Reaction to "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"

I thought it was interesting how the only person to mention Connie’s friends’ names is the creepy man stalking Connie. It adds to Connie’s overall narcissism, as if her friends are not important enough to receive names, even though they spend all of their free time together. Connie’s life centers around herself and everyone else in her life are merely supporting characters. I hated Connie at first; she is vain, obnoxious, and rude to everyone around her. Yet as the story continues, I feel like she did not deserve to be treated the way that she was by the two unsettling men. While she should have exercised more caution and gotten away before things progressed as far as they did, she found herself in a position with no real escape route. The men were clearly stalking Connie, as well as the rest of her family, and had grossly overstepped boundaries. Connie did bring it upon herself by going over to the restaurant, but I felt that her bad decisions were not enough to warrant her getting kidnapped and probably raped by some creepy men. She did not talk to them at the restaurant and did not seem to lead them on in any way. Connie used to live in a fantasy world where she could hang out with boys and escape the eyes of her parents and perfect sister, and while her behavior is immature and dangerous, the area that she describes her friends going to seemed safe enough and I was surprised that the men turned out to be as disconcerting as they were. As much as I dislike Connie, I am not entirely sure that she deserves the troubling end that awaits her.

I loved the way Oates used Arnold Friend to flesh out the observations that the narrator gives us. Connie never mentions her friend’s names and keeps all of her observations vague, but Friend explains all of Connie’s friend’s first and last names, plus several other disturbing images. He knows the color of June’s dress, while Connie only notes that her sister is dressed up, and the most disturbing details about Connie’s family. Arnold gives the reader a clearer image of the setting and characters in the story, while developing his own character as frightening and exceptionally disturbing. Connie only offers information about herself, from her hair to her shoes and charms bracelets, but Friend cleans up the vague information Connie gives, while once again establishing how narcissistic Connie is and how creepy he and Eddie are.

Reaction to "The Yellow Woman"

“The Yellow Woman” by Leslie Silko often surprised and confused me. Once again, the narrator is left nameless, only known by the “pet” name “Yellow Woman.” I think that the narrator’s reluctance to admit her own name, background, and pretty much everything in her life adds to the dream-like, mystical mood behind the short story. This mood is reflected in parts of the plot as well. At first, I was somewhat confused that the narrator continues to return to Silva, even though she has a life and family at home and sets off to return to them. I think she feels somehow connected and attracted to Silva. After he refers to her as “Little Yellow Woman” she suddenly desires to actually be the yellow woman, although she denies any possibility of connection constantly. She follows the mystical feel of the short story and wants to mentally abandon her family for as long as she can in order to act out the stories of the yellow woman, and feel like a part of the ancient stories she had been told. She goes back to her husband after Silva shoots the man he has been stealing from, when she feels like she doesn’t really have a choice anymore and he ruined the dream for her. The shock of reality finally shakes the narrator out of her daydream and leads to her return to normalcy.
A huge part of my shock came from the scene where the two spend the night together. Silva essentially rapes her, telling the narrator that he could hurt her as she feels his power under his skin. I thought that this would be the end of her dreams and she would finally give up her fascination with Silva, but it seems their forced physical relationship only made their connection stronger. The narrator even leans over and kisses him at the end of what I believed to be a rape scene, and the next day she seems fine with following Silva anywhere.
Also, the timing of the story confused me. From the beginning of the story, I pictured the work taking place some time ago. I was surprised to see that she mentions jets; I had imagined the story being set before modern technology.
The entire story somewhat confused me, but I did enjoy the differences between the two worlds of present day reality and old-fashioned folk lore and spiritual trances.

Reaction to "Saboteur"

Ha Jin’s “Saboteur” frustrated me. It seems like this power struggle occurs often in societies; people with authority, usually the police, seem to believe that they have much more power than the law actually grants them. When people are put in a position of power some, if not many, of them are bound to abuse it. I have seen the police exploit their power a number of times; give someone power to arrest, ruin reputations, and even lives, in addition to a weapon, and he is unstoppable. In America, society always tries to paint the police as great men who save the day and protect citizens, modern day real-live superheroes. Sometimes this is true, sometimes the police are far from valiant. While the police in the short story infuriate me, I was not actually surprised that they abuse their power and act rudely. That being said, it is the witnesses that bothered me the most. They immediately side with the police. I could not tell if this was out of fear that they would be arrested for lying, or if they simply believe what the cops told them and either intentionally, or unintentionally, fabricate stories that correspond with the polices’ lies. Whatever the reason, the fact that the police can force bystanders to lie about what they saw and let an innocent man go to jail is disgusting. At one point it even appears as if Mr. Chiu connects with one of the witnesses, a purchasing agent from one of the shipyards. Chiu Maguang was sabotaged by his own countrymen.

