Analysis of "The Grave"
Ashley Johns
Lennis Polnac
English 1302, Synonym 11701
14 July 2010
An Analysis of “The Grave” The grave is the story of a young girl named Miranda who goes exploring and hunting with her brother Paul, one afternoon. Upon trespassing onto private property that their family had sold, and inspecting some empty gravesites, both Paul and Miranda find hidden treasures inside the empty earth. Both had something the other sibling admired, Paul a thin, golden ring and Miranda a silver dove. After trading their discovered items, and returning to their hunt, the reader is able to see more clearly the change that takes place in Miranda. Initially seen as a boyish young girl, unconcerned with behaving in a feminine mannerism, we see her transform after putting the beautifully designed ring on her finger. The central idea of “The Grave” is that people live up to the expectations placed on them, by both others and themselves. “The Grave” is told from a totally omniscient point of view, as the narrator is able to describe the inner thoughts from all characters within the story. However, the main focus is on Miranda who is the primary character within the story. She presents a dynamic character, showing growth and change as the story continues to unfold. As the story begins, she is a young girl who unquestioningly follows her brother to go hunting, listening to his advice so as not to have the gun accidently go off, and wearing the exact same uniform, so to speak, in order to keep her school dresses clean. We do, however, see that her interest is not actually that of hunting, but rather the sheer excitement and exercise she gets from going along with her brother; “What I like about shooting,” said Miranda, with exasperating inconsequence, “is pulling the trigger and hearing the noise.” The following sentence details how she prefers to go with her brother versus shooting on the range because she is able to walk around more. We also see that at one point she feels
Lennis Polnac
English 1302, Synonym 11701
14 July 2010
An Analysis of “The Grave” The grave is the story of a young girl named Miranda who goes exploring and hunting with her brother Paul, one afternoon. Upon trespassing onto private property that their family had sold, and inspecting some empty gravesites, both Paul and Miranda find hidden treasures inside the empty earth. Both had something the other sibling admired, Paul a thin, golden ring and Miranda a silver dove. After trading their discovered items, and returning to their hunt, the reader is able to see more clearly the change that takes place in Miranda. Initially seen as a boyish young girl, unconcerned with behaving in a feminine mannerism, we see her transform after putting the beautifully designed ring on her finger. The central idea of “The Grave” is that people live up to the expectations placed on them, by both others and themselves. “The Grave” is told from a totally omniscient point of view, as the narrator is able to describe the inner thoughts from all characters within the story. However, the main focus is on Miranda who is the primary character within the story. She presents a dynamic character, showing growth and change as the story continues to unfold. As the story begins, she is a young girl who unquestioningly follows her brother to go hunting, listening to his advice so as not to have the gun accidently go off, and wearing the exact same uniform, so to speak, in order to keep her school dresses clean. We do, however, see that her interest is not actually that of hunting, but rather the sheer excitement and exercise she gets from going along with her brother; “What I like about shooting,” said Miranda, with exasperating inconsequence, “is pulling the trigger and hearing the noise.” The following sentence details how she prefers to go with her brother versus shooting on the range because she is able to walk around more. We also see that at one point she feels