After Cole destroys the sandcastle Jess had been building for the baby, Because of the incident and Jess’s words (pg 60, Para 5, “I hate you.”) he is filled with remorse (pg 60, Para 7, “I am filled with evil, there is no hope for me. For he felt himself completely taken over by the badness within him.”)
Cole can be describe as a consistent character from the present to the future in the story as a person with a very negative low self-perception and self-esteem. He consistently believes that his prayers will not be answered because of his ‘badness’ and that his father’s death is his fault because of his ‘badness’. Through close examination of the character's plausibility, one can clearly see the depth of Col’s rationalization of his father’s death and why he blames himself for it when it clearly is not his fault. At the end of the short story there is purification of his emotions, through the evocation of fear, as in tragedy when Col's father drowns in the sea and dies.
Cols personality is a bit introverted from the present to future and his motivations just include being able to fit in the environment that is changing so constantly for him. He seems to be a bit self-centered often just thinking about why the people in his life are treating him and why can’t they treat him better. After the incident of his father’s death and him wishing ‘a change in his life’, he ultimately become even more depressed and blames himself for what has happened. I think due to this incident, the wonderful world of his childhood has irretrievably sunk into the past, and he can’t help regretting it even though he wished for the change which proved to be too big and too sudden.
Col’s persona doesn’t change much in the end but I feel he has grown to understand and is shifting his way to adulthood.
3. Plot
The objective of Col is being recognized, understand and basically fit in.
I feel that it his Col himself from whom he is struggling within, trying to understand why thing are they way they are.
The initial conflict of this story is when he experiences restlessness and jealousy from his sister and prays for a storm so something different can happen for once in his life.
Due to events that happened, a storm did occur but it killed his father in the way. In a way, Col’s wish did get approved but it did not satisfy his need of self-acceptance and recognition.
After the incident, the house has obviously undergone a change, too, just like the weather. The sunny days are over; fog covers everything concealing the way he should tread on in the future. Security gives way to insecurity, fear and to the shock of growing up. The sound of the foghorn outside, however, helps him find the good direction.
Fog is a symbol of the uncertainty of the future. The foghorn suggests a warning of an uncertain future. He kicks the sandcastle (He wanted to do some violence in this house) and the tower falls first – the tower represents his father which is a foreboding of his father’s pending accident and death.
4. Theme
The underlying theme of the story is the restlessness of adolescence and coming of age. The theme can be thought to be implied for the first half since we routinely experience the aggression and violence he has against his family (being an adolescent) and the frustration of Col being caught in between childhood and adulthood through the story. Being an adolescent, everything was repetitive and nothing different seems to happen to him so as a result, he experiences this restlessness in the form of an out bursting anger. In the last paragraph, pg 63, the theme of ‘coming of age’ is illustrated, “The foghorn sounded outside. Then, he knew that the change had come, knew that the long hot summer was at an end, and that his childhood had ended too, that they would never come to this house again. He knew, finally the power of the badness within him and because of that, standing close to his father’s body, he wept.” – Col’s desire for ‘a storm’ or some kind of change to the hot, sunny weather that seemed dragging (adolescence)
- Point of View
The story is being narrated from a third person point of view. The point of view could be an older Col reflecting on childhood, in hindsight, and therefore helping us to understand Col when he was coming of age. The third person helps us feel sympathetic with Col’s point of view. An alternative point of view the author might’ve used would be first-person narrative. Although this view may directly speak from Cols point of view, we may not be able to full sympathize with his tense, depressive, oppressive character.
6. General Questions
“The Badness Within Him” continuously refers to the good vs. the evil and the more implicitly, the position of man before traditional constructions of God (‘prayer’ and ‘punishment’) The title could also refer to the state in which an adolescent goes through for instance low self-esteem and way we always blame ourselves for everything. Through out the story, the view of Col thinking that he has been ‘bad’ goes through out the story so I would say that in a way, it does summarize the plot. The first and last sentence denotes the way his behavior is towards himself and the way he deals with it. It gives us the impression that the main character is a person with a very self-demonizing attitude.
When Col wished for a storm to happen and it kills his father, in the end he blames himself. Although this could’ve happened anyhow, the way the events lead up make to think this way. I believe any other human would suffer the same reaction Col has felt because he initially thinks that if he hadn’t prayed for the storm or had gotten the ‘badness within him’ only in him and controlled, this wouldn’t have happened. Because the author makes her character flow with the events that have happened, I do believe in her philosophy of human reaction to these kinds of tribulations.
Although I too am an adolescent, my personality and the way I treat the events that happen to me are different than what Col treats them to be. I think this is mainly because of the way his family his. His father, who is rarely mentioned in the story only joins the family in the afternoon after work during the weekends. The absence of the father makes Col want to get his attention. His older sister whom he was particularly attached to is fading away from him and his mother is only paying attention to the eldest sister and her child. I feel the outcome of the character is very well determined and fits into the society where kids revert to crime and bad actions as a result from being un-included and unneeded. However, this also may not happen since Col is now the man of the family who he blames himself for his fathers death.
'Imagery such as the Cliff is his (self-) alienation from his family; his ability to view his life and family from a detached and distanced view where he is large and everyone he sees is ‘beneath’ him. Col has a superiority complex, believing that his family is content with routine and uninteresting activities. Colors which represented Col's family used when he was looking at the dots from the cliff. The Badness analogy is like illness/madness of adolescence in Col’s mind. Dialogue is very little and communicates to the reader that there is very little correspondence within Col and his family. Humour is not used and the vocabulary tends to signify Col’s feelings and the way he approaches them.
I enjoyed the story to a inner emotional contentment. It was different than the writings I often read which are jolly and often less serious. The way the story is written is also different and can be perceived from many different point of views. In the beginning although, I was not interest and half way through, I did not understand what was going on. However, after rereading the story a couple time, I felt it held a much stronger meaning and comprehended to what the society of young adolescents feel. I the emotions in this story relatable to my life.
- Foghorn - a horn sounded on a ship or boat when fog reduces visibility, as a warning to other vessels
- Trestle - a supporting framework consisting of a horizontal beam held up by a pair of splayed legs at each end
- Ruts - a narrow channel or groove in something, especially one made by the wheels of vehicles
- Linoleum - a tough washable floor covering, made from canvas or other material coated under heat and pressure with powdered cork, rosin, and linseed oil
- Cenotaph - a tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere.
- Languid - lacking vigor and energy
