Show And Tell Analysis

To a young, adolescent boy, a strong male role model can seem like a hero. They see these individuals as perfect and many feel the need to base their actions on what they think these role models would do or would want them to do. In addition, the lack of or loss of a strong male role model can also have strong effects, in that then the boy isn’t sure of how to act and what to believe. In the short story, “Show and Tell” by Andrew Lam, the boys’ prejudices and behaviors show how influential male role models are in adolescent boys lives, in that they have all formed wildly different personalities and views on the Vietnamese war primarily due to the effect that their male role models have had on them. The strong and aggressive feelings against
From the beginning, it is apparent that Robert is a very shy child who would much rather be seen as typical instead of out of the ordinary. During show and tell, Robert describes how he “ [hates] being in front of the class as much as [he hates] anything” (Lam 1) because he has to be put directly into the limelight. Show and tell is supposed to be a time to show something interesting about oneself and Robert clearly wants no part of that. Additionally, we learn from Robert that his father, a traditional very strong role in a young person’s life, “left when [he] was four”(Lam 2) and that Robert “[doesn’t] remember him very well” (Lam 2). He has grown up for as long as he can remember without a strong male presence in his life. This has left a psychologically negative effect on him, in that one of the people that was supposed to always love him and support him instead abandoned him. This has left Robert to always feel as if he is unworthy, causing him to be very shy. Clearly this exhibits the importance of a strong male role model in a young boy's life, in that the lack of this has clearly left Robert negatively, emotionally