What is the theme for the short story 'the day the world almost came to an end' by pearl crayton?

Answer 1

THEMES

Religion:

This is the central theme in this short story. Plantation life was centered on religion to the extent that even the narrator's father was a deacon in the church. Religious fervor, in the form of hellfire preaching, is also the fuel for the panic that overtakes the narrator/protagonist in this short story.

Love & Family Relationship:

The love and trust between father and daughter is glaring. When the narrator/protagonist was worried about the world coming to an end, the first person that she thought to consult on this issue was her father. His response to her childish fears, in turn, highlights the easy relationship between the two. Daddy's care in covering his daughter after her mad dash through the turnrow is also an indication of the love that he has for his child.

Answer 2

Story opens with the first-person narrator speaking directly to her audience in an autobiographical frame of mind. Despite following her parent's wishes and attending church, this young girl considered herself a sinner. From her perspective, "getting religion" would force her to make do without all the "many delicious sins around to get into" (325). Her stance on this issue gets a rude awakening one day when her friend, Rena, informs her that the world is coming to an end on Saturday. The calamity that will cause the end, an eclipse. At first the narrator is not bothered by the news since she knows that no one is smart enough to figure out Revelation. But when Rena says that Reverend Davis said that "time is winding up," she begins to see the inevitable truth that perhaps the end is near. Her mind soon becomes loaded down with the "supposing" that the world did come to an end idea. People had already said that she was destined for hell, and so her thoughts turned to hell and its inhabitants who "got burned and burned up and never died, he just kept on burning, burning, burning" (328). When her Daddy comes home, the narrator seeks his counsel and learns that no one but God knows about the end of time, and that it could happen at any time. Any TIME! The narrator stays awake that night waiting. An old airplane with its rumbling, racket-like noise wakes her from her thoughts. Believing that the noise signals the end of the world, she rushes from the bedroom, screaming at the top of her lungs that "The world is ending! The word is ending! Run! Run for your life!" (330) She continues to scream as she heads down the road, screaming for all to hear. At last her Daddy catches his daughter in his arms, helps her to relax, and makes her aware that the noise came from a plane, not the end of the world. Relieved, the young girl became to cry, and as she walks home with her Daddy, she has a revelation: that life--all of it--should be lived, really lived.

Answer 3

reverend davis

miss daya

rena

sam

ralph waldo emerson

Answer 4

jujujjij