William Faulkner's Short Stories

595 Words3 Pages
Throughout the story, Sylvia learns many things about life and where she falls socially. When the class enters the store, she treats it like a holy place. This is explained on pages 111-112 when she talks about how she compares entering F.A.O. Schwarz with entering a church. "But once we got in there and everything so hushed and holy and the candles and the bowin and the handkerchiefs all on drooping heads, I just couldn't go through with the plan.... Same thing in the store." Both places were very uncommon to Sylvia. Before the girls entered the church, they had intentions of disturbing the peace and being silly, this was the same with the store. When they entered the store and the church they immediately became more respectful because they felt out of place and could sense that they needed to behave. Coming from Harlem and going to such an…show more content…
Though they may not quite understand why Ms. Moore brought them to the store, it is apparent to the reader that Ms. Moore does this in order to teach the kids something they would not understand for a long time. This is demonstrated on page 133 as the kids are exiting the store. "'I think,' says Sugar pushing me off her feet like she never done before cause I whip her ass in a minute, 'that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it?" Here, Sugar has figured out that the where the class lives and their economic rank in is different from others, specifically those who shop at F.A.O. Schwartz. Though she answers the question, Sugar does not fully understand what that means and how her situation will affect her life in the long run. Coming from Harlem and being in her economic situation, Sugar and her classmates are set up for an uphill battle through life to get an equal crack at the
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