Brighton Beach Memoirs

In a time set in the 1930’s, a teen represents the struggles and hardships people dealt with during this era, and what they had to do to get by. In Neil Simons story Brighton Beach Memoirs, a teen named Stanley exemplifies the struggle and hardships people faced through actions, words, and decisions. In the story Stanley is a teenager living with his family during the great depression who’s struggling to get by. Stanley’s altruistic trait makes peoples lives’ easier to whoever surrounds him during this time. One of Stanley’s greatest traits is his courage that he uses to stand up for himself and for others. Another trait is that Stanley is inspiration he inspires others around him like Eugene his little brother to become a better parson and do well for others. In effect the character Stanley reveals the struggles and hardship people faced during the depression and showcases what he did to make the best out of it giving the read a more realistic feel within the story.

To begin, one of the most easy to depict traits Stanley showcases is his courage he portrays this not thinking of the possible outcome but by doing what he knows is right. One way Stanley reveals his courage to stand up for others and himself not by thinking of the possible consequences, but shows his courage when he stands up to discrimination for example when a fellow worker named Andrew who is African American was cleaning the floor when he placed his broom against a table which suddenly slipped and knocked over a can of Linseed oil and ruins some brand new hats which Stanley’s boss Mr. Stroheim decided to take the value of the hats and take it out of Andrew’s paycheck, then Stanley said to Mr. Stroheim “I didn’t think that was fair. It wasn’t Andrews fault”(Simon 24).Thus showing Stanley’s Courage standing up for