Essay For Short Story Unit Final

Some authors base their characters off other's creations, while some think outside the box

and create their own masterpieces. While in some characters it is harder to see similarities or

differences, in others it is easy. Nearly all characters can be compared and contrasted, even if

it's as obvious as they're both human or neither of them owns a pet platypus.


Leonard Mead from "The Pedestrian" is a simple man who enjoys walking at night instead of

watching T.V.. Commander Barton is the captain of an EDS ship flying to deliver important

medicine to another planet in "The Cold Equations." Other than both they're stories are

futuristic, they don't seem very similar, but they are in some ways. Both characters don't like

the rules that have been set for them. Mead doesn't think he should go to jail for just walking

down the street after dark and Barton doesn't want to follow the law and kill a young stowaway

girl on his ship.


It is easy to see how the house from "There Will Come Soft Rains" and Henry from "The

Californian's Tale" are similar. They both are unable to understand that the people they are

missing aren't there anymore. Their lives go on just as if nothing had happened. The house

continues with its daily schedule thinking that its inhabitants are still living in it and actually

going along with the routine. Henry believes that his wife, who is most likely dead and has been

absent for 19 years, will be returning home shortly from a visit to her family. They are different

in that the house thinks that its missing people are still there and Henry who, except before

around the time of year that his wife had left and he still believes that she is at home with him,

knows she is gone but thinks she is still coming back.


Harrison Bergeron, from the short story of the same name, and the lawyer from "The Bet"

are also similar and different. They are the same because Harrison Bergeron does not want to

follow the rules made by the government, and believes that they are stupid, and the lawyer, at

the end of the story, believes that the laws made by our society are wrong. They both defy their

societies and openly oppose them. However, Harrison is against society even in the beginning

because he wants to be the best as he thinks he rightfully should be, whereas the lawyer comes

to a deeper understanding of life by the story's end and throws away his old life and the

accepted ways for an as worthwhile and meaningful life as he can have in this world.


Almost all characters can be compared or contrasted. For some, the points may be blatantly

obvious, but you can dig deeper than just external attributes, and find more meaning in them.

"The Son From America"

Symbols - The money and Samuel's way of life represents how Samuel has changed since moving to America and new things. Berl and Berlcha symbolize the old ways of living and contentedness.

Plot - Exposition: We are introduced to Berl and his wife and the setting.
Inciting Event: Samuel arrives in Lentshin.
Rising Action: Samuel tries to help his mom with preparing for the Sabbath and they celebrate the Sabbath together.
Climax: Samuel asks his dad where the money is and he shows him.
Falling Action: Samuel talks to the old man in the synagogue.
Resolution: Samuel realizes you don't need money to be happy and Berlcha sings holy rhymes at the end of the story.

Protagonist - Samuel

Antagonist - Samuel

Conflict - Person vs. Self.

Summary - The story opens in the little village of Lentshin, Poland in the 1800s. We are introduced to Berl, an old traditional Jewish farmer, and his wife, Berlcha. They have a small farm and produce enough profit to be healthy, content, and keep their standard of living. Forty years ago, their then fifteen-year-old son, Samuel, had moved to America. Samuel has his own family now and even grandchildren that they did not know. Samuel sends his parents money every month but they do nothing with it, except save it in an old boot under the bed. One day, Samuel decides to visit his parents and sends them a cable, which they never receive. He shows up and unknowingly surprises his parents who are ecstatic at seeing him. Samuel asks what his parents did with the money he sent him and Berl shows him where they keep it. Samuel is shocked and asks why and they tell him that they don't need the money. While in Lentshin, Samuel tries to find a need for the money but is unsuccessful. Everyone is happy to keep living their uneventful lives and simply live on what they have and what God has already provided for them.

Theme - Not everyone needs or wants money to be happy and people can just simply be content with where they are and what their lives are.

"The Bet"

Protagonist - The lawyer because the whole conflict centers around him be it person vs. person or person vs. society.

Antagonist - Society because in the end the lawyer is going against every aspect of society. In person vs. person, the antagonist is the banker because in the beginning the lawyer is trying to prove him wrong. But the banker represents society so its still really person vs. society.

Conflict - Person vs. society because the lawyer is going against the belief that the life sentence is worse than the death penalty. The conflict is person vs. person if you don't dig too deep though because the the lawyer and the banker are opposing each other.

Symbols - The banker represents society and the money represents greed and society.

Exposition - The banker and lawyer are arguing.

Inciting Event - The lawyer accepts the bet.

