A Day's Wait

“A Day’s Wait” shows how withholding information to save another’s feelings only causes more suffering. The title “A Day’s Wait” refers to Schatz’s waiting an entire day believing that he’d die. However, these thoughts were completely avoidable. For example, had Schatz asked about his prognosis or shared his worries, he would have learned of his error far more quickly. Similarly, had either the doctor or his father included him in discussing his care, Schatz would not have endured nearly as much emotional turmoil. However, in the hopes of alleviating worry, the characters all omit the truth and even lie, causing more hardship than if they’d simply volunteered information in the first place.

Schatz is the worst example. From the story’s beginning, he claims to be fine when he’s clearly ill. For example, Papa describes Schatz as “shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move” (Lines 2-3). Nevertheless, the boy states twice that he’s fine when he very obviously isn’t. The only logical explanation is that he doesn’t want to worry his father, but the fact that Schatz repeatedly claims that he’s fine causes his father more worry.