Reading Response to "The Garbage Man"

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Jennifer Malin Dr. Pfeiffer English 1101 Rhetorical Reading Response “The Garbage Man” In Sharon Curtin’s short story “The Garbage Man” (1972), she reflects on a period of being young and shares with us a camera-eye outlook where society will misjudge people that we do not understand. Curtin develops the idea through her personal experience as a child. Her purpose is to show how a child’s curiosity can unveil truths in order to debunk an adult’s view or preset notions about the world and people. Curtin is directing her ideas towards adults as she is remembering back to her childhood experience. Reading “The Garbage Man” brought back a lot of childhood memories. I enjoyed Curtin’s ideas of spying and playing this elaborate hide and seek game. I felt delighted during her youthful adventure and content with the ending. This short story made me think of how mean kids can be when they simply do not understand their surroundings. This story reminds me of my daughter Alexis. I can relate to the story because this charade is like something Alexis would come up with. She does not understand life completely similar to Curtin in the story. Curtin focuses on not only childhood stereotypes, but adult stereotypes as well. She uses several examples to support her ideas. She describes the garbage man’s ailment by the way he walked, “slide, step and clump!” (26). Society will view a crippled man as weak as opposed to being a strong man. Curtin also goes on to describe society’s dislike to immigrants or anyone not American. Rumors were spread by the neighborhood that the garbage man “wasn’t American” (28). Throughout history Americans are known for not being very hospitable to immigrants. Curtin justifies the belief that you can’t judge a book by its cover through her youthful perspective. Classism adds to the negative outlook on the garbage man by the way he dresses, or
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