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Theme Of Sunday In The Park By Bel Kaufman

Decent Essays

Themes of Sunday in the Park The short story “Sunday in the Park” by Bel Kaufman contains many different themes. A theme presented in this story is how society expects certain behaviors on the roles men have. People use those stereotypes to define strangers when they walk by, but are they always true? In the story, there are two different fathers. The first man, known as Morton or Larry’s father, is described “city-pale” and “cooped up all week inside the gray factory-like university”. Morton is a university professor, and in stereotype, society expects a professor to be intelligent, polite, and someone to respect. Morton contributes to the themes on the roles of men and their behaviors. The role of being a university professor appears when …show more content…

In the story, Morton is not able to contribute in this theme. Instead of standing up to his own opinions, he agrees with Joe’s father and then begins to state his opinion. Eventually, he is stopped by Joe’s father. As the father begins to crush Morton with his reasoning, Morton does not stay and fix the problem, he walks out. Unlike the stereotype people have on men figures, Morton does not fit into this category, which therefore, cancels him out on the roles of …show more content…

He is known right away to be an intimidating character when he spits on the ground and does not look at Larry’s mother when she speaks. Society would think that he is intimidating, large, unlikable, and never to be messed with. When Larry’s mother tells Joe to stop throwing sand at Larry, Joe’s father encourages Joe to continue. Joe’s father defines the themes on the roles of men and behaviors. Being completely different from Morton, Joe’s father can be presented as a stereotypical man. He obviously knows how to stand up for himself and earn the best for him and his son. He does not back down like Morton and immediately gains what he has fought for with his actions. Just by slowly looking over Morton “from head to foot” and the way he speaks to Morton, Joe’s father fits the stereotype of men perfectly. His behaviors, such as his body language, the way he speaks, and his reasoning indicate he is exactly what he looks

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