Final answer:
The narrator in 'Saturday at the Canal' grapples with a feeling of entrapment and the responsibility of leading a plan to escape their current life.
Step-by-step explanation:
- The challenge that the narrator faced in Saturday at the Canal by Gary Soto was a feeling of entrapment and a desire for escape from a seemingly predetermined life path.
- The narrator, along with a friend, yearns for a life beyond the confines of their working-class background and the canal symbolizes both the barrier and the pathway to their dreams.
- The emotional burden of the responsibility for the plan to leave, as well as the fear of their plan being discovered, signify the internal and external challenges that the narrator faces.