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A Wall Of Fire Rising Essay

811 Words4 Pages

Alex Topping
Ms. Gellhorn
English 10: Reading the world
16 December 2022 Effects of the lower class on its members How would it feel if you had to live in a one-room dirt-floored home with your wife and kids? Well for Guy this is his reality. The short story “A Wall Of Fire Rising” by Edwidge Danticat, focuses on the challenges poverty brings, for a family of three in Haiti. The protagonist, Guy, in the story lives with his wife and son. Guy is dedicated to working hard to provide for his family. In the short story “A Wall of Fire Rising '', the protagonist, Guy, is affected physically by living without luxuries and mentally by feeling negative and incomplete due to his social class. Guy and his family are forced to live without …show more content…

Guy and Lili sit in a field and discuss their future as they watch their son play. Guy mentions to Lili that she wants him to "feel like a man" before they can get "a pretty house," because she knows that Guy has sacrificed this feeling due to his inability to provide for their family to the level that he believes a "man" should (155). Despite Guy's best efforts, the challenges and struggles of being part of the lower social class made it difficult for him to live up to these expectations of a father role. Guy feels incomplete because of his inability to provide for his family. Shortly after Lili and Guy’s conversation, their son runs up to them and says he forgot his new lines. Throughout the whole story, Lili and Guy's son has been strongly attached to memorizing lines that he received for his part in the school play. After the boy tells Guy that he has forgotten his lines, Guy tells him “When people give you big responsibilities, you have to live up to them”(155) When Guy tells the boy this, he is also referring to his responsibility of providing for his family. Guy feels incomplete because he has not fully lived up to his own statement. Guy experiences a feeling of mental incompleteness due to the difficulties and struggles that come with being part of a lower socio-economic

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