Ishaan Jerabek Thematic Essay (the gun) The main theme in the gun, a realistic fiction story by Carol Ellis, is Your Actions have Consequences. The gun is a story about a teen aged boy named Derek who finds .38 caliber revolver in a vacant lot and picks it up he takes it to school and sort of shows it off. then after school he takes the gun and a friend to a wooded area near some train tracks. He shoots the gun at some bottles and cans stopping when the trains pass by Then when the gun is empty he goes and dumps the gun back where he found it. Derek and his friend Jerry then go down to a wooded area where there are trail track and Derek shoots the gun at some bottles and cans, stopping when the trains pass by. This theme is first …show more content…
However when Derek asked if he could leave the cops said no. Why he asked, “because at 4:30 yesterday afternoon a stray bullet from a .38 caliber revolver smashed through the window of the D train and into the head of a young woman” responded the cop. This quote is significant because it is a strong example of the theme. If Derek had never shot the gun the gun then he would never have killed a woman and wouldn't be going to jail. another theme that could be argued for is theme chance doesn’t always work for you of the gun could be interpreted as Chance Does not always work in your favor because it was chance that caused the gun to be lying in the empty lot as derek was passing by and chance that caused the bullet to go astray and hit the young woman i the head. However it was not chance that caused Derek to pick up the gun and it was not chance that lead Derek to shoot the gun near the train tracks. So the theme is not that Chance Does not always work in your favor. This shows that the theme Chance Does not always work in your favor cannot be the theme because it does not work with most of the story. The gun is a story about actions having consequences. If derek had not taken the gun and shot it near the railroad