There are some people in the world that do things for others just to get something in return, and then their are people that just do for others because they are good people. In Walter Dean Myers short story,”Big Joe’s Funeral,” the main character Big Joe cancels his life insurance check and after careful contemplation the idea he decides to have a funeral for himself, while he is still alive. Everyone that knew what Big Joe was doing had contrary opinions to the funeral, but Big Joe had his mind set. At the funeral Big Joe looked like he was deceased and it was very normal; people had good words to say about him and he even had dirt thrown on his coffin. Myers uses Big Joe to deliver his message that respect is that people deserve respect all of the time no matter where you are or what the circumstances. Big Joe was a good guy; he would help someone out with anything no matter what, and he has the funeral to see if people respect him for what he does.
The narrator of the story states that in life someone must be respected when they go out of this world. So to learn if people appreciate what he does, Big Joe picks a time that someone must be respected to learn if he is appreciated. The day before the funeral the narrator, who was predicting their to be a large amount of people at funeral, thought that Big Joe was a great guy. So the narrator says, “Big Joe was popular on 145th Street. If you were a little down on your luck and needed a
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He is also trying to express the importance of respect, no matter where you are or for whom. Myers wanted people to understand that people like Big Joe exist and they deserved to be recognized and he does that through the funeral. For example after spending the life insurance money on the funeral Big Joe used the remnants of the money to help Cassie, a girl whose husband just went to jail, and that deserves