ipl-logo

Gary Soto Behind Grandma's House Analysis

1042 Words5 Pages

In his poem “Behind Grandma’s House,” Gary Soto details the life and daily routine of a somewhat masochistic ten year old boy as he kicks over trash cans, terrorizes cats, and drowns ant colonies with his own urine. In many ways the boy acts as any other boy his age would be expected to, but he tends to go further than most young boys with his actions and descriptions of how he feels. This extra violence and destructive tendency the narrator exhibits can lead the reader to believe that, rather than being a typical child, he strongly craves attention due to his circumstances, and he is willing to act out and act obscenely in order to receive that attention. Throughout the poem the narrator details all the things he does to prove how tough he is, many …show more content…

The speaker’s grandmother is originally presented in a way that causes the ending to be a surprise, saying, “Her apron flapping in a breeze, her hair mussed, and said, ‘Let me help you’” (21-22). The imagery of the apron blowing in the wind characterizes her as calm, and when she offers to help her grandson, she seems to be caring and helpful. Once she punches the speaker, this description of her changes entirely from one of serenity and care to a sarcastic description with much more meaning than before. The fact that the grandmother handles her grandson’s behavior in this witty, decisive way raises the possibility that this behavior is very common and she has grown accustomed to handling it in a way that she deems to be effective; however, it is clearly an ineffective method, evidenced by the continued behavior that causes her to punish the speaker in this manner in the first place. It is likely ineffective not because the speaker is not learning about the consequences for his actions, but rather because he

Show More
Related

  • AGMIHTF By Flannery O Connor Analysis

    1031 Words  | 5 Pages

    Firstly, her being a "grandmother" immediately places her in the "innocent old lady" archetype - she does not wrong and loves everyone, but is fragile due to age and needs others to take care of her. The children insulting the grandmother's native state of Georgia adds to this effect - The grandmother is the victim of harm - minor harm here but it foreshadows major harm (death) soon to follow. The grandmother, being a grandmother, is powerless to stop the harm from befalling her.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Grandmother In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    751 Words  | 4 Pages

    When we look at the grandmother in the story, we see many traits of which cause problems and precarious situations. The grandmother when looked at closely is the main reason that all the problems in the story happened. In the beginning of the story she displays a stubborn attitude and shows a spirit of independency; maybe too much. She carefully sneaks her cat into the car, and later down the road the cat sneaks out, jumps on the drivers face, and causes them to have a wreck. As seen in the article “A Good Man is Hard To Find” it states “The grandmother never turns her critical eye on herself to inspect her own hypocrisy, dishonesty, and selfishness.

    Read More

  • Alvina's Grandmother In The Elves Of Red Series

    182 Words  | 1 Pages

    As a result of this outburst, her grandmother is forced to subdue her. I disagree with how her grandmother handled the situation when Alvina lost her cool. Alvina’s grandmother hit her on the neck “with a swift hit, and she fell to the

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Cathedral And A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    1005 Words  | 5 Pages

    Although it may seem like the grandmother is helping the family by trying to convince The Misfit that he is a good man, she is only doing it for “purely selfish reasons” (Mitchell). She has no reaction and is cold-hearted when her family members are murdered. Another reason why she is selfish is because of how she believes that she deserves special treatment because she is a “lady”. In the beginning of the story, O’Connor makes it a point to illustrate how lady-like the grandmother is dressed compared to the mother by stating that anyone who saw her “would know at once that she was a lady” (617). The grandmother wants to make it clear that she is a lady and has expectations to be treated like royalty solely because of her

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find And The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas '

    609 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the author uses the grandmother a lot for the sole purpose of bringing sin and redemption out. Throughout the story, the grandmother repeatedly criticized both her son and daughter-in-law, she always seemed to be lying and messing with other people's feelings. The Grandmother considers herself morally superior to others because she is a “lady,” therefore she freely and frequently judges others.

