Monthly Archives: September 2022

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes is a short story about his coming of age. He starts the story full of faith believing in a god that his aunt had spoken of. Days before his “saving” his aunt had preached about a greater god that would come and save all the sinners. The older generation also preached and believed so with their age young Langston thought they had more legitimacy and knowledge. By the middle of the story he had been sitting at the bench waiting while all the other kids had already gotten up and seen the light of a greater being, That was not the case for young Langston he saw nothing and as time went on he had taken the advice of the boy next to him and to get up and lie that he had seen god. By the end of the story he had realized that there was no physical manifestation of god but rather a belief that everyone shared but now since he did not believe Jesus was real anymore he cries, never being able to see him and not receiving the help his aunt had promised him.

“Salvation” is one of the greatest short stories written by Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes is both the narrator and the protagonist of the story which is about losing his faith. While reading the story, we see the entire transformation of protagonist which gives us the main idea of the reading. We read about the entire experience Hughes goes through from his childhood till revival meeting. At the beginning, he is full of faith and confidence which entirely changes at the end of the story. Throughout the story, we see how Langston’s beliefs change once he realizes that there is no physical human being standing in front of him. He realizes that he is not feeling anything at the church, when he is supposed to feel enlightened and saved as taught in the childhood. All those unexpected emotions made Langston feel lost and confused. He was losing his faith which was so deeply written in his mind. He felt weird for not exactly experiencing what he thought he would experience. Hughes decided to make others feel like he had in fact seen Jesus which made him feel horribly guilty. Langston was a kid who once believed in Jesus and had a deep faith, which entirely changed at the end of the story.  From my point of view, deep inside, Langston always knew that there was something else, unanswered but because of how he was raised, he did not have much choice in life, but to saved by Jesus.

In the short story “Salvation” written by Langston Hughes we can see the change that the he is going through from the beginning and the end of the story. The narrator is telling about the experience he went through when he was 12 years old. His aunt Reed’s church had a special meeting for children in which Jesus comes to them and saves them. The way he writes about it at the beginning of the story is very enthusiastic, using many exclamation points. This experience, as he tells it, was not good and even painful; he was pressured to see Jesus, and because he couldn’t see him he chose to lie. At the end of the story he cries because he had to lie at church, but also because what he believed in for so long, what he was told all his life was not true. Not only that his faith was questioned but he had to do something against what he felt.

I found this story to be both incredibly familiar and somewhat relatable. When you read the short story, you can see how children have an innocence about them that can be shattered by the ways of the outside world. Although he entered the church as though it were routine for him, the following occurrences caused him to reevaluate both himself and his thoughts. You can see how he lies to appease people since he wants to fit in so badly. Being a naive youngster, he felt wrong and upset after taking that action. His confusion was completely understandable; throughout many instances in this world, people aren’t willing to be forward in explaining or interrupting the course of events. He was simply expected to do as he was instructed. Come to Jesus and God. By the time the story is over, you can see how he was still unsure of his feelings and what he ought to have done instead of lying. He progressed from being unaware and innocent to hurt and disturbed.  

In the beginning of the story the narrator sounds excited, enthusiastic and full of faith. He believed that Jesus is going to save him and was calm and confident in his faith. He listens to the stories of his aunt and other adults and anticipates the same experience of a light shining down on him and having a transformative experience. But none of that happened to him. And as the story goes on we witness how the narrator’s outlook changes. He starts getting worried as nothing is happening and Jesus didn’t appear to save him. After his fellow friend Westley got up and was saved, the narrator starts feeling ashamed for holding up the ceremony and falls under the pressure of lying just to get it all over with. And in the closing paragraph we see the narrator going through the struggle of feeling ashamed for lying as well as loosing his faith in Jesus.

   In the beginning of “Salvation”, the author Langston Hughes came across as innocent and naive, anticipating the event that his aunt told him about as well as other older people. He expected this bright light to shine and to meet Jesus but by the end, he ends up questioning his belief and even states that he didn’t believe in Jesus anymore. He also ends up feeling bad that he lied about having the experience because he felt like he had to after how all the church members acted when he was still sitting waiting for something to happen. He waited so long that he started to feel ashamed and got up just to get it over with. This really speaks to the follower mentality that people usually have because they feel pressured to be like everyone else just like how Langston Hughes was singled out by the minister for still sitting down so he just got up to have it done with. This led to him losing his faith since he didn’t experience what many people told him he would and only did what everyone else did out of the feeling that he needed to conform with everyone else.

