Monthly Archives: February 2022

The passage by the chorus that I have selected to analyze was when Oedipus and the chorus shared a brief back and forth conversation regarding the best way to go about finding out who the murderer is.  In lines 319 & 320 the chorus states “Yet if he has a share of fear at all, his courage will not stand firm hearing your curse”.  Throughout the passage, I found it very troubling to debrief the lengthy and complex language used.  This passage was less difficult to comprehend than others.  It states that Oedipus should question Tieresias as even though he is a man of great power, scolding him may cause him to fold under pressure, aka, “his courage will not stand firm” especially because there is motive.  This is proven in the next few passages when Oedipus starts to question Tieresias as stated in lines 392-396 “For I would have you know I think you were complotter of the deed and doer of the deed save in so far 395 as for the actual killing. Had you had eyes I would have said alone you murdered him.”.  

Araby By James Joyce is really about growing up and learning how to love and treat others in the reading it speaks about a child from Ireland who is involve with a girl who lives across the street from him so through out the story he tries to get to know the girl as much as he can and get close to her so he tries to find any way possible to get closer to her. Later on in the story she mentions to him about attending a bazaar so he uses this moment and says to himself that he will attend the bazaar as well but he ends up going by himself and decides to bring her a small gift back to try and win her over. This reading introduces ways of respecting one another and how relationships should really be so that people in relationships do not get into bad encounters.

Araby by James Joyce comes off as speaking about several themes throughout the narrative. At first I thought it was about a child with. crush on a woman in his neighborhood. Then later on I thought the narrator was actually a dog that was in love with another neighboring dog. Being liberated and hearing the cries of his companions standing in for a human in the house letting him leave the room and the other dogs playing in the street respectfully. Finally at the end it left me with the feeling that the narrator died at the end, the carriage taking him to the after life and the two pennies he had representing the coins left on the closed eyelids of the deceased. The “brown figure cast by my imagination” comes accross as a version of death being seen in the darkness. Along with the twists and turns this story was a confusing one for myself I will admit.

“Araby” by James Joyce is a story that details how obsession can warp one’s view of reality and mindset as a whole. We can first see an example of the narrator’s obsession in the line, “Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door” (Joyce 1). This explains how the narrator even watches over her while she cannot notice him. Due to this occurring on a daily basis, it can be assumed that the narrator has some sort of feeling for his friend’s sister. This leads him to try and buy her something from the bazaar in order to gain her favor. His mind takes her infatuation with the bazaar and manipulates it in order to help him fixate on that one specific goal. In the end, he is disappointed when he realizes the bazaar does not meet his expectations, which allows him to come to an understanding that he wasted his own time.

In the story “Araby” by James Joyce some people may think it isn’t a love story but I think it may be one because of how the narrater tries to explain to the reader how the woman in the photo associated with the light is making the boy infatuated with her, He goes on saying that with all his descriptions of her she is edged in almost holy light meaning she looks like an angel. I also noticed that the narrater was asking a lot of questions which makes me think about what type of story this is. Now that I’m thinking about it I think that the narrater is of that old age and now is thinking about life and is now questioning himself. In the beginning he would tell you to keep an eye out for these things like the neighborhood and the house the nameless narrater lives in.

James Joyce’s Araby seems almost simplistic, with the story of a boy falling in love with a girl living across the street being the main plot. Describing the main character’s journey from hope to disappointment, “Araby” seems to convey the meaning of a coming of age story, namely, the process of growing up and learning to accept bitter disappointment. As a result, at the end of the novel, the fleeting sense of excitement that captures the eliding character is replaced with the experience of loss and the ultimate learning that comes with its acknowledgment. Therefore, the process of growing up and accepting disappointment lies at the core of the story.  

The story “Araby” is a short story  which is written by James Joyce. The story is about a young religious boy who falls in love with his friend Mangan’s sister. His friend’s sister and him don’t talk much but He’s obsessed with her. He would feel and do anything to make her happy. When he does daily activities he begins to think like more about the girl he loves. The boy is scared to express his true feelings to her because he barely knows or talks to her. Mangan’s sister announces she couldn’t attend the trip to Araby due to her going to a retreat at her school. The boy took this opportunity to attend the Araby for the girl he wanted to impress her with a gift. When arriving at the Araby the boy felt disappointed with what he saw and wasn’t able to buy her anything. The author uses situational irony when showing how the narrator envisioned Arabys to be this amazing place to gift the girl with an item but in reality, it was the opposite of what he expected. In the end, the message of this story is about the coming of age and becoming an adult. The boy started seeing things for what they truly are instead of what he fantasized about. He realized his mistaken belief of love was false and began rethinking his love for Mangan’s sister when being left alone in the bazaar.  

Miss Moore takes the children to the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson.” This was a high-end toy store, and she was curious to see how the kids felt about it. Sylvia and Mercedes are the two characters I’m going to compare in this narrative, which takes place in Harlem, New York. Mercedes differs from the other characters in that she appears to be mature than the other children in the narrative. Mercedes appears to have the financial means to purchase such pricey items, and she even claims that her parents would buy her anything if she asked for it. Mercedes also seems to have more comprehension than the other kids due to her social status even though she still lives in a poor neighborhood. Meanwhile, Sylvia recognizes and is irritated that individuals can buy these toys for the sheer joy of them, but her parents can do several things for the same cash. Miss More had given them a crucial lesson about social status and where they were in society in comparison to people who could buy those expensive toys, but Sylvia refused to accept it. This reading also emphasizes that miss Moore is attempting to persuade the kids too take action that will have a positive impact on society. This would necessitate they’re standing out and speaking up, to be unique.

Flyboy and Mercedes. Flyboy appears to be poor in the story where he has mentioned not having a home. In contrast, Mercedes appears to be wealthy where she has boasted about her father giving her gifts. As they arrive at the toy store, Flyboy pointed out a toy sailboat that costs over $1,100. In this scenario, Mercedes begin to boast once again about her father’s financial gift on spending things for his daughter, “might buy it for her.” Flyboy, on another hand, doesn’t have many expressions, yet is aware of how everything is expensive in the store. This gives readers a gist of Flyboy’s character as a modest character when it comes to money.

This short story “Araby” by James Joyce wasn’t really a love story because in this story it is more of a narrative talking about Araby to the audience than third person view in a way that gives the reader confusion at first. But it opens with his own information age, place, and etc… as the narrative talks us about Araby, but it also Araby himself tells us about the story. As the story goes in the narrative starts to describe to us the girl he loves, but also in a way that Araby was just looking at her and following her footsteps like a protector “We waited to see whether she would remain or go in and if she remained, we left our shadow and walked up to Mangan’s steps resignedly.” Also, he described  Mangan’s sister in a very detailed way showing the audience that he loves her. To be honest I don’t get the story.

“Araby” is a short story written by James Joyce. “Araby” is not about love story. “Araby” is really about a young boy who come from Ireland. The story opens with the narrator’s description of his home and neighborhood, in which we first see Joyce’s use of the close first-person narrator to convey the full sensory range of sensory detail like, sights, smells, colors, textures that comprise the setting. However, the action doesn’t begin in earnest until Mangan’s sister appears on the doorstep of her house, and the narrator begins to describe his obsession with her. It is an obsession with Mangan’s sister.The narrator falls in love with Mangan’s sister, a love that drives the plot of the story. Finally, we learn that the narrator lives with his uncle and aunt, despite the fact that the narrator does not go into detail about his personal life. The uncle and aunt, appear in the narrative, but the uncle plays the most important role in the storyline since he prevents the narrator from making it to the bazaar on time.

“Araby” by James Joyce is about growing up and loving. The scene is 20th century Dublin, Ireland, about a boy who lives in North Richmond Street and lives with his uncle and aunt. The author contrasts dark and light as a metaphor to show how the boy’s surroundings were full of bleakness, and this one girl he likes is the only light in his life. He thinks about her obsessively and believes himself to be in love with her. She asks if he is going to Araby, which is a bazaar. Since she can’t go due to prior commitments, he offers to buy her something from Araby if he goes to the bazaar. He also became obsessed with going to Araby to purchase a gift to win her favor. He fantasized about just how splendid a place this bazaar was and couldn’t wait to go there. Later in the story, when the day finally arrives, he asks his uncle for money to go to Araby. Still, unfortunately, his uncle was preoccupied with drinking and came home really late, so he arrived at Araby late. Unfortunately, most of it was already closed by the time he arrived, and the people at the stall that he visited were less than friendly. He also did not see anything he wanted or could afford to buy at the booth, and his disillusionment was complete. This moment is when the character grows up as he learns a painful lesson about being blinded by love and no longer believing something to be more wonderful than it is.

“Araby” by James Joyce is a coming of age story, not a love story. The narrator’s love-like obsession with one of his friends’ sister is nothing but a tool, a channel for his maturing. The love does not come to be and by the end of the story it loses its significance to the narrator, as he gains understanding of his driving force being not love but narrow-mindedness. As he is exposed to experiences that grant him insight into the real world that is often sad, unfair, lonely, dirty, unfriendly and not only mesmerizing and beautiful, he realizes how simple-minded he has been by allowing his obsession to take up so much of his life. He is disappointed in himself not for loving someone but for allowing it to take over his life and urge him to make unreasonable decisions.

