Essay On My Story - The Potter Boy Gets A New Bicycle

Many years ago there was a Potter living in a small hut by a roadside on the outskirts of a town. He lived with his wife Jane and son Tom. He made beautiful mud vessels, flower vases and a variety of sculptures. He displayed them in front of his hut every morning.
His favorite sculpture was a fishing man. He took many days to finish the statue. The Potter made the statue with great care that it appeared just like a real man, with a dark moustache and a smiling face. The fishing man’s right hand was patiently holding a fishing hook tied to a stick. The Potter hoped that the sculpture would one day sell for a good sum. He displayed it carefully so that it attracted the attention of the passersby on the road.
However, no one took interest in the sculpture. It remained unsold for a long time. The Potter began to lose hope that anyone would ever buy the fishing man statue. Anyhow, he dusted it every day and placed it in a prominent location every morning so as to attract the attention of passersby on the road. The Potter’s son Tom had been asking for a bicycle for a long time. One day the Potter jokingly told the boy that he would get him a new bicycle when the fishing man sculpture was sold out.
One Sunday morning, while trying to lift the sculpture for displaying, Tom broke its left hand when he accidentally hit the statue against a stone post inside the hut. He felt very bad. His father convinced him by offering to repair it soon. So the sculpture was not displayed for sale that day; instead they kept it at a corner inside the hut.
That evening a car stopped by their hut. A girl and her parents got out of the car. The girl was interestingly looking at the beautiful flower vases, sculptures of animals and birds. Nothing seemed to amuse the little girl. Her eyes slowly went into the hut.

“Papa,” she called her father indicating the one-handed fishing man sculpture.

“I like this sculpture Papa. How cheerful the man looks in spite of his handicap,” the girl jumped in joy.
The boy and the Potter were astonished. In a few minutes the car went away carrying the sculpture. The Potter opened the envelope the girl’s father gave him as compensation for the beautiful sculpture.

“One hundred dollars,” exclaimed the Potter in disbelief.

The next morning the Potter’s son Tom went to school happily riding his own new bicycle.
Analysis of the story, “The Potter boy gets a new bicycle”
This story is basically about dreams of poor people. The potter, his wife Jane, his son Tom, a father and his daughter are the five characters in this story. Poor people work hard, hoping that things would happen in their favor. Things would definitely change, but not always according to the way we wish them to change. This is what the theme of this story is. Hence, our responsibility is to always do the duties expected of us with commitment and determination and God will give us good results at the right time.
The Potter in the story is an honest and hard-working father. Even though he is poor, he puts extra efforts to make good quality pots, flower vases and statues. He seems to be a contended man with small dreams. One of his little dreams is that one day the statue of a fishing man he made by putting extra effort would fetch him a good price. Even his dream is honest and content. He does not crave a high profit and nor does he plan anything big with the money he is going to get. Like every ordinary human being, he too loses hope at one stage when no one passing by the roadside shows interest on his cherished statue of a fishing man. His son wants a bicycle, which the Potter cannot afford to buy. He must have thought in his mind badly about not being able to satisfy the boy’s wish. When he says that he would buy him a new bicycle if the statue is sold out, his words reflect both his disappointment at the unsold statue and his inability to get his son a new bicycle. Even when Tom breaks one hand of the statue, his father is not angry, this again speaks about his gentleness and contentment. His action of satisfying a disappointed Tom shows that he loves his son more than he loves the statue he made with great care. The character of the Potter has been portrayed as an ordinary man taking everything in his stride
The Potter’s son Tom too is calm and quite is like his father. He truly understands his parents’ predicaments and hence does not insist them much to buy him a new bicycle. He becomes curious when his father offers to buy him a bicycle if the statue is sold out, which makes him curious. He helps his father, particularly in displaying the statue. The boy has got a special acumen for business. He dusts regularly the statue to attract customers and places it so that it is seen by the passersby, which shows his genuine interest in his customers. He in fact fires up his dream even as his father loses hope with the statue. Tom’s dream is shattered when he breaks its hand, but his dream is so powerful that the world comes forward to make his dream true. World’s help to Tom comes through a cute girl, who discovers a real beauty on the face of a handicapped man in the form of a statue in spite of the other beautiful artifacts displayed in front of the hut. Thus, Tom’s sadness at having broken the statue’s hand in the morning transforms into happiness in the evening through a possibility of his dream’s fulfillment.
Dreams have true power, however unfavorable the current situation in one’s life may be. The dreamer’s only job is to align his thoughts with his or her dreams and be loyal to it by indulging in positive deeds toward achieving it. It is up to the God to give suitable rewards at the right time.