Critical Reading and Thinking - The Black Sheep

1. Why is it a problem to be honest in Calvino’s story?

The problem of being honest in Calvino’s story would lead to failure in adapting to the society. Consequences of it, the honest man found himself penniless, he had nothing to eat and his house was empty.

2. How did the rich become richer and the poor become poorer?

“ Because he let the others steal everything he had without stealing from anybody, so there was always someone who came home at dawn to find their house untouched, the house he should have robbed. In any event after a while the ones who weren’t being robbed found themselves richer than the others and didn’t want to steal anymore. To make matters worse, the ones who came to steal from the honest man’s house found it was always empty, so they became poor”.

Referring the above evidence from the text, since the honest man allowed the others to steal everything he had without stealing from others, this would cause to someone to gain and the other person lose out. As the cycle continues, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer.

3. Do you think the title The Black Sheep is appropriate? Why/ Why not?

In my opinion, the title Black Sheep is not appropriate because in a society full of thieves and a honest men, it will not change the situation any better. It will only cause the repetition of the norm they have been practicing. Unless, the society is full of honest people and only one thief, then the title Black Sheep would be appropriate.

4. What message do you think the writer is trying to convey?

In my opinion, the message that the writer is trying to convey here is that failure of a person in adapting to a society can lead to many negative implications. Since, the honest man did not steal and allowed others to steal from him, he found himself penniless, nothing to eat and his house was empty. Not only that, he also caused a massive change to the society. Before the honest man arrived at the society, everybody was stealing from each other and lived happily. After he arrived, some people in the society gained because their house was untouched since the honest man did not steal from them and some people lose out because they had nothing to steal from the honest man’s house. This caused the rich to become richer and poor to become poorer