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Imagery And Symbolism In Gary Soto's A Summer Life

1646 Words7 Pages

The narrator of the story,a small boy, lives in a poor community where the street is always busy with traffic, making it unsafe for children to play.However this continuous traffic does not deter the narrator. In this vignette, the narrator has a Buddha figure,which was given to him by his uncle. Carrying the smiling Buddha everywhere,the narrator shows an affinity to the figure. Perhaps,the narrator believes that the Buddha will keep him out of harm.

The avocado tree is an emblem for the grandfather.The grandfather worked hard,and took care of his family, which is represented by the branches. Trees that are well-rooted are strong and indestructible, and cannot easily be destroyed.Likewise, a family that is like a well-rooted tree, is strong and in times of trouble and difficulties can face adversaries, and come out of the problems with little or no damage done. Most families today, however, …show more content…

He never lost hope, and he he always gave inspiration to his family. From reading this vignette, readers discovered that the narrator’s grandfather values nothing more than money to support his family. From reading this, I also can conclude that the narrator’s family belongs to the working class. Soto uses vivid details and imagery to describe the narrator’s life. From reading A Summer Life it feels like you left your own life and you are traveling back in time and living the life of young Gary Soto.

In this vignette, the narrator and his friend ,Danny, find an inner tube, which was out of air. To solve the problem Gary put his finger “into the deflating tube”(52).After his friend “fit the patch over the puncture”, he realized that in just in a few minutes he was supposed to be present at Cathy’s pool party. Gary, the narrator, never heard of a pool party and he didn’t know what to expect.At the party, Gary had lots of fun, and burgers, chips, punch, ice cream, and cake was

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