We never know we’re being fooled when we don’t expect it. Ron Rash’s writing style is characterized by concise, simple language with lyrical overtones. His literary works are mostly set in the Great Depression-era and The Trusty is no exception. The main point of "The Trusty" is the title character, Sinkler, on a chain gang in Depression North Carolina for "thinking a bank manager wouldn't notice his teller slipping a few bills in his pocket" (69). Sinkler's problem is how to escape from the chain gang and enlist an 18-year-old farm wife, Lucy, in his venture. By the end of the story, the tables have turned from wondering if Sinkler is going to take advantage of the woman, to wondering if maybe she has her own plan up her sleeve. This short story offers some nice opportunities to consider whom we trust, how we gain trust, and misplaced trust.
Sinkler, the trusty, is in charge of fetching water from local wells; consequently, he does not wear restraints of any kind and is free to wander unsupervised for longer …show more content…
Sinkler stops early into his journey with Lucy to drink from a spring seep, which is so shallow that he has to lean over and support himself with his hand. Near the journey’s end, he stops again to drink from a spring seep, sees the print of his own hand in the sand, and realizes that Lucy has led him in a circle rather than over the ridge to Asheville. This handprint becomes the catalyst for Sinkler’s epiphany that his trust in Lucy was misplaced. Sinkler is the agent of his own destruction, and has been done in “by his own hand,” by the choice he has made to trust Lucy. This is made clear in Sinkler’s final act. He knows that Clem and Lucy will kill him. He is too tired to run and knows that he can’t escape his fate. His final act is to remove Clem’s shirt, because Clem and Lucy are poor and he knows that they will want the shirt