Retaining Innocence
In Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life, Cory Mackenson reflects “the murderer had handcuffed my father to that awful moment in time just as the victim had been handcuffed to the wheel” (McCammon 31). By this point Cory had accepted the murder as much as he could, given the circumstances. Despite this, the quote shows that his dad had not able to do so. This in turn illustrates to the reader the importance of holding on to one’s innocence. Throughout Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life, McCammon stresses the importance of accepting that there is evil in the world while continuing to retain one’s innocence as demonstrated through Davy Ray, Cory’s dad, and Cory himself.
Through Davy Ray, the reader is shown many examples of what it means …show more content…
In most books, the main character has to go through horrible experiences to get to where the author wants them to end up at. Boy’s Life is no different. Throughout the book, Cory’s world and life are raked to their foundations, and Cory struggles to see good anywhere. One night, Cory goes over to see his friend Ben and while he is there, Ben’s father goes out to ‘chase a comet’, and Cory sees what happens to some people, because Ben’s father comes back ‘changed’, (McCammon 47-49). In this section of the book McCammon shows the reader through Ben and his family what evil can happen to break apart a family. Cory witnesses this, and he does not know how to respond. He saw Ben’s father at his worst, and had to realize that not everybody’s lives were perfect. Things like drunkenness or similar things affect many people’s lives, and the realization threatened to break down his innocence. In the last chapter of the book, Cory shows us the outcome of his struggle to retain his innocence through that year, by showing us the fate of his bicycle after he left Zephyr, which was that he brought it with him, through stating that after it was sold he “cried as if I were twelve again and not twenty” (McCammon 574). Throughout the book the bicycle was a symbol of Cory’s innocence. The fact that the bicycle stayed with him even after they left Zephyr shows the reader that Cory was able to come to terms with the evil that had happened to him and his family and friends, and still believe in goodness and magic. Because Cory couldn’t let the bicycle go shows the reader that he wanted the memories of Zephyr to help him continue to retain his innocence while remembering the evil in the world. Cory went through many bad experiences in Boy’s Life, and they tried to destroy his innocence, but we then see at the end of the book,
In Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life, Cory Mackenson reflects “the murderer had handcuffed my father to that awful moment in time just as the victim had been handcuffed to the wheel” (McCammon 31). By this point Cory had accepted the murder as much as he could, given the circumstances. Despite this, the quote shows that his dad had not able to do so. This in turn illustrates to the reader the importance of holding on to one’s innocence. Throughout Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life, McCammon stresses the importance of accepting that there is evil in the world while continuing to retain one’s innocence as demonstrated through Davy Ray, Cory’s dad, and Cory himself.
Through Davy Ray, the reader is shown many examples of what it means …show more content…
In most books, the main character has to go through horrible experiences to get to where the author wants them to end up at. Boy’s Life is no different. Throughout the book, Cory’s world and life are raked to their foundations, and Cory struggles to see good anywhere. One night, Cory goes over to see his friend Ben and while he is there, Ben’s father goes out to ‘chase a comet’, and Cory sees what happens to some people, because Ben’s father comes back ‘changed’, (McCammon 47-49). In this section of the book McCammon shows the reader through Ben and his family what evil can happen to break apart a family. Cory witnesses this, and he does not know how to respond. He saw Ben’s father at his worst, and had to realize that not everybody’s lives were perfect. Things like drunkenness or similar things affect many people’s lives, and the realization threatened to break down his innocence. In the last chapter of the book, Cory shows us the outcome of his struggle to retain his innocence through that year, by showing us the fate of his bicycle after he left Zephyr, which was that he brought it with him, through stating that after it was sold he “cried as if I were twelve again and not twenty” (McCammon 574). Throughout the book the bicycle was a symbol of Cory’s innocence. The fact that the bicycle stayed with him even after they left Zephyr shows the reader that Cory was able to come to terms with the evil that had happened to him and his family and friends, and still believe in goodness and magic. Because Cory couldn’t let the bicycle go shows the reader that he wanted the memories of Zephyr to help him continue to retain his innocence while remembering the evil in the world. Cory went through many bad experiences in Boy’s Life, and they tried to destroy his innocence, but we then see at the end of the book,