Evan Hunter Critical Essay Example

When an ending or specific area of a textual scripture or writing is satisfying it is when it meets the reader's needs such as did the ending impact them, did it make them feel a certain way? There are debates whether or not a specific ending of the passage,” ON THE SIDEWALK BLEEDING” was satisfying or not. On my behalf as a reader, I believe that the ending of the writing piece by Evan Hunter was not satisfying. In the next following paragraphs, there would be evidence and reasoning why the ending was not satisfying to the reader.

When I was encountering the ending of the passage there was nothing to be impacted by or make me feel a certain way and it led to the conclusion that I as a reader didn't feel that the ending was satisfying. I felt that at the end of the passage,” ON THE SIDEWALK BLEEDING” because there were unanswered questions that needed to be answered to create an emotional impact on us readers. An example of an unanswered question that was left off was did the Royals get revenge towards the Guardians? I can prove my claim because, on page seven, the last paragraph says,” The cop picked up the jacket and turned it over in his hands. "A Royal, huh?" he said.” In textual evidence stated the cop created a sense where he was not surprised because he was a royal, and it gives us questions to us as readers whether did the Royals harm people in any way shape, or form and do they get involved with the police often?  

Another reason why the ending was not satisfying was that it was obvious/expected. I can prove my claim because on page 1 paragraph 2 it says,” a knife entered just below his rib cage and had been drawn across his body violently, tearing a wide gap in his flesh. He lay on the sidewalk with the March rain drilling his jacket and drilling his body and washing away the blood that poured from his open wound.” This detail shows that he is hurting and needs urgent care but doesn't get it so as a result, in the beginning, this detail foreshadowed his life which in the end he dies/passes away. When an ending of writing is expected it gives less satisfaction to the reader because they already know what is coming instead of being shocked and impacted.

Other readers suggest that the ending of the passage, “ ON THE SIDEWALK BLEEDING” was satisfying because there was character development. The main character of the passage was Andy who got stabbed and changed his point of view during when before and after he got stabbed. In the beginning, when Andy was not stabbed he was confident in his image of being a Royal (gang) because he was wearing a purple jacket that represented the Royals. In the end, he had many regrets and said being a part of a gang was not worth it because he could have done more in life. His character developed from him being passionate about being in a gang into having so many regrets. On page six in paragraph six, it says,” He knew he was going to die now. He was filled with sadness that his life would be over at sixteen. He felt all at once as if he had never done anything, never seen anything, never been anywhere. There were so many things to do. He wondered why he'd never thought of them before, wondered why the rumbles and the jumps and the purple jackets had always seemed so important to him before. Now they seemed like such small things in a world he was missing, a world that was rushing past at the other end of the alley.” Because of this, his character development thoughts were expected that leaves the ending satisfying. On page six in paragraph eight, it says,” If he had not been wearing the jacket, he wouldn't have been stabbed. The knife had not been plunged in hatred of Andy. The knife hated only the purple jacket. The jacket was a stupid meaningless thing that was robbing him of his life.” Which makes the decision he made an expected one that led to consequences. It is common knowledge because if you're in a gang there is violence and enemies that will attack you.

Finally, the last few lines of “ONE THE SIDEWALK BLEEDING” did not hold my attention. The reason for this is because some unanswered questions needed to be addressed. Another explanation was that the conclusion was expected. The author modified and improved the character, but he left a lot of questions unanswered. There were debates on whether or not the ending was intriguing, and details were given. As a result, the end of the passage was not intriguing as a reader.