The Endless Street Car Ride Into The Night, And The Tinfoil Lee

Theme is a message or underlying meaning of a story, that the author is trying to portray to the reader. the class read three short stories the common theme is “society should not dictate the ethical path one takes in life”. Three stories with this theme are, Two Kinds (By Amy Tan), The Endless Street Car Ride Into The Night, and the Tinfoil Noose (By Jean Shepard), and Summer is Gone (By Susie Kretschmer). Though, while analyzing the themes (from all of the stories) there were two, that rather than relating to each other had opposing themes. These two stories, were Two Kinds and The Endless Street Car Ride Into The Night, and the Tinfoil Noose The story Two kinds has only two really obvious underlying messages, but they have a lot of impact.

The story is about a boy, telling the story from his point of view at age fourteen. He was asked by his friend to go on a blind date with some girl named Junie Jo, he was ready for this girl to be ugly and annoying but she ended up being gorgeous. He starts trying to talk to her, which in turn makes Junie feel uncomfortable about the main character’s presence. Once the main character takes the hint that Junie is not interested in the least, he realizes that he was the blind date set up for Junie. This fact caused the main character to doubt who he was, and make assumptions that were not necessarily true about his friend and other people's opinions of him. What other people thought of him, caused the main character to feel depressed, and doubt not himself but others as well, this ties into the theme of society should not dictate the ethical path one takes in life. This theme, explains what the main character did wrong. Once he thought that Junie Jo didn't like him, he let that affect the way he thought about himself, his actions, and the people around him. In the beginning it states that “I started to work my famous charm on her. Casually, with my practiced offhand, cynical, cutting, sardonic humor.” (Shepard, 203) at this point in the story the main character was confident about this date and how Junie saw him. By the end of the story the main character doubts himself, and it states

This is a story about a boy named David and a girl named Amy, they lived on the same street and become best friends at the age of twelve. They were in two different social groups and had a small amount in common, but in their younger years, Amy and David play by the river, and paint and create pyramids. Years pass, and Amy changes, while David stays the same. Once they were both in high school, the Amy that David had always known was gone. David began to spend more time on his art alone, while Amy went to parties and sporting events. He entered an art competition and won first place, the painting he drew seemed to represent his realization that his and Amy’s relationship was gone. Amy saw his painting and remembered everything they used to be, then one of her friends walked up and began calling the art and artists gay. Amy didn't try to stand up for David, she just agreed and walked away. This is when David realized that he was the one who grew up and she was left behind. This hurts David, he thinks as she leaves “ I cried from within, for I understood that it was I who had grown up and she who had gotten lost.” (Kretschmer 210) This ties into the theme, because it shows what can happen if someone lets society control who they are and who they become. Amy followed the stereotypes and ways of society, which inevitably lead to her following the wrong path. While