Carson Mcculler's Short Story Sucker

Carson McCullers‘ short story “Sucker”, is about two cousins who share a room and some experiences. Throughout the short story, Pete and Sucker grow and change. Their relationship and attitudes affect the way they act towards each other and Pete learns a very important lesson, to treat others the way you wish to be treated because they will treat you the same.
“Treating others the way you wish to be treated” is a saying that is very often thrown around. In Carson McCullers’ short story, I found that she used her characters to show her readers that by not treating others the way you wish to be treated that they too will forget how to treat you properly. I felt that this was a very important message throughout the short story for many reasons.

I felt that the most clear representation of this theme in the story is the change between Sucker’s appearance from the beginning of the story to the very last sentence.

Pete admitted during the course of the story, that he treated Sucker poorly. When he was not yelling at him, he would ignore him or send him out of their room. For a brief period, they began to bond while Pete was having a good time with a girl that he was interested in; she affected his relationships with others. “And another thing- sometimes this look in his eyes makes me almost believe that if Sucker could, he would kill me.” The author specifically used the look in Sucker’s eyes to represent how Pete’s previous actions changed the way Sucker matured. Sucker was introduced with “having the look of a kid who is watching a game and waiting to be asked to

play.”
The author often referred to Sucker’s eyes to show his emotions. At the start of the novel, McCullers stated that Sucker was a very observant kid and that he was always looking at what Pete did. Later on, she used the look in his eyes to show his maturing. He used to have a timid look in his eyes, but now he looked like he was expecting something nice. During their fight, his scared eyes blinked. After the end of their argument, he looked at Pete with a hardened look.

The theme in this short story reminded me of one in the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

It is about two friends who travel from ranch to ranch to find work during the Great Depression. The two men have formed and important bond and look out for each other. At their new job on Tyler Ranch, they befriend and rancher named Slim.

I think that both Of Mice and Men and “Sucker” share the common theme of treating others the way you wish to be treated because their attitude towards you will change. In Of Mice and Men, Slim is described as being loyal and understanding. He is well trusted throughout the ranch that he works on. The character Pete in “Sucker” had the opposite attitude towards others. Pete was rude to Sucker and made it hard for Sucker to open up to him. Whenever Sucker would try to talk to him, Pete would tell him to shut up or to leave him alone. Whereas Slim made it so that George could confide in him.

One chapter in Of Mice and Men showed George talking to Slim about how him and Lennie were not actually cousins. During the time that the novella is set in, it was very hard for people to trust each other. Slim was loyal to others because he wanted others to be loyal to him, which they were. Pete was not loyal to Sucker and made it very difficult for them to create a bond. Nearing the end of the story he commented on how he missed the short period of time where they had bonded. He realized that he should have kept that in mind when he was mistreating someone

he cared about.

This also reminded me of a story that my mother used to tell me when I was younger. She used to tell me stories as a fun way to teach me lessons. There was one that got stuck in my mind like a piece of gum on the bottom of a shoe.

I was a young girl with an obsession with fairy tales, so the two main characters were a prince and a princess. The prince was in love with a beautiful princess names Olivia. He would I always try to get her attention but she rarely acknowledged him and when she did it was in a rude manner. The poor prince was heartbroken and eventually gave up. Many months later, Olivia fell in love with that same prince. He had matured since his heartbreak and was not going to let a rude princess win him over. He treated her the same way that she had treated him. By the end, she learned her lesson and knew to always treat others the way she wanted to be treated.

I have associated Olivia from my story to Pete from “Sucker” because they were both rude at the beginning of their stories, but both realized their mistakes. The prince and Sucker were both hurt and both grew from their experiences. Sucker may not have had his heart broken, but he was deeply hurt because of the way he was treated by Pete.

I see that they both share the common theme of treating others the way you wish to be treated because they will treat you the same way. This was shown in my fairytale when the princess would ignore the price over and over again but then realized that she loved him. The same idea happened when Pete ignored Sucker when he wanted to talk, then realized he valued their relationship.

Carson McCullen used characterization as a method to convey the main theme of treating others the way you wish to treated because they will forget how to treat you with kindness and respect. The short story begins with Pete describing his relationship with Sucker. He later says “all I had to do was just glance at Sucker and he would get up from whatever he was busy with maybe half smile at me, and leave without saying a word.” He also said that he was mean to him lots.

The author used Pete’s actions and behaviour to portray the theme, as well as Sucker’s reactions. By the end of the story, Sucker’s behaviour changes drastically. “He sprawls across the bed in those corduroy pants with the suspenders and just stares at me with that hard, half-sneering look.” Sucker had never been described as a rough kid, but his attitude had definitely changed. Sucker no longer treated Pete with the same awe and respect.

I think that the example of characterization that is has the most impact is when Pete says “Our room isn’t mine at all.” This has a large impact because the entire introduction to the story was based off of how it was “his” room. I think that this was very powerful because Pete realizes that he mistreated Sucker and has to suffer the consequences.

Overall, this short story was very well-written. The elements of fiction were clear and were detailed. The story made my an impact on me because of the detail and clear theme. I learned that not keeping others feelings in mind will affect my relationships and possibly others. I should always treat others the way I want to be treated because this will better my relationships and lifestyle. Treating others with kindness and understanding is always the way to go.

I believe that many people could benefit from all of the themes found in the story. Others will have a different perspective on the stories’ themes and it will impact them in other ways. I think that this would open many people’s eyes and that they would realize that we should all keep in mind that treating others the way we wish to be tested will result in stronger bonds.