On The Sidewalk Essay, Research Paper

The Purple Jacket

To die is poignantly bitter, but the idea of having to die without having lived is unbearable , claimed the U.S psychoanalyst Erich Fromm. On the Sidewalk Bleeding by Evan Hunter demonstrated Erich Fromm s idea clearly. When the main character, Andy realized that he was dying because of his Royal membership, he realized that he missed a lot of meaningful things in life. First, he realized that his entire plan with Laura burst like a fragile bubble, because he was dying. Second, he was going to miss all the ordinary things in the world, because of his purple jacket. Third, he knew people would not remember him for who he was in life, but as a Royal.

Andy did not get ambushed because he was Andy, but because he was a Royal. That s for you, Royal! the Unknown guardian yelled. He was stabbed because he was in one of the bigger gang, not because he was Andy. As he lied there on the cold pavement, the first thing he thought was Laura. He thought of her face, the brown eyes and the jet-black hair Someday he would marry her, and they would have a lot of kids. (p. 1) But as the Couple Freddie and Angela went by, he realized that he might be dying. He wondered if he would ever kiss Laura again, it was then that he wondered if he was dying. (p. 3) When the couple left, he realized that he was dying and he knew he was going to die now. (p.5) Andy knew that his plans and wishes that involved Laura were gone. Andy realized that he was going to miss the love that he could have had. He was going to die, and there was nothing he can do stop it. His love turned into to dust, lost and finished.

As he lay there in the rain, realizing that he was dying. He understood that there were other things he was going to fall short off; he was going to miss big and more important things in the world. As he lay there, all the things he did for the gang seemed to be so diminutive and trite. He wondered why the rumbles and the jumps and the purple jacket had always seemed so important before. (p. 5) He suddenly saw things he did not yet have a chance to do. He felt all at once as if he had never done anything, never seen anything, never been anywhere. (p. 5) He felt that he should have spent his life doing things that could have had more meaning. Andy also knew that he should have looked over his action more carefully. He knew that his gang life was not important at all; all the honor, glory, title were useless as he lay there dying. But it was too late, he was going to die, he was going to die without any significant accomplishments.

As he thought more of what happened, he discovered that when he died, he would not be seen as Andy, but as a Royal. Andy knew that if he did not wear the purple jacket, he would not have been stabbed. The knife had not been plunged in hatred of Andy. The knife only hated the jacket. (p. 6) When the couple turned away, it was not because they did not want to help, it was because Andy was a Royal. The last thing he wanted was to be identified as a Royal when he died, because he felt that it was meaningless. He wanted to be Andy, someone with some significance. That was why he tried his hardest to get rid of the jacket. With great effort, he pulled it off, and was happy. Rain is sweet, I am Andy. (p. 7)

The main character, Andy died because he was a Royal. What was ironic was despite of his effort, he still end up because classified as a royal by the police. But I think when Andy knew that he was going to die, it change him. He knew that because of the gang, he missed a lot of meaningful things in life. He knew he would miss his love, Laura. He was would miss all the big things in the world. Most importantly, he would be seen as a Royal, not as Andy. From this story, we can see that we should plan our future more carefully. That way we will not become anther Andy, laying there in the cold rain and die tragically and meaninglessly.