Samuel - By: Gracey Paley

875 Words4 Pages
Samuel Gracey Paley, the author of the short story “Samuel” focused a lot of her writing on stories of young kids, and their struggles in the big city, New York. At the start of the story, four young boys are introduced; they are all referred to as brave, playful boys. The four boys are playing on platforms of moving subway cars. Poor decision making causes a tragic moment in the life of these boys. The boys are introduced as brave, playful kids who just want to have fun. The way that these kids entertain themselves while riding the subway is by jiggling and jumping between locked platforms of the subway cars, according to the text. The text shows that the way these kids were playing, was not appreciated by the other citizens around the kids. “They don’t like them to jiggle or jump, but don’t want to interfere.” This clearly shows that the people surrounding the kids in the subway cars next to them, didn’t think that what the kids were doing was right. The text clearly shows that the way the kids were playing was very risky. The kids are referred to as “brave boys.” This proves that they must have been doing something very risky, or manly, for them to be considered “brave.” The text says: “One of them had ridden the tail of a speeding truck from new York to rockaway beach without getting off, without his sore fingers losing hold. “ In this particular case the narrator is referring to a passenger in the same subway car as the kids. The passenger had done something very risky, like the kids, when he was young. Holding the tail from a speeding truck is something very dangerous. The passenger remembers this when looking at the kids play, this shows that the way the kids were playing must have been very hazardous. While playing, the kids were told by passengers to stop, because what they were doing was deadly. A passenger told the kids “You boys will be hurt, you

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