Response: The Cask of Amontillado

After seeing Edgar Allen Poe's name on this story, I knew that I should expect it to be disturbing in some form or another. My expectations were definitely met as I proceeded to read the story.

I must admit that the story was confusing at points because of the language. I don't know much about wine and the way that the story was written made it a little bit difficult to understand exactly what was going on. However, once I did figure out what was going on and what the story was about, I realized that this story has a lot to say about relationships and the human condition.

The relationship between the two characters in the story seems to be characteristic of many relationships today. They appear to be friends from an outsider's perspective, but on the inside there are feelings of bitterness, resentment and animosity. Readers are aware of this because of the way that the narrator begins the story. He tells us that he has suffered thousands of injuries from Fortunato and that he bore them as best he could, but had vowed revenge. Through this we see that he is trying to keep up the front of friendship but has no true feelings of friendship for this man. I think that this pattern is common among adults today. We may not like someone or have been hurt by them, but for the sake of keeping up appearances we will mask those feelings and be friendly to the person. While this may be an effective means of saving face for a while, we see in this story that it will not last and that true emotions will eventually be revealed. In this case, they built up and caused the narrator to seek an awful revenge.

The narrator takes advantage of Fortunato's state of inebriation and tricks him into believing that he is looking out for his best interest, when in reality, his intentions are the opposite. He also calls Fortunato "friend" many times throughout the story, further convincing Fortunato that he and the narrator are on good terms. After all of the convincing that the narrator does, Forunato is trusting of the narrator and walks blindly into his trap. Many times, this happens to people who are not cautious in their actions or aware of the ways in which they impact those around them. They do not realize that others might be upset with them and are in turn too trusting of those that they have hurt.

Once Montresor has completed the task of walling in Fortunato, he lets out a loud scream. I saw this as a sort of release of his emotions and realization that he could not ever fully receive closure and peace about the situation with his friend. This is especially due to the manner in which he chose to handle the dispute with Fortuato. He ran from conflict and was deceitful, and now he has to live with the consequences. While his choice to murder Fortunato may have brought some relief, I assume that his guilt will counteract that. I think that this story shows the depths of depravity of the human condition and the importance of honesty in dealing with conflict, as opposed to running from them.

Response: The Story of an Hour

In my opinion, this story was heartbreaking and maddening. I felt for the woman when she lost her husband and was frustrated by her extremely short grieving process. I don't believe that she could have actually completed the process in an hour, because it takes people months, and even years, to grieve the loss of a spouse. I think that the author minimized this by giving the woman an attitude that looks beyond this present moment. "She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome."Making plans based on this sort of attitude is a dangerous thing to do, and Josephine learns this lesson quickly, but not soon enough at the same time. She receives immense joy from the thought of having freedom to live "for herself" and when her husband returns and her new world view is suddenly flipped upside down, she dies. She goes through a huge swing of emotion and experiences both the highest high and lowest low within an hour. To me, this just seems unhealthy, and is proved to be so in the story.
It is also clear through this story that the author, Kate Chopin, is of the feminist mindset. This was evident to me through the joy that Josephine found in the loss of her husband. The author chooses to make the situation more about Josephine's gain of freedom as opposed to her loss of a loved one. She also shows Josephine questioning her love for her husband. This idea an extremely feminist idea, as well as the idea of women not needing men, or even being worse off with a husband than without one. I don't typically take a feminist stance on issues, so I did not particularly agree with Chopin.
Overall, the story seemed to be a good avenue for thought on topics such as marriage, love and relational independence.

Response: The Man Who Was Almost a Man

After reading "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" I would consider it to be a rather sad and disappointing story in the sense that the boy, the main character, fails to show growth throughout the story. He so desperately wants to be a man and be grown up but his actions show that he is still immature in judgement and responsibility. The reader is lead to this realization in many places throughout the story and the conclusion of the story is especially telling of Dave's continuing immaturity.

To Dave, the gun means manhood and independence. He doesn't even receive the money from his own pay check yet so he has never bought anything like this on his own. He also is still too intimidated to directly ask his father for the money and permission to buy the gun. These things all show signs of immaturity in Dave. His desire to be considered a man has not yet translated over to his actions and he still acts like a boy. His decision to get on the train at the end of the story tells me that he is still very immature because he is running from his problems. He has created a mess for himself and rather than doing the work to clean things up and make things right with his boss and family, he runs. After disobeying his mother, shooting the gun and killing Jenny, he is in trouble with his boss and family and he is incredibly ashamed. In this shame, he makes another poor decision and lies about what he has done with the gun. The gun goes from representing his freedom, independence and manhood to representing his boyish and shameful actions and thought processes, onto which he is still clinging. This choice, of course, leads to more trouble and the growth of bitter emotions inside of the boy. He got off the hook relatively easy for what he had done, but he is still angry and refuses to accept his punishment and therefore accept responsibility. I believe that responsibility is one of the most important characteristics associated with maturity. His boss and his family had shown him grace for the most part, but he doesn't choose to see that. It seems to me that he is choosing to see himself as the victim in the situation because he will have to work for a long time to pay for Jenny. This thinking is twisted and doesn't fit with the model of manliness and maturity that I believe he is looking for.

