The Man In The Well By Ira Sher

September 12, 2012

The short story called “The Man in the Well” by Ira Sher was definitely eye catching. It was an easy read because it was so absurdly interesting to me. Here are my ranked statements from most accurately expressed statements to least most accurately statements:

1. Within groups, people may engage in conduct that is wilder, stranger, or more uncivilized than their usual behavior when alone.
2.    Even in their later years, people may have trouble forgiving themselves for bad things they did when they were young.
3.   When dealing with an adult, even a helpless one, children may have in their minds images of parental authority that affect how they treat a person.
4. Children may have difficultly sharing the perspective of another person.
5.   People need to see one another’s faces if they are to trust one another.
6.   Children may fail to understand when an adult is in danger.
7.    Children are capable of conspiring with one another against the adult world.
8.       The psychological reality of children and adults is a deep well within themselves that they cannot see into.
9.  We should be more compassionate toward people who are trapped.
10.  People project their fears or suspicions onto others, even those who do not actually pose a threat to them.

“Within groups, people may engage in conduct that is wilder, stranger, or more uncivilized than their usual behavior when alone;” this initially caught my eye because I believe that is expresses Sher’s theme perfectly. For example, say one little girl was walking through an open field and heard a man yelping for help. This little girl would most likely go find a more authoritative figure to aid to this man. I am only saying this because I do not know many children/people who would walk by a person in need of help and not actually do anything about it. Right now I am currently enrolled in Introduction to Psychology and one of the worksheets my professor handed out was titled “A Survey of Psychological Beliefs.” One of the beliefs was that “if you need help from a bystander, you are more likely to receive it if only a few people are nearby.” This quote was a proven study which helps explicate this statement even further.

Next, I ranked “even in their later years, people may have trouble forgiving themselves for bad things they did when they were young” number two because that is just simply how humans live. No one lives without any regrets and if they do then they’re lying. The last short paragraph in “The Man in the Well” is a perfect example of this statement. “After that we didn’t play by the well anymore; even when we were much older, we didn’t go back. I will never go back.” (Lines 62-65) This quote signifies that the persona of who is telling the story felt troubled about what had happened is his past.

“When dealing with an adult, even a helpless one, children may have in their minds images of parental authority that affect how they treat a person” is ranked number three because some children may not want to help adults because of their home life.  Some parents may be abusive and violent in their homes which would make such children more skeptical about other adults. Perhaps many parents have scarred their children which would then make the impression that all parents act like their own.  Mentioned in the story, the persona’s parents are mentioned every once in a while; the mother always seems to be crying when the persona mentions her on the night that it rained. Do the mother’s tears symbolize a deeper meaning within the thesis?

“Children may have difficulties sharing the perspective of another person” is ranked number four on my list because in all simplicity, kids are kids. Depending on how old they are, they don’t even know how to think about themselves unless they’re hungry, tired, or have to use the bathroom. Children simply don’t have the mature mind-set that older people have because they most likely haven’t experienced life changes yet. Although, yes, Sher does explain through the narrator that he/she “watched the shudder move from face to face,” (lines 42-43) but this does not justify understanding a perspective of someone.

The statement, “people need to see one another’s faces if they are to trust one another” is in the middle of the ranking because, although it is considered “judging a book by its cover,” people tend to believe the mentality of “seeing is believing.” (Blind people are an exception to my chosen statement #5.) I would say that children are more likely to tryst someone by seeing their face, not from looking down a pitch black well. The children in the story want to know what the man’s characteristics are and what his name is so they can most likely be able to trust him. Who trusts someone when they can’t see them and when they won’t tell what their name is anyway?

“Children may fail to understand when an adult is in danger” is an obvious statement. Kids typically think that mommy and daddy are super heroes and that they’re never in trouble. The children in “The Man in the Well” let this helpless man die in a well, never once seeking any type of help for him because they must not understand that this adult is in crucial danger.

The statement “the psychological reality of children and adults is a deep well within themselves that they cannot see into” is voted toward the end because I think parents know the psychological reality about themselves, it is the kids who do not. This statement is just not the best thesis statement to explain Sher’s story.

 The statement “we should be more compassionate toward people who are trapped” is towards the end of accurate thesis statements solely because of the word “trapped.” I was unsure of how trapped was being used in the context. If trapped was taken literally, as if being trapped in a well or if the word trapped had a deeper symbolic meaning.

Finally, the statement that is least accurately expressing the main idea of “The Man in the Well” is “people project their fears or suspicions onto others, even those who do not actually pose a threat to them.” This statement honestly just confused me which is why I ranked it last. At first I thought I understood it, so I ranked it right in the middle at number five, but after revising my paper I grew confused of the statement’s context and had to make an adjustment. Thus, this statement is last because I feel it does not relate to the previously read short story.