Ernest Buckler's 'Long, Long After School'

420 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles in children's literature

"Long, Long After School" by Ernest Buckler reveals that certain individuals may struggle more to fit into society than others. This is shown by the author when the protagonist recalls his memory of Ms. Tretheway, their third grade teacher. When Wes Holman realizes that Ms. Tretheway is beautiful after he "went down in the basement and drove [his] fist through a window" (Buckler, 114) Ms. Tretheway was willing to give Wes "a whole quart" of blood this led him to believe that Ms. Tretheway is an amazing person and thus he became interested in her. Prior Wes damaging his hand, the other students avoided him since they did not want to dance with him despite being "voted the best all-round student in High School" (Buckler, 15). His interest in Ms. Tretheway alienates him from …show more content…

They all immediately judged him because of his race. Wes knew he would not be able to fit in with the other kids even if he tried. Had Wes tried to include himself in friend groups at school, he would have to face rejection as well as embarrassment. Wes did not want to be chagrined and so he separated himself from the other kids by having an interest in Ms. Tretheway. The narrator did not agree with Wes when he said that Ms. Tretheway "was so beautiful". The narrator was one of the bystanders who watched the other kids tease Wes, occasionally joining in as well. Everyone excluded Wes throughout high school and by then he accepted that but when he gets voted as best all-around student he admits that he "was so happy [he] could believe anything.” (Buckler, 115) Wes believed that he was finally getting included with the others, he had hope and anticipation. In the end, he was let down and avoided which led to the incident in the basement. Not everyone finds it hard to fit in but those who do may struggle with the pressures of society for

Show More
Related

  • Delusion Road Research Paper

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    Though people say “First Impressions are Important”, it is more important to not judge someone based solely on first impressions, as getting to know someone new could help develop a better understanding of one’s self. In Delusion Road, by Don Aker, Willa Jaffrey, a spoiled popular girl, had started grade 12 with a kind boyfriend and a ton of friends, though within minutes of starting school, Keegan Fraser, a new student, had angered Willa and her friends. However, soon after she got to truly know him, she began dating Keegan, and her life began to change as she discovered herself – Changing into a kinder person and realizing the troubles everyone else was facing. Her self-discovery

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Wes Moore

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    Education standards. One Wes’s family took education very seriously and the other Wes’s family let education standards slip. This was one reason the two Wes’s went down completely different life paths. Author Wes Moore mom took education very seriously and did not let Wes get away with slacking. When author Wes Moore mom found out he was slacking so much in school she collected as much money she could and sent him to Military school.Author Wes states about going to military school “I knew my mother was considering sending me away, but I never thought she’d actually do it.” (Moore 87). Military school is a big factor in the reason author Wes turned out to be as

    Read More

  • Book Report On The Other Wes Moore

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wes Moore Paper Richelle Goodrich once said, “To encourage me is to believe in me, which gives me the power to defeat dragons.” In a world submerged in diversity, racism and prejudice it is hard for minorities to get ahead. The novel “The Other Wes Moore” is a depiction of the differences that encouragement and support can make in the life of a child. This novel is about two men, with the same name, from the same neighborhood, that endured very similar adversities in their lives, but their paths were vastly different. In the following paragraphs, their lives will be compared, and analyzed from a sociological perspective.

    Read More

  • Role Models In Wes Moore's Life

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author Wes Moore had role models early in his life. When younger, his father was there for him. His father a working man in entainment, he wanted Wes to do good so he would be in trouble. In one situation, Wes was acting up his father sat him and gave him a verbal lesson that stuck with for the rest of his life. This made his father the authority figure that he look up to at young age before he died

    Read More

  • The Other Wes Moore Analysis Essay

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wes Moore, the author, was the second oldest child in his family; he had an older sister named Nikki, and a younger sister named Shani, with parents Joy and Westley. When Wes was younger there father died of being sick, leaving him and his siblings, with their grieving mother. A few weeks after their father died there mother chose to move in with her parents into Baltimore. Wes and Shani then had to attend a private school because there mother knew that would be a better school for them to go to. Joy’s parents helped a lot with Wes and Shani taking them to the train station so they could go to school every day. With Wes going to a different school he made new friends like Justin. After a few days hanging with his new friends and Justin he got into a bit of trouble choosing to do bad things.

