Box Man

"The Box Man", written by Barbara Lazear Ascher compares the lives of several people. She shows us how you cant judge someone by what they have or what they look like. Using a homeless man and 2 women she paints the picture of being alone vs. being lonely. The box man seems to have all that he needs and is satisfied with his life. He finds such joy and satisfaction in things that we would take for granted. The older women have homes and all the material things but are not happy. This raises the question,: why is the homeless man, who has nothing, happier than the women, who have things? Ascher wants to bring to our attention that material things can not make us happy. "She drags it out as long as possible, breaking the crackers into smaller and smaller pieces, first in halves and then halves of halves and so on until the last pieces burst into salty splinters and fall from dry fingers onto the soup's shimmering surface." The connotation of the woman eating her soup is very negative. It suggests such loneliness and depression, but the box man is described differently. "The Box Man knows that loneliness chosen loses its sting and claims no victims." The fact that the box man chose to be alone kept him from being lonely, unlike the women who are not satisfied with themselves and are victims of loneliness. The Box Man shows us how to find peace and a friend inside ourselves.