I ended choosing the story I’d Save the Kids to read in the 87th Issue of Glimmer Train. I started to read quite a few stories, but I’d Save the Kids is the only one that I related to the most and found the most interesting and well-written. The simple, short story tells of a father’s decision about if he was forced to save only his wife or his children. He writes to tell the audience about why he would save his children instead of his wife, but not for the reasons one would assume. It’s not that he loves the children more than his wife, just the opposite, but he says that he wouldn’t hesitate saving his children over his wife. The narrator starts off contradicting himself, but by the end you know exactly what’s going through his head when he talks about his wife and his family—and his simple, straight forward, yet painful answer to the question who would you save.
The writing is seamless and flows into several different directions without the reader becoming aware that he is no longer talking about his family, but about terrorists, other families, and market place in 2nd World countries.
What I like most about this story is the style. The author gets the readers thinking as he asks his provocative questions about humanity, rights, and down-right evil acts.
Towards the end, he talks about the Bible. How God had asked Abraham to kill his son Issacs. Abraham was obedient and his faith was accredited to him as righteous. God gave him his son Isaac, and has the right to take him away, but God stopped Abraham before he killed his son. Instead, God provided a ram in what would have been Isaac’s place (a foreshadowing to Jesus Christ and what he has done for us). The author says: “No matter who says, no matter what, you never sacrifice the children—you don’t. If you do, what have you got? Just nothing” (139). However, what the author doesn’t see is this: that is exactly what God did for us! He sacrificed his only and perfect Son—himself—to adopt us into his family. To pay for what we have done wrong against him, he paid the price to bring us into his inheritance.
The author is indirect agreement with God, it seems. Save the children, every time, and we’d be foolish to think it doesn’t come with a price.
I would recommend you read this story. With the author’s quick pace and wit, you are in for a treat.
by Tuesday Stadecker
Coe Review 