Analysis Plot of " Peanut and Sparky "

 Analysis by Hilda Putri Wijayati

A short story by Arnie Lightning

The title of the story describes two about a friendship between a little boy and his pets.

Peanut and Sparky seemed in Arni Lightning's collection of Cute Bedtime short stories for Kids. The theme is about a Friendship among a Little Boy with his two Pet they are Sparky and Peanut. Sparky is a dog while Peanut is a baby squirrel. 

The original short story

The story Peanut and Sparky surrounds a truly friendship among a little boy and his two pets. Someday he went to the park with his mother. His mother always brought a handbag which was full of some animals food such bread crumb or birdseed. She would feed for them when they came near her. They always spent a whole summer in the playground. 

Suddenly there was a baby squirrel who hides in the mother's handbag, and they did not realize it. Then they went back to home. Arriving at home, his dog, Sparky was barking beside the mother's handbag. Actually there was a baby squirrel inside the handbag. Then, he tried to catch the baby squirrel.

Finally he could catch it and gave it a name Peanut because he figured out the baby squirrel like a peanut butter. He decided to adopt or nurse Peanut. Someday the little boy and his mother went out after they went back to home, they were shocked, the home was messy. It was the pets acts. His mother was very angry and mad. His mother decided to make a little wooden on the top of tree for Peanut and Peanut was happy. He and his two pets (Sparky and Peanut) always spent whole time to go adventure, a little love both o his pets equally. He could not imagine if they were not with him. He always took out them to play together. It was a truly friendship.

The plot of the story

Beginning 

 The story begins when I (the boy) and his mother went to the park. He was keen on remembering their plan by saying," I fondly remember how Mama take me to the park". Then this story also narrates how the squirrel follow them." After we got home Mama set her bag down. We had no clue the squirrel had been in there but we were about to find out soon". Next the narrator alludes the surroundings by saying" The neighbors look at me awkward when I take Peanut for a walk with Sparky". The situation could be imagined that the boy was happy to have a squirrel and a dog to be his best friends. It can be seen from the paragraph below:

"We got our handyman next door to build us a squirrel-sixed birdhouse and Peanut was happy. He does not always stay in the birdhouse, just when Mama is mad. Now Peanut has his own house and he is very happy. I see him every day and we have adventures all the time".

The Conflict

The conflict happens when Mama got mad after seeing her house was disordered by Sparky and Peanut. It is the main conflict between mother and his pets. Sometimes mother also want to have time for her and his little boy. One night, his mother took him to go out for pizza and they had to leave Peanut and Sparky together in the house.

The Climax

The climatic point occurs in the story when Mother go mad seeing her house was disordered. It can be seen in the paragraph below: "When Mama and I got home we found the garbage all over the kitchen floor and peanuts cracked in Mama's slippers. The broken wallnuts were kind of funny, but I do not think Mama liked it. When we went into the living-room, Mama got really mad. She found her chairs all torn up to shreds. She stormed all through the house very angry. She put Sparky in the dog house and told me I had to put Peanut in a cage".

Moral Values

By analyzing this short story, it can be inferred that human beings have to love animals by feeding them as his mother does or playing together with them like the little boy has done. It can be seen in the first paragraph, "I fondly remember how Mama would take me to the park. She would sit on the bench while I played. Sometimes she would feed sparrows and squirrels. It seemed that she had a way with the animals. "

Based on the sentences above, it indicates that as human beings have to love not only to other people but also to the animals as God's creation in this world.