Samuel by Grace Paley

"Samuel"

Grace Paley born in New York City in 1922 wrote Samuel. There could be many reasons why this man could of pulled the emergency stop cord. What made the man pull the emergency stop cord at exactly the right time? Was the reason the man pulled the emergency stop cord because the boys were disrespectful to their elders, was he a sissy in his childhood, or did he act impulsively to teach the boys a lesson.

First, off the four boys were fooling around on a New York subway. They were jumping from caboose to another caboose on the swaying platform. Their names were Calvin, Alfred, Tom, and Samuel. "The men and the women in the cars on either side watch them" (12). "They don't like them to jiggle or jump but don't want to interfere" (12). The ladies in the car became very angry when they looked at the four boys (12). One of the ladies wanted to tell to boys to stop but didn't know how they would react so she didn't say anything. "She was also afraid they'd de fresh and laugh at her and embarrass her" (12). So she finally had enough courage to get up and go to the door and open it and she said "You boys will be hurt, you'll be killed, I'm going to call the conductor if you don't just go into the next car and sit down and be quiet" (12). After she said that the boys laughed at her and embarrassed her just as she was afraid of. This little dispute could have annoyed the man but this isn't the reason that he pulled the emergency stop cord. It would make no sense if it did.

A man who was riding the subway and over hear the conversation and started to reminisce about his childhood and became very angry because he said he wishes that his childhood was more watchful than brave. "So then he stood up and looked at the boys straight in the eyes of a couple of seconds" (13). "Then he walked in a citizenly way to the end of the car where he pulled the emergency stop cord" (13). What made him pull the cord when he knew exactly when Samuel was not holding on to the chain and when he was going to pound one of his friends in the back. It definitely had to be something in his childhood or he would have never said that he wishes that his boyhood were more watchful then brave.

Finally, I think that this was more of an impulsive act more than anything. He was reminiscing