“Araby” by James Joyce is a story about a young boy who finds himself in a profound and confusing adoration with his neighbor, described as “Mangan’s sister”. And how this obsessive passion became the main source for his desperate attempts to show his feelings for the so divine girl.  When they spoke for the first time, the boy promised to bring her a gift from the Araby bazaar, known as being a splendid place, since she could not go for herself due to a retreat happening on her convent at the same time. However, due to the intense nature of the boy’s feelings, he becomes obsessed with the chance to impress her somehow.  Later, already at the bazaar by himself, after the disappointment of having to wait for his drunk uncle to come home and take him to the station, the boy finds out that most of the stalls are already closed and the darkness took place in the walls of the place. That is the moment when he realizes his own vanity intentions, and let himself feel anger for it.  

In the short story “Araby” the story is really about a young boy who seems bored and lets his life become consumed with the idea of an unattainable girl. Throughout the story he speaks of the town as an empty and kind of gloomy place until he lays his eyes on his friends sister. The only time light is really mentioned is when it involves his times near her, I think this symbolizes his interest and curiosity in this beauty. Nothing else in the town has his interest, everything is dull to him except this girl. Once she speaks to him and he promises to get her a gift he is faced with realty. He tries to obtain something glamorous and impressive to show his worth but he realizes that the options left after waiting for his turn are not at all what he had in mind. All the options in the store as well as his discouraging ride there left him disappointed. In the end he is reminded and left frustrated with his environment, the girl was just a distraction for him.

“Araby”, by James Joyce, is a short story about a boy who falls in love with his friend’s sister. They don’t know each other too well, but the boy thinks about her constantly and eventually asks him if she wants to go to Araby, a bazaar, with him. She tells him that she is unable to go with him, so the boy says he’ll go to the bazaar by himself and get her something in hopes of impressing her. Determined to win her over, he heads off to the bazaar arriving there later than he expected. When he gets there, the bazaar is nothing like he expected. The place was dark, nearly all the stalls were closed and he felt out of place. By the end of the story, he fails to buy her a gift. The lovestruck boy experiences a disappointment so overwhelming that the narrator loses his innocence because of his love interest and the bazaar, which was a movement from childhood to adulthood for him.

“Araby” by James Joyce is a story about a boy whose life is dreary and void of joy and human connection. When describing the street on which the boy lives, the narrator mentions the “dark muddy lanes”, the “dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits” and the “dark odorous stables”. This paints a very bleak world for the boy and he becomes fascinated with things associated with light and color. He fantasizes about things that seem exotic, outside of the cold, dim life he knows. Mangan’s sister becomes the focus of his attention and thinks of her constantly, always picturing her in light or color. He then begins to think of Araby in this same fashion and obsesses about attending the bazaar.   We also learn that the boy lives with his aunt and uncle, which gives the impression that he may have been orphaned or abandoned.  Very few characters in the story have names, especially those closest to him, such as his aunt and uncle, the girl that he is infatuated with, and even the boy himself. This shows that he is possibly lonely and not connected to others in a close, meaningful sense.   By the end of the story, the boy has a grim realization that going to Araby was not the exciting experience for which he had been hoping. The conclusion of the story creates a very sad feeling of a young man yearning for some light, love or happiness in his life, but who is met with disappointment and regret for being hopeful.

The story “Araby” by James Joyce is about a young man who is obsessed and desperate with his neighbor, he wouldn’t speak to the young girl but when he had the chance to talk to her, he was timed, the young girl approached him and sparked a conversation about Araby bazaar and that wasn’t able to go because of a trip that week but would’ve loved to visit, the boy tells her that if he goes he will “get her something” (11) and this is where his desperation came out, it was like if he needed to get her something from the bazaar, and after going through some trouble to get there, he managed to get there and unfourtanly after getting there late, he looks at a few vases and from the workers tone of voice in how he was approached asking if he wanted to buy something, the young boy replies “no thank you” (34)  and evenually walks away disappoined from the lack of money he had, not being able to get her something, and the visit to bazaar.

When answering the question, ” “Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. What is “Araby” really about?”, many things come to mind.  Though there are many take aways throughout the coming of age story, the main thing you begin to realize throughout the story is how his obsession with the Mangan’s sister blinds every other aspect in his life.  I believe this story is about how one’s judgement and how they can perceive things are clouded by what they may think is their first love.  However, this obsession continues to grow as he grows older and he no longer focuses on the things he used to love, like his family (being impatient and angry with his uncle) and playing with his friends in the street.  As he continues to gain progress in his goal of winning the Mangan’s sister over, he is met with a humbling experience at the bazaar.  This leads me to believe that the author is choosing to highlight the fact that the boys growing obsession blinds him from reality.  This point can be drawn when the author states “I wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days.” [12}.  Portraying that as he has the bazaar to look forward to, his days between then are a just a nuisance.

Compared to his other words, James Joyce’s “Araby” seems almost simplistic, with a touching yet fairly straightforward story of a boy falling in love with a girl living across the street being the main plot. However, while the love story is placed at the forefront and emphasized strongly, the true meaning of “Araby” remains hidden under layers of the specified storyline. Describing the main character’s journey from hope to disappointment, “Araby” seems to convey the meaning of a coming-of-age story, namely, the process of growing up and learning to accept bitter disappointment. The ability to reconcile with a specific feeling of loss, be it the failed relationship or another kind of disappointment, becomes apparent as the essential message of the story as the lot progresses. Namely, as the character realizes his futility in building relationships with Araby, he experiences a series of conflicting emotions: “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity” (Joyce par. 37). Thus, Joyce proves the need for self-introspection as a part of entering adulthood and reconciling with loss. Despite the short story ending with the protagonist experiencing anger, Joyce leaves enough room for further character growth and the eventual acceptance of the change. Despite the love story being at the center of Joyce’s “Araby,” the core meaning of the story appears to lie in a more somber message of learning to accept disappointment as a part of becoming an adult. The specified idea is conveyed as the plot unravels, allowing the reader to follow the kaleidoscope of emotions that the protagonist experiences. As a result, at the end of the novel, the fleeting sense of excitement that captures the eliding character is replaced with the experience of loss and the ultimate learning that comes with its acknowledgment. Therefore, the process […]

This story was really beautiful. It is not a love story, it’s more of the story of a young boy infatuated with a girl. I think in order for something to be a love story, the efforts and feelings need to be reciprocated, and this young woman barely knows he exists. He’s obsessed with her, and obsessed with the idea of getting her to actually pay him any mind, hence the want to go to this bazaar. And I even think, ultimately, if he had gotten her something at the bazaar, he would’ve still had that sinking feeling in his stomach, because she probably would not have cared that much.

Araby is the story of a young boy of the catholic faith.  This young boy story takes place near Dublin, Ireland.  He is starting to mature and feels he is in love with his friend’s older sister.  He is infatuated with her and starts going to Araby market to buy her gifts to woo and entice her.  This young man finds himself thinking this is true love and giving her gifts will have her fall in love with him. throughout this story he never mentions her name. The Araby market or bazar he goes to so he can buy her a gift is nothing like he dreamed it would be.  The market was flat and nothing worth buying there for this girl.  He becomes disappointed and reality sets in the place is nothing.  There are so many aspects to this story, and they all come from the beginning of his obsession with her. His holding her to that of a holy light, being the most beautiful girl or woman, he ever seen. This story exposes his fantasy about how he realizes the are true life.

“Araby” is a story about a young boy that is in love with a little girl. Araby tries to show how much he likes this girl by impressing her in many ways. he’s literally obsessed with the girl because he is going out of his way to do things for her. Once he heard that his crush wanted to attend the bazaar, but she couldn’t because she was about to attend school. He also made it his business and tries to bring her a gift from the Dublin bazaar. which is a way of him thinking that would make the girl notice him because he wanted to get her something that she wanted. He was trying so hard to impress the girl and things just didn’t go his way, and he was very disappointed in his uncle due to the fact that he was supposed to come home early and give him some money, which didn’t happen led to the boy into disappointment.

“Araby” is not a love story, it is a story about a boy’s fantasy about being in love. The young narrator is infatuated with the idea of Mangan’s sister, but not enough to actually flesh her out as an actual person, but as a two-dimensional being to be admired. Thus, throughout the entire text, he does not refer to her by name once, instead only referring to her as her identity as Mangan’s sister. “Araby” is a coming-of-age story, through which the young narrator passes through a dark, lonely path and goes on a journey, to return changed and wiser. He becomes disillusioned, or rather, following the theme of light and dark, enlightened, as to the realities of his delusions of love and the grandeur of the bazaar. Arriving at the end, when stalls are closing and the lights go out, his childish dreams come to an end as well.

“Araby” by James Joyce is about a young boy and his wasted efforts towards his desires in expressing his love towards Mangan’s sister. He lets his imagination run wild, creating fantasies knowing reality was just one blink of an eye away. When they have one of their first conversations, they talk about the bazaar. Mangan’s sister states that she is unable to attend the bazaar Araby due to a retreat she had that week in her convent. Here, the narrator gets a very thoughtful idea; he decides to go to the bazaar and buy her something himself. Time after time again, he lets his uncle know that he wants to attend the bazaar, doing all that he possibly can to help him remember that he desires to go. The young boy is exhilarated about his plan. As the night approached, he waited for his uncle to arrive because he forgot to give him money. At last, he arrives and finally is able to give him money to go to the bazaar. Once he approached it, he was utterly disappointed. This was because it was already late, and a lot of the shops were already closed. Defeated, he gazed in anguish and anger.

