A Milestone in Blogging - Short Story Blog 4 (Miss Brill)

"She sat there for a long time. The box that the fur came out of was on the bed. She unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking laid it inside. But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying."

~ Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill

Guess what? This is the first week in a long time that I haven't written a hate blog. There wasn't a story for which I had a strong dislike. Woo

Okay, so I'm just going to give my personal reaction to this story. Miss Brill was a bit obnoxious at the beginning. She thought she was hot stuff because she was better than everybody and into fashion. She was very vain for an old person; usually they are supposed to mature and get past that stuff. She only looked at appearances, and she didn't even consider herself old. It was like she was stuck in middle school - you know, when girls think they are cool because they have the best clothes and judge other people relentlessly. This bothered me. But then at the end, when the couple was making fun of her, I felt really bad. I think everyone has had that humbling moment in their lives - or they will experience it sometime in the near future - and that just sucks. Also, everyone has acted like Miss Brill at the beginning of the story, and even though we should all be put in our place sometimes, the couple was really harsh. I felt awful for Miss Brill when she was in her room, and she was really ashamed of her pelt thing, which she had been so proud of before someone said something. Only emoticons can express my feelings for this story - : ( 

Modern Fairy Tales - Short Story Blog 3 (Once Upon a Time)

"Next day he pretended to be the Prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the palace and kiss the Sleeping Beauty back to life: he dragged a ladder to the wall, the shining coiled tunnel was just wide enough for his little body to creep in..."

~ Nadine Gordimer, Once Upon a Time


At first, I wasn't really sure what to do for this blog. But, after realizing how popular fairy tales have been lately, I decided to write something about all the different adaptions of them.

The original Sleeping Beauty came out in 1959. This is the classic.

The Disney movie Enchanted came out in 2007. It follows Giselle, a fairy tale character who fell into a magic well and was then trapped in modern-day New York City. But be warned: in large quantities, this movie may induce cephalalgia and a strong hatred for pathological idealists.









A new series called Once Upon a Time recently came out on ABC. It follows the daughter of Snow White, who is imprisoned in reality with every other fairy tale character, all of whom are unaware of their identities and doomed to a fate of unhappiness.

A new movie Snow White and the Huntsman is coming out next year. I think it's like the Snow White story except it's supposed to be darker.

Fiery Phoenix / Indirect Characterization - Short Story Blog 2 (A Worn Path)

"She walked on. The shadows hung from the oak trees to the road like curtains. Then she smelled wood-smoke, and smelled the rier, and she saw a steeple and the cabins on their steep steps. Dozens of little black children whirled around her. There ahead was Natchez shining. Bells were ringing. She walked on."

~ Eudora Welty, A Worn Path

I think it looks more like a dragon, but you get the point. 

Pheonix Jackson is the protagonist of this short story. She has a very interesting personality, but it isn't revealed directly. It's time for another adventure in indirect characterization! Yay. So basically, Phoenix is a very determined, strong woman with a fiery personality (hence the blog title). Not only does she travel miles to find her grandson's medicine, but she does it with fervor; she never lets anything get her down until she reaches her destination. Some of her personality is also portrayed in her description at the beginning. She wears bright clothes and a red rag, which reflects her personality. Also, her name gives insight into her qualities. A phoenix is a powerful bird that thrives in fire (it arises from the ashes. That's where it is born). Just like the phoenix, Phoenix is a strong-willed woman who faces difficulties and overcomes them.

Poor Frank / Internal Conflict - Short Story Blog 1 (Week Three. Eveline)

"He rushed beyond the barrier and called to her to follow. He was shouted at to go on but he still called to her. She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition."

~ James Joyce, Eveline


So, during the story, the main character Eveline is faced with a dilemma - do I leave for Buenos Aires with my fiance who I don't really love to escape my domestic problems, or do I stay home with my imminently abusive father because my mother's death wish was for me to keep the family together? That's some deep stuff. Let's take a closer look.

