Lonesome Howl Critical Response

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Area of Study Search for Identity Critical Response “An individual’s relationships with others can strengthen or challenge their search for identity...” A sense of identity can emerge from the connection made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger world. The relationships that we share with others are a telling factor when it comes to ones search for identity. Whether these relationships are positive or negative, they provide a foundation for one’s search for identity to be built upon. The relationships in one’s life, though challenging, will eventually strengthen one’s search for identity. Steven Herrick’s, verse novel, Lonesome Howl, 2006, explores this very notion of identity. Both characters, Lucy and Jake’s,…show more content…
A negative relationship can, in fact, be the catalyst for a search for identity to emerge. It is often through these negative relationships that people seek alternate relationships that will help them on their journey of discovery. In Lonesome Howl, Lucy’s detrimental relationship with her family led her to start questioning who she was. Years of constant abuse led her to begin her search for identity. She felt, however, that she could not go on such a journey by herself. Before her close relationship with Jake, she was scared of her father, “i do what i’m told to avoid getting hit”. This statement is contrasted remarkably with the way that she feels after her mental transformation. Jake was the catalyst in Lucy’s transformation. She alway’s had the strength to find herself but she needed someone to help her on her journey. After she find’s her identity, she knows that Jake will protect her, “what Jake and i got, that can’t be broken, my father can bash me all he likes, but now i know, i’m unbreakable, i’m strong, stronger than any fist”. Figurative language is prominent throughout Lonesome Howl. Herrick’s use of figurative language allows him to contrast physical abuse with the inner strength in which Lucy possesses. The short and sharp truncated sentences in Lucy’s description of her relationship with her father allows for an insight into the reliance she has come to discover. Truncated sentences give us the extreme insight into the challenging relationship Lucy shares with her father. Negative relationships are generally the most challenging aspect in one’s search for identity, which is evident in Strength in

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