The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall Book Analysis Essay Example

In The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall a boy, Arthur Owens, throws a brick at an old man because the old man is wearing his dad's hat. When he throws the brick instead of going to jail, Arthur is sent by the Junk Man to do probation and find 7 things for the Junk Man. Arthur is tasked with rummaging for what the Junk Man, AKA James Hampton, calls the seven most important things: light bulbs, foil, mirrors, pieces of wood, glass bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard. The weather serves as an obstacle for him because if the weather is bad like if it was raining, he probably would feel a little down that day than if it was sunny and not raining. The weather affects his mood depending on the day and what the weather is on that day. 

When Arthur begins his search for the seven most important things, the weather serves as an obstacle for him. This piece of evidence is showing how Arthur felt on a day of white sleet falling miserably from the sky. This first piece of evidence is, “A miserable pebbly white sleet is coming down from the colorless sky.” Arthur is feeling miserable and cold on the inside because the weather affects Arthur’s mood depending on if the weather is bad such as raining or foggy and if it's nice like Sunny, He would probably feel better. The author probably chose to put this piece of evidence in the book because the author wanted the reader to read and think about how Arthur was feeling on that day. 

The evidence to show that the weather reflected a change on Arthur is, “Outside the air felt colder this time around and the December afternoon had gotten gloomier.” The day got better for Arthur as it went on because the weather turned from cold to better throughout his day. The author chose to put this piece of evidence in the book because the author wanted the reader to see how Arthur felt on a cold and gloomy day in December and how Arthur felt on that day. 

The reader will also find another piece of evidence to show how the weather affects Arthur. In the book, it states, “It is snowing big wet flakes. The streets were full of slush.” The reader can probably infer that Arthur is feeling depressed because the day has already started off bad for him. After all, he probably is miserable and the snow is probably not helping his frustration. The frustration of Arthur will then get bigger and bigger because of the weather and because of how the day will turn out for Arthur. 

If you commit a crime, you may need to serve some time but in this story, that's not the case. Arthur is given probation by the Junk Man who he threw the brick at. The probation he got was to find 7 things for the Junk Man and depending on the weather on that day it could’ve been an obstacle for him. The book includes information about a 13-year-old named Arthur who must work to make up for a violent crime against the old Junk Man.