Salvation and redemption are the themes of a fiction story along with how an individual can “attain-a fail or gain”. written Tom Perrotta, called Happy Chang’s Face. ! In this story Jack (the main character) is an umpire for the Little League baseball. He has a wife and children living in the same house before his sins drive them away. Jack is not a bad individual, he only made wrong decisions. Good people don’t always make the right choices; once in a while they slip up and stray away from the good path they were on. Bad people will always make bad choices and will do terrible actions to others without redemption or regret. Jack has accepted his mistakes, regrets them, and tries to redeem himself. Jack made wrong choices in his life with his family and job. His actions toward his son had the biggest effect on his realize to change. Jack has a wife and two kids, one is a son and the other is a daughter. Jack was very worried about his son and his sexuality so much that he forced his son to play baseball. Jack believed that putting him to play baseball and wearing the uniform would cause him to become manlier in a sexuality sense. He was so worried about the future he would, in fear that his son was a homosexual. He thought so much of how he walked and talked. Jack observed he interest for his wife’s jewelry and heals and relieved how queer he was. One day all he emotions got carried away so much to point where he punched his son. “He was the one who threw the first punch, …”(8). Good people don’t always have the self control needed to be good or perfect, it’s impossible for anyone to be sinless. As long as jack had redemption and salvation can’t be a bad individual.
Redemption was something Jack was trying to prove in this story. He talks about every thought and every wrong judgment made against his family, neighbor, and little league players. “What if when he’s fifteen he tells you he’s joined the Gay and Lesbian Alliance at his progressive suburban high school?”(8). Jack made so many hypothetical situations about his son in the future in reference to show that he son would become gay. Even though his son showed side of being homosexual Jack had no right to assume he would be homosexual. Jacks authority as a father doesn’t justify his actions and thoughts toward his son. He makes up for his actions by asking for forgiveness and changing his ways. He closes his story by telling how much he wanted his family to watch the baseball game. At the baseball game is when he made his first action to a drastic change in his life.
Salvation is something Jack attained as he so writes, “I remembered my long walk across the outfield as a dignified, silent journey…” (15-16). His salvation started with this walk away from a call he should of made in the baseball game. He chose not lie or bluff; he chose to walk away before he made another wrong choice so he can go back to the good path he was once on. Salvation is never made easy; it took him many wrong decisions to realize everything he had done. He does everything to prove to his family how much he is sorry because forgiveness is something he is need of. His family couldn’t understand the emotions and confusion he was going through so they couldn’t help him. An individual can gain or fail to gain redemption and salvation for different reason.