Mr. Chiu’s coping mechanism is definitely out of line; he has no right to infect innocent people. However, I can see where he is coming from, especially after the description of his horrible time in the jail. I think everyone knows what it feels like to be powerless in a situation. It is a classic story, even in elementary school. The teacher “knows” a student did something wrong and the student’s only option is to falsely admit to something he did not do; we read about this occurrence in “Eleven” early on this semester. It is infuriating, humiliating, and can be impossible to move past emotionally. Instead of breaking down and crying like Rachel in “Eleven,” Mr. Chiu retaliates against the townspeople. I have a strong need for retribution, despite how immature it may seem, and I believe that Mr. Chiu had every right to retaliate against the disgusting way that he was treated. However, killing innocent people with hepatitis is a horrible way to achieve vengeance. Mr. Chiu becomes the saboteur that the police claim that he is. Honestly, the police bring the illnesses down upon themselves, and deserve a large portion of the blame, even if they never know it.

Reaction to "The Cask of Amontillado"

This was the first time that I have ever read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” which seems like a rare occurrence in our class. I have, however, always loved Poe’s writing style and content; I guess something attracts me to macabre short stories. As always, Poe did not disappoint.

The story is told through the eyes of Montressor, the soon-to-be killer seeking revenge. I loved how Poe presented this work, and many of his others, from this perspective. The reader gets to see how the murderer is thinking, planning, and scheming to achieve his goals. However, Montressor is not the more reliable narrator. While I think that he is honest about his actions and thoughts, he never mentions how he does not seem to actually want to follow through on his task once he completely traps his friend.We do get to see some of the hesitancy that Montressor has in paying back Fortunato, but it never actually comes from Montressor’s conscious thoughts. The in-depth look at Montressor’s thoughts helps to connect the reader to the uncertainty about Fortunato’s future.

As I first read through the work, I did not understand why Montressor keeps insisting that Fortunato not accompany him to see the pipe of amontillado, and to his death. Originally, I did not understand Montressor’s hesitancy to lead Fortunato to what Montressor believes is fair retribution; I believed that Montressor must have some reason for making numerous excuses to keep his plan from occurring. The first thought is that it must be reverse psychology; by insisting that they go back, Montressor ensures that they will continue. Another one of my first thoughts was that Montressor wanted Fortunato to cause his own death by succumbing to his own curiosity and Montressor’s flattery, but it seems that Montressor makes far too many excuses to believe that his plan will definitely cause Fortunato’s end in the vaults. Montressor turned our to be much better at playing to people's faults than I initially gave him credit for. Montressor insists "My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive you have an engagement.” After this failed attempt, he interjects “It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre." He even later insists that Fortunato returns from the vaults due to his illness, but nothing works. As this was occurring, I could not help but wonder if Montressor has some ulterior motive or if he is simply hesitant to kill his friend. Later, Montressor definitely falters in his plans. Montressor states that “For a brief moment I hesitated, I trembled.” He trembles, pauses, and seems to rethink his plan a number of times. I was surprised at this clear hesitancy coming from a man willing to entomb his friend, leaving him to starvation and cold. Montressor is clearly insane and rather evil, but I could not help but wonder if there was actual some hesitancy to follow through. At the end, I was somewhat surprised that Montressor actually followed through on his task. Despite his resolve, I thought that Montressor’s hesitancy might lead to a different fate for poor Fortunato. However, being Poe, I never expected a happy ending, and I did not receive one. I suppose Fortunato was not so fortunate after all.

