Riding the Whip The theme of the story was perspective. Riding the Whip touched on how some people see things versus others. The following quote is a great example, “She just sees things differently” (Hemley, Whipped 115). Earlier before this Rita had made the assertion that Jay’s sister was crazy. “Your sister’s crazy, isn’t she?” (Hemley, Whipped 115). Initially, this really bothered Jay and he began to stand up for his sister before backing down. “Sure she’s crazy,” I said. “I don’t even care what happens to her” (Hemley, Whipped 115). This shows Jay backing down and conforming to what society thinks of his sister. I found it interesting that Jay had backed off so easy considering that he seemed to be so similar to his older sister. They …show more content…
The imagery shown at the end of the story with the ripped cushion was quite intriguing. I thought the cushion could have represented either Jay or the sister. “I knew which one it was because it was more beat up than the rest, with several gashes in its cushion” (Hemley, Whipped 115). It stood out from the other seats and was different. The cushion might have been viewed negatively to some people while others may have viewed it as positive. Another use of imagery was the whip itself. This whip could have represented society and how it reacts to people like Jay and his sister. It stated that “A whip wasn’t something you rode, it was something to hurt you, something that came down hard on prisoner’s backs and left them scarred” (Hemley, Whipped 114). The imagery in this quote is spectacular. It showed how Jay thought, and made me picture a helpless man being beaten. Jay might have thought this because of the hardships he had endured. Also there was imagery in the petals in the bowl. Jay was in the middle of a loud, wild festival which reminded him of a bowl of petals. From my perspective, this is unusual, I wouldn’t be thinking of flowers in this environment. “Carnival was just a painting, a bunch of petals in a bowl” (Hemley, Whipped 114). The use of imagery shown in this quote disturbed me. To him everything was calm even though he felt trapped and helpless. This could possibly be because he is used to feeling trapped or helpless and it feels natural to him now. From my perspective, this would startle me and I would begin to