I might think you have assigned “The Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia for the first story of the course is to see if we have an opened mind. The overall story in my option explains that one person can change the way others think. Seeing someone that comes from a different place, looks different, or even thinks differently will have others wanting to learn more and be open to new things. In the story it stated, “It was then that they understood how unhappy he must have been with that huge body since it bothered him even after death.” Seeing someone that they have never might before, they empathize with him. towards the end of the story, it explained that they realized “everything would be different”. This story was assigned first because you wanted your students to understand the importance of empathy. One person can change a whole community to make then want to do better.

In the beginning of  “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, 12 year old Langston Hughes had a sense of excitement in wanting to be saved because he was told that he would see Jesus when it was time to happen. His Auntie Reed told him that and the elders conversations about the same thing gave him confirmation. Sitting next to his friend Westley in church while other children were going up to the alter gave him a sense of comfort because he knew that Westley had the same feelings as him. Once Westley went to the alter without seeing Jesus, Langston felt deceived. How could Westley go to the alter and be saved without even seeing Jesus? That’s not how it suppose to happen. The congregation prayed and cried over Langston, in which he felt obligated to go to the pulpit. However Langston knew in his heart that was not right. His aunt along with the congregation pretty much peer pressured him into doing something that he did not want to do. His excitement to see Jesus vanished and he had a feeling of sadness because of irony he felt. He felt like everyone around him lied which led him to be a non-believer.

The young Langston Hughes is different than he was at the beginning of the story because he now lacks this belief in God, Jesus, and religion. At the beginning of this short story, he is looking forward to accepting God and Jesus in his life. He trusted the grown-ups in his life. He trusted them whole heartily that Jesus would come and save him because he was told by his family and other adults that this would happen. He had no reason not to believe them at this point. Then he waits and waits to see this light, to see Jesus come to him, and he watches as all the other children leave him. It then gets to this point where he accepts the fact that Jesus isn’t going to come to him in this way. By the end, he no longer has this religious belief anymore. Also, by the end, the young Langston Hughes would sure doubt his family and other adults and not accept whatever they said as fact and truth because now he has trusted them and they have seemed to lie. I would also think that he would have doubt and shame in himself. Maybe there was something wrong and different with him and that’s why Jesus didn’t come to him.

The young narrator is different from the way he was at the beginning of the story to the ending of the story because in the beginning he was more hopeful and intrigued with what the outcome would be. But as the short story goes on he slowly starts to lose faith. At first he was so full of spirit and he wanted to be saved by christ because he heard everyone else’s story so he felt like well if god can do that for them then he can do the same for me. The narrator looked at the situation like that and it allowed him to be hopeful but when he went to the church and tried to experience this for himself it just didn’t happen. It’s very ironic when we want something so badly but we don’t end up getting it. Believing in Jesus and really putting your complete faith and trust into God isn’t something that comes easily to people and that’s okay. In this short story the narrator is very young at the time and he doesn’t realize just how deep religion really is so to try and fit in with the crowd he fakes it. This alone could have many consequences because now he’s feeling guilty, he could have doubts in god, and this could potentially affect his aunts trust in him in the future.

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes recalls an experience that left the narrator deceived by Jesus. Starting off, it seems as if Langston is ready to be brought to Jesus as he believes what his aunt is telling him about the whole celebration. All around the church are moans and shouts for these mourners on the bench to come and see the light of god, but it’s as if they are forced to do it. Langston states a man said “Won’t you come? Won’t you come to Jesus? Young lambs won’t you come?” which caused the little girls to cry and go meet Jesus right away. What Langston describes is that the adults are acting obnoxious to these kids and the experience sounds forceful for them to meet Jesus. After some time, Langston was all alone on the bench and he states that he just couldn’t see Jesus, even while being pressured by his aunt and the minister to come and be saved. Finally, he rises up and gets led to the platform as everyone shouts and rejoices as the celebration comes to an end. Importantly, Langston states that he had a sense of guilt because he didn’t see Jesus or even felt his presence, meanwhile his aunt thinks he met the Holy Ghost. 

