Sarah Orne Jewett "The Country of the Pointed Firs"

Sarah Orne Jewett’s novel, The Country of the Pointed First, has been a different experience for me. I do not see it as a novel, but rather a series of sketches of many different adventures. The fact that each chapter differentiates itself in the protagonists and adventures encountered is something I learned to appreciate as I read this “sketch”. To me, a novel is a book written about/for a particular purpose, from the beginning to the end. Jewett’s book tells the story of the effects of isolation and hardship experienced by the occupants of the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast, but at the same it provides the reader with many different chapters which bring us on a new expedition each time we flip the page.
Jewett’s book gave me a new outlook on American literature. Her essays represent a great example of Feminist Literary Theory and American studies. The themes she wanted her reader to pick up while reading this book are very tastefully written. They are done in ways which lead me to believe that a high school senior, who prepares himself/herself for college, would learn a great deal from this book. Considering that Jewett picks up on many topics, such as isolation, and she portrays the study of American culture, this book will be on my top list as I become a teacher myself.
I believe that Jewett holds many goals of feminist criticism in this book, such as “developing and uncovering a female tradition of writing, interpreting symbolism of women's writing so that it will not be lost or ignored by the male point of view, and resisting sexism in literature” (Wikipedia). She teaches through a series of characters whom we meet as we go from one chapter to the next. Jewett has become a much liked writer by me and I look forward to studying this book in depth as I hopefully teach it one day to my students.

"The Use of Force" by William Carols Williams

“The Use of Force”

For this blog, I’d like to focus on the title of the story. After reading the story, I was appalled by the doctor’s feelings as he grew angry with the child and allowed his fury to grow to a very unnecessary level. This is the exact problem we have in society today. People act on impulse and instead of rationally thinking things through, people do and say things which most likely would not have taken place if they took five minutes to relax.
Although the doctor’s motives are to help the child, his immediate feelings of relief and success as he gets to look at the child’s throat, are very unusual. At the beginning, he talks about how beautiful the child was, “one of those picture children” (1170). This creates a possible notion of sexual attraction to a child by an adult man, which is considered to be wrong world-wide. The fact that child was a female leads me to touch up on the male superiority of the story. The child is held by force, as the title suggests, by her father, another male, and the male doctor who are desperately trying to “help” the child. The mother, the other female in the story, is asked to leave while the two men basically attack the poor child with smooth-handled spoons and wooden tongue depressors, which made the child’s mouth bleed by cutting her tongue.
The problem was that the child was scared. By using force, the child became terrified and even more reluctant to listening to anyone’s orders. What was overlooked was the child’s best interest, although the doctor does try to justify his actions by stating his only concern was the child’s health. “The Use of Force” was nothing else than a terrible solution to someone’s need of satisfaction. The doctor wanted to feel powerful and important. He wanted the child to do what he said, instead of trying to understand her behavior. After all, she was a child. By scaring and forcing an already terrified child, the two men made the situation worse. The child was now hurt, which the doctor originally refused to do as he “ground[s] [his] teeth in disgust” upon the mother’s mention of the word “hurt” (1171). He was overpowered by the notion of satisfaction and allowed himself to become angry with - a child. This story shows how inconsiderate our society is of others and the egocentric feelings we all possess despite our perhaps pre existing motives.

"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe

“For the love of God, Montresor!”
“Yes,” I said, “for the love of God!”

