Essay Questions

How does the author develop the theme of the babyish castle in the sky?

As a child, Gary Soto explores all the babyish fantasies at his exposure. Gary spends most of the time alone because his mother is always away working. The only people around Gary are his grandfather, who concentrates on his garden, and his uncle, who is not interested in him. Therefore, Gary is free without supervision, and he decides to do anything experimental. For instance, he rides across the dangerous streets in town, and he often plays alongside the railway track without thinking of any possible danger. Gary sometimes dreams of giants and compares their large footprints to those of his elder brother. Therefore, Gary is among the children who freely exploit childhood fantasies because they have the freedom of doing whatever they want without supervision from adults.

Is Gary sorry for his childhood mistakes?

Towards the end of the narration, Gary starts recalling his childhood, and what strikes his mind is his disrespect to his mother. Gary's mother was always away at work, and she warned Gary not to ride his bicycle in town or play alongside the railway track, but he defied all those instructions. Sot recalls stealing a pie when he was still a young boy, and he regrets the act. Besides being a hilarious memory, Gary feels blameworthy for his actions. Gary still remembers that whenever he committed a mistake, his conscience was clear that he was doing wrong, but he went ahead and committed the mistake.

How does the literary device ‘personification’ come out clear in the book ‘Summer Life’?

The author is tactical in flavoring his text by ensuring that he uses several literary devices, including personification. Personification is a writing style in which objects are given human abilities. When Gary steals a pie at the age of six, he says that he knows that no one saw him steal except the pie looking at him. In this context, the pie is personified to have the ability to see. However, despite being stolen, the pie does not resist, but it looks at Gary to scare him, but he goes ahead to eat it.