Cait's Blog
Just another WordPress.com weblogArchive for September, 2009
Birthmark
Truthfully, I did not care for this story at all. I had a very difficult time getting into it partly due to the language. I found it very confusing, dull, and just hard to understand. With that being said however, it is fairly obvious what one of the underlying messages was during the entire piece. Obviously in this world no one is perfect but concept of longing for perfection is portrayed throughout the story. The main character Aylmer is unhappy with his wife’s appearance. He considers her to be perfect in every way except for a “hand shaped” red birthmark that lies across her cheek. Aylmer detests this birthmark and cannot even stand to look at it.
He suggests to his wife the possibility of removing it. Aylmer is proficient in science and dedicated the majority of his life to various scientific experiments and discoveries. His wife, Georgiana understands his hatred towards her imperfection and agrees to its removal. Several times throughout the story Georgiana and the narrator subconsciously hint that it is a bad idea to remove the birthmark. Georgiana considers the mark to be connected in some way to her heart. The idea of removing what Nature has given her foreshadows an adverse effect. Even Aylmer has a dream that he performs an operation on Georgiana but can’t seem to remove the mark because it extends down into her heart. The only way to get rid of it is to cut or wrench her heart away. Despite the foreshadowing, Aylmer is determined to rid his wife of her terrible imperfection.
With the help of his assistant, Aylmer creates a “potion” that will remove her birthmark. Georgiana is ready to sacrifice her life for her husband’s happiness. She would rather die than live one more day with her birthmark. Sadly, Georgiana did not seem to have an issue with the mark but because of her husband’s disgust she agrees it is best to try and remove it. When Georgiana ingests the concoction, it does its job and fades her birthmark with a hefty price. Georgiana proclaims she is dying, and takes in her last breath as the last bit of her birthmark fades away. Obviously it was against Nature to remove the birthmark which, ultimately lead to Georgiana’s death.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Having never read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” before now, I did find it fairly interesting. I knew what the premise of the story was about but, was unaware of the abundance of background information that gives the story its depth. I’m not going to lie; it took me three attempts at reading the not very short story until I finally was able to get through it from beginning to end. It did not catch my interest at all in the beginning but eventually a plot began to thicken which helped a bit. I found it interesting that the story began with a legend (The Headless Horseman) and ended with Ichabod Crane also becoming somewhat of a legend for the people of Sleepy Hollow. My biggest question is what really happened that dark and dreary night? The story goes into what could have happened to Ichabod but I want to know what really became of him. I suppose that is how legends are formed.
I was a little surprised that the “action” of the story did not take place until the last several pages. The previous 30 pages of the story built up to the short and rather disappointing chase scene. Nevertheless, I do think Washington Irving did a great job of describing everything. He made me feel as if I was walking through Sleepy Hollow or observing Ichabod as many of the townspeople often did. He sparked all senses of his readers. He vividly discussed the landscape of the village as well as the smells, sounds, and feelings of everything our main character came in contact with. At times some of the language threw me for a bit of a loop but all in all I did not find the story to be a very difficult read.
I felt the plot which was disguised with a lot of dignified, old fashioned language was actually rather simple. Ichabod found himself in a love triangle with Katrina his love interest and Brom Bones, the other man standing in his way of true happiness. Try as he might to win Katrina over he never did succeed and was even “dismissed” by her that fateful night when he was chased by the Headless Horseman. There is a lot of speculation about whether the Headless Horseman truly existed or if he arose as a figment of imagination. I know firsthand of what it is like to have your mind play tricks on you. After watching a scary movie or even being by myself I feel like I start to hear strange noises and before I know it I am terrified something bad might happen. With all the talk of scary legends did Ichabod’s mind play tricks on him or did the headless horseman really pay him a visit that night?
Lusus Naturae
For the first time this semester I was truly upset by something I’ve read. I think “Lusus Naturae” written by Margaret Atwood is an extremely sad and depressing tale of someone who has lost not only their sense of purpose or belonging but family as well. The story is about a girl, though born “normal,” has somehow transformed into a kind of monster. The story put me in a terrible mood right from its start. I don’t understand how a family could ever attempt to devise a way of getting rid of one of its members. I envision my own family sitting around my kitchen table, while I am present, thinking of what could possibly be done with me because they are so ashamed.
The best option the family could decide upon was to have a fake funeral for their daughter. They kept her a secret for years while everyone thought she was actually dead. This allowed her family to carry on a normal life without anyone’s knowledge of her true self. The worst part of all was she agreed with everyone, taking her family members happiness into consideration before her own. I think one of the main themes or underlying messages present during the story is to accept people for who they are. This particular family has a daughter whom is very different from everyone else. Instead of accepting the (extreme) situation and dealing with it her family has chosen to hide her.
