Essay of the short story: ”The Sampler”
Helpfulness is something most people are very fond of. People like to help other people to show their kindness and benevolence. In the novel “The Sampler”, written by Ira V. Morris, we see how easily our decent actions can be misunderstood. The novel is about an old man, who is very poor. He often comes and samples puddings in a store. The narrator feels sorry for the old man and wants to help him. But what was really a good intention ends up with many bitter privations.
The narrator is a 1. person narrator and he has often wondered of this privilege of samples is imposed, so he asks the shop girl about it. “Now there’s one old gentleman, for instance,” she told me, “who comes here almost every week and samples each one of the puddings, though he never buys anything and I suppose he never will. I remember him from last year and the year before that, too”(p. 1, ll. 9-12) The shop girl tells that the wondering the narrator has been having is true. But she thinks it’s okay, because the old man is very poor and probably can't afford to buy one.
This gets the reader to wonder, if this privilege really is imposed. As reader you get curious too. There is a very detailed description of the old man, which makes the reader symphasize with him. So when you hear the story about the old and poor man, and you get the full description, you get a feeling that you have to help this really poor man.
The narrator wants to help the old and poor man, because he feels sorry for him. …In an sudden burst of benevolence, one of those bursts which so often bring pain instead of joy, I went up to him and said: “Pardon me, sir will you do me a favour? Let me purchase you one of these puddings. It would give me such pleasure” (p. 2, ll. 15-16). And that is exactly what happens here. "He jumped back as if he has been stung and the blood rushed into his