"Samuel" summary of a short story written by Grace Paley
... rockets blasting off deep into space, and they tapped the glass loudly acting like they were shooting machine guns. Yes, these boys, especially Samuel, were the attention and distraction between these two cars on the train. One lady warned them that they would be hurt or even killed if they kept fooling around. They laughed at her, but she was thinking of her little boy at home and knew how upset their mothers would be if they knew what they were doing. The boys kept laughing and Samuel seemed to instigate the laughing the most as he pounded his friend, Alfred on the back. Tears came to Alfred’s eyes and Samuel only bullied him. Samuel called him a crybaby and asked him why he was crying, as if to humiliate or embarrass him. I felt that they were just playing around with each other like normal boys and that Samuel was no bully. One of the men that had been watching must have been a child who was picked on or who had no fun just horsing around because he got up and pulled the emergency cord causing the train to come to a complete and sudden stop. He knew that the boys were not really holding on or paying attention. I think he was trying to teach them a lesson. People feel forward and backward all over the train, even those who were secure in their standing positions. These small boys could barely hold on. Samuel had actually let go of the cord to pound and play fight with Tom and Alfred. Since he was not holding on he flew forward. Samuel was crushed and killed between the two cars. The people on the train were all wondering what happened, except for the men and the women in the cars that were watching the boys dangerously play. The women wondered if he was an only child, and the men thought of days where their adventures as children ended on a bad note. Alfred and Tom held each other and they did not really move. When a policeman informed Samuel’s mother of what happened she was so distraught that the doctor’s had to give her pills to quiet her. She wanted another Samuel and she was still young. Her and her husband had other children, but none like Samuel. He was sp...