On the Sidewalk Bleeding

On the Sidewalk Bleeding by Evan Hunter is a short story about a boy named Andy. Andy was a 16 years old and had just been stabbed below the ribs. Andy was part of a gang called “The Royals”. He just stopped by the shop only to buy some cigarettes and the next moment he’s on the ground bleeding,“He had been stabbed 10 minutes ago.” Andy had a girlfriend named Laura who he had left when he went to get the cigarettes and she was the only thing he could think of,“He wondered if Laura was dancing wondered if she had missed him yet.” A few people had walked past Andy and as they noticed that he was wearing the ‘The Royals jacket’ they refused to help the bleeding teenager and just left him. Andy didn’t know joining a popular gang would lead to the end of his life.The theme of the story “On the Sidewalk, Bleeding” is identity. Andy is angry at everyone for not giving him a chance because of how people identify him. All anyone sees him as, is a member of the gang called the Royals. Andy wants to be known as Andy. The target audience for this short story is around 13+ because I find its a bit too scary and depressing for anyone younger.

The setting of this story takes place on a sidewalk outside an alley, late at night. The setting of the story is very gloomy. It is also raining, which, went with the alley and makes the story very spooky. In this story, the setting makes a huge difference on the book. The author tries to create a scary setting. The rain is the key to the story. We can imagine Andy, lying on the ground with blood spilling out and its being washed away by the rain, witch is also imagery. Imagery is a technique that the author used to show Andy’s thoughts and feelings. “He had known excruciating pain when the knife had torn across his body," “Bubbling of blood between his lips.” This shows the reader that Andy is in a lot of pain because Andy is choking on his own blood that is being coughed up.

I really enjoyed this