A Critical Analysis of The Stone Boy

A Critical Analysis of ¡§The Stone Boy¡¨
In the story ¡§The Stone Boy¡¨, by Gina Berriault, a twelve years old young child, Arnold, accidentally killed his brother, Eugie, when they are hunting. The family, a household of rural farmers in an unnamed region, doesn¡¦t know how to react about the accident so that they just blame Arnold and reject him when he turns to his family for support and compassion. A sensitive tale of a family that is torn apart by a tragic accident. There is a lot of revealing evidence that exhibits the Arnold¡¦s true feelings about his family and his brother. The fence, the coldness of his house and body, the gray atmosphere and gray farmhouse and the silence and stillness of the outside, are all components that the author uses to reveal Arnold¡¦s feelings. Arnold¡¦s behavior towards his brother, his brother¡¦s correlative behavior, his parents¡¦ reactions toward him and the way they focus attention on their other children, also dis...