Interpret Essay, Original

7/30/2019 Interpret Essay, Original

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Austin Elliott

104 Sand Hill Rd

Lawndale, NC 28090

704-692-1227

Interpretive Essay

After reading the short story “Poachers” one could question the morals behind it and

the rhetorical effectiveness that it brings to deliver its message. As I read it I began to wonder

how these events used could contribute to everyday society, then it hit me it’s not the how the

characters in the story are portrayed , but it is the events that are used to bring rhetoric alive.

In the beginning of the story I noticed that we are shown three boys that are in essence

left alone to fend for their selves. Throughout the story we are shown the lack of sustaining

morals that the boys have, of how they participate in illegal activities and do not possess those

morals that normal people share. These three boys tell the story of the life that they have lived,

through their actions along with their personalities. As we look into these characters we can

begin to see the rhetorical approach that the author uses to deliver the story. The activities of

the story are ones that we could not fathom happening in the society around us. Using this, the

author is able to take the reader to a different world, for say, while these type situations occur

around us on a daily basis. While reading this piece the audience is supposed to be left in

disbelief of how the boy show no mercy to kill the game warder, as shown by the text “Neil

stood up with his hands raised, as if to surrender. When the game warden looked at him, relief

softening his eyes, Kent jumped from his crouch into the other boat, his big fingers closing

around the man’s neck”(Franklin 136), or by electrifying fish. But it shows a way of life that they



have always lived. One that involves doing tasks that they deem necessary to maintain their

own way of life. Even though this is the only life that they know, does it make their situation

acceptable? The author shows through Kirxy’s character that he believes that the boys actions

should be acceptable, using the quote from Kirxy as he is talking to sheriff Goodloe, “Shit

Sugarbaby. Them boys don’t need a lawyer. They just need to stay in the woods, where they

belong. Folks oughta know to let ’em alone by now” (Franklin 142).

I believe that this is the underlying goal that the author wishes to present. If the

audience truly takes the time to evaluate this information then they can begin to realize that in

our society we take things such as this to be acceptable. For instance do we allow a murder to

go to jail for the rest of their life, or to be punished by death if they can prove that they are

mentally unstable? Of course we don’t, that is why so many crooked people get away with

crimes they commit. So when you ask yourself again, can we truly hold these boys to the same

standards that we hold other to? Based on previous cases relevant to this the answer would be

no. After reviewing this from this perspective one can begin to see that the events that the boys

partake in may not be so farfetched ideas after all.

Again I believe that the author used the events that form the characters to bring to life,

real-life occurrence around us. Maybe after reading this one would be better able to

understand the circumstances that the boys live in and be able to determine if the standards

that they are held to should be the same as everybody else, and see the effectiveness of the

authors approach. He may just be showing us that we need to review things that we allow to

occur in our own society.



Work Cited

Franklin, Tom. "Poachers." Poachers. London: Flamingo, 2000. 136. Print.

Franklin, Tom. "Poachers." Poachers. London: Flamingo, 2000. 142. Print.

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Interpret Essay, Original