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Transcript

On the Sidewalk Bleeding

Short story by Evan Hunter

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Part 1

(Synopsis, Narrative point of view, Plot analysis and Conflict)

On the Sidewalk Bleeding is a short story about a 16-year-old boy in a gang called the royals. He is a proud member wearing their purple jackets in pride. This leads him to being stabbed by a rival gang leaving him to bleed out.

Narrative point of view

Narrative point of view

On the sidewalk bleeding has a third person omniscient point of view. This is as if the narrator is the author himself. They are all knowing and God like being able to see into characters thoughts being able to narrate secret or hidden events. Although they can see into thoughts, we only see this happen with the story's protagonist, Andy.

Plot Analysis

Plot Analysis

During the exposition of the story, we are introduced to the main character Andy. He is a 16-year-old apart of a local gang called the royals. We learn that Andy was supposed to be at a late-night dance with his girlfriend Laura, but he left to buy cigarettes. He takes a route through an alley and is ambushed by some thugs who stabbed him. While Andy lays there bleeding out, he has thoughts about the future. He says he will marry his girlfriend and they would move to the Bronx together. And is then approached by a drunk old man. He tries to ask for help but because of his intoxication, the old man thinks Andy is drunk just like him and leaves him there. He then sees a couple walk into the alley. The two lovebird's moment is interrupted when one of them spot Andy on the floor. They have mixed feelings as what to do but ultimately, they don't want to get involved with the gangs and leave him there. "That’s for you royal!" The voice said in his head. If he had not been wearing that purple gang jacket he would not have been stabbed. He found no pride in being a Royal anymore. At this point Andy starts to realize he is dying. The thought made him sad, that there was a whole world for him to see but knowing he would never see it. He didn't want to die as a royal he wanted to die as Andy. He uses the last of his might to take of his jacket, to show the world he was Andy not some gang member. Andy is found by his girlfriend sometime after midnight dead. She ran off and came back with a police officer. The officer sees Andy's jacket and writes the case down as another gang stabbing.

Timeline

Andy uses the last of his might to take his jacket of. He is determined to remove the identity of being a royal.

Andy is approached by a drunk man. He tries to call for help but because of his intoxication he does not understand

Andy wondered who had stabbed him. They had only stabbed him beause of the purple gang jacket he wore, not because he is Andy

Andy is ambushed and stabbed by rival gang, leaving him to bleedout

Timeline

Andy leaves the dance to buy cigarettes taking a route through an alley

Andy is latter found dead by his girlfriend. She gets a police officer and wrties the case down as onther gang stabbing

Andy then sees a couple walk into they alley. They spot Andy and dont do anything to help as they dont want to get involved in the gangs

Andy started planning his future, saying he will marry his girlfriend and move to the Bronx, not relising he is dying

Andy knew he was going to die now. If he had not been wearing the jacket he would have lived. He found no pride in being a royal anymore. When he died he wanted to be known as Andy not A royal.

Conflict

Conflict

The main conflict in the story is to do with Man vs Himself. At first, he is in denial. "I can’t be dying". He thinks of the knife wound as a scratch. He then wonders if he had made the right choices, if being a part of a gang was the whole reason as to why he was stabbed. He hadn't been stabbed because he was Andy, he had been stabbed because he was a Royal. "And he wondered if the guardians who had stabbed him had ever once realized he Andy". Andy also has an inner conflict with identity. He doesn't want to be known as a faceless gang member but as himself, Andy. He makes the decision to become an individual identity rather than a group identity by taking off his purple gang jacket before he dies.

Characterization

Part 2

(Characterization, setting and themes)

The protagonist (Andy) of this story is a 16-year-old boy who is in a local gang called the Royals. When we first meet the protagonist, he is a proud gang member. He would wear the gang colours to assert his dominance and strike fear into those who oppose him. After the protagonist is stabbed, he goes into a stage of denial, thinking and thinking about all these things he wants to see and do in his life not realizing he will never experience them. It is as if he is planning a life he will never live. Throughout this story the protagonist realizes that he was not stabbed because he was Andy, a 16-year-old boy getting cigarettes but because he wore a rival gang jacket. They did not for one second look further than the jacket and see the human he really was "The knife had not been plunged in hatred of Andy. The knife hated only the purple jacket. The jacket was as stupid meaningless thing that was robbing him of his life". This makes him lose all that previous pride he had in being a part of the royals. At this point in the story, he knew he was going to die. When this did happen, he did not want to be known as some faceless gang member but as Andy, a human being with a life of his own. The protagonist in this story went from being a proud gang member to wanting to get as far away as possible from it.

Setting

Setting

The setting in this story takes place during night in some alley moments after Andy (the protagonist) is stabbed. The setting is really important the story, say for example this story took place on some busy street with many cars driving around, the ending would be different with the protagonist most likely living. " She did not hear Andy grunt because she was a little deaf and because the rain was beating on the cans." This shows us that the only thing he can hear is rain, a sound of nature. In a way I believe this made him calm and allows him to have these thoughts he has throughout the story. If this had taken place on such a busy street, he would be too distracted to have these deep thoughts, meaning the readers would not have learnt as much as we did about Andy.

Themes

The main theme in this story is to do with Prejudice and identity. When we first meet Andy his identity belongs with the Royals, a local street gang. He wears their purple jacket to show people this making them fear him. During the story Andy receives a lot of prejudice because of this. He first gets stabbed because of the Royal jacket he wore. They did not need to look further than the jacket and see the life underneath. All they needed to know was he was a Royal. Andy also did not receive help from the couple that stumble upon him because he was a royal. When Laura (Andy's girlfriend) comes back latter with a police officer, she tells him that "His name is Andy". The officer then responds saying that Andy is "just a Royal" hence forth showing more prejudice in this story. The Police officer doesn't see what used to be life in that body but just another criminal gang member

Themes

Symbols

Part 3

(Symbols quotes and final review)

One of the main symbols in the story is Andy's jacket. For most people it’s just a jacket but for Andy it means much more. When Andy first joined the Royals, he was given this jacket. It made him feel like he was accepted by people and gave him a place in life. Andy would wear this jacket in pride, being a part of the Royals was a big thing making him respected amongst his pears. By the end of the story Andy realizes that this jacket was the thing that robbed him of his life. When he was stabbed and ambushed the people who did it did not do it to Andy, the person he was before he joined the Royals. They stabbed the young boy who was wearing a purple royal jacket. Just before Andy dies, he uses the last of his breath to take of the jacket, so when he finally dies, he will die as the person he really is, Andy and not a royal.

Final review

Final review

Personally, I enjoyed reading this story. It really helps portray that gang violence and warfare is an awful thing with the cost of lives and lost opportunities. If there were to be a sequel or even a prequel, I would probably read it. I found the read worthwhile of my time and would recommend but not for younger audiences. I feel they won’t understand the story properly and find it hard and confusing to understand.

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