Summer Gone: A Canadian Paternal Masterpiece
In the novel, Summer Gone, by David Macfarlane, the predominant theme of lost innocence is strongly supported through the main character, Bay Newling. Having been a child borne of two obstructive parents, a father of an immature child, and a husband in a doomed marriage, Bay's very existence marked him almost as a poster boy for this reoccurring theme. Yet, despite the troubling characteristics that inhibited Bay from excelling during his life, Macfarlane is able to show through the use of vibrant imagery and evocative metaphors, that Bay was never unable to free himself from the disastrous world in which he had been presented.
This point can be made clearly through the major theme of lost innocence, which by itself, was made possible due to three painful defining aspects of Bay's reality. First, because of his failure to develop a structured childhood, Bay became blind to the fundamental facts of life, which consequently clouded his perception. The second aspect of Bay's life is the lack of attention and support that he received from his parents when younger, which could arguably have been the prevailing reason as to why Bay's heart gradually became hardened with contempt, and as a result, might have been the dominant factor in steering Bay away from the gentle and innocent persona that he had been born with. Lastly, through a disturbing adulthood, the results of having had his life shaped by these previous two factors can clearly be seen. It was the contributions of these three defining aspects of his life that led Bay to slowly become withered by his seemingly inescapable and painful reality, and which restricted him from achieving a fulfilling life. Tragically however, these aspects of his life contributed largely to Bay's early death, which, sadly came at a time when he had finally regained his old childhood innocence.
As a child unknowingly growing up without the fundamental support required to form a structured and...
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