Summary Of The Sanctuary Of School By Lynda Barry

Dao Tran

WR 121

Joshua Fisher

May 2, 2017

Public Schools In the essay “The Sanctuary of School,” Lynda Barry narrates about one time she left her home when she was seven. Her home life was unhappy because of her neglectful parents and their financial difficulties. One morning, she woke up early, left the house and walked to her school. It was still dark, and she stood alone at the playground looking at her school. The janitor came first and offered her help him with his chores. Then, her teacher arrived, took her to the classroom and suggested her draw a picture. She found her sanctuary in the art which saved her chaotic life. Finally, toward the end of the essay, she opposes the idea of cutting the budget in education and supports public

Lynda Barry was born in 1956, and she is an American cartoonist and novelist. Her childhood was difficult and unhappy because when she was twelve, her parents got divorced. Her childhood has a big effect on her art because most of her comic strips are based on her own life experiences (Wikipedia). In her essay, Barry tells the story as a young seven-year-old girl, but many times she uses the word “panic” to express the feeling. The first time the word “panic” appears is in the morning she snuck out. She felt panic because her parents fought all night. They had many relatives to care for, but they unnoticed their children; even if one of their children was missing, they still would not know. The second time she uses the

She uses it to describe the television that she and her brother often watch. The phrase “the sound off” in this case is used in its literal sense, but then she uses it with its figurative meaning to describe the world. She depicts, “It’s was quiet outside. Stars were still out. Nothing moved and no one was in the street. It was as if someone had turned the sound off on the world” (132). The sound of the world cannot be turned off, but she uses this phrase to imply the silence, emptiness, and loneliness of the street and herself. She also uses it to talk about her and her brother at home. She says, “We were children with the sound turned off. And for us, as for the steadily increasing number of neglected children in this country, the only place where we could count on being noticed was at school” (132). They were unnoticed because of the neglect of their parents in their home; the home was full of depression and frustration. However, luckily, they had another shelter, their school, where they could count on being noticed and cared for. She walked to school in the dark because she felt at home and safe at school. She felt less panicked when she stood at the playground looking at the school. She heard the first sound, the sound of birds when she was at school. This demonstrates that the school is a place that can turn on “the sound” of those neglected children like her and her brother. At school, she felt