The story “The jacket” tells about a boy who wanted a cool jacket but was given a second hand old ugly jacket due to the family having economic problems. When he went to school a bully told him to lay on the ground and the teachers didn’t even care. Then he got a D on his math quiz and people were laughing at the boy who had a ugly jacket and laying on the ground. The boy even braced the cold because he did not want to wear the ugly jacket. He had to wear the jacket for 3 years and by that time he overgrown it and it couldn’t fit. The story is a true story about the author’s life. The author was very poor. His family was in the hands of poverty. He had to wear cardboard shoes! The story had three themes and they were all about the jacket.
The first theme was “you get what you get”. They boy Gary Soto wanted a super cool biker jacket yet his family can’t even afford such luxury items. They probably got him the cheapest one they could find but it was the best they can do for Gary.The jacket was disgusting but it was a jacket. Even though the color was like day old guacamole and the inside was mustard colored(not a good looking combo). The jacket was like his “enemy” but it was the best he could get. His mom says that people in Mexico would love to get that kind of jacket and his mom was probably right about that.
The second theme was that boy was too sensitive. The boy got bad grades and was bullied and both times he wore the jacket. The boy blamed the jacket for all his trouble because then he wouldn’t have to blame himself. The boy Gary thought the jacket was kind of a bad luck charm. He got a D and when he was bullied it was very humiliating. The teachers didn’t even care and the girls turned away to gossip about him. Even his best friend Steve was eating an apple not trying to help him. With all that happening Gary thought the ugly jacket was bringing him the misfortunes.
The third theme was the boy chose to look good over his health. The boy Gary took off the jacket even though it was freezing to play ball. He didn’t want to be humiliating even though he could have caught pneumonia or a cold and his family wouldn’t have enough money to treat him. The boy was embarrassed enough and didn’t want to wear it again and maybe he thought it would cause his team to get bad luck because he already blamed the jacket for several bad things. Poor Gary, he wanted to look good over health!
The jacket by Gary Soto is about the memories of his childhood. Gary was very poor during his childhood and had to wear cardboard shoes and pick grapes for money. His family tried the best they can to buy him a jacket but it was obviously not what he wanted. The story told of his misfortunes and his jacket. It told of how you should be thankful for what you have not think of it as an enemy.
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