I think that this story goes to show that maturity and growth cannot come from physical events in someones life. Symbols of maturity are just that, symbolic. They don't mean anything unless the person receiving the symbol is ready for it. For Dave, it was the gun. He wanted a gun because of the message it would send to the people around him. He thought that he would get respect by carrying a gun. He quickly found out that this isn't the case, but was not able to follow through and take responsibility when the opportunity to do so arose. In my opinion, if he were to have stayed, told the truth about the gun and not emptied it he would be much better off in terms of being a man. But he didn't, and that is why I believe he was only "almost a man."

Response: Hills Like White Elephants

This is the fourth time that I have read Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" allowing me to approach the reading with some previous knowledge of the symbolism, etc. I know that there are multiple ways to interpret this story and in my opinion, this story serves as an excellent allegory for American views and lifestyles post World War I, when this story is thought to have been written.

The American in the story can be seen advising his lover (most likely a much younger girl) to have an abortion. This is implied at multiple points throughout the story. He assumes that an abortion will fix whatever problems are occurring in their relationship because he thinks that the pregnancy is what caused them in the first place. This is a great example of the kinds of lives that Americans were leading in the 1920's. They were looking for immediate pleasure, and living more wildly than they had been, especially during the war. It could also be said that there was a lack of responsibility in this era, which is clearly depicted through this story. The American does not want to assume responsibility and face the consequences of his actions, and the girl seems to be looking for more. By saying that all they do is "look at things and try new drinks" she seems to be saying that she wants more from life. She has a desire to face challenges (i.e. the baby on the way) while he is happy with life as it is and wants a quick fix for conflict rather than confrontation and resolution.

When you compare the "white elephants" in the distance to the conflict in the couples' life, which is the baby, it is easy to see the differences in the man and woman's thoughts on the matter. The woman says they look beautiful. She sees the challenge of raising a child to be an inviting one. She sees beauty in the baby. They man, on the other hand, seems to see the hills as trouble looming in the distance. He is made uncomfortable by the fact that she refers to the hills as "white elephants" because it reminds him of the baby and the shape of a pregnant woman. He sees the white elephants as being an awful challenge, threatening to destroy him and the carefree life that he has created.

The maturity of each character is also depicted in this story, showing the lack of responsibility held by both characters. The girl is not only young, making her antics seem very immature, she handles the argument with the man by asking him to stop talking and pretending to be fine. She ignores the real problems at hand and settles for a quick fix of simply ending the conversation. The man shows his lack of maturity and responsibility by treating an abortion as a simple and painless procedure that would have no lasting effects. In this sense, he is completely ignorant and selfish. He argues with the girl not because he wants what is best for her, but because he doesn't want to lose his comfortable lifestyle. Their interactions throughout the entire story show the lack of understanding and responsibility in their relationship.

Overall, I did not enjoy reading this story, because of the style in which it is written and the lack of resolution in the end. I did, however, enjoy the symbolism and the process of decoding some of that. On the surface, this story seems dry, but when there is another layer of meaning hidden behind it, the story comes to life and becomes thought provoking.

Response: The Country Doctor

After reading "The Country Doctor" I found myself feeling depressed, angry and at odds with societal values. Not only did the story prove to be a challenge to read, due to the grammatical structure but it was depressing to see the way that the doctor was unmoved by the "love"that he experienced. Rather than searching for true love before marrying his wife, he seemed to have settled for a large dowry and mediocre life. Due to these and other contributing factors, I disliked this story.

The content of this story was saddening to me. The relationship between the doctor and the patient (Alexandra) was just awkward in my opinion. I couldn't tell whether or not they truly loved each other, and his actions after her death point to the fact that he did not truly love her. It seemed that his attraction to the girl was purely physical, especially since The doctor tells the story with such fervor and detail readers clearly see the importance of this interaction to the doctor; yet his actions do not reflect this supposed worth placed on his relationship with the girl.

One thing that was disturbing was the way in which the doctor spoke of his current wife and living situation. He is clearly not in love with his wife and has no respect for her. This is sad in itself, but it becomes pathetic when you realize that the doctor chose this life for himself. He is also wallowing in his choices and despising his life, rather than doing something about it. I have no sympathy for the doctor but I feel deeply for his wife! I would be miserable living with a man like the doctor. However, I think this is part of what the author is trying to get at in this story.

I think that part of what the author is trying to say is that love is rare and people should, for lack of better words, take what they can get when it comes along. He seems to think that love is more of a luxury than a necessity for living, but it is valuable enough to be grieved when it is lost. I see this through the way that he gives great attention to the relationship between the doctor and the girl and very little attention to the doctor's life after her death. It is important to note that the author doesn't tell the readers that what the doctor experienced was, in fact, love. Through this we can see that the author thinks that even imitations of love can be somewhat satisfying. I don't agree with this statement, and I think that is part of why I don't like this story. I am of the opinion that true love will transform someone in one way or another. I don't think that it is possible to walk away from true love unchanged and I don't think that imitations of love prove satisfying at all. Love provokes love, and the doctor never returned the love that Alexandra showed to him. This makes me think that the love between them was not real at all. The doctor in this story seems to have true love for only two things, money and drinking.