a small good thing

A Small, Good Thing, was a short story I enjoyed reading. It was easy to read, the plot was easy to follow, and I thought it presented many important themes. I liked the role of the baker and the effect he had on the story. As a reader you almost felt as bad for him as you did for the mother and father. He was just a lonely man who was trying to run a business to keep ends meet. He got caught up in a bad situation where he had no idea of what happened. The negro family on the other hand kind of confused me. I am not sure whether the author wanted the reader to feel worse for the negro family or Scotty’s parents. I took it as you should always be thankful because someone, somewhere, is probably worse off. I also liked it because the emotion showed by the parents of Scotty were fairly accurate. I think if I was in the same situation I would have acted in a similar fashion. This allows the story to be more personable. I also would react the same way when the baker called. Even though you know there is no way he could have known about the death you feel helpless and just want to put the blame on someone else. The ending even though the boy died was happy in the sense that the baker helped out the family. It displayed the importance of human interaction and people helping people.