Essay: Bad Guys in Saints and Animals

The bad guys that caught my attention the most was the boys from the story of Kentigern. The boys in this story were so jealous of Kentigern that they tried numerous things to cause him to get in trouble. They all felt the need to get revenge on Kentigern even though he did not actually do anything to them. Kentigern studied hard and was a good student. He was also a good person and because of this, he gained the attention of the teacher. The boys were jealous that Kentigern was so loved.

Jealous alone did not make the boys "bad guys". It is how they acted with their jealous. They first try and make the fire go out so that Kentigern would get in trouble. They did this even though it might cause them trouble too. If the fire went out, then they would also have to suffer the consequences of not having that warmth. When that didn't work, they went as far as to kill an innocent animals just to get revenge on Kentigern. They did not care that the bird did nothing to them. All they wanted to do was get Kentigern in trouble.

I don't feel sympathetic to the bad guys. I could feel sympathetic if they didn't do such horrible things. It is one thing to be jealous of someone, but another to use that jealous as a reason to hurt people. That is never okay and so they do not deserve sympathy.

In the end, after Kentigern is able to pray the bird back alive, the boys develop a different attitude towards Kentigern. I think that the majority of this was because they were now mesmerized by what he was able to do. I like that the way Kentigern was able to defeat them was just by doing exactly what he had always done. He showed them what a good person acts like and they eventually began to follow his lead. I think that they learned their lesson in the end because they realized that trying to hurt him did not benefit them whatsoever. The story ended without Kentigern ever retaliating and I think that is what made this story so good.

A Robin

From the Saints and Animals Unit.