Analysis and interpretation -
Wood Grouse on a High Promontory Overlooking Canada

The text “Wood Grouse on a High Promontory Overlooking Canada”, 1996, is an American short story. In the short story we hear about the relationship between two brothers, the brother Bud and the older military brother Gary. The theme in this short story is brotherhood.
These two brothers reconnect after spending time apart, and they grow to appreciate each other. Bud is a boy who is 15 years old. Bud is a bit naive. We can see that when he throws the rock at a bird. Gary asks him why and he replies, “I didn’t mean to hit one, Gary” p. 4 l. 46.
This shows that he is a bit naive, and he is not thinking about the consequences of his actions.
Another example is when he asks, “I was young and I didn’t know any better. So instead I asked him about the thing on my mind: “Did you kill anyone in Vietnam?” p. 4 l. 70-71 This also shows that Bud is naive when he asked without thinking about Gary’s feelings.
After Bud asked this question he could see that it was hard for Gary to talk about and he therefore felt ashamed “And then I couldn’t fall asleep that night; I felt ashamed of myself.” p. 3 l.92. You can say that he acts, and then thinks about the consequences later. Gary is an adult who have been in war in Vietnam. Gary keeps on mentioning the beautiful things he is seeing around him, which is a big contrast from what he came from down there.
“They’re beautiful” Gary said “Just look at them” p. 1 l. 39 “Aren’t they beautiful?” p. 1 l. 12
It seems like Gary have been through a rough time in Vietnam when he says, “You don’t want to know (….) Take my word for it” p. 1 l. 5 to Bud when the talk about him being back.
Gary is still very emotional after he came back from the war. When Gary killed the bird he compared it to killing people in the war. “ That’s it (…)