9 Keys to Life

In "The Leading Man," the boy in the story has a significant talent of opening up certain locks with his fingers. This just isnt any ordinary talent though. Each of these locks he unlocks have meaning to it. He opened up the door to his house so he wouldnt be outside bored which started the whole scenario of opening doors. Each lock he unlocked was like a memory in his life. He got to go to Paris to open up a lock in the Louvre and also a saftey deposit box that had gold in it. The story shows how this boy was never the Leading Man and was always a weird character in plays. But as the story continues, he begins to make a difference in peoples lives like unlocking a case to weapons for this weaponry salesman and saving this boy by unclocking this steel shed. I think one of the morals of the story is just because one thing doesn't go your way does not mean you should give up but keep striving and unlock the doors in your life. This is referring to when he thought he can unlock the shuttle for NASA but his finger wouldn't fit. He kept going and later saved this boy from a locked shed.

The relationship that the boy has with his father is quite distant. His father was in this secret war and was never around and the boy never knew when he would be back. Even when he did see him in Paris the father spent more time with his wife than his son. The boy still cared for his father and it showed by the end when the boy gave his father the metal that he was given when he saved the boy from the shed. He felt like his father was the real hero because he was fighting in a war that nobody knew about so he was getting no recognition for risking his life. It is in my belief that they finally connected at the end of the story when they boy put his metal around his father's neck because he was giving him something that was a part of him and wanted his father to have. It was a great thing to see how all of his key fingers opened a door in his life which helped him succeed in life. (Mason Roessler Post 12)