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Wood Grouse on a High Promontory
Overlooking Canada

“Wood grouse on a high promontory overlooking Canada” is an American short story written by David Guterson and published in 1996.

The short story takes place in Canada, where the brothers, Gary and Bud are climbing the mountains. Gary has probably just returned from the War in Vietnam, and need some time to ponder about life. They talk about their lives during their trip to the mountains. Bud asks Gary if he killed anyone in the War in Vietnam- which Gary does not answer; I suppose he did “And again he began to cry silently, in a way I hadn’t figured on at all” (page 5, line 96-97). The crying shows that he is ashamed, and therefore he does not want to talk about it.
The trip to the Canadian mountains is like heaven to Gary. I suppose he experience the time in Vietnam as being evil. In the mountains he can avoid and escape military service. Canada helps him escaping the uncomfortable reality he has been facing in Vietnam.

Bud is only fifteen years old and he does not understand the fact that Gary cries when the wood grouse is injured. Bud might think that Gary is very strong, while he has been at War in Vietnam, and he does not expect him to cry when the wood grouse is injured.
Bud does not want to see Gary’s weakness, as Bud sees Gary as a hero- he survived the War in Vietnam. Surviving a War physical is not the same as surviving a War mentally and Gary has certainly mental wounds!

Bud look up to Gary and wants to be as though as he think Gary is. On page 4 line 48 Bud is imaging himself being a soldier “I picked up a stone about the size of a baseball and watched them imaging myself a hunter of wild animals”. Gary wants to forget about the past which include all the evil things, while Bud pushes one’s luck.

I think before going to War, Gary had the same attitude as Bud. Right now they are very apart from each other, while Gary has learned a lot from the War. Gary has learned to respect the small things in life and at the same time he has become more emotional. He describes the wood grouse very detailed and as a beautiful animal, as he wanted to touch it.
Also they went to Canada by different reasons. Gary wants to escape from reality, and feel his freedom, while Bud wants to see the country.

The short story takes place during a day, were they are talking about light years, life on other planets etc. They talk about things which are far away from their daily lives, in order to escape from their mental problems.

The main theme in this short story is escaping from reality. Gary wants to forget about the time past in Vietnam and Bud wants to escape from his terrible venture killing the wood grouse in a very cruel way.
There are also some small themes, such as, solidarity between Bud and Gary, weakness and forgiveness.

In the end it seems like they both have learned from the cruelty things they have committed.
I think the reason why Gary says that they are “insomniacs” is that they feel the same sense of guilt- praying for forgiveness. Gary has probably killed a lot of people at war in Vietnam, and he prays for forgiveness, as he says on page 5 line71“God forgive me”. Bud has killed a wood grouse and in one of the last lines Bud says “I felt ashamed of myself”. Therefore the conclusion is that you cannot escape from reality. You have to deal with your cruel acts for the rest of your life. But suffering together makes it easier.

Translation

Still more youngsters in the rich countries go in for highly dangerous wild sports. Maybe it is because those “games” now have been established, commercialized and mentioned greatly in the media. But also extreme sports can be rebellion of the youngsters against an existence, which has become so endless boring and predictable, that they need to take further action to feel they are alive.
Or perhaps the phenomenon has to do with the fear of youngsters to become grown-ups- the fear to leave the game and take responsibility.