Everyone has problems and obstacles that they must go through during their lives. However, they may have different ways of dealing with their pains and emotions. In the two stories, “Swimming Upstream” by Beth Brant and “Traplines” by Eden Robinson, the victims are exposed to two different problems that both create a trapped environment. Whether it’s internal conflict or against a community, they are forced to resort to ways to help cope with their struggling. Thus, through close examination of “Swimming Upstream” and “Traplines”, it will become evident how both stories are related through the character’s emotions, conflict with society, and their ways of dimming pain.
Within “Swimming Upstream” and “Traplines” the problems that the characters …show more content…
In “Traplines”, Will is neglected and not cared about by his family, he escapes from the pain through medication. Will uses aspirins as a way to numb his physical and emotional pain that is caused by his brother and parents, “The Smythes keep the aspirin by the spices. I grab six, three for now and three for the morning” (Robinson 465). In comparison, Anna May turns to alcohol in hope that it would also numb her pain and free her from her internal thoughts, “she thought about the bottle of wine: the bottle, the red liquid inside, the sweet taste gathering in her mouth, moving down her throat, hitting her bloodstream, warming her inside, killing the draedness” (Brant 159). Both Beth and Robinson also included the theme of starting new, and creating a fresh start. Will was able to completely escape his trapped community when he decided to leave with his friends to Vancouver, “Billy yabbers about Christmas in Vancouver, and how great it’s going to be, the two of us, no one to boss us around, no one to bother us, going anywhere we want […] I guess anything’ll be better than sitting around, listening to Tony and Craig gripe” (Robinson 476). Will was able to completely cut off the hold of his repetitive, negative lifestyle and took the chance to create a new one. On the other hand, Anna May in “Swimming Upstream” is able to escape from her problems with the help of someone else. Anna May’s love and care for Catherine is what prevented her from getting caught up in her history of alcoholism, “She thought of ways to buy wine and hide it so she could take a drink when she needed it. But there was Catherine. Catherine would know, and Catherine’s face, already so line and tired and old, would become more so” (Brant 159). Anna May also found clarity to her problems through nature. During Anna May’s visit to Sauble Falls, she witnessed a salmon try to reach its way
Within “Swimming Upstream” and “Traplines” the problems that the characters …show more content…
In “Traplines”, Will is neglected and not cared about by his family, he escapes from the pain through medication. Will uses aspirins as a way to numb his physical and emotional pain that is caused by his brother and parents, “The Smythes keep the aspirin by the spices. I grab six, three for now and three for the morning” (Robinson 465). In comparison, Anna May turns to alcohol in hope that it would also numb her pain and free her from her internal thoughts, “she thought about the bottle of wine: the bottle, the red liquid inside, the sweet taste gathering in her mouth, moving down her throat, hitting her bloodstream, warming her inside, killing the draedness” (Brant 159). Both Beth and Robinson also included the theme of starting new, and creating a fresh start. Will was able to completely escape his trapped community when he decided to leave with his friends to Vancouver, “Billy yabbers about Christmas in Vancouver, and how great it’s going to be, the two of us, no one to boss us around, no one to bother us, going anywhere we want […] I guess anything’ll be better than sitting around, listening to Tony and Craig gripe” (Robinson 476). Will was able to completely cut off the hold of his repetitive, negative lifestyle and took the chance to create a new one. On the other hand, Anna May in “Swimming Upstream” is able to escape from her problems with the help of someone else. Anna May’s love and care for Catherine is what prevented her from getting caught up in her history of alcoholism, “She thought of ways to buy wine and hide it so she could take a drink when she needed it. But there was Catherine. Catherine would know, and Catherine’s face, already so line and tired and old, would become more so” (Brant 159). Anna May also found clarity to her problems through nature. During Anna May’s visit to Sauble Falls, she witnessed a salmon try to reach its way