Having to move on from something can be very challenging. It could be from a relationship, a career, or the past. Many people are scared of moving on because they are not sure what they are going to do afterward. This is the main topic that Andrew Brininstool talks about in his short story, “Portrait of a Backup.” However, the main question he wants the reader to reflect upon is if a person should be scared of moving on with their life. Honestly, they should not be scared of moving on because it will make it more difficult to move on in the future. The way Brininstool structures the story and applies literary devices helps the reader understand why the Backup is afraid of retiring from football. “Portrait of a Backup” is about a professional …show more content…
The tone is what the author wants the reader to feel, while the mood is how the reader actually feels. Another reason why people are scared of moving on is that they do not know how to express themselves. The mood of the story can be best described as gloomy and reflective. After the team wins the first game of the season, the Backup is drunk by midnight in his living room. He is watching the game highlights on the television and sees that the Kid is having all of the attention. The reader knows that the Backup is feeling jealous because after they won the game, he spits out his gum. Spitting out gum is seen as a rude act, which the Backup does because he just wants to play and have a significant role in the team. During the game against Washington, he is allowed to play, but his body is slower than his mind. He is then replaced by the Kid and is told that he will be needed later, which ended up being false. The fact that the Backup decided to keep going with his career instead of retiring tells the reader that he wants to continue, even though he is past his prime. He does not have the confidence to tell anyone about how he feels about not playing many games because he knows that most of them will tell him to retire, which he does not want to do. The tone of the story has been straightforward, until the near end, when it changes to feeling optimistic. While playing football with the other husbands at the party, he …show more content…
The major thing that the reader notices in the structure are that there are no quotation marks in the story. At first glimpse, the reader might see that there is no dialogue, but as they read it, they notice that there is a lot of dialogue. This allows the reader to pay attention to the story and to read carefully because they could simply read through it without realizing that the characters are talking to each other. This applies to real life, where people have to be great listeners to have healthy relationships with others. People trying to move on might have someone who will listen to their issues but are afraid of what they are going to say. They do not know if their response might be positive or negative, or if the response is not what they like. They might not be able to understand the issue because of their generation. The story has two major symbols: “the Backup” and “the Kid.” The Backup represents the old generation, while the Kid represents the new generation. All that the Backup wants to do is play in the games, but he cannot because of the Kid. The Backup is an older experienced player near the end of his career, while the Kid is an inexperienced rookie with the skills and talents to play in the big league. The reader understands why the Backup wants to play more games, but they also know that the Kid needs to play more if he wants to keep