short story essay
Chloe Yu
Nov.11
Block 3
How each author uses his/her protagonist to help develop the story’s theme
The theme of a story is not only a subject or topic of discourse, but also a specific
quality, characteristic or concern about life and human nature. Theme is essential in
fiction as it is the backbone of meaning in stories. Theme illustrates the main idea
about life and human nature, and the existence of theme allows readers to better
understand the author’s purpose. The short story”Identities’’by W.D. Valgardson is
about a man who lives in a wealthy neighborhood, but gets lost in a rundown area.
‘The pedestrian’ ‘by Ray Bradbury, is set in the future, where a man is arrested for
taking an ordinary evening stroll. And “The charmer’’ by Budge Wilson is a
remarkable story about a Canadian family that finds emotional conflict between
parents and their children. In all of these stories, the authors make use of round, flat
and static protagonists in order to develop specific themes reflecting on issues about
life and human nature.
In “Identities’’ by W.D.Valgardson, the author focuses on the fact the protagonist is
static and flat, which develops the theme of mistaken identities, resulting in his
death. The protagonist lives in the suburbs of an upper class gated community, but he
gets lost in a dark gritty rundown area. When he enters this area “ a certain untidiness
creeps in: a fragment of glass, a chocolate bar wrapper, a plastic horse, cracked
sidewalks with ridges of stiff grass’’(p1), which shows his discomfort in an unfamiliar
neighborhood that could pose a threat to him. He is regularly a clean-shaven man, but
in his unkempt state, blends into his surroundings, changing him. This change is one
of the reasons why he is mistaken for a robber who stole a car, causing his death. The
author uses the static and flat protagonist to demonstrate that prejudice based on
appearance of social status can lead to
Nov.11
Block 3
How each author uses his/her protagonist to help develop the story’s theme
The theme of a story is not only a subject or topic of discourse, but also a specific
quality, characteristic or concern about life and human nature. Theme is essential in
fiction as it is the backbone of meaning in stories. Theme illustrates the main idea
about life and human nature, and the existence of theme allows readers to better
understand the author’s purpose. The short story”Identities’’by W.D. Valgardson is
about a man who lives in a wealthy neighborhood, but gets lost in a rundown area.
‘The pedestrian’ ‘by Ray Bradbury, is set in the future, where a man is arrested for
taking an ordinary evening stroll. And “The charmer’’ by Budge Wilson is a
remarkable story about a Canadian family that finds emotional conflict between
parents and their children. In all of these stories, the authors make use of round, flat
and static protagonists in order to develop specific themes reflecting on issues about
life and human nature.
In “Identities’’ by W.D.Valgardson, the author focuses on the fact the protagonist is
static and flat, which develops the theme of mistaken identities, resulting in his
death. The protagonist lives in the suburbs of an upper class gated community, but he
gets lost in a dark gritty rundown area. When he enters this area “ a certain untidiness
creeps in: a fragment of glass, a chocolate bar wrapper, a plastic horse, cracked
sidewalks with ridges of stiff grass’’(p1), which shows his discomfort in an unfamiliar
neighborhood that could pose a threat to him. He is regularly a clean-shaven man, but
in his unkempt state, blends into his surroundings, changing him. This change is one
of the reasons why he is mistaken for a robber who stole a car, causing his death. The
author uses the static and flat protagonist to demonstrate that prejudice based on
appearance of social status can lead to