Carver's seemingly simple story focuses on the "yours, mine, and ours" aspect of relationships. The couple is separating and as the man goes to leave he demands from his lover the "ours," the baby. Up to this point, Carver emphasizes the separation of possessions by saying that the man was "putting his things into the suitcase," while consistently throughout the story the couple's child is referred to as "the baby." A small change in article makes all the difference. Both parents have become so selfish and wrapped up in their own fight that the baby they created together has become only a pawn in their bitter battle against one another. Like in some instances of high emotion, both sides are trying to keep themselves from losing something or getting the "raw end of the deal." Their instinct to save themselves is overriding their instinct as parents concerned for the welfare of their child.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Popular Mechanics
"Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver
Carver's seemingly simple story focuses on the "yours, mine, and ours" aspect of relationships. The couple is separating and as the man goes to leave he demands from his lover the "ours," the baby. Up to this point, Carver emphasizes the separation of possessions by saying that the man was "putting his things into the suitcase," while consistently throughout the story the couple's child is referred to as "the baby." A small change in article makes all the difference. Both parents have become so selfish and wrapped up in their own fight that the baby they created together has become only a pawn in their bitter battle against one another. Like in some instances of high emotion, both sides are trying to keep themselves from losing something or getting the "raw end of the deal." Their instinct to save themselves is overriding their instinct as parents concerned for the welfare of their child.
Carver's seemingly simple story focuses on the "yours, mine, and ours" aspect of relationships. The couple is separating and as the man goes to leave he demands from his lover the "ours," the baby. Up to this point, Carver emphasizes the separation of possessions by saying that the man was "putting his things into the suitcase," while consistently throughout the story the couple's child is referred to as "the baby." A small change in article makes all the difference. Both parents have become so selfish and wrapped up in their own fight that the baby they created together has become only a pawn in their bitter battle against one another. Like in some instances of high emotion, both sides are trying to keep themselves from losing something or getting the "raw end of the deal." Their instinct to save themselves is overriding their instinct as parents concerned for the welfare of their child.
The Story of an Hour
"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
"There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself." (Chopin, 327)
Chopin's emotionally packed short story runs through the reaction of Mrs. Mallard, a "falsely" widowed woman. The story briefly reflects on partners' impositions on one another. The speaker states that "a kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime," (Chopin, 327). We often believe that those who care for us/love us want the same things that we do - the things that make us happy. As expressed in the first quote, Louse felt trapped in her relationship and freed by its unfortunate ending. Chopin appropriately closes the story with irony, as the people around Louise assume that at her sudden death, she was overjoyed to see her husband and not passing away from despair.
"There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself." (Chopin, 327)
Chopin's emotionally packed short story runs through the reaction of Mrs. Mallard, a "falsely" widowed woman. The story briefly reflects on partners' impositions on one another. The speaker states that "a kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime," (Chopin, 327). We often believe that those who care for us/love us want the same things that we do - the things that make us happy. As expressed in the first quote, Louse felt trapped in her relationship and freed by its unfortunate ending. Chopin appropriately closes the story with irony, as the people around Louise assume that at her sudden death, she was overjoyed to see her husband and not passing away from despair.
Getting Out
"Getting Out" by Cleopatra Mathis
This poem, I think, beautifully describes the emotions of a couple splitting apart and ending a long relationship. Like most couples, the couple in the poem fight, "heaving words like furniture;" split the blame, "finally, locked into blame, we paced;" and get as far away from one another as possible, "we've kept to separate sides of the map," (Mathis, 896). The poem runs through the exhaustion, the frustration, and finally, the regret. I think that here, regret is not used in the sense that they want to get back together, but that they appreciate what they had now. A female narrator explains that "still I'm startled by men who look like you." They still care about one another's happiness and weep over what they had. But why shouldn't they? At some point they found a love between them so strong that they were married, pledging each other for life. It is only natural that while they both still find it best that they separated, they still have a relationship with their former partner.
This poem, I think, beautifully describes the emotions of a couple splitting apart and ending a long relationship. Like most couples, the couple in the poem fight, "heaving words like furniture;" split the blame, "finally, locked into blame, we paced;" and get as far away from one another as possible, "we've kept to separate sides of the map," (Mathis, 896). The poem runs through the exhaustion, the frustration, and finally, the regret. I think that here, regret is not used in the sense that they want to get back together, but that they appreciate what they had now. A female narrator explains that "still I'm startled by men who look like you." They still care about one another's happiness and weep over what they had. But why shouldn't they? At some point they found a love between them so strong that they were married, pledging each other for life. It is only natural that while they both still find it best that they separated, they still have a relationship with their former partner.You're Ugly, Too
"You're Ugly, Too" by Lorrie Moore
Author Lorrie Moore spends much of the novel describing protagonist, Zoe Hendricks, through physical attributes (or lack there of) and a series of student reviews and explanations from kids she teaches history to at a college in the dreaded Midwest. Zoe thinks herself higher than her students, a point she emphasizes through the use of jokes, which plays a larger role towards the end of the story. She calls them "...complacent...purchased...[and] armed with a healthy vagueness about anything historical or geographic," (Moore, 353). As Zoe's life is set up, we, knowing this is the "Love Me Not" unit, assume that she will be the one rejected in love. But, in the last scene, it is Zoe who scorns a potential love in Earl, probably thinking him also too shallow and beneath her level of understanding of the world. She again uses a joke to put him off, a defense mechanism that she uses when her level of intelligence and eccentricity cannot be matched by those around her. Her social awkwardness masks a desire to find love, but an unwillingness to step outside her comfort zone to meet it.