“Araby” is a short story written by James Joyce. The story is about a young religious boy who falls in love with his friend Mangan’s sister. His friend’s sister and him don’t talk much but He’s obsessed with her. He would do anything to make her happy. When he does daily activities he begins to think about the girl. The boy is scared to express his true feelings to her because he barely knows. Mangan’s sister announces she couldn’t attend the trip to Araby due to her going to a retreat at her school. The boy took this opportunity to attend the Araby for the girl to impress her with a gift. When arriving at the Araby the boy felt disappointed with what he saw and wasn’t able to buy her anything. The author uses situational irony when showing how the narrator envisioned Arabys to be this amazing place to gift the girl with an item but in reality, it was the opposite of what he expected. In the end, the message of this story is about the coming of age and becoming an adult. The boy started seeing things for what they truly are instead of what he fantasized about. He realized his mistaken belief of love was false and began rethinking his love for Mangan’s sister when being left alone in the bazaar.   

“Araby” by James Joyce is about a young boy who we do not know the age of, being infatuated by his friends’ sister.  He is always on the lookout for her and watches her whenever he is able to. He watches her by the window and thinks of her very highly. I believe that he associates her with a bright light whenever seeing her. She eventually talks to him and the bazaar came up. She really wanted to go but could not because of a retreat she has to attend. He says that he will go and buy her something. Now, he feels like it is his mission to go to this beautiful bazzar and get her something. The night of, his uncle had forgotten to give him money because he was drunk but he ended up getting it and going. On his way there, he was disappointed about it being closed and dark. He was not welcomed by one of the sellers there that were still open. He was shattered because it was like the light for the girl had also gone to dark. He does not see her as highly now because of this place. I believe that this story is to show to not think highly of someone or something because something not so good may occur. It is like an expectation versus reality situation.

This story revolves around a boy and recounts his disappointment. The boy falls in love with the older sister of his friend. To get her attention, he looks for gifts for her in the Araby market. The first part of the story takes place in and around the narrator’s home on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. At the end of the story, the action moves to a street market on the city side. The narrator of the story is a young man who attends a nearby school. Across the street lives Sister Mangan, the sister of the narrator’s friend. She is a girl. The narrator falls in love with Mangan’s sister, and this love drives the plot of the story. Finally, although the narrator does not detail his private life. his life, we know that he lives with his aunt and his uncle. You can see that one of the topics covered in the story is religion and Catholicism. As the story progresses, the narrator can be seen surrounded by Catholic characters. I have also attended a Catholic school. Catholicism played an important role in his upbringing. He also thought of Mangan’s sister in religious terms and images. He is fully associated with Catholicism. The story is about coming of age as the young man is shown to mature. However, before all these points of view come into conflict when he begins to adore Mangan’s sister and, after falling in love with this girl, he thinks that her studies of her are useless. The narrator’s infatuation and distraction with Sister Mangan suggest that his beliefs are weak. Clearly, the young man has no idea what love is since he was so blinded by adoring Magan’s sister and in the end he managed to realize it.

Similar to many stories by James Joyce,’ Araby’ uses a close first-person narrator displaying the world as it pleases his senses which leaves the readers with just a suggested instead of a clear moral story, the initial part of the story occurs around the Dubin, Ireland, which is the narrators home however at the conclusion of the story moves to bazaar across town. The story’s narrator is a young man with an undetermined age though he is young enough to go to the neighborhood school. The narrator loves Mangan’s sister who lives across the street. She is the sibling to the young boy’s friend. She is also young but it is implied that she is older than the narrator because she can attend the convent. The narrator does not expand on his home life but he lives with his aunt and uncle. The uncle is the most significant in the story because he prevents the narrator from going to the bazaar on time. ‘Araby” is about an introverted young boy navigating towards adulthood with little guidance from the community or family. The young character in this story leaves the house at night when people are asleep with the approval of his guardians.  The narrator’s uncle is good-natured but has a drinking problem. “Araby” adopts the form of a mission-a journey in pursuit of a precious or sacred thing however the quest is futile. Even if the young boy finally gets to the bazaar he is too late to buy a decent gift for Manga’s sister. Therefore it would have been better if he has stayed home. The boy in this story knows that the real adventures must be sought abroad however setting his goals on something that sounds exotic such as Araby which equates to Arabia, the boy cannot reach […]

The short story “Araby” by James Joyce, is about the love that a young boy has about a girl. This short story is told by questions to lead on how the boys obsession is about the girl. In the story, the narrator asks a question “What is the significance of the extinguished light at the end of the story that leaves him burning with anguish?”. This question leads to the idea that the boy is very eager and obsessed to find out what will happen between him and the girl. The reason i believe this is because in story on page 4, it says “Notice how the only light seems to be associated with appearances of the girl with whom the boy is infatuated”, this quote shows that the boy sees the girl as the most beautiful girl by saying that the light is associated by her appearances. Furthermore, in the story it mentions “In all his descriptions of her, she is edged in an almost holy light”.

“Araby” is really about a coming of age boy who realized the distinction about the fantasies he builds up in his own head and the distinction of reality of said thing he is imagining, in this case the bazaar Mangan’s sister describes to him. He has built up such a version of Mangan’s sister and purely believes anything she recommends is good come to find out expectations versus reality are not the same. His expectations of the description of the bazaar his crush gave him were not the same of what he experienced at the bazaar, Granted, he did come at night when everything was closing up, but he still becomes disappointed with the revelation of what’s left at the bazaar and how the girl at the stand treats him when he is just trying to find something for his crush. He ends up leaving empty handed and having the bazaar basically close and not getting a good look at anything really because it’s so late.

“Araby” by James Joyce is a miserable story about a young boy coming to realize the distinction between his fantastic hope and reality in the world. At first the narrator does fall in love with Mangan’s sister. He imagines her day and night to the extent he has no idea where and how to express his love to her. One day he finally gets a chance to talk with her, and their first topic of conversion is going to a bazaar Araby. Unfortunately, the girl can’t go because “there would be a retreat that week in her convent”. Even though she can’t go and explore Araby with him together, the boy still behaves normally. At this time, his hope about the wonderful things in the world has expanded from a solely girl to a splendid bazaar. He is full of enthusiasm for Araby. Because it is a place that his admired girl recommended to him, he still wants to visit it even if on his own. However, he came to a place nothing special than a normal bazaar, which is even worse than he imagines from the indifferent treatment of the lady. He should have shared and described the beautiful scene to the girl but ends up disappointed about the reality that is far more than imagination from children. After reading the story, I am wondering about how the boy will describe Araby to the girl.

The story “The most Handsomest Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a story about how the discovery of Handsome drowned man changed the atmosphere of a group of people in a small community of 20 wooden houses who helped the drowned man. In the story it mentions “They noticed too that he bore his death with pride, for he did not have the lonely look of other drowned men who came out of the sea or that haggard, needy look of men who drowned in rivers. But only when they fnished cleaning him of did they become aware of the kind of man he was and it lef them breathless. Not only was he the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen, but even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination”. This quote shows that the village in where the drowned man appeared, the people were more than happy to help him but their village was not going to fit the drowned man because of his size and his appearance.

In the excerpt “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, Langston was a boy who was being put up on the mourners bench along with other kids who had sinned. This was sort of a test for Langston because while sitting on the bench, Langston is seeing every other kid leave the bench ready to see Jesus but Langston was the last one still sitting on the mourners bench. In the story it says “Let’s get up and be saved.” So he got up and was saved. Then I was left all alone on the mourners’ bench. My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and song swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices. And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting – but he didn’t come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me”. This shows that Langston wanted to be saved by Jesus but due to the sins he committed it was taking longer than expected.

“Araby” is a short story written by James Joyce and it’s about a young boy who falls in love with his friend’s sister, who we don’t come to find out her name. He seems to have an obsession with her, as he thinks about her and tears come to his eyes when doing so, he would do anything for her. When they both finally speak, she asks if he’s going to the bazaar on Saturday which is called Araby and that she wishes she can go. The narrator decides that he will go and get a gift for her to maybe impress her or grab her attention. After some time the narrator eventually gets to the bazaar and realizes that it’s nothing like he’d expect, it was too late and most of the shops closed down. This makes the narrator feel depressed after he leaves. He is now a different person and sees the world a different way, he realizes that the world is full of self-centered people who only care about themselves. This short story is based on romantic irony and has a theme of expectations vs reality. It’s also a coming-of-age story. That’s what this story is truly about

The short story “Araby” by James Joyce is about a boy that will literally do anything to make the girl he likes happy. Mangan’s sister and the boy don’t speak much, but she is always on his mind. As mention in the story, he thinks of her when he goes grocery shopping with his aunt and when he sits alone in the rear room oh his house. The boy is so enamored with the girl that he believes that he would never have the guts to talk with her and convey his thoughts. Mangan’s sister tells the boy one morning that she would be unable to travel to Araby due to a commitment to a retreat at her school, to which the boy says that he will bring her something from Araby because he is going. This causes the boy to stop acting as he used to; he is impatient for the day to arrive and is unable to concentrate in school. On the day of the boy going to the bazaar, his uncle is taking longer than usual. His uncle arrives very late at home and later on gave the boy the money. Luckily the boy arrives at the bazaar just before 10 PM when it starting to close down. He approaches one of the remaining stalls but leaves empty-handed, feeling unwelcome by the woman in charge of the merchandise. The narrator stands furiously in the empty market as the lights go out, having failed to make a purchase for Mangan’s sister. “Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. What is “Araby” really about? “Araby” was actually about all the obstacles one faces in order to make another person happy and valued.

