Presbyterian Crosswalk

Barbara Gowdy depicts the way a child understands the world in “Presbyterian Crosswalk” by showing how they will quite often misconceive things. At the beginning of the story, the reader is shown that Beth believes that when her mother ran off with another man, Beth was supposed to go with her. Beth also feels that there may be something ‘not right’ about Jesus due to a hymn that she is read in Sunday school. Another example of how Gowdy illustrates a child’s understand of the world is when Beth goes to her friend Helen’s house and sees the ‘No Solicitors’ sign on their door and mistakenly believes this refers to her father’s occupation. In these ways, Gowdy shows the reader how a child’s comprehension of the world can be much different than that of an adult’s.
When the reader is introduced to Beth’s father, they find out that Beth is unsure of how he feels about her. She says that when her he comes home, he seems surprised to still see her ther...