The Contest for Aaron Gold story
Bernie is a ceramics teacher at a summer camp, and is protective of Aaron Gold, a boy who dislikes athletics but loves sculpture. As Aaron has no other accomplishments, the camp's performance-driven owner Stern orders that Bernie "finish" Aaron's sculpture of a one-armed knight to show off to Aaron's father. Bernie adds the arm, which upsets Aaron deeply, because the statue is a tribute to Aaron's father, who only has one arm. Directed by: Norman Lloyd. Story by: Philip Roth, William Fay.
15 total · 7 major · 8 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| art discussion | major | Teachers recurringly discussed the virtues of Aaron's sculpture. |
| compromising one's ethical principles vs. great need | major | The story built up to the following personal ethical dilemma for Bernie: should he spoil Aaron's sculpture in order to protect his own job, which he sorely needed? |
| dealing with children | major | Bernie struggled to teach his camp class of unruly brats. They nagged him about why they had to call him "uncle", for example. The story concerned how one should nurture a child who shows a special talent for some art: Aaron had a knack for sculpture, but neglected his swimming, and the teachers disagreed about what to do. |
| human childhood | major | The story is set at a summer camp for boys, and follows young Aaron as he becomes absorbed in working on a clay sculpture at the expense of not participating in other camp activities. |
| mentor and protégé | major | The ceramics instructor Bernie took young Aaron under his wing and encouraged him in his efforts to complete a clay sculpture of a one-armed knight. |
| sculpture | major | The boy Aaron spent his three weeks at summer camp working on a clay sculpture of a one-armed knight. In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock fired his ceramic instructor in the kiln over an unflattering evaluation of Hitchcock's work in clay. |
| teaching occupation | major | The story follows the ceramics instructor Bernie as he teaches sculpting in clay at a summer camp for boys. |
| boss and employee | minor | The camp instructor Bernie succumbed to pressure from the performance-driven owner Stern to complete young Aaron's clay sculpture of a one-armed knight. |
| father and son | minor | The grand revelation of the story is that the sculpture of a one-armed knight that young Aaron had been working on all summer was a depiction of his father, whom the boy evidently admired very much. |
| filial love | minor | Young Aaron so admired his one-armed father that he spent all his time at summer camp making a sculpture of him as a one-armed knight. |