The short story “Araby” by James Joyce is about a young boy who has such an infatuation with his friend Mangan’s sister, he begins to idolize her as if she was a saint. This is when the idea of love and desire comes into play. He simply can’t stop thinking about her and sees her in a godly way. As the story begins to unfold the realization that the young boy doesn’t quite understand the concept of the illusion and the reality of Mangan’s sister The young boy realizes that his love and desire go hand in hand with the illusion and reality he has for Mangan’s sister. As well as the connection the author James Joyce brings to this short story “ Araby” represents how Joyce views these same ideas of Love, Desire, Illusion, and Reality. By the end of the short story, he realizes the bareness of everyday life. The disappointment that is Araby awakens the boy to the fact that his immature dreams have blinded him.

In the story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the 2 characters that stand out the most in the story are Sylvia and Sugar. The reason Sylvia stands out the most is because she shows in the story that she does not want to be part of the wrong doings. In page 5, it says I just couldn’t go through with the plan. Which was for me to run up to the altar and do a tap dance while Sugar played the nose flute and messed around in the holy water”. This shows she acts sort of like an adult due to that she does not want to do anything wrong. The reason why Sugar is another character stands out is because in the story she is pictured as a girl who characterizes herself as someone who wants everything to herself. In the story it says “Can we steal?” Sugar asks very serious like she’s getting the ground rules squared away before she plays. “I beg your pardon,” say Miss Moore, and we fall out. So she leads us around the windows of the toy store and me and Sugar screamin, “This is mine, that’s mine, I gotta have that, that was made for me, I was born for that”.

“Araby” is a short story about a young kid who falls in love with a girl who is Mangan’s sister. Mangan’s sister comments to the young boy one day that she wishes she could go the Araby bazaar but is unable to. The young guy informs the girl that he will attend and bring her something. He believes that by purchasing something for the girl from the bazaar, he will impress her. The small lad becomes fixated by the Araby and Mangan’s sister. On the day of the Araby, the young boy’s uncle returns late after promising to pay for the Araby. When the boy reaches in Araby, it is already too late; the majority of businesses have closed. The young kid is devastated because he was unable to purchase something for the girl. Finally, the young guy realizes that he had fantasized about Araby for so long just to be disappointed. He recognized his folly in being so consumed by his “adoration” for Mangan’s sister. The young boy has no concept of what love is. This narrative demonstrates the concept of maturation and coming of age. The youngster sees “love” and the Arabs for what they truly are, not what he imagines them to be. His time at the Araby functions as a form of education and maturation for him. As a result, “Araby” is truly a coming-of-age story.

The short story, “Araby”, is about a young boy who is in love with a girl, Mangan’s sister. One day, Mangan’s sister mentions to the young boy that she would like to attend the Araby bazaar but can’t. The young boy tells the girl that he will attend and will bring something back for her. He thinks that if he buys the girl something from the bazaar that it will impress her. The young boy develops an obsession with the Araby and Mangan’s sister. On the day of the Araby, the young boy’s uncle arrives home late after he had promised to give him money for the Araby. When the boy arrives to the Araby, it is already too late and most of the shops are closed. The young boy is extremely disappointed and wasn’t able to buy the girl something. In the end, the young boy has an epiphany, he had fantasized about Araby so much just to be disappointed. He realized he was foolish for being so focused on his “love” for Mangan’s sister. The young boy doesn’t know what love is. This story shows the theme of coming of age and also maturing. The boy sees “love” and the Araby for what they truly are, instead of just his fantasized version of them. His experience at the Araby is like a teaching moment for him and a way of maturing him. Which is why “Araby” is really a coming of age story.

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia and Sugar are a lot alike in ways, however, Sugar shows a little bit of character development at the end of the story much to the dismay of Sylvia. Towards the beginning, when the crew first arrives at the toy store, they are all nervous. Sylvia even explains how she was tentative about going into the store. One can assume from her words that she felt as though someone of her social status didn’t belong in a store where toys are sold for over $300. She felt out of place and even looked to her friends to enter first. Eventually, they all managed to muster enough courage to enter the store. Sylvia shows in the story a sort of resentment for upper-class citizens who can afford these types of toys and she thinks that Sugar feels the same way, however, towards the end of the story Sugar surprises Sylvia by not making fun of the rich people, but by trying to understand why the economy is the way it is and why it is so unfair. This angers Sylvia and she even says that she is “disgusted by Sugar’s treachery” demonstrating the different mindsets that Sylvia and Sugar have at the end of the trip.

In the short story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, a twelve-year-old Langston is having a discussion with his aunt about what it is like to be rescued by Jesus. She talks to him about the innate feeling inside your body that you experience when you are saved. Hearing all of this from his aunt excited Langston and further drove his belief in the church and being saved. This strong and seemingly unwavering belief in the church made him wait patiently for his turn at being rescued by Jesus, however, after waiting a very long time and seeing all of the other children being saved, he felt ashamed that he was the only one not being saved and he eventually lost hope in his belief. This even caused him to lie to the church and to his aunt about being saved by Jesus. At the end of it all, Langston went from being extremely overjoyed and eager to be saved by Jesus, to wondering whether or not Jesus even existed and if he could ever be saved.

Sylvia and Sugar are the two characters in this story that stand out to me the most. They serve as two sides of the same coin. Sylvia even after the field trip to F.A.O. Schwartz is unfazed by the experience. Sugar on the other hand seems as if she has seen more of the world now and wants some semblance of independence. At the very least she won’t stand for Sylvia attempting to silence her opinions or thoughts about things that they don’t agree on. Though yes at first they both would rather be at the pool instead of wearing starchy clothing and being forced to behave in a certain manner on 5th avenue but as the story progresses things slightly change. While they both think deeply about this new world they were just shown. Sylvia rejects it knowing that she will most likely never make enough to afford any of those toys and Sugar comes off as thinking about what the future could hold. Only shown in how Sugar refused to be shut down by Sylvia, that in itself being something new shows the change in Sugar from her experiences of the day.

I would pick Sylvia and Sugar because they are the most appearance in the story and two and the first two out of three mentioned first. In the Schwarz toy store Sylvia(main character) was the first one who read the “Hand-crafted sailboat of fiberglass at one thousand one hundred ninety-five dollars.” From my understanding, Syliva is like a leader in this team(Sugar, Mercedes, Flyboy, Junebug, Rosie Giraffe, and etc…) because in the scene Miss Moore hands Sylvia the cash and ask her to pay the driver “five-dollar bill and tells me to calculate 10 percent tip for the driver” this tells you that Miss Moore trusted Sylvia like a child adult. Sugar is a very funny girl because her first strong appearance was in the Schwarz toy store to saying if we can steal “Can we steal?” Sugar asks very serious like she’s getting the ground rules squared away before she plays.” a very funny and unforgettable line, shows she’s still a child.

While reading The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara the two characters I chose to compare their experience by visiting the FAO Schwarz toy store were Sugar and Miss Moore. Sugars experience compared to Miss Moore was very different because once Sugar arrived to the toy store she began to create ideas on how she can be able to steal certain things from the store and get away with it meanwhile Miss Moore is the instructor and she’s trying to keep careful of what they do so that they do not get in trouble. While Sugar was going around the store screaming at the toys she wants very bad Miss Moore caught up to her trying to make sure she was not doing anything she’s not supposed to but Sugar did not want to hear any of It and hoped she would leave her sight already. The comparison I got from the two characters was that Sugar was just trying to cause trouble and Miss Moore was going around trying to stop it from happening.

In, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia and Sugar have two very opposite reactions to the toy store.  Sugar comes to a very astute realization about the inequalities of democracy. This can first be seen in her line, “Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don’t it” (Bambara 6). In this line Sugar begins to understand the reality of the difference between the rich and the poor. She also shows an openness to learning that her peers do not have. Sylvia learned in a more emotional way which is seen right before they entered the shop. She begins to have a deep-seated feeling of shame and disgust while in the shop. This feeling allows her to understand the line between her and the kids who can actually shop at the store. Her inferiority also comes out as she starts to take out her feelings on her friends.

Langston Hughes’s “Salvation” begins with a twelve-year-old Langston delighted to be saved by Jesus. According to Langston’s aunt, when you were rescued, “you saw a light and something happened to you on the inside!” Langston believed his aunt and the stories he had heard from others about what happened to those who are saved. He waited peacefully in the church for Jesus to approach him. Langston waited a long time to see Jesus, and he stood there and watched as all the young people rose to their feet and were saved. He was the final person remaining who waited for Jesus to come and save him, but he eventually gave up hope. He recognized he would not be saved and was embarrassed, but he rose and lied. Langston was moved to tears by the revelation that he had lied to his aunt and misled the congregation about his salvation. Langston, twelve, went from being overjoyed to be saved by Jesus to questioning whether there was really a Jesus anymore.

