Who Has Seen The Wind Brian O Connal Character Analysis

In W.O. Mitchell’s novel, Who Has Seen The Wind, there are many similarities and differences to be found between the main character, Brian O’Connal and the mysterious Young Ben. The Young Ben is known to be a loner, the boy of the town drunk. Normally the Young Ben would keep to himself; he never had contact with others, but he took an intriguing to Brian O’Connal. The boys began to develop an unspoken friendship throughout the novel.
In the Novel, Who Has Seen The Wind, the Young Ben and Brian share many similarities, many are traits are that of all young children and others are unique to them. For example they both share qualities such as independences and curiosity. The Young Ben is kind of a lone wolf, he’s a very independent young boy,
he’s learnt to fend for himself very well, as where Brian is independent in another way, Brian’s independences is more because of his growing maturated. Another example of a good similarity between Brian and the Young Ben would defiantly have to be their curiosity, especially for nature and thing related to nature. Brian and the Young Ben are both very intrigued with nature and live, and how everything works. The Young Ben grew up on the prairie and is very close to different types of wildlife, it’s almost like his can relate to the animals in many different ways. Brian is connected to nature through curiosity and fascination with the way of life, Brian is always asking questions about life and birth: “Dad?” “Yes, Spalpeen?” “How do rabbits get started?” For some two years now he had been expecting this. Another similarity between both Brian and The Young Ben is knowing when something is wrong, for example at school when Miss. Macdonald threatened Brian with ‘God’s Punishment’ simply because the young boy forgot to wash his hands, and got carried away and lied about doing so. The Young realized that’s Brian was being unfairly treated, and felt for him. “She saw the ugliness in the Young Ben’s eyes; she saw the knife in his brown hand; she did the most sensible thing she had done in her life,” Miss. Macdonald has been very wrong to punish Brian for something very trivial, and both her and the Young Ben knew that. No matter how a child is raised they still have certain sensitivity’s to the outside world, like having trouble understanding why others are so cruel to not any people but animals as well; this is true for both Brian and The Young Ben. For Example, when Brian, his friend Artie and Brian’s brother Bobbie went gopher drowning……… (NEED TO FINSH END OF PARAGRAPH & ADD QUOTES) ex) miss. Macdonald and the hand washing with Brian. Ex) and truly good heartiness, even if it’s deep down inside with the young ben.
In W.O.
Mitchell’s, Who Has Seen The Wind, there are many differences between Brian O’Connal and The Young Ben from the prairie. The Main different between the two boy’s is their home life, Brian’s father Gerald O’Connal is the town’s pharmacist, and a very loving and caring man, on the other hand the Young Ben’s Father, The Ben is a childish and irresponsible drunk. Brian has a caring loving father, who is always home; whereas The Young Ben’s father is only out for himself and is more interested in finding a place for his alcohol still, than caring for his only son. Another example of how the boys differ is their lifestyle, the way they were brought up; Brian was raised in a loving home, whereas the Young Ben household was more of an, everyone fends for themselves. The O’Connal family is more fortunate then the Ben family: “There was no doubt that the Young Ben wanted the gun badly, and the yearning that the Young Ben must feel found its match in the school principal.” The Mother Ben isn’t spoken about much in the novel, although The Ben is describes as very self-interested, he doesn’t care a lot about him family. Then there is the location of the boys bringing up, The Young Ben lives with his parent just outside the small Saskatchewan town on the prairie, and Brian lives in the small town. The Young Ben was first introduced as the “boy on the prairie,” said to just wonder. Another difference between Brian and The Young Ben’s home lives is their mothers. Brian’s mother, Maggie, O’Connal is well involved, and very loving, whereas The Mother Ben is not spoken of a lot in the novel, she doesn’t have a real strong presence, the author does not state if she is a caring mother or not, but we as the reader are giving a sense that The Young Ben is left to fend for himself. For example during an encounter Mr. Digby, the school principal and The Mother Ben had about Mr. Digby’s concern over The Young Ben’s School, The Mother Ben came off as though the matter did not
concern her, what so ever.
In the novel Who Has Seen The Wind, Brian and The Young Ben have many similarities and differences. Brian is just little like any other young child, innocent, curious, and imaginative; whereas The Young Ben is more on the wild side, The Young Ben is older and although still curious but knows whens his presences it not wanted. Brian and The Young Ben attend school together, and the two of them developed an unspoken connection. Brian was fascinated with The Young Ben: “ Fascinated and confused, he would stare often and long across the aisle at the Young Ben; and on one occasion the Young Ben had turned his headed from the window to gaze at Brian, without curiosity, in his eyes simply the wild and natural candor of one prairie creature looking at another.” The two boys have many difference and similarities, and there well displayed throughout the novel. Brian and The Young Ben are both very curious, Brian she always asking questions, and The Young Ben the always somehow there, just simply in the background. Another similarly and boys share is a fascinating with nature, for Brian, it’s about learning where everything came from, and how it got here, and as for The Young Ben, nature is all around him, the author write in a sense that nature speaks to The Young Ben, that he can relate the best to natural world. A major difference between Brian O’Connal and The Young Ben we as the read come to terms with at the beginning of the novel is Brian’s innocence’s and The Young Ben’s wild driven, nature in thrived ways. Brian is like any other young impressionable child, whereas The Young Ben was raised differently. The Young Ben’s family isn’t as stable as the O’Connal’s, not as loving, or caring, or even welcoming for that matter. (quotes of young ben being wild or description of families) Sometime what’s on the inside doesn’t matter how you were raised, because The Young Ben still has a good heart. Another quality Brian and The Young Ben have in common is good heartedness. They both possess the ability to look passed someone flaws, and see what really makes a person who they really are. When many people having giving up hope on The Young Ben, Brian still believes there is something more. The Young Ben senses when others are treated unfairly. (Quote, or description,) And finally another prime example is independent, this is a similarity that both Brian and The Young Ben share, but is different ways. Brian’s independence comes from wanting to grow up and to do things on his own as many young children, whereas The Young Ben’s comes from survival, independent because he was left to fend for himself at such a young age.

Although, Brian O’Connal and The Young Ben live very different lives, there are still many similarities to found, especially in their personalities.