Eventually as years pass by, our narrator begins to gain a bit of independence and is able to break free of her family. Unfortunately her independence leads her into a terrible situation that ultimately is the cause of her death. She stumbles upon two “normal” humans whom she confuses for being her kind. One day she gets to close and bites one sending an immediate uproar through the town. When the townspeople realize who or what is responsible they come after her. Amongst those hunting her down is her own family. I felt as if that was the most heartbreaking part of the entire piece. When your own family betrays you I do not know what else could be worse. Our main character does not think this way. She understands why people are coming to kill her and thinks their reasons are valid. Even with death right around the corner, our “monster” still has hope for the future. She states, “Perhaps in Heaven I’ll look like an angel. Or perhaps the angels will look like me. It’s something to look forward to.”
A & P
I enjoyed reading John Updike’s “A & P” because it was very different from the last two short stories we read in class. While reading I kept putting myself in the mind set of someone from 1961, when it was inappropriate for teenage girls to wear only bathing suits into stores. Being completely honest, I had no idea where the story was going. It did not have a lot of gripping action yet still kept me entertained. Sammy, the nineteen year old checkout clerk at the store describes his encounter with three girls around his age as they walk in wearing only their bathing suits. Sammy describes these girls vividly and it is obvious the other men working in A & P and just as shocked by their arrival as he is.
After the girls gather their items to purchase and approach Sammy’s register they are confronted by the manager of the A & P store. He questions the girl’s choice of attire or lack thereof and asks them to never come back to the store dressed the way they are. The girls defend themselves which I am assuming is something that was rarely done in 1961. This conflict between the girls and the manager left other elderly customers in shock at the confrontation. During this tiff Sammy has a slightly irrational reaction. As the girls are leaving the store Sammy quits his job. His manager assures him he will ultimately regret his decision but Sammy still quits right then and there. My question is why? I believe that he quit because of his feelings of disgusted with the way his manager treated the young women. I feel as if he made a strong connection with them after only watching them walk through the store. Apparently strong enough to quit his job.
In a dialogue after the young women left the store Sammy states,” You didn’t have to embarrass them.” Mr. Lengel responses by saying, “It was they who were embarrassing us.” Sammy was not embarrassed. I believe Mr. Lengel is so set in his ways he is unable to budge when he witnesses three young women walk into his store wearing only bathing suits. He is so conformed to the times. Sammy however stands up for what he believes in by quitting his job. He does understand the results of his decision and knows how difficult his life might be hereafter. Why would his life be difficult, for the obvious reason of quitting his job, or people’s perception of why he quit? These are questions that leave readers wanting more of an explanation at the end of the story.
The Lottery
Just like “The Story of an Hour,” I was shocked by the ending of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.” Being completely honest, I could not get into the story at all in the beginning; I just had no idea what was going on! As I continued reading however, I could not put the book down. The story begins with Jackson describing the beautiful scene of the village where the lottery is taking place. I felt that this story would have a peaceful ending since it began on such an unsuspecting note. The image of a quaint village in late June with its townspeople gathering together does not lead me to suspect something terrible is going to happen.
When the “lottery” began I had no idea what its significance was. Jackson described its rich history and I assumed like many other readers that it would have a great ending. As the heads of each household drew a slip of paper, Jackson describes their emotions as being nervous and anxious. This is when I began to realize this lottery was not going to end happily. I relate a lottery to luck and winning something. By the stories close however this particular lottery left its “winner” stoned to death. The Hutchinson family picked the marked slip of paper placing them on the chopping block. Then each member of the family drew a slip of paper. The person with the marked piece is essentially sentenced to death; at least that is how I perceived the stories ending. Readers are left assuming Mrs. Hutchinson dies at the hands of her fellow townsfolk.
I think this lottery is horrendous, and according to the story it had been going on for years as a strict ritual. Old Man Warner voices his opinion about the lottery stating it is a necessity and people would be crazy to ever think of being rid of it. My question is, did this really happen? Is this a real account of how things were years and years ago? Was it really a tradition that villages and towns would conduct this lottery to kill one of their own? What is worse is the townspeople believe it was tradition! At the stories close I was left feeling confused and baffled by what I had just read. My emotions went from peaceful and unassuming to shocked and disturbed throughout the reading. I could not even imagine participating in a lottery like the one described in Jackson’s story. The entire thing is just terrible.
The Story of an Hour
I will admit, even though I enjoyed this short story, I never saw what was coming. After Mrs. Mallard learned of her husband’s tragic and sudden death she grieved as many women might with sudden and wild emotion. When Mrs. Mallard retreated to her room alone, it wasn’t to continue her grieving but rather to have a private celebration. Mrs. Mallard was not upset by her husband’s death but rather overjoyed with emotion. She was finally free to do what she wanted with her life. Mrs. Mallard no longer needed to live by her husband but rather only by herself.
Author Kate Chopin does an excellent job of capturing the entire scene. She not only describes Mrs. Mallard but her surroundings. For example when Chopin states, “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met…” (page 72). I feel this description foreshadows Mrs. Mallard’s true feelings for her husband and the joy she experiences from his death. Unfortunately, just when I thought the story would end happily, Mr. Mallard appears. He had not been killed in the railroad disaster. When Mrs. Mallard lays eyes on her husband her heart stops not only of shock but of heartbreak. The joy of freedom she had just begun to dream about is no longer attainable with her husband still living. I feel that this story is a perfect example of how many women felt years ago towards the domineering nature of men.
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