Word Count: 496Stuck In The MiddleAdolescence often places a child in the difficult position of wanting to impresstheir peers and simultaneously please their parents. Such quandary occurs in Gary SotosThe Jacket when the young boy is placed in the unenviable position of wearing a jacketthat is a displeasing shade of green. The jacket was given to him by his beloved mother.
This young man was hoping for a cool jacket , something like the bikers wear: blackleather and silver studs, with enough belts to hold down a small town.(3). But instead ,the boy had received an ugly green jacket. He was then stuck in a position where he had toeither please his mother by wearing the monstrosity , or he could go to school without itso he would not be thought of as a dork. He ended up wearing the jacket which to him itwas a mistake. It seemed to , in his mind , have caused him to receive bad test grades ,beatings from the bully , ridicule from the other classmates and frustration over all. Thisboy got so frustrated he had thrown it down , cursed it off and could never make up hismind whether to wear it or not. Though this jacket acted as a burden which had torturedhis image to the point of insanity , he learned to accept it a just used it to protect him fromthe cold.
As an adolescent in todays day and age , we could easily preach about how theseare the best years of our lives. Many kids will pass on the ideas of how we all shouldlive these years to the fullest because this is the ultimate four year party . What kind ofparty replaces the beer ( just a comparison ) with peer pressure? This whole party doesjust that. Adolescence now is not just a race to please the peers , but to also pleasemommy and daddy. Every teen has their ugly brother who breathed over [their]shoulder (6). For some it really is an ugly brother. For most teens it is compared to aburden , a problem lurking on our shoulders. For instance , some of us have older friendsthey want to please by going out and hanging together. As soon as such a fun outingcomes up , along comes ugly Brian with his nagging voice. Who are you going out with ,your mother asks. Then she keeps going until she gives all the times to should call her andif late , grounding will be the necessary punishment. Many teens have such a problem. Astime goes on , kids will grow to understand their parents worries and will find ways to getout from under them . All kids might think that they will get their long awaited jacket.
One day their parents will [understand] for sure the kind [you] wanted (3). But parentswill never make appropriate social time for anyone. Their are many limits with parents andwe all have to live with them.