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find Literary Analysis Essay

    1409 Words  | 6 Pages

    Flannery O’Connor uses style, tone, and character to tell the story of a family and a band of misfits as they struggle with good over evil in the Southern Gothic short story ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The style and tone of the characters are depicted in a way that makes it difficult to feel compassion or sympathy for them. The figurative language and style used by the author depicts characters with casual, informal, and extreme Southern stereotypes, diction and attitudes. The tone of the story is ironic in regard to both the characters and plot. O’Connor uses colorful language to describe the characters of the story in a way that allows the reader to vividly see the characters as cartoon like, grotesque, and exaggerated.

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

    688 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the family is on the trip, they pass a little black boy with no pants on, and the grandmother says, "little niggers in the country don't have things like we do" (398). This is just one instance where the grandmother shows how judgemental she is. She did not know anything about the boy or his family, but continued to talk bad about people who live in the country. After the wreck and being discovered by the Misfit, the grandmother knows she is in trouble and begins telling the Misfit

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast In Response To Executive Order 906 And Mericans

    656 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author uses the emotions of both the narrator and the grandmother to show their different opinions on how they see their identities. “The awful grandmother knits the names of the people who have died and of the people who are still alive into one long prayer fringed with the grandchildren born in that barbaric country with its

    Read More

  • Heritage By Linda Hogan Summary

    831 Words  | 4 Pages

    After talking to all of her relatives, the speaker’s grandmother made the biggest impact her, settling her opinion about her mother’s heritage. The speaker’s hatred

    Read More

  • Research Paper On A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

    706 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Struggle Between Life and Death     Many times a mother is someone to look up to as tenderhearted, or inspirational, but what if instead she is abusive, and emotionally unstable? Furthermore, there are many stories out there relating to the concept of abusive mothers. One of the most sorrowful, and heart wrenching abusive stories takes places in the autobiography called A Child Called “It” written by Dave Pelzer. Dave, also known as David, shows much admiration in the book since he has to withstand all of the barbaric punishments his mother gives him at such a young age.  

    Read More

  • Symbolism In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    1254 Words  | 6 Pages

    The grandmother grew in that moment of death more than she ever did in the little parts that we read about her life, and she dies in peace. Her actions may have even changed the Misfit too. At the end, he says “she would have been a good woman if he 'd been there all her life to shoot her.” (366). This line confused me the first time reading it, but the second time around it made more sense.

    Read More

  • Manipulation In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    786 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Grandmother is a well-dressed and a proper southern lady. She is also the center of action in the short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find". The grandmother seems very suspicious at first, and thinks her son Bailey will be forever small and has to abide by her rules. In her eyes she is never been wrong but knows it all. When we become up-close and personal with the grandmother we see that she's this bad person, which she appears to be old-fashioned, manipulative, and self-serving as a whole.

    Read More

  • Gary Soto Behind Grandma's House Summary

    381 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gary Soto the writer of the poem Behind Grandma's House stats off the poem by saying "at ten I wanted fame. " This gives the reader comprehension that the poem is a flashback to when the speaker was a young boy. The title Behind Grandma's House gives the reader knowledge about the poem's setting before reading it, also that Grandma may be in the poem. Soto writes the poem is in free verse form in first person. All through the poem, Soto writes about a young child coming of age, by doing pointless and asinine things.

    Read More

  • Gary Soto Seventh Grade Analysis

    611 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story, “Seventh Grade,” by Gary Soto, the author pokes fun at the seventh grade boys in the beginning of a school year. The main characters are Victor, Michael, Mr. Bueller, and Teresa, a girl Victor has a crush on. In the end, Victor learns that is it is always best to be himself. The author describes how Victor attempts to impress his dream girlfriend, Teresa.

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find Moral Code Analysis

    731 Words  | 3 Pages

    She broke her own moral code. The grandmother has a very twisted view on the world. She can be backwards at times and also very wrong. The grandmother thinks a good man could fall for anything, like Red Sammy.

    Read More

More about Gary Soto Behind Grandma's House Analysis

Open Document