Bonnie Burnard's Evening at the Edge of the Water and Casino: Character Analysis

Bonnie Burnard is a well-known Canadian writer who has written many popular short stories. Evening At The Edge Of The Water within Turn Of The Story as well as Casino within Casino & Other Stories are two of her short fiction creations that have intensely different approaches within the characters and their lives and thoughts. One character remains nameless within the story, while the other story has four men that serve as the main characters. Therefore, it is these differences within the main characters that lead us into Burnard's world of short fiction, and the lives of her characters within their own separate worlds.

Evening At The Edge Of The Water is a short story that is told by the perspective of one main character. A woman, who remains nameless throughout the entirety of the story. This is a story about a woman who is dealing with the very probable fact that she may have cancer, "This solid core, this hard little bastard bullet, had not yet been touched by any other hand and it had not yet been given its official name." (pg.89) This woman is coming to the realization that her body is aging, and perhaps wasting away as she slowly grows older. Perhaps this is the symbolism within the story-the wasting away of the human body. The sickness and unstoppable death that is certainty for everybody and anybody, but which we are shown through the woman's thoughts and actions, "You little fucker," "she said. She had not once in her life said this word, not until that moment in the lake. She had never even thought it. Not a bad word, she thought, now." (pg.96) This main character, the woman, could be a symbol for sickness and realization. A symbol for fear. Furthermore, this woman is a vulnerable one. A woman who was once strong and always in control has lost this control and power. She's not quite sure when she lost her control, but she knows that it is gone, and she realizes this when Rachael, who is the child figure in the story begins to take control:

At the far end of the table a crowded disarray of books and crayons and bottles sat pushed together in a heap. "I'll put everything back where it belongs," Rachael said, already reaching for the crayons, slipping them one by one into their flip-top box. "And then I'll sweep the floor. (pg.98)

This woman, the main character, is a portrayal of a wide variety of thoughts and feelings within Evening At The Edge Of The Water. She portrays the fear of having a deadly disease. She not only fears the disease, but the change the disease will bring to her life as well as her family's. It is a fear of death and of change for her. A fear of what it will do to her family as well as herself. A fear of reliance, and the fact that she will be taking away from her loved one's, and forcing them to help her because there will be no other way:

She did not look forward to needing them, and she would, she would need them all very soon. She was just on the brink of it. And the people who cared for her would deliver in spades, each of them separately, differently, and nobly. Each of them changed, diseased by her disease, by her, and with no chance for escape. (pg.99)

Therefore, this woman is a portrayal of mystery within Evening At The Edge OfThe Water. The readers, do not know what is in store for her after the story ends. Will she actually have cancer or will it be something else? We, as the readers are left wondering about this mystery concerning the main characters life. It was a short period that we were allowed entrance into her life, and it is probable that she has cancer, but yet not all of these questions are answered. Instead we are left with a mystery concerning the woman's life, health, power, control, and strength.

Casino is a short story, which has four men who serve as the main characters within the story. There is no one main character but instead the story is divided into four different perspectives. These four perspectives show us the different importance that the Casino holds for each man. The readers are shown the perspective of two young men, Duncan and Jack, who are teenagers still, as well as two adult men, Grady and Norm. Grady and Norm are both married, although Grady doesn't attend the dances with his wife anymore, as Norm does. Thus, we are given four different perspectives, each different in their own way.

All the characters within Casino are given names, which means that they are also given an identity. They are not the narrators, as is the case within Evening At The EdgeOf The Water. Each character is explained and described in terms relative to his attending the dance each week. As well each character is given a different identity, a different perspective on life and his thoughts on the weekly tradition at the Casino. Duncan is the slacker of the group, and is still in high school. He goes to the dance every week to meet the American girls and acts like he's James Dean, "On most Saturday nights, second only to the lead singer in the band, he's the cutest guy at the dance and he knows it." (pg.41) Consequently, Duncan attends the dances mainly for the American girls and to show off. Jack is Duncan's best friend, and is also still in high school. He goes to the dances just for a good time. He's not looking for anything or anybody as Duncan is, "He dances a lot. He'll dance with anyone. Girls will walk up and grab him when they need a partner. Even for slow dances." (pg.45) Grady is one of the older men at the dance, and is also married. He doesn't attend the dances with his wife anymore, but instead just goes for the socialization, "He goes to the dances to watch and to lean against the wall and talk, find out what's going on. He likes to talk to the cops." (pg.49) Norm is also married, and attends the dances with his wife because she enjoys dancing so much, "At the Casino, he dances the first few with his wife and then he lets her go. Give her a summer night at the lake and she's sixteen all over again. She's happy, and later, she's still happy, laughing and brave on top of him in bed. He just hopes she can always dance."(pg.52-53) Thus, these four men within Casino are a portrayal of an age gap at a town's weekly dance. The dance is a way for two of the young men to just live out their teenage years of fun, while another older man uses it for socialization and an excuse to escape his house and his wife, as well as the last man using it as a way to make his wife happy, and to make her sixteen all over again. Therefore, perhaps Burnard wrote Casino as a portrayal of an age gap and how significant it really can be.

In the short time that we are introduced to each man, we are quickly told his life story. We are given a short summary of what they will accomplish in their lives, as well as what they will be forced to endure. We are told if they will have happy fulfilled lives or drab boring lives, which is the first difference between Evening At The Edge OfThe Water and Casino. There is no mystery within Casino because we are told what each of the four characters will go on to do with their lives. We know what happens to each character after the Casino burns down, and so the mystery is vanquished from the story.

However, there is a change installed within all the characters of both Casino and EveningAt The Edge Of The Water. The characters within Casino are forced to change their weekly tradition, their dance, which took place at the Casino each and every week. However, after the Casino burns down the characters are forced to make a change, perhaps unwelcome, but necessary all the same, "Norm will smooth her hair with his hand and tell her that they'll find some place else to dance." (pg.60)

These changes that the characters must accept are perhaps indicative of Burnard's writing. All of the characters within these two stories, Evening At The Edge Of TheWater and Casino are forced to accept a change. It is not only the main characters either, but all of the characters within the stories. All of the woman's family and friends will eventually be forced to change their lives accordingly to accept the woman's disease of cancer, and whatever they must do to help. All the characters within Casino must accept the fact that they will no longer be able to hold their traditional dances at the Casino each week. A change is inevitable, and they will either have to cancel the dances all together, or find a new location. Either way, it will be a change.

Therefore, the characters within both of Burnard's stories, Evening At The EdgeOf The Water and Casino are different not only in their portrayals, but in their narrations. All five of these main characters portray something different, yet something still significant to the story. Most importantly however, are that all of these characters symbolize change, and that eventually change will always occur, no matter if it's wanted or not. Another significance within the two short fiction stories is the mystery, which is so strong in Evening At The Edge Of The Water, compared to Casino in which no mystery is present. Furthermore, all of these characters can be linked to together not only by their similarities, but also by their differences.