Preview

The Man from the Board, by Richard Rive

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
965 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Man from the Board, by Richard Rive
The Man from the Board,
Richard Rive
Living as a black man in a white area in the 1980’s, it’s only natural to be suspicious and defensive when a white man from the board shows up and wants to be let in. This is exactly the situation the main protagonist Isaac finds himself in when Mr. Bredenkamp knocks on his door. Isaac is immediately expecting a confrontation but to his big surprise, that is not at all how the conversation plays out.
The Man from the Board is a short story written by Richard Rive in 1983. It revolves around the main protagonist Isaac and Mr. Bredenkamp, an official from the board. The entire story is mainly made up of the conversation that ensues as soon as Mr. Bredenkamp enters.
The conversation between the two is built up around the fact that Mr. Bredenkamp is there to make Isaac leave, as Isaac is living in a white area, which he is not allowed to. When Isaac discovers who the white man is, he is annoyed and immediately defensive. He doesn’t understand why the board wants him to move and the more the white official tries to explain the reasons why it’s necessary for Isaac to move, the more confused and puzzled Isaac becomes. Mr. Bredenkamp seems to be going in circles, changing the subject randomly, talking about this and that, and never quite reaching his point. For example, near the end when Isaac is expecting Mr. Bredenkamp to officially threaten him that he has to move out, Mr. B suddenly asks Isaac about his life philosophy. “So this was it. This was the showdown. ‘Yes?’ Isaac braced himself for it. ‘What is your philosophy of life?’”
This lack of build-up causes the conversation itself to be very outdrawn as it never moves forward. Mr. Bredenkamp never really gets to the point, as every time Isaac asks or answers a question, he remembers an interesting story or something he wants to talk about. The two men have very different views on the conversation. Isaac is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the official

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Mr. Freedman’s first honors math class, he noticed a student, John Gill, who looked similar to the students he had grown up with in New York, sitting alone in the middle row. Mr. Freedman decided to talk to him and they had a great relationship. It was only two months in to talking to this student every day that Mr. Freedman realized he was African-American. The other students knew he was African-American and purposely decided not sit with him because of prejudice. Mr. Freedman has since lost contact with him and John Gill has not reached out to Georgia Tech. One of Mr. Freedman’s roommates was also good friends with John Gill…

