The Old Man Isn T There Anymore Analysis

In this article “ The Old Man isn’t There Anymore” Kellie Schmitt writes about the people she lives with crying in the hallway and when she asks what happened she is told that the old man is gone. This starts the big ordeal of a Chinese funeral that Schmitt learns she knows nothing about. Schmitt confuses the reader in the beginning of the story, as well as pulling in the reader's emotions, and finishes with a twist.

In the beginning of the story Schmitt explains that there are people who are crying in the hallway of her apartment complex. Schmitt and her husband found themselves contemplating whether or not to ask around to figure out what happened to whom they thought was the old grandpa on the second floor that they assumed had passed

“When we had first seen the apartment, I created stories in my head of The relationship we’d establish with our cohabitants.” (Schmitt 128). This she found to be strictly imagined shortly after moving. Schmitt took in many considerations as to why she could not form a relationship with her neighbors and she pulled the reader in with how persistent she was to wanting to have a connection with the different people around her. Schmitt told details of the ceremony. The emotions of the reader is tied when she attends the funeral of the old man. “ She wailed, her voice broke, and then she repeated it, “Baba, Baba.” In the front row, her three sisters joined the chorus.” (Schmitt 130) , this shows the loss of someone who was clearly loved by many. Schmitt mentions that this drags her emotions in as well (Schmitt 130), she made the grandfather a part of her own feelings and put into perspective how hard it is to lose someone. This also connects emotion to the reader because it helps the reader connect to the story. Everyone has lost someone and putting in her input and not just the input of the chinese really makes a connection with one who is reading. By the end of the story Schmitt ends up making friendships finally with the people around her. She explains everything that she begins doing with her

“His bruised face looked much older than I remembered, his hair grayer” (Schmitt 131). This changed the thoughts of the reader. Many times throughout the story Schmitt discusses her encounters she had made with the old man; thus, for her to think he looked different then she remembers puts a twist to the story. Schmitt talks about the chocolate brownies she made for him, their often exchanges of hello, as well as living a floor away from him. The reader would feel confident that she knew what the old main would look like. A short time after the funeral Schmitt noticed someone she had once seen before. “ It was the old grandfather, the same buzz cut hair, the thin white undershirt, even that bemused look he always gave me.” (Schmitt 132) The confusion from the beginning of the story is finally resolved although now, schmitt realizes that she is not sure whose funeral she attended. This puts a large twist into the story, and explains all of the confusion shown in the beginning of the story when Schmitt tried to figure out who the old man really is after the cleaning lady barely describes