In the short story, The Bicycle by Jere Matlock, the theme is, You have to take risks to grow. It is developed and strengthened by the main character's actions. Ray, our main character early on in the story gets himself in trouble with his foster parents purposefully so he can stay home alone. “But under no circumstances, no matter if the house were burning down, could any of the foster kids go into the Flahive’s bedroom.” (2) Ray enters the Flahive’s bedroom and steals a box of condoms knowing that it would incur the greatest reaction from the flahives, it was his plan all along to have himself separated from the flahives so he could be home alone. “For one month Ray would not be allowed to eat with the group, watch any TV, go to any movies, or go on any outings other than to church.” (3) Ray uses his foster brothers older, rusty bicycle without permission from…show more content… He does this to try and learn how to ride. “The dogs met him at the base of the cedar tree, yapping and leaping up on him as if he were one of them. They followed him from ahead, through the back yard, into the storage shed off the garage where the rusted bicycle leaned against the wall next to Glenn’s newer, bigger bicycle and those of the girls.” (3) Ray knows that he will get in trouble if he tries to ride the old bicycle. So, he waited until he is home alone to do so. He has told the other children that he knows how to ride a bike to avoid embarrassment because he can not. Towards the end of the story, The Bicycle Ray after successfully discovering that to ride a bicycle you lean from side to side to steer and keep balance. Decides to climb the huge cedar tree in the front yard of the farm. “On sudden impulse he climbed all the way to the top, to where the whole tree leaned over a bit from his weight. The farmhouse, the fields, even the sky all looked somehow smaller than they had an hour ago.” (6) Ray views the farm as being smaller now because of his new found skill of riding the
