The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

A happy farm life, tragic heart break, traitorous family, and of course dogs: the marvelous components that make The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski a true classic. Within this brilliant novel there are of course many memorable moments that leave the reader filled with shock, sympathy and deep sadness. The most intense moment in the novel to me, though, was the death of Edgar’s father, Gar.The strong relationship between father and son as well as Edgar’s muteness makes this moment a pivotal point in the novel, and the sympathy felt by the reader brands this part of the novel as the most memorable and influential moment in the book. First, Gar’s death is by far the most memorable moment in the novel because of how it affects Edgar. In the moment, Edgar is alone and finds his father lying motionless on the ground. He frantically tries to sign to him but there is no reply so he quickly runs into the house.There, he makes a very unsuccessful phone call to try and save his father, and while on the phone he tries to â€Å"force the sound from his mouth† (Wroblewski 123) by hitting himself repeatedly in the stomach. He finds there is nothing he can do and frustratingly smashes the phone to pieces and pounds furiously with his fists on the barn walls to get someone’s attention. During this part of the novel the initial reaction of the reader is pure shock and sympathy, the audience knows that his efforts are useless.It is by far the most important and memorable section of the book because Edgar now has to deal with life feeling that his flaw of being mute is the only reason his father died, and he is constantly feeling guilty and responsible for Gar’s death for the rest of the book. The scene is also very well written by the author, Wroblewski, and the descriptions of Edgar’s attempts at talking are completely impossible to read without feeling empathetic towards Edgar’s situation and wanting to help. Second, the scene of Gar’s death is a pivotal moment in the plot during this novel.Gar is a very influential character in the novel. He represents a strong, stable, life for his family, a role model for Edgar, and the good hero who keeps any evil forces, like Claude, out of their family’s lives. Also, his death is the beginning of a tumultuous fall of the farm and Edgar’s life. Once Gar’s protection is gone, it is just Edgar and his mother left, both broken and trying to figure out how to keep the farm running. Gar was in charge of paperwork and the business of raising the Sawtelle dogs, so without him not only the household, but the business slowly starts to crumble.This also sets off the need for Claude to come in to the story, whose presence causes many problems including ultimately the death of Edgar. Third, Gar’s death haunts Edgar throughout the novel. He always replaying the memory and feeling terrible that he couldn’t save his father , even though it was out of his control. Also, later Claude tries to blame Edgar for Gar’s death, saying it was â€Å"strange, the way [Edgar] just†¦found him† (Wroblewski 435). Gar’s death in the book has a great relationship to the novel because of how it affects the plot and characters throughout the rest of the story.This scene is very effective when being read because of its strong influence on the rest of the novel. First, there is a great amount of sympathy felt by the audience while Edgar makes his discovery and phone call. All the reader wants to do is reach out with their voice to help out this poor boy who can’t speak into the phone. Also, to watch such a traumatic experience unfold as an outside party is absolutely heart wrenching. Second, Edgar’s character flaw comes into play in this moment. This is the main part in the book where the fact that he is mute is a big factor to the novel’s plot.The whole center to the conflict of his father’s death is that he is alone and is left in a situation where his voice was the only hope of saving Gar’s life. Knowing this as a reader makes the scene so much more powerful and meaningful, as well as influential to the rest of the book. This scene is necessary to the plot, because without the conflict between Claude and Gar and Gar’s sudden death, there would be no reason for several other big moments in the novel. For example, Edgar later sees his father as a â€Å"figure in the rain† (Wroblewski 235).This is a major plot twist, because this is when he finds out that Claude is responsible for the murder of Gar. Also, Claude’s relationship with Trudy would not have kindled without the death of Gar. These other moments help to connect the main plot with the plot of Hamlet, a very important connection that Wroblewski wanted to make clear, as well as add the general conflict of the plot of the novel. The death of Gar is the most memora ble part of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. It is the most pivotal part of the novel, the part where everything shifts and begins to go downhill.His death increases conflict in the novel and is necessary in order for other main parts to play a part in the plot. Edgar’s character development is also based on this death scene, and the moment ties his character flaw of being mute into the plot. When the actual moment in the book is being read, the audience is left in utter shock and sympathy for Edgar and the position the situation throws him in. The descriptive work of Wroblewski is powerful, and a permanent image of Edgar hitting himself in the stomach with the Sawtelle’s shattered phone lying on the kitchen counter will be forever embedded into any reader’s mind.