Nihal Ali

ID no. 900 123 163

RJ1:"The second prize" B !eor"e #a$on %9
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1 ( )ha$ is $he *ain idea +
' The greatest conflicts are not between two people,but between one person and
himself',by Garth Brooks. In the second prize, George Layton draws a new definition
to the concepts of self blame and inner struggle,these two dreaded traits that are
automatically associated in the back of our heads with disgrace,human pain and
failure. Through out the story,these two concepts beautifully flourish to be
considered ,by myself at least,one of humanity's supreme luuries as they turned out
to be the main reasons that dro!e our little boy to maintain a correct sense of !alues at
the !ery end.In the second prize, Layton introduces us to a boy who was stuck with an
unappeased conscience after winning the second prize in 'The "ational road safety
competition' for a drawing that he was gi!en 'a bit of a hand ' in it from his
neighbour,#r $arpenter.The writer con!eys his message in a !ery con!incing and
well supported approach.%irstly,the boy compared 'the prize gi!ing ceremony' on
different occasions to his uncle #atyy's funeral. It triggers my thoughts how this little
boy mentally connected the physical death of his uncle with the moral death of his
belie!es and conscience if he was to remain silent and accept the award. &e also
pointed out how on both e!ents they had the same tai dri!er and pretty much the
same clothings.It is funny how, during these two occasions, he will get into trouble
with his mother o!er actions committed by others.%or eample,in uncle #atty's
funeral,he got into trouble because of ''ntie winnie's fault' of ruining his new
suit.'nd in the prize gi!ing ceremony,because of #r $arpenter's participation in his
drawing.(econdly,it is compelling how the writer reflected constantly the boy's mental
turmoil on his physical state,This was clearly seen in lines such as ''I was sitting at the
top of the stairs listening to my stomach churning.#y stomach seemed to ha!e been
churning for the last two weeks'',and also in ha!ing to immediately go to the bathroom
when they arri!ed at the town hall because of feeling '(ick' whene!er he thought
about the ')otten' prize.'t the !ery end,the sense of inner unrest and self *uestioning
dro!e the boy to admit on stage that the drawing didn't belong to him.It is now simple
to understand why Thomas (.#onson considered the conflict of our conscience,the
turmoil of our daily li!ing and our abiding faith to become the anchors of our li!es .
2 ( )ha$ is o,r response +
The second prize is a !ery simple ,yet rich piece of writing. Layton succeeded in
grasping the true essence of many di!inely fa!oured human *ualities, connecting
them together and finally presenting them in a !ery kid friendly setting.I'll +ump right
into an eample of what I am talking about.when analyzing this story,many *uestions
were raised,from which the most important was how integrity,self
discipline,pride,unease and guilt are so closely related,. It riddled my mind how
*ualities that seemed to be from two opposite sides of the rainbow felt so connected
and similar at a certain point,. I came to the conclusion that it's because their
negati!es pro!ide the keys to their positi!es.I realised that it is okey to suffer. It is
okey to tremendously blame yourself and ha!e that feeling of a hea!y burden
s*uashing your chest whene!er you breath.It is okey to sometimes fail at disciplining
yourself and be unable to firmly shout at yourself '"-'.It is okey to disappoint those
who in!ested their blood,sweat and tears in you as this won't be your greatest
loss..our greatest loss will be disappointing your one and only self.'ll these
pre!iously mentioned 'negati!e' traits should ,in fact, be singled out as humanity's
most important !alues,because this is the only way Integrity and inner peace shall be
reached.Bottom line is,any 'epensi!e' trait won't be achie!ed easily..ou will ha!e to
eperience the ups and downs of the process of bettering oneself first, as these highly
desired traits are for 'rich' people who !alued their sufferings and fied their wrong
doings.It attracted me how Layton's story highlighted this complete +ourney.%irstly,the
writer illustrated how much pride was in!ested in the little boy.This was clearly
shown in how the mother kept bragging about her little boy ,e!en to the tai
dri!er,who responded by saying' That's a first,wait till I tell the wife'.'lso it was
shown when the headmaster said 'This boy has brought great honour to the school'.'s
the amount of pride increased,the amount of guilt followed it,making it harder and
harder for the boy to confess.&e was'praying like mad' and 'felt more sorry for
himself'.'t the !ery end,it was those stressing emotions that made him reach a !ery
high le!el of discomfort and e!entually forced him to tell the truth .-nly then ,he
said ,'I felt happier than I had done for weeks '
3 ( -o) does $he readin" connec$ )i$h o,r personal li.e +
&a!ing integrity and self blame as one of the main concepts discussed in the second
prize,I couldn't help but immediately recalling '%rost/"ion' the mo!ie.It was a
dramatic retelling of the post 0atergate tele!ision inter!iews that took place between
the British talk show host '1a!id %rost' and ')ichard "ion' the disgraced former
president with a legacy to sa!e.The 0atergate scandal that the inter!iew re!ol!ed
around was a political scandal that took place in the 2nited (tates when it was
disco!ered that president "ion was spying on his political opponents which resulted
in his resignation on 'ug.3
th
,4356.It is interesting how these two forms of art seem
similar to me.The main characters in both pieaces were about to win something they
didn't deser!e.%or the little boy.it was the 7
nd
place in the "ational competition,and for
"ion,it was winnig the re8ellection campaign of 4357.Both at the end confessed their
dishonesty.The boy refused the prize,and the president resigned