A Cap for Steve and Sunday in the Park

For centuries, poets, philosophers and the common folk have strived to define morality, and it's polarity, immorality. Alas, all have fallen short and the definition continues to capriciously evade the minds of men. That is why we have fallen back on our epics, poems and tales which do not endeavour to define morality, but to isolate it and bask in its mystery, meanwhile discovering numerous facets and new enveloping dimensions. Although the collection of such works is astronomical, two novelettes stand out from the rest because of their artistically placed subtleties and grandly imprinted leitmotifs which unveil the culmination of human actions of immorality and the dilemmas caused thereof. These two stories being "A Cap for Steve" and "Sunday in the Park", the former being penned by the prestigious Marley Callaghan and the latter by the highly esteemed Bel Kaufman. These authors have provided an exquisite commentary on the breaking of the human spirit, juxtaposing it with the corruption of the innocent who have had hostility impressed on them by tormentors, and yet, in the end, have learned imperative life lessons.

Every society conceals an underbelly of oppression and domineering, whether be it classism or basic physical bullying. The two stories "A Cap for Steve" and "Sunday in the Park" demonstrate a range of various tyrannies which aid in the evolution of this prominent theme. Although, it is soon witnessed that the type of oppression has no say in the type of torment caused. This is most transparently showcased in "A Cap for Steve" when "Dave's pride was hurt..." (Callaghan 174) because "Mr. Hudson thought he had Dave sized up; he looked at him and decided he was broke" (174). This realization by Dave causes him to buy back the cap, not out of want, but out of spite. He carries contempt for the higher class because they can "size him up" so easily and this fact scares Dave which he attempts to hide behind a veil of malice. Comparably, in the short story "Sunday in the Park", a physically larger man intimidates Morton into "...almost limping with self consciousness" (Kaufman 182) who rightly attempts to justify not standing up for himself by vilifying the only possible outcome by continuing "...reasonably,'would have been- what? My glasses broken, perhaps a tooth or two replaced, a couple of days' work missed- and for what? For Justice? For truth?'" (183), with a note of desperation which bares to light an inner working of his mind which seems to flounder in the search for moral rationalization against the bully. Alas, like Dave in "A Cap for Steve", Morton's pride is injured and he undertakes to hide his own sense of failure behind a thin facade.

Whilst focusing on immorality, both short stories also have a different theme which weaves throughout the plot, and at times can be scarcely witnessed. The leitmotif of innocence is a prominent facet of the stories and is artfully presented to create a juxtaposition between the classical concepts of good and evil. Eloquently staged in "Sunday in the Park", Joe and Larry representing immaculateness "...were listening, their eyes and mouths wide open, their spades forgotten..."(Kaufman 182), their actions symbolizing their fragile purity. The standoff between the two older men made an impression on them which will only serve to debauch their metaphorical flawlessness and beget the motif of evil corrupting good. Similarly, in a "A Cap for Steve", Steve is described as being "...dazed, [with] a fixed smile..."(Callaghan 175) which solidifies his harmless reputation, in turn affirming his clear conscience. Both stories symbolize children as innocence,