Social Norms 'And That Night'

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In life, changes mark a new chapters in one’s journey and it happens in a variety of ways alongside a variety of people. The short essay “Suicide’s Forgotten Victims” by Lisa Keiski and the excerpt from the novel That Night by Alice McDermott both demonstrate how young people gain valuable lessons from the experiences they go through. From these happenings, they start to get a larger perspective on life and thus become more knowledgeable about everything around them, ultimately maturing in the process. Keiski and the children learn from society, authority figures, and peers.
Keiski shows social norms when it comes to the issue of suicide. She urges for a call to action: “We, as a society, need to stop stigmatizing the friends and relatives …show more content…

Authority figures rush to aid Sue after an attempted suicide. Keiski says, “They took her away in the ambulance and left me standing by myself” (94). The EMT’s symbolize help, care, and aid, working together to bring immediate treatment to Sue, the victim. Because of the emergency, it seemed as if they stole Sue away from her friends without them having a say in anything. As a result, they abandoned the Keiski without a second thought because she was ultimately unneeded in the situation as they only focused on getting Sue to the hospital. In the midst of all the commotion, Keiski felt neglected, lost, and without any person to lean on in a time of confusion and chaos. She did not know what to do because at that moment in time, no one cared to sympathize or reach out to her. As a result of this experience, Keiski discovers that she cannot always depend on authority figures to take care of her and that she must learn how to gain independence in times like …show more content…

When she detects something emotionally off about Sue, she states, “I went to a mutual friend… and indicated my worry…. He said that she’d be all right for the few hours that he worked at his computer” (Keiski 95). Because Keiski thought that the person she went to would understand the situation and have the ability to offer her trustworthy advice, she turned to him but got pushed away instead. Her genuine concern for the wellbeing of Sue affected her enough to go out of her way to pursue help from someone in a seemingly similar situation as she because she thought that he would feel the same pain that she did. Contrary to her expectations, she did not get the consultation that she wanted and instead received ordinary words saying that Sue would feel okay and back to normal in a matter of a short amount of time. The friend that Keiski turns to pushes off Sue’s situation as one of equal importance as him doing schoolwork and he does not see the hurt in Keiski’s feelings. While Keiski feels a sense of urgency in the situation, the friend feels as if it will eventually pass with time and does not need any outside force to try and fix it. From this encounter, Keiski realizes that she has misplaced her expectations of help as she cannot depend on him because he ignores her concern for

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