The Theme of "The Angel over the right shoulder"
The Theme of: "The Angel Over the Right Shoulder"
Mrs. James was a stay at home mother and a caretaker for all of her children and her husbands' needs. Mrs. James never had time to herself and was starting to feel as though "She had accomplished nothing that she could see, but to keep her house and family in order, and even this, to her saddened mind, seemed to have been but indifferently done" (Phelps 10). After Mrs. James realized she felt this way, her husband told her to set aside two hours a day for herself for a month and see if it helps. Mrs. James attempted to have time alone, but she was constantly interrupted with problems that she can only solve on her own. One night she had a dream that soon changed her life. In this dream she saw two angels watching over her:"But what was most remarkable was, that, all unknown to her, she was constantly watched by two angels, who reposed on two golden clouds which floated above her. Before each, was a golden book, and a pen of gold. One angel, with mild and loving eyes, peered constantly over her right shoulder; another, kept as strict watch over her left. Not a deed, not a word, not a look, escaped their notice. When a good deed, word, look, went from her, the angel over the right shoulder, with a glad smile, wrote it down in his book; when an evil, however trivial, the angel over the left shoulder recorded it in his book, --then, with sorrowful eyes, followed the pilgrim until he observed penitence for the wrong, upon which he dropped a tear on the record, and blotted it out, and both angels rejoiced" (Phelps 13).
This changed the way she saw things in her life and realized how much she really had accomplished. This short story by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps focuses on how important little things in life are, how the good erase all evil and how the past cannot be erased.
There is a saying "don't sweat the small stuff," but sometimes it is the small stuff in life that is really important. Everyone is different, and
Mrs. James was a stay at home mother and a caretaker for all of her children and her husbands' needs. Mrs. James never had time to herself and was starting to feel as though "She had accomplished nothing that she could see, but to keep her house and family in order, and even this, to her saddened mind, seemed to have been but indifferently done" (Phelps 10). After Mrs. James realized she felt this way, her husband told her to set aside two hours a day for herself for a month and see if it helps. Mrs. James attempted to have time alone, but she was constantly interrupted with problems that she can only solve on her own. One night she had a dream that soon changed her life. In this dream she saw two angels watching over her:"But what was most remarkable was, that, all unknown to her, she was constantly watched by two angels, who reposed on two golden clouds which floated above her. Before each, was a golden book, and a pen of gold. One angel, with mild and loving eyes, peered constantly over her right shoulder; another, kept as strict watch over her left. Not a deed, not a word, not a look, escaped their notice. When a good deed, word, look, went from her, the angel over the right shoulder, with a glad smile, wrote it down in his book; when an evil, however trivial, the angel over the left shoulder recorded it in his book, --then, with sorrowful eyes, followed the pilgrim until he observed penitence for the wrong, upon which he dropped a tear on the record, and blotted it out, and both angels rejoiced" (Phelps 13).
This changed the way she saw things in her life and realized how much she really had accomplished. This short story by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps focuses on how important little things in life are, how the good erase all evil and how the past cannot be erased.
There is a saying "don't sweat the small stuff," but sometimes it is the small stuff in life that is really important. Everyone is different, and