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A Loaf of Bread by James McPherson

            The short story, "A Loaf of Bread", shows us that grocery store owner, Harold Green, was struggling while trying to keep his business afloat. He'd been a grocer for many years, selling goods at exorbitant prices without any regard for his customers.
             At the beginning of the story, we see that Green as a greedy man, caring for nobody but himself. classmates after watching people picketed on the evening news. She tried to persuade him to give away Even his wife, Ruth, and their children were second to him. They were ashamed when neighbors and classmates picketed outside his grocery store, complaining about Harold Green's unreasonable prices. Ruth challenged Green to schedule a day where he would give away groceries to everybody for an eight hour period, and to do so without publicity. .
             It seems her words didn't affect him at all, even though threatened to take the kids and leave Harold for good, "if you refuse, you have seen the last of your children and myself." Harold insisted that he was going to do business his way and that the purpose of owning a business was strictly to make a profit. He demanded that he be allowed to run his grocery store his own way. .
             In writing the story, James McPherson takes an objective view and tells the story from two perspectives - Harold and Nelson Reed. Without taking sides, he leaves it entirely to the reader to judge each character for themselves and to sympathize with the one character or both. .
             Nelson Reed was in conflict with Harold Green. Nelson believed that his neighbors were being exploited and cheated by the grocer. Green, on the other hand, found no fault in his actions "I am not a dishonest man, but that is how the business world is.".
             I understand both points of view and can see where both characters are coming from. Both have valid points, but I tend to sympathize Mr. Green. It was a business and he had a right to make profit. If people didn't want to buy groceries from him, they had the option of driving two miles down the road to Green's other store where he offered better deals.

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