Reaction to "Story of an Hour"

The thing that first struck me about this story was the length. I never know what to think of short stories when my response to them will probably be about the same length as the story itself. The brevity reminded me of my American Literature teacher from my junior year of high school; she always spoke of specificity and control, what she believed to be the two most important aspects to writing. The same thoughts appeared a year later. My English teacher senior year consistently made us write two hundred word analyses of poems throughout the year. I found that anyone can write ten pages on a subject, but it takes massive amounts of skill and precision to get a point across using only a few. What I am trying to say with this rambling memory of high school is that the lack of length in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” impressed me from the beginning.
On the other side, I was not fully impressed with the content of the story and I could have been. While the story is entertaining and surprisingly funny, I found the “short story filled with irony” form to be clichéd and downright annoying. While I understand that the story was written in the nineteenth century, where the story’s concept was probably not as hackneyed as it is today, the story does not stand out in modern times as anything more than an unoriginal story of irony with a feminist twist.
The twist does add a redeeming quality to the short story. I was honestly surprised that Mrs. Mallard is so happy about her husband dying. It made me wonder what kind of relationship the two of them must have had in order to make repeat that she is finally “free, free, free!” Even with an overbearing husband, it seems that the initial reaction would not be overwhelming joy. She even mentions that her husband has never looked “save with love upon her.” Mr. Mallard was clearly a loving husband, and the fact that she registers that she now controls herself before sadness is slightly disturbing. It is not as if she hated her husband, she admits that she will cry again when she sees him dead; she clearly cared for her husband, but values power over that love. The feminist message is clear, but I find it slightly odd. Mrs. Mallard’s joy at the thought of living the rest of her life alone made me not feel as sorry for her, even as she dies at the sight of her husband being alive.
Overall, I found the story entertaining, but rather worn-out. However, I do not think that my “fancy would run riot along those days” ahead of me if it suddenly disappeared.

Reaction to "Hills Like White Elephants"

“Hills Like White Elephants”- Ernest Hemingway

The plot of the short story seems pretty straightforward; a man and a girl, clearly together and seasoned travelers, are sitting at the train station discussing whether or not the girl should get an abortion. The interesting this is that there are many thematic traces of feminism, responsibility, and more, in only light descriptive narration and ambiguous dialogue.

The light descriptions reveal a considerable amount about the work. The “labels from all the hotels where they spent nights” show that the two have a transient lifestyle, and have been together for some time. The setting of this story seemed especially important to me, as the author gives little else away. The hills seem reminiscent of a pregnant stomach, full of life and excitement. The train station matches the impasse that the two travelers find themselves at in the story. On one side, there are hills, vegetation, “fields of grain and trees,” and life. The other side is barren and desolate, with “no shade and no trees.” The two clearly have a huge decision to make, one side of the tracks or the other, a child or an abortion, and the few lines of descriptive scenery aid to explain this struggle. Also, the simple act of considering the man a man, implying age and maturity, matched with a girl, known for frivolity and youth, suggests that the girl is considerably more innocent and callow than her companion. Therefore, it comes as a surprise when the girl develops a much more pragmatic view of the world, as seen through her few short lines of discourse.

The dialogue, which makes up most of the short story, develops the characterization of the two companions, as well as my feelings toward them. Like I said earlier, the author implies that the girl is young and innocent, which is bolstered by the man calling her “Jig.” The name is jubilant, free, and young. The man clearly does not really take his companion seriously, even though she has clearly traveled and drank with him for awhile and is now deciding the fate of his unborn child. While the few lines describing the girl’s actions, like looking down when talk of abortion comes up, are a large part of the illustration of the characters, I felt that the lines that they said added even more. That being said, I cannot decide how I feel about the man. On one hand, he genuinely seems to tolerate and go along with whatever the girl wants, even though he continually tries to sway her into doing the operation. However; he does not seem to grasp how having a child would affect their life together the way the girl does. He insists that then “can have everything” and “go everywhere,” basically continuing their lifestyle of travel and drinking. The girl, on the other hand, clearly understands that this train station and decision is a turning point in her life; nothing will ever be the same again. As much as she may want to continue on, she realizes that she cannot, because the world “isn’t ours anymore.” Some of the last lines about taking the luggage to the lively “other side of the station” makes me believe that the girl is actually going to stand up for herself and choose to have a baby, despite her husband and his happiness. The short lines of dialogue between the two hold much more than a brief conversation between lovers; the lines give rise to the themes, characterizations, and eventual outcome of the entire story, even if the reader never sees the end.

