Belle Prater's Boy Essay

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A theme is the author’s message in a work of literature for his or her readers. In the novel, Belle Prater’s Boy by Ruth White, she talks about how the main character, Woodrow’s mother, disappears one day. He goes to live with his grandparents and he finds a new best friend, his cousin Gypsy. In the poem, Underface, by Shel Silverstein, he talks about how some people hide their true selves under the mask of being someone else. The common theme, from both the novel and the poem, is that a person's genuine self is truly important, not their appearance. One character from the novel that reveals the importance of the genuine self over appearances is Woodrow Prater. After his mother’s disappearance, his father started drinking and couldn't take …show more content…

Benny’s role in the novel is a side character, yet he has a major impact. He was friends with Amos before he died and Benny goes wandering through the streets at night singing to the dogs. He is called names and people don't see him for who he truly is. People are scared of him. He also has very small eyes. The reader knows this because Gypsy states, “‘Yeah. Doc Dot told me he practically has no eyes at all. And that makes him look like something from a horror comic, you know?..’” (White 62). This isn't fair though because Blind Benny is so sweet and never did anything to deserve this. The reader understands this when Gypsy states, “Folks used to be scared of him but he wouldn't hurt anybody as far as I know” (White 62). Blind Benny is gentle, a great singer, and is friendly to everyone. His genuine self is so great, and that's why it shouldn't matter what he looks like on the outside. Blind Benny exclaims, “‘I’m a lucky man’” (White 179). He is always so positive and grateful, even though he has so many things to complain about. Therefore, Blind Benny is a great person and shouldn’t have to struggle with having to only come out at night, getting called names, or anything else that people say or do to him because his genuine self is the true thing that matters. Blind Benny teaches the reader that the real thing they should care about is their true self, because there are so many more things that are great …show more content…

This theme applies to the poem because the poem discusses how people are seen for their “outside face” instead of their “underface.” Some lines that reveal this theme best are, “a face that none can see. But a whole lot more like me” (Silverstein 2 and 5). The difference between someone's outside face and someone's underface is that their underface is the face that not everyone sees (just someone's family, friends, or other people that they know well) and someone's outside face is more guarded towards people they don't feel as comfortable with, yet some people that are very outgoing might show their underface all the time to everyone. It is very important that the reader learns more about a person's genuine self and why not to judge someone based on their appearance, because that's never what it has been about. Why should a person's appearance matter when their genuine self is just so much better than

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