The Voyage of the Frog

“Once he had seen Owen dancing at a beach party with a heavy girl, and he had picked her up and held her while he danced in the sand, holding her like a feather, laughing, his arms and legs strong and tight, and now…now he seemed about to break from the weight of the sheets.”

This passage offers a clear description of David’s uncle Owen, creating a strong sense of the man’s physical appearance and his vibrant, fun-loving demeanor. Because Owen can dance with ease with a “heavy girl,” Paulsen implies that the character is an athletic figure. His laughter during the dance also showcases his joyful personality. These depictions heighten the contrast between Owen’s usual appearance as a healthy, active man and his deadly decline while suffering from cancer in the hospital. As David views him at that moment, he is stunned by how weak and frail Owen looks. The passage also reflects the simplicity and understated power of Paulsen’s writing. Rather than simply stating that Owen appears weak, Paulsen inserts the idea that the slight “weight of the sheets” was about to “break” what little was left of the man. This strategic use of hyperbole invokes concrete images to emphasize the level of physical decline that defines Owen in his final moments.

“The smell was the boat and Owen, and David could not tell in his mind where the boat ended and Owen began.”

This quotation demonstrates the depth of connection between Owen and his boat, the Frog, which now belongs to David. The scent of the cabin evokes strong memories of Owen, so much so that David conflates Owen with the boat itself and is unable to think of the two as distinct entities.