    Read More

  • Research Paper On The Other Wes Moore

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    A child will not change their behavior if their parent does not show disapproval and does something about their behavior we they act out. With both of these combine, it made Wes’s opportunities starting from a young age, very slim of being successful. Growing up, Wes Moore had his mom and family around him to support him and when things got bad, his mom sent him to military school as a disciplinary action. This saved Wes from further becoming a bad kid because there, he learned discipline and respect. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore was off selling drugs and doing other bad things while his only influence was his brother. The other Wes Moore was so involved in his profits from selling drugs that he even sold to a cop even though he knew that he was undercover (Moore 112). Wes took this chance because he was so desperate for the twenty dollars he was going to receive, he didn 't care what the consequences were. I believe that if the author Wes Moore never went to military school, that he would have turned out just like the other Wes Moore. Weich from Lincoln County Jail stated that when investigating the jail, inmate were forced to garden as their “hardwork” this was supposed to change them. The inmates just had to be on good behavior and they were then able to garden while in jail (Weich). The point of going to jail is to be disciplined and learn and grow as a

    Read More

  • Masculinity In The Other Wes Moore

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Wes’ sister is attacked by another girl at school, he plans to “avenge [his] sister (78)” and confront the younger girl. He believes he performs his duty as a man; protecting the weak, even though he is only a mere eleven year old. The other Wes realizes there is more to the world than the drug business. He is “tired of watching drugs destroy entire families (138).” He joins the Job Corps and starts “thinking differently about his life (142).” Other students at the center look to Wes for help, he “[becomes] a leader (142)” for the first time in his life. Wes works on his dream at the Job Corps, and that is to “protect his young daughter (143).” He builds a “house big enough for her to get in (143)” so she’s sheltered. He is now a man in the eyes of society. Yet, only receiving inconsistent jobs, he never makes enough money to support his children, so he turns to crime to answer the call. The United States aspires for all men to be protectors of the country, yet it’s not possible if these men can’t fend for themselves or their loved

    Read More

  • Another Holiday for the Prince

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...eral topic of school. The sister strives to graduate and go to school even though she is poor while her brother blames the school for him dropping out and not graduating. “I got out my social studies. Hot legs has this idea of a test every Wednesday” (118). This demonstrates that she is driven to study for class and get good grades while her brother tries to convince her that school is worth nothing and that there is no point in attending. “‘Why don’t you get out before they chuck you out. That’s all crap,’ he said, knocking the books across the floor. ‘You’ll only fail your exam and they don’t want failures, spoils their bloody numbers. They’ll ask you to leave, see if they don’t’” (118). The brother tries to convince his sister that school is not a necessity and that living the way he does, being a drop out living in a poverty stricken family is the best thing.

    Read More

  • Lives on the Boundary by Mike Rose

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    “School can be a tremendously disorienting place… You’ll also be thrown in with all kind of kids from all kind of backgrounds, and that can be unsettling… You’ll see a handful of students far excel you in courses that sound exotic and that are only in the curriculum of the elite: French, physics, trigonometry. And all this is happening while you’re trying to shape an identity; your body is changing, and your emotions are running wild.” (Rose 28)

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Wes Moore

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wes went to a private school and he did not have that much money for supplies and other things, which caused him to be made fun of by the children at his school. Wes was made fun of by his friends that went to public schools due to the fact that he went to a private school, making Wes not feel welcome “Wes had no intention of going to school.” (59). The other Wes Moore went to a Baltimore public school and did not have a good influence to motivate him for school, with his older brother involved in drug and gang activities. Both Wes Moores went on in life with Wes Moore going to Military school and becoming refined, while the other Wes Moore did not finish high school but eventually received his GED “He completed the coursework and received his GED a month later. He was already reading at the level of a sophmore in college.”