Obviously, Eveline has had some problems from her past. Her father physically abused her brothers and her mother (I think, but don't quote me). However, I don't think he didn't love her; they had some good times together and he always worked hard for her and the family. Eveline loved her mother, so when her mom was dying and told her to take care of the family, this probably created a lot of the conflict she is feeling. But there is still a whole other level added to this internal tug-of-war. Eveline is engaged to Frank, a man who really loves her and is willing to provide for her and make her happy; she always thinks of him as a "savior" though, not someone she can love, like you are supposed to do when you have a fiance. Basically, he is her lame excuse to leave her family and temporarily escape from her home life. So what it boils down to is the decision between a safe, loveless life free of concern or a more emotionally oscillating life filled with love, resentment, and catharsis. In the end, she chose her family. I think she made the right choice.

Family Guy Minus the Funny - Short Story Blog 4 (Hunters in the Snow)

" 'You almost ran me down,' Tub said. 'You could've killed me.'
'Come on, Tub,' said the man beside the driver. 'Be mellow. Kenny was just messing around.' He opened the door and slid over to the middle of the seat."

~ Tobias Wolff, Hunters in the Snow


Earlier, this story was compared to the show Family Guy. While that is pretty accurate - dysfunctional characters, strange situations, moderate violence - it did lack one thing: humor. Now, I'm not saying that it was a bad story. It could be worse. But it seemed that if the author had taken a more humorous spin on it, the story really would have been great. The characters whine and complain pretty much the whole time, and they are really mean to each other. Yeah, I guess it's "friend humor", but it seemed to go beyond that. I think that gave it an angst-y tone that reminded me of petty high school drama. Family Guy is just hilarious. So, to make up for the dramatic stuff that happens in the story, I am going to put as many clean clips of Family Guy as I can find on here.

COME AT ME, BRO - Short Story Blog 3 (Bartleby the Scrivener)

"I would prefer not to."

~ Herman Melville, Bartleby the Scrivener


Okay, prepare yourself for a huge catharsis.

THIS STORY WAS HORRIBLE. Not only did I hate the characters, but I hated the plot. I hated the ending. I hated the redundancies. I hated the length. I can remember sitting in class, reading this story, and saying "Dear God, why am I still reading this?" I'm pretty sure there was an entire page that didn't have a paragraph break. Great job telling me the exact same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over, narrator.  You are just fan-freaking-tastic. I don't even feel sorry for you for having to put up with Bartleby and your other neurotic co-workers - you are just stupid for doing so. Why don't you just fire them?? Maybe then the story would be a little shorter and a little more bearable.

In conclusion, if I ever saw Herman Melville in person, I would probably punch him in the face for producing such a monstrosity.

Oh, My God, You Killed Kenny / Q 1 - Short Story Blog 2 (Hunters in the Snow)

"Nobody knows. That's the worst of it, Frank. Not the being fat, I never got any big kick out of being thin, but the lying. Having to lead a double life like a spy or hit man. This sounds strange but I feel sorry for those guys, I really do. I know what they go through. Always having to think about what you say and do. Always feeling like people are watching you, trying to catch you at something. Never able to just be yourself."

~ Tobias Wolff, Hunters in the Snow


I wasn't sure what to do for this blog so it would count for a "Lit Terms" entry, so I am going to answer question 1 after the story in the book.

Which of the three principal characters do you find most sympathetic? The least sympathetic? Do the characters' names help us to form our impressions of them?


(And by "the most sympathetic" I am going to interpret that as "evokes the most sympathy")

It was a close race, but here is the order I would put for which character I felt the most sorry.

1) Tub
2) Kenny
3) Frank

I felt the most sorry for Tub because I think he is a good guy at heart. No, I don't care if he is a little slow and a lot fat - that's no reason to throw all sympathy out the window. He is an underdog, and even if he doesn't necessarily overcome anything throughout the story, that makes him likable. He takes Frank's creepy problems to heart and tries to comfort him, even though Frank was being a tool earlier in the story. Tub is definitely insecure about himself and his eating problem - we can all relate to having insecurities. Tub is just nice and he cares about his "friends" even though they are mean to him.

