No Sweater, No Sneakers?

In "The Definitive Mr. Rogers Profile: 'Can You Say...Hero?'" Junod fashions a distinct voice that not only renders a true expression of a living Mister Rogers apart from his tv persona but also captures the lasting impact Mister Rogers has on the lives of children. Junod begins with an unexpected observation from his own childhood which reminds the reader, as stated in the following paragraph, "YOU WERE A CHILD ONCE, TOO." The essay's voice maintains a tone of childlike wonder in many places such as the repetition of "ONCE UPON A TIME" as a header; however, a more adult tone of reflection, a struggle between cynicism and imagination, seeps into the majority of the narrative. This particular adult tone appears in phrases like, "the old navy-blue sport jacket comes off first, then the dress shoes, except that now there is not the famous sweater or the famous sneakers to replace them" or "he looked very little in the backseat of the car," which lead the reader to perceive Mister Rogers as someone vulnerable rather than powerful, even though an understated idea of the power of Mr. Rogers appears throughout the narrative as Mr. Rogers pushes earnestly to save each of the lives he touches each day. The voice of the narrative really mirrors many moments in Mister Rogers's life as he navigates the darkening adult world of television through the eyes of a child. Also, Mister Rogers's most fascinating motivations and idiosyncrasies, like his fixation on his 143 pound weight and his love for cemeteries and all lying in them, are best related through an adult narrator struggling to grasp an innocent, childlike wisdom that Mister Rogers preserves and shares with children everywhere. At the same time, the narrative fluctuates between an intimate and distant voice, which provides a more comprehensive picture of Mister Rogers the man living as Mister Rogers from the neighborhood. At some points, the narrator emphasizes personal details such as Mister Rogers' nap schedule whereas other times, the narrator choses to present Mister Rogers as a significant and recognizable accepting an award, which demonstrates the running theme of how the little becomes the big. However, the adult and childish voices at work within the narrative must all appreciate Mister Rogers for his big-ness. Altogether, these shifts in voice allow for the author to portray a most complete profile of Mister Rogers as a man and a public figure, an adult and a child at heart.