The Theme Of Loss Of Innocence In Papa's Parrot

Realization, love, and loss of innocence have the ability to change one’s meaning of importance. In the story “Papa’s Parrot” by Cynthia Rylant the main character Harry does exactly that. In “Papa’s Parrot”, Harry always went to Mr. Tillian’s (his dad’s) candy and nut shop after school. A little bit later in the story, Harry entered high school, and started going to other stores with his friends rather than going to Mr. Tillian’s shop. Mr. Tillian would be waiting at his shop to see if Harry came, but Harry didn’t come as often. Eventually, Mr. Tillian fainted in the shop and ended up in the hospital, and Harry came to visit. Harry said he would watch the shop, so he started cleaning and Rocky kept looking for Harry and missing him. Even though Harry was right there later Harry finished cleaning the shop and went to visit Mr. Tillian. In “Shells” also by Cynthia Rylant the main character Michael experiences the death of his parents and has to live with his aunt Esther. Michael hates his aunt, but later in the story he decides to get a hermit crab and Esther makes sure the crab doesn’t grow big enough to

Furthermore, he felt very lonely because he lost his parents which changed his priorities, he was trying to find a companion. Also, Michael feels like he is treated differently than his biological parents. In the text it states, “Though he denied it, he did hate Esther. She was so different from his mother and father” (Rylant 2). This excerpt makes it evident that Michael was forgetting that Esther is a different person. Also, Michael was not ready to accept the way Esther did things differently from his parents which drove him to hate her. As a result, Rylant shows through Michael’s actions that once you lose your innocence your priorities start to change even if you don’t want them