Monday, October 3, 2016
Focusing on Friends
The thesis of "Focusing on Friends" by Steve Tesich is that he treats his friends differently based on their sex. Two lines help draw upon this central idea. One line is "I can tell women I love them" which is later contrasted with the line "But I can't tell the men". These lines set the stage of how the ability or incapability to say three simple words can drastically change how Tesich acts toward his friends. In many ways I can see the same treatment of friends in my life. The conclusion of the story surprised me at first as Tesich said, in the second to last paragraph,"if anyone was cheated and short changed by me, it was the women". I felt at first that Tesich was wrong. I felt the male counter parts whom he had grown up with were short changed because they never got to hear the words "I love you" from their friend. I understood his point that his female friends were indeed short changed. They had heard "I love you", but Tesich never proved it. I guess to me both sexes were short changed and I was taken back by how the author only felt remorse for his female friends. I think that the women need to feel Tesich's love just as much as the men need to hear it.
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Hi Colton,
ReplyDeleteI also feel the same way about the different relationships that I have with some of my closest male and female friends. I think that it is interesting that people express the way we love or care for someone depending on the actually person, or gender, or any other differences. I again agree with you about how both Tesich's female and male friends were short changed, because the women needed to feel his love in action just as much as the men needed to hear with words.