13 October 2013
Revenge: the most prominent theme of Strip Cuts Revenge is the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. In the novel Strip Cuts, the author David Drayer chronicles ordinary and surprising events in the lives of the townspeople in a small town named Cherry Run. This town is full of interesting, fictional characters including: a young man who undergoes torment from his peers, a Peeping Tom who is confronted by a woman whom he desire, and three teenage boys who were outcasts at their school. The novel is written from many viewpoints to help you experience life in Cherry Run. Of all of the chapters and themes, revenge is a prominent theme in Strip Cuts.
Seth Hardy who is also known as “Jack-Off”, was a normal kid who was bullied, and made fun of. Seth had two friends, Carl and Pooch, who were outcasts at the school also. The guys decided that they’d play a game one day that involved playing pranks on people for points. One of the rules were to keep the game a secret from everyone; and that made it more fun. In gym class, one of the bullies decided to hit Seth in the head with the ball, it was embarrassing and painful. That’s when Seth felt the need to retaliate by daring his friends to ruin Knight’s car. The prank was to put fox’s urine in Knight’s car that he and three other bullies rode to school in daily. Fox urine was worse than that of a skunk, it was a smell you couldn’t easily clean. Pooch went to Knight’s house where he executed the prank, putting the urine into Knight’s car covering the seats and carpet. Seth asked Pooch how he would know that he’d actually done it, he replied, “You’ll know. You’ll know” (34). Knight was dejected that there was no hope for his car, Seth and Pooch, on the contrary found contentment in the prank they played on their bullies. This is just one example of how revenge is an important part of Strip Cuts.
Another major example of revenge is in the chapter, “Initiation.” Seth Hardy got his first job in the summer pruning trees for Rabbleman’s Christmas Tree Farm. He hoped to be able to purchase a dirt bike, but wanting this he has landed himself back in the light of torment from his peers. In this chapter, Seth was, “Once again reminded how sick he was of this town and so many of the assholes in it.” (65) Coarsen and Madman was two of the main bullies who were putting on the “initiation.” They brutally initiated Seth, forcing him to be naked in front of others against his will. This went beyond old fashion bullying, to Seth, Coarsen had become the most disliked character. Seth felt the need to punish Coarsen, so he urinated in his brand new water jug, and spit in his meatloaf sandwich. He also ate out of other people lunches, making the guys pit against each other. He removed items from Kurt’s lunch and put them into Madman’s bag and he threw pinecones at Coarsen, leaving everyone to blame Madman. Seth’s way of getting them back made them turn against each other leaving him to be satisfied.
The final example of revenge is in the chapter, “Peeping Tim,” was when Jodi Case, who was Tim Weaver’s neighbor, always forgot to pull her blinds down when she undressed, allowing Tim the opportunity to watch her. While undressing one day, Jodi caught Tim, watching her as she undressed using his binoculars. After seeing her naked numerous times he felt that having her next door was better than having a subscription to Playboy