Commonly, vehicular collisions are considered a negative occurrence. Dave Eggers hints towards this mindset in his short story Accident. Plotted in the middle of an intersection in 2005, the story commences with the main character driving his automobile through the intersection and striking an older Camaro. The three teenagers in the Camaro are fine, but the main character notices all the damage he has done to their vehicle and he fears an unpleasant encounter with them. Dave Eggers uses irony throughout the situation to illustrate the main character’s relief. The characters’ involvement with the collision emphasizes Egger’s theme that no matter how unfortunate an incident, positivity can result.
Throughout the commencement of the story, the main character perceives the situation as negative. When he first thinks of the situation, he envisions being confronted with anger: “Walking to the car, which you have ruined, it occurs to you that if the three teenagers are angry teenagers, this encounter could be very unpleasant” (Par. 2). As he approaches the Camaro, he sees the three teena...
of the car,” which is a grey Mercedes Benz - a rare sight to see in the area. Moreover, the police officer “has been trained to see an unshaven man in blue jeans as a potential thief,” further proving the point of how he made his decision based on stereotyping. Consequently, Valgardson’s use of dramatic irony informs the reader of the police officer’s rash judgements, while leaving the protagonist unaware of his situation, which allows him to effectively develop the aforementioned theme. Following the dramatic irony of the story, the use of situational irony occurs on two accounts: first, between the protagonist and a group of intimidating young men, and second, between the protagonist and the police officer. As the protagonist approaches the store, he is daunted by a group of men dressed in “fringed leather vests,” judging them based on their rough exterior. In the face of what he assumes is danger, the protagonist hopes his appearance will “provide immunity” and prevent confrontation with the men. In addition, the protagonist even devises an escape plan in the event that he is accosted, “slip[ing] a ten-dollar bill into his back pocket.” Ironically, the real danger is behind
The emotions that stem from core beliefs influence how people act and react in society. Some emotions that influence people are anger, fear, shame, and pride. In “Samuel” a woman wants to turn and tell the kids to stop jumping recklessly, and even threaten to call a police officer (Paley 349). The boys who are of different ethnic background other than white scare the woman. The narrator states from the woman’s point of view, “But three of the boys were Negroes and the other was something else she couldn’t tell for sure. She was afraid they’d be fresh and laugh at her and embarrass her. She wasn’t afraid they would hit her, but she was afraid of embarrassment.” (Paley 349). The stereotype of these boys causes the woman to fear the feeling of embarrassment causing her to do nothing to alter the boys’ behaviors. If the woman had intervened the outcome could had turned out different. The man who "citizenly" (Paley 350) walks to the end of the car to pull the emergency stop discussed earlier feels a moral obligation to take matter into his own hands to stop the boys’ behaviors. The man feels his duty is to intervene; although his actions lead to a tragic outcome. Désirée is also affected by her husband’s cultural
The story unfolds when, “Lengel, the store’s manager” (2191) confronts the girls because they are dressed inappropriately. To Sammy, it is a moment of embarrassment and in defiance he quits his job. The student suggests that in quitting, “Sammy challenges social inequality and is a person who is trying to
Dangers on roadways is an issue that describes the discrepancy between perception and reality of road rage. The media, for some odd reason, tends to make road rage a huge controversial issue. As seen on talk shows from Oprah Winfrey to CNN, they reveal to people that road rage could happen at any time and to always be looking over your shoulder. These talk shows and news programs also put fear into our minds by explaining that most roadragers often use guns to kill or injure their victims. Glassner contradicts the media's speculations by stating that out of approximately 250,000 people killed on roadways between 1990-1997, AAA attributed that one in one thousand was an act of road rage (pg.5).
In society, any accidents are perceived as negative outcomes illustrate a terrible ending that has taken place but in reality it can be perceived as something positive in the long run. By obstructing the 2005 Camaro and the three teens, it occurred that no one was injured and everything was calm. Accident by Dave Egger represents how a bad decision becomes a point of conflict and symbolism within the theme of the story.
Ultimately, it is up to the reader to choose what the real meaning of this story is. At one point or another, one has encountered, either through personal experience or through observation, a teenager who believes that the world is plotting against them. The angst of older siblings, peer pressure set upon them by their friends, the need for individualism, and the false pretense that at fifteen years of age, they are grown are all factors which affect the main character in this story. Oates is accused of "producing too much" (676). This story is no different.
Car crashes are no laughing matter. Being in a car crash and seeing a family suffer because of the crash is devastating. The only thing being more horrific than witnessing the crash is being the reason it started. There is no need to be on your phone while driving. Emails, texts, and social media can wait. In their editorial, Editorial Board, Star Tribune explains why a bipartisan plan to restrict cellphone use while driving should get approved this session in Minnesota. First, Star Tribune incorporates specific details to emphasize the significance of this bill getting put in place. Then, Star Tribune appeals to your logos by adding statistics into their editorial to express the injury and death
When a motorist expresses offense over the actions of an aggressive driver, the situation can escalate to acts of road
"Accident" by Dave Eggers explains his vivid experience in an accident with three tenagers, "Walking over to their car, which you have ruined, it occurs to you that if the threee teenagers are angry teenagers, this could be very unpleasant"(2). Before Dave jumps out the car to check the aftermath of the accident he is already judging how the altercation will go. When Dave actually confronts the teenagers his whole perspective changes. Dave meets the driver who is chill, but bumbed out becuase, his new car is
“In the front seat was Gregg, driving, Sarah, in the middle, and Robyn, on the passenger side. In the rear seat was Jeff, behind the driver, Haley, in the middle, and Rachel, on the passenger side. EVERYONE was wearing their SEAT BELTS, as is our family habit. EVERYONE walked away from this accident with only bruises. The only blood was Robyn had small nicks from glass in a couple of places on her right arm and right leg.
“Car accidents are the No. 1 cause of death of teens” says Cricket Fuller, he also says that “a quarter of all teen-driving crashes are attributed to distract driving”. Even though the death rate of teen drivers is going down, an average of seven deaths a day still occur (Kowalski). Debacco-Ernie had said that “any time a teen driver is out on the road after 10 p.m., the probability of them being involved in a crash increases dramatically” (Carr).
The children couldn’t accept what they thought was so horrible. There was a lot of ignorance and carelessness portrayed throughout this short story. The theme of ungratefulness was revealed in this story; The author depicted how disrespecting someone can inturn feed you with information you may wish you never knew and how someone can do one wrong thing and it immediately erases all the good things a person did throughout their
Logan was on his way home from an evening at the local bar. He and some friends had gone out to have a couple beers. As he sped down the road, he blinked vigorously to try to clear his vision. Although it was a perfectly clear summer night, Logan’s vision was blurred from the alcohol. “As long as I keep this car on my side of the road, I’ll be fine,” he thought to himself. He was doing a decent job of obtaining control over the vehicle, or so he thought. Only three miles from his country home, he became unaware of his position on the road as it began to curve. As he continued around the familiar curve in the road, a truck came out of nowhere at hit Logan’s small Toyota Camry head on. The big F-350 pickup truck was no comparison to the little
The author gives clear evidence to support his topic that illegal street racing is dangerous. Racing on a public road can have many variables that can lead to the worst. Some of these variables are that “where unexpected traffic, uneven roads and inexperienced drivers, some as young as 16, form a deadly combination.” The author tells how an innocent person walking across the street, was hit by one of three cars racing that were traveling approximately 200 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. The body was thrown 80 meters and died before he hit the ground. “In Vancouver alone, police count six fatalities from street racing in the past year.” Mark uses this information to get his point through to the readers because people are most affected when they hear about other people dying.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.