"The Lesson"- Think Outside the Box

                Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” is a short story about a rebellious young African American girl who hates her neighbor who insists on teaching the neighborhood kids lessons when they would much rather be playing. The most important lesson, aside from arithmetic that Miss Moore tries to teach the children deals with social inequality and in America, and she tries to show them by taking them on a field trip from Harlem to F.A. O Schwarz in downtown Manhattan and by bringing forth examples of how much toys cost in the store and how where they are from one toy can cost about as much as it would take to feed a family of seven people. Although the children despise Miss Moore for running their fun, she actually turns out to be a valuable friend to them but as many children are they are blind to what’s actually good for them, and only live in the heat of the moment.

              Although, through the narrator (Sylvia's) eyes, Miss more is portrayed as the antagonist whom is hated and spoken about derogatorily by all the neighborhood children, she is actually the only one who is looking out for their benefit. She chooses the optimal way in teaching them, by example and she tackles the more important lessons, such as inequality and social matters rather than strictly educating them on scholastics because she knows that in the society they live in, realizing what is right and wrong is perhaps the most important lesson. It gives the children the opportunity to realize, learn and take a stand.

A&P- Stand Your Ground

In John Updike's "A&P" many social issues are addressed, first and foremost the matter of what is to be considered "inappropriate", secondly what should and shouldn't be publicly reprimanded, and lastly the repercussions of protesting the "social norm". Sammy's quietly admired the three girls that walked into the local A&P where he worked as a cashier, of course led to creating and drawing his own conclusions judging only the way they looked, and that they had the audacity to show up at a local supermarket in their bathing-suits. However, the true quarrel arose when his boss publicly reprimanded and embarrassed the girls for dressing the way they did and that their store does not allow people to come dressed like that. This let to Sammy's total disapproval and in order to protest the acts of his superior, Sammy quits right on the spot, however carrying with him the notion that he/ his actions will forever be "frowned upon" in society.

Sibling Rivalry in "Everyday Use"

In "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, the author draws our attention to what unfolds to be a case of classic sibling rivalry, where in the eyes of one sibling the other is always "favored" by the parents. This is evident both when Dee arives and when they have the quarrel over the quilts. Another thing that Alice Walker wants to highlight in this short story is the notion that once someone leaves home when they come back, they tend to forget the special things that make home, home. It seemed that Dee has become so engulfed in her own "new" life and has completely disconnected herself with her mother and sister. "Everyday Use" is the story of sibling rivalry and the special feeling of home, which one sibling forgot, and one refuses to forget.

"A Worn Path"-The Path To Fitting In

           In “A Warn Path” by Eudora Welty, symbolism is the word that comes to mind throughout the story. From the very first paragraph we can note how the author makes reference to lightness and dark,  and how she “walked slowly in the dark pine shadows” in my opinion making reference to how she was perceived in society and the big “shadows” (The white world) surrounding her frail body.  She wore a “Striped dress” again Black and White symbolic of her longing to be a part of the white world. Her “Path” and the obstacles she is faced with such as the wild animals, the bushes thorns, her dreams are perhaps symbolic of her struggle to make her way into the world of the whites and to make it known that no obstacle can stop her from following her path.

“A Good Man Is Hard To Find- The Good Old Days”

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is a well – written short story which portrays an old lady who reflects on her life and how life used to be when she was growing up while at the same time pointing out the major differences she sees in her son and her grandchildren. The tone of the grandchildren alone as they speak to their parents or their grandmother is atrocious; they are spoiled, misbehaved and downright mean considering nobody’s feelings but their own. In fact June Star is so selfish and conceded that she reminds me of the character of Verruca in “Charlie and the Chocolate factory” the snot nose little brat who had her father wrapped so tightly around her finger it was disgusting! Particularly irritating in this story was when Red Sam’s wife said to June Star “would you like to come be my little girl?”(O’Connor)  and her sheepish response of “ No I certainly wouldn’t,  I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks!”( O’Connor)

 In my opinion this story is most certainly an indication of how self-centered and disrespectful children grow up nowadays as opposed to back in the day when children didn’t dare speak to their elders in loud voices much less with attitude for fear of a good smack!. Another indication of how horrible these children were was toward the end of the story once they got into the car accident “But nobody’s killed June star said with disappointment”(O’Connor)I believe the ending when the family meets the misfit after their accident and ultimately meets their death, we can use that as the literal meaning for the title of the story “A good man is hard to find” but based on the beginning we can see how the narrator was foreshadowing that the reason a good man is hard to find is because of the upbringing nowadays. A main reason for the grandmother’s stories and her nostalgia.

"Young GoodmanBrown" Questioning One's Faith

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” we are introduced to a couple who is parting for one night because Goodman Brown has promised to have a meeting with a traveler he is to meet in a dark wooded area. Goodman Brown is faced with the decision to decline the traveler’s offer to hold his walking stick which has an almost lifelike serpent on it. We later learn that Goody Cloyse an old woman whom they meet in the woods, accuses the traveler of being the devil, and then confesses that he is her old friend and that she is in-fact a witch. Goodman Brown is being led to the Devil’s evil ceremony where he sees many people whom he believed to be pious at the ceremony; he even thinks he hears the voice of his wife Faith, and then when he sees a pink ribbon from her hat falling down from the sky he is too disappointed in everyone he knew his whole life whom he now believes are Devil worshipers. No one really knows if he fell asleep in the woods and dreamed the whole thing up, but he was never the same man he was before this experience, he doubts everyone and everything he pretty much just kept to himself in gloom. When he died, his wife Faith, his children and grandchildren couldnt even write anything about him on his tombstone, the ceremony was just a gloom.

