An Analysis of Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket and Catch the Moon

Essay A mindset in life is to worry about oneself and his or hers priorities, but that mindset can enlarge and take over other priorities or wants in one’s life. A story that represents that mindset enlarging is “Contents of a Dead Man’ Pocket” which is about man not going to the movies with his wife so that he can stay home and work. A different story that shows this is “Catch the Moon” which is about how a kid is forced to work at a junkyard and there he meets a girl asking him to find her a hubcap. In both stories the main character is faced with a conflict that makes them really that they had been selfish about themselves. The universal theme for both stories is when one is consumed in his or hers own world then they will miss out on life around them, causing one to enjoy their life more fully. In the short story “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket” the main character (Tom) gets obsessed with work that he misses out on time with his wife. Even Tom’s wife tries to convince him that he is obsessing over work, “You work too much though, Tom- and too hard” (Finney 6). Tom’s wife thinks that he works too much and that he needs some time to relax. Also his wife wants Tom to spend more time with her instead of worrying about getting a project done for work. Toms is too consumed with work that he is missing out on spending time with his wife. When Tom faces “As he s[ees] the yellow paper, the pencil flying, scoope[s] off the desk and, unimpeded by the glassless window, sail out into the night and out of his life” (Finney 16). The yellow piece of paper represents all the hard work that he did to try and get the project done. And when the yellow piece of paper flew out the window, it symbolized him letting go of all the stress that work gave him. By realizing that he was too consumed with work he was able to spend more time with his wife. Another example of Tom being able to relax and enjoy life more is when he let go of work that he did, “Tom Benecke