Big Joe's Funeral by Walter Dean Myers

The Story, Big Joe's Funeral, by Walter Dean Myers is full of irony. You see, Big Joe, is a loved person around 145th street. He helps a lot of people out and lends money to people who need it. He has been talking about his funeral for a time and he died. He was wearing a nice suit and almost everyone cried. He faked his funeral. He decided it was enough lending people money and wanted to end his insurance. At the end, he opened the coffin and came out. He received all the money and tricked everybody.

I think that the main theme in this story is RESPECT. I think it is respect because a lot of people lent money from him and he doesn't know who his friends are from that. So he planned his fake funeral and from the speeches, he found who his friends were. He wanted to be respected because he respects everybody else, and he wants them to return the favor when he's dead.

In my opinion, I think that the fake funeral/party was foolish. Because he spent a lot of money on it- maybe more money than he lent to other people! I wouldn't do that because its just a waste of money and what if you really-accidentally- get buried. It would be hard to hear a person 6 feet underneath the ground. Wouldn't you agree.

I didn't really like the story. I mean, it was just there, not very interesting. Although it has a good theme, it sucked.