Miss Brill: Another Irrelavent Story

This story was even more boring than "A Worn Path." I'm just glad it was shorter so I could get through it about as fast as possible. Seriously, nothing happened in this story either. Miss Brill thought she was a classy lady and star of the show becuase she wore what she thought was a fancy fur coat. While it was sad that the girl who made fun of her brought her classy dreams to shame, Miss Brill probably should have had a little more character and have not allowed it to hurt her. Becuase of just one person, Miss Brill locks up her fur coat, I think for good, and lets go of apparently one of the few things she still enjoyed. Miss Brill seems to be going back into solitude just because of this one incident. This stories plot and ending really just seemed somewhat frustrating and pointless to me.

Once Upon A Time: Irony

If there was one thing to pick up on in this story, it's either irony or satire. For this blog I'll focus on the various ironies found within the story. For starters, the author begins by directly telling the reader that they don't write children's stories. What does she do next? She writes a children's story. However, this one is of pure satire which pretty much rips on all the other children's stories ever written. This story was by far my favorite. I really just found all the ironies to be quite funny and the way in which the author satirically conveyed her point of view, to me, was hilarious. One of my favorite ironies was how the people kept building more elaborate walls and alarm systems to keep the burglurs out. However, it did just the opposite. Many alarms went off and became more of a nuissance rather than an alarm. Just like car and fire alarms, everyone just began ignoring them, allowing the criminals to slip into homes under the cover of the alarms. Finally, the family who just wanted a happily ever after for their child decided to install barbed wire on top of their wall. The author said it was barbed wire much like that in concentration camps, so you know its good. 60% of the time, it works, every time. Instead of protecting their child though, it viciously mauled him apart as he tried to scale the wall like a hero in a children's story. Ironic, isn't it?

A Worn Path: Dead or Alive?

I'm sorry but I really thought this story was just irrelavent. Nothing really happened to capture my interest. However, the one thing that did catch my attention was Phoenix's grandson. Was Phoenix a delusional old woman who couldn't remember that her grandson was dead or was she actually trying to help him get better? I tend to lean towards the idea that he is dead. First off, when she walked into the doctor's office, she couldn't even remember what she was there for. Also, the woman in the doctor's office even asked her about her grandson being dead. To me, I'll take this woman's word for it since it seems as though Phoenix has lost her mind over the years. However, whether the grandson is alive or not does not take away from the thematic message of love and devotion conveyed in Phoenix's character. Just like the story as a whole, this question of whether the grandson is dead or alive is just simply irrelavent.

Eveline: Sympathetic Character

Eveline, in this story, shows many signs of being a sympathetic character. First off, she grew up in an abusive family. Her father abused her mother and brothers. Now that they left, he had begun threatening to do the same to her. In addition to this, Eveline finds herself stuck in Dublin with no escape until she meets a man named Frank. Frank is a kind sailor and becomes Eveline's boyfriend. However, nothing from the text ever supports that she actually loves him. Frank is more of a ticket away from home and an adventure. As Frank and her were about to depart for Buenos Aires, she found herself unable to truly leave her father and city behind for a man she truly did not love. This indirectly makes the reader feel sympathy for Eveline, knowing she is caught in a tragedy in which neither choice would have really brought her happiness in life.

Hunters In the Snow: Forshadowing

"'You ask me how I want to die today,' Kenny said, 'I'll tell you burn me at the stake.'"
(p. 189)

As I poured through the text looking for a simile or some simple imagery I could tie into the story, I found this. I must have just glazed over it the first times I read it. This is really significant. The quote, when looked at in its surrounding text, is actually really random. Kenny's statement comes from nowhere and no thought or consideration is given to it. It's just out of place which is why I just read right over it until now. This quote foreshadow's the events to come. While it is unclear whether Kenny actually dies or not, it is implied that he does. While I don't think Kenny ever thought such an event would pass, the author slips in this clandestine hint towards how the story will unfold. Instead of burning, however, Kenny freezes. Whether this is significant in some way, I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that this forshadows the future suspected death of Kenny. If anyone says they picked up on this the first time they read the story, I won't believe you.

Hunters in the Snow: Hey! You killed Kenny!

"As the truck twisted through the gentle hills the star went back and forth between Kenny's boots, staying alwyas in his sight. 'I'm going to the hospital,' Kenny said. But he was wrong. They had taken a different turn a long way back."
(p.201)

I can't take credit for noticing this because it only came to my attention in the group discussion today. The ending of the story is that Frank and Tub take a "different" turn from the road to the hospital. Why not a "wrong" turn? It seems logical that the turn would be considered wrong if it was the turn they missed towards their intended destination. However, the turn is just "different." From this, it kind of implies that the turn was intended by Tub and Frank but unsuspected by Kenny. Did Tub and Frank decide to let Kenny die? Another thing that I found startling that adds to this is when Tub leaves the directions at the tavern. Frank says that he pretty much knows where he's going. If Kenny's life meant something to them, wouldn't they want to be sure? They were only a couple miles down the road but don't want to waste a few minutes going back. It's not like they thought Kenny might die because of these few minutes since they already made it clear that they were taking rest breaks along the way. My final point to this is that they literally just left Kenny in the back of the truck to freeze to death or bleed out, whichever came first. They frequently stopped, had a meal, and even took Kenny's blankets. That doesn't sound like they're friends at all. It really makes me think that this "different" turn was something Tub and Frank both agreed on.

