The need for power and control, something that someone would die for. Throughout life people have a certain amount of power and control, some more than others. Some people would go great lengths to keep, or get more of, the power and control they posses. There are many different forms of power and control, it may be a dynamic, the law, or anything in between. The author of Montana 1948, explores the need and want of power through wildly different characters who each have their own personality and take on power and control. David is 12, and wants the power and responsibility that comes with being an adult, Frank wants control over the women he rapes and molests, and his brother, and Wesley wants the power to do what is right in his eyes and
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On page 125, “My tears, however, were not for Marie, whom I loved, or my uncle, whom I once idolized, or for my parents or grandparents or for my community or my life in it-all, all changed, I knew, by what had happened. But that night I cried myself to sleep because I believed that I would never see my horse, Nutty again.” David crying over Nutty was not just about not seeing his horse again like he said, the author used Nutty as a representation of the fractured family dynamic that caused David to lose the power over his relationships and have no control in what happens to them. Evidently, on page 134, “She was so clumsy, so obviously unsuited for what she was doing….I wanted to rush over to her, to help her, to relieve her of the awful duty she had taken up.” David himself is only 12 years old, his much older mother stands at a window ready to shoot intruders, but he wants to take control over the situation and take the responsibility thrust upon his mother and bare it himself to free her of the burden that the holder of the shotgun …show more content…
As seen on page 84, “The next thing I knew they were shaking hands...My father and Uncle Frank walked off together, their broad shoulders almost touching.” Instead of arresting his brother like his wife, and secretly his son, wanted him to, Wesley talks to him and makes a compromise so that no more girls will have to go through what he did to others. However this ends up not working and as evidenced by page 149, “‘Goddamn it! What could I have been thinking of? Maybe a jury will cut him loose. I won’t. By God, I won’t.’” Now that Frank has killed someone, Wesley can no longer turn a blind eye to his brother’s actions and wants justice, even if his wife and father want him to just let it go. He wants his power to matter, he doesn’t want to be the sheriff with the bad leg who chaperones dances, he wants to be the sheriff who puts the murderer away for
On page 125, “My tears, however, were not for Marie, whom I loved, or my uncle, whom I once idolized, or for my parents or grandparents or for my community or my life in it-all, all changed, I knew, by what had happened. But that night I cried myself to sleep because I believed that I would never see my horse, Nutty again.” David crying over Nutty was not just about not seeing his horse again like he said, the author used Nutty as a representation of the fractured family dynamic that caused David to lose the power over his relationships and have no control in what happens to them. Evidently, on page 134, “She was so clumsy, so obviously unsuited for what she was doing….I wanted to rush over to her, to help her, to relieve her of the awful duty she had taken up.” David himself is only 12 years old, his much older mother stands at a window ready to shoot intruders, but he wants to take control over the situation and take the responsibility thrust upon his mother and bare it himself to free her of the burden that the holder of the shotgun …show more content…
As seen on page 84, “The next thing I knew they were shaking hands...My father and Uncle Frank walked off together, their broad shoulders almost touching.” Instead of arresting his brother like his wife, and secretly his son, wanted him to, Wesley talks to him and makes a compromise so that no more girls will have to go through what he did to others. However this ends up not working and as evidenced by page 149, “‘Goddamn it! What could I have been thinking of? Maybe a jury will cut him loose. I won’t. By God, I won’t.’” Now that Frank has killed someone, Wesley can no longer turn a blind eye to his brother’s actions and wants justice, even if his wife and father want him to just let it go. He wants his power to matter, he doesn’t want to be the sheriff with the bad leg who chaperones dances, he wants to be the sheriff who puts the murderer away for