The Caretaker. (A Short Story)

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He then escapes their camp and finds his way to America, where he obtains a job as a caretaker at a hotel. During the long winter, he shirks his duties and is fired. With nowhere to go, he camps out on the beach outside the hotel. One day, several whales beach themselves near him and he witnesses their slow deaths. He decides to bury their hearts rather than let them be burned on the beach.

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You are commenting using your Twitter account. Joseph's life is very orderly and regimented until Liberia descends into a civil war that lasts 7 years. Joseph's mother disappears and he leaves his home. He wanders through his country witnessing horror after horror. At one point Joseph shoots a man who may or may not be innocent. Joseph leaves Liberia and finds himself on the Oregon Coast where he is hired as a caretaker by a man named Mr. This is where Joseph's actions become more ambiguous and the story increases in complexity.

An Intensity of Detail To put it simply, Doerr is a master of injecting realistic details into his stories.

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One could argue that plot is secondary to the detailed descriptions of the objects and things present in the story. Having such an incredible amount of detail brings the story to life and makes imagining the events easier.

Short Story Sunday: The Caretaker by Dan Klefstad

I imagine that a lot of research went into creating such vivid and realistic descriptions. Whale Hearts The defining moment of this story is when Joseph takes it upon himself to bury the hearts of five beached sperm whales. For Joseph, this act is an attempt to atone for the sins he committed in Liberia. It's clear that Joseph has been traumatized. For much of the story, Joseph's actions seem to make very little sense. It's no surprise that Joseph still feels distraught after this difficult act. Perhaps we can look at Joseph's actions in contrast to those of other people who seem to be scavenging whatever they can get from the whales' corpses.

Anthony Doerr. The Caretaker. | Rjfarrell28's Blog

This section of the story almost has a comedic tone to it. I can't help but laugh as Joseph first saws through a decaying whale carcass and then labors to bury them in a massive whole.



What exactly this moment means is still a mystery to me. Joseph feels bad for the whales so he saws through their organs and buries their hearts in a giant whole in the ground. What good does burying something really do?