There are many examples within the literature that illustrate the character of Mooch. It is evident from the story that Mooch is a complex individual. To begin, Mooch tends to struggle with expressing his emotions. He demonstrates this when he “spends most of his time at the bar,” drinking away his trauma. His reliance on alcohol and bars indicates his inability to verbalize what he is feeling, even to his loved ones. Furthermore, Mooch is a thief. He displays his stealing addiction various times throughout the story when he “takes his wife’s saved money” and spends it on pull tabs. June, Mooches wife, works all day to save for their phone bills and groceries as he continues to steal from her savings jar and spend it within minutes after promising not to. Lastly, Mooch reveals how he got the nickname Mooch from his repeating characteristic traits. His loved ones such as June and Floyd renamed him Mooch because of his inability to “pay others back” after claiming he will get the next one but never does. This illustrates his character very clearly if his alcohol addiction and use of other people’s money at the bar repeat frequently enough to gain a nickname from it. Because of the trauma caused by residential schools, Mooch has relied on stealing and alcoholic beverages to compress his feelings rather than talking about what had happened or getting help. To conclude, it is evident that Mooch has a complex nature due to past trauma.
Leave a Reply