As Christmas approaches, he starts to ripen and recoil from selfishness to selflessness. As the family waits for their elder brother, the protagonist “wish[es] it to be cold, cold on the Great Lakes of Ontario, so that he may come home to [them] as soon as possible” (MacLeod 302). The narrator demonstrates an act of selfishness as he neglects the global consequences that could occur if the Great Lakes freeze. “The effect of the Great Lakes freezing is crucial because it impacts a range of societal benefits provided by the lakes, from hydropower generation to commercial shipping to the fishing industry” (Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory). Epiphany occurs when the narrator feels helpless because “[they] can do nothing...[h]is coming seems to depend on so many factors which are out there far beyond [them] and over which [they] lack control” (MacLeod 303). The protagonist begins to understand reality and the things far beyond his reach. The epiphany signifies his beginning of maturity as he works to be patient in such matters. At last, when his brother arrives, the narrator observes his brother’s friends “have come so far and tomorrow is Christmas Eve and stretches of mountains and water sill lie between them and those they love” (MacLeod 303). The protagonist shows concern towards someone who he does not know very well. Despite all his problems, whether it is losing his father, or his ambiguity of which values to embrace, he worries about his brother’s friends. Truly, a gleam of sympathy sparks inside the eleven-year-old narrator as he moves from selfishness to
As Christmas approaches, he starts to ripen and recoil from selfishness to selflessness. As the family waits for their elder brother, the protagonist “wish[es] it to be cold, cold on the Great Lakes of Ontario, so that he may come home to [them] as soon as possible” (MacLeod 302). The narrator demonstrates an act of selfishness as he neglects the global consequences that could occur if the Great Lakes freeze. “The effect of the Great Lakes freezing is crucial because it impacts a range of societal benefits provided by the lakes, from hydropower generation to commercial shipping to the fishing industry” (Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory). Epiphany occurs when the narrator feels helpless because “[they] can do nothing...[h]is coming seems to depend on so many factors which are out there far beyond [them] and over which [they] lack control” (MacLeod 303). The protagonist begins to understand reality and the things far beyond his reach. The epiphany signifies his beginning of maturity as he works to be patient in such matters. At last, when his brother arrives, the narrator observes his brother’s friends “have come so far and tomorrow is Christmas Eve and stretches of mountains and water sill lie between them and those they love” (MacLeod 303). The protagonist shows concern towards someone who he does not know very well. Despite all his problems, whether it is losing his father, or his ambiguity of which values to embrace, he worries about his brother’s friends. Truly, a gleam of sympathy sparks inside the eleven-year-old narrator as he moves from selfishness to