The above quote is interesting due to the setting of this short story. Although the name of the city is not specified and neither is the year, we know that the setting took place somewhere in Europe, which to me signals the Catholic religion. Due to the language used in this story, I can make the assumption that the story took place many years ago, perhaps sometime during the 18th century. Being that I also am from Europe and know about the culture and a lot about the history, I am reasoned to make the assumption that the men of this story were in fact Catholic. The above quote also supports my assumption due to the use of God’s name in Fortunato’s pleas, as well as Montresor’s reply.
What is significant about my assumption is the fact that despite his possible religious views, Montresor commits a horrible crime, which is viewed as one of the worst sins by the Catholic church. The conversation between the two men seems very friendly and to my surprise, Montresor does not seem nervous. He is very calm and feels no remorse for the crime is about to commit. He possesses the qualities of the devil, who is immoral and remorseless. He has no point or reasoning for what he does. He does not seem to be led by anger or any specific feeling at all. His reply to Montresor’s pleas, although using God’s name, is very calm, cold, and heartless.
Montresor’s reply may also seem like he is murdering Fortunato for the love of God. I get a feeling of Montresor justifying his actions through God’s name. Such actions lead me to believe Montresor to be insane since he does not state a reason for his hatred towards Fortunato. It is obvious and apparent to all that murdering in the name of God, in the Catholic religion, is not only a sin but ironic as well. God does not want his followers to kill because by doing so, they are going against what God has created. Montresor’s mind state is very questionable and so is his manipulative character.
Could it be that my assumption is completely wrong and Montresor did not believe in religion? Absolutely. But it is essential to note that if he was, for example, an atheist, he would not have used God’s name in his reply to Fortunato, and/or he would have ignored Fortunato’s pleas completely. This entire story goes against what most people believed in during that time, when it came to religion. It is, simultaneously, ironic and dark, and so is the narrator of the story.

Flannery O'Connor "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

"She would have been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." (914)

The short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is a very interesting one when analyzing it from a religious point of view. The above quote, stated by The Misfit, has great power and strength in its meaning. The Grandmother, a petty, cantankerous, and overbearing individual, is faced with death and suddenly she enlightens herself on the way she should have seen the world all along. She begged for her life, but was she begging because she saw change within herself or because she wanted to live? The Misfit recognized her phony cry and did not bare mercy on her.
Going back to religion, certain individuals simply do not qualify for God’s forgiveness, but it does not mean that God himself would think so. The feel that I receive from the story is that the many terrible acts some individuals had committed and the people they hurt and upset, added up to way too much over the forgiving point. But I must conquer with that understanding and say that I believe grace is for everyone, even those who seem loathsome. While reading the story, the reader hardly feels sorry for the Grandmother due to her behavior towards others. Whether or not she is a likeable person, The Misfit’s decision to kill her is undeserved.
Once faced with death, an individual becomes aware of the rude and hurtful things they have done but sometimes, that time had come too late, as for the Grandmother. In my opinion, the Grandmother would have never called The Misfit a good man or tried to be kind to someone for a change if she had not been told she will be killed. However, just because she was an overbearing woman, it did not mean that she deserved to be shot three times. Her reaction towards The Misfit is normal. We cannot blame her for trying to save her life. Although her ways of doing so were phony and easily picked up on, her initial reaction was absolutely natural.
It is said that the Grandmother reached a moment of epiphany. I am still convinced the only reason for her epiphany was to save her life and not because she all of a sudden underwent a spiritual change. Whether or not the Grandmother would change her actions after this incident took place, if she lived, we cannot say.

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence

“And aren’t you lucky either, Mother?”
“I can’t be, if I married an unlucky husband.” (711)

D.H. Lawrence’s short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is a touching story about a boy named Paul, who wants to prove the fact that he is lucky to his mother. In the beginning of the story, we learn that the family spends more than what they can afford. Therefore, they are placed in debt. Paul hears whispers in his house which say that “there must be more money!” Since his father was not providing for the family with the adequate amount of money needed for the amount they were spending, Paul takes it upon himself to show his mother he can take his father’s place.
The above quote may be studied under Freud’s oedipal theory. Paul strived to replace his father in his mother’s life, but for good natured reasons. He was down to see his mother in such upsetting moods and he saw the unhappiness on her face. Although she comes off as a cold woman in the beginning of the story and the reader finds out that she really does not love her children, Paul gives up his well being and his life for his mother’s feeling of being lucky or well off. I also get the feeling that Paul’s mother did not love her husband much due to the fact that he was unlucky. Perhaps, Paul felt if he was able to achieve this dream of money and luckiness, then his mother would finally begin to love him. He did what he could to gain her acceptance and love. But sadly, no matter what he did, the mother only asked for more. She never asked Paul, himself, but when she was offered a thousand pounds for five years, she immediately went to her lawyer and asked for the full amount. In order to make his mother happy, Paul agreed to her need. His desire for her love was the most meaningful, as well as deadly part of his life. He drove himself sick trying to win his mother over. Nothing was good enough to put him in a special place in her heart. He died exclaiming and asking her if she knew he was lucky. He hoped that at last she would save him from the unreachable dream he so madly wanted to gain in his life before something bad happened. But the bad did happen and unfortunately, his money never truly got him the attention he wanted as he was the "son of the bad" and ungrateful.

