What can your book teach you about becoming a respectful, thoughtful & possibly creative citizen?
I am currently reading George Saunders’ short story collection Tenth of December. In the book, the short story “Puppy” taught me about becoming a respectful and thoughtful citizen (and possibly even creative if I were to use the story as a mentor text). Let me provide you with a quick summary so you are not confused: Marie, the mom, and her kids, Josh and Abby are traveling to buy a puppy from Callie’s house. Callie has a son, Bo, who is mentally challenged in some way. Previously he “darted” across I-90 (similar to I-70), therefore she chains him up to a tree, apparently very humanely, so he can play in the yard. Marie sees this and refuses to buy the puppy. She thinks Callie is a child abuser. But what Marie doesn’t know is that if she doesn’t buy the puppy, Callie’s husband will have to kill it because it’s an “extra” animal. Reading this story forces me to look at other viewpoints in seemingly bizarre situations. I can learn from “Puppy” to not make assumptions or maybe to ask before I come to a conclusion. I should never assume. Because Marie assumed that Callie was a child abuser, Callie had to do the “killing.” “It was so small it didn’t move when she set it down, just sniffed and tumped over.” She left an innocent, helpless puppy in the middle of a corn field! Marie could have respected Callie’s choice of how to best keep her son safe. Marie could have been thoughtful and not automatically assumed that Callie was a child abuser. I can learn from Marie’s fictional mistakes. I will now be more thoughtful and respectful.
What can your book teach you about becoming a respectful, thoughtful & possibly creative citizen?
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading George Saunders’ short story collection Tenth of December. In the book, the short story “Puppy” taught me about becoming a respectful and thoughtful citizen (and possibly even creative if I were to use the story as a mentor text). Let me provide you with a quick summary so you are not confused: Marie, the mom, and her kids, Josh and Abby are traveling to buy a puppy from Callie’s house. Callie has a son, Bo, who is mentally challenged in some way. Previously he “darted” across I-90 (similar to I-70), therefore she chains him up to a tree, apparently very humanely, so he can play in the yard. Marie sees this and refuses to buy the puppy. She thinks Callie is a child abuser. But what Marie doesn’t know is that if she doesn’t buy the puppy, Callie’s husband will have to kill it because it’s an “extra” animal.
Reading this story forces me to look at other viewpoints in seemingly bizarre situations. I can learn from “Puppy” to not make assumptions or maybe to ask before I come to a conclusion. I should never assume. Because Marie assumed that Callie was a child abuser, Callie had to do the “killing.” “It was so small it didn’t move when she set it down, just sniffed and tumped over.” She left an innocent, helpless puppy in the middle of a corn field!
Marie could have respected Callie’s choice of how to best keep her son safe. Marie could have been thoughtful and not automatically assumed that Callie was a child abuser. I can learn from Marie’s fictional mistakes. I will now be more thoughtful and respectful.