Summary Of Just Walk On By Brent Staples

As Daniel H. Pink, an author of literature regarding work, management, and behavioral science states, “Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes.” Empathy is the exact emotion that Just Walk on By by Brent Staples instills into readers. Brent Staples successfully achieves this effect by meticulously constructing a complex persona with anecdotes and a specific point of view and by conveying emotions to his audience through expressive imagery and striking diction. Staples reaches the readers by establishing a shy persona that could do absolutely do no harm. On the first page, he tells readers of an unpleasant encounter he had had with a pedestrian and continues on about the

On page 3, the author attempts to describe the streets of SoHo “...where sidewalks are narrow and tightly spaced buildings shut out the sky…” This description provides a tense, uncomfortable tone. It even makes the audience feel slightly claustrophobic. Staples goes on to describe that in these settings women often “...forge ahead as though bracing themselves against being tackled” when they see Staples walking among them. The author makes the readers feel exactly how the taut the situations were. Through vivid imagery, the audience gets to experience the emotions that Staples and the pedestrians had. Staples pulls the readers from being mere spectators of the experiences he has had directly into the shoes of the pedestrians and Staples himself. Thus, the audience becomes more prone to sympathize with Staples’ situation. Furthermore, readers gain a deeper understanding of how real and common the problem that Staples addresses in his essay is. The emotions portrayed by the strong imagery not only garners sympathy, it may help readers relate better to Staples’ essay. When the author instills these emotions into the readers, they may also realize one very important aspect: they too have felt this way and been in a similar situation. This only serves to further reinforce Staples’ message that stereotyping has become a horrible plague not only to him but to society as a whole. Additionally, the rich portrayal of the emotions felt by the pedestrians shows that Staples has a profound understanding of how others feel in his presence. This shows a clarity in Staples’ thinking and will allow readers to trust that the author has done heavy thinking and analyzing, thus helping his credibility. Staples’ meticulously worded imagery throughout his essay successfully conveys tense, skeptical, and even fearsome emotions in his readers. In turn, these emotions help portray Staples’