extended literary analysis of `Damage,` `Purge,` or `Rituals of Sleep` by Kent Nelson

ESSAY ON KENT NELSON 'S STORY : `DAMAGE

Kent Nelson 's story `Damage , deals with human relationships , happiness sorrow and the growing up of individuals . The story `Damage , tells us about the damage to the family mentioned in the story not only because of the past but also because of the present . The family is damaged by the war in the past as well as by the relationship between the father of the narrator and his male friend . `Peaches ' are a recurrent symbol through out the play in different ways : Fresh Peaches , Peach air

, Peach steam , Peach stained apron , bowl of peaches 'I like peaches , I do the peaches for you 'Thirty-six jars of peaches were lined up , orange through the glass with gold rims , and so on . Peach means a sweet and juicy fruit but in the narration , it is a very important symbol . Peach has different meaning in the different terms used through out the tale

In the story , `Damage , the narrator is a young girl , Danielle who quits art college and comes back home to live with her parents and starts working in a leather store . She leaves her college because she had to spend most of her time with a madwoman art professor who painted birds and atomic bombs going off , trees and atomic bombs , fish and atomic bombs . Here atom `bombs and trees` , `fishes and birds ' shows the life and beauty of nature in contrast to death , destruction and evils of wars . We understand from the narrator that her mother has a habit of canning peaches , though it is not a popular activity : No one canned fruit much anymore , but she liked to , and I pictured her downstairs in the kitchen in jeans , sweating and cursing in her peach-stained apron that said STAY OUT OF MY WAY on it , a red bandanna around her forehead We find her mother caning peaches in the kitchen and the scent of fresh peaches even enter the room of the young girl . The Peach originates from China and was the goddess 's holy tree of life . In the narration fresh peaches , peach air and peach steam has a sacred symbol . The sweet smell of Peaches may purify their house from dirt or evil residing in it . The regular process of canning peaches by her mother may be to clean her house of impurities . In the end of the story the relationship between Danielle 's father and Mal is disclosed to us . In the line `A sliver of peach stuck to my mother 's jaw 'peach ' means beauty (Encarta (R ) World English Dictionary (c (P ) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation or the dictionary meaning of someone who is good or pleasing . Her mother may be a beautiful lady . She is not shown as a pleasing person but may be she is a woman with a good heart

We find the first glimpse of how the war has affected them when we hear the conversation between her father and his army friend Mal in...