Rising Action - Everything between when the bet is made and when the banker is reading the letter.

Climax - The banker reads the letter.

Falling Action - Everything that happens between when the banker is finished reading the letter and whe he puts it in the safe.

Resolution - The banker puts the letter in the safe.

Themes - "The Bet" is really all about the meaning of freedom. The lawyer is technically not free to leave his surroundings if he wants the money but he is free in his mind and his choices. He could have chosen to leave the lodge at any time. He is free in his choice of books and food. He could still think his own thoughts. Freedom is being able to do what you want and he could've. 

  The meaning of home is also present in this story. Home is a place where you can be yourself and are comfortable. I'm sure the lawyer had all the anemities he needed to be happy and he didn't have to bother about visitors. Although, home can also be the people that are connected with that place. I know that my home would not be a home if it were not for the family that lives in it. The lawyer made a good hermit though, and was quite content to not associate with any other human being.

Vocab. Sentences

The recalcitrant teenager rarely showed up for school.

The mountains of Sweden are simply sublime.

My mother's garden is anything but verdant.

The girl had an acrimonious attitude towards her siblings.

May flies live a very ephemeral life.

The poodle was tremulous at the sight of the rottweiler.

The silhouette of the trees in the wind made eerie shapes on the ceiling.

Wendy is psychopathic and should detained and put in an insane asylum.
The vet had to sedate the dog for it's shots.
The ghost town was filled with desolation after all the inhabitants left.

"The Thrill of the Grass"

Symbols: The baseball field symbolizes the man's love and his home. The old men that work in replacing the astro-turf symbolize nature, restoring the grass, "Nature temporarily defeated. But nature is patient."

The protagonist is the narrator guy and the antagonist is the people who decided to put astro-turf in the ballpark. The conflict is person vs. society because the conflict is centered around the protagonist being against whats socially acceptable, putting fake, rather than real, grass in baseball stadiums.

The point of view is first person.

The inciting event is when the guy goes through the door into the ballpark and sees the artificial turf becuase that makes him mad and starts him creating the plan to replace the grass. The climax is the night when the old men show up to help get rid of the fake grass because that is the height of the action in the story and also the moment we realize what the outcome of the story will be.

Brief summary of "The Thrill of the Grass": It is summer of 1981 and the baseball players are on strike. One obsessive baseball fanatic, who remains unnamed, likes to visit the stadium even if he doesn't go any farther than the parking lot. One evening, as he is admiring the stadium, the nameless narrator spots a door cut into the fence. Being an experience locksmith, the man opens the door and steps into the ball field. He quickly notices the astro-turf that has replaced the real grass of the ballpark. He hates it. The man then concocts a plan to remove all the artificial grass and replace it with the real stuff. He acquires the help of another known baseball worshipper and, with their team of old men, begin to act. Night after night they work to restore the baseball field to its natural beauty and soon their work is complete. Now they can only sit and wait for the players to return to the field to see what their reactions will be. 

This story is important becuase it shows us that we can change whatever we want to and make a difference no matter the odds. (Though I don't necessarily agree with that.)

The theme of "The Thrill of the Grass" is connected to home, freedom, and technology. The baseball park is like home to the narrator and he feels very strongly about it, even though its not a classic idea of "home". The astro-turf that has replaced the actual living grass in the field is technology and it has destroyed the narrator's idea of freedom, being able to feel and smell the real grass and get the real sense of home and baseball.

Vocab. Words

insolence - The young boy showed his full capacity for insolence at the dinner.
churlish - Mr. Gilamardi had a churlish behavior towards his co-workers.
irate - My grandmother was irate when I didn't put the fork on the left.
efficacy - The college student had the efficacy to go on to do great things.
cajole - He cajoled the deer towards him with jam.
pummel - My brother was pummeled by the large teenager.
perspicacity - She had the perspicacity to differentiate between right and wrong.
chagrin - Jehosaphat was filled with chagrin after tripping on the stage.
assiduously - She did her homework assiduously, not even taking a food break.
maliciously - The football team had malicious intent towards the chess club.

"The Cold Equations." Is Marilyn to blame?

