younger she was married and her husband, who was unfaithful to her, turned her into a very bitter and unhappy lady. Her daughter Night Song, however, changes something in-side her and she feels like maybe she can love something as much as she once loved her husband back when she was younger. Finally she felt love. When her daughter Night Song changes form to marry Hawk Man, Grandmother feels betrayed and tricks her daughter into changing back into a serpent, since magical creatures who return to their original forms are stuck that way forever. Hawk Man then traps Grandmother Moccasin in a clay jar for what she did. Here is where she stews in her bitterness and anger getting revenge on her. Grandmother Moccasin is upset because she has yet again lost someone close to her. Instead of being happy for Night Song, she seeks re-venge on her and Hawk Man. In the end, she feels terrible for what she has done because it re-sults in Night Song killing herself. “She had interfered with love before and caused only sorrow. That, she knew was the price”. (Appelt 308) Grandmother was a very bitter old lady, who just wanted to find love and it seemed to me that everyone she loved would always leave her. This would cause someone to want revenge and not want to do the right thing all of the
When Grandmother Moccasin was younger she was married and her husband, who was unfaithful to her, turned her into a very bitter and unhappy lady. Her daughter Night Song, however, changes something in-side her and she feels like maybe she can love something as much as she once loved her husband back when she was younger. Finally she felt love. When her daughter Night Song changes form to marry Hawk Man, Grandmother feels betrayed and tricks her daughter into changing back into a serpent, since magical creatures who return to their original forms are stuck that way forever. Hawk Man then traps Grandmother Moccasin in a clay jar for what she did. Here is where she stews in her bitterness and anger getting revenge on her. Grandmother Moccasin is upset because she has yet again lost someone close to her. Instead of being happy for Night Song, she seeks re-venge on her and Hawk Man. In the end, she feels terrible for what she has done because it re-sults in Night Song killing herself. “She had interfered with love before and caused only sorrow. That, she knew was the price”. (Appelt 308) Grandmother was a very bitter old lady, who just wanted to find love and it seemed to me that everyone she loved would always leave her. This would cause someone to want revenge and not want to do the right thing all of the