The novel review

The novel review

The novel is a tale of Jake Santee, a ninety-nine-year-old gambler who believes in his immortality. After years of traversing the country in a gambling and drinking sprees and several failed marriages, Grandfather Jake wins a reasonable sum of money and a title deed to a piece of land. Jake settles on the piece of land, and after a series of failed attempts at farming and another failed marriage, Jake goes back to gambling. It is during one of these trips that Jake is handed a whiskey recipe by a dying Indian and resorts to making whiskey on his farm. Soon after, he learns of his daughter’s drowning, and he adopts his grandson, Tiny. Tiny grows into a gentle giant and becomes an avid and skilled fence builder. Tiny has a long-running feud with Lockjaw, who has repeatedly destroyed his fence. One day, as Tiny is assessing the damages that Longjaw had done on the wall that he finds a duck in one of the fence holes. They decide to name it Fup, and it grows into a giant hen mallard. Fup becomes a member of the family and accompanies them to movies and drinks Grandpa jack’s whiskey. One day, as Tiny finds Longjaw and has he sets himself up to kill the boar, Fup steps in front of the barrel and gets killed by the resultant bullet along with Longjaw. A full-grown hen mallard emerges from Longjaw’s belly and flies away. Tiny is one of the main characters in the novel, and he is described as a gentle giant and a skilled fence builder and also a very skilled gambler. Despite his overall good-natured manner, Tiny sometimes displays wild tendency and in other instances, exhibits domestic tendencies. Tiny’s wild-domestic binary is revealed in his relationships with Fup, Longjaw, and the people around him.

Tiny’s relationship with the fences reveals that he has both a wild and domestic nature. Tiny started living on the farm after his mother’s death, and soon he shows great interest in erecting fences at the farm. As time goes by, he becomes an excellent fence builder and has built a solid reputation not only in the hills but even across several states. Tiny’s unwavering dedication to building fences shows that he is domesticated. He has a norm that he is unwilling to let go of. Tiny’s fence building shows that he is confined, and perhaps he is building the fence as a symbol of his confinement as a person who lives on the farm and only dedicated to taking care of the fences and his grandfather. In this regard, Tiny is domestic. However, Tiny’s relationship with the fences also reveals a wild side to Tiny. Tiny’s dedication to his fences and the meticulous attention and relentless effort he applies to ensure that the fences are perfect reveal a wild side to him. Tiny does not conform to social norms that would be expected from his peers, such as going to dances like his peers or going on drives with his friends. Tiny’s rejection of societal norms and peer pressure that a man of his age would almost certainly be vulnerable to shows that he has a side that is natural, wild, and free. He has an unrestrained dedication to the fences and uses them as an expression of his desire for conquest of the farm, and his relentless desire to get better at his skill, regardless of his grandfather’s and society’s misgivings shows that he has a maverick in him. Tiny is willing to go to all extents to protect his fences, even though fences are inanimate objects, so far that he sets out to kills Lockjaw, a boar for its repeated disruptions and damage on the fence. His attachment to the fences is almost incomprehensible. In these ways, Tiny exhibits that he has a wild-domestic binary.

Tiny’s relationship with Fup, the hen mallard, also reveals his wild-domestic binary. Overall, Tiny’s relationship with Fup alludes to Tiny’s relative domestication. Tiny religiously takes care of Fup since the time he finds in one of his post holes. While Fup is revealed to be reckless and headstrong, Tiny takes care of Fup and even foregoes many activities on the pretext of taking care of Fup. When Fup gets tired or injured while they are out, Tiny carries Fup and nurses him back to health. In this regard, Tiny’s relationship with Fup shows that Tiny is relatively tame. However, Tiny’s occasional defiance of Tiny also indicates that he has a wild side. When they are out hunting, Tiny shows that he has no fear of Lockjaw and is relentless in his pursuit of the bore, and in this state of mind, he does not really pay mind to Fup’s affairs. For instance, at one time, he is so committed to his search that Fup becomes too exhausted to walk home. In this context, Tiny reveals that he has a wild and inconsiderate side when he is pursuing his goals and aims. Tiny’s wild nature is revealed in the penultimate scene when he finally confronts Lockjaw. In spite of Fup’s attempts to stop Tiny from pulling the trigger and killing Lockjaw, Tiny goes ahead and shoots, and Fup has to get in the way of the bullet in an attempt to protect Lockjaw. Tiny’s bloodthirstiness as he confronts Lockjaw to the extent that he does not give in to Fup’s appeals to spare Lockjaw shows that he has a wild side in him. This defiance reveals that he indeed has a wild side. Thus, in his relationship with Fup, Tiny exhibits a wild domestic binary.

Tiny’s relationship with his grandfather Jack also reveals a wild-domestic binary in his personality. Tiny is committed to taking care of his grandfather and his farm. From the story, it is revealed that tiny does most of the heavy lifting at the farm, doing activities such as farming and cooking. His life at the farm is very scheduled, and his relationship with his grandfather is predictable as he has understood his grandfather and thus goes along with most of his grandfather’s wishes and acts in his best interest. In his subordination to his grandfather, he shows that he is very domesticated. He is not disrespectful, and even when his needs and those of his grandfather clash, such as when he wants to build fences while his grandfather wants to gamble, Tiny always lets his grandfather’s needs come before his own needs. However, Tiny’s refusal to follow his grandfather’s habits shows that he has a wild side in him. Naturally, children are likely to develop their guardian’s character and mannerisms. Tiny, however, embodies the opposite of his grandfather’s traits. He is calm where is grandfather is reckless, and amiable while his grandfather was ornery. In defying his grandfather’s habits and setting out to be his own person, Tiny reveals that he has a wild side to him that is unconquerable by his environment and surrounding. Tiny shows that he has an indomitable will to be himself and not to be subdued by what other people are doing even his own grandfather. In this way, Tiny is wild as he is not bothered by being alone, or different. Through Tiny’s relationship with his grandfather, he embodies a wild/domestic binary.

Tiny’s narrative in the story shows that he embodies a wild domestic binary. With his dedication to the fence has made him predictable and shows that he is unwilling to get out of his comfort zone which shows that he is domesticated. However, his overt zeal with the fences despite peer pressure and societal misgivings reveals that he has a free and wild side as he does not conform to societal expectations. Through his relationship with Fup, Tiny also embodies this wild/domestic binary as he cares for Fup, but at the same time, he is willing to ignore Fup’s welfare and whims, especially when he is pursuing Lockjaw. His dedication to his grandfather shows that he has a domestic side, while his refusal to adopt many of his grandfather’s habits shows that he is brave enough to act like he pleases without following what others are doing. Tiny, in these ways, embodies a wild/domestic binary in the novel.