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A Fortune

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A Fortune
A Fortune is a short story that portrays the issues that may occur regarding to parenting and how it affects children. It takes up themes like turning bad experiences into deeds, and how we as individuals can change other people’s life just by showing understanding.
The story is based on the remembrance of the narrator and main character, which causes the narration to be non-omniscient. The fact that story is told from the main characters point of view, makes the narrator’s feelings and perception permeate all happenings throughout the story.
The language of the story is characterized by spoken language, which gives the reader an impression of a story directly told by the narrator. Colloquial language is seen in sentences such as “… but it’s a helluva lot” on first page line 31, where the phrase is written as it is pronounced. This gives the story an offhand attitude. By that you can tell that the narrator must be a casual character who does not want to make the story formal. This makes the main character relatable and humane, which emphasizes the purpose of the story: The way that the main character relates to the child makes the reader realize how important it is to get in contact with other people and show understanding.
By the narrator’s account of growing up in a rough environment, you can tell that he has not got the best conditions for a great, easy life later on. It is logical, that if a child grows up with parents who do not know how to show appreciation and love, it is hard for the child to show love against others. The narrator mentions on first page line 14-15: “I just didn’t want to know how much Pop [his father] thought I was worth”. He is so worried that his father does not love him, that he will not count the money his father gives him. Besides that, he has to worry about his mother because of her constant sadness. The narrator has to deal with grown up problems as a young child, for example when his mother complains about his father, and that he never should become like him on first page line 19: “I remember she cried a lot because she was always worried that I would turn out like my >>stinking, rotting, lout-of-a-father

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