A Montana 1948 essay is an analysis of the classic novel with the same name by Larry Watson. The novel is a gripping story of a young boy growing up in rural Montana just after World War II ends. Montana David Hayden, a 12-year-old boy and his family have to deal with news that his own uncle Frank committed crimes against young Indian girls while serving as a doctor at an Indian reservation. Davy’s father, Wesley, the sheriff of the town which includes the reservation, is in a dilemma as to how to tackle the situation. He dreads the thought of facing his father over the issue of his brother and tends to escape from facing the situation. Davy goes through the emotions a young adolescent would go through while showing the same traits as his father.

Analyzing Davy’s character as a carefree young boy would not be doing justice to the boy. He is faced with intense guilt and fear as his own uncle has done something wrong, and he realized he would have to deal with the situation throughout his life. If you were to write an opinion essay, the character of Davy could be made bolder, and the story would probably evolve differently in the case of his character. But the fact remains that he is truly troubled to the extent that when his uncle Frank commits suicide he is relieved and wishes that the guilt and problems would just go away.

Essay writers have been trying to analyze this story in many different ways. Characters like Frank are shown as people who can disrupt the peace in a family and create fear. Davy’s grandfather has total control over Wes, hi s father. This is demonstrated differently by essay writers. Some would consider it dictatorial while others would pinpoint that his nature was the reason for Wes to avoid facing the truth and failing to do justice as sheriff. Davy’s mother asks her husband Wes to take action. Marie, the housekeeper, reveals dark secrets that put Davy and his family members into a dilemma. All these important characters in the story react differently to one situation. The powerful Hayden family is never the same again after the disturbing news gets around.

Unlike other classics you would analyze in a Hamlet essay or Othello essay, a Montana 1948 essay deals with the very difficult topic of adolescent behavior. It deals with mystery when David sees his uncle Frank enter the house when no one was there but Marie. He has disturbing thoughts which gets cleared much later as he learns to analyze adult behavior. Marie commits suicide. Frank commits suicide. The family is in disarray.

If you were to write about the novel in a journalism essay, you would try to highlight David’s character more. What could have been going through his mind not just during the summer when the incident took place but for 40 years trying to live with the fact that the stigma attached to his family would never go away? With Frank’s death, David should have been very relieved, but would the fear and guilt just pass away after 40 years. These are questions a reporter would be challenged to write about. The story does help face reality, though brutally. A Montana 1948 essay does truly have to deal with complex characters.

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