Boys' Analysis
Andrew Thurman
Analysis Paper
November 1, 2012
Relating to Boys For any author relating to their audience is extremely important if you want your 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. 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. As with any form of dialogue, whether it is a story or even just conversation, using specific words helps convey a meaning and helps the listeners understand. “Boys enter the house, boys enter the house” (Moody) is by far the most said thing in the whole story, but for good reason. As the boys come in and out of the house, this is a representation of them aging. With each entrance they have grown either physically or they have become more mature. Their maturation through entering the house is displayed towards the end of the story when he says the “Boys hold open the threshold, [the] awesome threshold” (Moody). This threshold is a metaphor for something like some sort of gateway. Each time this gateway is traversed there is a new level of boy that is coming through it. Showing them aging in this manner allows readers to look back at their memories of growing up and make connections to themselves. Also, Moody’s choice of using the word ‘boys’ over and over has quite an interesting effect on the audience. The boys are never given names, which leaves you feeling like they are somewhat generic and you have to use your imagination to fill in the specific details about what they look like and any other specific details about them. Giving the reader this
Analysis Paper
November 1, 2012
Relating to Boys For any author relating to their audience is extremely important if you want your 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. 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. As with any form of dialogue, whether it is a story or even just conversation, using specific words helps convey a meaning and helps the listeners understand. “Boys enter the house, boys enter the house” (Moody) is by far the most said thing in the whole story, but for good reason. As the boys come in and out of the house, this is a representation of them aging. With each entrance they have grown either physically or they have become more mature. Their maturation through entering the house is displayed towards the end of the story when he says the “Boys hold open the threshold, [the] awesome threshold” (Moody). This threshold is a metaphor for something like some sort of gateway. Each time this gateway is traversed there is a new level of boy that is coming through it. Showing them aging in this manner allows readers to look back at their memories of growing up and make connections to themselves. Also, Moody’s choice of using the word ‘boys’ over and over has quite an interesting effect on the audience. The boys are never given names, which leaves you feeling like they are somewhat generic and you have to use your imagination to fill in the specific details about what they look like and any other specific details about them. Giving the reader this