Stumacher Create Suffering In Subject, Verb, Object
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In traditional Buddhist teachings, the first of the Four Noble Truths contains the word dukkha, which is commonly translated as suffering. However, dukkha involves many kinds of suffering, such as aging, sickness, separation of the pleasant, and even death. In Subject, Verb, Object, Adam Stumacher creates multiple characters that are all suffering, but in varying conditions. Two young girls are suffering from intensely problematic backgrounds that precipitate danger at school, the headmaster is overworked and overburdened with her quest to improve an under-funded school, and the teacher, Mr. Bauer, is shaken emotionally by the fight that occurs in his class room. Stumacher's various writing techniques consolidate to weave an intricate story…show more content… In certain instances, the author gives the reader complete access into the mind of some characters, such as insight into Anh-Thuy's loneliness, Soledad's inability to control herself when she saw Marcos and the “Viet puta” in the cafeteria, and Ms. Torres's reaction to Mr. Bauer's outburst. It seems as though the author is using a third person omniscient point of view, creating a situation in which the reader has much knowledge about every character. This provides the reader with the thoughts of every character, allowing him to form opinions based on their history and feelings, not just their actions. Without this access, it is unlikely that the reader would feel compassion for many of the characters. However, in other instances, the author utilizes a first person point of view, writing “we heard,” “like the rest of us,” and “we imagine.” Interestingly, while the author uses third person omniscient when analyzing Anh-Thuy, Soledad, and Ms. Torres, when discussing Bauer, Stumacher, for the most part, speaks of Bauer in first person, as if the narrator were a member of a group of seasoned teachers at Southie High, a colleague of Mr. Bauer. His occasional use of first person draws the reader in, creating a more personal effect as the reader experiences the feelings of a teacher observing Mr. Bauer. Perhaps this use of first person enables the…show more content… After the first few paragraphs, the reader learns that the story occurs in Southie High School in Boston. The reader immediately knows that the story is taking place in an underprivileged area of Boston, most likely in South Boston. “Southie” Boston was originally a series of working class Irish neighborhoods, and in the present, it is generally associated with a high presence of minorities, a low average income, and a high crime rate, so the reader can infer that this high school is most likely under-funded and overlooked. Similarly, the fact that Mr. Bauer teaches an ESL class reveals to the reader that there is a significant presence of immigrants at Southie High School, because ESL, or English as a Second Language, is for students who are learning English as a second, third or fourth language. His classroom was the best in the school, which leads the reader to believe that the ESL class was relatively large in numbers. All of these details give justification to the reasons that the fight happened and the suffering that the characters undergo, as much of it is linked to poverty. Moreover, during the discussions of Anh-Thuy and Soledad's backgrounds, the setting elicits sympathy from the reader. Anh-Thuy came from the “slums of Saigon”, presently know as Ho Chih Minh, an area of high crime and extreme poverty; the reader feels pity for