Richard Song
Responsibility is a necessary character that a person should have basically as an individual and a person socially. It helps a person to build his values, and affects his or her decision making. Responsibility is a scale to measure if a person is mature enough as a human being in the society. Mr. Luria in Miriam Waddington’s “The Halloween Party”, who has left his home land Russia, uses responsibility to try to build a brand new life for his family over again. He makes responsibility his guide line for his family in the new world. In fact, Mr. Luria is responsible to his tradition and to his children; responsibility is presented in every behavior and decision of Mr. Luria’s.
Mr. Luria is a Russian immigrant who is Jewish, which gives him some unique identity. He dreamed to have a farm all the years rather than a job in the city which is more preferable for most people. He wants to maintain the same farming lifestyle as before. “He would begin to talk about his dream of a Jewish settlement on the banks of Red River.” Mr. Luria cannot get rid of his memories and emotions of being a Jewish Russian living a simple life cultivating on the farm. He even plans to build up a community of Jewish in the new country, for all Jewish to live together and avoid being assimilated. He feels glorious of being a Jewish although he is damaged because of it. The responsibility to his tradition makes Mr. Luria a bit conservative to accept the other people and traditions in the new country.
As a strong character, Mr. Luria insists his responsibility to his family as well as to his traditions. Being a father of two children, he always pays attention to the education to his children. He protects them from other culture and religions because he considers Jewish the best. Even a children’s holiday, Halloween, which is the eve before All Saints’ Day, can cause his precaution. “I don’t want my children celebrating Christmas or going to Halloween