"Hunters in the Snow" #7

I think the purpose of the scene is to show the lack of care that Tub and Frank have for Kenny. He is laying in the truck dying and repeating "I am going to the hospital," but Frank and Tub and having a nice meal. It shows mostly the lack of concern that each character has for each other. Each of the characters spend the majority of the time obsessed with their own problems, and I think that they would take out their problems on the weakest link. At first the weakest link was Tub, and then it was changed to Kenny. The scene basically is screaming self-centeredness. I think that Frank's insight holds seeds of real remorse, but a lot of the time I think he is just kidding himself. Some examples are his "smile" to Tub when Tub tells him that he will always be on his side. For some reason that smile did not seem genuine to me, especially when he was acting horribly to Tub a couple of hours earlier. Also, the biggest one is that if Frank really experienced a change in character or had some remorse, he would not be leaving his friend out in the cold to die. I think he would be rushing him to the hospital. I think his remorse is just a front to get people on his side for leaving his wife.

"Everyday Use" my thoughts

Something I found especially interesting in this story was Dee's bipolar attitude towards her heritage. In the beginning, she hated it and hated the house. She dressed stylishly and went to school, so she did not want to embrace her culture. However, years later she did a 180 and took on the culture of her African ancestors. I thought this was interesting because I think either way Dee is rejecting her culture. I might be going out of the cone of meaning on this one, but Dee is reverting back to her African roots, but still denying her African-American roots. African-Americans have just as much to be proud of and have a very vibrant culture themselves. I read the little blurb on the short story and it said that a lot of members of the black community rejected the names they inherited from slavery and went back to African names. They saw that as a rebellious towards white people in general, but I think that they were mostly rebelling against the family and the close-knit communities they came from. By embracing her ancient roots, Dee is rejecting her family, community, and roots.

"Every Day Use" #4

I think the mother's refusal does indicate a change in her character. At first the mother's attitude toward Dee is respectful almost because she does not seem to adore her, but more look up to her. I don't think the mother has ever done anything like this before because she has never felt like she was violated before. Not only did Dee try to take something away from Maggie, the unfortunate sister, she tried to take her mother's promise away from Maggie. The mother felt like she needed to intervene because Dee got everything she wanted from the beginning, while Maggie never really learned to want something. The mother realized this and when Maggie wanted the quilts, I think that she realized that Maggie should have something that she truly wanted and would love. I think some details that foreshadow the refusal include Maggie's view of life Dee's open disapproval of their house. I think the mother realized that Maggie has always appreciated their lifestyle and Dee never did. So, the mother realized that Maggie would be the one who should get something she wanted for once and something she has always appreciated.

"How I Met My Husband"

I was also surprised by this surprised ending. I think it is interesting how the author spends the majority of the story talking about Chris and spends one paragraph talking about her husband. This probably has to do with the element of surprise, but I also pick up a regretful tone almost when talking about her husband. She describes their relationship as numbers without any real emotions. The only time she ever displays an emotion regarding her husband is when she laughed when he tells their kids the story. In addition Edie says, "I like for people to think what pleases them and makes them happy." This quote really got me because it made me doubt Edie as a person and her relationship with her husband. She seems to have no fight in her and goes with the flow. Also, if she does what makes people happy, there is a possibility that she married her husband because it made him happy. I think Edie had always been that way, instead of becoming that way when Chris never wrote her, because she never seemed to have a fight in her. She let Chris kiss her without a fight, although she might have had feelings for her, and she let everybody push her around. I think it was just the type of person she was.

"A Rose for Emily" #5

I was confused a lot of the story the first time reading it, as I believe, were others. I think that a first person POV would be slightly advantageous at some parts because the speaker was a vague person or maybe the town as a whole. If Emily was telling the story, the reader would know a lot more about her, but less about the town's perceptions of her. If another person told the story in first person, the reader would have to assume that a relationship once occurred or that the person has special knowledge that others didn't. However, if the story was to be told in first person instead of third, that whole mystery would be lost and the confusion of the town would not be as evident. By seemingly rolling the town into one POV, the audience can consider all of the events and the mixed up chronology. The only point of view that is missing really is Emily's and I don't think her view matters that much to the story. As I think about it, I think that the story is not so much about Emily's life, but more about her effect on the people of the town and the history of it. They said at the beginning that she was a "fallen monument" which I think exemplifies her impact on the town perfectly.

"Interpreter of Maladies" #1

I think the central conflict of this story is Mr. Kapasi's general unhappiness with his position in life, whether it be his job, home, and education. He spends a lot of time in the story struggling with his life. He especially focuses on what he does and how marrying held him back or how he used to know a lot of languages but only remembers a few now. I think that Mr. Kapasi needed to be reassured or even see how much he actually does. Mrs. Das arrives and she does just that for Mr. Kapasi and while he is dreaming of writing letters and having an international correspondence, Mrs. Das is just filling the time until the car stops. I think she is genuinely interested in Mr. Kapasi's job, but not to the degree that Mr. Kapasi thought she was. I think the central conflict is resolved because Mr. Kapasi did get his reassurance and started to reflect on his life. However, it is also resolved when the address gets lost and nobody except Mr. Kapasi notices. This completes Mr. Kapasi's revelation because he can move on and start to rekindle his life instead of pining over the affection and interest of a younger woman thousands of miles away who didn't care for him the way he imagined himself caring for her.

"A Rose for Emily"

The author of this short story added a little surprise for us at the end which clarified a lot of things in the story. However, I cannot decide whether it was part of the stories structure and plot for it to come out as a surprise or not. The ending included the corpse of the man that Emily was supposed to have married and a strand of long grey hair. This leads the reader to assume a couple of things; however, it is never really clarified. This ending affects the plot because, for me, I would have never suspected it and it changes or affirms a lot of what I thought during the story. A couple things that stood out to me after I read the whole story was the smell that the town covered up, the purchase of the rat poison without Emily dying (I was pretty sure she was going to commit suicide), and the fact that Emily's father never let men get close enough to her for a relationship. These all should have been bells going off in my head alerting me of a twist, but it never really happened. Another element of plot was Emily's relationship with her father. This struck me as kind of odd because she lived with him her whole life, he kept sending away potential suitors, and then he died. It made me feel kind of sorry for her because I really think she was confused on what to do. I think she never really got a chance at anything, which drove her to kind of be an odd ball and do crazy things. The plot and structure emphasized certain elements and foreshadowed events.