“And so i went, in my guacamole-colored jacket.” Feeling droopy in his green ugly jacket, the boy went on in life, worried about what people think. He knew people were judging him. In “The Jacket” Gary Soto reveals the theme as one shouldn’t judge someone by their appearance but by their character. The theme Soto explains is supported by the conflict, symbols, and the setting of the story. First, the conflict in the story, “The Jacket” by Gary Soto supports the overall theme. The kid in the story has gotten a new jacket, he thinks it is ugly, but he knows he is stuck with it. Gary Soto explains the boy “wanted to cry because it was so ugly and so big that [he] knew [he’d] have to wear it a long time.” This shows how insecure he was of his jacket when he needed to be confident in himself. The way he looks shouldn’t determine his personality. This proves how needed it is to be confident in oneself. Also the boy says, “Everybody saw me. Although they didn’t say it out loud ‘ Man, that’s ugly,’ I heard a buzz-buzz of gossip and even laughter that I knew was meant for me.” People were judging him by how he looked when they hadn’t even got to know him. They weren’t looking at his characteristics they were looking at how he looked. …show more content…
The boy connects his jacket to different things in life. In, “The Jacket” the boy says, “...which had become the ugly brother who tagged along wherever I went.” He is talking about how his jacket is now is ugly brother because he is stuck with it. The boy should not have to worry about what he looks like or what others think about him, he should focus on who he is as a person and the inside. Also Soto says, “like an enemy.” This is connected to the theme because the symbol he used is trying to relate his enemies at his school that are going to judge his jacket. The boy is just being paranoid, but he shouldn’t have to worry what people think. His jacket doesn’t define
In a country full of inequities and discrimination, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discrimination and hunger, and finally his decision to move Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences, which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle illustrates similar experiences.
Everyone dreams of being “perfect”, but what they don’t know is that they are perfect. One just has to see within themselves. Everyone is uniquely and secretly beautiful, but that gets taken away because it is not what society wants. What society wants is for women’s self-esteem to be broken so that they can be morphed into a product of someone else's idea of perfect. In “Barbie Doll” Piercy argues that the pressures put on women by society affect their self-esteem. No one needs to change who they are for anyone. If anyone wants to change, they should change for themselves! Being you is all that really matters. The key to beauty is confidence. Something that everyone should keep in mind is that, don’t let someone change who you are, to become what they need; otherwise you don’t need them in your
To begin, a mechanism of discriminatory and violent systems is appearance. Appearance is the way that someone or something looks, meaning not everyone looks or acts the same by performance. In Roxane Gay’s novel, she points out that she wants acceptance for her body shape, and yet wanting to change it. Although she tried
When we feel the need to change outward appearance we need to be concerned and aware of how those changes effect the person we are within as we are about appearance. External beauty is not as attractive if the person inside is not the type of person we would want to be with. Appearance can be initially blinding and deceptive. When you being to look beyond the outer layers of appearance and into the character of the person you are relating to you can quickly find the beauty alone is not enough to sustain a meaningful relationship. Beauty can fade and appearance change as we grow older but who we are at the core should remain constant or improve with age and wisdom. Kit Reed’s story shows the high cost of how focusing only on your outer appearance to the detriment of the person you are can
People should know the importance about growing up Mexican-American, Gary Soto did exactly that in his poems. He wrote novels, plays, poems, short stories, and books for young children. His poetry usually focuses on working as a child to get money, racism, poverty and crime. He is most known for writing for children and young adults. Soto always says his famous lines "As a writer my duty is not to make people perfect, particularly Mexican Americans. I'm one who provides portraits of people in the rush of
In class we are discussing many aspects of the Hispanic culture. This week we are discussing our favorite Hispanic authors, and how and why they became to be our favorite. My favorite Hispanic author is and has always been Gary Soto For a number of reasons. Gary Soto is a non-fictional author of books, poems, and films created for children and young adults, but what makes Gary Soto’s books so unique is the way he’s so detailed in his writings, and it makes it that much easier for the reader to picture each and every scenario as they read the story. For example, not only does Gary Soto gives specific details about how the characters looks ,talks, acts and thinks, but he even describes their environment and the people around them. The content
Junot Diaz's short story “Fiesta, 1980” gives an insight into the everyday life of a lower class family, a family with a troubled young boy, Yunior and a strong, abusive father, Papi. The conflict, man vs. man is one of the central themes of this story. This theme is portrayed through the conflicts between Papi and his son. Papi asserts his dominance in what can be considered unfashionable ways. Unconsciously, every action Papi makes yields negative reactions for his family. Yunior simply yearns for a tighter bond with his father, but knows-just like many other members of his family-Papi’s outlandish ways hurts him. As the story unfolds it becomes obvious that the conflicts between Papi and himself-along with conflicts between Yunior and himself-affect not only them as individuals, but their family as a whole.
