noviate

Sacrfice, Belief and the Struggle for Companionship- Skylor Holm
The desire to be accepted by others is sought by people all around the world. The main character, a youthful girl, is faced with the choice of acceptance from her brother or following her own personal beliefs. The girl faces a decision that requires her to give up her innocence and beliefs through the action of killing a gopher. This is done to gain acceptance from her older brother. The sister is young and naive; she desperately seeks a companionship from her brother. He is not looking for a relationship with her; he is only interested in money and becoming more independent. In the short story "The Novitiate," Jean Howarth suggests that perceived happiness comes when an individual sacrifices personal beliefs.

Initially, the main character is naive and totally innocent, having no idea of what a gopher hunt really is. "She trotted at his heels, back a pace, as was respectful," showing the huge amount of respect and trust she had in her big brother. She thinks of a gopher as a pet that "sits up and begs for nuts" with its "little hands," when in reality a person can't go to the prairies and find friendly gophers to take home as pets. She looks up to her brother and wants to be just like him. " She tried to imitate him , but the pressure how to get attention was to irritate and annoy. She "dawdled deliberately," to hurt her hand and bruised the apple." She craved companionship, and the only way she knew provoke a reaction, to "fill her heart with his fury" because "she couldn't fill it with his favor."

The other main character - independent, distant and calculated - only cares about the gain of wealth. He "figures" if he "makes twelve dollars" from collecting "gopher tails", "three cents bounty for every tail." he can "buy Bob Philips bike." That way he can make more money from "deliver[ing] handbills." The idea of gaining money from "gopher tails" transports him with the feeling of "pleasure"