Introduction

Set in two different backgrounds, the books “This Boy’s life” and “Into the Forest” gives an insight into the lives of different people living in two distinctive environments. These books are so captivating to the readers because they highlight the day to day life of people in different environments. Both writers have proved once more that they have come of age with customary skills and self assurance.

The two fiction writers have proved that they are mature literally buy creating real life situations by relating the lives of the characters with life. It is therefore advisable to those who have not yet grabbed a copy to do so and have an insight into the difficulties people undergo to attain success.

“This boy’s Life” is a grim story that Tobias Wolff has used to electrify his critics. The story revolves around a boy called Jack and his early life and how this life came to shape his life in future (Wolff pgs 59-87). Jack and his mother are driving from Florida to Utah; they are running away from a man called Roy who was mistreating their mother.

They are also interested in improving their lives by searching and mining uranium. ”we were going to change our lives”, the journey to Utah was not a bed of roses because the van they were travelling in was in a very sorry state and needed some time to cool off before they continued their journey. His mother came to hate the cab so much that not long after they reached Utah she gave it to a woman she had met. Jack had an older brother called Geoffrey who was left behind under the custody of their father, although Geoffrey grew up in a more privileged background than Jack, they were both victims of domestic abuse and neglect.

During his adolescent, Jack’s life was filled with misery,. He was constantly involved in fistfights, drinking bring and also experienced poor grades. Jack was also a great liar who lied to others as a means of hiding his miserable situation. Young Jack life in Chinook, Washington was filled with disdain and suffering, how he wished he could overcome his miseries by leaving this miserable industrial town. His opportunity came when he got a falsified acceptance into Elite Hill preparatory school.

Unfortunately, his life at school did not last long because he was expelled after only two years. ”The school was patient but not inexhaustible patient. In my last year, I broke the bank and was asked to leave.”  Although he was disappointed, Jack was not disheartened by his expulsion because he joined the military thereafter.  As part of his training, Jack was able to get some elementary Vietnamese which enabled him to be assigned the post of advisor to a South Vietnamese battalion in the Mekong Delta.

In her book and “Into the Forest”, Jean Hegland focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters, Nell and Eva and their survival in a collapsed society. Several miles from the nearest neighbors, Nell and Eva struggle to survive in a society that has begun to decay and collapse around them (Hegland pgs 34-57). ” There is no neighbors for four miles, and no town for thirty two miles” Their close bond and the adaptability to the environment in which they live in allows them to survive many horrific experiences.