Discussion Boards

What is clear from both “The Wife” by Emily Dickinson and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is women of the 1800’s lived on the whims of their husbands. One could say that they weren’t truly alive when their husbands were around. They were merely extensions of their husbands not a whole person unto themselves. When Dickinson says “She rose to his requirement..” or “the gold in using wore away” speaks to all that a wife has to do for her husband and the standards that she has to keep for him slowly wearing away at her as a person until there is not much left of herself. Which makes the wife in Chopin’s story so happy in the way that she describes all of what she is experiencing right after hearing of her husband’s demise. Whether speaking of the tops of trees “springing to life” or the “patches of blue sky” it was as if the world around her was coming to life for the first time. Though no other line in Chopin’s story rings closer to how her main character felt than when she kept whispering “Free! Body and soul free!”.

I tend to have a hard time believing the people in this era were up to any good as lot of the characters behave defensive, paranoid, and with the rational of children. Oedipus is constantly rambling and losing his grip with reality, but you’d think they’d at least listen to him before shutting him down but of course they don’t. Kronos literally ate his kids in the firm belief, that they would remove him from power later on in life. Power and control reflect fear among men.

Mrs. Conway seriously had a point. “Araby” by James Joyce Isn’t about love. It’s more like a hormone induced obsession. I found it really creepy how aggressive and persistent the protagonist would get whenever he’d see her. And the way he keeps talking about her skin is gross too. Our protagonist is essentially an incel who is stalking a girl he doesn’t even have the guts to speak to. I Definitely enjoyed the perspective though; this story is pretty much a step-by-step guide on how not to approach love or intimacy.

James Joyce’s story “Araby” is about a man’s search for love. A young boy embarks on a perilous journey that all people must undertake at some point in their lives. His vision is clouded by lust, but he thrives on love. He’d fallen for a girl whose toxicity had harmed him. He’s developed an obsession with her, the girl has realized. She begins to notice him running past her every morning, as well as his childish demeanors, which she initially mistook for a crush. This allowed the girl to receive gifts or other benefits from him without having to commit to anything. The narrator is telling a story about what happened in the past. As a result, the ending he chooses is critical. Araby pride and expectations, deduce that the boy was laughing at himself. Araby had made a significant realization. He eventually realized he was more enamored with the girl’s image than with the girl herself.

For this discussion I chose the characters “Flyboy” and “Mercedes” as they appear to be on the complete opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their response to the high prices of toys. For one thing, I noticed how Mercedes attempted to knock the poorer kids down a notch by mocking the improvised toys they resorted to. There also appeared to be a tension amongst the group in regard to Mercedes prompted by her jaded and inconsiderate comments. Meanwhile, Flyboy observes silently for the entire time until they enter the store. Flyboy carries this mature, old soul personality that shows that he’s been exposed to the harsh realities and injustices of life perhaps far too soon. That being the case, He has a deeper understanding of the value of a dollar and allows him to truly see the absurdity Miss Moore had been trying to show them. And the cherry on top is how while everyone was learning a deep lesson Mercedes was just concerned about when her father is going to buy the toy for her.

In the short story the characters Rosie Girafee and Sugar had two different takes from the toy store. I think Rosie sees the surface level of the problem opposed to the actual depth that Sugar sees and actual points out. The kids are having a good time and admiring the toys they simply never could have. By the end Sugar realizes that what they all eat in one year could sum to the amount the white kids are getting to purchase in toys and to actually  see that in front of her made her understand the differences. As for Rosie Girafee she sees the prices and just thinks to herself that white people are ridiculous for spending that kind of money but nothing deeper, nothing as to the race differences and the fundamental issues that lie in front of them at this store. It could be that she’s too young and naive to understand but it seems to hit Sugar like a truck. She left the toy store with a whole new perspective on life.

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes left a bitter taste in my mouth after realizing that his family putting him on the spot and forcing him to lie on the stand indirectly caused him to fall away from religion later on in life. I’m not religious but it’s kind of sad to hear and I’m sure these kinds of situations happen a lot more often than people want to admit, I really enjoyed reading this one because it reminds me of when I got baptized, I was waiting for something cool to happen then as well.

“Salvation” was written by Langston Hughes. The story of Hughes’ faith crisis is told in the article. Hughes, who is “going on thirteen” at the time, attends a church revival with his Auntie Reed. He expects to see Jesus at the revival because the adults in his life have told him that he will. Hughes goes through a variety of emotions, but he eventually lies and claims to have seen Jesus. The “waves of rejoicing” have a profound effect on him, and he sobs alone in his bed for the final time in his life that night. This encounter devastated Langston’s beliefs; he felt differently at the beginning of the story than he did at the end. He was perplexed as to why, if there was a God, he had not been saved. He cited Despite the chaos, Hughes responded, “And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting, but he didn’t come.”

In the story “Salvation” the author begins open minded and hopeful to the possibility of being truly saved. There seems to be some curiosity and optimism behind the white light coming and lifting the spirits of everyone around him. While watching his peers become these great beings from the love of god he patiently waits for his turn but it never comes. By the end of the story, the older self / version of the author has completely lost hope. He let go of the idea that one day he would be saved and is shamed into lying and pretending that he believes in a higher spirit who helps him realize that he is actually all alone. How could Jesus come for everyone but him? How could the one person he shared this lingering suspense with lie to the world just to fit in? Compared to the beginning the author slowly and surely comes to terms with the fact that he has lost hope and feels abandoned by everyone around him including God. Realizing the hard truths about life itself.

After reading “the most handsome drowned man” It took me a day or 2 for the message to finally click for me. I realized it wasn’t so much about the body as much as it was about, they’re expectations of the caliber of what the drowned man used to be. As the legend of Esteban spun itself together so did the supposed standard of the of the village to keep up with the legend meaning windows would be extended, ceilings would be raised, and beauty and care was to be put into the details. Somehow a corpse caused the upscaling of a tiny civilization. I’m guessing Our lovely professor hopes that this class might cause us to upscale and prioritize our academic lives.