A Critical Analysis of Death in the Woods "Death in the Woods" is a story about a woman that lives a hard life. When she was a girl she worked for a German farmer and his wife. When she was a little older she married a man named Jake Grimes thinking she would get away from the crude work of the farmer. She soon finds out that life doesn't get any better for her than it already was.
Later in the story she is found dead by a rabbit hunter in the woods (Cleveland).
"Death in the Woods" seemingly concerns a farm woman, Mrs. Grimes, who, only in her early forties, seems old and probably psycotic. She doesn't have a first name in the story, and, indeed, very little is known about her life at all in the story. It's like no one knows who she is or why she is there (Arnold 528-531).
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold UAB
English: First edition title pageThe narrator is a man who remembers and recreates the stories' events from his childhood to later years? He tries to put together the few things that he actually does know. Through this re-creation, he searches for meaning and completion to his story. He needs for his events to make sense (Arnold 528-531).
" The old woman was nothing special(Arnold 528)," the narrator recalls. In fact, she was one of the nameless ones that hardly anyone knew, but she was in his thoughts as he recalled in the story. In her youth, the young woman had been a bound girl, practically a slave to a harsh German farmer and his wife. Her job was to feed the stock and to cook for the couple. It seems her life with them was very unhappy (Arnold 528-531).
Inspite of her cruel work and family,