Describe Uncle John from Tom's point of view.
Uncle John in Tom's point of view is seen as lonely, crazy and mean. Tom states, " Loniest goddamn man in the world ... Crazy kind of son-of-a-b**** too- somepin like Muley, on'y worse in some way" (Steinbeck, 1996, p.68). The quote displays Tom's negative perception of his Uncle based on his years of knowing him. He also heard a story from his father about something crazy that John was responsible for. The story was that he had a wife who had a stomach pain and wanted to go to the doctor, but he didn't take it seriously and called it a stomach ache. She ended up dying the next day because he condition was much more serious. This story aids in the crazy reputation he had and his wife being the only family he had made him lonely after her loss.
If anyone wants to elaborate or add more that be great!!
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I agree that Uncle John is everything you say he is. He is a pretty lonely man due to letting his guilt take a hold of his life. However, you have to understand that it is because of his guilt that Uncle John never truly moved on from his mistakes. Instead of learning from them, he is plagued by the nightmares of what could have been. The death of his wife and his unborn child is the reason why he is so nice kids. I wouldn't say that Tom necessarily dislikes Uncle John, rather he wants him to realise that there are better things to do with one's life than indulge in the past.
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ReplyDeleteGreat responses, Sarah and Kevin, I just wanted to comment on how Uncle John sometimes feel as if he has to make up on his past mistakes, or "sin", as he thought of it. He does this by giving kids candy, buying them things, and giving people valuable things; however, at the end of the day, he's still not satisfied with himself. I related this to the modern world, because in real life when people dread and constantly hold on to the negatives from their past, they eventually become consumed and defined by it just as Uncle John never was trully happy because as Kevin stated, he was constantly haunted by his past. Additionally, I just find it very important to rid the negatives from our lives and embrace the positives because it is only that way we would be trully happy.
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