Peaches Essay -- Literary Analysis, Reginald McKnight

In the story â€Å"Peaches†, Reginald McKnight introduces his main characters, one being Marcus. Marcus is a good guy, but he is described in different ways, due to his eagerness or insecurities. Throughout the work, author Reginald McKnight takes great care to illustrate situations and describe feelings and personalities that many men experience. This way, even though Marcus is having trouble controlling himself around other people and arrogant at times, he still tries to be a better person for Rita and for himself. He does this by going out of the country to experience other cultures and enhance his morals. On one level Marcus demonstrates that he is incredibly confident, but on the other level he shows signs of being insecure, manipulative, and overall an unstable man who may or may not be capable of achieving change. Marcus’ actions continually demonstrate how confident he is. Whether he is next door or across the country, Marcus always has his eyes set out for Rita. While, he claims â€Å"I have had relationships with Black women and Hispanic women, and Asian women† (75), thinking his experiences with other women instantly make him capable of understanding Rita. He is so eager to obtain her that he fails to see her as an individual. To Marcus, past experiences are enough to attain a healthy relationship. According to Marcus, he had â€Å"been through this before† (75) and told Rita she could tell him anything, thinking it had to do with a cultural gap. In fact, Marcus said to Rita, â€Å"You can tell me. I think I’d understand† (75). His confidence paired with his need for Rita’s recognition and approval makes it appear that his confidence may be only surface deep. Marcus himself is insecure, and like most guys he is constantly over thinkin... ... In creating a character so confident, insecure, manipulative, and unstable, Reginald McKnight also creates a character we can sympathize with. McKnight created a sense that Marcus was a confident individual, who set himself apart from society, but in doing so, he set himself up for failure. Where the one woman who could make all the difference began to fear him. Once that happened, everything went downhill as soon as Marcus began to dismiss Ritas response at any given point. Whether or not he was fully aware, Marcus built walls around him and avoided speaking about his personal life with any sort of depth. This, if anything, makes us aware that negative remarks and statements can lead to a very negative result. We are forced to form our own conclusion and conform to the fact that no matter how many miles away, one person may never change. Peaches Essay -- Literary Analysis, Reginald McKnight In the story â€Å"Peaches†, Reginald McKnight introduces his main characters, one being Marcus. Marcus is a good guy, but he is described in different ways, due to his eagerness or insecurities. Throughout the work, author Reginald McKnight takes great care to illustrate situations and describe feelings and personalities that many men experience. This way, even though Marcus is having trouble controlling himself around other people and arrogant at times, he still tries to be a better person for Rita and for himself. He does this by going out of the country to experience other cultures and enhance his morals. On one level Marcus demonstrates that he is incredibly confident, but on the other level he shows signs of being insecure, manipulative, and overall an unstable man who may or may not be capable of achieving change. Marcus’ actions continually demonstrate how confident he is. Whether he is next door or across the country, Marcus always has his eyes set out for Rita. While, he claims â€Å"I have had relationships with Black women and Hispanic women, and Asian women† (75), thinking his experiences with other women instantly make him capable of understanding Rita. He is so eager to obtain her that he fails to see her as an individual. To Marcus, past experiences are enough to attain a healthy relationship. According to Marcus, he had â€Å"been through this before† (75) and told Rita she could tell him anything, thinking it had to do with a cultural gap. In fact, Marcus said to Rita, â€Å"You can tell me. I think I’d understand† (75). His confidence paired with his need for Rita’s recognition and approval makes it appear that his confidence may be only surface deep. Marcus himself is insecure, and like most guys he is constantly over thinkin... ... In creating a character so confident, insecure, manipulative, and unstable, Reginald McKnight also creates a character we can sympathize with. McKnight created a sense that Marcus was a confident individual, who set himself apart from society, but in doing so, he set himself up for failure. Where the one woman who could make all the difference began to fear him. Once that happened, everything went downhill as soon as Marcus began to dismiss Ritas response at any given point. Whether or not he was fully aware, Marcus built walls around him and avoided speaking about his personal life with any sort of depth. This, if anything, makes us aware that negative remarks and statements can lead to a very negative result. We are forced to form our own conclusion and conform to the fact that no matter how many miles away, one person may never change. Peaches Essay -- Literary Analysis, Reginald McKnight In the story â€Å"Peaches†, Reginald McKnight introduces his main characters, one being Marcus. Marcus is a good guy, but he is described in different ways, due to his eagerness or insecurities. Throughout the work, author Reginald McKnight takes great care to illustrate situations and describe feelings and personalities that many men experience. This way, even though Marcus is having trouble controlling himself around other people and arrogant at times, he still tries to be a better person for Rita and for himself. He does this by going out of the country to experience other cultures and enhance his morals. On one level Marcus demonstrates that he is incredibly confident, but on the other level he shows signs of being insecure, manipulative, and overall an unstable man who may or may not be capable of achieving change. Marcus’ actions continually demonstrate how confident he is. Whether he is next door or across the country, Marcus always has his eyes set out for Rita. While, he claims â€Å"I have had relationships with Black women and Hispanic women, and Asian women† (75), thinking his experiences with other women instantly make him capable of understanding Rita. He is so eager to obtain her that he fails to see her as an individual. To Marcus, past experiences are enough to attain a healthy relationship. According to Marcus, he had â€Å"been through this before† (75) and told Rita she could tell him anything, thinking it had to do with a cultural gap. In fact, Marcus said to Rita, â€Å"You can tell me. I think I’d understand† (75). His confidence paired with his need for Rita’s recognition and approval makes it appear that his confidence may be only surface deep. Marcus himself is insecure, and like most guys he is constantly over thinkin... ... In creating a character so confident, insecure, manipulative, and unstable, Reginald McKnight also creates a character we can sympathize with. McKnight created a sense that Marcus was a confident individual, who set himself apart from society, but in doing so, he set himself up for failure. Where the one woman who could make all the difference began to fear him. Once that happened, everything went downhill as soon as Marcus began to dismiss Ritas response at any given point. Whether or not he was fully aware, Marcus built walls around him and avoided speaking about his personal life with any sort of depth. This, if anything, makes us aware that negative remarks and statements can lead to a very negative result. We are forced to form our own conclusion and conform to the fact that no matter how many miles away, one person may never change.