Essay Questions

What are the misfortunes of Quoyle as a young child?

Proulx introduces Quoyle as a despondent child who is born in cruel family that believes in malevolence and self-destruction. Satirically, the family believes that kind-heartedness symbolizes faintness and they discourage it at all costs. Therefore, Quoyle is brought up in cruel manner where he is mistreated by the family. Quoyle’s brother and brother physically abuse him believing that that is the only way he can become a strong man. On the contrary, the mistreatment to the young boy destroyed his life because he hated himself and the family. As result, Quoyle hated school and he dropped out because of the ridicule directed to him by other students and his family.

How can you describe the character, Petal, Quoyle’s first wife?

Petal, is an ironic character who does exactly the opposite of the reader’s expectations. Petal is married to Quoyle, but she does not take her marriage seriously. Despite Quoyle being the best loving husband, Petal took that as weakness and started abusing him. Petal’s abuse extended to their two daughters. Instead of showing love to the young daughters, Petal mistreated them and decided to sell them to a sexual trafficker. Therefore, Petal can be described as an abusive woman and undevoted mother.

Can you conclude that a new beginning an emerging theme in the book ‘The Shipping News’?

Quoyle goes through a lot in life and he is subjected to suffering. Firstly, Quoyle is mishandled by his family while growing up. When he went to school, Quoyle had the worst experience because he was bullied and ridiculed, and this forced him to drop out of college. Thirdly, Quoyle was not successful to hold one job, and he kept on shifting from one job to the other. When he gets married, Quoyle think that his wife will help him forget about his past sufferings. Unfortunately, the wife becomes the worst abuser and this depresses Quoyle than ever. Despite going through these misfortunes, Quoyle remained optimistic for a better future. Quoyle gets another wife who is loving and caring. Similarly, Quoyle gets a new job and starts afresh. Therefore, a new beginning is a vital theme in this book and the author encourages readers to rise up despite the dark past and hope for a better future.