Corey Lei, ENG 201, Sec 0516 At the begging of the story, the Author Langston Hughes was automatically made to believe he was with Jesus (1). She stated, ” you were saved. You saw the light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! “(1). Langston was put with a group that hadn’t felt the connection with Jesus, and he was placed in the front role on the mourners’ Bench with his age group. He and another child name Westley were the only ones who hadn’t gotten up to the so-called light they saw. Westly lied and pretended to know Jesus to avoid being preached, singing along with the songs. Seeing the light meaning is believing in Jesus. Then Langston stood and stood up, and everyone in the church celebrated that Langston had finally seen the light. His Aunt was thrilled. Later the night, he cried, while his aunt thought it was just the Holy Ghost getting to him.  In the beginning, Langston was brought to the church and was convinced Jesus had brought him to life and gave him a chance. The church was a test to see his belief. The Author was confident in the beginning but confused in the middle because he was the last to ” see the light. ” In the end, he felt hopeless and horrible because he lied and still hasn’t seen the light.  

Wyman Siu, Eng 201, Sec 0516 In the text, “Salvation”, by Langston Huges, it is portrayed at the beginning that his younger self was always told. For example, his aunt told him, “My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life!”(Paragraph 2). He was told to believe, he never thought about what he was told. Just what was God? Throughout the text, he realized that god wasn’t a person but a belief that many people see. It is not only leaving doubt and questions in his mind and that is what gives into his mindset at the end of the text. It is an irony, a situational irony to be exact, that what’s giving other people including his family (aunt) hope is giving him doubts. I thank this also highlights his change from the beginning of the text to him as a young adult.

The narrator on “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, the young narrator is different from the way he was at the beginning of the story, by showing the way he believed everything he was told when he was young because as we read the story we can see clearly he is told that those young lamb who’s sinners are able to see Jesus and believe he would go inside you and and forgive them. But after the event he pass through were he didn’t see or felt nothing he felted he was lied and he couldn’t believed it, cryed in the night and he learn that there was no God and that he was lied. He also felt bad on telling his aunt that he had lied on the event because he got up and went to the altar as if he saw and felt god presence which was a lie, he changes from believing everything he was told to not believing and not knowing what to believe or think.

The story, “Salvation”, by Langston Huges, portrays that the young child was believing in something that has been told him by since he was a kid by his family and when he was in church with his aunt he experience a lot different from what he has told because he was believing that GOD will be sent down and help him forgiving his sins but he never see Jesus so he was upset about it and he acknowledges that there is no Jesus who comes down to saved him yet the lord of the church was calling him to come and be saved and he wasn’t sure if he goes up and then gets ashamed by others because he didn’t see any GOD there. So starting to believe that it’s a whole lie about Jesus that comes down to save him when he never sees anyone.

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes is a good read chosen by Professor Conway. I feel as though the narrator is noticeably different from the way he was in the beginning of the story since at the end of the story he said “I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me”. The narrator thought the comment from his aunt “you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul”.  literal after his aunt told him he will and it ruined his beliefs because of it, and I believe he understands it as an adult now. According to the video that was assigned, this story falls under dramatic irony. I believe it falls under dramatic irony since the narrator believed everything that he was told but ‘we’ the readers know the aunt did not mean it literally but he doesn’t understand she meant figuratively because he was 12 years old.

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes was another very interesting read by Prof. Conway. I think Hughes was different by the end of the story because he then developed an even greater fear about being “saved” which he initially thought would be a positive experience. He became even more confused because being “saved” turned into him lying but by lying he made the congregation happy because they thought he was “saved”. I think Hughes was overthinking what being “saved” actually means but he was also only thirteen years old so what could you expect. I thought it was really funny when his friend decided to just go up and be saved because he was tired of waiting, so he didn’t take it too literally and just went up and gave the people what they wanted, which is essentially what Hughes did but he ended up having a really guilty conscience about it.

