The Friday Everything Changed

The Friday That Everything Changed

  1. The boys were upset of the idea of the girls carrying he bucket because the bucket was a representation of status for the boys. It was the symbol that they were the strongest and the best, and the moment they realized that there would be more competition only made them even more upset that they would have less of a chance.
  2. The boys attempt to exclude the girls from their social activities, to try and create a mob of hate towards Alma. They continue to harass and bully Alma themselves, attempting to create a sense of regret for the girls. Although the girls believed Alma made the wrong decision in the beginning, deeper into the story, the girls stuck together with integrity and continued to ignore all threats and bullying.
  3. The story is told by a narrator, and is told with a limited-omniscient style. The narrator gives Ms. Ralston a positive tone, with only positive remarks made. The narrator mentioned her education, how all the kids liked her, her new ways of teaching and the way she defied the tradition at the school. The story is told from a narrator’s point of view.
  4. The setting was in a time post – World War II, in a one classroom school located somewhere in rural Ontario. The setting intensifies the person vs. society conflict because the traditions and history of inequality is more present into less-developed areas. With the softball conflict, the girl’s kind of just tag along the boys and are just there but don’t do much, because they do not have the materials or the people to have their own team to even prove themselves.
  5. The protagonist is Alma Nyles. Alma was the one who decided to defy the traditions, question the system in place and create change. Throughout the story Alma stays strong ignoring the hate towards her. She stands by her words and was the one who ultimately changed everything.
  6. On that Friday, the girls now had access to carrying the water bucket, but ultimately the girls now had a stronger social status in the class. They now have a different perspective on genders and differences between one another. Miss Ralston’s home run in the end sealed off the idea that girls could be just as strong as the guys and that genders do not play a role to decide whether somebody can do something or not.