Abstract
You’ll Apologize If You Have To (2015), a short story by Ben Fowlkes, portrays the struggle of an American in pursuing his dreams. The primary data of this research is the narration and dialogues uttered by the characters: Wallace, Kim, Molly, the Old Lady, and the Green-Jacket Man. Those data are classified based on the American dreams (Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Livingston, & Sherman, 2014; Cullen, 2003; Mailer, Thompson, & Wolfe, 2009), specifically those related to material wealth. The result of this research reveals that in their daily life, the characters have their perspectives on seeing America as the land of dreams. Generally, they dream of a better life and happiness. However, this short story also portrays American dreams as a paradox because not all Americans have the privilege to achieve those dreams.
Highlights
A short story can be the portrayal of humans in society because it might contain the metaphors shown by the characters (Barrett, 2009; Franssen & Kuipers, 2015) as it is found in Ben Fowlkes’ You’ll Apologize If You Have To (Boyle, 2015)
As the main character of Ben Fowlkes’ You’ll Apologize If You Have To is one of those who have to struggle against such rules mentioned above
Living one’s life in a boxing world does not guarantee that someone will be successful from the beginning to the end
Summary
A short story can be the portrayal of humans in society because it might contain the metaphors shown by the characters (Barrett, 2009; Franssen & Kuipers, 2015) as it is found in Ben Fowlkes’ You’ll Apologize If You Have To (Boyle, 2015). The main character is Wallace, a professional boxing athlete, which is told as a hardworking person and a loving father of his daughter, Molly. He lives alone in a condominium in San Diego, USA, and lives his life for boxing. This short story begins with the fighting of Wallace in Florida when he had to fight a Brazilian fighter, Cavalo. He had to deal with his loss, and he started to doubt himself.
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