The Lost Salt Gift of Blood

The impact that death has upon individuals is quite significant. It represents freedom, it predetermines ones future and it affects relationships. In both “The boat,” and “Vision,” Alistair MacLeod’s stories both revolve around the awful deaths. In both the stories, the events rise out of seasonal, reproductive life cycles, which make life more boring and forces death into the characters. The deaths seen include both the death of humans and the death of animals, …

…the predetermining of ones future, and the way that death affects relationships. We are shown these impacts in both positive and negative ways, with freedom mainly being positive, and the effects on people’s relationships varying between stories. Death is a major impact that puts people under emotional stress, dealing with it. The physical side of death has been proved as violent and fearful, but there is no escaping it for any of the characters.