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Analysis Of Mr. Sandford By Margaret Oliphant

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In writing, men have typical attributes that are expected of them. Masculinity, ambition, confidence, and intelligence are characteristics that define what is commonly viewed as being a good man. Traits of a young man, however, differ from the aforementioned. In the selected stories from Margaret Oliphant, “Mr. Sandford,” and Charlotte Riddell, “Walnut-Tree House” and the “Open Door,” the authors show the path that the young men follow as they make their way into the world and find their place in society. In the short story “Mr. Sandford” by Margaret Oliphant, the reader is presented with a story of intergenerational conflict between two sons and their father. The protagonist of the story, Mr. Stanford, has two sons that, along with his daughters, are detracting from the family's financial stores without adding any contributions (24). The author compares young artists with young men, with the exception that young artists “have at least a subject on which any amount of talk is possible, and and which their elders can understand” (28). Thus, showing an intergenerational area of conflict and confusion where Mr. Sandford cannot relate to his sons. He explains the situation by saying that, although, they have been educated well to the best of his means, “their jargon was not his jargon” (28). Mr. Sandford is angered by his sons’ opinion that the standard of art has changed and their father’s has grown old-fangled (44). His sons follow a stereotypical trope of young men as they

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