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

“School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands.”
“Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed.” (562)

Although Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is about a barbaric ritual, it also portrays other rituals that the villagers have acquired over time. The two quotes above show how closely related were the behaviors of the young boys and the older men, (the boys’ fathers). Growing up in such a small town which only housed about three hundred people, made them keep up with certain mental characteristics and actions after becoming older and having a family. The young boys gather together and talk about things that matter to them. Same goes for the fathers. They discuss “planting and rain, tractors and taxes.” None of them gossip. They are very concerned with their topics of interests, unlike the women who gossiped and the young girls who talked amongst themselves and looked over their shoulders at the boys.
These rituals are all a part of their accustomed and self accepting destruction. The ritual called the “lottery” was very barbaric in nature, yet no one questioned it and all the villagers joined in on the act. Even the immediate family of the victim, as I will call her, bonds to carry out this ritual. Although these actions are cruel, brutal, and graphic, I believe that the author wanted to make her readers understand the pointless violence and general inhumanity they may have experienced in their own lives. Going back to the above quotes, both are pointless in nature. Do we really need to know what the boys and fathers were like that morning? Their description is the total opposite of what their ritual made them out to be. The above two quotes create a feeling of a nice town with children running around, getting along and attending school together; their parents also getting along and conversating amongst each other that morning. Brainwashing was not a necessary act for the persuasion of these children. It was instilled in them to do as they are told and what they see due to the village customs and rituals. This explains why over time the children and parents acted so much a like. Their perceptions were affected by the set rules of a little village.
Right from the beginning, there is a feeling of customs and ways of life that get passed onto the offspring. The same way the parents were, the children were as well in this story. Since a young age, their actions were strongly similar and foreshadowed the children’s steps of following in their fathers’ footsteps. Tessie Hutchinson was killed by her community members and family. But the biggest twist comes when it is said that she “wins” the lottery. She “wins” to be stoned to death. The only thing she won was an escape out of that inhuman and brutal mindset of a village.

Ernest Hemingway "Clean, Well- Lighted Place"

"With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night."

Since darkness is accompanied with death and bad thoughts, it is not too far stretched to say that the young waiter seems to not comprehend the idea of a well lighted and clean place as an escape for the old from the loneliness they feel. The young waiter mentions money and does not understand why the old man tried to kill himself since he isn’t poor. He says a wife and therefore says that he is not lonely and should not need to cater to an old, lonely man’s needs by staying late and working at the bar serving more drinks to the old man. His lack of adaptation of the old man’s unfortunate nature hinders the development of his character and sets him apart from the reader’s feelings and his own.
The idea of a well lighted place at night that someone can go to and spend time at has to deal with the feeling of security. Light prevents terrible thoughts by keeping companion to the lonely. It casts shadows on leaves, as mentioned in the story, which one could view as people in the middle of the night; motionless and quiet. A bodega, or a bar, will only increase the loneliness one feels due to its dreary, dark, and gloomy feel, which is at its worst at night. The music which most bars play at night brings in thoughts of seclusion and creates a very melancholy feeling which may tempt someone to commit suicide if things are not going well for them. In contrast, spending time at a café, with no music and no negative mental distractions, such as the fear of darkness, illuminates a lonely mind.
It is not uncommon for people to feel protected in a well lighted area. Not going to bed at night, which we find out is the case with the older waiter, allows the lonely person to never fear the darkness of the night any more. By spending time a local café during the night and sleeping during the day, there is light forever savored within the individual’s mind, keeping them content and free of negative thoughts.

