Rebecca Hollingshead
Mr. Brsyon
English 1302
10 February 2014
The Last Journey Analysis Trains have contributed to many factors of our daily life. Whether we are using a high tech machine that was was made in New York or as simple from trading fruits from other states; trains are what make it possible for us to enjoy products from other cities, states, and even other countries. Trains are also a great way to transport people as well as products and run conveniently through every state in the United States. My step dad in Washington takes the train in order to get to his job every day. He wakes up at four in the morning every week day and if for some reason he is late for the train, he will have no way of getting to work on time. As helpful as trains have been to humans, they all run on a timed schedule that we all must comply to and if we do not comply then we surfer by getting fired, referral, or whatever the case may be. It isn't the trains fault that we sometimes have to face the consequences but time itself. Time has been around for centuries controlling millions of people’s lives and the real situation is how high you but time on a pedestal. Time was a big factor in, “The Last Journey”, because getting on that train in time had stressed out the main character, Jerry, to death. In the story the author uses little dialogue to give the story suspension and unravels the truth of Jerry's fate. The author writes, “Just as he was making his train through the crowd he felt an odd pain in his chest. It was like a fire erupting within him, and he doubled over. He knew he couldn't miss this train through and his determination got the better of him.” This gave the reader some suspense to whether or not this pain will affect his punctuality and may have had also foreshadowed what might have happened. The text form the story also revealed that Jerry had suffered from a heart attack when one of the characters quoted, “'Such shame', the paramedic was saying, 'just collapsed right on the platform- a heat attack.'” Through out the story, about six lines of dialogue were said but fulfilled the story and it's message nicely. The story started off with a man named Jerry who was in a rush to get to his train on time because it was fixing to leaving in five minutes. As Jerry darted towards the train through packs of people who also seemed to be in a rush as well, he also noticed that the train too was fully concentrated of people. The poor man struggled with his heavy luggage that pressed against his aching muscles. He started to feel chest pains but neglected his health due to the fact he train was leaving and he had to make it on board. Then oddly enough the people who were in a rush stopped what they were doing and started to dispersed, leading him a path to the train and finally got on it on time. When he got on board he saw that barely anyone was on the train so finding a seat would not be a problem. He slouched his self into a seat by the window behind a bald man.
Before Jerry passed out into his sleep, he peered outside just before the train started to depart and saw the crowd yelling and crouching to the ground. He did not know what was going on and he did not care. He was tired and worn out so he immediately fell asleep. When he woke up he noticed that the landscaped was changed and the lights flicked in the train. No one else was on the train but the bald man. Then a deep voice called out to him asking if he was awake. He had mistaken the voice for a companion, Ely, but it was not him. The deep voice then reveals that Jerry had died on the platform. Jerry started to panic and sweat. The story then