“Outside autumn is over, and yet it’s not quite winter. Indiana farmlands speed past in black and white. Beautiful. Until you remember that the world is supposed to be in color.” (86) I thought this was a great thought. There are times when I can remember feeling the same way. Everything seems black and white and gray and winter hasn’t even started yet. You know it’s a long road ahead of you before life blossoms again. I thought this quote was a foreshadowing of the events to come and the time that would pass before Spurgeon feels alive again. Another good quote from this story is when a preacher at the March says “… freedom is attained only when the ant of the self – that small, blind, crumb-seeking part of ourselves – casts off slavery and its legacy, becoming a huge brave ox.” (101) This seems to be where the title came from. This story is about the character Spurgeon, who feels like he is only the “ant of the self,” he hasn’t had the chance to chose who he wants to be because he is always a slave to his father’s opinions. He can’t escape the need to be accepted by his father. He is, “that small… crumb-seeking” person trying to have some kind of relationship with his father. He is picking up any crumbs he can, in hope that his father will change or surprise him. It is clear by the end of the story that his father, Ray Bivens Jr. will not change, however, it is unclear if Spurgeon will stop trying to change him. We do know that he realizes how abusive and lacking their relationship is when he watches a father get the man at the station to yell “All Aboard” for his son. Spurgeon comments that he almost cried but instead he just put his head in his hands. This was a very emotional story, one that I assume is all too often true to reality.
Posted by: Krista Behrends
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