Analysis Of The Hockey Sweater

Being judged on your appearance by our peers is a scary thought; especially for kids. In his short story, “The Hockey Sweater”, Roch Carrier affirms that “it’s not what you put on your back that matters, it’s what you put inside your head” (Carrier 5). Carrier believes this because people will start being more concerned with others opinions, causing an under-developed self-identity, and creates more closed-minded people. Carrier’s story is about an experience he had at the age of ten years old, where his mother notices he grew out of his hockey sweater and decided to order a new Montreal Canadiens sweater but instead he received a Toronto Maple Leaf’s sweater and was treated differently by others. This short story is especially important during

The title, “The Hockey Sweater”, is not especially noteworthy or attracting but the introduction is quite informative; it explains the importance of hockey in life as a child. The author’s tone for the story began very cheerfully and in high spirits but following Roch receiving the sweater, the tone became gloomy. A majority of the word and expression used in the story by the author would not make the reading difficult for children to understand with the exception of “tranquility” (Carrier 2) and “curate” (Carrier 6), which was not defined. The narrative of the story was conveyed in the first person by the main character and all the events that took place in the story were ordered in sequence. Conflict was a significant literary device used in the story because Roch was refusing to put on the sweater but his mother was guilting him to wear it to the hockey game. Another literary device used is aphorism, this was used when the mother explains to Roch that he will miss opportunities in life if he does not become more receptive to change. Tragedy is a literary device used throughout the entire story because it showed a sequence of negative events happening to the main character that leads up to his miserable time at the hockey

However, his message lectures people not to dismiss something before trying; it will have a negative effect on your success in life. The author accomplished his goal by showing how awful he felt because he was more concerned about what he was wearing and what people were thinking about him. On the other hand, some the supporting evidence was not as strong because at the end of the story he did not get to play because of the sweater. Carrier made sure to use different literary devices to show: the events that lead up to the hockey game, the conflict between Roch and his mother over the sweater, and a lesson you learn when growing up. This is an excellent short story for kids to read to either learn or if they are interested in