Miss Brill

“No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn’t been there; she was part of the performance after all,”

Miss Brill does not fit in because she thinks she fits in. Make sense? She tries so hard to dress and act the part of a well liked French speaking person that she clearly stands out. She assumes that everyone thinks she fits in when really they think she's a bit ornate. In the process of trying to win over others, Mrs. Brill has lost herself. The theme is to avoid doing just that. By watching Miss Brill almost embarrass herself, one can learn that life is not about performing as what society would see as normal, or ones perception of normal. Just be yourself. Miss Brill tries so hard and it does not even work. Life is to short to pretend to be someone else. Be yourself and people will notice you because of your uniqueness. Try to blend in with what is expected, and no one will remember who you really are.

Eveline

"Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition."

 pg 222

The author admits to writing about "spiritual paralysis" in Dublin's citizens. By this he means their spirits, or emotions, and not their spirituality. Yes, Eveline has had a rough life, but she has almost resigned to the fact that nothing happy will ever happen to her. Even when she had the chance to leave with her true love she stayed because she is so trapped inside her nightmare of a life. I don't think trapping yourself is a very helpful theme though. It's not right for an arthur to tell his readers to lose all sense of emotion and follow their responsibilities over their heart's desires. Maybe the story is begging readers to not be Eveline. Maybe people should not hold negative memories so closely. Moreover, maybe we shouldn't dwell on the past.

A Worn Path

"' My grandson. It was my memory had left me. There I sat and forgot why I made my long trip.'" pg 229

The grandson in this story is obsolete. Alive or not, Phoenix continuously makes a difficult trip for him in her old age. The poor woman has gone through the same routines in life for so long that it does not even matter to her that her grandson may be dead. In a sense, Phoenix is dead because she is so obliviously closed off to the real world. For Phoenix, making the trip marks living, but she is only technically alive. The trip has become emotionless and not memorable. She is making the tripfor the sake of making the trip, not to aid her grandson. I think a lot of people live that way. Going to school to go to school, but not with the intent of getting an education. Going to church, but not with an intent to improve spiritually. Phoenix's journey reminds us to embrace what we have in life, and to look around and take it all in as we grow up.

Once Upon a Time

"YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED"

The story as a whole is a warning, but not a warning to intruders. The mother in the story becomes so obsessed with protecting her child that she does not know when to stop. In the end it is her protection that actually kills him. In that light, it is a warning against technology, and security. These things can overshadow the important things in life. Also, its a warning about getting wrapped up in anything. The fact that the son saw the security system as a "thicket" rather than protection shows that he felt trapped, but the mother had no clue. She had lost sight of the reason for her own security obsession. By reading this story, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED about getting caught up in miscellaneous desires of this life.

Hunters in the Snow

"'He was old and sick. Couldn't chew his food anymore. I would have done it myself but I don't have a gun."

As if the bad situation couldn't get any worse, Kenny wasn't having a psychotic break down after all. Tub on the other hand could not have taken this very well. I would like to think that shooting your friend is troubling enough, but shooting your friend for no reason must be traumatizing. However, this whole short story questions what traumatizing really is. I myself would draw the line at almost getting ran over by my friends, but that didn't seem to phase Tub. Then, he shoots his friend on accident, but he manages to make it through that one and reconnect with Frank. Most importantly, they don't even make it to the hospital! Their friend died on their watch, but it's just thrown in there as if it's a trivial fact!

Everyday Use

"When I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. Just like when I'm in church and the spirit of God touches me and I shout."

I wish I could encounter someone like Maggie. She was a breeze to understand simply because she is an angel despite her major set backs. I think Maggie looked even more moral because her sister was the polar opposite. Maggie was been permanently distorted because of a fire, yet she manages to stay grounded and traditional like her mother. On the other hand, Dee has always been rebellious and dramatic even though she wasn't injured in the fire. More importantly, Dee was not initially proud of where she came from. With Dee, she did not love anything, but loathed lots of things that caused her to pick the alternative as her choice. Maggie, however, was consistent in liking the way her mom lived, and felt no need to make a scene about it. Also, Maggie could respect her ancestors without coming up with a crazy name.

Hunters in the Snow

"Frank, when you've got a friend it means you've always got someone on your side, no matter what.That's the way I feel about it anyway." pg 198

I just want to hug Tub. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he evokes such sympathy. I mus admit when the author described Tub as large I immediately thought he was going to be clumsy, loud, and irritable.However, I was very wrong. Tub is the understanding man in the bunch. I mean, if my best friend told me she was a pedophile I couldn't say I would stay by her side, but Tub knew Frank needed support in his hard time. He is also very vulnerable. He shoots Kenny not out of anger, but because he honestly thought Kenny would shoot him. Also, Tub is ashamed of himself not only for shooting his friend, but for being addicted to food.

