, Research Paper
When the Legends Die
In the book When the Legends Die by Hal Borland,Tom is influenced by many people.As his settings change, new people influence him to change his personality.The three main influences of Tom are his mother Bessie, Red Dillon and Mary Redmond.
His biggest influence out of everyone would be his mother Bessie.She teaches Tom about the old ways, how to fish, chant and weave baskets.Basically she taught him everything he knows.As well as teaching Tom all these things she taught him to be self sufficient.
Even though she had 13 years with her son, she gave him a belief system that would come back again later on in his life.At the end of this novel when he goes back to the old ways, it’s really a way for him to thank her for everything she provided him with.He really found
himself at the end of the novel and found his purpose.
Red Dillon was the total opposite of Bessie.He made him tougher for life.He pushed Tom farther away from his history.He also got him to cheat and drink.Tom knew these things were wrong but it stayed in his routine.Red tested Tom to his fullest and pushed Tom to work harder.Unfortunatley Red did not work quite as hard as Tom. When he was living with the white man he was getting used to the white peoples ways.
Mary Redmond who was another of Tom’s influences played a big role in encouraging Toms decisions.She was his guardian angel looking over him wile he was staying in the hospital.She was the only person that was in the hospital who truly cared for him.He knew she meant well but he was scared to ask her for help because he had been let down so many times in the times before.She changed his thinking on what he was going to do when he go out of the hospital. At first he wanted to go back to riding but decided to take some time off.
In conclusion in the book When the Legends Die by Hal Borland, the main character Tom was influenced by a lot of people.The three main people were Bessie, Red Dillon and Mary Redmond.He was influenced by them to make certain decisions and actions during his life.