Once Upon a Time

I thought that Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer was a fairytale story gone wrong. There are certain aspects of fairytales in this work such as the witch, the family that lived "happily ever after", and the perfect world in which they lived. However, the realization that the world is no longer a perfect bubble as the story continues and the twisted ending of the story turn this fairytale into a horror story. There are multiple themes conveyed in the short story such as happiness and perfection, segregation, and fantasy versus reality. The story also contains ironic situations in the end. As the family sees the threats around them, they begin to realize that their world isn't so perfect after all. They decide to isolate themselves from the others who are different than they are, which ties into the theme of segregation. The family tries so hard to protect themselves and their home, but that protection ultimately ends up killing their son. I also thought that the phrases "you have been warned" and "dragon's teeth" were both capitalized. I saw this as almost a foreshadowing of the barbed wire bringing tragedy a bad omen to the family.

Miss Brill

There are numerous themes that are conveyed throughout the work Miss Brill. These themes include lonliness, rejection, and reality versus fantasy and illusion. The main character of the short story, Miss Brill, conveys the theme of lonliness. Her fixed and monotonous routine each and every Sunday show how truly desperate she is for connection to people and for the company of others. When she goes and listens to the band play in the same spot each week, Miss Brill soon feels like she belongs. She feels like she is essential to this scene, which she soon sees as a play. This environment with others is something that she can reach out to in order to feel like she belongs. However, a new couple come and sit down by her and she listens to their conversation. While doing this, Miss Brill hears them make fun of her and becomes upset. She feels rejected by the one thing that she cherished the most, which ties in the theme of rejection and denial. She is extremely saddened after this occurs, but it created a desire for change within her. Miss Brill began to realize the difference between reality and fantasy that day. She didn't stop by the bakery like she usually did, and she put the old fur that she was wearing away in the box. I think this symbolizes a shift in Miss Brill's view on the world around her as well as a transformation of her self-image.

Irony

After studying all three of the works from this unit, I noticed that there were many ironic situations incorporated throughout the stories. The stories that I noticed the irony in the most were "Everyday Use" and "Hunters in the Snow". In "Everyday Use", Dee (known as Wangero), is trying to find and emphasize her heritage. She takes a new name, wears African style clothing, and wants to continue growing closer to her African past with the quilts that belong to her mother. Even though she is trying so hard to become in touch with her family's past, she is forgetting her roots and where she came from. She does not like her family's home or the traditions of the deep south African Americans. This is ironic because she seeks to be connected with and more like her ancestory, yet she denies her family, which is the essence of who she really is. In addition to the irony in Dee's life, all three characters in "Hunters in the Snow" are placed in ironic situations. All three men talk about how they are such good friends to each other at one point or another in the story, yet their actions don't show this. Frank and Kenny constantly make fun of Tub until Tub stands up for himself and wins Frank's respect in a confrontation. Also, Frank and Tub completely disregard Kenny after he is shot. Without think of the pain that Kenny is experiencing, they decide to stop to warm up and get food and coffee. As Kenny is dying in the bed of the truck, Tub is saying that he always supports his friends and has their backs. Irony is strategically placed in both of these stories and allows them to be even more effective.

Bartleby the Scrivener

The story of Bartleby the Scrivener is told from the point of view of the lawyer, who is looking back on his experiences with Barleby. When Bartleby is employed by the lawyer, he slowly begins to act strange compared to the other employees at the office. Even when Bartleby refuses to comply with his requests, the lawyer keeps him around just out of curiosity to find out more about him. When Bartleby simply does not listen and decides to quit, he still stays around the office. The lawyer is not bothered by this, until it starts to affect his business. Bartleby is arrested for continuing to stay in the office even after the lawyer moves his business. After visiting Bartleby in prison and later finding him dead, the lawyer finds out that Bartleby previously worked at the Dead Letter office. Throughout the course of this story, I noticed two themes. The themes that stood out to me were charity and selfishness. These themes were incorporated through the actions and motives of the narrator. He continues to give Bartleby chances and allows him to keep his job even when he continues to say "I would prefer not to" constantly. The lawyer also allows Bartleby to stay in the office even after Bartleby quits his job. However, the narrator is selfish because of his motives. He helps Bartleby to feel better about himself. As soon as Bartleby begins to negatively affect his business, the lawyer can no longer help Bartleby. He sees Bartleby as a burdon rather than a charity case. The narrator's view suddenly changes, and Bartleby is ultimately affected with the consequences.

Hunters in the Snow

I think this story is all about selfishness and self-absorption in the friendship of the characters. The three friends, Tub, Frank, and Kenny, all have issues in their personal lives or flaws that they have to deal with. Tub is overweight because of his eating habits, but blames it on "gland problems". Frank is considering leaving his wife for their family babysitter, who happens to be only fifteen years old. Lastly, Kenny just doesn't care about anything or anyone. This is shown when he nearly hits Tub with his car when he and Frank come to pick Tub up. The plot of this story is so important because it shows shifts in relationships and alliances within the group of three friends. At first, Tub is isolated by Kenny and Frank when they make fun of him and call him fat and dumb. Then, Kenny and Tub come together after Frank is shot when they share their personal problems with each other. They stop to warm up and grab coffee and a bite to eat while Frank is bleeding to death in the freezing cold outside. At the end of the story, the twist comes with the last two sentences. Frank and Tub took a "different" turn. Different and wrong have two completely different meanings when placed in that context, which mean that the two men driving didn't really care what happened to Kenny. The point of the whole story is to show the shift in friendships as well as the overpowering trait of selfishness that each of the three characters is guilty of possessing.

Everyday Use

This story is told in the point of view of "mama", the mother of Maggie and Dee. Although Maggie and Dee are sisters, they are foil characters throughout the entire story. While Maggie is shy, self-conscious, and close to her mother, Dee is outgoing, confident, and distant from the culture of the deep south. Dee embraces part of her heritage, but she also isolates herself from the other part. She takes a new name, Wangero, because she wants to identify with her African heritage and history. She avoids the deep south, where her family resides, and only visits them rarely. I also saw the mother in the story and Dee as foil characters. Dee has been given the opportunity to receive an education, which has ultimately distanced her from her background, true heritage, and family life. Mama never had the chance to receive an education because her school was shut down, and I noticed that her vocabulary and diction were at a lower level. She lives a simple, southern life and values her personal history as one of her main treasures. The quarrel over the quilts is a defining moment for these two sets of foil characters. Dee doesn't understand the true value of the quilts that were passed from generation to generation to tell the story of their ancestors. Mama sees the quilts as one of her most prized possesions, because the quilts are all she has left of her extended family from the past.

A Rose for Emily #2

After I read the story, I thought that I would have a better understanding about the title. Why did Faulkner choose a rose, of all flowers to give to Emily? When I think of roses, I think of happiness and love. However, Emily is portrayed as the complete opposite of this. She is alone in her house, secluded from the rest of the town. She is judged constantly by those around her, and she doesn't seem to be happy all by herself. I looked through the story twice and couldn't figure out why the author came up with the title. Is the rose a symbol for something possibly? I thought that maybe it had something to do with the fact that people felt sorry and had sympathy for her. Then I thought that maybe the rose had something to do with funeral flowers, because that is the only time that flowers were mentioned. I know the rose has to have some significance, but I just can't figure it out.