blog




  • Essay / Great-Grandmother's Negative First Impression in The Horned Toad

    The Horned Toad » Prompt “She hated the city,” narrator Gerald Haslam said in the short story, The Horned Toad. In this story, Haslam recounts the time when his great-grandmother moved into his house. He explains that his first impression of the "old lady" is somewhat negative. But later, as time went by, he gradually began to take a liking to his great-grandmother; vice versa. There are many different themes that one could take away from this story, one of them being that first impressions are not always the lasting impressions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay At the beginning of the story, when the author describes the arrival of his great-grandmother, he writes: “she she barked orders in Spanish from the moment she got out of Manuel and Toni's car. The word “barked” in this sentence is used with a negative connotation. Not only was her great-grandmother barking orders from the moment she got out of the car, but the narrator's uncle also told the father, "Good luck, Charlie." This old lady's dynamite. When the uncle tells this to the narrator's father, it obviously means that the great-grandmother is going to cause trouble for them. Also saying that "old lady's dynamite" means that it is easily set off, which would also prove to be a problem for them. Additionally, Haslam also includes how her great-grandmother called her and her father names with negative connotations. For example, she called her father "ese gringo" (which translates to "that American") and the narrator "el macrido" (which translates to "the spoiled brat"). It's common for someone to hate someone who constantly insults them. From the way Haslam apparently describes her, he seems to dislike her, although later in the text this is shown to change. “She had only been with us for two days when I tried to impress her with my horned toad. In fact, nothing I did seemed to impress him,” the narrator remarks, alluding to the workings of his relationship with his great-grandmother. A little later in the text he also mentions that he would sneak around the house just to avoid his great-grandmother. At this time, Haslam had already perceived his great-grandmother as an irritable person, supporting this, he also talks about how his great-grandmother refused to get in a car or d 'accompany your mother anywhere; also proving that her great-grandmother is stubborn. But all these negative interactions quickly change after the narrator's great-grandmother catches him avoiding her. “Venga aqui!” » she called the narrator, he then approached her. In Spanish, she then offered him candy; to which the narrator responded with “Deseo dulce”. “Oh, so you want some candy. Go to the store and buy some,” retorted the great-grandmother. This is where, in the story, we see a change between the two characters. It seems that the narrator thinks that she spoke in English just for him, and he also realizes all this time that his great-grandmother was playing a joke on him. Also at the beginning of the story, Haslam writes about his first impression of his great. -grandmother grandmother; using words such as "barked" to describe how she would order her aunt and uncle to do things. Also mentioning how she would call her father, "ese gringo", translating. "that American" in English And how she called Haslam "el malcrido", which also means "the spoiled boy"..