Natasa Misic -- Journal Entry 3

Natasa Misic -- Journal Entry 3

The Man in the Well by Ira Sher

The children found a man in a well and without much talking between each other decided that they shouldn’t help him get out. The narrator mentions that he is not sure that they even had a reason which brings up a great point of people being cruel without a reason or perhaps because they want to have power over someone. Children can be very cruel and bullies to each other and this is a perfect example. The text mentions that the children never went too close to the well because they did not allow the man to see them and they themselves never saw him as well. This shows that it is easier to mistreat and bully a person if you don’t have to face them therefore not having a close connection with them or a real identity.

The children continued to torture the man for days by not getting him out of the well but provided food for him so that he would stay alive. People are responsible for helping each other and I find it surprising that not one of the children decided to be responsible and stand up to his or her friends and tell them that they should do the right thing. The children are torturing the man on many levels including lying to him about the help that is coming.

One day one of the girls, Wendy, slips up and accidentally tells the man that “Aaron’s dad is coming”. Immediately, the narrator says that she broke the rule. This means that “the man” now has a name which changes the entire situation and it becomes much more personal and harder for the children to torture the man. The boy whose name was revealed gets angry and reveals everyone else’s names as well. The game changes for all of the children at this point as the man is now calling them by name which scares them since the identities are becoming on a much more personal level. This relates well to people in today’s society because with our technology relationships are much less personal and even for younger children bullying is much easier to do online then in person.

In the end of the story the man became very tired and was giving up on the children. Finally, one night the children were so ashamed of themselves for not helping this poor man that they couldn’t even look at each other. The man’s life ended on a night it rained and the children never came back to the well again. Years later they have still never returned to the well due to their shame but most of all because they realize that they have let a man die without helping and that guilt will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

This story makes me feel sad about what our society has come to. Today, we are almost completely reliable on email, text messaging and the internet that we are losing all personal connection and relationships with people. Elementary to high school students have the most serious issues with online bullying and posting mean things about each other just because they can and they feel hidden, powerful and unidentified behind their computer. This is a serious problem because every day there is a growing number of adolescent and teenage suicides due to online bullying. I do believe the story has a clear point and the message of torture and bullying is very severe especially nowadays. I believe people need to be more educated about it and help our future generation understand the seriousness of this problem.