By The River : An Analysis of Jim Styan
The short story By the River by Jack Hodgins is about the relationship of a naive, but caring girl named Crystal who had the unfortunate luck of falling in love with Jim Styan. The distinguishing characteristics of Jim Styan is that he is inherently careless, incompetent, and incredibly foolish. Crystal was so blinded by her love for Jim, she could not see who he actually was, and because of that, she listened what he said without thought of her own.
The distinct feeling a reader would get from Jim Styan is that he is a careless human being. An example of this would be that fact that he bought chickens and tried to raise them, despite the fact that Jim and Crystal didn’t have a chicken coop, “[Crystal] …show more content…
He thought he could live off the land, but it is evident that he cannot. This is displayed by the fact that he could not keep the chickens he had boughten alive through a single winter, “They survived their first winter here, though the chickens weren’t so lucky. The hens got lice… they had all frozen to death in the yard…. In five years their dream of livestock has been shelved again and again.” (Hodgins, 50-51) Also, to reiterate what was stated in the previous paragraph, Jim Styan, when he bought the chickens, did not have a coop for them to live in, and did not plan to build one for them. Someone who was even slightly knowledgeable about trying to raise any sort of animal would know that they need shelter to survive, not just a field beside a house.
Jim Styan is, above all else, completely foolish. An example would be that when he goes to the movies he acts like a fool, so much so, that the first time Crystal went to the movies with him, she pretended as if she had nothing to do with him:
“...Laugh loudly all the way through the movie. He always laughs at everything, even if it isn’t funny…. The first time they went to a movie together she slouched as far down in the seat as she could so no one could see that she was there or had anything to do with Jim Styan.” (Hodgins,
The short story By the River by Jack Hodgins is about the relationship of a naive, but caring girl named Crystal who had the unfortunate luck of falling in love with Jim Styan. The distinguishing characteristics of Jim Styan is that he is inherently careless, incompetent, and incredibly foolish. Crystal was so blinded by her love for Jim, she could not see who he actually was, and because of that, she listened what he said without thought of her own.
The distinct feeling a reader would get from Jim Styan is that he is a careless human being. An example of this would be that fact that he bought chickens and tried to raise them, despite the fact that Jim and Crystal didn’t have a chicken coop, “[Crystal] …show more content…
He thought he could live off the land, but it is evident that he cannot. This is displayed by the fact that he could not keep the chickens he had boughten alive through a single winter, “They survived their first winter here, though the chickens weren’t so lucky. The hens got lice… they had all frozen to death in the yard…. In five years their dream of livestock has been shelved again and again.” (Hodgins, 50-51) Also, to reiterate what was stated in the previous paragraph, Jim Styan, when he bought the chickens, did not have a coop for them to live in, and did not plan to build one for them. Someone who was even slightly knowledgeable about trying to raise any sort of animal would know that they need shelter to survive, not just a field beside a house.
Jim Styan is, above all else, completely foolish. An example would be that when he goes to the movies he acts like a fool, so much so, that the first time Crystal went to the movies with him, she pretended as if she had nothing to do with him:
“...Laugh loudly all the way through the movie. He always laughs at everything, even if it isn’t funny…. The first time they went to a movie together she slouched as far down in the seat as she could so no one could see that she was there or had anything to do with Jim Styan.” (Hodgins,