The Stone Boy

In some communities the people live the way like they always have done. Everything stays the same - nothing changes. The people do not get much education and they do not learn about life. They go to school, leave school, get married and have a family. The children will have the same education like their parents: if the father is a farmer, then the boy will become a farmer. If the mother does not get an education, then the daughter will not get an education either. Another problem is that the children are not taught how to react when they act wrong. The parents do not teach the children what is normal and what is not. In the story "The Stone Boy" we meet Arnold, who unfortunately shoots his own brother and then goes to pick peas without telling his mother and father about the accident.

Arnold is a boy, who is living with his mother, father and older brother at a farm. One morning he is going to pick peas with his older brother, Eugene, whom he admires. They were also going to shoot ducks with Arnold's .22-caliber rifle, which his father had given him. Arnold really likes his brother. He never gets tired of watching him and they have a good relationship. When he unfortunately shoots Eugene, he fells to his knees and waiting to see him laughing, but Eugene does not turn around. He does not make a move. Arnold does not know what to do. He is so petrified that he mechanically walks down into the garden and begins to pick peas.

He never argued or quarrelled with Eugene. When the sheriff is asking about their relationship and about they were good friends, Arnold does not what he means. Of course he loved his own brother, but he was not his best friend. A friend is someone at your own age, but Eugene was a man according to him. The sheriff also accuses Arnold for being stupid or rational, which is equal to be mean.

The situation is not handled well by his parents. They do not talk with him about the accident or how he feels. They ignore and avoid him. It makes him feel alone and stupid. He is in shock, and the only thing his father does, is to drag him down to the courthouse. This is a typical situation in the small communities: that the parents do not talk to or advice the children what to do. They simply do not care or maybe they do not know how to react, too.