Kick The Game Analysis

Both negative and positive experiences shape a person to be who he or she is. However, the impacts of these two experiences are debated. Some people would argue that negative experiences have a harmful effect on how individuals become better people in life. They may become jaded and forfeit their right to optimism. However, negative experiences actually have a more positive impact than positive experiences on how people become better because those experiences can be reflected upon and one can learn and change to develop and argue for morally right positions, such as fighting for the right to a proper education, freedom to participate in group activities regardless of the person, and protection from corrupt, evil humans.
Denial of an education
This is seen in “Learning the Game” by Francisco Jimenez when in the beginning the narrator fought to allow Manuelito, a young boy, play the game kick-the-can because he was usually prohibited by Carlos, a forceful character, from playing due to Manuelito's physical slowness. However, the narrator observed Gabriel, a man working to feed his family, physically resist Mr. Diaz, the contractor, after Gabriel argued that he was “not an animal.”. Due to this negative experience, the narrator took a stronger stance on the issue of Maneulito and rebelled against Carlos by refusing to play if Manuelito would not play, which would eventually lead to Carlos allowing Maneulito to participate in the game (Jimenez 183, 186, 187, 188). The negative event the narrator observed urged him to fight against Carlos in order to act morally right: allowing Manuelito, despite his limited physical capabilities, to participate in the game. Thus, the narrator changed from being a good person to a better person throughout the course of the story by taking a stronger stance against Carlos who he believed was wrong. Without this impact left by his negative experience, the narrator may have never committed such a bold act of arguing with Carlos, a boy much larger than him. The narrator would have remained as a much more
This can be seen in “Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master” in which Jourdon Anderson, a former slave, asked his previous master if there would be “any safety for [his] Milly and Jane” and if there would be “any schools opened for the colored children in [the master's] neighborhood” because Jourdon's desire is to give his “children an education, and have them form virtuous habits” (Anderson 196). Even though Jourdon stated that he would work for his old master again if there was payment for his job and his previous work, he prioritizes the safety of his children after apparently experiencing something negative involving Matilda and Catherine. Because of this and his experience as a former slave, Jourdon became a better person in that he is fighting for the protection of his family, a person who has learned to improve his character from negative times. He does not want his own children to experience the same violent abuse for serving whites in the South, so Jourdon negotiates with his former master in hopes of guaranteeing their safety, while working under him. If he does not, it is implied that Jourdon would reject the master's offer without any more thought. This demonstrates how Jourdon acts morally right due to the impact of his negative experiences. Rather than going on to become a worse