J.J. Nelson's "Lessons"

"Lessons" is the story of a young man's encounter with an older man on a train to Sorreno, Italy. At first, it seems the entire conversation is an old man speaking soothingly and condescendingly to the younger, but it turns out to be an elaborate scheme of pick-pocketing -- age and experience vs. youth and diligence. The words exchanged between the older man and the young, however, as well as the thoughts the reader is able to pick up from the younger man speak to much more than robbing other people blind. The young man's feelings of frustration regarding those who are older looking down on him with contempt is something many young people can relate to, not matter the situation.

The third person, limited point of view works well for the format of this story. An omniscient narrator would have muddied up the story with what the old man was thinking in addition to the young man, but the story isn't about him. The reader doesn't need to know what "lessons" the old man has learned over his many years, because the reader doesn't need to relate to him. Instead, we are able to relate to the young man who speaks of "having his own life under control" and knowing loss.

Something that I think would make the structure of the story better would be to change the gender of the young man. Because there's only two characters, and neither has a name, this change would help to reduce the use of "the young man" and "the old man" as indicators of speakers. Another aspect of the story that it might affect is the condescending tone of the older man. In the opinion of this particular old man, young people are foolish, and I would find it quite believable if he thought of young women being less capable than young men.