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The Loss of the Creature vs. Our Time by William Moore

10/2/2007

The Loss of the Creature vs. Our Time

For different reasons, it could be said that bot Walker Percy's “The Loss of the Creature” and John Wideman's “Our Time” are, at points, challenging selections for students to grasp and and understand. Percy's essay is about encouraging readers to look out side of the proverbial “box” and see the world for what it really is, not what the textbooks and photographs say it should be. Wideman's essay shows his thoughts and ideas as he tells you what he thinks, as he speaks of the troubles he had as a young man growing up in a rough Pittsburgh neighborhood. Though both can be difficult to understand at times, it would be my opinion that “The Loss of the Creature” is the more difficult of the two. John Edgar Wideman wrote “Our Time” from the standpoint of himself, his brother, and his mother, often switching standpoints and speakers without informing the reader of his doing so. Changing perspectives and speakers is an option not often chosen by an author. On occasion, one may write a book with two separate points of view, but both points are usually well defined as to who's view is being seen. At times, this can be a rather difficult and and confusing feature of the essay to understand. However, upon reading a piece of the text, re-reading it, and analyzing the text, a reader can find out exactly who it is that is speaking and what they are trying to say at that particular point in time. Unlike Wideman's essay, Walker Percy's “Creature” is not written from a first-person point of view. Instead, it is a third-person standpoint, with a narrator not directly involved in the essay. Keeping the essay at one point-of-view, students do not go back and re-read to understand the text. Instead, they breeze through the words of the author not bothering to decipher the meaning of the words, because it seemingly makes sense to them. In “Our Time,” students must fully concentrate on the writing to understand the text. “Our Time” is also worded as an ongoing story, giving the reader a plot to understand and follow. It tells the story of Wideman's young life in Pittsburgh, the death of his friend, and the decline of his brother's life. This story provides characters, a plot, and some kind of story that the reader can take away from the book. Percy's “The Loss of the Creature” speaks about people's beliefs and feelings, not concentrating on telling a story, with no characters moving about and progressing through a story. Percy's “Creature” can tend to lose readers with it's lack of traditional storyline and plot. As a reader, I know I found it very difficult to focus on Percy's words when they were not adding to a storyline and plot. Wideman's essay, though much longer, managed to keep my attention much better than “The Loss of the Creature” had. Throughout “Creature,” I would try to relate to certain situations which Percy used as an example. For example, Percy claims that the man who discovered the Grand Canyon saw it for what it really was, with no preformed symbol to illustrate what it looked like before the initial discovery. I understood what it was that Percy was trying to say, but I had a really tough time relating to the subject. I've never as much as seen the Grand Canyon, let alone discover one. Wideman's story, though, told of growing up in a rough neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Many of the readers of this story see and hear about bad living conditions in neighborhoods such as Homewood, as it is shown on the news often and many have traveled through the area. Personally, working this summer, I was in Homewood several times and have seen the neighborhood up close. It's easier to picture something in your head that you have seen in the past. In conclusion, both Wideman's “Our Time” and Percy's “The Loss of the Creature” are challenging and at times, just plain confusing. Though both use elements not seen often in today's writing, it is clear that “The Loss of the Creature” more difficult to understand and comprehend.