Analyse af 'Mule Killers' og 'Progress'

Growing up and entering a world of adulthood and of progress you experience both positives and negatives. In “Mule Killers” by Lydia Peelle the troubles of a young man is describes as well as the consequences of his actions are portrayed. The narrator of the story is a son whose father reveals some secrets from his youth while they are doing an asparagus garden together. Our protagonist is therefore the boy’s father. The setting of the story is America. The use of mules suggests the agricultural side of America as well as the slaughtering of the mules suggests the arrival of modern machinery.

In the story the father is a teenager and he is confused about growing up and at the same time he, like many teenage boys, has a difficult time expressing his feelings. This becomes evident in this paragraph: “She is going to walk out the door and leave them here to their sodas and silence. At this point my father, frantic, takes hold of the girl on the stool next to him, leans her in Eula’s direction, and kisses her recklessly, right on the mouth” (p. 3 l. 41-43). Here he has gotten himself into an uncomfortable situation because he has chosen to make Eula jealous instead of telling her how he feels. This disability has the consequence of making the girl in question pregnant.