The Maidencane tells the story of his younger years where he and his older brother went fishing and stole a girl’s tackle box. The narrator seems to be fixated on this day even though it happened long ago and appeared to be uncertain of why he recalls it. However, as the story progresses, it becomes evident that he is looking for meaning to the drastic shift in events that occurred in his family’s life after that day(Anderson 6). In the narrator’s mind, he tends to think that theft that he engaged in with his brother that resulted in his parents’ separation. However, when his brother reached out to him, he came to realize that they both had separate accounts of the events that may have resulted in their family’s separation(Anderson 6). It is the distinct recollection of the day the narrator is fixated on that leaves him troubled that the narrative’s theme is establishing what is important in life (what we can recall or what we cannot).

The theme behind Maidencane is around establishing what is more important in life (what we remember or what we do not? The reason behind this theme is centered by the main character’s story whereby he is fixated on an event that he believed to have changed his life(Anderson 6). The incident in question is when he and his older brother went fishing and engaged in some mischief by stealing a girl’s tackle box(Anderson 6). Even though the narrator believed that reaching out to his brother would give him the comfort he needed, he did not get this satisfaction. As evident at the end of the story, the distance between him and his brotherbecomes more distant since they had distinct recollections of the events that transpired on their last day together(Anderson 8).

According to the account of events provided, it is evident that the narrator is basing his story on evaluating the precarious state of a child’s mind which is also the story’s theme(Anderson 8). The need to analyze the precarious state of a child’s mind as presented in narrative presents the notion that some of the things that happened during our childhood are not worth remembering since they may have not occurred in the manner in which we recall (Anderson 8).It is evident in the narrator’s account of the events that he thinks resulted in his parents’ divorce that is a substantially different idea of the events that resulted in his family’s separation according to his brother.

The narrative’s tone and style are set are in the second person, which is ideal for this type of tale. The use of the second person is storytelling has been subject to significant praise since most of the best narratives across have illustrated the effectiveness in the use of the second person by authors to speak about themselves. The narrator is also keen on using dramatic irony in instances where portrays scenarios where the reader seems to be more informed about what is happening than the character is(Anderson 9). The zooming in and out of the narrator’s voice is also unique in dramatizing some situations with the aim of capturing the reader’s attention. The narrative’s setting also incorporates a novel approach at looking thing whereby some of the statements made require critical thinking(Anderson 9). For example, when the narrator points out that “you don’t know your brother anymore,” he was not referring to the information he had about the brother. He meant that his current relationship with his brother had been significantly ruined by their separation (Anderson 9).

By carefully reviewing the diverse elements of this story, it is inevitable to note that its setting is not well identified in the story since it is more of a connective story (Anderson 10). However, since the narrator is more inclined to try to recall the events that resulted in the separation of his brother whereby his mother left with his older brother, the reader is bound to believe that he resides in a small town with a lake since he seemed to like fishing. The connective nature of the story is further made evident in the fact that there exist not statement that reveals the identity of the narrator(Anderson 10). Thus, the readers are left to speculate the identity of the narrator. In addition to not having his/her gender identified the narrator also has a boyfriend and girlfriend which leaves room for a lot of speculation (Anderson 11). In this analysis, the decision to refer to the narrator as male is based on the assumption that if he were female, his mother would have opted to leave with him and the older brother to remain with the older brother as most divorce settlements often occur.

According to this narrative, it is evident that the answer to the theme’s question is that we should not let the things that we can or cannot remember define us. In this scenario, the best approach would have been the parents not only informing them of what was happening but also ensuring that they stayed in touch. By doing so, it would have been possible to eliminate the possibility of the narrator thinking that his actions are what influenced the parents’separation.

Work Cited

Anderson B. Chad. Maidencane. The Nimrod Literary Awards. (1-15)

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