Review of WD Valgardson's A Matter of Balance

A matter of balance

Setting The setting in “A Matter of Balance” by W.D. Valgardson had a great influence in on the characters and environments they had to face in this short story. Some of the weather and geographical locations the characters had to face was when Harold was sitting on a cedar log, resting absentmindedly plucking pieces from its thick layer of moss. It told us about about the geographical location also with the waterfall above the narrow bridge with the creek that flowed under it. The ground was a tangle of sword fern, salal, and Oregon grape. In a bit of an open space, an arbutus tree (that only grew on the west coast line) twisted towards the sun. Also with the location that had a land mass of rough black rock that turned into sixty feet of smooth slab. This tells us where the story was taken place and what environment they had to face during this story, also with the harsh cold weather conditions they had to face while Harold was dressed warmly wearing a cotton shirt, then a wool shirt and, finally, a wool jacket shirt; yet, within a few hours he was shaking with a cold and could not keep out of the chill. The air was so damp that when he took a handful of rotting cedar and squeezed it, red water ran like blood between his fingers, while on the tree trunks, hundreds of mushrooms grew. In this provincial park Harold’s social conditions and mood varied whether it was to be on time for his kids or to take his time exploring his dreams and thoughts in the nature, He was still only able to work part time and had carefully arranged his schedule so that his Wednesdays were free and every Wednesday for the last six months, he had picked them because of the usual quiet and that no one was around when he went but this was a good and a bad for this story, it was bad because of the fact that he was being chased but no one was around to help him and the good was that when at the end he was hoping no one was around to let them be free and so he could just walk away from the hole mess. He had hiked to the end of this trail and then used his rope to lower himself to the river bank; He always went right to the end of the oath, and then worked his way along the river for another hundred yards. Since their mother had been killed, the children became upset even if he was even a few minutes late. But it was a 2 hour hike to the end of the trail that he took. The setting influenced the charter by a lot of ways, one way was when he always wanted to have no one around but after knowing he was being chased he wish there was people around to help him and near the end when he decided not to help them down he was happy there was no one after all. The environment around him challenged him greatly he had hiked the trails every Wednesday so he knew where was good spots and bad and where to go away from the pursuers and it paid off.

Character Harold was a great character in this short story he had guts, passion, fear and courage. He first was influenced with these pursuers when one raised his right hand, pointed two fingers like he would a pistol, and pretended to shoot. This action, childish as it was, unsettled Harold and he felt his stomach knot with anxiety. The reminded him of kids from his public school days that used to block the sidewalk, daring anyone to try to get by. Harold was a smart character he prepared for the weather conditions dressing warmly with lots of clothing, also knowing that if the two on the bridge were planning on following him and stealing his equipment or wallet, they would probably give up after a short distance and wait for easier prey, Harold thought that he would be able to escape from them. When the pursuers reached him- he told himself not to be foolish, not to be paranoid. Ever since their mother had been killed, the children became upset if he was even a few minutes late, this tells us that he is on a time period and needs to get back he tells himself not being late. As a child he had dreamed of living in the forest so he always liked walking and hiking the trails so he did it every day trying to pursue his dreams. He wished he brought a hunting knife, it would have made him feel better to have had a weapon if the men reached him he would have a defence, when Harold was climbing down the cliff he told himself, a fall in those circumstances meant no more than some scraped skin and injured pride, he didn’t want to disappoint himself. To see if it was all a mistake of them following him and chasing he asked them “did you want something “but all they did was laugh so that indicated they were after him. Even after he was safe his sides were soaked with sweat and he could smell his own fear, bitter as stale tobacco. He was afraid if they were let go by anyone because he thought that they would discover his name and address and his children would be in trouble. So he thought and decided not to let them go for his own safety and he knew it was a good decision for the state of matter he is in. Harold made a good choice living his life on and forgetting about what happened here today.