The Sisters Brothers, a novel by Patrick deWitt, is a darkly comedic and deeply moving tale of two brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, who are hired to kill a man named Hermann Kermit Warm. Along the way, the brothers encounter a cast of eccentric and colorful characters, and the themes of the novel revolve around the nature of violence, the consequences of choices, and the search for identity and purpose.
One of the main themes in The Sisters Brothers is the nature of violence. Both Eli and Charlie are hired guns, and violence is a central part of their lives. They are paid to kill, and they do so without hesitation or remorse. However, as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that violence is not as simple or straightforward as it may seem. Eli begins to question the morality of their profession, and he struggles to reconcile his love for his brother with his own growing sense of conscience.
The consequences of choices is another major theme in The Sisters Brothers. Eli and Charlie's choices have led them down a dark and dangerous path, and they are constantly confronted with the consequences of those choices. They are forced to confront their own pasts and the mistakes they have made, and they must make difficult decisions about their future. As they travel through the West, they are confronted with the harsh realities of life on the frontier, and they are forced to confront the moral implications of their actions.
Finally, The Sisters Brothers explores the theme of identity and purpose. Both Eli and Charlie are searching for meaning and purpose in their lives, and they are constantly questioning who they are and what they want. They are forced to confront their own identities and the roles they have played in their lives, and they must decide what they want to be and how they want to live their lives.
In conclusion, The Sisters Brothers is a complex and deeply moving novel that explores the themes of violence, the consequences of choices, and the search for identity and purpose. Through the eyes of the Sisters brothers, deWitt paints a vivid and poignant portrait of the human experience, and he offers a powerful commentary on the world we live in.
The Sisters Brothers Summary & Study Guide
Where their previous victims seemed to be villains who had run afoul of the Commodore, Warm seems genuinely innocent. Although the glow will only last for a few short minutes, it will still save Warm a lot more time than traditional methods of extracting gold. They come upon a prospector who drinks coffee made with dirt and who unwittingly gives the brothers a clue about the whereabouts of Morris and Warm when he mentions a nearby beaver dam, which would make a perfect pool for the prospectors to employ their chemical gold-finding method. On the way back to Oregon City, Charlie has his hand amputated by a doctor in Jacksonville. I also appreciate reviews that ask neither too much nor too little of novels. Throughout the novel, Charlie is the more conventionally masculine of the two brothers, the epitome of the strong, silent "tough guy.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
Thanks for a terrific review. Cite this page as follows: "Brothers and Sisters - Themes and Meanings" Literary Essentials: African American Literature Ed. Anonymous I disagree with the dog symbolizing Eli in the intermission. It is an old wound. Charlie frequents saloons and typically ends his nights in a drunken stupor. The Sisters Brothers Summary The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt is a 2011 novel about two brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, who work as hired killers for the Commodore, a crime boss in Oregon City, Oregon, around the time of the California gold rush. He briefly considers returning to the body to mutilate it further, but decides against it.
What are the themes in The Sisters Brothers?
A side plot involving Esther's search for a romantic partner also showcases an inherent discrimination of the lower class. It tends to hop along its own trail at its own pace, often conflating commonly seen subject matter a gunfighter challenged by another in a stable, for instance with more unusual ones e. With nothing to do, Eli befriends the woman who works in the hotel. The special chemical, once poured into a river, reacts with the water and gold and causes the gold to glow. Instead, the brothers are impressed by the formula Warm has developed to find gold. Once he's done this, he'll pour a special formula of his own invention into the water that will cause gold to glow. Charlie's horse nimble on the other hand is quick, able, and strong, like Charlie.
Big Brother 25 spoilers: Did the theme just get revealed?
In the end, his quest takes him back to. Retrieved October 10, 2018. He finds peace with loss, and loses his identity in the relationship, and the relationship, to a degree. This is not the first time in the novel animals are used to symbolize Eli or Charlie. However, their plans change drastically when Warm reveals his proprietary chemical formula that greatly assists in the task of panning for gold. Eli and Charlie are in the habit of killing people, and they are surrounded by killers. And the traditions continues up through the present with Dave Eggers, a fervent practitioner of late, and the majority of Pulitzer Prize winners from the last 25 years.
The Sisters Brothers (film)
Money comes and goes. The plot is an extremely simple one: Eli and Charlie have been instructed by their boss, a ruthless businessman referred to as the Commodore, to travel from Oregon to San Francisco in order to assassinate a former associate with the delightful name of Herman Kermit Warm. They sneak back towards the camp, this time taking the other way around so as to avoid capture. Once they arrive in Mayfield, however, they find that the city has been burned to the ground, and the money they hid in the hotel is nowhere to be found. Particularly in the opening chapters, the characterization of the Sisters brothers is magnificent. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Since I love attention, I had my mind made up to dislike this novel.
