Cynthia Rylant's Stray Short Story

539 Words2 Pages

In this world, many people are nice, kind, and good, but not many people are truly kind-hearted, like Doris from the short story “Stray” by Cynthia Rylant. Doris is an only child from a family with a financial problem. Even in this family, Doris is a kind-hearted character, and keeps on being so throughout the story. She is kind-hearted because she took care of the puppy, she cried when the dog was taken away, and she saw the puppy and immediately took it inside. One reason why Doris is kind-hearted is because she took care of the puppy, even when it was not hers. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it, but still had the decency to take care of the pup. The text states, “Mrs. Lacey grudgingly let Doris feed it table scraps” (17). This shows that Doris went against her mother to feed the dog. This shows she has a kind heart because she would go against her parents to take care of an animal that she knows she is not able to keep, but even so she still makes sure the dog gets fed. Only a kind hearted person would go against her parents to feed a creature they don’t think that they are going to love and care for. A second reason why Doris is a kind hearted person is because she weeped when the dog was taken away. The description of the redness in her face tells you that she was …show more content…

She didn’t know if the dog had diseases, problems, anger, or anything, yet her first reaction to the dog was to bring it inside. On page 17 the text says, “Doris trudged through the yard, went up the shoveled drive, and met the dog. ‘Come on, Pooch.’” She went up to the dog, and let it inside without caring about diseases, problems, anger, or anything wrong with it. She did not know where the pup came from, and never thought twice about leaving it in the street, and that proves that she is a sweet person because she doesn’t care where you come from, she gives love to anyone in

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