Critique on Montana 1948

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Critique on Montana 1948
Montana 1948 is a novella written in 1993 by Larry Watson. It has been noted that the novella mainly addresses the life of Montanan David Hayden, a young man; it sheds light to his family in Bentrock town located in Montana (Watson National Library 3). Hayden’s family goes through hard times in dealing with justice and loyalty. The novella has been very influential to a point of winning the Milkweed National Fiction Prize. There are three themes observed in the novella namely; racism, power abuse by people in the high authority and the issues of family loyalty and community justice (“WriteWork contributors” par. 6).
Surveys indicated that Hayden’s family is extremely powerful in Mercer County, the family had respected members in the society some being war heroes and local sheriff. Critically focusing on 1948 summer season, the life of David took a different turn; this was after Marie Little Soldier fell sick, she was a housekeeper originating from the Native Americans. A doctor by the name Frank Hayden was called in to check on the conditions of Marie (“WriteWork contributors” par. 12). Frank was actually the uncle to Hayden. Marie on the other hand refused to accept any form of medication from Frank, this raised concerns on the turn of the events, and an inquiry was organized by Gail. Gail was the mother to David (Watson Montana 76).
It was discovered that Frank had unethical behaviors of preying on women who originated from the Native Americans; he used his medical status to hide his true identity. Wesley was the father to David; he got upset by the turn of events. Wesley was a local sheriff and committed to unearth the rotten medical practices, the fact that Frank was his brother did not deter him from performing his official duties, upholding justice on matters touching on the public and family was put at a strenuous test (Watson National Library 7).
Marie died in the house; Frank was distracted by the turn of events, and argued that Marie died of Pneumonia. David failed to support the theory put across by Frank, as a matter of fact, David had spotted Frank in Marie’s room, and the same time Marie passed away, meaning that Frank has had an active role in the death of Marie. David told his parents on the truth of the matter; Wesley was agitated by the news to a point of confronting Frank, although the two brothers reached to a compromise on the issue (Watson Montana 105). David, having an exposure on rifles, which his father used to hunt with, contemplated committing murder by killing Frank, at this juncture; Wesley was sandwiched between demanding issues relating to community justice and family loyalty on issues of setting Frank free or arresting him altogether (“WriteWork contributors” par. 11).
Wesley arrested Frank after a lengthy investigation, Frank confessed that he actually killed Marie, and that this was not the first case, he had been involved in a series of molesting women, in particular targeting Native American women. Frank was held in basement captivity, this was a way of avoiding massive embarrassment, in which Frank could have faced if he could have been directed at the local jail. The father to Julian was a racist; he strongly opposed the arrest of Frank, to a point that Julian’s father employed the services of henchmen in the attempt of setting Frank free; all these plots piloted by the Julian’s father were carried out in the absence of Wesley.
Gail did not give the henchmen a chance, he successfully retaliated their efforts through a number of gun shorts in the air. David on the other hand called for reinforcement. It can be argued that the moral values of Wesley superseded the loyalty of his family, this was noted when Wesley was fully committed in sending Frank to the local jail. Very few people can actually send their real brothers to the jail. Frank committed suicide, he used a broken glass in slitting open his wrists (Watson Montana 45).
The death of Frank resulted to resolved family issues and problems; people served ...