Lucy McElroy - The World Made Straight and Travis's Recklessness

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In The World Made Straight, Travis often becomes sick of his family and friends when they start making suggestions about how he lives his life. At first, it may seem like Travis is just a moody teenager, maybe even a bad person, but as the story progresses, it becomes evident that his father's role in his life causes his rebellion. He realizes that his father has hindered him throughout his life by constantly putting him down, doubting his potential, and generally ignoring him. Travis soon realizes that doing everything his father told him he could not do gives him more fulfillment than doing what his father tells him he should do. Going against what his father told him about his safety even made him smile when he was fishing at the beginning of the book.

“Travis thought of his daddy back at the farmhouse and smiled. The old man had told him never to fish places like this alone, because a broken leg or rattlesnake bite could get a body graveyard dead before someone found you. That was about the only kind of talk he’d ever heard from the old man, Travis thought as he tested his knot, always being put down about something… Nothing but a bother from the day he was born” (7).

When Travis meets Leonard, it's insinuated by Ron Rash that they empathize with one another, and Leonard ultimately becomes a father figure for Travis (23). Leonard sees himself in Travis and even sees his own missed opportunities relived through the seventeen-year-old. Leonard convinces him to work toward getting his GED and Travis ultimately does. It's not long, however, before Travis begins to clash with Leonard. Leonard merely suggests thinking about college, since he knows he could get accepted with a GED. He's reminded of his father and how nothing he does is ever right, ever good enough to be acknowledged.

“Not even one night to celebrate the GED without somebody expecting more. Travis wondered if there’d ever be one time in his life when someone would just say ‘great job’ and leave it at that” (219).

This is the beginning of Travis becoming hateful again, as he was when he was living with his father. His father’s absence at his celebration gathering was icing on the cake. He’s haunted by the memories of his father telling him he’d never amount to anything but a tobacco farmer:

“Starting to think you’re too good to get dirt under your nails. That’s the kind of thing his daddy would say if he heard such talk, finding fault because there was no pleasing him” (123).

I enjoyed this novel, but I really felt bad for Travis. I think his reckless and rebellious actions were the direct consequence of his father’s coldness toward him. 


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