In a great literary work, an author expresses their thoughts and emotions in order for the audience to feel what they are expressing. In the passage The Hawk Is Flying, the author Harry Crews expresses how he feels when he finds a wounded hawk while jogging. Once he discovers the critical condition of the hawk, he debates whether if he should let the nature take its course or to put the poor bird out of its misery. While Harry debates on what is the best judgment call, he allows the audience to empathize with him, while he empathizes with the hawk. He allows the audience to be sympathetic in his decision, while trying to find the right solution. He let’s the audience know it is a tough decision and it is worth debating.
When Harry discovers the hawk, he thinks it is lying on its prey after she has killed it. But he soon discovers the hawk is lying down because she was almost killed. He says “From the attitude of her wings and tail I first thought she was sitting on a kill, maybe a rabbit or a rat, but then she turned her wild dandelion eyes toward me and I knew that she was there in the sand not because of something she had killed but because she herself was almost killed.” He soon realizes that the hawk had been shot down by someone, and no discovered were the injured bird had fallen. He comes to the conclusion that the hawk is in no condition to continue to live, and he must do something about it. He is very sympathetic towards the condition of the hawk and contemplates on what would be best. He says “Leaving her wing-shot in the dirt like that would take more meanness than I thought I could manage. At the same time, though, I knew the right thing to do would be to step quickly across the sand and kick her to death.” He is very empathetic towards the hawk, and doesn’t know what would be the best way of handling the situation. So the best thing he feels he can do for the hawk is to pick it up and try...