The story Victory Lap by George Saunders is ambiguous and has many unexpected twists. Through the characters’ thoughts, it is revealed that who they appear to be isn’t always who they turn out to be. The story starts off slightly confusing, as it begins in the mind of Alison Pope. The first few paragraphs suggest that the story is about a young girl pretending to be a princess, until her thoughts change to her dance recital, then to her family, and many other things. It then becomes clear that Alison Pope is a young, teenage girl who has a lot of thoughts running through her head at any moment in the day. This shows that Alison is just a normal, innocent girl who is just starting to grow up. For example, she talks about a boy named Matt
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He is defiant only in his own mind, where he allows himself to swear and talk back to his parents. Even so, he is under their control and he monitors his own thoughts based on what his parents would say. This shows that Kyle has no control over his own life or his own thoughts, which is the opposite of how Alison feels. From Alison’s perspective, it says “What she liked was being in charge of her. Her body, her mind. Her thoughts, her career, her future,” (7). At the point in the story when the predator grabs Alison, it seems as though Alison should be the one to fight the man off while Kyle sits idly by, following all of his directives and rules. Kyle says in his mind, “He was just a kid. There was nothing he could do,” (17). It seems like Kyle will place the geode like he was told, and pretend that there wasn’t a strange man kidnapping his …show more content…
She realizes that Kyle is about to kill the man and she whispers for him to stop. Her nightmares about. Her nightmares about Kyle killing the man continue for months after the incident, but they seem to be just that-nightmares. Visions of what would have happened if she hadn’t have stepped outside and yelled at Kyle. In her dreams, the predator’s head dissolves when Kyle brings the rock down because she just can’t imagine how horrible it would be if Kyle actually hit him. Her parents have to tell her that Kyle didn’t kill the man, that she yelled and stopped the whole thing. She can’t get the day out of her head, because although Kyle may not be a murderer, both children lost their innocence. No more princess stories or geode placing, not after being kidnapped and nearly killing the
He is defiant only in his own mind, where he allows himself to swear and talk back to his parents. Even so, he is under their control and he monitors his own thoughts based on what his parents would say. This shows that Kyle has no control over his own life or his own thoughts, which is the opposite of how Alison feels. From Alison’s perspective, it says “What she liked was being in charge of her. Her body, her mind. Her thoughts, her career, her future,” (7). At the point in the story when the predator grabs Alison, it seems as though Alison should be the one to fight the man off while Kyle sits idly by, following all of his directives and rules. Kyle says in his mind, “He was just a kid. There was nothing he could do,” (17). It seems like Kyle will place the geode like he was told, and pretend that there wasn’t a strange man kidnapping his …show more content…
She realizes that Kyle is about to kill the man and she whispers for him to stop. Her nightmares about. Her nightmares about Kyle killing the man continue for months after the incident, but they seem to be just that-nightmares. Visions of what would have happened if she hadn’t have stepped outside and yelled at Kyle. In her dreams, the predator’s head dissolves when Kyle brings the rock down because she just can’t imagine how horrible it would be if Kyle actually hit him. Her parents have to tell her that Kyle didn’t kill the man, that she yelled and stopped the whole thing. She can’t get the day out of her head, because although Kyle may not be a murderer, both children lost their innocence. No more princess stories or geode placing, not after being kidnapped and nearly killing the