Hemingway somehow managed to pack an extensive amount of information into a short story, especially considering the amount of repetitive dialogue. Still, I am not entirely sure which way she decided. While some of the text may point to her choosing to have her child, other sections lean toward going through with the abortion, and she does agree to the operation on the third page. Also, I cannot make a decision about the man’s intentions either. On one hand, he seems open to raising a child, even though he clearly does not want one. However, I also think that he could be manipulative and abandon the girl if she makes the “wrong” decision; there are certainly hints that he is overly controlling throughout the text. Overall, I cannot find a distinct ending for the story in the text that the author gives the reader.

Reaction to "The Guest"

While reading through Albert Camus’ short story, the first thing that struck me was the title, “The Guest.” It seems a little confusing; the Arab man is clearly not really a welcome guest, despite his welcoming treatment of tea, food, and shelter from the cold for a night. At the same time, Daru seems akin to a classic character from bad television; he plays the surly host, the man who graciously bends over backwards to please the guests he prays will leave soon. All we need is a mother-in-law and a night gone wrong. The actions Daru takes toward the prisoner immediately give insight into Daru’s character. He admittedly despises the Arab, feeling a “sudden wrath against the man, against all men with their rotten spite, their tireless hates, their blood lusts” when he finds out his prisoner’s crime. However, he is still unable to treat him poorly, even as he contemplates whether to send him to death or let him free. The addition of the man sets the stage for what is probably the most important choice of Daru’s isolated life: Does he consider the Arab a guest, or is he a prisoner?

Right away, Daru boldly states that he will not lead the man to his death, even after he learns that the man killed his cousin over grain. Daru clearly does not want to go against his own morals, but still does not want to make the decision to set the man free. I thought that this emphasis on choice was one of the main themes of the novel, the unavoidability and consequences of choice on the individual. The story actually reminded me of something my Macroeconomics professor said, “You can choose whatever you want, but you have to make a choice.” While Professor Sawyer was talking about choosing the shape of the bottom of the recession (I still think it’s a “W”) and not the fate of another human, I think that the basic concept still applies. Daru has to make a decision about what to do with the Arab, and even though he lets the tension build for hours struggling to get out of taking a preference, he knows that in the morning he will basically choose life or death for his houseguest.

While reading through the portion where Daru hears the man leave the room and hopes that he escaped so Daru would not have to actively make the difficult choice, I started to feel some annoyance with Daru. Even though I think that I would probably have all of the same feelings as Daru, I immediately thought of him as a coward when he lets the Arab leave instead of making a decision. I feel like Camus purposely makes the reader feel removed from Daru’s emotions; I never really felt empathy toward Daru considering his situation. I think that I immediately took on the position of the reader. To the removed reader, the choice Daru’s makes is inevitable; he has to make a selection, one way or another. Allowing the prisoner to escape seems to completely avoid a climax. The story builds on the emotional states and tensions between the characters, and just bailing out before the obvious climax is downright frustrating. This is why the return of the prisoner aroused positive feelings in me, despite the fact that both major characters are worse off in this situation.

This dedication to the fate of choice finally arrives in the climax of the short story, where Daru leaves the Arab man with food and the choice of two paths. By letting the prisoner select his own path, Darus essentially avoids the actual decision. He somehow avoids his fate, albeit momentarily. Not making a decision did not end up saving him from anything; the message on his blackboard proves that his attempt to avoid a situation was futile. The Arab man is hiking toward his death, and Daru will be punished for “sending” him there, despite the fact that Daru chickened out of actively causing the actions to happen. I think this is why I actually hope that the murdering, yet somewhat righteous, Arab somehow avoids his fate, because he actively made a difficult decision.

I found that the entire story seemed odd to me when I went back and reflected upon it. While normally I side with the narrator, even though if I were presented with the same information in a different setting I would not, I disliked Daru. In reality, I probably would have done what he did, yet somehow I feel that he deserves what he gets for not facing the inevitable. I think it must be the view from the reader’s perspective; I know that he has to make a decision in the next few pages, with Daru himself has no idea what the future holds.