Turning Points Essay Research Paper Turning Points

Turning Points Essay, Research Paper Turning Points, an Inspection of Different Perspectives Turning points in a story reflect the implied meaning of the author and the interpretation of the reader. An author who develops his or her turning point does so to emphasize a certain aspect of their literature. Readers are meant to follow the literature not lead, and in this sense the reader follows the paths set in place by the author to the inevitable conclusion. There are always various paths to be taken by characters of the literature, but there is the eventuality of the path leading to no others. This path leads to the conclusion of the literature and the end of the story. The path that leaves no other foreseeable option and sets the pace of the literature to the end is the

turning point. Due to the characteristics of turning points, it is left to the reader s discretion to determine when a turning point is presented. Often, two readers of the same literature will come to different conclusions concerning what exactly is the turning point in a novel. With this explanation, I intend to procure new insight concerning the turning points of certain short stories and thus provide depth to my definition. The short story How Much Land Does a Man Need? , the main character is faced with greed. The main character, Pakhom, seems amiable for the most part, although he does have some definite character flaws aside from greed; that is, when angered he physically assaults his wife and children. Pakhom would pay up and then curse and beat his family. (p. 296) I

believe that this side of the man was meant to soften the blow of his demise. By allowing a character to be flawed, and worse yet with a despicable habit, that character s passing evokes less mourning than would otherwise be allowed. I feel that the turning point in the novel comes when he is running the final stretch. There is one point in the story where the man knows that he should give up, but the problem remains that he believes he would, be a fool to stop now. (p.303) This in itself is consequence enough for a turning point, but the man s greed is emphasized further when he admits that he has failed, sees one last chance to make it and kills himself in the process: He was about to stop when he heard the Bashkirs still shrieking. And he remembered that though it seemed below

that the sun had set, it would still be shining on top of the shikhan. Pakhom took a deep breath and ran up the shikhan. It was still light there. As Pakhom reached the top, he saw the elder sitting in front of the cap, chuckling, holding his sides with his hands. Pakhom remembered his dream and groaned; his legs gave way and he fell forward, his hands touching the cap . Pakhom s laborer ran to life him, but the blood was flowing from his mouth and he lay dead. (p. 303) The path that the character has chosen leaves little choice in the matter and the final outcome unavoidable. The path that he chose was not one of walking, but cold, aggressive greed. All of the decisions that Pakhom had made prior to that choice had other options and consequences. The man s choices, influenced by

greed, made bare by physical exertion, grew sparser as the story went on; eventuality being that the man had no recourse after the turning point. The reader, from the outside view, can clearly see the events as they unfold, easily acknowledge the thinning choices, and in this instance, identify the turning point with relative ease. To Please His Wife , provided a slight challenge in ascertaining the turning point in the story. Usually a turning point is emphasized by a chance in pace from the literature. At the very least, a turning point brings about an event, or acts as a herald to that event. In the case of this literature, there were many events that changed during the course of the story, greatly impeding a reader s attempts to surmise the turning point. After much