Being judged on your appearance by our peers is a scary thought; especially for kids. In his short story, “The Hockey Sweater”, Roch Carrier affirms that “it’s not what you put on your back that matters, it’s what you put inside your head” (Carrier 5). Carrier believes this because people will start being more concerned with others opinions, causing an under-developed self-identity, and creates more closed-minded people. Carrier’s story is about an experience he had at the age of ten years old, where his mother notices he grew out of his hockey sweater and decided to order a new Montreal Canadiens sweater but instead he received a Toronto Maple Leaf’s sweater and was treated differently by others. This short story is especially important during
Identity is a sheltered, unchanging trait, right? Wrong. Identity is actually one of the most exposed, effected feature a person can have. But what factors contribute to what everyone is made of? An individual’s possessions and the society around them affect their identity. The short story, “The Jacket” by Gary Soto and the article “How Reality TV Works” by David Rupel both connect to the theme of what affects one’s identity. Belongings label a person’s identity and affect their confidence. The society around someone influences how one acts and what general public thinks of them. The two ways that most prominently change a person’s identity are their possessions
Acceptance: 1) The action of consenting to receive or undertake something offered. 2) The action or process of being received as adequate or suitable, typically to be admitted into a group. However, many think of acceptance much differently. The popular opinion of acceptance, however, is when one emotionally acknowledges the importance or significance of someone or something. In his story short story “The Jacket,” Gary Soto writes about the period of a boy’s life when he receives an ugly, “day-old guacamole” green jacket that is made fun of and altogether convinces the narrator that the jacket is the one to blame for his lonely years. In it, Soto reveals the theme to be “acceptance is gradual” by using allusion, personification, and main events
In Dave Barry’s piece “The Ugly Truth About Beauty,” he claims that most men tend to “think of themselves as average-looking.” One can see Barry’s point because it is not often that a man fusses over the way his hair falls or the highness of his cheekbones. Men are not as caught up in society’s idea of how one should look, something that women are often consumed by. This unattainable standard is one that plagues women from adolescence, all the way into adulthood. Young men, as Barry says, often form an opinion of their looks at a young age and stick with it forever. So what is it about the teenage years that plummets the self-esteem of females but leaves the males unaffected? The common belief is that the media plays an enormous role in this destruction of the idea of beauty. Leggy blondes with slim waists cloud the minds of the world’s youth. This is eye candy to the little boys and an impossible goal for the girls.
In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde stated, “It is better to be beautiful than to be good….” This quote encompasses the stress society places on beauty, as Wilde explains the importance of beauty even surpasses a great personality. Nevertheless, Thought Catalog contributor Amanda Ting disagrees with Wilde. In her article entitled, “Three Beautiful Perks of Being the Ugly Duckling,” Ting claims growing up ugly causes guys to treat girls as human beings, saves them from drama, and makes them more confident. However, her points lack credibility and fail to convey truth in a universal manner. Contrary to Ting’s opinion, a person who grows up “ugly” does not have advantages over a person who grows up attractive, unless they bring
Sure, some of us have this great confidence within ourselves about looking great, but that does not hold true for everyone. I understand the pain or disgust, or even disappointment one feels when they look in the mirror and say, “I wish I could change this or that about myself”. Although this piece is written about the author’s life, it holds meaning and connects with for many people; one only has to dig deep enough to find one. For me, it was to realize what is important in life can change, adapt and that we must explore our inner selves and find our own path in life.
...e ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully, readers would learn from this novel that beauty is not the most important aspect in life. Society today emphasizes the beauty of one's outer facade. The external appearance of a person is the first thing that is noticed. People should look for a person's inner beauty and love the person for the beauty inside. Beauty, a powerful aspect of life, can draw attention but at the same time it can hide things that one does not want disclosed. Beauty can be used in a variety of ways to affect one's status in culture, politics, and society. Beauty most certainly should not be used to excuse punishment for bad deeds. Beauty is associated with goodness, but that it is not always the case. This story describes how the external attractiveness of a person can influence people's behavior and can corrupt their inner beauty.
In today’s society, there is pressure put on almost every aspect in life. The pressure to succeed, to fit in, to live up to your family’s expectations, and to successfully find your place in society. One of the few things that there isn’t pressure on in today’s society is the ability to express yourself. Fashion plays a vital role in helping individuals be able to express their identity by what they wear. It’s a way people can connect with others while illustrating their personality, creativity, and innovation. Fashion isn’t just characterized as the clothes you wear, but an identity for individuals to make a statement that portrays who they are and who they want to be. Fashion is an art that you are able to express every day, and you have