The Boy In The Striped Pajamas?

This story was my favorite of the week. It reminded me of a movie called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. In this movie a nazi soldier is in charge of a concentration camp and he moves his family to a very luxerous house close by so they can be with him. The families house is surrounded by a huge brick wall and the soldier's son is forbidden to go outside the walls. However the innocent boy wants to play fairlytales and he sneaks out and sees another boy in the concentration camp wearing striped clothes. They become friends and the soldiers son sneaks into the camp and is utimately killed by his father's own accidental orders. In the story Once Apon A Time, a family is so determined to remain safe from the "others" (the poor and colored who live in a different area) that their house is enclosed by barbed wire. A reoccuring theme is the stories and fairytales this family tells their young son. He is given a story book for christmas for example. The author was also asked to write a childrens' story. This child is ultimately the victum of his parents protections when he is caught in the barbed wire.

A Worn Path aka the bad story this week

I guess this really isn't a bad story i just decide any story i can't interpret right away as " bad". However this story did have an interesting twist on the end. Our main character, Phoenix Jackson, is traveling from her home into town which is far away. She travels by foot and we learn toward the end of the story that she does this to get medicine for her grandson. There are a few instances in the end of the story that make the reader question her real reason for going into town. In fact it may be that her grandson is no longer alive. The impression I got was that either her grandson was no longer alive or that she was using the medicine for herself. I think of this when the nurse asks; "He isn't dead is he?" and Phoenix responds, "at last there came a flicker and them a flame of comprehension across her face" Her response to this question of her grandson's death is odd. There were other minor characters that Phoenix encounters that may play a symbolic role such as the man with the dog she meets and the woman who ties her shoes. I am not quite sure of these charcters' purpose but it is evident that they impact Phoenix.

Miserable at Best - Eveline

Question two asks why Eveline's current circumstance with her father and her employer and life in general make it desirable for her to leave with frank. The story's main conflict is Eveline's decision to stay or leave home. She weighs the pros and cons and this is what she says; if Eveline stays she will be stuck with her violent and demanding father who will demand for her to take care of the house and children. Also Eveline will have to continue working at the story with her boss Miss Gavan who she does not care for. Yet, before her mother's death Eveline promised her to that she would keep the family together as long as possible. If Eveline leaves, she will have to break her promise to her mother and leave her family behind. Also she will be going with a man she "hopes" to find love in but she is truely just using him to get away from her life. Both options have their pros and cons and the choice is difficult. In the end Eveline choses to stay home. I think this shows Eveline's unselfishness to her family and her devotion to her mother.

Miss Brill and Weezer!

Somebody said all the worlds is stage,
And each of us is a player.
That’s what I’ve been tryin to tell you.
In Act 1 I was struggling to survive.
Nobody wanted my action dead or alive.
Act 2, I hit the big time.
And bodies be all up on my behind.
And I can’t help myself because I was born to shine.
And if you don’t like it, you can shove it.
But you don’t like it, you love it.
So I’ll be up here in a rage,
’Til they bring the curtain down on the stage --Weezer "The Greatest Man That Ever LIved"

This story reminded me of this song because Miss Brill says"They were all on stage. They weren't only the audience, not only looking on; they were acting." (Page 185)Miss Brill is a lonely old woman. She travels into town on sundays to see the band play and people-watch. She feels moved to tears when she sees the routine that she and the people around her have created. I think she is mostly emotional because she says that if she did not show she would be missed because she is one of the actors. Miss brill feels like she belongs. However, this allusion is shattered when a young couple make fun of her and her fur scarf/coat that she is so proud of. She was acting so that she would feel included and so that she felt beautiful and needed. Miss Brill's "fourth wall" is shattered by the young couple and she returns home and puts her scarf back in the box. This story was very sad. Everyone wants to feel like they belong and those who do belong often are oblivious to how much of an impact they can have on those in need.

characterization

Thes stories were made unique in the way that the point was made symbolicly through the characters. Dee in the story, "everyday Use" shows the actions of a large group of people by the way she behaves her self. She shows through Irony how she is infact rejecting her culture instead of embracing it. The three men in "Hunters in the snow" are shown as animalistic and cruel. Their actions describe their personality and sybolize society as a whole. Bartlebys strang actions can be interpretted in many ways. In my opnion his actions are sybolic to the uniqueness each individual starts with and the way society sucks the energy from each of us. The characterization is key to each theme of these stories. The Irony and symbolic meanings behind their actions leads the reader towards the authors goal in their writting.

Bartleby the Scrivener

This is a story that has been debated over by many well educated scholars and the theme is still uncertain. In my attempt to analyse this story I found that the lawyer, the narrator of the story, was using his workers. He starts out tell of his workers and the ones that work well at different times in the day. These workers do not have real names, for example, turkey. He treats his workers as less then men. They are described by how they work almost like animals on a farm. Then the Lawyer hires a new employee, Bartleby, who works well all through out the day. Bartleby is the only one with a realistic name. He is the lawyers most prize possesion because he did everything with out being asked. When the layer did ask him to do something he would respond, "I'd prefer not to" and he would refuse to do the work. So much so that in the end all he would do was sit by the window and they had to move the office. Bartleby is eventually taken to jail where he dies. I think this shows how workers lose their enthusiasm and their personalities die. They become more of a nusance and they are imprisioned by their work.

