Have you ever missed an opportunity? “The Osage Orange Tree”, “Thank You, Ma’am,” and “A Mother In Mannville” all share a comparable theme. The themed noticed in the three stories are missed opportunities. Allow me to illustrate my point: “Thank you m’am,” by Langston Hughes, is a story of a boy named Roger, who attempted to steal a woman’s pocket book and failed. She dragged him in her home, had him clean himself and eat, then gave him money and pardoned him. Where’s the missed opportunity, you ask? Here’s a quote to reveal what has missed: “The Boy wanted to say something else other than, ‘Thank you, ma’am,’ to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but he couldn’t do so as he turned at the barren stoop and looked back at the …show more content…
large woman in the door. He barely managed to say, ‘Thank you,’ before she shut the door. And he never saw her again.” (page 66) In addition, “The Osage Orange tree,” by William stafford, is a book about a boy who meets a girl named Evangeline during the dust bowl and then, one day, everything changed.
“The next day at school, I didn’t ask her whether her father wanted to take the paper. When the others were there I wouldn’t say anything.” (page 69) Here we can notice that the main character and Evangeline miss plenty afterwards of opportunities to connect with each other throughout the rest of the book. In “Mother in mannville” by Marjorie Rawlings, a short story of a author staying in cabin near an orphanage. She gets help for cutting wood from an orphan named Jerry. “‘You look a little bit like my mother,’ he said. ‘Especially in the dark by the fire.” (page 91) “‘Have you seen her Jerry-lately?’ ‘I see her every summer. She sends for me.’ I wanted to cry out, ‘Why are you not with her? How can he let you go away again?’” (page 92). Here jerry is telling her about his mother but later the narrator speaks with the owner of the orphanage. She tells the narrator. “‘I don’t understand,’ she said. “He has no mother…” (page 93). Here we seen the character made a bond but not a true bond. They failed to know each other more and
better. In conclusion, we’re given opportunities and we miss them. In the big picture of this we should seize moments when they’re given to avoid regret. If all these characters in all the stories did so, the outcomes would’ve been better for them.
On page 58 line line 456, the author used the phrase "hopping around and playpen to kiss her(his Mom)." And further on line 459 and 473, Tommy said "We had a substitute today, Miss Ferenczi, and I'd never seen her before, and she had all these stories and ideas and stuff." "She said that six times eight is sometimes sixty-eight. " It shows that Tommy was so excited to talk about her of what she did, and he wanted an answer like an applause. Also on page 68 line 780~781, it says that Wayne went to the principal and informed what Miss Ferenczi had done.
In the novel Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline, we witness a relationship develop between Molly, a seventeen year old in the foster care system, and Vivian, a ninety-one year old widow that is looking to clean out her attic. As the book progresses, we see them grow closer through telling stories and bonding over their joint hardships. Kline goes out of her way to illustrate this strengthening friendship through many little hints in the novel.
Although, a mother’s determination in the short story “I Stand Here Ironing” mother face with an intense internal conflict involving her oldest daughter Emily. As a single mother struggle, narrator need to work long hours every day in order to support her family. Despite these criticisms, narrator leaves Emily frequently in daycare close to her neighbor, where Emily missing the lack of a family support and loves. According to the neighbor states, “You should smile at Emily more when you look at her” (Olsen 225). On the other hand, neighbor gives the reader a sense that the narrator didn’t show much affection toward Emily as a child. The narrator even comments, “I loved her. There were all the acts of love” (Olsen 225). At the same time, narrator expresses her feeling that she love her daughter. Until, she was not be able to give Emily as much care as she desire and that gives her a sense of guilt, because she ends up remarrying again. Meanwhile narrator having another child named Susan, and life gets more compli...
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
Authors of great stories often use good technical writing skills. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two short stories: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates, and Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. Comparison and contrast will be done based on their use of plot, point of view and character development. The short story Where are you going, Where have you been is about a teenage girl who is, vain, self-doubting and affixed to the present. She does not know anything about the past or doubts it, and has no plans for the future.
