Moose and Sparrow

Zachary Andrews
“Moose and the Sparrow” Essay

In the “Moose and the Sparrow” the characters, setting and plot contribute to the theme that even though a person might seem weak and vulnerable from the outside; he or she can be capable of doing the most extraordinary things. The male protagonist Cecil was subjected to intolerable behaviour by his boss Moose Maddon throughout the story. After Moose learned that Cecil was a college boy who studied the arts, Moose made it his duty to treat him like a slave and make him do the most exerting jobs at the logging camp “learning that Cecil was a college boy, Moose gave him no peace at all” (para.11). Luckily Cecil made a friend, Mr Anderson who cared for the kid and would try to comfort Cecil “There are some men, like Moose Maddon, who are so twisted inside that they want to take it out on the world” (para.52). After the hash jokes and hostile working environments Cecil decided to act on his aggression and kill Moose Maddon himself using his wire trap. The setting of the “Moose and the Sparrow” is at a logging camp miles away from Nanaimo. The logging camp was like a training course for Cecil; Moose put him through the most uncalled for strengthening duties that made Cecil a stronger kid in the end. There were not a lot of artsy items for Cecil to utilize on his off time at the camp however he did find some wire. Cecil started working in his bunk making bracelets and even made a new watch strap for Mr Anderson another man at the camp. After Moose’s death Mr Anderson found burn marks that could have been from the wires roping off a diagonal trap blocking the footbridge where Maddon tripped to his death “two small trees that faced each other diagonally across the fallen log were burn marks” (para.86). Cecil is a young man, who is struggling to earn enough money for his second year at University (U.B.C). Moose Maddon his boss was one of the toughest guys out there who made his life hell through the summer. Moose Maddon made it so bad that the night he went to “tent three” to get drunk Cecil was setting up his death trap. If Moose didn’t harass and torture Cecil, Cecil would not have felt threatened thus preventing the “accidental death”. Mr Anderson was the only one who came up with that conclusion because he was the only one that went back and discovered the burn marks. After looking at his “new watch band” Mr Anderson realises that his new watch strap may be one of kind, being the only one in the world that has killed a person. Cecil the protagonist was seen as a weaker vulnerable university student trying to make money for school. But the money making was not so easy to ascertain because Moose Maddon made everyday hell for him. However in the end, Cecil does the extraordinary, killing Moose Maddon with his wire trap.