The death of Tommy Grimes

The death of Tommy grimes

Tommy was a fathers son. His father was his mentor, his model. Tommy is an innocent little twelve year old boy in the beginning of the text, and somehow ends up with out his innocences. The only thing Tommy wants, is to make his father proud, so he can go to the hut and drink liquor with the big boys. His father teaches him how to kill animals, how he has to shoot them through the heart. He also tells him, when tommy doesent want to kill a weasel, that every man dies a little bit inside everytime he kills. Tommy is afraid not to live up to his fathers standards, and he often hears how the other men brags about their boys, and he could’t even kill a weasel. So Tommy is therefor determined to go out and kill a young buck. ”he thought how it must be for pa when the other men bragged about their boys, and him so scared to kill a weasel, and he knew what he had to do.”(p.2,l.2) He decides to persuade his ”pa” into letting him in on the hunt, simply because he wants to make his father proud. The story is told through a third person writer, with Tommy’s point of view, but with the main point of view from Tommy, having flashbacks and so on. It all starts with Tommy laying around in the forest, and waits for nature to forget about his absence. He gets these flashbacks often, and this reminds him of why he startet practicing in the first place. He remembers when his pa came back from the hut, drunk, telling stories about the life circle, and telling him that killing will be easier when he gets his first kill. ”It was over; just like that, it was over.” (p3,L.37) this is the time where Tommy gets his first kill. He goes from being a boy with innocens, to a man. A man with maturity, and a kill on his conscience. He steps out of the childish hood his hatet for so long, and is now finaly a man, worthy of the hut. The title The death of Tommy grimes, is not about a boy who dies, no, its about a boy who dies a little inside, and loses his innocence. His killing of the ”Buck” is describet insanely intense, with lots of thoughts, flavours and smells. It is so intense, and at one point, he can not find or hear his dad anywhere, so he is scared that he might have shot him instead of the buck. But no worrys, the father survives, and isen’t even hit, not he hit the buck, but the buck isent a buck. Its a nigger. So when his dad was talking about animals not usefull for the world, he also ment black people. So his dad and his pals are racist. One could imagine that Tommys father and his friends were a part of the KKK clan. The ku klux clan was a organization were they ment that black people belonged under neath the white people as they’re slaves. And the story takes place in Mississippi back in 1962, were the hating was at its highest. The African-american civil rights wanted to end the segregation, and try and give black people the right to vote. And thats the war the KKK clan was fighting. They werent willing to let that happend. Therefor lots of innocent black men and women were killed. And Tommy was one of the murderes. The way the conversation between his Tommy and his father is spoken. Is typically a way hill billys would conversate. ”Some animals just ain’t no damm good and got to be killed. Understand?” (page 1. L20) The way that most of what the father says, is typical for the farmer so to say, the hill billy. They call ’em hill billys in the states. This type of incorrect english keeps showing up everytime his father is involved. And it was the hill billy states like Texas were the everyday family is allowed to have alot of guns. And they liked to used them alot back then. The father is finaly proud of Tommy when he kills the nigger. And Tommy is glad that he finaly had the guts to do it. Because thats how they were raised back then, to think that black people were a danger to the society, it runs deeply in they’re veins. And therefor they think they’re killing is justified