Literary Essay: “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” In the realistic fiction short story, “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” by Evan Hunter, the author explores the mindset of someone who is close to passing away. Andy is a sixteen-year-old boy who left the dance without Laura for a pack of cigarettes. He ends up getting beaten up by the Guardians and is bleeding out on the sidewalk while it is raining. Next, some people came up to him but just left him there because he was a Royal too. Finally, he realizes being a Royal doesn’t have meaning to him anymore, and then he passes away before Laura finds him and becomes a police officer. In this short story, Hunter uses symbolism and dynamic character, to convey the theme that there is always time for change because the past doesn’t determine the future. …show more content…
This is where Andy wants to make a change in his life before he passes away. Hunter writes, “But he wanted to take off the jacket. If he never did another thing, he wanted to take off the jacket. The jacket has only one meaning now. That was a very simple meaning” (Hunter, 3). This shows that Andy wants to make a change before he passes because the Jacket is symbolizing a Royal and Andy does not want that to be a part of him anymore. As he said in the short story, “I WANT TO BE ANDY” (Hunter, 3). With this, we can tell that Andy is changing for the better and knows if he passes that he will no longer be a part of being a Royal and that he is just a regular guy. This affects us readers to understand that something may symbolize something greater, but it is okay to end up noticing that there is little meaning to something that meant a lot to you in the past. That shows signs of growth and change in a person or character. This helps prove the theme that there is always time for change, because the past doesn’t determine the future. Change is not something that only a few people can