Marilyn, the young stowaway on the EDS in "The Cold Equation", is totally to blame for her own actions. She knew she wasn't allowed to be on that ship. Although she did not know the consequences of her actions, she is still at fault. Marilyn is 18 and should be responsible enough to take the blame. Besides, if the guy on the EDS lets her live, they will still probably die anyways due to lack of fuel, and if they can't reach their destination 6 other people will die. Is one life really more important than 6? She should realize that she would be making 6 other innocent people suffer and die, just for her own sake. Marilyn knows that she'll just be killing herself, the ship's pilot, and other unknowing people if she decides to be selfish and live for just a short while longer. She knows she made a huge mistake, as innocent as it may seem, and she should fully be responsible for it. No one wants her to die (except John), it's just that she caused the whole problem and should be the one to deal with it. She should be willing to die knowing that she is saving the lives of 6 sick people. 

"Harrison Bergeron". Maybe "equality" isn't so equal.

The ideas of equality and freedom in "Harrison Bergeron" are simply that, ideas, and not very good ones either. Sure, they had good intentions, but Hitler believed he was doing "the right thing" too. In a world where everyone is "equal", we would all have to be at the lowest level of everything so as not to be better than someone else at something. Those with above-average abilities, that could help everyone by supplying new ideas and talents, would have to suppress their gifts. They would actually have it worse off than the average people, just as the best ballerina in the story had to carry around more weights and wear an extra hideous mask. (Which was ironic, considering you could tell she was "special" because of the amount of weights and the ugliness of the mask she was wearing. I guess no one would even be able process a thought long enough to retain that for more than 20 seconds though.) And was everyone really "equal" in that society anyway? What about the government officials and the people who had to enforce those preposterous laws? Surely they were allowed to keep their own minds? No one was even free! The government controlled when they thought and practically what they thought! Their ideas of freedom and equality don't represent actual freedom and equality very well. 

I would definitely not like to live in this kind of society. I would hate it in fact. Yes, everyone is technically "equal", but no one can even think! They have no mind of their own! Being different is what makes us special, unique. I, for one, enjoy the freedom that I have now. Some people are good dancers, others great public speakers, some excellent musicians. We all have our own talents and the world would be pretty boring without them. Where would all the good books and movies come from if no one were allowed to write well? Someone will always be better than you at something and you will always be better than someone else at something. We need a balance to life.  Plus, packing large weights around and hearing extremely annoying noises right in your head every 20 seconds is not my cup of tea.

"The Pedestrian" Epilogue

The drive on through the crisp November night was deathly silent. The car ignored all of my inquiries. We arrived shortly at a very large, white, modern building surrounded by scarce trees and bushes, of course no amount of space outdoors for walking. Not that they would allow me to do such "frivolous" activities anyway. The boldly-printed sign read, THE PSYCHIATRIC CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON REGRESSIVE TENDENCIES. The car stopped abruptly and my door was automatically opened. 

"Please exit the car Mr. Mead," stated the police car. I did as I was told. Just then, a stout woman dressed all in white appeared through the building's door and speedily walked toward me. "We've been expecting you, Mr. Mead. Please follow me," the woman said in a deep Germanic accent, practically grunted. When the car had contacted the psychiatric center I did not know. 

As I follwed the nurse toward the lifeless morgue of a building, the police car drove down the drive and back onto the street. The nurse opened the door for me and we entered the building. The hallway was coated in white and the flourescent lights only added to the "hospital effect". It was completely empty. No noise seemed to be present anywhere in the building. "I vill show you to your room now, Mr. Mead," the nurse spoke.

Doors upon doors lined the long hallway. Some were open. I quickly took a peek in a few of the doors and I was not excited about my future living quarters. The walls were covered with T.V.s. There was one plain bed and a matching plain chair in each room. We came to a door just like the others and stopped.

"Dis is your room, Mr. Mead," the woman said. "Rules. First, you are not to leave dis room under any circumstances unless accompanied by a doctor, nurse, or orderly. Second, no outside belongings or contact is allowed. Third, if you break these rules you will be severely punished according to our standards. Meal times are at 8 a.m., 12 noon, and 5 in the evening. You are late, you get no food. At 2 p.m. an orderly vill come and supervise you vhile you get a half hour of free-time. Also, staff members can and vill take you out of your room periodically for study. Fortunately for you, we have provided many channels on your television. Enjoy your time with us, Mr. Mead." She paused. "Any questions?"

I was shocked. I thought for a moment and the replied, "Yes ma'am, I would like to know how long I will be staying here?" I did not hide the anger in my voice. 

"Good night, Mr. Mead," the woman said as she closed the door. She locked the door behind her and I could hear her footsteps echo down the hallway. Perhaps another innocent man had arrived and was being placed in this dreadful institution. I sat on the bed and despairingly laid down. I'm not crazy, I kept repeating to myself. Eventually, I drifted off into a restless slumber, that mantra repeating in my head.