Next, I felt the most sorry for Kenny. Given these three conditions I was under prior to reading the story

1) his name is Kenny
2) there are guns involved in this story
3) I am familiar with South Park

I knew something was gonna go down. And it did. Kenny is number two on the sympathy list only because he was shot accidentally by Tub. First of all, they just throw him in the bed of the truck - I have a truck. Whenever I throw things in the bed, I can hear it slamming around in there - ouch. Then, they stop and say, "Oh, Kenny, we are getting a little chilly, so we are going to let you freeze/bleed to death while we go to a gas station or diner or whatever and practice gluttony with pancakes." And then it almost suggests that he dies at the end when they went the wrong way to go to the hospital. That sucks.

Third was Frank. I didn't really feel sorry for him at all. He isn't just a jerk to both Tub and Kenny, but he is a creep. What kind of man lets his wife go out while he stays home and rocks the cradle? That's disgusting.

As for the second part of the question, yes. The names have significance. I've already touched on one (Kenny, guns, South Park), and Tub is the next. I guess he is just as big as a tub, so that gives us the image of a very, very large man. President William Howard Taft also comes to mind. But unless "Frank" means "pedophile" in a language I don't know, I don't think his name has much significance.

The Jerk Scale / Foil Characters - Short Story Blog 1 (Week 2) (Everyday Use)

"She looked at her sister with something like fear but she wasn't mad at her. This was Maggie's portion. This was the way she knew God to work."

~ Alice Walker, Everyday Use


Today in class, we talked a little bit about how putting foil characters together can exaggerate their differences. I think this was probably the story I felt the strongest about (except when I wanted to shoot myself in the face during Bartleby), simply because the two characters are on complete opposite ends of the personality gamut.

Maggie is a shy, resigned, completely selfless person. She always gives to other people (especially her psychotic sister) and thinks little of herself, even though she is genuinely a good person. She has always been a shadow to her sister because Dee is extremely confident and feels restrained in her old life - but we will get to her in a minute. I think Maggie is on the right side of the Jerk Scale.

                                    JERK SCALE

                                                                                       Maggie
----------------------------------------------------------------*-
JERK                                                                   NOT A JERK


Dee is an overly confident person. She is selfish, inconsiderate, condescending, and ridiculous. She treats her family like poop and uses them for her heritage - which makes her a hypocrite because she completely rejected her former lifestyle when she went away; she only likes the idea of her background, she likes bragging about it to people, but she hated growing up like she did. Most of all, she never thinks of Maggie, her little sister who looks up to her and needs someone there who will tell her that she is pretty and smart and worth more than she feels like she is. But, Dee fails at all of this, so she goes on the left side of the Jerk Scale.

                                         JERK SCALE

   Dee
---*---------------------------------------------------------------
JERK                                                                     NOT A JERK

Yes, both of these characters probably have traits that contradict their positions on the spectrum, but having two extreme characters in the story just emphasizes their differences.

The One That Got Away - Short Story Blog 4 (Interpreter of Maladies)

"When she whipped out the hairbrush, the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi's address on it fluttered away in the wind. No one but Mr. Kapasi noticed."

~Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies

I think it's much better that the address flew away. If Mrs. Das had kept it, Kapasi would have just gotten a couple pictures and then never heard from her again. He would eventually have to accept that she has a husband and doesn't really like him that much. His life obviously sucks, and does he really need that right now? Or ever, for that matter? Because he saw the address fly away, he can at least pretend someone wants to communicate with him, but she just never got the chance. Sometimes, I think we need to be able to imagine things are the way we want them to be. Even if it's not true, he got a little bit of hope from the situation which can keep him going for a while. It sounds harsh, but at least there is some positive in this story.