Hunters in the snow

This story makes its point through the actions of the characters. The characters are described indirectly through their actions and not by telling us directly who they are, so the author left us wondering as to their true nature. The main protagonist in the story is Tub, a well-rounded character who appeared in the entire story from the begging till the end. His name Tub gives an impression of him of being overweight which was also clear when the author said “He ate both the sandwiches and half the cookies, taking his own sweet time.”(191). Also, as the story goes along, Tub appeared to be the antagonist who Frank and Kenny teamed up against making him out to be a follower and a victim for both Frank and Kenny. Kenny also has an odd sense of humor. He shoots a tree and a dog simple because it was barking at him. Before her shoots these things he says he hates them then he precedes to tell Tub he hates him. This leads the author to believe that either Kenny is joking or he is going to shoot Tub next. Tub responds by shooting Kenny. The author presents these characters as animistic. They respond to things in an unthought-out way. This makes a statement about society in general.

Everyday Use

This short story presents a perspective on cultural struggles in America. A major culture is the African American culture. This culture has struggles to maintain through out American history. However, Africans living in America have created their own African-American Culture. In this short story, Dee is trying desperately to hold on to the "African" part of her past. She does this by what she wears, by changing her name, and by leaving her family and their American-farmhouse ways. Unfortunately, in partaking in these actions Dee has separated herself from her family and the heritage that they give her. Her name for example is something that has been passed down by the women in her family for generations yet she chooses to change her name to a traditional African name. In doing so she denies her true family heritage. Dee does not embrace her African-American culture but instead tries to force her African culture on herself and her family.

"Interpreter of Maladies"

This story is kind of comical due to its use of irony. Mrs. Das is a tourist in India with her family. They are being drivenn by Mr. Kapasi, who is an interpretter. Mr. Kapasi interpretts english to the native language and vise versa. Unfortuately Mrs. das thinks that he is an interpretter that deals with people's troubles and tells them what to do to solve them. Because of this misunderstanding Mrs. Das tell Mr. Kapasi her life troubles. If this was not ironic enough, Mr. kapasi also miss interprets Mrs. Das' confession as her flirting with him. Even though Mr. Kapasi can interpret words he can not intpret actions. this shows also how cultural differences are aften miscontrued through actions. There are other ironic events that also happen through out the story such as the child that is not Mr. Das' is attacked by a monkey ect. This irony creates humor and intrigue in the story. It also allows us to learn the underlying story of the characters.

"How I Met My Husband"

This story by Alice Munro, was told by a narrator telling of her memory of how she met her husband. The title makes the reader believe that the man she is talking about in most of the story is going to be her future husband. However, the reader later learns that it was because of this man's bad promise that she actually met her real husband. Question Number three asks how minor characters such as Loretta Bird and Mrs. Peebles help advance the plot. These characters each have there own story that is revealed slightly through Edie's narration. Because of these character's actions we see that Edie is from the country and the people she works for are not; "the Peebleses thought she was a country-woman, they didn't know the difference." (page 131) The minor character, Alice Kelling, also contributes to the story because she shows the reader would Edie could turn out to be like had she not realized the mistake it was to trust Chris. These minor characters add to the main character by contributing small details and facts that allow the reader to know more about what is going on.

"A Rose for Emily"

This story by William Faulkner, is told in an interesting way with a twist on the end. A few of the questions at the end of the story ask what is contributed by the use of first-person plural point of view and what is the point of the non-chronological order of the story. The narrator(s) of this story is the towns people. They discuss what they know of Emily, who has passed away, and the way they have judged her through out her life. Because the towns people are telling the story the reader can only know what they have assumed about her and what they have seen her do. The towns people believe that she is snobby and avoids people for that purpose."she carried her head high" (page 286) The towns people also know of her family history; "People in our town, remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were." (page 284)However, since the reader only knows what the towns people know, the reader doesn't know of Emily's true insanity until the very end of the story. This is why the fist-person plural is an effective narrative. This narration also creates a non-chronological way of telling of Emily's life. It is as if the towns people are reminiscing sporadically and not in a distinct order. This gives the story a sense of realism like what towns people may truly remember and report about a person. These techniques greatly contribute to the story as a whole.

Plot and Structure

Each of the short stories we read this week approached plot and structure in a unique fashion. "How I Met My Husband" by Alice Munro was told in a nostalgic tone with an older woman reflecting on her past experiences. The story addresses social issues and points out a few hypocritical activities that the characters partake in. The second short story "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri, is told in the present by a character. This story uses irony to prove a point and to show striking contrast between characters. The final story, "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner is told by the townspeople or an outside narrator. This makes it so the reader can only learn bits and pieces about the character and has to put the puzzle together in the end. This type of structure increases suspense and keeps the reader interested until the twist at the end of the story. Each of these stories had a different approach to plot and structure but they were each successful in conveying the purpose.