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The story explores how the priest is driven to desperation and does what he ever though he was capable of doing, killing a man, in order to preserve his nephew’s life. It shows that anyone is capable of destruction and falling off the path if provided with the right motivation, as the priest was. Furthermore, the priest spirals even further when he learns that what he did was all for nothing.
I found this story to be rather boring in the beginning, but it did pick up quickly. However, I didn’t really like the story that much. I understand the overarching theme and that violence leads to destruction for all involved, as said in the Bible quote in the beginning. I never really got the sense of despair and sadness that, I assume Dailey felt when he first learned about Tommy, his nephew, and later when Dailey’s sister tells him that Tommy is in a coma. His actions in the story don’t match up to how he was supposed to behave. Many people receive heart-wrenching news like this and don’t go around shooting up people. The story would probably have been better if it had been a little bit longer so as to develop Dailey’s character and let the reader know his feelings. The reader has to make some assumptions, which are not difficult to make, however it would be better with character development.
The end of the story was just as strange and is a little bit open to interpretation. I’m assuming that there is a sequel because of the last line in the story. The ending did pique my interest, although not enough to read the sequel, assuming there is one.
The style of writing is good, and the dialogue is believable. However, there is some internal dialogue on the part of Dailey that could have been a little bit more polished. Other than that, it’s a well written story that could have been better if it had been a little bit longer.
It’s an ok story, not one of the best, but definitely not a bad read. I would rate this a 2 out of 4, only because I normally don’t read these types of stories. I would recommend this to people who want real life stories that have a moral and meaning and to those who like reading short stories. Anyone else should avoid it.
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