I really sympathize with this paragraph from Eugene Mirabelli's Renato, the Painter. I should buy his book on thursday when I go see Margaret Atwood.
Each time the teacher gave me my report card it surprised and frightened me how low the marks were, because I knew that my mother would read it and hand it back, saying, “You’ll have to give this to your father yourself.” And after my father read it he would shout, “Do you want to be a ditch digger? at’s where you’ll end up, digging ditches! Is that what you want?” at’s where dumb Italians ended up. No, I didn’t want that. Being a ditch digger would mean working beside people like that pig Norman Oldacre who liked to make loud farts and told bathroom jokes and who took me aside in the school yard one morning and beat me up so hard my eyes watered. But I didn’t feel stupid and I knew that the stupidist kid in my class wasn’t me but fat Collins. The teacher told him he was the cow’s tail because he always came in last, but Collins just sat there being fat and smiled and blinked his sleepy-lidded eyes and said nothing. He wasn’t my friend but I thought it was cruel to call him the cow’s tail and make fun of him just because he couldn’t memorize.
I like how these monologues always have another kid who's being picked on, but the picked-on kid isn't the narrator's friend. I guess it shows that the kid has insight but still, wouldn't it be interesting if they were friends???
Each time the teacher gave me my report card it surprised and frightened me how low the marks were, because I knew that my mother would read it and hand it back, saying, “You’ll have to give this to your father yourself.” And after my father read it he would shout, “Do you want to be a ditch digger? at’s where you’ll end up, digging ditches! Is that what you want?” at’s where dumb Italians ended up. No, I didn’t want that. Being a ditch digger would mean working beside people like that pig Norman Oldacre who liked to make loud farts and told bathroom jokes and who took me aside in the school yard one morning and beat me up so hard my eyes watered. But I didn’t feel stupid and I knew that the stupidist kid in my class wasn’t me but fat Collins. The teacher told him he was the cow’s tail because he always came in last, but Collins just sat there being fat and smiled and blinked his sleepy-lidded eyes and said nothing. He wasn’t my friend but I thought it was cruel to call him the cow’s tail and make fun of him just because he couldn’t memorize.
I like how these monologues always have another kid who's being picked on, but the picked-on kid isn't the narrator's friend. I guess it shows that the kid has insight but still, wouldn't it be interesting if they were friends???