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Analysis Of Sunday In The Park

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In the short story of Sunday in the Park, the focus of the story is centered on a small family of three and the events that occurred while enjoying a day in the park. The husband Morton, his wife, and their small boy Larry, are spending the afternoon day in the park. Larry, playing in the sandbox with another young boy named Joe, is threatened when Joe throws sand at him. The events that follow show that a happy and joyful experience can quickly escalate into one of frustration, disappointment and anger, not only internally but against others as well.
Everyday life is filled with events that control how we react and respond to individuals around us. Positive events such as holding the door open for someone or helping someone finish a task trigger a response of a “thank you”. Negative events such as being honked at or yelled at can sour someone’s mood and may cause grumpiness for a while. This story talks about how the peaceful Sunday afternoon full of joy, happiness, peace and freedom can change in minutes to a day full of negative emotions a that can ruin a day. When Larry’s mom views her son having a good time while playing in the sand, she feels content and happy watching him play. She thinks of how happy the boy is digging and she has a warm feeling while enjoying the moment. She even thinks they need to do this more often. We get the feeling that this is a tranquil moment in her life. There is no indication of how Larry feels towards the other child named Joe in the sandbox, but we can assume that Larry is indifferent to Joe at the beginning. Joe’s actions start a chain of events that result in an unpleasant day for this family of three.
Joe then throws a scoop of sand at Larry, just barely missing him. Larry’s mom, at first, seems to be a little surprised that this child would do such a thing, and is even more surprised when the Joe’s parent does not reprimand his child for the act. She finds herself wanting to defend her child and speaks up, telling Joe to stop. When the other child does it again and actually hits Larry this time with the sand, we begin to see Larry is upset about it. The mom’s first thought was she wanted to let Larry fight his own battles, but instead reprimands the boy again. This

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