Monday, January 27, 2014

Hills Like White Elephants

I adored Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants. The short story is of an American man sitting alongside a young woman at a bar awaiting a train to come into the station. The man, assertive and very masculine, asserts his thoughts of the woman getting an operation. Reluctant, the woman asks for a beer and relentlessly tries to assure that their relationship will remain the same after this unspecified operation. In fact, she suggests that the two of them can have more than what they already have in their relationship despite her low self esteem and his need for her to go through with the operation. Although the American supports her, it is clear that his intentions are far different than what the woman is craving. It's almost as if he is sure in his mind that he loves her; however, this operation is the right for her to take. At this time, I can relate heavily to this story. Just a few nights ago,  my partner and I decided to work towards our relationship which had been on the rocks for nearly a month out of the three that we spent together: a clear sign of failure. Nonetheless, it was one of those quick relationships where the individuals far so hard and so fast that they lose all of the essential steps to creating a sustaining relationship. With that being said, I believe that our story relates to Hemingway's because, like the young woman, I was adoment that things could remain the same, if not improve. My partner, however, was just looking for reassurance that he could actually move on from the relationship. Interestingly enough, I believe that this story is a strong life lesson to anyone no matter which side they are on: the young woman or the American. No matter what relationship you involve yourself in, believe in your self worth and others self worth as well. That way, when the two of you reach a cross road, you can approach it confidently further easing your communication and possible eliminating the issues that will ensue. 

Tonto and the Wallpaper

In class last Thursday we went over the short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie and The Yellow Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. First, the discussed The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven which was about a man and his struggle with being of minority. In detail, he describes the hardships that he endured feeling oppressed by "the white man". Essentially, he fights with himself and his Native American heritage. The fistfight in heaven alludes to the main character quarreling between living the life of a Caucasian male (the lone ranger) and a Native American male (Tonto-the rangers side kick). After speaking about that, we went on to talk about The Yellow Wallpaper which was a macabre story about a woman locked away in a room hysterical after after having her child. The interesting about this story is that one cannot define who is actually crazy, the wife or her husband (a doctor respected by society). What is clear though, is that the doctor continues to have affairs while his wife is locked away and that he babies his wife into thinking that she is more sick than she may actually be. Having read this story before, I have heard variations of who indeed suffered from insanity or manipulation. To this day, I think that the husband is abusing his wife and trying to protect his name by locking her away. However, it is not clear what the writer Gliman's intentions were. Nonetheless, class last Thursday was very thought provoking. 

Monday, January 20, 2014

The Lone Ranger

For class this week, we were assigned to read Sherman Alexie's short story entitled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Although the title confused me due to my lack of knowledge on who Tonto is, I quickly began to grasp the notion that the speaker saw himself as an outcast, lonely and separate from the majority of society. After realizing that Tonto is a fictional Indian character who serves as the sidekick to the Lone Ranger, I understood the struggles that the character faced. There was the white graveyard shift cashier at 7-11 who was suspicious of his late night Creamsicle craving, the white girlfriend who viewed him as an untrustworthy drunk, and the white son of a BIA chief who was challenging his Native American basketball skills in front of his entire tribe. Interestingly, the distaste shared between these three different opponents serve as the objects of purpose in the story. They all symbolize how the character wishes for something that just isn't within his reach: feeling like the majority. His minority puts him in a different position in society and he takes note of that quite often, explaining how this does in fact make him feel like the Lone Ranger's sidekick. It challenged me to think, in a perfect realm such as heaven, which would I choose? Would I choose to continue living my life as a person of minority. Or would I take the alluring approach and opt to become a person of majority?

Syllabus Week

For the first two classes we had this semester, we introduced ourselves and got a chance to memorize everyone's names. Mr. Sweeney introduced himself as well as his class contract and told us that it was our chance to decide our fate within the class. Assuming everyone would want an A or B grade, each class member would have to fulfill a number of the things listed on his criteria. Following the contract, we went on to read the first story entitled "How to Become a Better Writer" by Lorrie Moore. Strange and confusing, I found the piece to be bizarre and unappealing. However, after discussing it in class I can understanding why we started off the semester by reading it. The speaker struggled including plot in their writing which is something all writers may come across at a certain point in their lives. Although it was not clear to me how the speaker was going to address the issue, it most certainly made me think about my writing and the importance of the plot within all of my stories. Another interesting thing that was point out in the class was how the speaker talked in second person; which is something that you will not catch very often. This challenged me to think about perspectives in my writing.