Ernest Hemingway "Hills Like White Elephants"

“We can have the whole world.”
“No, we can’t.”
“We can go anywhere we want.”
“No, we can’t. It isn’t ours anymore.”
“It’s ours.”
“No it isn’t. And once they take it away, you never get it back.” (554)

This part of the dialogue between the American and the girl, or Jig, as he calls her, is very significant and holds a lot of meaning to the story. The American is persuading his female companion to undergo a surgery, which is understood to be an abortion. But the irony is that althought he is now trying to convince her that they will be able to have the whole word no matter what she chooses to do, she denies his proposition. She contradicts him and says that the world is not theirs anymore, meaning that she is now pregnant and someone else is soon to be included into the equation. However, the American’s attitude is very much so focused mainly on status quo and he seems to enjoy living a carefree life. Despite the girl’s efforts to settle down and stop going from one hotel to the next, the American overpowers her decisions and they aimlessly stroll along the path of life. Both of these characters are confused and lost, making them absolutely inadequate in making a well rounded decision about the pregnancy.
In the above passage, the girl says, “..And once they take it away, you never get it back anymore.” To me, this sounds like a cry for allowing her to keep the child. Once the surgery is done, she will never again be able to bring that child back to life. What’s done is done but she does not want to choose that option any longer. To her, the world was now blossoming and she was ready to explore it from a different perspective. She even compares the hills in front of her to white elephants, which correlates with her pregnancy and the uselessness of the gift she was being blessed with. White elephants are more of a liability than an asset due to its value. She draws this simile to explain how she feels about what the American thinks, without actually saying it. But the again, the irony comes up and to the woman the child is a liability and puts her in a disadvantage to the world. What she fails to recognize are her own exact words; the world is not theirs any more. Both of them, instead of focusing on what they had in front of them, the American and the woman kept looking around at others and wanted to try out more drinks, or explore new options in life, which in the long run will leave them with nothing to show for their years of living.

Nathaniel Hawthorne "Young Goodman Brown"

“We have been a race of honest men and good Christians since the days of the martyrs; and shall I be the first of the name Brown that ever took this path and kept” (540).

It was very difficult for Young Goodman Brown to believe that people who were so close to him, did in fact have evil in them. This quote is referencing Young Goodman Brown’s father and grandfather. His false sense of honesty and good will in the world made him into a naïve and later on in the story, a very depressed man who lived his life in absolute gloom.
Although this story is only a dream of Young Goodman Brown’s, the way he dealt with his experience/dream is an important moral to the story. He cannot distinguish between the two and is not sure whether or not his encounter with this devil really did take place or whether he dreamed the entire experience. Perhaps his reaction of such strong emotions following this event taking place came from his subconscious belief that not all Christians practiced what they said they believed. He says he will be “the first man of the name of Brown” who will not allow the evil into his life. In reality, he is the only one who does allow evil to take over him due to his actions of later turning on his family and those around him. He questions and observes them with disgust, which he even cannot do for too long before he turns away. Instead of dealing with his thoughts face to face, his misery made him into a lonely and sad old man.
The idea of the unconscious, which Young Goodman Brown was throughout the story, can be interpreted under the psychoanalytic theory. In this theory, development is described as a primarily unconscious, or beyond awareness, and is heavily portrayed by emotion. He goes through an immense amount of emotions and begins to look down upon those around him. He even believes that his father and grandfather were not pure Christians and contained evil tendencies in them. His life was spent by holding this notion of evilness against his family and every time “the family knelt down at prayer, he scowled and muttered to himself” (547). Young Goodman Brown, whether he was sure of it or not, believed his dream/experience to be true and treated everyone around him as such.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman "The Yellow Wallpaper"

