A Land Remembered: Patrick D Smith

http://www.amazon.com/Land-Remembered-Patrick-D-Smith/dp/1561641162

The character I decided to choose is Zech MacIvey. Zech is the son of Tobias and Emma MacIvey. Throughout the story we see that Zech's role is to assist his father on their farm from herding cattle, hunting, and gardening. He also helped his mother out whenever she needed it. Zech has a special love for animals, more specifically his dogs Nip and Tuck, and his black marshtackie (horse), Ishmael. Overall, Zech treats these animals like family. Throughout the novel, Zech  finds himself through his father. He admires his father, and looks up to him greatly.Zech relates to the environment and the natural world by working with the cattle, and growing up as a child in the wilderness. Growing up in the wilderness, this is where he developed his love for the outdoors. He felt content going out and exploring his surroundings alongside his father. Overall, I would say Zech's sense of place is the outdoors and his animals. Ultimately, the outdoors is where Zech felt home and felt happy. When it comes to his animals, he understood them very much. The part in the novel where we won the race, it felt like Ishmael and Zech unified. Because of this, they won the race. Zech had big plans for the future, and purchased thousands of acres of land. He sensed that his envir0nment and surroundings were changing and being destroyed. Thus, his legacy was to ensure that his children would develop a love and respect for the land as he did. He taught his son Sol all that he knew, and wanted to make sure that his principles and values were carried on. Ultimately, that was his legacy. I picked Zech because overall I felt he was a great character, and he related to the environment more closely than the others. I can relate to Zech in the sense that I too was raised to help my parents in everything I could. I still help them to this day. I also have two dogs myself whom I love very much, and treat them like they're family. The difference between Zech and I is that he grew up closer to the environment, and I grew up in the city. I wish I could have had a strong relationship with the environment as Zech had.

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