... The mother's approach is a source of terror for the child, written as if it is a horror movie, suspense created with the footsteps, the physical embodiment of fear, the doorknob turns. His terror as he tries to run, but her large hands hold him fast, is indicative of his powerless plight. The phrase, 'She loves him.' reiterates that this act signifies entrapment as there is no reciprocation of the ‘love’.
when Jerry's mother dies he begins to look at life in a new way wondering if
As the story begins, Jerry had wanted to go into the ocean, so he youthfully asked for goggles. Lessing wrote, “‘I want some swimming goggles,’ he panted, defiant and beseeching.” The use of words “defiant” and “panted” expresses Jerry’s childish behavior. Throughout the story, Jerry had worked toward his goal of adventuring through the tunnel. While he was in the tunnel, he had hurt himself leaving bruises and blood stains. In the end of the short story, Lessing wrote, “He rushed to the bathroom, thinking she must not see his face with bloodstains, or tearstains, on it.” This scenario portrays that Jerry was brave. He did not want his mother to see the injuries and become worried. He toughened up and did not tell his mom. Instead, Jerry was attempting to handle the situation on his own. Lessing’s depiction of Jerry from beginning to end indicates how much Jerry has evolved. He went from behaving like a child who was dependent on his mother to a brave boy who independently handled his problems. His transition represents the way people can change immensely through what they have experienced and learned. The way the author developed Jerry’s personality was able to establish the concept of
Langston Hughes born as James Mercer Langston Hughes on February 1, 1902 and grew up in Joplin, Missouri. “In November 1924, he moved to Washington, D.C. Hughes’s first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, (Knopf, 1926) was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926. He finished his college education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania three years later. In 1930 his first novel, Not Without Laughter, (Knopf, 1930) won the Harmon gold medal for literature.” (Poets.org) Thank You Ma’am was written in 1958 and tells a story of how a young boy named Roger steals Ms. Luella, an elderly womans purse. Roger uses greed as a means to commit a crime that could have easily played against his interest. Greed motivates people to acquire possessions
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...
Have you ever had someone help you in life? It doesn't only happen in life, it can happen in stories too. Two examples are “Thank You M’am” by Langston Hughes and “Harriet Tubman Guide to Freedom” by Ann Petry. Both of these stories show the theme of helping others. Helping others can be a big impact on people today. Mrs. Jones in Thank You M’am helped a boy named Roger and Harriet Tubman helped free tons of slaves.
The unspoken truths can drive a wedge between mother and son, especially when unable to express love. In Winesburg, Ohio, "Mother". Elizabeth Willard has been a delightful and imagining lady in her childhood, however now she has sunk into a dreary middle age, debilitated by ailment, dismissed by her significant other, and distant from her child. The shocking pointlessness of her life is introduced by the savage fights she is compelled to watch from her window, between the cook Abner Groff and a dim vagrant feline which tries to lurk in at the back of his store. Such things made her half - frantic. One night, she catches her better half encouraging their child, George to ' wake up ' and set out in a business profession. She is loaded with fierceness
idea is thrown off. In “Thank You M'am” by Langston Hughes, a boy by the name Roger is given
Four days later jerry went back to the cabin to cut wood and do some chores for the narrator. While jerry was talking to her he gave her the gloves that he got for her. She was happy, but the she told jerry "why have you been lying to me?" Jerry was looking worried and said " what do you mean ?". She, the narrator, told him everything that the lady at the orphanage said. after she said " why didn't you say that you don't have a mother " Jerry stood quietly thinking when he said " I didn't want to tell you anything, because i didn't want you to feel bad for me ". After these words she felt a deep emotion.
In the short story Thank you ma’am my claim is that Mrs. Jones changes the boy’s life for the best. I believe this because, Mrs. Jones takes care of Roger treats him kindly. Also, she teaches the boy manners to become better as a person. Lastly, Mrs. Jones is very risky or risk taking with Roger.