Society’s Restrictions Are Surmountable?

966 Words4 Pages
Society’s restrictions are surmountable? Imagine the loneliest that you have ever been, then multiply that by ten times. If imaginable, this is how Evangeline In the book the Osage Orange Tree by William Staffor feels. The main character meets a shy girl at school who, he decides against going up and talking to until after school while he is on his paper route. The girl agrees to buy a paper and takes it to her father. The two walk and talk on the paper route nearly every day for the entire school year, but at graduation, the girl, Evangeline, is missing. The narrator learns that her father was not really buying the papers; she was with the money for her graduation dress. She is willing to sacrifice her graduation so that she can have at least one friend to keep her company. Although people often want to express themselves in a certain way, they often find it difficult to overcome the restrictions placed on them by society. Staffor emphasizes this idea throughout the story with the use of Conflict, symbolism and imagery. Conflict is used throughout the story to emphasize the challenges faced by Evangeline and the main character. First the main character faces this conflict internally when, “[he] might talk to her, [he] thought” (Staffor 105). Hesitating, (part.) he wonders what his classmates might think of him talking to this shy girl in the corner. Even though he wants to talk to her, conflicts continuously prohibit him from doing so in public. With external conflict, their relationship is hindered further by the stigma placed on Evangeline from her classmates picking on her. “Its cute dear, said Jane and as Evangeline went on Jane nudged her friend in the ribs, and the friend smothered a giggle” (Staffor 107). Her classmates cannot stop to think that they are really hurting Evangeline, and don’t consider that maybe her family is just that poor that they cannot
Open Document