The Symbolism Of Curtis 'Relationships In The Short Story Knife'
The short story “Knife”, is about Curtis’ previous life. In the beginning, the main character has a flashback during school. It was his eleventh birthday and his father gave a pocket knife to Curtis as a birthday gift. His pocket knife displays the Curtis’ bonds and character’s temper throughout the whole story. His relationship with others are positive and may be negative sometimes. For example, his relationship with the seal that he found in the lake. His parents can represent the pessimistic side of the relationship.
One of the symbolism that the swedish army pocket knife represent is relationships that the characters have. In early dayrise, Curtis was resting on the deck of the rowboat and suddenly, a seal rushes out of the water. He
was so curious and just stared at him blankly without realizing how much time he spent. On the next day, he raced towards his boat to see the seal again. After few a hours playing with the seal, he called it “Rollo” because he rolls on the water as they played. He established a relationship with Rollo from that day on. They kept playing with each other for so long that they created a bond with each other. Another relationship is with Curtis’ parents. His father and mother kept fighting over each other because of the pocket knife. His mother thought it was a bad influence to Curtis but his father kept rejecting her. After that night, they were divorced. The pocket knife can represent the relationship of Curtis.
The knife can also represent anger to Curtis in the story. Curtis was angry at his father because he left him after his 11th birthday and felt that he never wanted to meet his father ever again. In his flashback there is another moment where the knife represents anger. After his birthday, he heard his father and his mother fighting against each other. The mother was angry about the knife that Curtis’ father gave. Later on, Curtis was in his treehouse and thinking about last night where his parents fought. He was scraping the wood and that moment the reader notices that Curtis was angry and thinking that it’s all his fault. These are the reasons that the knife represents anger to Curtis and other characters in the story.
One of the symbolism that the swedish army pocket knife represent is relationships that the characters have. In early dayrise, Curtis was resting on the deck of the rowboat and suddenly, a seal rushes out of the water. He
was so curious and just stared at him blankly without realizing how much time he spent. On the next day, he raced towards his boat to see the seal again. After few a hours playing with the seal, he called it “Rollo” because he rolls on the water as they played. He established a relationship with Rollo from that day on. They kept playing with each other for so long that they created a bond with each other. Another relationship is with Curtis’ parents. His father and mother kept fighting over each other because of the pocket knife. His mother thought it was a bad influence to Curtis but his father kept rejecting her. After that night, they were divorced. The pocket knife can represent the relationship of Curtis.
The knife can also represent anger to Curtis in the story. Curtis was angry at his father because he left him after his 11th birthday and felt that he never wanted to meet his father ever again. In his flashback there is another moment where the knife represents anger. After his birthday, he heard his father and his mother fighting against each other. The mother was angry about the knife that Curtis’ father gave. Later on, Curtis was in his treehouse and thinking about last night where his parents fought. He was scraping the wood and that moment the reader notices that Curtis was angry and thinking that it’s all his fault. These are the reasons that the knife represents anger to Curtis and other characters in the story.