It's Going to Be Lengen, Wait For It... Dary! - Short Story Blog 3 (How I Met My Husband)

"So I said yes, and I went out with him for two years and he asked me to marry him, and we were engaged a year more while I got my things together, and then we did marry."

~ Alice Munro, How I Met My Husband


The title is not the only ridiculously similar characteristic shared by How I Met My Husband and the popular television comedy How I Met Your Mother. The two are very structurally similar. How I Met Your Mother is a show about Ted, who is telling his children the story of how he met their mother. He takes many seasons to get there (and it still isn't over yet), and tells them about many, many, many, many women that he meets along the way. How I Met My Husband is very much the same. Edie tells the story of how she met her husband, although most of the story is comprised of her experiences with another man. She only gets to her husband in the last two paragraphs; in Mother, the series will end with Ted meeting his wife. The two also have pretty much the exact same idea of telling the story of how the main characters met their spouses.

That's Awkward (Dramatic Irony) - Short Story Blog 2 (How I Met My Husband)

"He always tells the children the story of how I went after him by sitting by the mailbox every day, and naturally I laugh and let him, because I like for people to think what pleases them and makes them happy."

~ Alice Munro, How I Met My Husband


This last part of the story made me really uncomfortable - the dramatic irony was just too much! First of all, she writes this whole long story about how she obviously loves the pilot (and probably is still in love with him), even though they only had a brief fling. She talks about how she admired him and bonded with him, and then he just leaves her and never responds, so she settles for the mailman. Who, by the way, only has two paragraphs. Her husband only has two paragraphs, but her four-minute infatuation gets a freakin' novel. While we as readers know all of this, the mailman doesn't. When he thinks she is interested in him, we all know she's just waiting to be swooped up by a different man; this makes it SUPER awkward when he tells his children she couldn't stay away from him. Can you imagine her telling him the truth? "Umm, no honey, I was actually desperately in love with another man and still am..."

This kind of makes me think of women today. Women say they want a nice guy, but they always go for the bad boy when given the chance. The respectful guy just isn't that exciting, and especially for naive, sheltered girls (think about Roncalli girls. I fear for the female portion of our grade next year), someone who is a little more aggressive is a very intriguing and enticing idea. But, fear not, good guys, you all prevail in the end. A woman will always settle down with the nice man when she is ready to grow up and face reality. And that is exactly what Edie did.

Suspense. Or Lack Thereof - Short Story Blog 1, Week 1 (A Rose for Emily)

"Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint ad invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair."

~ William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily


Okay, that ending was pretty messed up. Although the end may give people the creeps, the story ironically lacks suspense. Usually, when horror movies/books or thrillers progress, you ascertain information as the plot continues - you find out one element of the real story at one time. Finally, the protagonist is mucking around in some situation they shouldn't be (i.e. breaking into that creepy neighbor's house and going through his stuff, going down into the basement after hearing strange noises, or doing some type of ancient voodoo to evoke the presence of a ghost to hopefully get rid of it, though you usually die afterwards), then, that big piece of evidence is found and the light bulb goes off in the protagonist's head. This is then followed with a chase/killing scene where either the good guy or the bad guy ends up dead. (I think horrors generally end with the good guy dying and thrillers with the bad guy. Not always, but it's just a speculation) Yes - Emily kills her husband so he won't leave her and sleeps with his dead body every night, but we aren't scared throughout because the story isn't in chronological order. I'm sure Faulkner actually did the non-chronological thing to create suspense, but it actually just created more questions. While we do want to know what's happening in this type of story, the plot was all screwed up because it jumped around so much that you had to read it two or three times before even understanding it. You kind of understood the ending, so it was almost like reading a spoiler alert beforehand. It would have been much more effective if Faulkner had stuck to chronological order and just given us pieces of information at a time. Now please enjoy this picture of a creepy old lady.