A Story From the Past

           

            Many times in literature, authors will write short stories that will carry messages or lessons in them that will stand the test of time.  No matter the time or situation, these lessons can still be relevant generation after generation. However, some pieces of literature only hold true for the audience that it was written for in the time it was written. So much changes from one decade to the next, that many times young, current readers have nothing to identify with in the stories that they read. Roald Dahl writes the short story, “Man From the South,” that unfortunately is not very relevant to young readers because it is so hard to relate to. This irrelevance is shown through the different features of the outdated time, uncommon setting, and the unusual situation that the characters are in.
            The “Man From the South” takes places down in a tropical island.  This setting is completely different to where the average young reader lives, or has ever even been to.  This setting makes it much hard for the reader to visualize the story.  This can lead to the reader trying too hard to picture what it looks like in their head, and not pay attention to what actually is going on throughout the text.  

            The story “Man From the South” is set in a tropical resort, back around the 1930s or 1940s.  This time period is multiple generations removed from young readers of today.  So much as changed since then, including world events, technology, and just day-to-day life of the average young adult.  This story is hard to relate to, because nowadays, naval cadets would not be training off a tropical island, and if they were, they would be much more disciplined and trained.  

            The old man and the young naval cadet make a ridiculous bet about the young man’s lighter.  Not only is this bet childish, but the stakes placed on the bet are so high, that they tend to seem unreal for the reader.  The fact that the old man would be his nice Cadillac, just based on chance is quite.  However, this is nothing compared to what the naval cadet is putting on the line, his left pinkie finger.  There is no contract signed in this bet, or not legal force watching over it.  The trust that the cadet places in the old man is something that readers today cannot even imagine.

            This is not quite relevant to young, current readers because young people today are not nearly as trusting as they were back in this time. They have learned not to trust people they do not know, but to build trust in people. This young cadet trusted that the old man was telling him the truth in that he would give him a car.  The cadet was willing to risk his finger off of someones word that he had just met.  In addition, even the biggest gamblers in Las Vegas do not bet parts of their bodies.  Young readers, especially, have never been in a situation where the stakes were so high.  This situation is just not very relevant at all.

            Through the time period, the setting, and the circumstances of the short story, “Man From the South,” it is not quite relevant to young, current readers of today.  Many times in literature, writings are quite timeless and can retain relevance from one generation to the next.  However, in this story, the times of the story until now are too different.  The time allows for the situation to be different than any situation that a young reader today would have encountered.  Even if a few young, current readers have experienced a situation like this, it was doubtfully in this setting.  The combination of all three unusual circumstances, combined with the lack of a strong message being sent, result in the short story, “Man From the South” by Roald Dahl, as being quite irrelevant to young, current readers today.