I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down Analysis

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In the two short stories, “Sugarbaby” and “I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down”, William Gay explores how decisions can lead to irreversible consequences. The characters Mr. Beasley in “Sugarbaby” and Meecham in “I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down” both cross over the threshold which causes irreparable damage. In William Gay’s short stories, he explores dilemmas concerning life choices. He expresses two variations which lead to failure: avoidance and overinvolvement.
In “Sugarbaby”, Mr. Beasley’s decision to avoid issues ultimately leads to his downfall. Mr. Beasley kills his wife’s dog, Sugarbaby. Mr. Beasley shoots Sugarbaby in the night, because he grew tired of the dog’s weeping. His wife packs her bags, leaves him, and soon after
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Meecham is an elderly man who was recently sent to live in a nursing home. Meecham’s son leases his home to family named the Choats. Meecham attempts to seek revenge and take his home back. The actions and hate filled acts Meecham makes leads to his downfall. Gay displays Meecham’s defiant nature in that he acquires a dog just to get under Choat’s skin. Speaking with Choat’s daughter, Meecham finds out that barking dogs absolutely drive Mr. Choat insane. “He named the dog Nipper and set about immediately training it to bark at his command.” (Gay 16) Meecham believed that he is superior to the Choat’s. “White trash right down to the ground, the old man thought.” (Gay 16) The lack of respect Meecham displayed toward the Choats is evident in the manner he deals with them. Rather than pursuing legal action or allowing the lease to end, Meecham takes the law into his own hands. He tries to get rid of Choat in many ways; he even shot at his feet. Yet it was not until what Choat said after the shooting to Meecham. “You’ll regret this, Meecham. You’ll be sorry every day of your life you shot towards me.” (Gay 20), that Meecham went even further down the path. He views Choat’s words as a threat. So, Meecham conceives a plot. Meecham begins by trying to find an alibi and tells the neighbor, Chessor, “All I want you to do is just …show more content…
Mr. Beasley reaches this point through the avoidance and stubbornness. By killing his wife’s dog, Meecham receives the divorce papers. Though his avoidance of the court summons and the decisions that follow, Meecham changes his life forever. All this because he refused to handle his business. While in the woods Mr. Beasley realizes, what effect his decisions have on his life with the statement:
For the first time in his life he realized that sometimes in life you go through doors that only open one way. You can stand before them and think about whether you want to go through them or not. But when you do and the door closes behind you there is no way to go back. (Gay

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