Manly Heart

A Boy Becomes a Man People can drown in their own arrogance without even knowing, thus making it difficult to get out of the rough waves. In Hugh Garner’s short story, “The Manly Heart”, he reveals the sadness of a mother whose son, Donald, is blinded by his own insecurity. There are constant problems between his inability to be mature, selfless and grateful. For the setting, I drew white caps to display the disturbance Donald creates and how awkward the room gets when Donald talks. White caps create tension for boaters like in the story there is a lot of tension between the characters.

It seems this way when “the others didn’t even wish [Donald] goodbye” (p. 42) and illustrates that what could be a peaceful and exciting environment is in fact a troubled atmosphere. A bee is an interesting insect. Its annoying buzzing gets on peoples nerves very easily. It never gets the hint that it’s not wanted until it gets swatted and bashed around. Finally it starts get angry and starts its grand finale and stings. It brings pain and hurt to a person without even a shred of sympathy. Donald easily resembles a bee. He’s not wanted at all while in the dorm room.

He doesn’t know when to stop his childish act and he becomes an annoyance. The characters give Donald the cold shoulder. They are very rude to him because of his behaviour towards his mother. This leads him to open his eyes, slightly, and leads him to think that “they were ashamed of [Donald]” (p. 42) instead of his mother. Donald begins his big finish, his attack and suddenly stings his mother so bad that “she was trying to keep from blubbering…” (p. 42) Donald’s mother is upset and full of pain and no matter how hard she tries, the hurt will never go away.

Donald believes that his mother is his biggest problem when in reality the big problem in his life is his own self. The top hat represents Donald’s wanting to be superior than he actually is. He tells lies to Archie about his family, “like [Donald’s] father being an engineer,” (p. 39) he acts ashamed when really he has no one to be ashamed of but himself. Donald disturbs the harmony of this great celebration, kind of like a tornado. A tornado becomes a disaster in the peace of a wonderful day. It can ruin lives in seconds, sort of like Donald and how he destroys his mother’s day.

The sunny celebration turned into a storm of personalities, lightning portrays this perfectly. The thunder that comes with the lightening shows how dark a storm really is. The lightening, like Donald, easily destroys a great day. Zephyrus, the Greek God of wind, makes wind and stirs up trouble, Donald swirls up a mess when in the dorm room. Donald is just like Zephyrus. Donald has a dull personality and is why I drew the gray clouds to illustrate Donald’s dreariness. He is very pessimistic. He has a wonderful happy mother and makes her seem embarrassing and shameful.

Anyone would be grateful to have a mother so kind and so dear, but not Donald. In life people make mistakes, people screw up and wish to go back in time to fix the trouble. I drew the clock to show that time goes on and that Donald cannot go back and change the past. Nevertheless, he feels like a fool and sees that it’s not too late for him to change in the future. A Glass vase is a very stunning decoration, it brings elegance to a room, it stands in pride and if it is knocked down it will easily break. Donald’s mother has a very beautiful personality, very bubbly and happy, and to show this I drew bubbles.

They are very bouncy and joyful, just like her. The glass half full represents how optimistic Donald’s mother is. She might not have a lot but she makes the best of what she has. She is very proud of her son and his accomplishment of graduation. She has a big heart which is full of love for her son and “[she’d] have been so proud to have walked down the street with [Donald] today. ” (p. 41) This reason is why I drew a heart. Donald’s mother is a very kind person but when her rude son shows that he is ashamed of her because of his own immaturity, she cracks, and it will be hard to glue the pieces of her heart back together.

In Donald’s eyes she ruined his life. The rain drop shows that not just one drop is responsible for the flood, just like Donald’s mother is not the reason for Donald being miserable. When he takes all of his problems in life and blames it on his mother, it is easily shown how hurt she truly is. The band-aid I drew is there to show the pain Donald’s mother feels. A band-aid covers the injury but the pain will still be there. She tries to hold it in and make it seem like everything is ok when really everyone in the room can see the pain in her loving eyes.

She is a very nice and wonderful women and it’s unfortunate that her own son is such a jerk to her. She deserves better and hopefully in the future she will get treated will only the utmost respect. The other characters in this story judge Donald because of his actions. A judge in the Court of Law uses a mallet to sentence someone. In my drawing there is a mallet to show the judging done in the book. Everyone took part in this because everyone judged someone at some point in time. Donald judged his mother for being the wrong in all his life. Donald’s mother thinks that all the other characters are very nice.

And everyone else judges Donald’s as an ignorant and rude. People judge others, it happens all the time, however the judging can be right or wrong kind of like a magazine. I drew it to show the good and bad theory’s people have about others. Some are correct and some theories are far off. The way the other characters judge Donald is correct. They give him the cold shoulder and even “Mrs. Tomlinson gave [Donald] a look that in other circumstances [Donald] would have though was an angry one. ” (p. 40) It was an angry look and it’s for his miserable attitude towards his wonderful mother.

The other character’s try and support Donald’s mother just like a hug it’s warm shows the compassion. Just how the other characters are very kind towards Donald’s mother. The other characters in the short story show the right actions. They are there to make Donald realize what he’s done and that he should learn to grow up. Some people say mountains can easily relate to peoples lives. Sometimes life is easy and the mountain appears flat. On the other hand, when life is unsteady and people face hard times, the mountain is rocky and rough. I drew a steep mountain because Donald is struggling in life right now.

He is unsure of who he actually is and is taking all of his frustration out on his dear mother. The conflict only has one source and that would be Donald. There would actually be no problems if only Donald didn’t act like a foolish immature snot. Donald feels like his mother is the most embarrassing person alive. He thinks that “her appearance would be bad enough,” (p. 33) meaning she is ugly. All these horrible things Donald thinks about his mother are wrong in the minds of the other characters. Donald tries to make trouble and causes his mother to get hurt.

The conflict is about the difference in thinking. Donald’s beliefs towards his mother are far different than the beliefs of the other characters. Donald worries too much about himself. The mountain also shows that Donald is fighting to try to find himself. The conflict is only Donald and who he is trying to be. To be manly means to have courage, own up to mistakes, to live and be strong. It means to fight for the good in yourself, and to fight for the good in others. To be full of heart means to be happy, loving and fearless. It means to see the good in everyone and to forgive the bad.

It implies love comes first, love yourself and love others. To have “a manly heart” (p. 42) does not come easy. A person can change. Even though it is not simple it can be done. Change does not come over night, but over days. A person can not say it and have it happen right away. It is a thing to be worked on over a period of time. Donald says he wants to change and have this “manly heart,” (p. 42) still the reader’s don’t know if Donald is actually capable of changing. What they do know is that he wants to because “[Donald] kept thinking of the line about facing the future with a manly heart. ” (p. 2) I drew a sun to show that Donald finally sees the light. It shows his wanting to alter his attitude. It illustrates that Donald finally understands why the other characters were giving him glares. The heart I drew is also for “a manly heart” (p. 42) and that maybe Donald can have one. Sometimes in life people make mistakes and they have to learn from them. This could be the most important life lesson. People are not perfect. People have to see the future and think about who they want to be. If someone has love and can change there attitude, they are most likely able to get out of the rough waves.

Cite this page