A Jury of Her Peers

In A Jury of Her Peers, a short story by Susan Glaspell, portrays men as insensitive towards a women’s hardships. The men in this story also play the role as antagonist while the women are the protagonist. It is ironic when the men see the evidence in the kitchen as insignificant while the women find clues to help piece what had happened. Minnie one of the main characters killed her husband in self defense. The author also uses a strong image when the bird was killed because of its singing and Minnie’s husband had killed her will to sing. The women were able to piece the story together but decide to protect Minnie because Mrs. Hale felt guilty. Guilt is one of the themes of the story as well as that women should be valued.

This story made me angry at men. They are so ignorant that its comical. I would believe that this story caused some controversy when it was published, but it was a very well written story with a very unique plot.

The Catbird Seat

In The Catbird Seat, a short story by James Thurber has a lesson. The lesson or theme is to be careful with the innocent looking people. Mr. Martin the stories main character as well as the antagonist, develops a plan to get rid of Mrs. Barrows the protagonist. At first Mr. Martin wants to kill Mrs. Barrows but then he changes his mind and develops a plan to make her look like she had gone crazy. Mr. Martin is a very smart character. The story also has the theme of be careful how you present yourself. Mrs. Barrow was always outgoing and was always joking around while on the other hand Mr. Martin was quiet and a respected man. This turned out to be favorable to Mr. Martin. Thurber uses many similes but the one he uses the most is the phrase catbird seat which is used as a baseball term meaning to be clean or innocent. In this story I see it like a cat with feathers in his mouth looking sweet and innocent.

It was a very amusing story. It gave me the chills at how smart Mr. Martin was. I feel so bad for Mrs. Barrow she got her reputation destroyed. It was a very interesting story.

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

In this short story, by Katherine Anne Porter, the protagonist is Ellen Weatherall. She is an old woman who is dying. Death and betrayal are the antagonists in this story. Cornelia and the Dr. are both static characters. They do nothing but to care for the older woman who has been through alot. The protagonist faces a conflict with herself. She faces denial, which is also the theme of the story. Granny is in denial of her approching death and of the death of a dead child who was Hapsy. A metaphor the autor uses is when she compares George's jilting to God doing the same.  The story is told in stream of conscious which makes the story more powerful. The author lets us into the character's thoughts and feelings which also makes the story more heartfelt.

I thouht this was a very sad story. I can just imagine this older women dying and hoping to see her lost child. It was very sad.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

             Loneliness is the prominent theme in, “A Clean Well-Lighted Place”, a short story written by Ernest Hemingway. Both the old man and the older waiter, who is the protagonist of the story, suffer from loneliness, even though the older waiter does not want to admit it. The younger waitress is not necessarily the antagonist he is just an ignorant character. He has not had a lot of experience. There is a part of the story where one sees how ignorant he is, when he says that the older man had no reason to kill himself because he had a lot of money. This story is written in third-person objective which gives the story a lot more meaning. Symbolism is used in the story for example the old man is a symbol of what the waiter is becoming to be.  The part where the author uses great metaphor and that is when the waiter substitutes words from a prayer with nada. This showed how truly lonely the waiter was.

            This was a very sad story. The younger waiter really got on my nerves. He was so insensitive. Both the older men broke my heart at how sad and lonely they were. I know many people like this and I have sometimes been as ignorant as the younger waiter and have not noticed people loneliness until it was too late. I really enjoyed this story it is one of my favorites so far.

The Lottery

The Lottery, short story written by Shirley Jackson, is full of irony. The very first one is the title it’s self. Everyone wants to win the lottery and in this case nobody wanted to be the chosen one because it meant death. Another irony is when Tessie Hutchison wants to defend her husband from being the chosen one and asks for a second drawing and she ends up with the marked slipped. Tessie the protagonist had even forgotten to go to the lottery and showed up at the last minute. The community the antagonists in this story had received Tessie with joy and they seem to enjoy the idea of her being chosen. Symbolism is also used for example the black box. Black means death. It also reminds me of Pandora’s black box a box filled with greed, envy, fear, and crime. The point of view of the story is in third person objective. We do not know what the characters are thinking. Tessie faces the conflict of man vs. society because she is being forced to participate in something she does not want to be in, but she has to because it is part of the tradition.

It was a very entertaining story. Completely different from First Confession. It has a surprising ending that readers will enjoy.

First Confession

First Confession, a short story by Frank O’Connor, is the first story our class read that was written in innocent eye. This is a very unique form of point of view. The story is told by the protagonist, a little boy named Jackie. Jackie is faced with two particular conflicts one being man vs. circumstances and the other being man vs. himself.  In the story the grandmother is the static character. She is a person who seems to lack manners and this results to Jackie’s behavior. Nora the stories comical antagonist is a two sided character. While behaving like an angel and receiving all the compliments from the adults, Nora torments her brother constantly with side remarks. It is very ironic when Jackie goes in to the confession room and everything is describe as dark or intimidating when in reality God represents light and comfort. The confession room is a place to relieve ones conscience not a place to feel that you will be condemned like Jackie did. A metaphor I found a bit humorous was on page 38 where Jackie describe the man next to him a miserable-looking poor devil, because the man blocked Jackie’s only way to escape.

Overall it was a very cute story. I really enjoyed the plot of the story and how it was all resolved at the end. I could just imagine the little boy shaking with fear over his deadly sins. I even laughed when he climbed on the seat. It was a very light hearted story.  

I Stand Here Ironing

Emily, the protagonist, is a lonely- unappreciated child. Her life and childhood is told by the nameless mother. Emily faces many conflicts but a major conflict she has is her self-esteem. Emily and her mother have always been poor and that makes the social setting. The story is told by the protagonist’s mother making the story into a first person point of view. Susan is a foil character. She is the complete opposite of Emily; therefore they do not get along. When Susan is born Emily becomes very sick and is not allowed to see her mother. This is a great use of irony by the author. It sets motion for the rivalry between the two sisters. No one should underestimate a person. This is the theme of I Stand Here Ironing, by Tillie Olsen.

            Overall it seemed to be a little depressing story. It seems sad how people do not value themselves. Everyone is beautiful and special in their own way. People should learn to appreciate differences.