Similarities Between 'Hurt And The Kayak'

Identity does not only impact every single person, identity is inside everybody. In “Hurt” and “The Kayak”, both protagonists try to grow up normally. With abnormal causes stunting their growth. Both physically and mentally. One from the perspective of Stevie’s best friend Skip and another from the heart. In "Hurt" and "The Kayak", the authors use a first-person point of view to reveal how the protagonists are a reflection of the environments they grew up in. In “Hurt” and “The Kayak”, the authors use a first person point of view to show the effects of certain environments that heavily shape the people we eventually become. For instance, when Skip said “He fixed up his own meals and sometimes ate six chocolate bars and a bottle of pop for

It displays to the reader that Stevie’s life gets so difficult that he has to get his own supper. Even Skip is aware of sad this is. However, Stevie’s lifestyle goes beyond just the food he eats. It impacts Stevie’s life on all fronts. For example, when Skip told the audience “Stevie’s old man yelled at him plenty but only when he was drunk. When he was sober he let him do whatever he liked” (1). It showed the audience a little window into Stevie’s line through Skip’s perspective. It tells the reader no matter what state of intoxication Stevie’s father has reached, he does not care about taking care of his son. Thus Stevie grew some independent genes at a way younger age than most. In the same way Teresa, The protagonist of “The Kayak” shows the reader how the environment she grew up in and the

For instance, when Teresa said “Half the kayak is on land. The rest is in the water. I feel trapped, like a beached whale”(Spring, 2). It displays a divide between land and water Teresa. And since a lot of Teresa’s friends have resented her for her disability, it would make sense not to show the new friend she made the true land Teresa. Adding to that, when Teresa told the audience “I watch his discomfort. I’ve seen it all before. Awkwardness. Forced conversation. A feeble excuse and a fast getaway”(3). It is a very effective usage of the rough environment that Teresa was forced to grow up in affecting who she is as a person. She’s built up such a distaste for simple conversations that she now wants to avoid simple small talk with strangers. She knows that people will not want to hang out with her due to feeling uncomfortable with her physical appearance and not wanting to be seen with her. Similarly, Stevie is a reflection of the rough environment that he stems from. For example, When Skip said: Stevie never studied and he was usually at the top of the class. When he wasn’t in first place it was because he’d stay home the week we had exams, lying on his belly in the grass in front of the trailer reading a book old man Simms had given him, or picking lady’s slippers in the swamp or building the biggest kite we’d ever seen,