“Shunned”
Meredith Hall shows through the development of the characters how society can cause a person to devalue his or herself. This essay will discuss how society causes a person to devalue his or herself though the parents, and the main character. The main character is taught that if someone does something wrong, that they are to be shunned. It is not only the main character who was taught this, but society itself. When the main character gets pregnant at 16 years old, she not only realizes how it will affect her, but she also realizes how society plays a part into the shunning.
“I have wondered if they had to tell their children to shun me or if there kids slid into it on there own.” the main character says. The word shun, means to ignore …show more content…
She now has kids of her own, but they don’t attend church anymore. She now teaches, and there is a student in her class who she knows the father of. She tells the student that she knows her father, the student goes home and asks, and he swears he has no clue who she is. Maybe the father didn’t remember her by her name, but the shunning still existed. “For several years after that, I occasionally went "home." I slowly grew bold and defiant and would walk uptown and into the familiar stores. I always saw someone I knew. Inevitably they stared and then turned away abruptly. If two were together, they bent together in whispers and walked away from me. “ The matter of this quote is that people still had the judgmental views even after the event has taken place. She now sees how everything and everyone was affected. “ I allowed my family and community to abandon me while I was drowning. Worst of all I allowed my baby to be abandoned. I abandoned my baby.” This quote is so important to the story, because it shows how the character has grown, and she still is affected by this event in her life. She got pregnant at 16 years old, something that normally doesn’t happen, but she never once was asked her opinion on whether she wanted to keep the baby. The answer was adoption. Adoption was the easier route for everyone, that's what her parents thought, but now many years later she still has the same feelings she when she was pregnant.
Throughout the story “Shunned”, Meredith Hall shows through the development of the characters how society can cause a person to devalue his or herself. The impact the shunning has on the main character is life changing. The main character goes from the top, straight A student, to the low, disgrace of her family. The essay teaches the reader how much “shunning” can affect
Meredith Hall shows through the development of the characters how society can cause a person to devalue his or herself. This essay will discuss how society causes a person to devalue his or herself though the parents, and the main character. The main character is taught that if someone does something wrong, that they are to be shunned. It is not only the main character who was taught this, but society itself. When the main character gets pregnant at 16 years old, she not only realizes how it will affect her, but she also realizes how society plays a part into the shunning.
“I have wondered if they had to tell their children to shun me or if there kids slid into it on there own.” the main character says. The word shun, means to ignore …show more content…
She now has kids of her own, but they don’t attend church anymore. She now teaches, and there is a student in her class who she knows the father of. She tells the student that she knows her father, the student goes home and asks, and he swears he has no clue who she is. Maybe the father didn’t remember her by her name, but the shunning still existed. “For several years after that, I occasionally went "home." I slowly grew bold and defiant and would walk uptown and into the familiar stores. I always saw someone I knew. Inevitably they stared and then turned away abruptly. If two were together, they bent together in whispers and walked away from me. “ The matter of this quote is that people still had the judgmental views even after the event has taken place. She now sees how everything and everyone was affected. “ I allowed my family and community to abandon me while I was drowning. Worst of all I allowed my baby to be abandoned. I abandoned my baby.” This quote is so important to the story, because it shows how the character has grown, and she still is affected by this event in her life. She got pregnant at 16 years old, something that normally doesn’t happen, but she never once was asked her opinion on whether she wanted to keep the baby. The answer was adoption. Adoption was the easier route for everyone, that's what her parents thought, but now many years later she still has the same feelings she when she was pregnant.
Throughout the story “Shunned”, Meredith Hall shows through the development of the characters how society can cause a person to devalue his or herself. The impact the shunning has on the main character is life changing. The main character goes from the top, straight A student, to the low, disgrace of her family. The essay teaches the reader how much “shunning” can affect