At the beginning of “Salvation”, we see a young hopeful child getting ready to go to church with his aunt. Often in churches, people like to take children to churches to become acquainted with the religion at an early age to worship. In the text, it’s described as bringing the young lambs to the fold. When people are in church, specifically black churches, they’re very high energy. People can be found singing, preaching, and fainting. Since the adults are accustomed to religion, they’re able to have faith in it and connect deeply with it. Compared to the adults in the church, the children didn’t feel anything. Langston believed to be saved he had to vividly see Jesus. His aunt explained that when he was saved, he’d see a light, and something happened to him inside. He was expecting a physical being instead of a feeling. Religion is a very nuanced topic that is hard for children to grasp. There are a lot of open-ended questions when it comes to religion that would make it hard as a child to fully understand how you’re supposed to act and feel when you’re worshiping. Throughout the story, we see how Langston’s excitement and childlike wonder dwindle once he starts to not feel or see anything in the church. He saw his friend also not feel anything but went up anyways to get it over with. Later he did the same but felt guilty as if he were lying because he did not feel anything or see any light and lost that faith he once had. The dramatic irony in the story stems from the vague sense of religion.

I think Professor Conway assigned “The Handsomest Drowned Man” because Gabriel Garcia Marquez depicts all the qualities people strive for in one person. The man, Esteban, Is tall, strong, and handsome. Despite being dead, the people admire the man’s qualities without really knowing him.  The man had an impact on so many people without even doing anything to move them. He, himself, moved them, almost like a sense of leadership. It’s interesting to take into account Marquez’s cultural background considering he is Colombian. Machismo culture in Latin America is a very strong sense of masculine pride, though having negative connotations, it is ingrained in a lot of people, especially at the time of publication, 1968. To have one person embody that would be truly admirable for the people in the village, specifically men, as something to strive to be. There are themes of vanity and unity, bringing all sorts of people together in the village. I think this shows how easily a group of people can react when a manifestation of all attributes they find attractive come to life. In real-world examples, we see how figures with a large diverse audience such as political figures, celebrities, etc. have a charm to them that people are drawn to. They could do good, bad, or nothing at all and still have an effect on people’s behavior. The story helped us put ourselves in the character’s shoes and connect the descriptions given in the text to how we as the reader would react to get a better picture of how the characters in the story felt.

I believe the professor decided to have the “Handsomest Drowned Man In The World” as the first story as it makes you think about how people tend to view someone so much based off appearances. In the story it talks about how the woman though of the man as beautiful and strong how he would have the happiest wife, the biggest house, and that the fish would rise out of the sea at his beck and call. It made me think how could someone come to such conclusions based solely off how one may look they were unable to have a single conversation with the drowned man but somehow they were able to imagine so many aspects of how his life could have been in the village. I’d like to think as the reader if pushed into a similar situation as in the story that I would not think much of what kind of life the man lived but rather how he died and how he would be if he was alive to engage in a conversation rather than assume based off his physical attributes that he was this amazing man who could do everything perfectly.

The reason that this story was the first to read in this course could be to help us students with our imaginations. This could be because “The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World” is filled with imagery from the beginning to the end. Right from the very beginning we are told that some children find it and think it was a ship, but later change their mind and think it’s a whale. When the body washes up on the shore we are given even more descriptions of the body on how it is covered in various things from the sea. As the story progresses we learn about how heavy he is, what he smells like, his body features, and even see how the women in the village clean him up using various tools. By the end of the story everyone in the village is enchanted by the body who they name Esteban and we learn about how they change things in their village to fit Esteban’s body size.

I think the professor assigned this as the first story of the course because there’s just so many ways that you can interpret this story. In my opinion, I think this is a very emotional and inspiring, but confusing story. At first I was like okay, maybe this could be a depiction of a god-like figure or something along the lines of religion, especially because of the name Esteban. But as I continued reading it just showed me different points of views from the people in the village and how fragile a person’s ego can be. This story also allows me to put myself into the character’s shoes and feel what they are feeling because of the very detailed imagery. The author set such a perfect scene that it all felt so real. Just like story book characters and reality, we’re all the same. We go through the same emotions, we get inspired from the most unexpected things, and we also learn to grow and change for the better.     

Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The reason you might have assigned this as the first story of the course is because Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the best known writers in History. Apart from that, the story of “The Most Handsome drowned Man, can signify the willingness to change our perception of ourselves, and others. In the story the women noticed how different “Esteban” was compared to their husbands. They made an emphasis on how tall he was, and how weak they seemed compared to him. This allowed for transformation to happen within the villagers perceptions of themselves and of Esteban. Without knowing him, they were able to learn and care for him. This also happens when we enter a new classroom, we learn about our peers and their surroundings.  

The first sentence of the story, Langston Hughes describes the experience as being saved from sin, but not really saved which expressed little credence in the notion of salvation through Jesus.  As an adult, It seems as though his beliefs had shifted.  When describing the events from when he was a child, he followed along with the traditions taught to him.  However, he also took a lot of it literally. His aunt described the encounter with Jesus as one that would involve all of his senses, seeing, hearing and feeling Jesus in your soul. For a young boy raised within a family of deep faith, so much so his aunt and the congregation at church all wept during the ceremony,  there was no reason for him to doubt or question the description of the events that they were preparing him for.   According to the video that we were assigned to watch, I believe this part of the story falls under dramatic irony.  Where ‘we’ the readers know more about the events of the story than the character.  Although it is being told through first person narration, he explains his expectations of actually seeing Jesus and as the reader we already know that is not what would happen.  Otherwise, it would probably fall under crime/horror genre.

The Professor assigned this story because she wanted us to understand the imagery that is used in a writing, how we can incorporate it into our own, and its significance of it. There is a lot of expression and emotion in the story to discuss how they felt when they saw the man at first, and when he was put back in the ocean. Even after not being told what his name was, they felt that his name was “Esteban” from how he was described and how he seemed to the people of the village. Imagery helped the reader to understand the environment that he was in, how he looked, and how his appearance had an effect on the villagers. In the story, it explains how “he had the smell of the sea about him”, and that, “he was the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best-built man they had ever seen.”

The short story  “The Most Handsome Drowned Man”, written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an example of society’s behaviors. We can see how the appearance changes the way people behave. The author describes the drowned man’s physical appearance very detailed. I find this type of story interesting because it isn’t obvious to understand (although the author describes everything in details), you have to read it a few times, and it can be interpreted in different ways. I think this is why professor Conway chose this story first; it gives us an idea of what the course content will look like and what to expect. As I see it, this story is a way to emphasize the relationship between men and women and also how physical appearance affects people’s behavior.   

I believe Professor Conway chose “The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World” as our first story of the course because it uses a variety of Symbolism and allows the reader to really think about what something at first seems so insignificant can have a major impact on people’s lives. When “Estaban” came into their lives from the ocean he had come tattered almost not recognizable as a human being but as they kept taking care of him, they noticed more and more human aspects of him although he was larger in every way. They sympathized with him without knowing him at all and saw the world in his eyes as they would,  The end of the short story paints a picture for us about them having a wonderful funeral for a man they never knew or met alive. They even went ahead and made their town more accessible and made the whole town a memorial to Estaban. This completely random man that floated from out of nowhere had a major impact on a town that he would never see and therefore changes it for others in the future completely

Prompt: Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? Based on my experience, I find the stories interesting when the author puts a lot of hidden messages in it which might not be obvious when we first read it. In my opinion, both external and internal information gives us a full deep image of the story. The story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the best examples of presenting both character’s internal and external journey. The story is about a village that finds a dead man on its shore. The author perfectly describes dead man’s physical features and emphasized on how big and masculine he was. We see the internal journey when women start taking care of the protagonist, which step by step lead us to the conclusion of the story. In my opinion, the reason why we were assigned this as the first story of the course is to make us first questions and second realize the details we read in the stories. How each detail makes the story as one whole. How character’s physical or inner world are connected with each other and how all of it leads us to conclusion.