Bartleby the Scrivener

"I would prefer not to."

Bartleby might just be the most aggravating character I have  ever read about. He is constantly saying he'd prefer not to, but he never actually says no. This leads me to believe that Bartleby is awkward, indecisive, and dramatic. However, after I was done reading, I began thinking that maybe Bartleby is genius. He's a brilliant copyist, and he knows his boss is a pushover. By saying "I would prefer not to" he knows his boss will not fight back for long and he will get out of doing some work. Even after he is fired and  reufuses to leave, Bartleby knows his boss will not force him to do anything. Annoying? Yes. Brilliant? Very. I wish I knew why he died though.

Overall Struggle: Characterrization

I was under the impression that short stories would make it easier for me to understand the characters. I was sadly mistaken. I learned more about what the charaters did, but I feel just as in the dark about who they are. These might as well be poems still. I didn't know if Edie's female boss was depressed or just a mad person, or if Mr. Das was ignorant or missing brain cells. Maybe the diction in short stories is meant to help just as the diction in poems acts as an aid. What I've learned in this unit is that short stories may just be very long and only a little more straight forward versions of poems. I understand the events now, atleast. I just like getting to know characters so I can relate to characters. Because I couldn't do that, I feel like I missed something in all three stories. Sorry I cannot understand what would drive a woman to sleep with a decomposing body. Maybe that professor was right. Maybe relating yourself with a character is a bad technique for that very reason.

How I Met my Husband

"We heard the plane come over at noon, roaring through the radio news, and we were sure it was going to hit the house, so we all ran out into the yard."

The ending hit me like a plane. I have never been so blind sided by a book in my life. For the record, I hardly ever finish any stories, but still. The plot, the attention to detail of the handsome pilot, it all pointed toward him being the husband. I think the structure always favors the protagonist through attention to detail of the events they're involved in and the length of time the author takes to describe them. In this case, everything pointed toward the pilot being the good guy! It all fit together perfectly: the maid feels  lonely, but then she spots a popular young lad who instantly sweeps her off her feet then carries her off into the sunset. Has this author ever heard of disney? You can't just alter Cinderella like that! We even had the  seemingly ugly step sister that was jealous of Edie, but who was actually an honest fiance. But then BAM! turn of events and sir pilot was never seen again, and oh Edie meets her husband who is just a normal mailman. Talk about a let down. The pilot gets three fourths of sthe story and he doesn't even win in the end. Men these days.

A Rose for Emily

"After her father's death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all."

Maybe I read the entire thing wrong, but I was not scared at all. It was a long story about a smelly  entitled woman who slept with a dead body. I believe we have crossed over from scary to flat out insane. Honestly, the story drug out about three pages too long for me. The word drug is used appropriately, because she drugged heself. I do not see how half of the flashback was necessary. Everything seemed repetitive and lackluster. Maybe this is because Miss Emily's skeletal affair was repetitive and lack.... life, but I found it to be a waste of time. I also don't get how her father could free her of all tax payments for her entire life. In the real world, when you don't pay you're taxes you go to jail. Maybe I hated how fiction it all was. However, it did bring out the Sherlock Holmes in me. I believe that the bones belong to her former lover (only because sleeping with your father on a nightly basis is a whole new realm of crazy that I refuse to consider) who she killed when she found out that he was attracted to men. It was Miss Emily, in the bedroom, with the custom toilet seat. My only question is, how was everyone in her china painting class ignorant of the smell of decaying flesh?

Interpreter of Maladies

“Is it really pain you feel, Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?”

I'm quickly beginning to understand that the purpose of structures and plots are to create suspense or those cherished awkward moments amongst the characters. Although the excessive drama makes for a terrible trip, each argument between the Das couple, obvious race divide, and confession felt like the climax to me. The short story was constructed for that very purpose: to show just how emotionally charged the storyline is. Before letting the reader calm down, something else is going on. I believe this parallels the feelings of Mr. Kapasi. Unfortunately, the poor man would be humiliated in real life because he couldn't have been more wrong about Mrs. Das. HE thought eveyrhting was happening so quickly, just as the plot twisted and turned in my mind, but really it was a straight and forward plot of a simply failing marriage.