Everyday Use: Indirect Characterization

"In real life, I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day."
(p. 174)

Well this chapter is all about characterization and that's what we did in class, so i might as well blog about it. Mama is shown as a tough-as-nails character. Every time I think of her, for some reason, I get this image in my head of this lady I saw wearing a t-shirt that said "Hunting Bucks and Driving Trucks" but thats a different story. Anyway, in this quote, Mama is shown as quite a determined and somewhat stubborn character. Throughout the story, there are just reocurring instances that convey to the reader that she is the one in charge. I know I wouldn't want to mess with her. Also, the paragraph this quote comes from reminds me of the most interesting man in the world guy from the commercials. She goes through all of these random instances in her life to show her rough exterior like the most interesting man in the world does to show he is interesting. The story's narration by her, I think, better serves the nature of her character and allows the reader to indirectly get an understanding of who she is.

Bartleby the Scrivener: Strange Character

After reading that, there are two conclusions one can come to. For me, it’s that Bartleby is an interesting character, in a bad way. I could not come to sympathize with his character at all and just perceived him as the weird man he is. I definitely have never read a story which involved a character as out of touch with, I guess, reality as Bartleby is. He simply didn’t do what others said like a normal person does. If someone, especially an authority figure, tells me to do something, I’ll probably do it. It’s just a normal thing. Bartleby obviously is not normal. There also is a second way I’ve noticed some people perceiving him. Some readers sympathize with the character similar to how many people sympahtized with Miss Emily from the last story we read. They both are just so out of touch with reality that you have to feel bad for them. I can see myself feeling this way sometimes but most of the time I’m just frustrated with his overall character.

A Rose For Emily: Point of View

"For a long while we just stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin."
(p. 289)

This was definitely one of the creepiest pieces of literature we have read so far this year. One of the things that made it so creepy was the way in which the story was narrated. The point of view led me, the reader, to speculate on all of the events occurring. It created an eerie tone to the story that contributed to the story's plot. The point of view was first person and plural. The narrator always spoke using "we" or "us" conveying that what was being said was the townspeoples' collective speculation and thoughts on what was really going on. This sense of removal and rumor really added to the overall effect of the story. I think that without this unique style of narration, the author's work would not be as entertaining as it is. Overall, the point of view worked very well in further communicating the author's intentions for the story.

Interpreter of Maladies: Simile

"She lifted her pinkish brown sunglasses and arranged them on top of her head like a tiara."
(pg. 153)

I found this simile to be very significant in the characterization of Mrs. Das. Honestly, she is quite simply a mean and stuck up person. Throughout the story, she ignores her children, reveals her dishonesty towards her husband, and insults Mr. Kapasi. The simile from the quote contributes vastly to her character. The image of the tiara on her head creates the idea of her high maintenence and arrogance. The tiara symbolizes her selfish thinking in which she must always be put before everything else. I found Lahiri's use of this simile to be very profound as it set the tone of the story. Mr. Kapasi, in the end, realized Mrs. Das is not the person he would ever want to marry and lets the piece of paper with his address on it blow away without saying anything to her.

How I Met My Husband: Realistic Ending

"So I said yes, and I went out with him for two years and he asked me to marry him, and we were engaged a year more while I got my things together, and then we did marry."

I touched on this point a little towards the end of my previous blog but I figured it was worth elaborating upon. This story really throws out the traditional fairytale ending. Most stories would have it end with Edie and Chris falling in love, getting married, and flying around the globe until the end of their lives. However, this story doesn't end like that at all. Instead, Edie doesn't even get a letter back from Chris. How romantic? What does happen though is that Edie falls short of the fairytale cliche and marries the mailman she would see everyday waiting on Chris' letter. While it doesn't live up to the usual expectations of a love story, it creates a more realistic perspective on love and marriage. At the end, Edie describes how she enjoys other people being happy and that what makes them happy isn't really what's important. Edie and the mailman are both happy to be married together and enjoy their lives. I think that Munro tries to convey this idea that things are never perfect but that it doesn't prevent us from finding true happiness in a simple life.

How I Met My Husband: Ironies-Situational and Dramatic

"He always tells the children the story of how I went after him by sitting by the mailbox every day, and naturally I laugh and let him, because I like for people to think what pleases them and makes them happy."
(pg. 146)

This was my favorite story we read even though some parts were a little wierd. However, I mostly enjoyed this because I really like ironic stories. It is always fun to see something unexpected happen. This story contained many ironies, both situational and dramatic. The quote above illuminates the dramatic irony that occurs in the end of the story with the husband telling his kids how he met their mom. He believes that it was her who was flirting with him by waiting for him at the mailbox everyday when, in reality, she was waiting on another man, Chris. In addition to this, the story is a situational irony becuase the plot leads the reader to suspect that Edie will receive the letter from Chris and eventually marry him. In contrast, Edie's waiting on the letter leads her to find a new person, the mailman, who she ends up marrying. I enjoyed this story because of the ironies that led to a different meaning among the text and kept me, the reader, guessing what would happen. I think the purpose of Edie marrying the mailman was to combat the traditional love story format of a happily ever after ending to a more realistic ending conveying the reality that people can't wait forever on something that will never happen.