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The Bum Who Smelled Like A Sandwich

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Everyone wants to be respected and they want to maintain their pride and self-image. Self- image is such a delicate thing, people’s thoughts about one another can change in an instant. In the short story, “The Bum Who Smelled Like A Sandwich”, you can see that it clearly shows the thoughts of one’s image and how it affects their life. How being associated with someone, not wanting to seem like a nobody and judging someone else by their image can be used to show your own self image. The man in this story is too preoccupied with his image to realize what he is putting at stake. The man's mind in this short story was very absorbed by his self-image, every step he took that's all he could think about. He did not even want to get on the bus because of the fear that he would be associated with the smelly bum. The man said ”But they'll think I'm like you and I'm not”, showing just how much his image means to him. Though this would be the last time he would see these people, he was still indecisive. The bun knew very well how the man felt and wanted to make him feel worse by saying ”They’ll see us together and think you’ve sunk below sea level” and “They’ll think my god, what happened to him? Look who he …show more content…

When the bum told him that there were going to be a few others on the bus as well, he was quick to ask which ones, as he said “ ‘which ones?’, I asked, my throat tightening at the thought”, this makes me believe that the man wanted to know so he could make up his mind. He said “I was dressed in a ski jacket, khakis, and boots. I didn’t look like anybody. I looked like everybody” He knew he didn’t look like anybody, he just looked like everybody, he had nothing to show for himself from all these years. Again he was more concerned with how people viewed him than saving a song that used to be important to

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