“At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it became bars!” (493)

This quote is very meaningful in Gilman’s story. The narrator says she sees a woman trapped behind the wallpaper in one of the rooms. She describes it as a horrendous yellow paper which strikes her each time she comes near it. The woman behind the paper that the narrator is able to see is actually her own self trapped behind the bars of John’s control.
The above quote means that there was never anything worse in her life than the condition, or rather the treatment of her husband, she was now affected with. The treatment she received from John was very strange and questionable. John treated the narrator like a child, without having any say about what she wanted to do or felt was right for her. No wonder she thought there was something wrong with her. If a person is told that they are not well and is not allowed to spend time with family, other than her husband and his sister, then sooner or later that person will begin to believe it, too. Moreover, her husband and his sister were more of outsiders to her than family. They did not treat the woman as a human being but rather, almost as a rat under a microscope in some kind of laboratory. The narrator was controlled and abused by John’s unexplainable nature and she suffered tremendously due to his false sense of care giving.
In the quote above, the concept of night and light means that the narrator felt the most trapped when John was home from work at night. Her predator, as I would like to call him, was now present and fully overpowered her every move. This poor woman was critically lessened and her existence made almost no difference at all. As John returned home at night, her bars were put back up and she no longer could feel like it was possible for her to write or just sit in the room by herself. She now had to listen to the orders of her insensitive husband.
I am lead to believe that there was never anything wrong with the woman but it was instilled in her that she was not well. After some time, after being secluded from the rest of the world, any person would start to act like this woman did. She feels trapped, isolated, and alone. She begins to hallucinate and thinks she sees a woman behind bars inside the hideous yellow wallpaper. What does the yellow wallpaper represent? To me it represents the masking of John’s true intentions. She desperately tries to tear it down, which stands for taking down that wall John had built against her and the rest of the world. She did not have freedom, under any circumstances. Her life was taken into the hands of someone who had completely lost his mind, but was made to believe that the problem laid in her.

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

“A Rose for Emily” could be interpreted under the psychological aspect of the story considering that Miss Emily’s behavior was not of the usual or typical form. But one must ask themselves why Miss Emily’s behavior took such a toll and what the reason behind her isolation was. The story tells that the house Miss Emily lives in once was a beautiful place, and “white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies” (404). But now, it is nothing but a huge mess, decaying and rotting away. It is important to come to a conclusion about what went wrong and why Miss Emily all of a sudden stopped caring about her belongings and herself.
We are informed that “her sweetheart – the one [people] believed would marry her – had deserted her” (405). This implies that Miss Emily was once in love but sadly, the man she loved had left her for whatever reason he had. This leads me to believe that the reason for Miss Emily’s sudden isolation and depressive state she was in, came from the lack of love in her life. She lost something that was significant to her; she lost a part of her heart. With the losing of her heart, she lost all desire to carry on after her father died. It must have been very difficult to deal with two loses. Could she have found someone else to spend the rest of her life with? I’m sure she could but when something or someone one loves leaves forever, it is hard to get back on two feet. The narrator says that “none of the young man were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such” which makes perfect sense because no one but her sweetheart would ever truly complete her (407).
I am also lead to believe that the reason for Miss Emily’s strange behavior of keeping Homer Barron’s body in a room at her house who no one was allowed to enter, was to for once in her life keep someone close forever. She did not want to let him leave her, like her sweetheart and father did. It was difficult for her to let go of her father after his death but she was forced to give up his body when she was threatened by law. Keeping Homer’s body, although it’s fanatical to do so, was Miss Emily’s way of for once not letting go of someone who played a vital role in her life. Whether or not Miss Emily was mad, her intentions were nothing but a loud cry for love.

