A Secret Gift Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Secret Gift - Essay Example Interested people were required to write and submit reports telling the benefactor about their economic problems. According to Gup, the primary aim of the gift was to reduce the pain and suffering of poor Cantonians who were bracing themselves for the harshest festive season which most of them had never experienced (34). Eventually, 150 families benefitted from $5 each instead of the earlier planned $10 for 75 families due to the overwhelming response from the needy audience. According to Chambers, Gup was touched by the narrations of suffering amid undying hope of the Cantonians as captured in the letters, which he came across in suitcase that belonged to his grandfather almost eight decades earlier (85). At first, the investigative journalist was keen on uncovering the experiences behind the letters; this led him to scan through the documents and piece up the information by interviewing the authors’ descendants across the country. From the interviews involving hundreds of respondents, Gup has reestablished the role played by Mr B. Virdot’s when the country was reeling in economic meltdown. A substantial number of people could not afford to put bread on the table, while others had run out of coal and clothing among other vital necessities. Gup’s investigations show that his grandfather’s role had substantial impacts on the beneficiaries’ lives when life was practically unbearable. Taylor argues that as a journalist, Gup releases an expose of the sorrows and happiness of the tens of families who were strange to Sam Stone, but whose fortunes were basically the result of Mr Stone’s very complicated life of secrecy, philanthropy and equity (18). Gup reveals deeply hidden facts about Stone’s life; from his humble, abusive childhood experiences to his rather criminal life of evading capture by American authorities for lacking the required immigration documents. Mr Stone’s life in the alien country may have played an