The Stone Boy: summary and analysis

The stone boy is a short story. The story mostly describes the tragedy committed by nine-year old Arnold. Arnold, the main character, has a big family of six people. In order to go pick peas, Arnold and his older brother, Eugene, went by themselves. Arnold was bringing a gun, thinking he’s going to shoot ducks. They come to a wire fence that separates the fields from the lake. Eugie passes through the fence first. As Arnold goes between the wires caught the gun. He jerks at it to free it, and a fire goes of accidentally. Arnold feels foolish, expecting his brother to make fun of him for his mistake. His brother is dead. To everyone’s surprise, he doesn’t call for any help, but continues to pick peas after finding out that he’s dead. Therefor, everybody thinks that he is a coldblooded boy rather than an unclear headed thinker. Later, he was brought to the sheriff. Angered by the name “the stone boy” and his terrible action, they shut him out, even when he’s expressing his grief.

Conflict: This story is focusing on the tragedy that Arnold unintended commits. It’s mostly focusing on the weapon law in America, and that it can have major disasters, with free access to guns and other dangerous weapons. It’s also about the isolation that surrounds Arnold. No one really pays attention to him, and they think he’s a monster. But Today, I think we should take care of such things. The government could’ve done something to put things right between this boy and for his actions.