Among the many activities we did this past week in class, we read two entertaining epistolary children stories on Thursday. The first story we read, The Jolly Postman, weaved several nursery rhymes and stories together to tell an interesting and revamped narrative. The Day the Crayons Quit was the second story we read and my personal favorite. I had never heard the story before and was surprised when many had. The stories I grew up with were in my mind the classics of children’s literature: When You Give a Mouse a Cookie, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Goodnight Moon. I buckled up, strapped myself in, and was ready to hear the story.
Wow, what a story! But don’t fret, I’m about to summarize it for you. The story takes the perspective of the crayons as they communicate their issues of how Duncan, their owner, uses them. The story is very colorful as each crayon color addresses how it wishes to be used. When the story began, I immediately knew that the story would be very comedic and the dialogue mirrors that of a Seinfeld stand-up routine.
The white crayon is utterly confused for why Duncan uses it. It hardly ever gets a presence on the page because Duncan always uses a white background as opposed to black. It also complains that white is only ever used to color snow or fill in empty space. The purple crayon appreciates that it’s Duncan’s favorite but is ready to throw a fit if he doesn’t begin to color in between the lines. Examples like these made me think that perhaps these colors are a a metaphor for life. These colors represent different groups and demographics of people who may be misrepresented. There are many examples in the story when the different crayon colors bash Duncan for his lack in using its color and using it incorrectly. We find this similarly in culture and especially in media when a specific group of people is targeted because there is hate and many times misunderstanding. If we could all maybe be a little bit more kind, respectful, and thoughtful to those around us, I think the world would be a better place and filled with a little bit more color. And I think the crayons would find grace with this sentiment as well.
