Comparing What Happened During The Ice Storm 'And The Fight'

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I believe both Jim Heynen's short story "What Happened during The Ice storm" and John Montague's "The Fight" can represent the duality of impulsivity; and how humans live with conflicting impulses to worship or destroy beauty. Both authors use impulse as a dictator of actions and it is made clear by the word choice the authors use to describe the actions of their characters. This theme of impulsivity can be found in Jim Heynen's short story "What Happened During the Ice Storm". For Example in paragraph 2 the author writes "The boys went out into the freezing rain to find pheasants too.".The quote implies a sense of impulsivity on the part of the boys who are willing to brave their conditions to pursue their goal of finding pheasants. This impulsivity can be seen as a positive trait as it shows the boys' determination and willingness to pursue their goal of finding pheasants. Another quote that demonstrates the theme of impulsivity is "he …show more content…

This is shown in lines 1 through 6 "When I found the swallow's nest under the bridge... I was so pleased. I ran to fetch a school companion". The speaker's excitement upon finding the swallow's nest and their immediate urge to share with a companion can be seen as impulsive as they did not take a moment to contemplate potential consequences and the ramifications that it could have on the swallow's and the eggs. An additional quote that illustrates this theme of impulsivity is shown in lines 22 through 26 "I saw him take And break them one by one against a sunlit stone. For minutes we fought" The word choice the author uses clearly demonstrates the theme of impulsivity. This impulse is caused by a lack of self-control which can lead to negative outcomes. In conclusion, John Montague effectively uses word choice in his short story to highlight the theme of