"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick

“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” is a futuristic story which talks about Douglas Quail, a man whose dream is to go to Mars. The irony is that Quail has already gone to Mars but his memory was erased due to his position of a soldier missionary assassin. This is a very interesting point because to think that someone’s memory can be simply and easily erased within a blink of an eye by someone else, is not only immoral but almost impossible to imagine. What is fascinating is that Quail dreams about doing something he had already done. But why was it that he dreamed of going to Mars and not something more of a realistic nature? Subconsciously, I feel that Quail always had a certain memory or reminiscence of Mars in his mind and that is why he wished to go there so badly.
It is said that people dream of places they have been to already at some point in their lives. For example, most dreams, but not all, capture a setting of something experienced by the person. However, Quail thinks that his wish is unattainable. “I will go, he said to himself. Before I die I’ll see Mars. It was, of course, impossible, and he knew that even as he dreamed” (355). For some reason, Quail, himself, crushed his own wishes stating they are impossible. Everything can be achieved if the individual believes in it. But his dreams are about a place where he has in reality been to. His memory did not need to be brought back by Rekal, Inc but rather it was something he needed to truly believe in himself, in order to remember of his visit to Mars. If he had not been to Mars before, how would he be able to dream of it? One could say it was his imagination but an imagination which goes as far as Quail’s could sometimes be misinterpreted as only that. It was in fact a true memory coming back to mind which Quail was not able to label as such. Fantasy and his true vision of reality were actually the same thing for Quail. He fantasized about the one thing he thought he would never get to see with his eyes; however he had already visited that place which was the reason for his constant desire of going.

"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane

I want to take a different approach about Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” and focus on a passage that really struck me the most out of the entire story. It’s a passage about transcendence and going beyond what one felt or thought was possible. It is a passage when Crane describes a beautiful change of relationships between the four characters. “It would be difficult to describe the subtle brotherhood of men that was here established on the seas. No one said that it was so. No one mentioned it. But it dwelt in the boat, and each man felt it warm him” (342). I immediately thought back to instances when I, myself, was found in such situations. I met people and treated them nicely but did not feel close to them just yet. It was almost difficult to imagine ever being close with those people. In Crane’s story, the four men on the boat have found ever lasting friendships. Despite the fact that they are lost at sea and the dangers that surround them, they are at the same time beaming with happiness to have achieved brotherhood.
Their voyage is shared and their experiences are together embraced. They were faced with struggles of survival against the forces of nature and even came to a close call with death. That alone, is a very powerful occurrence to share with someone. One’s life is a precious and magnificent “thing”. But when the lives of other people we care about are also at hand, we begin to realize the importance of those people to us, which I believe is what happened with these men in “The Open Boat”. “…the correspondent, for instance, who had been taught to be cynical of men, knew even at the time was the best experience of his life. But no one said that it was so. No one mentioned it.” It did not need to be mentioned. All of them respected each other and felt gratitude for all the help each of the men were able to provide. This is seen in the story when the only name mentioned is Billy’s; the oiler who drowned while attempting to swim to shore. The mention of Billy’s name is to show respect for the deceased and to remember the brotherhood and courage of Billy’s last days of life.

Second Life

I came into Second Life not knowing anything about the program. I was nervous that I would not know how to operate it or that I would get completely lost with a vast amount of options. Second Life really is like another world with people from all over the globe who can access it. It can be a fun place, but since I do not yet know how to operate it, it could be a little frustrating.
When I first signed into Second Life, I chose a woman to be my “representative”, sort of speak. She appeared naked at first, which freaked me out, but a few minutes later she was wearing jeans and a purple shirt. In class I found out that I am able to change her outfits and buy shoes and purses, but sadly, I have not yet figured out how to do this. I even signed up for a Second Life meeting with the professor but could not log into the system at my designated time. Bummer.
This brings me to another fall back – the system freezing issue. Many times when I am in Second Life, the system blocks and I need to restart my computer. At first I thought I’d loose information in the program but later I realized that my “representative” stays in the same location as it was before the program froze.
I must say I do enjoy Second Life when I navigate through it and explore the opportunities it holds. I’d like to learn more about it so I can use all the possible options and maybe even chat with people from all over the world. I think it is a great program and a very smart tool for class since it embraces so many different ideas and “rooms” to visit. I think once I get acquainted with Second Life, I will really enjoy it and continue to use it even after this semester is over.

"Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

The history of women could be described as an emotional rollercoaster of desperate fights in order to first establish and later preserve women’s rights. During the 1800’s, women were their husband’s possession and did not have the freedom to enjoy their lives the way any human being should be able to. In Kate Chopin’s story “The Story of an Hour” she describes the time when women were supposed to keep quiet, bear children, and be servile to their men. She expresses her feelings through a female protagonist in her story. In “The Story of an Hour” she portrayed, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard on an emotional roller coaster all in one hour. After learning of her husband’s death Mrs. Mallard elevates to her epiphany of freedom, but then descends to her death of disappointment when the news turns out to be wrong. The main reason for Mrs. Mallard’s disappointment is that she finally felt as if she would be able to live her life and enjoy the simple things she could not have enjoyed before during the time her husband was alive, such as simply looking out the window and indulging herself with the sounds, scents, and the color that filled the air. She felt as if she now had the power to act, speak, or think without restraints. With her husband gone, she would now be her own person. What might be viewed as cold heartedness made it possible for her to dream about her future with illumination and feel her soul and body finally free.
All the visions she had of her freedom would be obsolete by the sight of her husband alive. Mrs. Mallard’s hopes and dreams died with her at the sight of him. The doctors assumed it was because she was overcome with joy; ironically, she was terribly dismayed and her disappointment killed her. This situation could be interpreted under the approach of feminist criticism. The irony is that her freedom was only momentary and her life lasted less than one hour. Mrs. Mallard’s marriage to her husband was more of duty than love. She must have been extremely unhappy to feel such joy and excitement after finding out about her husband’s death. She unconsciously celebrated his death instead of grieving as anyone else would. But can we really blame Mrs. Mallard for what seems like, her cold heartedness? Her human behavior could be seen as strange to some; however, during that time it would be much more easily understood by all women who shared Mrs. Mallard’s struggle. The value of a woman’s experience and perspective in understanding is being introduced by the author. Kate Chopin kept the story brief for a reason as well; to show just how brief and short Mrs. Mallard’s actual life was.

"Paul's Case" by Willa Cather

Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case” is about a young 16 year old boy, Paul, who is motherless and alienated. His lack of maternal care has led to his isolation. Paul does not feel content in his yellow wallpapered house and feels detached from the society he lives in. He dreams of the luxurious life of New York City, in hopes of changing his life around by leaving behind the isolation he lived in. The only happiness he feels is working at Carnegie Hall and dreaming of the rich and wealthy, as a means to escape his reality. His father was an overpowering and detached figure in his life, which created more distress for the boy.
Paul’s true reality centers around his disinterest for school. His isolation and alienation in his life had a lot to do with the problem of his schooling. This disinterest in school reflects Paul’s alienation because of the unusual attention he receives there that he doesn’t get at home. In class one day, he was at the blackboard and “his English teacher had stepped to his side and attempted to guide his hand” (203). Paul, at the moment of being touched, stepped backwards suddenly and put his hands behind his back. Paul, growing up without a mother figure in his life, was unaccustomed to any affection or care from his teachers that mothers tend to give. Therefore, his alienation is portrayed in his attitude toward school and relationship with teachers. He was not sure how to react to the touch a caring adult, nor did he understand the fact that someone wanted good for him. The poor boy was trapped in a very lonely world which he created in his mind. He blocked out his teachers and wanted something new; something that would set him apart from the ordinary spectrum he no longer wanted to be a part of.

