A Man Who Had No Eyes By Mackinlay Kantor

When Life Gets Harder, Challenge Yourself to Be Stronger Overcoming challenges are what makes people stronger and only when one conquers the challenges they face are they able to proceed in life and become successful. Challenges limit and discourage a person, not allowing one to reach their full potential. The importance of the theme of challenge is portrayed in MacKinlay Kantor’s short story, “A Man Who Had No Eyes”, as it demonstrates the beneficial outcomes for those who overcome challenges. First, a character’s ability to respond to a challenge positively impacts their life. However, on the other hand, a character who fails and struggles to respond to a challenge, will have negative impacts in their life. In the short story, “A Man Who

Markwardt is guilty of an act he committed 14 years ago. He did not make any effort in trying to admit that he is at fault. Instead, he continues to lie about what happened at C shop. After Markwardt tells Mr. Parsons about his version of the story, where he was pulled back by a man bigger than him and trampled on, Mr. Parsons responds with, “‘I was the one in C shop, it was the other way around. You were the fellow who hauled back on me and climbed over’” (Kantor 330). Markwardt fears realizing that he is at fault, so he tells a different story. He lies because he is unstable and wants people to help him and show sympathy just like how Mr. Parsons did. The only reason Markwardt is the way he is, is because he was lazy and did not overcome the challenge he faced. To add on, because Markwardt was not able to overcome the challenge, which resulted in him not being able to take proper care of himself. While on a walk, Markwardt is described as, “he was a shaggy, thick-necked fellow; his coat was greasy about the lapels and pockets” (Kantor 328). Unlike Mr. Parsons, who is dressed nice and proper, Markwardt is dressed horribly. He shares an appearance of someone who is struggling and unstable, even to the point that he can not take care of themselves, as his clothes are very old, and because of this he expects sympathy. All of this is because he failed to take on a challenge. Markwardt did not conquer his challenge or respond to the challenge that came his way and because of this he can not tell the real story about what happened at C shop and is not able to take proper care of himself. When someone brushes off a challenge and chooses to ignore it, they will continue to struggle with that challenge until they take the challenge on. For the rest of their life