Author Lorrie Moore spends much of the novel describing protagonist, Zoe Hendricks, through physical attributes (or lack there of) and a series of student reviews and explanations from kids she teaches history to at a college in the dreaded Midwest. Zoe thinks herself higher than her students, a point she emphasizes through the use of jokes, which plays a larger role towards the end of the story. She calls them "...complacent...purchased...[and] armed with a healthy vagueness about anything historical or geographic," (Moore, 353). As Zoe's life is set up, we, knowing this is the "Love Me Not" unit, assume that she will be the one rejected in love. But, in the last scene, it is Zoe who scorns a potential love in Earl, probably thinking him also too shallow and beneath her level of understanding of the world. She again uses a joke to put him off, a defense mechanism that she uses when her level of intelligence and eccentricity cannot be matched by those around her. Her social awkwardness masks a desire to find love, but an unwillingness to step outside her comfort zone to meet it.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Delight in Disorder
"Delight in Disorder" by Robert Herrick
A surprisingly structured poem expressing favor towards disorder is presented here as ironic proof of the speaker's purpose. While the poem follows a pattern, the rhyme and rythm are not perfect, further symbolizing that he admires the structure of the woman accentuated and emphasized by the imperfections surrounding her. The oxymoron "wild civility" (Herrick, 979) further proves that the speaker sees order and disorder working together to present the whole picture of the woman he is watching. There is also a pattern in the way he describes the woman, beginning with her shoulders and ending with shoestrings. He finds delight in her imperfections because they make her seem human to him.
Lonely Hearts
"Lonely Hearts" by Wendy Cope
Multiple seekers of love ask readers of a North London newspaper, "Can someone make my simple wish come true?" (Cope, 973). Their "simple" wish: loves or companions that must meet specific criteria. Irony bleeds through the hearts and words of the people placing the ads. Unable to find love because of their misconstrued ideas about it, they have taken out ads in a newspaper, treating potential mates as simply an order to be filled. They don't have the correct perception of love. Love is about sacrifice for the traits and habits of another person and working to accommodate the relationship with your established individual life. The "lonely hearts" in this poem will continue to find themselves lonely until they view potential companions as human beings with requirements and preferences of their own.
Multiple seekers of love ask readers of a North London newspaper, "Can someone make my simple wish come true?" (Cope, 973). Their "simple" wish: loves or companions that must meet specific criteria. Irony bleeds through the hearts and words of the people placing the ads. Unable to find love because of their misconstrued ideas about it, they have taken out ads in a newspaper, treating potential mates as simply an order to be filled. They don't have the correct perception of love. Love is about sacrifice for the traits and habits of another person and working to accommodate the relationship with your established individual life. The "lonely hearts" in this poem will continue to find themselves lonely until they view potential companions as human beings with requirements and preferences of their own.
Eveline
"Eveline" by James Joyce
Eveline's brief story recounts possibly the most critical point in her life. A moment of activity and possibility in her dull existence that she met with complete inactivity. Her passive nature is introduced in the first paragraph whose structure is mirrored later in the short story when she is presented as a "deer in headlights" when confronted with the decision to stay. Ultimately, through her failure to act, Eveline loses the chance to leave a life that she oddly describes, saying, "It was hard work - a hard life - but now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life," (220). Her words express a past life explored through a few flashbacks of her father in favorable moods, and most strong, her mother's death. Connected somehow to these familiar, safe memories, she finds it overwhelming actually leaving the comfort of her present state of life. Even in the promise of something better, she cannot let go of the madness that she knows.
Eveline's brief story recounts possibly the most critical point in her life. A moment of activity and possibility in her dull existence that she met with complete inactivity. Her passive nature is introduced in the first paragraph whose structure is mirrored later in the short story when she is presented as a "deer in headlights" when confronted with the decision to stay. Ultimately, through her failure to act, Eveline loses the chance to leave a life that she oddly describes, saying, "It was hard work - a hard life - but now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life," (220). Her words express a past life explored through a few flashbacks of her father in favorable moods, and most strong, her mother's death. Connected somehow to these familiar, safe memories, she finds it overwhelming actually leaving the comfort of her present state of life. Even in the promise of something better, she cannot let go of the madness that she knows.
How I Met My Husband
"How I Met My Husband" by Alice Munro
Munro's focus in telling Edie's story is to connect ignorance with love. As Loretta Bird explains to Alice Kelling, "'You never know what these girls'll do next,' she said. 'It's not they mean harm so much, as they're ignorant,'" (Munro, 143). Edie's naivety by the way of life and love gets her entangled in the oldest romance story in the book: waiting for the letter/call that is never going to come. Throughout the novel, Edie is presented as a child: playing dress up in Mrs. Peebles lavish closet, admiring herself in a mirror, and fearing the discovery of authorities while snooping. Her early characterization foreshadows the relationship she has with Chris, the pilot. He uses her innocence against her and leads her on unfairly; this establishes Munro's connection of love to ignorance. Later, she uses this theme to present ignorance as a means to love. Edie's future husband, the mailman, is ignorant of Edie's true intention while she waits by the mailbox in hopes of Chris's letter. Still, his ignorance pays off in the end, as he thinks Edie was waiting for him, and he ultimately wins the prize of her love.
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