Character Analysis Of Every Good Boy By David Nicholls

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Analysis of “Every Good Boy” by David Nicholls “Every Good Boy” is a short story written by David Nicholls. It was first published on The Guardian website in 2011. The theme in the story is unrealistic expectations and pressure from parents and society. We live in a society where everybody expects something from you, whether it is a friend or a coach. You do not want to fail and disappoint people even though the expectations are unrealistic. It is especially our parents whose expectations we try to live up to. Sometimes the expectations are too high, and you get a feeling that you are under pressure. In the story we meet a nine year old boy who is the main character. His parents have high expectations for him and expect him to be a good…show more content…
We read the story from his point of view. He lives with his parents and two siblings; a brother and a sister. His sister is an influential and gifted majorette and his brother is good at dismantle things. He, on the other hand, has no talent at all. It seems like he has already tried everything but nothing works out for him. His father gives him a piano, hoping that his son will learn how to play it. At the same time he hopefully will be good at it. It is obvious that his father is frustrated because the son can not do anything good enough. “But there must be something you can do, my father would sigh...” (P.1, L.13) and “Everybody can do something” (P.1, L. 14). These lines show the fathers frustration and greatest wish for his son to find his talent. This does not only frustrate the father but the boy as well. His father expects too much from him and he feels he is under pressure. The father implicit tells him that society too expects something from him. That is why he is so fixated on his dream of becoming the next Mozart. He feels like this is his chance to show his parents that he is talented and not useless. He is clearly terrible at playing the piano and does not get better after taking classes at Mrs. Chin’s house. Mrs. Chin is an old lady in her early seventies who lives across the street. The fact that he is a beginner refers to the title “Every Good Boy”. You use it to memorize a sequence of notes…show more content…
Even though it is only in his imagination, the piano plays an “evil” role through the story. It is described as a “monster” and a satanic piano that has evil powers. To begin with, he thinks he killed Mrs. Chin, however he convinces him self that it is the piano’s fault. The piano is the “bad guy”. He even says he imagine it screaming as it shatters and burns in the flames at the dump The moral of the story, as I mentioned earlier, is that living up to expectations can be tough. Too high expectations can lead to pressure, as it clearly does in the story. To expect something from someone is not a bad thing, but when people start lying because they do not want to disappoint you, it has gone too
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