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Samuel Clemens

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Samuel Clemens is an example of a frame tale, where a story is being told about another story which took place previously. Samuel Wheeler, who tells the story, has a Southern accent which can be almost heard as one reads the story. The story starts out with one goal but then completely changes the topic of what the reader thought the story was originally about. It is easy for the reader to forget about Leonidas because they have been entertained and almost want to get away from Wheeler’s ramblings.
Jim Smiley has a serious gambling problem in the story. He wants to live the American dream of money and success but he struggles with work ethics, making a priority out of getting rich quick. Smiley trains his frog to beat any other frog in Calaveras County which to him is not cheating but rather a helping tool for his frog. That is a very American frame of mind. “…I’ll resk forty dollars that he can outjump any frog in Calaveras Country” Smiley says in the story (275). The story has a hustler attitude and some cheating in it. But the important aspect of it all is that Smiley does not recognize the cheating and only thinks of about the quickness of his frog so he could make more money and feel satisfied.
All in all, this story is basically about nothing. One can draw many conclusions about the frog and say that perhaps the frog was in the story to represent education. Smiley teaches the frog and it learns to carry out its expectations as a “student.” Also, there was a mention in the story of Daniel Webster and connected to the frog. Webster was an educator and the creator of the American dictionary which could be ironic and/or symbolic as well. It seems to me that Clemens used humor to create mockery in this story of the American way of life.

Jorge Luis Borges "The Other Duel"

Jorge Luis Borges’s “The Other Duel” was slightly difficult for me when it came to fully understanding the meaning of the story. However, I did find it quite interesting that Borges mentioned La Serviliana, a woman, but gives the reader only a quick glimpse of who she is. Although La Serviliana holds only a short mention in the story, she is a significant character whom the reader catches an interest for. The woman is not treated with much respect by Cardoso and Silveira and is almost thrown around from one man to the other until both get weary of the woman. “…Cardoso spent one night with her and sent her off at noon. He didn’t want the other man’s left-overs” (141). La Serviliana was treated as an object, rather than a woman. Her existence in the story is questionable, but what is even more questionable is why Borges chose to take her presence ever so lightly instead of developing her character and telling the reader more about her background.
What happens to La Serviliana at the end of the story barely made any difference because it did not matter to the story’s meaning. It seems that La Serviliana was used for the sake of the plot and not to introduce her as a potential well developed character. This may go back to and have reference with the way women were treated during the period of Borges’s lifetime in South America. Women were used for their natural instincts of child bearing and household responsibilities. La Serviliana’s mention in the story was dealt with in a sexual manner and humiliated her as a woman. Whether it was necessary or not for the dishonor of a woman to be mentioned in the story remains unanswered in my mind. However, I do believe she plays a vital role in describing what type of men Cardoso and Silveira were. La Serviliana holds the answers to the men’s machismo approaches.

Ambrose Bierce "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge"

Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” remarkably plays with the illusion of time. As Farquhar stands on the bridge with a noose around his neck, Bierce leads the reader to believe that the rope breaks and that Farquhar falls into the water below, only to escape to his farm, where he is reunited with his wife. However, at the end of the story it is revealed that Farquhar has, in fact, been hanged and that these imaginings took place in the seconds before his death. Bierce gave a very detailed description of what Farquhar had supposedly gone through while getting away from the soldiers. “Farquhar dived-dived as quickly as he could. The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara, yet he heard the dulled thunder of the volley and, rising again toward the surface, met shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscillating slowly downward” (137). The reader finds that he or she is rooting for Farquhar and wants him to get away.
The remarkable point of Bierce’s writing is being able to stretch out only a couple seconds into a well developed thought process. The reader can picture Farquhar as he finds himself in the water, after the rope supposedly breaks and allows him to have another shot at freedom. It is not until Part III that the reader realizes what was previously described was only Farquhar’s imagination; it was simply wishful thinking on his part. But the reader cannot forget that in reality, it would be more or less impossible for this to take place, since Farquhar would not have enough time to so descriptively think about his get away. From the time Farquhar was falling, to the snapping of his neck and him swaying back and forth from the rope, was not a sufficient amount of time in order for all his thoughts to process through. And for that reason, Bierce’s story is a true fiction masterpiece.