A Small, Good Thing

1: Why do you think Ann just assumes that the baker has had kids and been through all of the times of birthday parties?

2: Why do you think the baker is so unfriendly with Ann?

3: Why do you think the driver who hit Scotty did not come back to check to make sure he was ok?

4: Do you think Scotty's parents will try and find the driver who hit Scotty?

5: Why do you think the baker harasses the family so much about a sixteen dollar cake?

6: Why do you think the author included the part about the negro family?

7: Do you think the doctor actually thought there was nothing wrong or do you think he was omitting something in his reports to the parents?

8: Why do you think Ann wants to tell the teenage girl "Don't have children?"

9: What do you think the cake symbolizes?

10: Why do you think the baker opened up so much to complete strangers?

A Small, Good Thing

This drawing is depicting the scene when a man is calling the couple and taunting them about their son (the true reason for the cruel call is revealed at the end of the story). On the left is the angry caller who I drew in all black because of his lack of compassion and understanding, and I used red to depict anger. On the right is the mother of the child who is shocked and disturbed to receive this call. In the left side of her frame I made a golden background to symbolize the smallest bit of hope they have for their son's healthy recovery. But, as this call continues, the mother becomes full of hate and anger and focuses her energy on the caller as opposed to her son. The phone is red because it brings the hate into the mother's life and her eyes and closes are black as the hope is draining out of her.

A Small, Good Thing

The story A Small, Good Thing by Carver was a very good story overall. The story starts out with a boy, Scottie, who is hit by a car and is put in the hospital with a fractured skull. It seems that he is in a comatose like state, but the doctors assure the parents that it isn't. As the evening goes on the boy's condition does not get any better, and the doctors are puzzled by this. In the end the boy wakes up for a brief moment, and then dies. What made this story good was the fact that it was a story that gripped ones emotions and made you feel like you were part of the story. The bad part about this story was the open endedness. All of the Carver stories never have an absolute ending. For example, in the ending of this story the parents of Scottie go to the bakery to confront the baker who keeps calling them. The baker offers them bread and the story ends like this, "They talked on into the early morning, the high, pale cast of light in the windows, and they did not think of leaving." So what does this mean? Nevertheless when we break the story down we find a moment of grace in the end when the baker offers them bread. It is almost communion like. And when we compare this story to others, we can find similar messages and themes in the story Chixiclub. We need to live every day to the fullest and cherish what we have.

A Small, Good Thing