The book Take This Man: A Memoir by Brando Skyhorse
In the book Take This Man: A Memoir by Brando Skyhorse, the narrations revolves around the theme of change. In convincing the reader to believe the story, Skyhorse uses ethical appeal, emotional, and logical appeal to depict changes he was forced to undergo as a child. In the reading, there are several instances that highlights the theme of change. Overall, the reader is taken around a narration, where the author mentions that he grew up with five stepfathers. In reflecting on this statement, it can be argued that Skyhorse as a child underwent a lot of changes, most of which were forced into his life. Growing with five different fathers is something that can bring a lot of changes to a person’s behavior, conduct, and physical environment changes. Therefore, in taking into account the life of different characters in the reading, a lot of change can be traced.
In conveying this theme, the author, Skyhorse, provides narration that screams about significant changes. At the very beginning, Brando Skyhorse narrates that when he was just three years, he was abandoned by his Mexican father. The mere fact that his father abandoned him when he was three spells change within the life of a toddler who knew little about the world. The abandonment by his father meant that Skyhorse and his mother Maria had to adjust their life. Firstly, Maria had to adapt and learn to live without the father of her son. At the same time, Brando Skyhorse was the most affected because ties with his Mexican father were severed. At this juncture, the reader is treated to the first change in both the lives of Maria and Skyhorse, which fits within the confines of emotional appeal.
Coming to a specific scene in the narration by Brando Skyhorse, we meet a character by the name Frank. Frank is one of Skyhorse’s stepfather. In analyzing the life of Frank, the reader is treated to a lot of changes. According to the narrator’s description, Frank concealed his drifting to another woman. Skyhorse narrates that Frank saw himself in the eyes of young Brando, whom he had adopted. Before entering into the life Skyhorse, Frank had suffered a significant heartbreak over his beloved nana. At this juncture, the reader sees a change in the life of Frank, where he moved from heartbreak to wrestling with Maria’s rabid hear while at the same time burying the feelings he had for her in his own (45).
In examining the life of Frank, the reader cannot help it but think about the changes that had transpired in his life. For starters, he lost his beloved nana. In the process, he suffered a major heartbreak. Earlier in his childhood years, he must have suffered the same fate as Brando Skyhorse because the narrator says that Frank saw himself in young Brando (45). In taking into account this evidence, it can be argued that also Frank had to grow without the presence of his father. Thus, in combining all these events, a significant change can be seen in the lives of Frank.
Additionally, it is worthy of mentioning that change was still felt in the life of Frank after Maria left him since Brando Skyhorse grew with five stepfathers. The quote evidences this specific change, “I’ll never stand between you and Brando,” which was followed by Maria marrying someone else (45). In believing this narration, the author utilizes logical appeal to the audience to send his main point, which is the theme of change home.
Frank continued to be part of Brando Skyhorse life. However, the close connection that existed between Frank and Brando changed. According to the author’s narration, he states that Frank was the first man to be married to Maria. After their parting, Maria would invite Frank to spend some time with Brando. However, he would drift to Maria, and they would lock themselves in a room and smoke the stash he brought. Skyhorse notes that he came to resent Frank later because he was an absentee father, yet he knew little about his birth father Paul (46). Through this presented evidence, it can be seen that Brando and Maria suffered yet another loss of a father and husband figure respectively, after Frank left. The change in their life is easily noticeable to the reader when Skyhorse asserts that he learned that every broken heart lies what everyone knows what it takes to move on and heal (46). The change after Frank left appeals to the emotion of the reader because heartbreak is written all over.
Another notable change happens in the scene where young Brando was in the company of his grandmother. While watching television, they hear gurgling from his grandfather Emilio’s room. While his grandmother rushed him to the hospital because he was choking, his mother Maria was out with a man. The life of Emilio was surrounded by pain because despite suffering from gout gotten from eating pigs’ feet dinners, he had been bedridden to the extent of soiling his beddings, which were sometimes left unclean (48). In reflecting on this incident, it can be argued that after Frank left Maria and Brando, their lives had changed and taken for the worst. At this juncture, the narrator says that Maria dated several men, which Brando was sure would never see right after Frank left (47). Maria and Brando must have moved back to the place where his grandparents were living, depicting another change in living standards.
A notable change in the lives of Maria and Brando is perhaps best explained by their constant living in different places. At one point, Brando recounts living on Oxnard, California, where they levied with Stan, an obese man who had bratty daughters would occasionally hiss at him. On another occasion, Brando narrates that a man who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico would try to teach him to lay harmonica. In another instance, Brando recounts residing in Los Angeles (57). Therefore, the fact that Brando lived in different locations while a child reflects the theme of change.
In analyzing the life of Maria, it can be argued that her quest and appetite for good life signifies the theme of change. Throughout her life, Brando narrates that she dated several men with the hope of clinching a happy life that would fulfill her dream of living a better life. In the narration, Brando accounts that whenever a prospective Maria lover failed to work, he hoped that her mother would abandon her cause and instead choose to remain single so that both would continue with their fantastic journeys (58). The fact that Maria dated several men to quench her thirst for a good life speaks volumes. She yearned to change her life from the condition they were living to a better one, thereby signifying the theme of change.
Looking at the life of Brando under Robert’s influence, a lot of changes in the development of Robert has transpired. For instance, there was a time Robert helped Brando with his homework and ended up getting a D. In retaliation, Brando says that he learned about Robert wits. He never asked Robert to help with his homework (71). Instead, he resulted in Robert’s underhand methods. He would make a telephone call to his friend and ask about his answers. He would replicate his friend’s answers as his own and was never caught. At this point, it can be argued that the theme of change is evidenced by Brando Skyhorse moral change, where he becomes deceitful after being exposed to Robert, who lived a questionable life.
In conclusion, it can be argued that change is the central theme in the reading Take This Man: A Memoir by Brando Skyhorse. The narration unravels with a lot of changes in the lives of the characters mentioned in the book. Moreover, it can be argued that the theme of change is set in motion by Maria, who has a high affinity and would go at great lengths to quench her thirst for a good life. A lot of changes in the life of Brando is because he was a victim of his mother’s life where she dated several men setting in motion events that brought a lot of change in the life of Brando and the men who dated her mother.