Boys Rick Moody
Joseph George
Professor Andrea Dickinson
ENG 102
17 February 2015
Literary Analysis of “Boys” by Rick Moody
For any author relating to their audience is extremely important if he/she wants his/hers message to be received. In Rick Moody’s “Boys” he is trying to relate the two boys in his story to anyone who reads it. Moody chose to make his story about two brothers because he grew up in a home with three step brothers and one real brother. In the story, he illustrates their lives from birth and shows the process of their maturation over time. The trick for Moody though is to try to take something like growing up, which is a very broad and personal event, and make everyone who reads this feel like they could be one of the boys that he is writing about. Moody is able to accomplish this task of relating to everyone by using a very specific word choice and also using an interesting point of view while using his preferred style noticed throughout his piece is to italicize certain words. By italicizing specific words, the author creates stress in the way they are uttered to generate an impact in the reader, influencing their perception for the word. Through the fast pace in which the story is written, “Boys” reveals the story of how two boys grow up together side by side and grow apart for a period of time after gaining their own separate identities, thus the book shows that the true test of manhood is going through your own struggles, which ultimately helps the reader realize how valuable the two twins are to each other.
In the short story “Boys” there is a strong element of conflict making this piece of literature a story rather than a poem, as some may believe. However, unlike other short stories, these conflicts are spread throughout the whole story and not just in the middle with one ending resolution. “Boys” follows the chronological order of two twin boys starting at their birth “[…] boys with infant pattern baldness, slung in the arms of parents, boys
Professor Andrea Dickinson
ENG 102
17 February 2015
Literary Analysis of “Boys” by Rick Moody
For any author relating to their audience is extremely important if he/she wants his/hers message to be received. In Rick Moody’s “Boys” he is trying to relate the two boys in his story to anyone who reads it. Moody chose to make his story about two brothers because he grew up in a home with three step brothers and one real brother. In the story, he illustrates their lives from birth and shows the process of their maturation over time. The trick for Moody though is to try to take something like growing up, which is a very broad and personal event, and make everyone who reads this feel like they could be one of the boys that he is writing about. Moody is able to accomplish this task of relating to everyone by using a very specific word choice and also using an interesting point of view while using his preferred style noticed throughout his piece is to italicize certain words. By italicizing specific words, the author creates stress in the way they are uttered to generate an impact in the reader, influencing their perception for the word. Through the fast pace in which the story is written, “Boys” reveals the story of how two boys grow up together side by side and grow apart for a period of time after gaining their own separate identities, thus the book shows that the true test of manhood is going through your own struggles, which ultimately helps the reader realize how valuable the two twins are to each other.
In the short story “Boys” there is a strong element of conflict making this piece of literature a story rather than a poem, as some may believe. However, unlike other short stories, these conflicts are spread throughout the whole story and not just in the middle with one ending resolution. “Boys” follows the chronological order of two twin boys starting at their birth “[…] boys with infant pattern baldness, slung in the arms of parents, boys
Cited: Moody, Rick. "Boys." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. By Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2012. 297-300. Rick Moody Reads "Boys" Rick Moody. YouTube. St. France College, 23 Oct. 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. Goldstein, Bill, and Moody, Rick. "Flirting With Disaster." The New York TImes., 25 Feb. 2001. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.