Just Walk On By Brent Staples Summary

“Maturity is not measured by age. It’s an attitude built by experience” (Unknown). The story Just Walk on By and Marigold all explain how life struggles force people to mature because it changes someone's perspective on things. Sometimes people make a decision that can affect the people around them in a vigorous way or careless way. One example is the story Just Walk On By, by Brent Staples. Staples is an author and editorial writer for the New York Times who was born in 1951 in Chester Pennsylvania. When Staples was sitting in his office writing then the office manager called the security because he was “mistaken for a burglar” (Staples). Since Staples is black and men that is why he was mistaken for a burglar and when he did not do anything. …show more content…
For example, Staples talks about he saw frequent “tough boy locked away” and times when he “buried” some because of some “bravado played on the streets” but he did not want to be one of those kids because he wanted to be a “shadow” (Staples). Staples talks about how numerous boys he knew made the poor choice that affected them in a bad way because he knew that he was not going to make the same poor mistakes as they did but rather he was going to live his life and become mature from those mistakes. Staples chose to be a well-behaved boy and a not end his life at a short age. Another example is from the story Marigolds, When Lizabeth looks back at the moment when she threw the rock then she things that, it “moment marked the end of innocence” (Collier 451). Even though Lizabeth made a choice that happened the long time ago but she actually understands the lesson when she got older. This lesson made her think about what she done was wrong and it explained how childish and foolish she was. Lizabeth decision affected her more than it affecting somebody else. Sometimes people make decisions that impact them more than it does to someone else. Both of these examples show how people make decisions that affect them in anything excellent or inadequate way, depending on what kind of decisions they

Show More