    • 1544 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Richard Connell’s short story, “ The Most Dangerous Game”, the setting plays a key role in the overall plot. For example, encircling the island are big crags which ward ships from the island. “Jagged crags appeared to jut up into the opaqueness,” (3). The crags are dangerous at night to people in boats because of how dark it is. Sailors have to stay away from the island to avoid crashing their…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    B. Characters-The main characters in the story are Francis Cassavant, Nicole Renard, and Larry LaSalle. Francis is an eighteen year old who has no face. He is a very shy person. Francis was in World War II and the people he was in the war with are really his only friends. Francis has also been in love his whole life with one girl, Nicole Renard. He likes her but he is way to shy to talk to her. Nicole is a very nice young lady. She tried to help out in the war so she would knit things for the men in the war. Larry LaSalle is an older man probably in his early forty or late thirties. He is Francis's childhood hero. Larry is a very nice man.…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Forbes Nash Jr. is an American mathematician whose theories and ideals in game theory, differential geometry (a mathematical discipline), and partial differential equations which has provided an insight inside the factors that govern chance and events. Over the course of his life he has managed to obtain both the Nobel Memorial Prize in 1994, and just recently the Abel Prize for his work on nonlinear partials. He is also famous for having the mental disease of Schizophrenia. It’s a mental disorder that is often characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to recognize what is real. After being officially diagnosed he found it hard to cope with the world around him knowing half of his life has been a lie. Just like everyone else he soon found ways to control the people that only exist within him.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Teacher's usually did a good job of ignoring the fact that one kid was shorter than another or another was fatter, but it was they, not the other students, who made my skin color an issue. The kids had only picked up on the adult cues and then interpreted them. Moreover, height, weight, and other physical characteristics were relative states. But being white was constructed a as matter of kind, not degree." He describes his social relations with his classmates as predominately a school relationship. He says, "I must have already started to segregate myself culturally, since it never even crossed my mind to invite any of the kids home with me after…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    * Always a motive by Dan Ross shows the struggle of a man to prove his innocence despite strong evidence against him. The investigating officer does not understand him, and he is presumed guilty. The theme is portrayed that individuals may take surprising actions that are not known by others. This theme is effectively reviled through its characters, and title.…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolf, tells a story of two brothers with very different lifestyles and perspectives on the world. The main character Pete is a very successful real estate agent in Santa Cruz who tends to get caught up in the materialistic things in life. He always wants his image to appear superior to others, from the house, to the car, to the clothes and he seems to look down upon on those who are not as successful as him. His brother Donald is the exact opposite of Pete and is seen as a loser in his eyes. Donald has no money to his name and drifts from place to place. “The Cathedral” by Raymond Carver tells the story of the interactions between…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book.” This is a famous quote said by Marcel Proust. Books over the centuries have had an influential impact on the lives of many. Arguably, there are none more influential than children’s books. Children’s books contain important life lessons and teach many children the basic values they will hold for the remainder of their lives. Examples of the best range from the well-known Dr. Seuss books, to the always-popular Winnie the Pooh books. Although those are historically popular, The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister, is one that should be kept in mind. With it’s enticing illustrations, simple and descriptive context, and lesson it portrays, the children’s book The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister should be considered for a spot on the “Top 100 Children’s Books” list.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Future is Now,” Joel Achenbach exposes our inability to foresee the next big thing in science and technology. Achenbach refers to the internet as being an entity that was not foreseen. Within a relatively short period of time the internet has forever changed the way in which we live our lives. We buy, shop, learn, and enjoy entertainment differently since the inception of the internet. Achenbach uses the fact that the internet was not predicted to support his stance by explaining the origins of the word “internet” and how quickly the internet grew. As the pursuit of knowledge becomes increasingly stratified; applied science produces a series of inventions, heavily used by the masses, in which very few people fully understand how those…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Advertisement companies have managed different strategies to sell their products to people according to television programming and scheduling. According to the article “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” by Steven Craig, Craig explains how advertisement companies aim commercials corresponding to the time of the day each gender watches television. There are four different categories: Men’s Men, Men’s Women, Women’s Women and Women’s Men. In Men’s Men type of commercials are shown usually during the weekend and most likely be seen during sports programming. They normally show pure males or male related products. In Men’s Women commercials most likely will show a men’s fantasy type of women and are most like shown through weekend programming. In Women’s…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The lack of conjunctions allows the audience to read with speed, giving the effect of a rushed and hurried feeling further driving the tone. By using extreme words such as “maddening” and “absurd,” Larson emphasizes the excessiveness of the delay. By saying the board is “unaware” of the pressing issues, he implies that the board is ignorant and naive. “Hoped” and “risked” add to the overall feeling of uncertainty felt by Burnham, pushing the readers to the edges of their seats. The feeling of restlessness and agitation is clearly expressed throughout the passage with Larson’s use of unsettling word choice and fast-paced…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ygbquestions

    • 268 Words
    • 1 Page

    1. What is revealed in the first seven paragraphs about the characters of Goodman Brown and Faith?…

    • 268 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Rich Brother is a story about two brothers, Pete and Donald. Pete, the older brother, is an American middle-class guy with the success story of having plenty of money from real estate, a wife, two daughters, nice home, and a sailboat. Donald, the younger brother, is a loner, paints houses, and sometime lives in an ashram in Berkeley. Although raised in the same household, the two live two totally different lives. Their display of sibling resentment, jealousy and utter disgust are evident. (Waxler) The brothers really do need each other, but Pete seems to be dependent upon Donald just a little more.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This year we have touched on the self and then focused on how technology could jeopardise our existence. Times are changing and so are we; Technology will keep changing us like it has always done throughout history, change does not necessarily mean take over, technology will advance as an extension of us to help us improve not to allow us to reach perfection.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sparrow by Norman Maccaig

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Sparrow” by Norman MacCaig has a strong social issue of the class system and how the classes differ. MacCaig talks about the issue of the class system in relation to survival of to fittest. The poem itself talks about birds like sparrows and other birds in general, which are metaphors for people. Word choice, sentence structure and enjambment were strong in improving my understanding of the social issue of the class system.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays