A+Mountain+Journey

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: __A Mountain Journey__

Point of View: The point of view is third person.

Protagonist: The protagonist is Dave Conroy

What type of character is the Protagonist? Dave Conroy is a stereotype because he fits his trapper stereotype so well, he is a tough strong trapper out in the wilderness who has no one but himself to rely on.

Antagonist:  The antagonist of the story is the environment.

Describe the setting:  On a mountain near Jasper, Alberta, Canada around the 1920‘s. The mood is desolate, there’s no one for miles.

Type of Conflict: Man vs. Environment

Describe the main conflict: Dave Conroy is in a fight against nature because he's trying to survive the harsh weather and terrain.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax of the story is when Dave Conroy makes his last attempt at trying to survive by trying to make it to Frank MacMoran's cabin just before he gives up and falls asleep because you think he might have a chance at surviving just before he gives up.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?  Dave Conroy doesn’t change that much, except at the end when he gives up his will to continue on any farther, which is contrary to his nature.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. The following three questions refer to the theme in the story not the class theme. I believe the theme of the story is greed, and so I don't think that the title and the theme have much in common. The title however is foreshadowing; it foreshadows some sort of journey in the mountain.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict which is Conroy trying to push on and get to the town faster illustrates Dave Conroy's greed because he really would have survived had he not been greedy and just stopped at the tree he would have survived and actually got to town.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? At the climax Dave Conroy starts to realize that he is not going to make it to the shelter and that he is going to die. This obviously makes the tree by the river where he could have camped the night out looks pretty good. He thus realizes that he shouldn't have been so greedy.

Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

Simile: "mist, like the shadow of universal darkness on the treeless summit," (p. 92) "he was beginning to feel like a ghost on an abandoned planet" (p. 92)

Metaphor: "and near him the moon threw the outlines of a peak black upon the snow, black as ink seeping through the snow." (p. 97)

Personification: A personification appears on page 92 when talking about a tree that would have been great for siwashing, "That tree, like a strong and lonely woman, called to his weary body to stop."

Symbol: Near the end on page 98 the author talks about Dave Conroy seeing a white cottage is a symbol for death and heaven.

Foreshadowing (give both elements): It says on page 91 "he knew as he stood on the summit that he should have made camp two miles back in the timber and crossed the divide in the morning" which foreshadows the trapper's recklessness.

Irony: The irony of the story is that there were many situations in the story were he could have survived however he passed on all of them. So Dave Conroy killed himself even though he was in a fight with nature.

Imagery: "and his skis had sunk a foot in the snow, white and soft as flour"

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. This story had a lot to do with "power". It was about man fighting with nature for power. In the end nature wins, Dave Conroy dies, which is ironic because Dave Conroy is a trapper, his job is to take away from nature and finally nature takes away him. The main character in the story is powerful but his power is being threatened by something even more powerful, which of course is nature. The setting too is powerful, it's tall mountains covered in snow makes for hard terrain that only someone powerful physically and mentally could survive. That is one of the reasons Dave Conroy doesn't survive because he isn't mentally powerful enough, he's too immature to stop when it would be smart to stop. "Power" plays an important role in the story. Completion 4/5 Effort 4/5 Content 3/5 total 11/15 revised total 15/15

Dave Conroy is a simple character. He is strong mentally and physically, foolish and persistent. These three traits ultimately decide the story's ending. He is strong physically and mentally because he manages to push through the pain and the cold and keep going. This is a necessary characteristic for him to have in order for the story to go on. There is significant evidence in the story to suggest that he was mentally strong: for example, "his shoulder muscles, as he lunged against his ski poles, bulged as though they might burst from their skin, ached until their pain became a cry within them" (p. 94). To be able to stand that sort of pain for hours each day would require extreme toughness. If it weren't for his amazing strength he could not have gone on as long as he had. Perhaps a weaker trapper might have stopped earlier knowing what was good for him. Thus his strength may have been his weakness, he knew he could go a little farther so he did. He is foolish beyond belief. He constantly pushes farther and farther towards the cabin giving up many chances at safety. Later he sees how foolish he was and yet he still goes on farther. He was foolish enough to travel alone in the mountains as pointed out here: "Anyway, a man was a fool to travel alone in the mountains, especially with a heavy pack, bucking a fresh fall of snow". Obviously Dave Conroy was a fool. But the trait that lead to his death was his persistence. He should have stopped and made camp in the timber but there was still so he persisted on. He keeps doing this, reaching a spot where he should stop and yet he just carries on. In the end that's what kills him, his persistence to keep going. He has to survive out in the harsh nature and although he is strong his foolishness and persistence kills him.