The Old Man Isn T There Anymore Summary

Critical Response “The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore”
“The old man isn’t there anymore” by Kellie Schmitt tells a story about her ventures trying to befriend her neighbors in an apartment building in Shanghai, China. She attempts to greet her Shanghainese neighbors, only to receive little to no acknowledgement. Her husband Gregg observed the neighbors crying in the hallway and suggested they shouldn’t interfere. Curiosity had gotten the best of her, so she called her cleaning lady whom informed her “The old man isn’t there anymore.” Schmitt reached out to the family and took them flowers to give her condolences. She was invited to the old man’s funeral. Schmitt goes on to explain her foreign experiences and later discovers she does not know who’s funeral she had attended. The authors style was charming the way she walked the audience through her foreign experience. She made the audience aware that she had not a clue what she was doing in her persistent attempts to grasp the culture and

some acceptance.
I enjoyed reading about Schmitt’s experience.

It shows an amusing perspective of her trying to interpret and thrive in a different culture. This story is very relatable because everyone misinterprets something at some point in their lives. She did very well giving details about the culture and helping the reader understand how unfamiliar she was. I think if she had been familiar with the culture her actions may have been perceived as disrespectful.
I can relate to this story in numerous ways. There have been plenty of times I have not fully understood my surroundings. I too tried to push through and learn from my experiences. She was merely trying to fit in and be accepted. I don’t think she was knowledgeable of just how culturally unaware she was. She thought she was doing good. Schmitt later figured out some of those things are ok in American culture, but not in Chinese culture. She thought the flowers were suitable and later notices her flowers are the only red one’s in the

room.
The way that she organized the story confused me at first. She was jumping from dialogue to the story line, and I couldn’t figure out what direction the story was headed in. I finally noticed how brilliantly this story was organized by the way she tied it all together in the end. She pulled me in by expressing the emotions she felt at the funeral. I especially like how she gave hint to the ending by giving the small details of the old man’s features in the casket. Later in the story it is comprehended as the wrong face instead of just death having had taken the old man’s familiar features. The author also used many details to create a sense of atmosphere. Another favorite part of mine is the ending of the story when she spotted the old man. It added humor to the story. It made me think of it as an “oh shit” moment. That is the part that tied the whole story together for me. It took my train of thought back through the chain of events. The author went through these obstacles seemingly unscathed, and this pivotal moment brings clarification to just how dire her situation really had been. In the end Schmitt prevails and gains a relationship with the family downstairs.