Mariela Cano
Professor Stevenson
British Literature M-W
December 10, 2014
The Wanderer Out of all the stories read in class, “The Wanderer” is the text that spoke to me the most. Reading the text I found myself relating to the “wanderer” because of his thoughts and feelings presented in the story. There are also some thoughts that I found myself thinking beyond what the story mentions. The things I was mostly thinking about is independence and time changes. Before I read this story my thoughts about independence was totally different. Because I am known as the quiet girl at school not many people talk to me. The only times that I am talked to is when I have class with someone that I sort of know or when that person has no one else to talk to. I thought that everything I did such as projects, school work, or even improving on things in general, I would have to do these things on my own. Since I am so used to just relying on myself it was rare for me to ask someone for help. I saw independence as a really good thing for me. I did not have to rely on anyone; I thought that I was better off on my own. Reading “The Wanderer” and listening to what other people think about the story really spoke to me. Hearing others say “we need someone in order to move on”, and the fact that the story gives off a gloomy mood I realized that I was not happy as well. It is not that there was an immediate change but the story made me see things differently. For example how I keep my distance away from people. I realize that, yes it is good to be independent but at some point there will be a time or multiple times where help is needed. How is it that I expect to improve on myself with communication when I push people away to having a good friendship. We tend to need someone at our side even when we think we do not. It makes us feel more alive because there are lessons learned when meeting new people, everyone has an impact in our lives even in the slightest. “Time changes everything” is also the main thing that spoke to me from the story. The wander has a mindset that makes him think that he is old and has nothing left because he is alone. He realized that all those good times he had when he was young had passed. He has a hard time thinking if he should keep trying to find a place to call home or just give up. It is as if he has nothing left because he is old of age and really does not see a future because he has no one by his