Authority In Antaeus, By Borden Deal

Bertrand Russell, a famous philosopher, once said “as soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely on authority, there is no end for our troubles”. This quote reveals how authority can completely make our lives more difficult and unsuitable to live in. This symbolizes that authority may overpowers us, and how we are naturally prone to follow power people. Once we follow an authority figure we tend to lose hope in our dreams. Losing contact in our dreams pushes us to focus on reality. In the short story “Antaeus”, by Borden Deal, it uses characterization of T.J. to exhibit that when man is unique, he will fulfill people's dreams with determination, only to will realize that he will be defeated by a strong authority figure.

Because

The nameless narrator claimed that most of their kids in their ‘gang’ lived in the same apartment complex building. The narrator was intered by T.J. because he looked different, talked funny, and is obsessed with the outdoors. When the gang confronts T.J. they were decided where to hang out. Even time T.J. spoke they believe that T.J.’s “voice is resolute with the knowledge of [T.J.’s] rightness and for a moment no one had anything to say. T.J. looked around at the rooftop and down at the black tar at his feet” (Deal 100). This represents a huge part of his uniqueness in this story. The other members of the gang are not accustomed to his voice. The unfamiliar voice is compared to the “knowledge of [T.J.’s] rightness”, express the power of his voice was righteous, and mighty. The clique felt a strong sense of leadership with T.J., even though his wasn't yet comfortable to be himself. Hearing the sound of T.J.’s voice could not only tell his cultural background, but could also tell T.J. strong values. The people in the gang were amazed by his voice, and they were already thinking about adding him in the friendship

The boys finally decided to start a mini project, which included farming on top of what seemed to be an abandoned teeter. T.J. had a detailed vision on how to tackle this obstacle. It involved manual work from the gang, but the gang seemed to enjoy his determination, claiming that “T.J. kept the vision bright within us, his word skewed; and calculated towards the fulfillment of his dream; and we work harder than any of us” (103). The clique is started to enjoy the project, and gains devotion from T.J. With T.J. vivid image of his dream he declaration made the group devoted to the farm, like T.J. The narrator calls the vision “bright”, and saws that it was so ideal and perfect to the city kids. This was also the start if the hard and developed work ethic T.J. was talking about, and the gang was finally realizing it. Even with T.J, contributing most of the work, it made the group have the strong willingness to complete this dream of theirs. The continued to to work and have hard labor, and they were as excited as T.J. They all enjoyed going outside, and felt satifasticied with their work. The claimed that they “were all sniffing at the air , too, trying to smell it the way that T.J. did, and I can still remember the time in my life… knowing faint way the hunger within him through the toilsome winter