People
Summary Christine Pinsent-Johnson has written a story titled “The Visitor”. At the beginning of this story the town of Copelin, Newfoundland was slowly dying and lots of people were leaving to find a better life. William wanted to leave to but his dad, Graham-Percy, didn’t want to have to find a new job because he knew he would never find one as good as his current job. Will hadn’t been very happy with his dad lately; he wanted him to just stand up and state his mind, not to agree to everyone else even if he didn’t agree inside. When the moose first wandered into their town a frightened Mrs. Tilley saw him first. Soon enough everyone had seen him, either searching through garbage cans or nibbling on flowers, and it was the main topic of conversation. Some liked the moose and fed it treats out their back doors, while others disliked it for making a mess of their stuff. Even the Mayor, Mr. Rideout, began consulting with Will’s dad whether or not they should get rid of it because of all the complaints. Graham-Percy was one of the ones who fed the moose treats; Will knew that the moose made him happy and gave him hope. However when the Mayor asked his opinion he agreed. Coming to an agreement the Mayor called a town meeting to discuss the issue. Will had never seen everyone so excited, taking sides and putting up signs, for such a small issue. Will’s dad had asked him if he wanted to go to the meeting with him so they went together. At the meeting representatives stated both sides of the issue. Soon enough everyone was shouting out their opinions on the moose with the Mayor trying to get everyone’s attention. Slowly Graham-Percy stood up to state his point. The whole room went quiet; Graham-Percy never disagreed with the Mayor. He told everyone of how the moose had given them some hope in these dark days, they needed that. Everyone listened and Will was glad his dad finally spoke up.
Soon after a law was passed protecting the moose. They made it into the city’s newspaper and the town was slowly coming back to life. Graham-Percy finally earned Will’s trust and for the first time Will noticed the same tiny gold flecks that he had in his eyes in his father’s eyes. The moose gave the town hope and they finally saw a future for themselves while before they didn’t.