Stephen Dobyns Kansas

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Kansas In many ways, the story of Stephen Dobyns “Kansas” is a very horrifying story. In the beginning of the story, the author paints the illusion of a murder. After reading through several passages, I visualized different outcomes of it in the story. This story is about a young boy who hitchhikes back to Oklahoma to attend summer school, but then runs into this very tall and slim white man known as “the farmer”. The farmer has a forty-five revolver sitting next to him on the seat of a model T Ford pickup. Would you consider that your life is in danger if you were around someone such as “the farmer” who carries around a forty-five revolver and makes threats to take someones life? In my paper, I will explain how the farmer reveals himself…show more content…
In his mental stage, he is very outgoing, loud, and has a weird sense of humor at times. Then the story comes about were the farmer bullies and threatens a boy who was standing on the side of a dirt road, he stops the pickup and points the forty-five revolver at the boy head, and tells him: “Get in here” (120). The farmer would do anything to make people think that he rules them just because he has a forty-five revolver. For example, when he tells the boy “Don’t tell the police,” (118) the boy replies and tells the farmer “No,” “I promise.”(118). The boy knows the farmer has a forty-five and would possibly kill him if he had told the police. The boy is too scared to say something to the farmer because he might take the revolver and use it on him, but he does ask the farmer “Do you have to kill people?”(118). At this point, the boy didn’t want to talk, but he felt unable to remain…show more content…
He starts to get shaky, and while this is happening the boy is sitting on the passenger side of the pickup looking clueless. Then the farmer starts to think and meditate on all of the bad things his wife has ever done to him and how he feels. The farmer feels betrayed because he feels like his wife has love for another man. Now, at this point in the story, the farmer and the boy continue back on the road and they arrive at the farmer's house where the wife is also. They get out of the pickup and approach the farmers wife, and with the boy next to him, the farmer clearly says: “I’m going to shoot my wife for wickedness” (120) the boy feels as once again he has to say something to the farmer, and he replies by telling the farmer “no, you must forgive her” (120). It really seems that the farmer is just a very ambitious and mean person who just likes to mistreat people for no apparent

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