Getting Out

Cleopatra Mathis' poem Getting Out is heart-wrenching to imagine.  Based on the comparison to being like "inmates", it appears that the couple in the poem no longer feel any bonds of love or passion between them; they are simply living under the same roof.  It recalls, from the woman's point of view, the last year of their marriage.  The first stanza reveals the painful details of the night.  Neither of them can wait for the morning light to come so that they can escape each other's company.  The second stanza tells of the day time.  They fill it with distractions and loud noises to give them an excuse to avoid their problems.  The last stanza, however, evokes the most sympathy.  The couple had obviously gotten a divorce, but it's also clear that they actually cared for the other very deeply.  "Taking hands we walked apart, until our arms stretched between us.  We held on tight, and let go" (Mathis, 896).  They still loved each other, but they were in a predicament.  They couldn't stand being together, but knew they would ache from the pain of being apart.

You're Ugly, Too

The use of characterization in Lorrie Moore's short story You're Ugly, Too permeates every page.  I fell in love with Zoe's character.  I was easily able to relate to her personality.  My family and closest friends are always commenting on my quick-wit and snarky remarks to everything.  She's a smart-alec, and I love that.  Moore clearly shows how flighty and scatter-brained Zoe is; she can't keep her mind on one thing for too long!  While in the middle of a conversation with her sister, Zoe "thought about all the papers on 'Our Constitution: How It Affects Us' she was going to have to correct.  She thought about how she was going in for ultrasound tests on Friday..." (Moore, 358).  She clearly has trouble connecting with any human besides her sister, let alone eligible men that she is set up with!  I think all of her eccentricities are merely barriers to keep anyone from getting too close to her.  She wears a mask of sarcasm and irony so as to avoid the feeling of exposure or vulnerability.  I am confused about the ending; what was the significance of her actions?

The Story of an Hour

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin starts off directly with a piece of foreshadowing.  When it spoke of how "Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble" (Chopin, 1), I knew that would play a role in some way later on in the story.  Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the news of her husband's death made sense to me at first, but then gradually shocked and surprised me.  Her initial reaction was grief; she locked herself in her room and cried in mourning.  Soon after, however, joy and elation built up inside of her.  It became clear that she had been part of a loveless marriage.  Perhaps he had abused her in some way?  She saw his death and permanent absence from her life as her own freedom.  She admitted that she had dreaded each coming day knowing that she would be with him, but now that he was dead, she could look forward to life.  There were clearly some major relationship issues here.  Her heart disease ultimately claimed her life when she received the shock and bitter disappointment that her husband was still very much alive.

Popular Mechanics

Carver's short story entitled Popular Mechanics is heart-wrenching from beginning to end.  At the beginning, the reader feels sympathy for the mother, who is being left by the father.  Later, however, all sympathy for the parents vanishes and is felt solely for the infant in the story.  Carver did a wonderful job with setting the tone and mood for his story right from the start.  "Cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark.  But it was getting dark on the inside too" (Carver, 1).  It can immediately be ascertained that a very tense, dark, and depressing series of events is about to take place within the home.  In the end, it is implied that the parents killed their child in the physical struggle for possession of him.  This act shows how selfish the mother and father are.  They're actions were driven by greedy desires.  They weren't concerned with what was best for the baby, but what they wanted.  They killed their child while fighting over whose possession he was.

Bright Star

John Keats' poem Bright Star primarily uses personification in its descriptions of the star.  The speaker describes it as "watching, with eternal lids apart..." (Keats, 792).  Obviously, stars do not have eyes or eyelids to watch or keep apart; hence the use of personification.  I noticed that the speaker wanted to emulate some characteristics of the star, while also wanting to be different in other ways.  The speaker wants his love with another to be "steadfast" and "unchangeable", as a star is.  His love, like a bright star, would be dazzling, brilliant, heated, and lasting.  He wants a love that will last without wearing out or dulling.  He longs to be with his true love for all of eternity, or die if he cannot.  But then he mixes in statements implying that he does not want to be like a star in some ways.  He acknowledges the fact that the star is alone in the night sky.  He does not wish for solitude, because he is either deeply in love, or anticipating a great love in the future.

A Valediction

I was struck by the passion in the words of John Donne's A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning.  The speaker, possibly a sailor, implores his lover to "make no noise, no tear-floods, nor sigh-tempest move..." (Donne, 802).  He tells her not to cry because, though he will be leaving for a time, he will be back.  He cannot stay away from something that is a part of him, as she was.  I loved how he ended with saying that his journey would "make [him] end, where [he had] begun" (Donne, 802).  He had no choice but to come back to her.  Their love was too strong to be severed or ended by distance or time.  He compares them to gold.  He insists that they will never be torn from each other forever, but, instead, temporarily separated.  The emotion put into each stanza is tangible.  The reader can feel the combination of grief and hope that the speaker is feeling.  He clearly does not want to leave his beloved, but, for some reason, must.  He is confident, however, that nothing will change his love for her nor hers for him, and that he will soon return to her.

How I Met My Husband

Alice Munro's How I Met My Husband left me feeling very uncomfortable at several parts throughout the short story.  I do, however, admire Munro's use of characterization.  Every character is given such a unique and clearly distinguishable identity and traits.  When describing Loretta Bird at the dreadful scene in which Edie is being accused of being "intimate" with Chris, it is stated that "She was swollen up with pleasure at being in on this scene" (Munro, 144).  This sentence alone tells the reader that Mrs. Bird is a nosy, gossipy woman.  She thrives in the drama of and rumors about others.  Throughout the majority of the story, Munro described Mrs. Peebles' character to be very snooty and stuck up.  She complained about how she was tied down with children, even though she was unemployed and had hired someone else (Edie) to WATCH her children.  She was always judging farmers of the area in which they were living, and never seemed happy with what she had.  It was, therefore, very surprising when she came to Edie's rescue at the end of the story.  She contradicted her previous, shallow characteristics, and showed great compassion and protection for Edie.

Eveline

James Joyce's short story Eveline surprised me so much.  Throughout the majority of the story, suspense is being built up as the reader waits along with Eveline to escape from her dismal life.  In this tale, symbolism is shown in the form of Frank.  "Escape!  She must escape!  Frank would save her.  He would give her life, perhaps love, too...He would save her" (Joyce, 221).  To Eveline, Frank symbolized a refuge, an escape route.  However, that was all he was to her.  She clearly did not love him.  She even said "perhaps" love would be given to her by Frank.  It was not Eveline's goal to run away with her true love and live happily ever after.  All she wanted to do was use Frank to escape to a new life.  She wanted him to give her a life without a drunken and abusive father, and countless unfair responsibilities.  I think that's why she so easily let Frank leave without her at the end of the story.  She decided that her miserable life she knew was better than the intimidating new life she was being led to.  Because she never thought of Frank as anything but a means to escape, she was able to see him off with "no sign of love or farewell or recognition" (Joyce, 222).