Various themes were in this excerpt "To and Athlete Dying Young" by A.E Housman. It introduces the idea of home, effect of time, how pride and competition go together, how death brings us into a new destination. On a nutshell, it's not talking about a typical teenage life or an athletes in general, but different experiences about life from college years. In the end, it exemplifies the beauty of dying young, wherein challenges can be avoided.
Answer:
The boys are being challenged to jump of a bridge by a high school bully.
Explanation:
I think the theme of this short storiy is sometimes standing up to greater powers may cause punishment but it is still the right thing to do. An example of this is when Mike the bully is counting and instead of jumping on three Fenny jumps on two. Fenny didn't want to conform to Mikes rule so he jumps on his own. It's his life to control and not Mikes. Although Mike gets mad at him and punches Fenny, Fenny knows he did the right thing.
One symbol in this story is the man a girl fishing up stream from the bridge. this symbolizes calmness, of how he is about to do this stunt but is focused on these two fishers. The way he looks in the distance to focus on something so simple as people fishing while he has this mean bully yelling at him, making him jump off a bridge.
