The Watcher Essay, Research Paper
The short narrative discussed in this essay is The Watcher which is written by Guy Vanderhaeghe. The narrative focuses on the learning experiences of the storyteller, Charlie, who is an 11 twelvemonth old male child stuck on his Grandma s farm. Through Charlie s natural ability to detect, experiences with sex, force, and power Charlie transform him from being a spectator to a participant in the grownup universe environing him.
In the beginning of the narrative, Charlie lives at place and is purely an perceiver of the universe around him I suppose it was holding a bad thorax that turned me into an perceiver, a spectator, at an early age ( 282 ) . Since Charlie was in a changeless province of unwellness his female parent tended to pamper him a batch. It besides meant that Charlie stayed at place and had small to busy his head other than listening to his female parent s chitchat. His accomplishment of detecting allowed him glimpses into an big universe of conventional wretchednesss and dirts ( 283 ) . These observations were limited to Charlie s apprehension, but his accomplishment of descrying on others was perfected. Despite his glances into the grownup universe around him, Charlie remained merely an guiltless perceiver. This begins to alter when he is shipped off to his Grandma s and forced to populate at that place. Up until Evelyn and Thompson arrive at Grandma Bradley s, Charlie s brushs with the grownup universe are limited to his female parent s life room. Charlie sees grownups interacting, but ne’er gets involved.
Upon reaching of Thompson and Evelyn, there begins a power battle between Grandma and Thompson over Evelyn. As struggle between Thompson and Grandma Bradley escalates, Charlie begins to witness several different aspects of the grownup universe. Since Charlie was all but ignored by his grandma, he could roll free around the farm. This allows him to witness Thompson s maltreatment of Evelyn. He sees Thompson striking awkwardly at her open natess and thighs with the flat of his manus ( 293 ) . Charlie interprets the scene as some sort of requital instead than force. He does acknowledge that Thompson additions power over Evelyn by force and the strength he has over her. As the conflict between Grandma and Thompson escalates, Charlie discovers that he likes the exhilaration of the struggle. His Grandma makes a remark about Thompson non being smart plenty to raise the lavatory place when H
vitamin E urines ( 294 ) . Charlie decides to stir the pot: After hearing that, I took to go forthing a few conspicuous droplets of my ain as a affair of class on each visit. Every small spot might assist things along. ( 294 ) . This is proof that Charlie knows he can impact the struggle between Grandma and Thompson. Charlie s following mature experience takes topographic point when he witness s Thompson and Evelyn holding sex. His apprehension of what he sees is limited, but Charlie seems to lose regard for Thompson seeing him look stupider and weaker than any human being [ he ] had of all time seen ( 295 ) . Charlie is larning that grownups are non every bit great as they make out to be.
The consciousness that grownups are non all powerful carries over to Charlie s ain actions. Charlie s brushs with sex and force lead him to his concluding confrontation with Stanley the cock. As anxiousness builds up in the grownups around him, Charlie finds himself experiencing the same tenseness. With no 1 but the cock to interact with, Charlie finds himself experiencing the poisoning of power ( 297 ) as he tries to pet Stanley. Images of the contusions on [ his ] aunt s legs ; Thompson s face drained of life the sinews of his cervix stark and stiff with expectancy ( 298 ) come into Charlie s caput as he abuses the bird. With this act of aggression Charlie is exposing his hungering to command person else other than himself. He enjoys the feeling of power over another animal and becomes consumed by it, to the point that he murders Stanley. Charlie seems to acquire pleasance by killing the cock. The feelings of power and pleasance carry over when Charlie witnesses Thompson s whipping, but fails to state anything about it. With this concluding witting determination Charlie becomes a participant and no longer a spectator ( 306 ) . Charlie learns that he can pull strings, and control others by utilizing his strength and mental capacity.
The consequences of Charlie s experiences with sex, power, and force all become intertwined with each other to the point that Charlie can non separate one from the other. The effect of Charlie s brushs with these incidents is a mix of pleasance with power and force. Charlie learns that he can profit himself and derive pleasance by holding power over others. With these experiences Charlie transforms from a spectator to a individual who is capable of take parting in the power battle between grownups.
