Brown’s “Postman” follows Henry, an adolescent boy forced to work at his aunt and uncle’s horse camp during the summer. Following Henry throughout the story is interesting. While the story is not written in first person, Brown perfectly places the reader in the head of a boy who moving out of his “ew girls are gross” stage and into the awkward stage of awaking sexually. Henry is portrayed as distant and sometimes rough. He doesn’t involve himself with the girls, but he watches from a distance, and he especially watches the fair haired Nicola.
Henry’s relationship with Nicola is interesting. While he is still standoffish when it comes to interacting with her, he pays more close attention to her. The tone of “Postman” is always sort of dreary and realistic, but when Henry talks or even thinks about Nicola, it begins to take on this mystical feeling. The only time that Henry’s distant attitude changes, is when he interacts with the girl
The scene with the storm is a good example of how tone changes. Henry is always very controlled, but like the wild storm, he loses his cool when Nicola and her pony wander off. The tone changes and so does Henry. It’s a beautiful way to compare his changing emotions to the storm. It really gives a picture as to how Henry is feeling and how he is changing.