Essay Sample: Instances of Escapism in Rash’s Jared
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Ron Rash’s short story, The Ascent, narrates the adventure of a young boy named Jared. What is striking in this story is Rash’s use of a mood on escapism, primarily on how Jared seems to feel depressed with his family’s financial state.
The most evident instance of escapism can be seen at the closing part of the story. It reads: “He sat in the back seat and waited…Jared looked out of the window and saw the whiteness…he knew then that they had taken off and risen so high” (Rash 287). It is obvious here that Jared is in a state of escapism, given that he does not feel scared of the cadavers around him, and that he opts to be in a crashed plane instead of being with his family.
Another instance of escapism can be seen on the part where Jared is imagining that he is with Lyndee in the woods. This can be evidenced in the lines “Lyndee still grasped his arm as they walked up the ridge…Lyndee told him how sorry she was that at school she’d said his clothes smelled bad” (Rash 280). Worth noting here is that Jared is alone as he traverses the snow-filled woods. This form of escapism with his crush, Lyndee, once again manifests in the succeeding scene, as seen in the part: “At the ridge top, Jared pretended a bear suddenly raised up, bating its teeth and growling. He slashed the bear with the knife and the bear ran away” (Rash 280).
The three examples mentioned in this paper reveal an aspect of escapism in Jared. This seems to be the result of life stresses, weighing down a young man who is yet to reach maturity.
Work cited
Rash, Ron. The Ascent. Pdf uploaded, 2010.