Boy's Life Analysis
Life is for the Living
“...[he] was in heaven and life was for the living.” In the Novel Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon the main character Cory Mackenson begins the novel as a naive boy with no understanding of the concept of death, as the novel progresses Cory is able to learn to understand, respect, and accept death through his own experiences.
Cory’s first personal interaction with death is with his pet dog Rebel . Cory’s dog abruptly gets hit by a car while Cory is at School. When Cory goes to the vet to visit Rebel he see’s what horrible condition his dog is in
“ A truck tire had changed the shape of Rebels head. The white hair and flesh on one side of the skull had been ripped back, exposing the bone and the teeth in a fixed grin. The pink tongue lolled in a wash of blood. One eye had turned a dead gray color. The other was wet with terror. Bubbles of blood broke around Rebel’s nostrils and he breathed with a painful hitching noise. A forepaw was crushed to pulp, the broken edges of bones showing in the twisted leg.”(McCammon 347) …show more content…
Hold those gates firm against DEATH…”(McCammon 349) By some miracle Rebel survives but is not really living. Everyone can see that Rebel is not healthy and his friend advise Cory to put Rebel down. Cory cannot pull himself to do so because of the hope that Rebel will return to the normal happy dog he once was. One night Cory see’s a ghost boy named Carl playing with Rebel and finally understand Rebel does not belong to life anymore. This acceptance is seen on pages 361-362 “I was no longer his master…”I’m givin’ Rebel to you, Carl…” The next day Cory brings Rebel to the vet and puts him down finally understanding that life is for the living and accepts that all life comes to an
“...[he] was in heaven and life was for the living.” In the Novel Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon the main character Cory Mackenson begins the novel as a naive boy with no understanding of the concept of death, as the novel progresses Cory is able to learn to understand, respect, and accept death through his own experiences.
Cory’s first personal interaction with death is with his pet dog Rebel . Cory’s dog abruptly gets hit by a car while Cory is at School. When Cory goes to the vet to visit Rebel he see’s what horrible condition his dog is in
“ A truck tire had changed the shape of Rebels head. The white hair and flesh on one side of the skull had been ripped back, exposing the bone and the teeth in a fixed grin. The pink tongue lolled in a wash of blood. One eye had turned a dead gray color. The other was wet with terror. Bubbles of blood broke around Rebel’s nostrils and he breathed with a painful hitching noise. A forepaw was crushed to pulp, the broken edges of bones showing in the twisted leg.”(McCammon 347) …show more content…
Hold those gates firm against DEATH…”(McCammon 349) By some miracle Rebel survives but is not really living. Everyone can see that Rebel is not healthy and his friend advise Cory to put Rebel down. Cory cannot pull himself to do so because of the hope that Rebel will return to the normal happy dog he once was. One night Cory see’s a ghost boy named Carl playing with Rebel and finally understand Rebel does not belong to life anymore. This acceptance is seen on pages 361-362 “I was no longer his master…”I’m givin’ Rebel to you, Carl…” The next day Cory brings Rebel to the vet and puts him down finally understanding that life is for the living and accepts that all life comes to an