“The Purloined Letter”- Keeping Your Eye on the Prize!

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Purloined Letter” is a great short story to read for people who are fans of books such as “Sherlock Holmes” and “The Maltese Falcon”. It is a detective story, told by an unnamed narrator, about a letter that contained significant information about an important person in society which was stolen from the boudoir of a woman by a Minister D-. The Police turn to the narrator’s friend C. Auguste Dupin for advice on how to go about with the investigation to obtain the stolen letter from the perpetrator.  They go on to discuss whether or not the police did a thorough investigation of the thief’s home and the prefect acknowledges that they in fact searched every possible inch and still did not locate the letter. “I am perfectly willing to take advice, and to pay for it. I would really give fifty thousand francs to anyone who would aid me in the matter.”(Poe, 7) This was the point in the story that Dupin was waiting for; he then replies to the Prefect “In that case, you may as well fill me up a check for the amount mentioned. When you have signed it, I will hand you the letter.” Once Dupin gets his money and hands over the purloined letter, he goes on to explain that he pretty much abducted the letter in the very same way that it was originally stolen from the woman’s boudoir. The moral- in my opinion, is to keep your eyes on what is important to you, otherwise it can get snatched out from under your nose.

“The use of force”- The supremacy of social status

The Use of Force, by William Carlos Williams is the story of a Doctor’s struggle to diagnose his very young patient due to the child’s outright defiance. The doctor is angered by the girl’s attitude towards him because most likely he had never had to deal with such a difficult patient. Most people in that time period considered doctors to be on the top of the food chain (so to speak), they were not usually questioned, just obeyed. After a while of trying to convince Mathilda to open her mouth so that he may look at her throat and rule out diphtheria, the doctor became more and more enraged. He was especially testy with the parents who kept trying to convince their daughter that the doctor was “a nice man”  “For heaven’s sake, I broke in. Don’t call me a nice man to her. I’m here to look at her throat on the chance that she might have diphtheria and possibly die of it. But that’s nothing to her. Look here, I said to the child, were going to look at your throat. You’re old enough to understand what I’m saying. Will you open it now by yourself or shall we have to open it for you?” (Williams, 807) Which perhaps is the most interesting part of the story because this is when the actual “force” in question comes into play, he pretty much confronts the child by saying “or shall we have to open it for you” showing his self-empowerment over her.  Figuratively, he puts the child in her place.

“Hills Like White Elephants - For the love of a man”

Earnest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” portrays a couple struggling with a decision for the woman to undergo an operation. The story takes place on the platform of a railroad station where on an extremely hot day, with some time to spare before their train came the couple goes into a little bar for something to drink. The narrator observes as the couple orders drinks and engages in conversation.  We never learn the name of the man but our narrator refers to him as “the American”(Hemingway,335) and the woman with him we know her name is Jig. Jig looks out into the mountains and says “They look like white elephants” (Hemingway, 336 ) referring to the hills. They later order some more drinks and then proceed to discuss an operation which the American seems pretty anxious about. The story never actually reveals the nature of the operation in question but from the wording in the story we can come to the conclusion that it was most likely an abortion because at one point the American says “I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural.”(Hemingway, 337) Jig then replies “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?”(Hemingway,337) which again goes to show how much women at that point in time idolized men and gave in to their wishes instead of focusing on their own. Granted in this story, The American constantly repeats to Jig, we don’t have to do it if you don’t want to but it was still her initiative to keep her man happy.

“The Yellow Wallpaper”- Yearning to be heard

The yellow wallpaper is the story of a woman’s struggle with depression as well as suppression.  In an attempt to help his wife recover from her condition John rents a vacation home and hopes that the air and relaxation will make his wife “get well faster”. She begins by saying that her husband and brother are both doctor’s and concur that she is emotionally unwell, however, she doesn’t agree with their diagnoses of her. She believes that she should be able to work in order to feel better about herself. She says “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good”. Although she describes the house as lovely, unfortunately she doesn’t have the same feelings for the bedroom that John insisted they must stay in. The longer she spends cooped up in that room the more depressed she became. She goes on to describe the sickening color of the wallpaper and claims that it is maddening, something that will ultimately drive her crazy. Towards the end of the story however, she comes to realize that it’s the wallpaper that set her free. She claims to see a creeping woman, which we could interpret for a metaphor for her own state of mind, making the comparison that she also needed to “creep” and hide from her husband in order to do what really makes her happy, write.  

The Story of an Hour - Misery that kills

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” Is an epic story of a sickly woman’s love-hate relationship with her husband. Learning of her husband’s demise, Louise Mallard took the news rather unaffected. Unlike a widow who had been happily married she shows relief and excitement for the idea that her life might now last a long time. She utters “free, free, free!” and when she came out of her room she carried herself like a goddess of victory. Although the mention of her loving him-sometimes, cannot go unnoticed. Finally, when she realizes that her husband is not dead, and was in fact far from the accident site, her heart gives out and Mrs. Mallards meets her fate.

Being “stuck” in an unhappy relationship, be it marriage, dating, friendly or among colleagues can take a serious toll on the health of an individual. Written in 1891 where divorce was not only frowned upon but practically non-existent, once a couple weds it would have had to have been “till death, do they part”. Finally gaining her freedom with the news that she is finally a widow and is no longer trapped in an unhappy union, we can conclude that when she sees him again she literally dies of disappointment. The doctors assumption that she passed from heart disease – of joy that kills was quite the opposite, misery that kills.