Personality And Individualism In The Shining House By Mary Fullerton

The theme statement of this story is: A person's choice when faced with a challenging decision in a convoluted situation demonstrates their personality and individualism. In the story, Mary refuses to sign the petition that every other parent at the party signed saying "I don't think we have the right." This petition was to convince the municipality to build a lane through Mrs. Fullerton's house, which would force her to abandon her home. Mary, by declining to sign the petition, demonstrated her individualism and her personality. She revealed to everyone that she is a person that won't go against an innocent person just to be a part of a group. An example of foreshadowing at the beginning of this short story is how Mrs. Fullerton talks about her husband and the fact that he left her. She mentions that "he's not old neither, you know, not old like I am". To me, this is foreshadowing because later on the young people of the community are turning their backs to her as well. They want to push her out of her house. This is significant to the ending because the idea that young people turn their backs on older people is left in the reader's head and when the parents are the party begin to speak about her, the whole
I believe that these new houses, as a whole, symbolize change because when compared to the run-down houses that, “expressing something like savagery in their disorder", appeared in between them, they indicate the innovation of the community. I think that the author's intent with the title is to emphasize what is of importance to those that live in Garden Place-“all this soundness and excellence seemed to be clearly, proudly indicated on the face of each house - those ingenuously similar houses that looked calmly out at each other, all the way down the street.” What is orderly, new and shiny is civil and superior to what is old and