“The Handsomest Drowned Man” a short story by Garcia Marquez was a very inspiring read and I think that might be one of the reasons  professor chose it as a first read of the class. The arrival of the dead body of the handsomest man totally changed the village and it’s citizens for the best. As the story progresses we can witness the villagers discovering all these attributes about Esteban that ultimately broadened their horizons in a matter of a day and changed their mindsets forever. The appearance of this handsome man really turned their worlds upside down by how different he seemed to them, the fact that he had a huge body and their honest attempts to visualize and sympathize with the discomfort of his existence where everything was designed for smaller people. I think there is an irony in a fact of what an overwhelming positive influence this man had on the village and it’s many generations and he wasn’t even alive when he came into their lives. The village blossomed with flowers and beautiful colorful homes, it’s citizens learned a lot from Esteban and this story shows that keeping an opened mind is key to grow and expand.

This read on Salvation was a great one. Salvation makes you question your faith and beliefs in Christianity and your faith in people and Jesus. He believes that he would see Jesus if he got saved, when he finally got up the church rejoiced and his Aunt was happy,  but he was disappointed because everything his Aunt told him never happened so he cried. The fact that he was 13 it made me questioned, what sin he committed at that age? he was just a boy, and  He was believing the hype because all his life he was told if he’s save from sin he would see Jesus. I can also understand that because gowning up as a little girl i was told certain thing about Jesus but I never experienced it.

The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World was a very interesting read. I feel that Professor Conway had us read this story because it was odd and imaginative. The story really made me think and wonder and try to visualize what “Esteban” looked like. Much like Esteban had the children imagining what he could be and the women imagining what he was like. I thought it was strange that the town suddenly decided to change their whole town for one dead man that nobody ever knew in real life. Maybe the people were so compassionate that they changed things about their town all the time to become inclusive to every single person. Maybe the townspeople feared that if they didn’t change their town he would come to haunt them. And now much like the people of the town I am assuming and thinking about their motive for changing things in the town for The Most Handsomest Drowned Man In the world.

The short story the handsomest drowned man ever is a story about a village that ends up finding a drowned man and accepting him even though he was much bigger and was different than anything they have ever seen before, to me the message of this story is not to judge a book by its cover and to be open and willing to change. This relates to me as a student because as a student you have to be open to and willing to learn about new topics and subjects. It also shows that you should accept new things and be open to new things instead of trying to stay in your ways. It also shows and talks about how one should be accepting of other people even if they’re different or don’t fit in like everyone else, because for the villagers in the story they were confused at first but after being accepting the man fit right into their village.

Alex Barrios  Professor Conway  ENG 201 Sec. 0517  August 31, 2022  In the beginning young Langston started off as a believer in which he assumed Jesus was a physical being who would appear to those who are willing to be open with him. This is also supported by the fact that he was twelve going on thirteen at that time–which meant he was still considered a child.   However, by the end of the night he was left with a great sense of guilt and remorse. Not because he didn’t see Jesus or the light but due to him lying to his family and to all the adults in the church. The idea that he had to lie to his aunt who at one point was crying because she wanted her nephew to be “saved” didn’t sit well him later when he was home. The story also brought to my attention the notion of conformity. Langston and Westley for the most part seem like very honest kids. However they had to fake a religious experience to get out of a hot church, which leaves a person with a lot of questions and places much doubt on one’s faith overall.    

I think the professor assigned this read as the first story to open our own imagination. This story allowed me to actually feel that I was part of their village. I felt their sadness when they mentioned that his life was probably hard because of his stature and size. The villagers started thinking of ways to change their village in order for someone like Esteban to be okay in. Creating doorways big enough. We see how they evolved and there was this influence created by Esteban. Even in my personal life there have been events that have influenced changes in my life. I didn’t think about college too much, but I have 3 daughters who look up to me and I want them to be proud of me and hopefully motivate them to become a responsible person. It’s good that literature can be so relatable and maybe even put into perspective of what is going on our personal lives.

Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” is a very creative story. The reason I say this is because just my first reading through it I realized that the type of langue that GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ author used was not what I normally see in stories but I think that is what makes this story unique and a good first story for this semester. For example, I can see many points of imagery and symbolism. In my second read of the text, I can see many different ideas coming together and some ideas I can see where they may lead but other ideas I can only catch a glimpse of it. In the case of Esteban in the beginning the children saw him as a part of the game, but to people that found him later in the text, he isn’t such a positive thing. This text makes us really think about the contrast between these ideas which is why I think this is a good first story.