The Red Boots Analysis

Words: 432
Pages: 2

An Obsession To Die For Every human could be found guilty for enjoying some activity or item a little too much, but one should not be overly obsessed with any one thing. Why? Well obsessions are dangerous, of course. Thouin, the protagonist of “The Red Boots” by Jean-Yves Soucy, found this to be all too true. He is a normal guy, except for one seemingly undisruptive desire. Thouin has an obsession with women’s shoes, and one pair in particular will destroy his life. Soucy’s purpose is easily seen within the first paragraph as the narrator describes the protagonist’s current predicament, “After a lifetime of mild desires, easily satisfied or suppressed, Thouin was now tortured by passion.” The author’s use of the strong words like torture set a grim mood as the turmoil unfolds within the story’s span. Through rigorous style “The Red Boots” achieves its purpose that an obsession can ruin one’s life.
Soucy’s style of many devices including foreshadowing and personification combine to magnify the situation Thouin caught himself in. Soucy begins the story with this opening sentence, “From the day he saw them, Thouin was unable to forget them, and what he most feared happened.” Within this sentence the reader is aware that he is very attached to “them” and
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If these were normal, lifeless boots the reader would take the story much less seriously. Instead these boots can not only walk, but they can mew, call, tap, stare, and knock. They do not only have heels, but also eyes, throats, skin, and above all else these red boots possess feelings. This pair of boots expresses joy, hate, and disappointment towards the protagonist. The constant personification of the boots builds up upon itself until a pair of shoes, which would normally be viewed as an unharmful (even protective) covering, would fear even the reader. Clearly, Thouin has an obsession that is way out a hand, ready to attack at any