Rhetoric Study

In this excerpt of the book, an old cowboy is having a flash back of when he was younger and was a very important cowboy on a very important, large ranch. His name, I kid you not, is Rope Butt, and in this part of the book, he is working on a ranch with a Dutch man named Habakuk van Melkebeek, who is very solitary and different. He tends to the windmills, and Rope is getting him a hand, young Ace Crouch.

"It was around this time that Rope Butt had written his first cowboy poem, twelve lines that took four hours to compose. It was burned into his memory.

Ridin' ol' buddy down the draw
I seen a cow jaw
but it had a flaw
it was broke in two
could fix it with a screw
and some glue.

That cow jaw made me think
of my uncle Leon Skink
he wore out four saddle in his life
and four wife
once he give me a pocket knife
it cut like stink.

The next morning, he rode down to the Crouch place. The kid, Ace, had been pleased and excited at the thought of going to work, and he did not seem disappointed that the jog was windmill repair assistant under a man who twisted the language into Dutch pretzels. Rope could understand why. The Crouch place was run down and lonesome, the grass over grazed, the fences mended and mended again into knots and bobtail ends, the cows scrawny and yellow-backed with maggoty infection. There was a windmill near the house, an aged wooden tower that he bet had seen plenty of emergency repair. Though it worked, it screeched horribly from lack of grease and a dozen other ailments. Rope thought that an instructional course in windmill repair for a member of the family would be a boon to the Crouch ranch.

But while Ace was getting his things together, old Mr. Crouch, who had a face like a gizzard and showed in his every gesture and word that he came down hard on his sons, bargained over young Ace's labor, insisting that three-quarters of the boy's pay had to come home.

'I'm givin up the work he could be doin here. We need all the help we can git.' He waved his hand vaguely. 'Anyways, what does he need money for if he's got board and lodge? Just spoil him, y'know?'

Rope smothered the impulse to say that the kid might want a new shirt or pair of pants that wasn't holed and patched, that he might appreciate boots that fit, or even that he might want to put some money aside for a new saddle or a horse or a down payment on a house should he get married in a few years, and remarked instead that he guessed Mr. Crouch would have to ride over and speak to Slike [the main overseer] about the kid's pay. The way it worked usually was that a hand drew his money and it was his, for he had done the work that earned it. Just then the kid came chargin out onto the porch with his change of raggedy clothes and an ancient kack that looked as though it might have been used by the Spanish conquistadors when they passed through.

'Your dad needs a talk with Mr. Slike about the money arrangements, first,' said Rope Butt, feeling sorry for the kid, who was clearly crazy to get gone from home that minute.
It was deep sleep night, the bunk house rattled with snores and stinking of cowboy bean farts when Rope was awakened by the sound of the door sighing on its hinges, a few stumbling steps, something eased down to the floor- the squeak of leather indicated a saddle- and a tired sigh. Somebody had come in and was going to sleep on the floor. He couldn't think who it was- Habakuk van Melkebeek, the only one missing, was out in some pasture with his bedroll and chain tongs. Then a new thought came to him; the windmiller might have taken a fall and dragged himself in for medical attention.

'Habakuk?' Rope said softly, 'that you?'

'It's me, Ace. Ace Crouch.'

'God sake,' said Rope, sitting up and fumbling for the light string.
The kid was a wreck, his nose swollen to twice its earlier size, his lip split, both eyes black and a gash in his forehead that would leave a white scar.

'Your dad do that?' said Rope.

The kid nodded. 'He did, but I got the best of it. I got out a there and he ain't goin a bother me no more. Any money I earn, it's mine.'

'Good,' said Rope Butt, 'You didn't kill him did you?'

'I wanted to, but I don't think I did. I hit him on the head with the shovel and it made a sound like hittin a kettle and he feel down. He was cussin and half up again when I took off.'

'Glad a hear that,' said Rope Butt, 'they come down hard on kids that send their daddies to the happy huntin grounds. I'll take you to Habakuk in the mornin. He's out with one a them dan old windmills. You got a bedroll?'

'No,' said the kid.

'You lousy? You got lice?'

'No. We was poor, but we wasn't dirty.'

'Well, now you're in a place where you will be poor and dirty. Long as you ain't lousy, you are welcome a take on my old bedroll. I got a new one a couple month ago. never throw anything out. Old one's kind a thin but it's comin on good weather so you won't freeze. Payday, you'n go into Woolybucket and get you a new on and a tarp.'

'Thanks,' said the kid. And that was that." (Proulx 142)



This is one of my favorite passages out of the entire book. This is because she packs in such good rhetorical devices. In order to make it easier, I color coded some of them within the excerpt. Below is a key.



Metaphors

Similes

Personification

Imagery


Humor

All of the devices that Proulx use come together to create a literary situation that not only flows well but resonates with the reader. Through her use of metaphors, she incerts a humorous way to see things in a new light. It allows the reader to look at a thing through her eyes, to step into her shoes for a moment to see how she views the world. It adds humor and insight, as well as calling attention to a part of the character that Proulx wants noticed: van Malkebeek was a man who "twisted the language into Dutch pretzels" (Proulx 142).

The similes in the peice add history and discription to the passage, and give the characters a face in the reader's mind. By adding comparisons, Proulx is able to allow the audience to picture things and people and the reader is then able to connect more realistically with the story.

By writing in so much detailed imagery, Proulx allows the reader to completely immerse his or her self deep into the world of flat plains and dusty cowboys, making each scene and dialogue more real. Also adding to the realism is Proulx use of dry humor. It lets the writing better mimic real life in the way she lets humor, sarcasm and sorrow all meld together to create a work.