Was he actually suicidal? Did the policemen convince him not to take his own life? We are never told the reasons for the man 's not jumping from the building; we only know that “everything stopped as his body jerked and he stepped down from the parapet and went toward them” (27-29). We are presented with so few details so that we are able to compare the actions of the man to our own previous experiences or actions. The man 's actions were just as possible as those which he did not take. The outcome could have been different, and the purpose of the story would remain the same. Life is uncertain, and the line between life and death is extremely
Was he actually suicidal? Did the policemen convince him not to take his own life? We are never told the reasons for the man 's not jumping from the building; we only know that “everything stopped as his body jerked and he stepped down from the parapet and went toward them” (27-29). We are presented with so few details so that we are able to compare the actions of the man to our own previous experiences or actions. The man 's actions were just as possible as those which he did not take. The outcome could have been different, and the purpose of the story would remain the same. Life is uncertain, and the line between life and death is extremely