In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Sylvia and Rosie Girafee both had two different point of views upon arriving the FAO Schawrz toy store. When everyone first arrived to the doors of the toy store with Miss Moore, Sylvia was nervous about entering, waiting for sugar to lead the way. Meanwhile, Rosie Girafee shoves her way in along with Mercedes and Big Butt. Contiuing the short story, the kids are admiring the toys, knowingly they are unable to afford them. Sylvia becomes jealous over the fact that Sugar runs a finger over the boat, wanting to even strike her or anyone in general. Meanwhile, Rosie Girafee is looking at the price tags on the different items in the shop and claiming white people are crazy due to the fact that the prices were so immensely high at the toy shop. Rosie left only skimming the surface of the real issue.

In ”The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the two characters I choose are Sylvia and Q.T. The themes are talked about wealth and puberty. Sylvia is the narrator of the story. She is strongly affected by her surroundings and has the capacity to see the truth in things, for example, in the way her family treats Aunt Gretchen. Despite her ability to see the truth in things, she also acts in a dishonest manner; she speaks of wanting to steal hair ribbons and money from the West Indian kids, she doesn’t give the cab driver a tip, preferring to keep the money for herself, and she doesn’t give the change from the cab ride back to Miss Moore. Sylvia gets very angry during the trip to F. A. O. Schwarz, even though she claims not to know why. This anger that people could spend so much money on useless items leads her to speak to Miss Moore about her feelings, which surprises even her. The second character is Q. T. He is the youngest and quietest child in the group. His major contribution to the discussion is to openly long for the expensive sailboat and declare the unspoken—that F. A. O. Schwarz is a store for rich people.

Choose two characters from “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and compare their response to the experience of visiting the FAO Schwarz toy store. In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, there are two characters and their response of visiting the F.A.O Shwartz toy store that stuck out. Those characters are Sugar and Sylvia.  Sugar and Sylvia stood out to me because of their close friendship and separate attitudes of their experience at the toy store. Sylvia is more timid about the experience then Sugar is, Sugar was able to touch the toy boat, angering Sylvia because it is not something she can bring herself to do. She feels ashamed to be there, even when she tells herself that she has no reason to be. Sugar is more open to the experience then Sylvia is. I kind of want to say that Sylvia is more on the why thought and Sugar could be on the how? Sylvia is in her thoughts and to herself, maybe even “too big” to say anything, whereas, Sugar wants to know and can let her thoughts ne known.   ……………………………….

The short story ‘’The Lesson’’ by Toni Cade Bambara brought me many reflections of my childhood, as I also grew up very financially limited, and in an emerging country. Therefore, as a child I’d usually get upset for not understanding why I could not have the toys I’d seen on the TV advertisements, or at my trips to the mall with my mom. However, as time passed and I started to enter my teenager years, my family started to grow financially and we could finally afford the things we wanted. Based on that, from all the eight kids that Miss Moore had taken on the toy store, the ones that called my attention and that I was able to emphasize the most were Mercedes and Sugar.  Mercedes presented herself as someone who had a different lifestyle from the other teenagers. She was the only one who had a studying space with a desk, and stationary itens on a box. Also, Mercedes didn’t seem surprised by the price tag on the toys, instead she seemed hopeful that she would have money enough to come back and pick something for herself as a birthday gift. In addition, Mercedes seemed to be the only one who did not understand the purpose that Miss Moore was trying to reach by taking them to the store, and the reason for that is because she was financially privileged enough to not need to.  Meanwhile, Sugar seemed to be the most upset about the prices, or on the fact that her family was not financially able to provide such things for her. Sugar manifested her incomprehension about wealth and social inequality as rage towards Mercedes, the system and Miss Moore. Moreover, one could argue that the reason why Sugar resented Miss Moore so much was a way […]

After visiting the FAO Schwarz toy store, Mercedes loved it. She stated that she had a desk at home for doing her homework compared to other students. So, she felt at home in the FAO toy store. Mercedes is different from the others because she wants to be like the rich, the price tags meant nothing to her or what they represented about America. All she wants is to come back with her birthday money to buy herself a new toy. Miss Moore on the other hand is a college-educated woman who came to live in a poor neighborhood of New York. She took the children to the FAO store to expose them to various issues and way of life. She is teaching the children about the larger community and the problems that African Americans and poor people face in the world. When going to the FAO store she challenged the children to think about what they saw like the prices on the toys and to question the status quo. She shows the children that wealth and race are linked, and that white people and African American people are different. She discusses with the students how much things cost, what their parents earn and the unequal division of wealth. Both characters understand what things cost and how people are treated unequal. Mercedes knows that she wants to live the rich life, to be like the white people and Miss Moore is an educated woman that knows what this other life consists of.  Miss Moore is encouraging the children to question the inequality in the world around them.  

Silvia and Mercedes are strong contrasts in Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson.” They are children in the temporary care of Miss Moore, a college-educated black woman with proper speech who desires to impart a lesson on the injustices of the economic system by taking them and four other children to FAO Schwartz, which is an expensive toy store. Silvia hates Miss Moore since she forces her into these lessons instead of enjoying her summer vacation. In contrast, Mercedes doesn’t seem to be very bothered by these lessons and seems to enjoy the outing. When they arrive at the toy store, they see all sorts of expensive toys in the window, from a 35 dollar clown to a 1,195 dollar sailboat. Silvia’s reaction to what she sees ranges from disbelief to disgust at the prices. It is all very alien to her upbringing since she is used to being poor, and she wondered what kind of people could afford to spend that much on toys. Even the least expensive item would be far beyond what is expected and could buy many things like bunk beds and a visit to family in the country along with the money for rent and some change for piano fees. She also feels jealousy and anger when she sees her friend Sugar run her fingers along with the very expensive sailboat, although she doesn’t know who to direct these feelings. When Miss Moore asks everyone what they learned from the visit, Silvia is defiant and doesn’t say anything. She also tries to silence her friend Sugar when she says that it costs less to feed everyone in their group for a year than what it costs for the sailboat. In the end, despite her resistance to Miss Moore’s teachings, her emotions are disquieted by […]

The two characters from “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara would be Sugar and Sylvia. These two characters response to the experience they had at the FAO Schwarz store were very different. Sugar’s first response at the FAO toy store was whether or not stealing was a viable option at the location. But before long she came to a realization that the price tags set up in the store for a toy was able to feed an entire family of 6-7 for a year, and this struck her hard as not everyone had the opportunity to get a cut out of the promised “equal opportunity” that democracy has offered. Sylvia on the other hand, was still hung up on the idea of the four dollars she was able to get and still didn’t seem to pick up the unfairness of society and was content with what she had in her little town.

The Lesson, by Toni Cade Bambara, depicts a scene of a group of kids from Harlem who are taken to f F.A.O Schwarz by Miss Moore, an educated woman who teaches kids in Harlem. Sylvia is a rebellious girl who has resentment for Miss Moore. Sylvia also seems to know more about inequality than the rest of the group. When they arrived at the toyshop, Sylvia is shocked at how expensive the toys are. Sylvia talks about how there are better ways to spend money and she cannot justify spending the amount of money on toys. Immediately after entering the toy store, she hesitates to enter because she feels out of place. By the way Mercedes comments on the toys, it is clear that she comes from a wealthier family. She also mentioned how she has a desk, something the other kids in the group don’t have, and how she is much more comfortable with the prices at the shop. Whenever Mercedes talked about her family’s money, she would be mocked by the kids in the group. Sylvia comes from a lower class family while Mercedes comes from an upper family, and they both have opposing views on the price tags.

In the article “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, There are two characters that have different personalities and experiences when it comes to the F.O.A store. One character is Mercedes and the other is Sylvia. These two characters have both visited the F.A.O schwarz store and different ideas on how it was. The F.O.A is an expensive store that sell high priced toys. Sylvia was close to the poverty bracket and only one was surprised that there are toys that are this expensive. Sylvia was thinking about the toys and how  one toy clown was $35 and she was saying that she can do so much with that for her family like visit her grand daddy Nelson in the country. But with Mercedes she couldn’t wait to get into the store and come back to buy something with her birthday money. These 2 characters have different morals because Sylvia would want to use the money for her family when Mercedes would just want to buy toys. Mercedes was interested and asked the employees of the shop questions about the toys. As you can tell Mercedes has more money than Sylvia or Mercedes is just not responsible with money.

Sylvia was the child who had the strongest notion of money from the fact that when they were on the taxi, only she was “trying to figure out how to spend this money” that Miss Moore gave her as taxi fare. She wanted to save that money as much as possible even though her idea was not legitimate. Obviously, after they left the toy store, she was also the one who got the most angry about money being distributed to people so unfairly. It is unacceptable for her the first time in Miss Moore’s class learning a meaningful life lesson by knowing the distance between rich and poor. From $300 microscope to $1195 hand-crafted sailboat, she gradually realized she was actually at the very bottom of social economic hierarchy, to the extent where she started to doubt whether the toy store was real to them. When they finally grouped near the mailbox, unlike Sugar speaking out of the truth, she decided to carry out a more practical way to eliminate this inequality. Mercedes, on the other hand,  seemingly was the only one who learned the least from the trip. To her, it was common to visit toy stores such as FAO Schwarz. Different from other kids, she was not scared away by the outrageous toy price. Instead, the only thing she cared about was whether she liked that sailboat or not because “My father’d buy it for me if I wanted it.” The action of buying a luxury toy can be done in the moment to ask parents, which all other kids can never imagine in their childhood. The meaning of this trip for her was nothing more than knowing another toy shore where she can pick up one toy on her next birthday. However, I am curious about what […]

I think Sugar’s reaction to being in the Toy Store was very interesting. She understood why Miss Moore brought them there, to show them the difference between their lives, and the people who could spend money like that on these luxury toys for their children. And then .Q.T., who seems to probably be the youngest out of the group, has this innocence about him. He seems excited about the toy boat, and asks if it’s for children to play with. Not really seeming to catch on to the price until the older kids start talking about it.