    Read More

  • Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    Melinda was an outcast and loner in high school who was overwhelmed, fearful, and confused with her life and her environment at school. She was always silent in class and afraid to speak in front of people. Many students today might feel the need to fit in with other people so they wouldn’t have to be looked down upon. As we take a look at Melinda’s life we’ll be able to see how she handles her daily conflicts. In the book, Speak, Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, starts her year off with a terrible start. She’s stuck with a mean history teacher, by who she calls Mr. Neck and a whole bunch of other weird teachers like her English teacher of who she calls, Hairwomen, because of her crazy, uncombed hair. Her favorite teacher would seem to be her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, because he seems to be the nicest and most reasonable. Every student, even her ex-best friend, Rachel Bruin, gives her nasty looks and treats her rudely. All this trouble started when Melinda called the cops at an end-of-summer party. Everybody thinks she did that just to bust them and get all the people in trouble but instead, she called the cops for something more terrifying. During the night of that party, she was raped by a senior who goes to Merryweather High, Andy Evans, by who she calls IT or Andy Beast. She was too scared and didn’t know what to do so she called the cops. Because of this, now everyone in school is disgusted and hateful of her. Though most of the students didn’t like her, she did become sort of “distant” friends with Heather, Ivy, and her science lab partner, David Petrakis. With all the drama, sadness, and conflict involved in Melinda’s life, she still seems to manage and finish the school year without ...

    Read More

  • This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between Jack and Dwight.

    Read More

  • The Other Wes Moore Analysis

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    Education can be affected by your family background. In the story The Other Wes Moore, Wes went to a private school where he was surrounded by positive friends, because his mother didn't like how the town was getting involved in drugs. Joy wants the best for Nicki and Wes, so she used her previous experiences growing up in the Bronx to make her decision. The other Wes Moore went to public school where his only influence was his friend Woody that only cared about having a good time. Wes Moore had a 90 minute train ride to school every morning; the other Wes Moore only lived 15 minutes away from his school. In school it can be hard to do well without having any friend support behind you, but it could be even more difficult to have some friends who care and some who don't. Wes lived in the Bronx, and hung around his neighborhood friends Ozzie and Paris. Unfortunately, Ozzie and Paris judged him for going to a private school. At such a young age being pulled back and forth between two different types of friend groups can be confusing.

    Read More

  • Who Shall Win, A Story Of School Life By Horatio Alger

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    Horatio Alger, “Who Shall Win, A Story of School Life” , gives an example of what it means to have very little sources, but with the help of friends, one can end up winning through the story of two schoolboys in a competition. The Principal of the Oakland Classical Academy encouraged his students in the field of English composition by holding an essay contest. The price would be honor and $10. Two students seemed to have chances of winning; Julian Holmes and Harry Carter. Julian comes from a prominent background; his father is a lawyer that allows for a comfortable living. Harry, on the other hand, comes from complicated background; living with his widowed mother causing him to working for the school in menial acts to pay for his tuition. These boys indeed are competitors. Besides the original price, additional offerings were made to both students. When they shared what they wrote for the competition, both knew who the clear winner of the essay competition was, Julian. Julian offers Harry the price money (assuming that it was all his only desired from the competition, since winning would mean that his father would get him a row-boat); however, Harry declined the offer as he shared what his real purpose of winning (win the $10 that could help his mother, but also to get a job). Julian deliberately dipped his pen in ink and dropped a large blot on his essay. The day in which they announced the winner of the essay competition, the judges revealed Harry as the winner. Harry then understood what had happened. As Julian went back home, his father was angered as the carelessness of Julian, but Julian shared with his father the reason why he was so “careless”. After hearing his reason of action, his father was so pleased; he offered to bu...

    Read More

  • Transition from Childhood to Adulthood

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    My eagerness to embrace life in high school squashed when I came face to face with extreme mean behavior at the hands of kids my own age. My grades started falling, from an honors student I had turned into someone who just hated school. From sulking, to rebelling to being remorseful, had become my permanent demeanor.

    Read More

More about Ernest Buckler's 'Long, Long After School'

Open Document