I have mixed feelings about the loner. Although the children are also unmoving and unfriendly to the boy, i think that his situation is also because of his hesistance to take the initiative to make friends. This shows that the loner is anti-social . Instead of trying to socialise with the children, he "leans against the playground wall" indulging his time in "boredom beating tricks". Yet, he returns everyday to see the children play. Why does he have to return, when he knows that he will have no one but the wall to be with? Thus, I think that the loner longs to be like the other children, with a "familiar clique" to be in. He always sticks to the wall and "never plays". This proves that the loner is anti-social.
However, it is not completely the Loner's fault. The children are cold and hard. They discriminate the loner as he is not like all of them. Not even one person had wanted to be the loner's friend. Probably because of the fear of becoming a loner themself. The children "pass by him and never speak." This shows that they are ignoring him although the loner has established his presence. They do not take the loner as a person who is waiting for a friend. Meerly a shy person who does not know how to speak up and socialise, but as a freak, a weirdo. Thus, it is evident that the children are 'cold' in the means of their behaviour.
If you look around, this shows the behaviour of the community in general. Many people might have stopped racially discriminating , but other forms of discrimination still exists. When people see a handicapped person or a person who is disfigured, they do not exactly react the same way as the would to general people. In school examples, too loud or too soft people are usually the ones with the least friends. The society has yet to accept people as they are open armed. No one can exist completely peacefully with no squabbles but, the problem is where people do not accept one another before they get to know each other. First impressions count, but you cannot judge a book by its cover. It is hard, and getting tougher to convey this message to the society. We live in a society which has its mind closed and judges people on the sterotype "perfect person". This itself is causing our society to fall. If such discrimination was to continue and was to follow on to racial discrimination, the racial riots will never end. But then again, around the world, when have the racial riots ever ended? Thus i think that this poem also represents our society, in form of the children.
( PS: The last paragraph was an extra and everything that i wrote is my personal thoughts and opinions. All characters and "examples" are means of the writer's(me!)' imagination and have no link to anyone ; dead or alive, or whatsoever.)