These two characters Sylvia and Sugar from “The Lesson” stood out the most to me because of their differences. When Miss Moore asked the kids what did they learn today, both of their attitudes were different after the visit to the FAO Schwarz toy store. Sugar actually learned something like equality, when she says ” equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough” (6). Sugar for me is saying that there’s no equality, that the system is broken and needs fixing to become a fair system, and Sylvia didn’t nor did she want to learn and for that Sylvia is the government for me, they hear people like Sugar and find it annoying, heard it and won’t make a change. This was just a toy store visit but you can tell that Miss Moore was trying to teach the kids more about how money is being spent when it could feed families and Sugar was one of the kids that learned and a realization of rich versus poor.

In the article “the lesson” is teaching these kids a lifelong lesson if they want to do better for themselves in the future. Ms.Moore comes into these kids’ lives and tries to show them to make a difference in the future if you want to live a life like this you have to work for it. Sylvia is one of the characters in the story, she feels some type of way when Ms. Moore brings them into the Fao Schwartz store because she feels like it is way out of what they can afford or league as I should say. At the end of the story, Sylvia slowly starts to see why Ms. Moore brought them into the store she realizes that she has a choice the choices were either she can stay be unsatisfied with what ms more did for them or she can do something to make a change in the future so they won’t have to keep living the way they are living. Sugar is another young lady from the story she learns from Ms.Moore right away unlike Sylvia, Sugar basically learned that they can also be successful and experience happiness just like these people in any way.

“The Lesson” consists of a story of when a group of youngsters is brought to an expensive toy store by Miss Moore in an attempt to start them thinking about the inequalities of the world. Sylvia, the young narrator, responds to Miss Moore’s lesson with derision. She is a stubborn one, who is angered by both the audacity of this woman, to bring them to a store so clearly out of their league, and by her own response to it. One can clearly see that the lesson that Miss Moore was trying to instill was right at her fingertips, with how she said that the price of that sailboat “pisses [her] off,” and how she didn’t dare to touch it. By the end of the trip, she is upset at how she’s beginning to realize the lesson that Miss Moore was trying to teach, with how resistant she was in the beginning and how much she dislikes Miss Moore. Sugar initially was a cohesive unit with Sylvia. The majority of her mentions in the story up until the very end are always with Sylvia saying “me and Sugar,” as if they were two peas in a pod. When Sylvia hesitates to open the door to the store, she steps aside for Sugar to do it, but Sugar hesitates as well. When looking at the sailboat, Sylvia is angered by the opulence, and the fact that Sugar is able to touch it when she can’t. However, at the end it takes a competitive note after Sugar betrays Sylvia in a sense by “pushing [her] off her feet like she never done before” and replying to Miss Moore’s question by telling her what she wanted to hear. Sugar seems to reject Miss Moore’s teachings to pander to upset Sylvia, though.

Miss Moore takes the children to the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson.” This was a high-end toy store, and she was curious to see how the kids felt about it. Sylvia and Mercedes are the two characters I’m going to compare in this narrative, which takes place in Harlem, New York. Mercedes differs from the other characters in that she appears to be mature than the other children in the narrative. Mercedes appears to have the financial means to purchase such pricey items, and she even claims that her parents would buy her anything if she asked for it. Mercedes also seems to have more comprehension than the other kids due to her social status even though she still lives in a poor neighborhood. Meanwhile, Sylvia recognizes and is irritated that individuals can buy these toys for the sheer joy of them, but her parents can do several things for the same cash. Miss More had given them a crucial lesson about social status and where they were in society in comparison to people who could buy those expensive toys, but Sylvia refused to accept it. This reading also emphasizes that miss Moore is attempting to persuade the kids too take action that will have a positive impact on society. This would necessitate they’re standing out and speaking up, to be unique.          

It seems that Sugar and Sylvia are having an almost identical experience discovering F.A.O. Schwartz. At first, when looking in the storefront window, they are loud and silly and excited about the fancy toys. Then, when it is time to enter the store, they both became shy and insecure. Once they are inside, they are still unsure of themselves and clumsily bump into each other. The author notes that the girls would have usually found this funny, but they are too stunned by the prices of the toys in the store. At this point, Sugar and Sylvia start to respond differently. Sugar, fascinated with an incredibly expensive sailboat, begins touching it, which makes Sylvia very upset. The author shows anger building steadily inside Sylvia, and she tries not to acknowledge it. Sylvia seems as though she is somewhat aware of the inequality that exists and resents it being brought to her attention. Sugar, on the other hand, seems as though she is just starting to see it for the first time. When Sugar finally speaks about the unfairness out loud, Sylvia Is “disgusted with Sugar’s treachery” and walks off. When Sugar catches up to Sylvia, she is excited about going on a little spree with the four dollars they have, whereas Sylvia finally decides to think about what she learned and resolves to face the challenges ahead.

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the narrator gives the reader insight into children who grew up in poverty and how their perspective changes when traveling to an expensive toy store.  In the beginning, the narrator Sylvia is a smart, rebellious child who doesn’t like Miss Moore because of her proper speech. Sylvia refuses to listen to anyone but herself because she’s big on independence.When Miss Moore brings Sylvia to the toy store she hesitates to walk in .“So I and Sugar turn the corner where the entrance is, but when we got there I kinda hung back”. Sylvia and Sugar were uncomfortable being in a new environment. Sylvia started questioning the prices of the toys and realized that amount of money could buy her family more things. Sylvia tried to make the other children misbehave but they were more interested in the $1000 toys which made her mad. When Sylvia arrives home she reflects on her day after learning about economic inequality. Sylvia refused to accept that Miss More had taught them an important lesson about social class and where they stand in society from other who could afford those expensive toys. Miss Moore was described as this serious educated woman, who teaches children in Harlem. She and a group of students went on a trip to Fifth Ave. Most of the students did not like Ms.Moore in the beginning. One student that popped out to her was Sylvia and they both did not get along. When they arrive at the toy store Miss More questions the students on “What things cost and what their parents make and how money ain’t divided right in this country”. The students believed she was doing this in a way to be funny. Ms Moore uses this method to […]

In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson,” the narrator provides insight into a child’s knowledge of his or her own poverty through several people.  Mercedes, who comes from a somewhat more fortunate family, symbolizes a socioeconomic stratum in whom hope is not a luxury. For her, the situation is less vexing because, as revealed by her reactions, her financial circumstances are marginally better than those of the other characters. It is insufficient to evict her from their neighborhood, but it has a significant effect on how she views her own poverty and her chances of receiving a toy from FAO Schwarz.  Sylvia, the narrator, is less positive. She is a bright young lady who is quick on her feet and appears to have a very realistic view on life. That said, the happiness of not having the most painful aspects of reality thrust in one’s face is always sweet, which is why she is somewhat fed up with the forced reality check that visiting the toy store represents for her. She is enraged at everything and everyone because, more than any of her pals, she understands the unfairness of it all. Being confronted with such disadvantages in life is a tremendous burden to bear at the age of 12.

“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is about Miss Moore taking children on a trip to the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store.  The children live in poverty. This was an expensive toy store and she wanted to see the outcome of the children’s view on it. Mercedes had a different approach and view on the store. When asked what she thought about it, she said she would want to return with her birthday money (Bambara). From the text, I can tell that she enjoyed it because when the other kids were not ready to go in, she squeezed in between them to go first. She had a few smart remarks like asking if the other child’s boat runs with water and that she has a stationary desk from her godmother. The readers can tell that she does not suffer from poverty like the other kids since she is able to return to the store and has things that the other children do not. On the other hand, Sylvia is the complete opposite. When seeing the clown toy that goes for $35, she thought of the things that her family can do with that much. “Thirty-five dollars and the whole household could go visit Grand-daddy Nelson in the country. Thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill to” (Bambara). She was stunned that people can spend so much money on toys when there are people in poverty that would use that money for more helpful things. She feels like it is not right that people are able to do that when her family and the others are struggling.

In “The Lesson” the children are all being taught by MS. Moore. Ms. Moore especially likes to make sure Sylvia is taught because she can tell that she is the leader of her little group and can influence the others. Sugar ends up being the one to answer Ms. Moore’s question about the F.A.O Schwarz store. Sylvia ends up trying to shut her up twice to make sure she don’t answer Ms. Moore because Sylvia cannot bare to give Ms. Moore the satisfaction of winning. Sylvia is too stubborn to admit what they all already know which is the economic inequity they all face. Sugar and Sylvia differ in the way that Sugar doesn’t see Ms. Moore as someone that she should defy while Sylvia will take any chance to defy her because Sylvia is prideful and won’t let no one “win” against her. Sugar on the other hand doesn’t mind and tries to at least think for herself. The girls are the same in the way that they both might think the same on some level and actually are smart enough to learn the lessons being taught by Ms. Moore.

