Kadi Traore

The quote I have decided to use for Essay 2 is: “Literature is not only a mirror, it is a map, a geography of the mind”, by Margaret Atwood and apply it to “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. This story, which I later remembered having read when I was much younger, has stuck with me ever since we discussed it in class a few weeks back. Guy de Maupassant does a great job of demonstrating what mentalities or preoccupations people had at the time it was written and published. To be able to write such a carefully crafted story that very clearly depicted social issues, the author must have done his fair share of people watching. Once he was done observing the current state of affairs in the French bourgeoisie, he had to put it all down on paper and, for us, readers, create a rendition that was as true as possible. Through his words, we are able to get a glimpse of his world and his thoughts about it.

I can personally relate to the narrator in Araby as I too, was once desperately in love with someone who much likely saw nothing else but a 10 year-old young girl. He was a maybe 16 or 17 year old boy working at the nearby supermarket that I regularly visited. I remember the feeling of excitement when my mom would tell me to go buy an item missing from her pantry for dinner. The questions running through my head: would he be working? Should I change what I was wearing? What could I do to catch his attention, without being too obvious? My visit at the store, although mundane, was sort of meticulously planned – just like the narrator in Araby who purposely left his home as he saw Mangan’s sister leave hers. The calculated speeding to pass her – a seemingly innocent act that ensured that he was noticed – seems to have been taken out of my playbook. Despite the thrill, the planning and the anxiety, the reality was that I would go to the store, get what was needed, pay at the register and leave. A rather underwhelming conclusion. A disappointment. While in the story, the narrator’s dismay is initially caused by his uncle’s tardiness, which in turn led him to be late to the bazaar and unable to fulfill his objective, he and I both end up with the same result: not in any way closer to the object of our affection.

Hi everyone, I liked Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story and enjoyed having Professor Conway’s soft voice reading it to us. To be honest, I am not sure why it was chosen as our first story. Maybe because it had a theme of identity, which is something that we can all relate to as it part of the human experience? Or maybe it was because it is a very well-known story from a very well known author that most of us would not have been exposed to and so, her goal was to broaden our horizons, as she will attempt to do throughout the semester. Maybe it’s her favorite story! The same way that for the villagers there was a before/after Esteban, I feel like I have a before/after the introduction of this author in my life. Not that the story had a profound impact in my life, but it did tickle my curiosity about Gabriel Garcia Marquez life story and his other works. I am now intrigued and may try to look for other stories that could be of interest for me.