The Rocking-Horse Winner

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

A Good Man Is Hard to Find
by Flannery O'Conner

"The children's mother put a dime in the machine and played "The Tennessee Waltz," and the grandmother said that tune always made her want to dance." (O' Conner 907)

When I began reading the story I thought right away that the grandmother was a stereotypical nagging grandmother. From the way she complained about the trip to Florida to her son Bailey's disregard to the things that she was saying. She was constanly scolding the children telling them they do not behave properly and that in her day people were much more respectable. In the end she does not redeem herself because she basically only tries to save herself from The Misfit and doesn't show a lot of emotion towards her family dying. I liked this sentence above because I think that it helps bring a little light to the grandmother. It's nice to think that she isn't all evil and maybe, at one point, let loose a little and danced.

Hills Like White Elephants

Hills Like White Elephants
by Ernest Hemingway

"Do you feel better?" he asked.
"I feel fine," she said. "There's nothing wrong with me." (Hemingway 555)

This type of ending to a story leaves you to wonder what is actually going to happen with the characters lives. What I think the couple wants to get rid of is a baby, an abortion. Throughout the story the man questions the girl and wonders whether or not she really wants to have an abortion. The girl, feeling guilty for being pregnant, agrees that she doesn't care about herself and wants to get the abortion so the man will love her. Then, after reading the last two lines, it seems as though she has decided that she will not get the abortion afterall. By the girl saying, "There's nothing wrong with me." (Hemingway 555), the girl seems content with the fact that she is pregnant, maybe even content enough to have the baby. I think at the end of the story the girl has made the decision to keep the baby.

Young Goodman Brown

"Young Goodman Brown"
by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now ye are undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind." (Hawthorne 546)

I find this quote a little disturbing because it makes it seems as if you cannot find any happiness in the world. In the first sentence the devil takes away mankinds faith in the fact that there is some sort of good in the world. He is telling the people that now he will tell them the truth, mankind is evil. To call all of mankind "evil" is to say that even in our best intentions there is still some hint of wrong doing. If a person were to think this way about mankind they might never trust someone or even enjoy their presence because a secret evil may always be hiding in the corner. I do not agree with the devil when he says this because I do not want to always be thinking about the bad in people, I want to be able to be aware of the bad but trust in the fact that there is a lot of happiness to be spread in the world.

A Rose for Emily

"The Yellow Wallpaper"
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

"It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby!" (Gilman 489)

This sentence stood out to me because before I read it I had no idea why the protagonist was sick. After reading this sentence I realized that it could be post- pardum depression. There are hints that this is why she is sick because in the whole story she only mentions her baby twice. Usually after women have children they are all that the women can talk about but that is not the case with Jane.
Although I think that it is this depression that initially makes her sick, I think that her sickness intensifies because of the way that her husband was trying to "cure" her. She is basically locked in this horrible room, with ugly yellow wall paper and bars on the windows. Her husband won't allow her to write which is something that I think can inevitably cure her.

The Story of an Hour

"The Story of an Hour"
by Kate Chopin

"What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self assertion which she suddently recognized as the strongest impulse of her being". (Chopin 268)

Throughout "The Story of an Hour" it is clear to see that Josephine Mallard is unhappy in her marriage. This is shown when, after a moment of despair, she becomes overwhelmed with happines because she would no longer have to live for her husband but instead "she would live for herself". (Chopin 268) Chopin also mentions that Josephine only loved her husband "sometimes". What is never directly said is why Josephine is so unhappy. A more obvious reason is that she felt suffocated in her marriage. You can see this when she says under her breath, "free, free, free". (Chopin 268) In the above sentence there is evidence she is is suffocating because in her marriage she never lived her own life. When you are in love with someone there is no reason why you still can't feel this "self assertion".(Chopin 268)

Paul's Case

"Paul's Case"
by Paul Cather

"Everything was quite perfect; he was exactly the kind of boy he had always wanted to be". (Cather 210)

After reading "Paul's Case" it is clear that there is something mentally wrong with him. Whether it be from autism or tourettes, Paul has social and emotional problems. Among this I think that Paul has a big problem with society. You can see this is the way he regards school as useless and how he criticizes the men and women who are sitting outside on Sunday. These are activities that society deems normal and even encourages but Paul sees them as unecassary and stupid. He would rather be living his own life, away from his father and teachers and in an unreal world of actors and the theater. When Paul runs away from New York this is just what he gets. He is living by himself but the life he is living is fake, just like in theater, because the money he is living off of isn't his. In his life in New York he became the "boy he has always wanted to be."

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
by Samuels Clemens

"But still he was lucky, uncommon lucky; he most always come out winner." (Clemens 273)

I thought that The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was a very humorous story. This sentence caught my eye because the protagonist, Jim Smiley, is not a man who you would think that luck would come to very often. Smiley, is a funny character but obviously has a big gambling problem. Despite this, I ended up loving him because of the spontaneity of his life. Other then the fact that he was always betting, his many different animals gave me the feeling that everyday is an unknowing adventure for Smiley. He seemed so laid back and calm. I envy him because of this, maybe if everyone in the world could just drop everything, buy a frog, and bet on how far he jumps they would lead a happier, easier life.

The Other Duel

The Other Duel
by Jorge Luis Borges

" Perhaps their only possession in their course primitive lives was their hatred, and therefore they saved it and stored it up. Without suspescting, each of the two became the others slave." (Borges 141)

When I began to read this story I didn't have any feelings towards Silveira and Cardosa, I thought that they were just two men who had a grudge against eachother. Then, after reading the above sentence, I realized that these two men are very sad characters. In both of their lives they have nothing but hatred for eachother, it is as if their lives thrive off one another. I feel bad for them because all they seem to live for is hate.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek

An Occurrenc at Owl Creek
by Ambrose Bierce

"... and had a kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose neck was in hemp." (Bierce 134)

From the moment that I read the sentence above I had conflicting thoughts on how I was meant to feel for Peyton Farquhar. Up until then I had reason to believe that he was not a good person simply because he was about to be hanged. When Bierce mentions that he had a "kindly expression" I automatically began to feel sympathy for Peyton and wonder that if he was a kind man, what could he have done wrong?
I think that it is very impressive that Bierce can make me feel compassion for someone who, had I heard what he had done in everyday life, I would never feel this compassion for.