English Essay: Exploring the Themes of Traplines by Eden Robinson

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Eden Robinson's 'Traplines,' focusing on the story's themes, characters, and literary devices. The essay examines the character of Will, a young man trapped in a dysfunctional family, and explores the significance of the 'traplines' as a metaphor for his entrapment and struggles. It discusses the use of foreshadowing, irony, and the cyclical nature of abuse within the story. The analysis highlights how the title 'Traplines' captures the attention of readers, introducing the story's core themes of pursuit and entrapment. Furthermore, the essay references scholarly sources and emphasizes the impact of the setting and the characters' actions on the overall narrative, ultimately revealing the story's exploration of violence, family dynamics, and the search for a safe place.

Running Head: ENGLISH ESSAY
English Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

2ENGLISH ESSAY
The Traplines is found to be a story about a young man named as Will. Will lives in a
little village that is outside of the town where he attends his school. It is found that Will is one of
the most intelligent boys having a life that is hindered by one dysfunctional family. The brother
of Will is the main antagonist of the story named as Eric being an extreme drug addict. Notably,
there are some of the positive impacts in the life of Will such as the Smythe family being
extremely supportive towards Will who appears to be looking out for him (Dobson, 2018).. Will
has a damaged psyche for sure and is guarded by the family along with quite skeptical about
their actual intentions behind helping him. Thus, it can be said that Trapline is a story about the
journey of Will regarding finding a safe place as he is always found to be trapped by his own
actions and the surroundings too. In this research paper the significance of traplines in Eden
Robinson’ Traplines will be discussed with scholarly sources supporting the argument.
Eden Robinson is the author of the story who makes use of the metaphors, the
foreshadowing and irony for conveying a theme of vicious cycle where Will is unable constantly
in escaping the abusive lifestyle. It is found that the name of Will is pretty ironic as Will lacks
‘will’ that is essential for his character. He has been given a proper scope of escaping the abusive
lifestyle he has but he does not take chance of it as he is quite afraid of the Smythes being bored
of him and leave him on this ground. In the first appearance, Will faces certain consequence
because of his mistrust on the townies but surprisingly, the Smythes have been loyal to him
throughout the whole story (Vincent, 2017).. They are not found as fake because they do not
attempt the illusion of the perfection and have small arguments like the other couple. Will further
lack the real willpower for making a serious type of change in his own life specifically when
there is any possibility of his life getting relatively worse. Also, when Will is hitching, he runs
off behind the trees for hiding and would emerge when the police appear. He then never
mentions that his brother has been chasing him with the aim of physical harm. He then hides
from police because ‘Eric’ eyes are on him’.
Robinson beautifully makes use of the forshadowing through the whole story for building
the characters and then setting up the ideas. As far as the significance of the traplines is
concerned, it can be said that the title is highly important as it opens the theme of traplines to the
readers used in the whole story. The title is quite effective as it captures the attention of the
readers and tells them about the whole story. It is considered as one extraordinary piece of fiction
which represents the family life scenes with an appropriate title (Rycroft,2017).. The particular
word ‘trapline’ connotes a circuit through which the animal traps series are set but over here
there are dual meanings too. The word brings many questions to the readers’ mind because they
wonder about the meanings of traplines and whatever one has to do with the traplines. It further
grabs the whole attention of the readers being highly interesting and intriguing.
The title is significant and appropriate as it introduces traplines which are an important
part of the whole story having underlying connotations too. It represents happier time and hope
for Will. With the beginning of the story, it is found that Will along with his father is setting
traps for the martens. The son and the father cut through the snow towards the end of few

3ENGLISH ESSAY
traplines each winter. They also trap few martens which constitute good sources of the income
for their family. Will is pretty excited as the family can afford many things for their family on
Christmas with the hope of making the family happier. This is what traplines provide them: a ray
of hope and the energy to survive happily.
Also, the traplines have more meanings as they represent the connections that are
encountered by Will along with the loss of the hope. Being a poor native, he has the few traps
which he has to overcome with the passage of time. Everytime he fails to overcome the hurdles
even after trying hard. As suggested in the title, the traplines exploit the metaphors of the pursuit
along with the entrapment. The central character Will is engaged in the everyday struggle of life
for eluding the predators having found a secure place to live and temporarily hide. The title story
shows a young boy who is always running and escaping from his abusive life and sufferings. In
order to escape, Will then hides in the basement, and seeks refuge in a house (Robinson, 2011). .
The traplines ultimately catch the troubled lives of the teens in a world that is brutalized by the
societal violence. It is a violence which is so routine , is performed senselessly having no such
reason or any remorse. The beating, incest, murders are at their places in the world of Robinson
and the special site of this type of violence is home and family.

4ENGLISH ESSAY
Reference
Dobson, K. (2018). Book Review: EDEN ROBINSON. Son of a Trickster.(2017).
Robinson, E. (2011). Traplines. Vintage Canada.
Rycroft, K. (2017). Perpetual traps in Canada’s multiculturalism policy: an examination of Eden
Robinson’s “Traplines”.
Vincent, S. (2017). Student Independent Projects English 2017: Depictions of Colonialism in
Eden Robinson's Traplines.