Author's Note: When I first read this short story, it made me think of someone who has helped me, Dr. Allison. But I also tried to focus on symbolic language, although it wasn't plentiful, there was still some within The Treasure of Lemon Brown. Even so, this piece I focused on my transitions, a lot. Please give me feed back!
Greg
Ridley has always wanted to play on the school basketball team, yet he
never got the chance. His grades weren’t high enough, and his dad was
disappointed in him. However, in this short story, The Treasure of Lemon Brown,
the main focus isn’t on basketball. This story also deals with having
trouble with your parents, meeting someone who has changed your life,
and the lesson of each man’s treasure. Throughout each of these
elements, the author also finds a way to use symbolic language.
Unlike
Greg, I have been fortunate enough that I haven’t had any major trouble
with my parents. While we both have struggled with math, there are
still two major differences between Greg and myself. My parents would
never consider taking away my sports privileges, or even threatening to
do it;however, that seems to be all Greg’s parents do. The other
difference between he and I is that he “ran away” from home, and that is
something I would never even think about. Even though, I would never
run away, I still recognized the symbolism written by the author.
Running away from home, usually shows an act of rebelling, yet in this
story it symbolizes running from your problems or even the truth. This
author, probably incorporated this idea to show children there is always
another way to deal with issues, something my third grade teacher
taught me.
Someone
who has greatly impacted my life was my third grade teacher, Ms.
Allison, who is now Dr. Allison. She taught me to look at things
differently and often encouraged me to think from a different points of
view. The most impactful thing she has done for me, was allow me to
realize what my treasure was, my family and my friends. This relates to
Lemon Brown and Greg, because Mr. Brown made Greg think differently
towards his situation, that involved his parents and his grades. Lemon
Brown, symbolizes that person in your life, who often does something
mentionable but is usually forgotten. His treasure, doesn’t have much
symbolism to it, yet it is something worth while to think about.
Lemon
Brown’s treasure was an old rusty harmonica, that his son bought for
him. Oddly enough, the neighborhood was shocked when they discovered
what his treasure actually was. They assumed that the treasure of Lemon
Brown would be “valuable” and would be worth something to everyone. Two
men even tried to steal Lemon’s treasure. The robbers, trying to steal
the treasure, teach the reader never to assume anything because everyone
has their own ideas when it comes to an object’s worth. The author
obviously wanted to use this idea because he wished to provoke the
reader into thinking more deeply when they hear the word treasure.
The
main focus in this book, when you aren’t analyzing it, would be
basketball. Yet when I really thought about this story, I took so much
more away from it, through the symbolism and the relatable situations.
I really focused on the treasure aspect of The Treasure of Lemon Brown,
which is not to assume anything and to respect others’ treasures. Lemon
Brown, a unique fictional character, is an amazing example of all of
this. He helped others, much like Dr. Allison did for me. At first, I
wished Lemon Brown would be in my life, and now I realize everyone has a
“Lemon Brown” in their life. Mine is Dr. Allison!
