The Man In The Well : Peer Pressure In life many times we have to make hard decisions, but our moral opinion can be swayed by our peers in certain ways, which is known as peer pressure. This is shown a couple of times in the story “the Man in the Well,” Throughout the story the narrator and his peers stumble on a man who has fallen in a well and begs for help. A few main characters want to actually help the man in many instances yet decided not to by the actions of their fellow peers. The Man in the Well, a short story by Ira Sher.
The story is the troubles of a man who is trapped in a well and begs for the help of the local village children. The story is told through the perspective of a young village boy who discovers the man while playing. Ultimately, no help comes for the man so to be assumed he died, only if the children had helped his fate would have been avoided. There were many moments in the story when the narrator and his friends decide to save the man but they sway the decision based on the arguments of the group. This is a prime example of peer pressure.
Merriam webster states,” a feeling that one must do the same things as other people of one’s age and social group in order to be liked or respected by them. ” Peer pressure may not always have a bad outcome sometimes it can happen for the good, but most of the time it is used as a means to sway your moral judgment. The peer pressure in this instance has a fatal cost, but in society people are worried about how they are viewed. As the story continues the anxiousness of the village children grow, thoughts form making them wonder if they should go for elp or not. Yet, the children decide against helping the man, for the simple fact that their peers are not helping the man. However, since we can only see through the eyes of the main character we do not know the thoughts of the other children some may be thinking the same thing, but do not have the courage to stand up for what is right.
An example from the text states, “No one answered until Aaron, who was the oldest, said, ‘My father said he’s coming, with the police. And he knows what to do. We admired Aaron very much for coming up with this, on the spot. ” In this quote, you see how everyone goes along with the boy, Aaron, as he makes up a lie to deceive the man. Also, there is not a slight sense of doubt as he tells the lie and no one speaks up for the man, for the fear of disappointing there friends. Peer pressure will be experienced by everyone at some point in their life, from doing the right thing to help someone or from saying no to drugs there will be an occurrence of peer pressure at some point.
Many readers have wondered why the man of the well had to die at the end of the story? The reason would be that it shows how harsh society has become through the ages and how our morality has changed. We have became a more individualistic society, we worry what others think of us and how our reputation is perceived. Also, because of this we are more succumbed to peer pressure and the effects it has on us. We have accepted it more the idea of going against the thought of what our peers think is more of a punishment now.
For example, in the late 60s if you were caught doing drugs you would have been seen as a loser who was going nowhere in life, but today when a joint is passed around at a party and you don’t take a hit then you’re seen as a loser. This thought is also at play at the man in the well, they’re playing a game with the man seeing how long they can last before they actually help him, well none of the kids wants to be the first to go and tell their parents for help so they wait and let others decide for the ear of what their peers may think.
However, none of the children crack under the pressure, which in turn results in the man’s fatality, so some speculators may conclude, due to the changing of our culture through times that maybe if one of the children broke under the pressure and stood up for what was right the outcome of the story may have ended quite differently. The children are also a bit harsh in how they just stand aside and watch at the brutality of how the man slowly dies more everyday.
At the end of the story, the narrator says “It was almost night then, and we were spared the detail of having to see and read each other’s faces. That night it rained, and I listened to the rain on the roof and my mother sobbing, downstairs, until I fell asleep. After that we didn’t play by the well anymore; even when we were much older, we didn’t go back. I will never go back. ” The thought finally occurs to the children once it is too late for them to act, that if one of them had possibly been more courageous the terrible act they committed could have been reversed.
The mother is brought in, possibly to show, the innocence lost by the children due to their heinous acts, or to prove that every action has an effect. Their effect was that they let an innocent man die with the ability to help, just because they were playing a game and did not want the others to think of them badly. In my opinion, it is a sad fate for the man in the well, and also similarly sad for the children who have to live the rest of their life with the fact they were not brave enough to tell and save the man. This reason, most of all, may be why the narrator and his peers never returned to the well.
To conclude, the story of “The Man In The Well” was a tragic tale of a man dying by being trapped in a well. The ending of the story could have been changed i perhaps the peer pressure did not hang so heavy on the children and possibly one of them were able to speak out against their friends and save the man, but they did not and this shows a basis of how our morals have become more individualistic through time. We have lost the ability to stand up for what is right due to the fear of what others think, and see this through the story of” the man in the well”.
Also, the peer pressure not only affected the man’s life but the children as well, they will probably never be the same because of the decision they made. We need to revert to our old morals and try and think of others like we do ourselves, and maybe the thought of peer pressure will dissipate entirely that way no instances like “the man in the well” will occur. Lastly, it is best to try and remember to stand up for what you believe is right because every action has an effect and you do not want someone else’s decision affecting you.
