"Second Thoughts" Essay

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Essay "Second thoughts" "Second thoughts" written by Peter Weir in 1988 is a British short story that takes place in the 1950s. The themes of this story are upbringing and a fathers love. Mark Hapgood is a young man who has his future in front of him and is faced with an important decision. His father Arthur Hapgood has worked hard to give his son an opportunity to go and study at a university but Mark is not very interested in studying at a university and would rather work on the shop-floor of the car factory. Mark is forced to give another workplace a chance and this leads to Mark's personal development. The title of this story is "Second Thoughts" and explains the feeling Mark experiences at the train station. before Mark got the job at the hotel's kitchen he was determined to work at the car factory. Mark undergoes a change during his time at the hotel's kitchen and when his year at the hotel is over he begins to have second thoughts about his future. "Mark had quite forgotten that it was August 31st - his last day." (P. 7 L. 23) This is an example of foreshadowing the twist of the story when Mark returns to the hotel. Mark has forgotten about how he is only supposed to work at the hotel for a year with implies that he is enjoying the work. This story has a third person limited narrator. The narrator does not have access to Mark's thoughts and the only knowledge we gain of his thoughts are through dialogue. Though there are comments that seem to be observations from the narrator. "Mark regretted it from the moment he set foot in the hotel" (P. 3 L. 18). Comments like these are rare throughout the text and seem like narrator comments that doesn't directly tell Mark's thoughts but only reflect his emotions. The main character of the story is taught a life lesson that ended up changing his future. Mark is sent to London to work at a hotel for a year.

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