Identities Wd Valgardson Summary

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A major contrast that occurs in the short story "Identities," the author W.D. Valgardson explores the difference between the two neighborhoods and by comparing the settings he creates suspense. The main character describes his current neighborhood as a "suburban labyrinth of cul-de-sacs," with "no ragged edges." Whereas the latter of the two is labeled as having "grey stone gates…and yards that are all proscribed by stiff picket fences" containing "a certain untidiness." A great difference between the two neighborhoods are the amounts of cleanliness, such as the one he explores in has "fragments of glass, chocolate bar wrappers… and cracked sidewalks with edges of stiff grass." In variation the area he resides in contains "no unkempt vacant lots." The tidy community holds "unattended stands piled high" containing produce, whereas the other has "seedy-looking grocery stores" with "windows covered in hand-painted signs and vertical metal bars." The houses in his community …show more content…

The police officer is a fundamental illustration of how stereotypes are created by discrimination and fear when he was described as “nervous because of the neighbour-hood, who is suspicious because of the car and because he has been trained to see an unshaven man in blue jeans as a potential thief” The main character expects to be helped by the police officer but instead he is seen as a thief because he is unshaved, he wears expensive clothes and drives a Mercedes Benz. All those things together got him in trouble. Because of that he gets shot trying to show his identity. His mistake was that instead reaching for his wallet it was to put his hands up when the police officer told him that. The police officer was sure he is a “typical street thief” and thought he was reaching for a gun and shot him, which ended the character’s life. He was just wanting to prove who he really

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