In the January 4th issue of READ, we presented a Charles Dickens classic called The Child's Story. The ending was a little difficult and we asked you to tell us what you thought of it. Here are just a few of your responses.
Jack SpahrThe last line of the story titled The Child's Story was: And I think the traveler must be yourself, dear Grandfather, because this is what you do to us, and what we do to you. The traveler was one who went on his way along the path seeing as a young boy grew from a boy to a grandfather. I suppose that the traveler would be the grandfather as he travels through life. As he travels he follows a path almost like a time line until he comes to the end. Unfortunately I did not understand the "because this is what you do to us, and what we do to you" part of the final sentence. Perhaps it has some meaning relating to what he and the child did as they both went through the path. As he walked and met the boy time and time again they did many things together. I'm not too sure about what it does mean although the sentence does hold some significant meaning.
Abby JohnstonThe Child's Story seems like it was written by someone older than a child. This story seems like some kind of life story wound into something interesting to keep a child amused. The last line surprised me, but after I thought about it, it made more sense. These children were either dying or going far off to somewhere, just like a grandfather would, yet the parents weren't terribly sad, they knew it would happen and they accepted it. I think this story helps the grandfather accept dying.
Chris CovertThe last line in The Child's Story was very well-written by Charles Dickens. It was easily comprehended and sent a large message. It was very powerful. It did not surprise me because that title stated that it was a story from a child. I understood it. The last line states that the boy thinks his grandpa is the travelling man because he watches people change as they grow up until they leave and all he can do is remember them, as the boy can watch his granpa get older and pass away, leaving the boy to remember him.
Connor FitzgeraldIt did not surprise me much to know that the speaker was talking to the grandfather. The last sentence told that the speaker was speaking to the grandfather, and as the story progressed from the beginning I began to know that. Thankfully the story was easy enough to understand, and I began to figure out its deeper meaning once I was finished. I already explained what its basic tale was. The traveler goes on his travels and meets along the way multiple people. He's simply meeting the same person after an amount of time and doing things with him. All in all it was a fine story though with a good deal of meaning to it.
The last line of the sstory did surprise me a little because it sounds like one of those stories that tells you a lesson, and usually someone older tells you something like that. I think that I understand some parts of it. One part I believe I understand is throughout the story it is telling you what is important to people at each age. For example, it was important for the child to play, and for the young boy to learn, and so on. The child could be telling the story of how they thought their grandfather watched them grow up, and watched them go through those phases in life. Plus, he won't be able to find them becouse they grew up, and are "gone" forever. Only when he wants to remember them, is when he can see everyone again. I hope that explanation made sense, because it did to me. :)
Later today... come back to WORD to read Maggie Sullivan's extremely thought out and insightful explanation of Charles Dickens's The Child's Story...
In the meantime, if you haven't yet read Dickens's story, you can find it on page 14 of the January 4th issue of READ... or here.
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