What, Of This Goldfish Would You Wish By Etgar Keret

662 Words2 Pages

A man named William James, an American philosopher, once said, “Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.”
Shortcomings in society lead to instances of discrimination, prejudice, and coerciveness. Barbara Jordan says that, “We as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves."
If we forget to accept the situation at hand and the consequences of the next step we take, we have a tendency to assume and overreact.
In the short story “What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?” Sergei discriminates against Yoni because he is a stranger. “...one day some kid with a ring in his ear . . . comes knocking. Hard like that—rapping at his door. Just the way Sergei …show more content…

Sergei assumes that Yoni wanted to steal his fish and he does not trust him for that reason. “In this instant Sergei understands the boy didn’t come for television, what he came for, specifically, is to snatch Sergei’s fish, to steal it away” (lines 97 - 99)
The author Etgar Keret, as well as the authors of the other articles in this unit, view that people’s differences should be accepted and respected. Keret’s views on acceptance and the quote by Barbara Jordan share a theme in that human beings should not be compared nor contrasted to other human beings out of respect. People may be different in that of behavior, tone, or social status, but that cannot stop us from understanding them and what they do; understanding is one of the many steps to acceptance.
In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the elders of the community would not accept the fact that times change as new generations arise. Old Man Warner exclaims his beliefs that the younger age in the community does not understand the meaning of the lottery and they are not well versed on the subject. “Pack of crazy fools," he

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