Daily Archives: September 7, 2023

In the story “The Handsomest Drowned Man” a small village discovers the body of an unknown man on its shores. I believe professor Conway assigned this as our first class reading because this stories ending was very unexpected. The villagers, especially the women created the story of Esteban. Although he was an unknown man they knew his size and handsomeness made him an outsider wherever he was. They understood that “Esteban” was misunderstood and lived a sad life because he never could fit in. Another reason I believe this was given as the first reading in this course is because this stories writer had an descriptive way of expressing the emotions this villagers felt about this unknown man. Not only were the women smitten but after seeing Esteban’s face, the men knew that he was also very special. Although no one spoke at the end, the villagers would all agree that Esteban’s story would live on. They would make sure he was remembered through inclusivity.

This week we read the short story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. While reading this story I found Hughe’s struggle with religion to be very relatable to my own struggle with faith & religion. I specifically resonated with this part of the passage. “And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting – but he didn’t come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened. (Hughes)” As a teen I was very religious. I saw God as an anchor in my life, keeping me safe and far from harm’s way. But when I noticed that in reality God was nowhere around me, I felt much like Hughes did in this quote. I had the words of other Christians echoing in my head, “You don’t have enough faith.”, “You were never saved to begin with.” “You aren’t praying hard enough.”. I identify with Hughes and understand what it feels like to learn that the very foundations of your beliefs may be a complete lie. This week we also read “Araby” by James Joyce. I think that it was harder to relate to the protagonist in this story because I didn’t have many crushes as a child, especially none who were older than me. However, I do identify with the protagonist’s need to find light in the dark. The protagonist was very infatuated with his friend’s sister who he barely knew, because he wanted something to hope for despite his circumstances in life, being a poor orphan in oppressed Ireland. I think that we all look for hope in the rough patches in life, and the protagonist dealt with his need for hope in a way many children would.