The Protagonist Stanion's Short Story The Beginning Of Grief

Max Miller

Nelson

English III

11 May 2023

Beyond Tears

The Protagonist Stanion’s journey through grief and heart break gives the reader a clear understanding of the human experience of grief. The story is about a father who is trying to parent his kids without his wife who died. In Larry Woiwode’s short story “The Beginning of Grief,” the theme of living with grief is is demonstrated through the setting along with Stanion, Kevin, and Jim. The setting plays a crucial role in conveying the storie’s central theme. The story takes place in the outskirts of Minneapolis which is a cold, unforgiving environment.The cold landscape emphasizes the loneliness Stanion feel. The author shows an example of this when he states “In the winter when it is raining, the six of them rode in the cab.” (Woiwode 58) This quote from the story displays the theme, “living with grief,” by displaying how Stanion has to transport six of them around in his work pickup which was not in the best shape. The quote gives the reader a small taste of Stanion’s life. Throughout the story Stanion, the father, embraces the theme of “Living with grief,” in more ways then one. However I feel that when the author stated, “A year ago she died, the torment was more then grief,” (Woiwode 57) that is displayed Stanion’s bitter life

His mother’s death humbled him more then he already was. Carl’s personality greatly portrayed the theme “living with grief,” because he never was happy throughout the story. A great example of this is when the author wrote, “Carl kept his eyes down, picking at his food.” (Woiwode 60) This quote reflects how her death changed carl. His body language from the quote and humbled words throughout the story gives the reader a clear understanding about how he feels about her death. Carls personality along with his family’s personalities show the reader how the experience of grief relates to the real