Edgar Sawtelle
Oprah's Book Club
- Most of Edgar's thoughts after his father's death are of guilt and how he should have saved his father.
- When he told his mother what transpired that day, he explained to her the exact events, but kept to himself "...how he'd nearly knocked himself down trying to drum a voice out of his chest" (Wroblewski 133). He refused to tell her his thoughts and the suffering he felt at not being able to help his dad.
- Of his dreams "Edgar looked for some connection between his last waking thoughts and what saw when he fell asleep" (Wroblewski 182) because often he dreamed of his father.
http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Edgar-Sawtelle-Webcast-Inside-Edgars-Character
thoughts
- Edgar speaks with his hands, eyes, and body since he cannot talk to anyone verbally.
- "On his face, Edgar made out regret and anger and joy and most of all unutterable sorrow" (Wroblewski 240).
- Instead of signing to others or shaking his head when he disagrees, Edgar physically turns away.
- "His mother was still watching him, but he didn't answer her. He turned back to the workshop and replaced the hammer and walked to the house" (Wroblewski 253).
speech
effects
- Because of his muteness, people are hesitant approach him because he cannot speak to them.
- Edgar meets a young girl in a diner and after her attempts to make him speak "she drew back and gave him an appraising look" (Wroblewski 168). This reaction was typical of a normal trying to communicate him him.
- While, he was separate from society, it brought him closer to the dogs. Neither could speak efficiently to those surrounding them, so it allowed Edgar and the dogs to connect to one another.
- Following his mother's example, "he could make leash corrections as well as his mother, catching them in the middle of their first step out of a stay" (Wroblewski 119).
- Edgar does not show much emotion to his family. He keeps to himself, except when he is playing with the dogs. Edgar shows impatience when he is separated from the dogs.
- "Can I go back out now?" (Wroblewski 100) Edgar asks after finishes telling his parents everything about the dogs. He doesn't want to be with them any longer than he has to because, even though they are his family, the dogs are more important to him. They are especially important because they are his; they are the litter he has the chance to raise and train himself.
actions
comparison to hamlet
meaning
looks
- Edgar is a young boy. While he matures mentally through the hardships he endures, physically he is a young boy.
- "Edgar Sawtelle, disappeared June 18. Age fourteen, height five feet six inches, black hair" (Wroblewski 349)
- After Edgar returns back from his long adventure of sorts away from home "his cheekbones jutted from his face and the line of his jaw swept so sharply towards his throat that he seemed to be made all of sinew and bone... But his eyes were startlingly, almost preternaturally clear..." (Wroblewski 503-504).
- Edgar wasn't fat while he was home, but he certainly was well fed. When he returns home, he is much thinner from his return trip, the amount of walking it took and the lack of food.
- This change of appearance displays the physical hardships he is willing to go though to get back to his mom and Almondine.
- Edgar-powerful, fortunate, rich, prosperous, happy
- The Sawtelle family is prosperous as the novel begins. Their dog-breeding business is going quite well and they are content with their lives.
- After Gar dies, the family begins to struggle as they can't make ends meet with just two people caring for the dogs.
- "The money isn't there. We make ends meet. We pay our bills" (Wroblewski 188).
The most obvious comparison is the self-loathing both feel after the deaths of their fathers.
The names from The Story of Edgar Sawtelle are similar to that of the names in Hamlet: Gertrude turns into Trudy, Claudius turns to Claude, and Edgar's name is similar to his father(Gar) similar to the way Prince Hamlet is the same as his father's.
Hamlet is killed by a poisonus blade, and Edgar is killed by being injected with poison through the needle of a syringe.
Both Hamlet and Edgar's fathers come back as ghosts.