After I read the short story “The Most Handsomest Drown Man” I think that you assigned this reading as the first story in this course to establish the tone of this course. I feel like now that we have been exposed to this new type of literature known as magical realism, there will be more readings that have a very similar feel to this one. While reading the short story, I noticed the sudden impact on the village made by the appearance of the drowned man. This impact was even more prevalent among the women of the village, as to the men of the village, the women seemed to be making the entire ordeal much more than it actually was. They even went as far as to tell them to move to the side as they prepared his body to be put back into the ocean. However, in the end, the men of the village also succumb to the impact of the drowned man as they were suddenly also overcome with a wave of compassion for him.

Toni Cade Bambara’s novel, “The Lesson,” addresses the themes of poverty and wealth. The novel’s plot revolves around   Miss Moore  (a teacher who takes her kids) to a toy store. The primary objective of the visit was to find out kids’ reactions to wealth and poverty. Even though the kid’s displayed different reactions, Sylvia and her best friend sugar had an almost similar experience. After completing their visit, the children take the subway home, where Sylvia thinks about her experiences at the store. Sylvia was taken away by the clown bearing a price tag of $35. The kid was amazed that a single person could purchase a  birthday clown worth too much. In her real world, Sylvia notes that $35 could afford her entire family a visit to Grandpa, pay rent and the piano bill (p.6). The latter exposure leaves Sylvia wondering why some people have so much money while her family and friends have none. Sylvia’s experiences at the toy store are vibrant in connecting her childhood to the poor distribution of wealth and poverty. In addition to exposing her to unequal distribution of wealth, Sylvia is seen questioning Miss Moore’s ideology that poor people should not remain poor but rebel against their social status quo. Sylvia’s experience at the toy store is similar to Sugar’s. Despite having different opinions about items sold at the toy shop, the two girls agree that the prices indicate that their country is not democratic since some people earn too much. In contrast, others can hardly pay for their rent. For instance, Sylvia notes that the price of a clown can afford her family many things. Likewise, Sugar is surprised by Sylvia’s comment that the cost of a sailboat could feed all the children in a year (p.6-7).

The lesson by Toni Cade Bambara is a narrative about children who, with the help of their teacher, learn a lesson about the social problems of society. The reader can see that children live in a bubble, not comprehending the daily challenges they and their parents must endure. Nevertheless, even after the trip to the expensive toy store, the children have different responses to such experiences. Sylvia, the narrative’s main character and narrator, is a young Black girl. She is a defiant youngster who takes pleasure in her individuality. Sylvia also struggles with rage, and it is first aimed towards the teacher, Miss Moore. However, as the story continues, she starts to better comprehend the teacher’s lessons on economic injustice and discrimination. The girl recognizes that specific individuals are prosperous while others, such as her own relatives, struggle. The last phrase of Sylvia can be quite meaningful: “But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” (Bambara 96). It could mean that after the trip to the toy store, Sylvia will fight for her comfort and well-being in the future. Thus, the excursion was mind-changing, and Sylvia started to divert her rage away from Miss Moore and against the affluent toy store consumers. Sugar is Sylvia’s companion, and she is almost the complete opposite of her friend in the end. She and Sylvia appear to share the same interests and opinions at first, even their dislike for Miss Moore. However, Sugar begins to drift away from Sylvia as the novel progresses. It is initially seen when she touches the plastic sailboat at FAO Schwarz and subsequently when she speaks up on what she learned on the excursion to the toyshop. However, while Sylvia’s anger prevents her from successfully understanding and vocalizing her concerns, Sugar is ready to comprehend Miss Moore’s teaching […]

In ”The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the themes that the story develops are appearance, fairness, social class, embarrassment, and education. The story unfolds through a young African-American woman named Sylvia. Sylvia is a restless and very stubborn young woman who wants to take her life into her own hands. Although Sylvia has a very special character, despite stealing Miss Moore’s money, she has a good analytical mind and a strong sense of justice. This is reflected in her anger at the unequal treatment of the toy store and her comments about her mother taking advantage of Aunt Gretchen. The worst thing about her is that she’s always quick to criticize other people’s faults, but she seems to be particularly concerned with gullibility and hypocrisy. In ”The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Mercedes’ character is one of the children of the Harlem community that Miss Moore decides to accept as her protection. This role shows that she has more understanding and maturity than other children. Also, she behaves differently than others. According to Mercedes’ comments, her situation is somewhat encouraging because, unlike the other characters, her financial situation is a bit better.  

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the narrator allows insight into the realization of a child’s own poverty through various characters. One character, Mercedes, who has a somewhat more fortunate background represents a social class where hope is not a luxury. For her, the situation is less angering because, as we can learn through her reactions, her financial situation is slightly more fortunate than the rest of the characters’. It is not enough to get her out of their neighborhood but it still sufficiently affects the way she views her own poverty and her possibilities of getting a toy from FAO Schwarz. The narrator, Sylvia, however, is less optimistic. She is a smart girl, quick on her feet and seems to have a rather realistic understanding of life itself. That being said, the bliss of not having the most sorrowful parts of reality rubbed in one’s face is always sweet, therefore she is rather fed up with the forced reality check that having to visit the toy store is for her. She is angry at everything and everyone because, odds are, she understand the unfairness of it all more than any of her friends. Facing such disadvantage at life itself is a beyond heavy weight to have to carry around at 12.

Sylvia, the narrator, is hesitant to walk into the FAO toy store just from taking a glance at the prices of certain toys. “I could see me asking my mother for a $35 birthday clown…you wanna who that costs what? she’d say”. This quotes demonstrates the fact that Sylvia’s mother wouldn’t even think about buying a toy for that much money. Sylvia continues to lists things that could be bought for the price of $35, things that are more important than a toy such as bunk beds, rent, and bills. She is shocked that people would buy toys that cost so much money. On the other hand, Mercedes seemed to enjoy the trip to the toy store and even states she would like to revisit when she gets her birthday money. Unlike Sylvia, Mercedes seems to have the privilege to be able to afford such expensive toys and even states that her parents would by her anything if she asks for it. Which is why Sylvia and Mercedes had different experiences while in the toy store.

The story takes place in what some people might call the projects or the gusto but, in this case, it’s called the Slum by Miss Moore. Miss. Moore starts and finishes by telling them “What things cost and what their parents make and how money ain’t divided right in this country” which is already part of the lesson Miss. Moore is trying to come across. I feel that Miss. Moore kept an eye on Sylvia the most than Sugar, Junebug, Flyboy, Rosie and Mercedes because Miss. Moore wants to get the message through to Sylvia, plus Sylvia is the one who influences Sugar and the other kids. When they arrived on Fifth Avenue that was when Sylvia and Sugar realized that the society, they are surrounded by is nothing like the one they live in. To me, Sylvia might have been kind of intimidated by her surroundings on Fifth Avenue that’s why she hesitated to go into F.A.O Schwarz. “So I and Sugar turn the corner where the entrance is, but when we got there I kinda hung back” that was the line that gave me the impression. Sylvia Sugar and the rest of the kids get a taste of society on Fifth Avenue, but it was missed. Moore gives them the chance to experience it for themselves. Society is often perceived as a rich and fashionable social class depending on how you want to put it, but to the characters in the story of “The Lesson” They are naive, they are experiencing something new, and it would be understandable if they didn’t get Miss. 

Langston Hughes story of “Salvation” takes place during his early childhood. This story starts when he is teenager, and he is questioning his belief in religion.  He portrays to his aunt that he is faithful and believer and desiring to be saved.  His aunt is a believer in these revivals held by the church.  He decides to attend the revival at Reed’s church by listening and taking part in all sermons and listening to the preachers taking part in the revivals. When he arrives there, he takes his place on the bench with all the other kids his age.  As he is sitting there, he sees all the other’s testifying that the been saved.  After feeling all the pressure from his aunt and the church members he stood up and declared I Have Found Jesus!  He knows he lied to his aunt and church members, but he could not handle it anymore.  In the end by forcing him to do this he fell farther away from religion and becoming an atheist.

The young narrator in the story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes changed from the beginning of the story to the end. One way that this was the case is that Langston at the beginning decided to get up and lie that he had seen Jesus only because it was getting late. Later in the story, he faces guilt and penitence, even sobbing at the fact that he had lied to his aunt, that he had deceived everyone in the church. In the short story, he states that “But I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me”. This quote proves that Langston was deeply affected by the guilt and penitence he held from deceiving everyone.

The short story “Salvation” from The Big Sea by Langston Hughes is a reminiscence of Langston’s childhood, and an example of how social groups or individuals are able to work their way through coercion and intimidation to make them act in a way they might think is valuable, or to think in a certain way that pertains to the collective.  In the beginning of the story, Langston shows himself as a hopeful and faithful thirteen year old boy, waiting to be saved by Jesus in the revival at the Reed’s church through rhythmical preachers and sermons. He was placed on the bench with all the other children his age, while seeing one by one being able to accept Jesus and to be saved. Further, Langston testified Westley, one of his friends, lying and turning over to be saved as an attempt to get out of the bench and not deal with the embarrassment of having his faith questioned.  Langston himself also could not deal with the pressure from his aunt and the church which at that point were all thriving and praying for his salvation. He felt coerced, so he lied and stood up, claiming to have found Jesus. At the end of the story, we can notice that the faith and excitement are not there anymore. Langston then proceeds to cry throughout the night over the shame of lying to his aunt, and for feeling that Jesus was not there to show himself, and to save him from his sins. 

At the beginning of “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, Langston was a child that listens to his Aunt and follows her words about Jesus, but as the story goes on you can see the belief really ruined him in a bad way because the trust from the heart to his Aunt result in him of suffering from believing Jesus didn’t save him. As a way that he realizes that lying can be the only way to get out of this situation, just like what Westley did ““God damn! I’m tired o’ sitting here. Let’s get up and be saved.” So he got up and was saved.” Sometimes being too serious of thing can hurt you because like Langston his in pain from the lying, as well from those pressure from”deacons and old women on their knees praying” and his the last one sitting there parsing for Jesus to show up, however, things didn’t go well. At this point, I think it is a little ironic between him and others because Langston was the last one to change but in a way of following Westley. But does it explain that God is not there? because you can’t see through inside of a person, which you can’t tell if these children saw Jesus or not.

After reading the story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man”  I believe the reason why you assigned this as the first story in our course is probably because  to set the tone for the rest of the stories that we will be reading in class which will most likely have some type of mystic feel to them. I thought it was interesting how the most interesting to happen in that village was a dead drowned man showing up out of the blue which means that town is one of those peaceful towns where nothing really happens. The mystic aura of some dead man showing up and yet cannot be identified adds to the mystery which is what I think the women were mostly attracted to. The women were mostly the ones imagining things up about him and were mostly why the town was influenced to be and do better, well that and the obvious fear of dying and being unidentified and forgotten. People mostly never talk ill of the dead and especially not when they are “handsome.”

In the short story “salvation” he is talking in the first-person point view. He wants to show how a huge event in his childhood has changed his life. He lied to the church, to Jesus, and to his aunt this created a feeling of guilt. He thought about being saved, but it ended up back finding him, guilt and fear started to take over him, he felt bad about what he did. He changed and showed us how the pressure an adult can have on a child can cause so much damage to the one who is not aware of what is exactly going on. This affected him because he realized what he had done, and it resulted in his belief that Jesus does not exist because he didn’t help him. HUges salvation was not what he was expecting to be as an adult he realizes that it is all up to the person and how they interpret the notion of salvation. 

The narrator in this story is Langston and his perspective regarding “being saved” varies throughout his experience. Initially, Langston is very excited about the idea of becoming ‘saved’. It’s been described to him as joyous, internal awakening and his Aunt Reeds excitement becomes infectious, making Langston very excited about having said experience. During the revival, the narrator view shifts and gives us the perspective from the other youth on the bench, the congregation, his Aunt Reed and ultimately back to Langston. I believe this is done to give us an idea of how excited a moment this is for various people throughout the church, but to also give us the idea of how large an audience Langston is having this experience with. It’s a lot for any kid to take in, especially one who is confused and on the spot.   By the end, Langston seemed embarrassed and just went along with things so he didn’t embarrass himself further. Later he was disappointed because he wasn’t truthful with the congregation. He went from being very excited to disappointed by the end.

While there was nothing specific about the story, that made me pause and wonder why the reading was assigned, nonetheless I’m glad it was. It was a very nice and easy, dreamy read and that could be reason enough, it’s just a pleasant story. but maybe if i had to chose a concrete idea, I noticed that the people of the village seemed a bit isolated and when they finally came across ‘someone’ new they were excited. Which is also a bit similar to today’s social interactions. Many of us have been isolated for over a year and are finally interacting with people outside of our “pods or villages”. Which I believe has made us more curious and empathetic towards one another. I think that’s also why in the story, the people of the village were so kind and doting, when it came to this unknown person. The villagers cleaned him, dressed and named him which humanized him more.

The way that I see how the narrator has changed from the beginning of the story to the end is on how much more mature he has become. The narrator Langston Hughes starts off in the reading by not caring so much about the people around him and only really caring about himself and making sure what he did was good for him, but through out the reading you start to realize he is understanding more and more that what he is doing and the lies he is saying is not good for him and that it is not going to be good when his family finds out the truth. A quote that really stood out to me from the reading stated that “But I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me.” this quote to me showed that he was being a little more understanding of what he was doing and that he was slowly ready to own up to what he did and just come out with the truth.

Langston Hughes tells how he was freed from sin for the first time but didn’t experience Jesus presence. On the last day when the children were meant to obtain salvation, he went to revival with his aunt Reed. His aunt said that if he was rescued, he would see a light that represented Jesus. The story states that “My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside…” Even thought the preacher’s lecture and that others were bowing and praying for all the children to rise and be saved, Langston failed to see the light. That same night he sobbed in humility. In what ways is the young narrator different from the way he was at the beginning of the story? Because Langston’s views were disturbed by this encounter, Langston felt different how he felt at the beginning of the narrative to how he felt at the end of the story. He questioned why he hadn’t been saved if there was a God.

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes shows how the way religion is introduced can be negative or even volatile to children. While religion itself might not be harmful however, how it is introduced can define a child’s view on said religion. The way his aunt continuously reinforced how Jesus would change his life, it gave him a hope that he would actually be able to meet him instead of having faith. This causes Hughes to believe himself to be a liar and permanently gave him a negative attitude towards said religion. He was also forced to act as if he saw Jesus due to him not wanting to keep the people waiting. It also acted as a sort of coming-of-age ceremony for him as it allowed him to truthfully express his feelings. Overall, that experience allowed him to be able to be more honest with himself and also allowed him to gain his own ideas about religion.

In the beginning of the story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. He was a young boy that trusted his aunt’s words she stated that he would be saved by Jesus she was telling him everything that he wanted to hear and he liked the sound of it, so that’s when he started to have faith in Jesus. When he entered the church his mood and also his belief changed as the night went on. He saw that everyone was getting saved besides him and the young boy named Westly. He thought lying about being saved was going to benefit him, but it ended up backfiring him. guilt and fear started to take over him he felt bad about what he did and he was scared to mention what he did because he was going to be viewed as the bad guy in the church so all he can do is cry.

In the beginning of “Salvation”, 12-year-old Langston attends a special meeting for the youth at his church and he is looking forward to being saved by Jesus, as promised by his aunt and the elders of his community. Young Langston seems to be eager to have this experience and doesn’t doubt the event will happen just as they have described it to him, as he expresses having trust in them for being wise due to their age. It then becomes apparent to young Langston, after he is the last child waiting to see Jesus, that it is not going to happen for him. He expresses feeling shame and guilt that everyone in the church is waiting and praying hard for his salvation, in vain, and eventually decides to lie that Jesus had come to him. The irony is that he was anxious for Jesus to be with him always and to join everyone else in the church who had all been saved, but he ended up feeling all alone. He describes the loneliness of spending what was supposed to be such a powerful, happy night crying alone in bed and not even being able to share the truth with his aunt.

After reading the story “The handsomest Drowned Man in the world.” I noticed that he made a big change for these vilagers after they seen him get washed up to shore. When the people realized what kind of person he was they decided to make a big change for themselves. They noticed that the man was different he had different features from the vilagers they noticed how tall he was they noticed how attractive he was and also his strength. Esteban brung positive energy to the village. I feel like the professor chose this story for the class to read is because one it is a very interesting story, and two I feel like she showing us how having power and being a great person can make a dramatic change in the world. Esteban was on of those people. he was able to make the community change their lives for the better.

We know by the language and perspective of the narrator that “Salvation” is a coming-of-age story told by an adult looking back on a painful childhood experience, which results in an epiphany. In what ways is the young narrator different from the way he was at the beginning of the story? In the short story “Salvation,” it is told from a first-person point of view as if it is taking place the same moment. Hughes wants to show how a huge event in his childhood has changed his life forever. He wanted to show what and who changed his life. His experience of being saved only caused him to be disappointed in himself. He lied to the church, to Jesus, and to his aunt and this created a feeling of guilt. He pretended to be saved and that led him to lose his faith in Jesus because he felt nothing as the others felt saved. He is different now because he learns and shows us how the pressure an adult can have on a child, can cause so much damage to the one who is not aware of what is exactly going on. As a child Hughes only got up because he became impatient for waiting on Jesus to come to him and save him. He felt that since he was the last one left, the whole church was waiting on him to be saved. He lied also because he saw God did not punish Westley for lying. This affected him after when he realizes what he had done, and it resulted in his belief that Jesus does not exist because he did not help him. Hughes salvation was not what he was expecting to be and as an adult he realizes that it is all up to the person […]

The young narrator of “Salvation” has gone through an epiphany and matured by the end of the story. He started off expectant, having been told by his aunt and elders about how Jesus coming into one’s life felt, and he was anticipating the rapturous picture that these trusted, wise adults had painted for him. However, by the end he is jaded with how his expectations were dashed, and ashamed of his lies. He is guilty for lying, exacerbated by the joy that came upon the room when “the last lamb was bought into the fold.” There is some dramatic irony involved, in which the room’s exuberance directly contrasts the fact that the narrator lied about seeing Jesus. The boy felt pressured by the congregation, and lied to please them, lest he keep “holding everything up so long.” It is a lesson on what can happen when trying to induce children into organized religion at such young ages.