" 'I think I'm too old for fun,' said Zoe" -pg 358
I could probably talk about this girl's problems for hours. She is bizarre. For the sake of brevity, I will focus on her most obvious characteristic: sarcasm/irony. I put these two together because they ironic comments and jokes that she makes, but she makes them in such a way and with such a tone that they are much more sarcastic than they are ironic.
I'm no shrink, but my unofficial diagnostic of Zoe is that she is that she feels the need to make all sorts of bizarre jokes be so eccentric to cover up some sort of awkwardness or confusion that she can't get rid of. She makes jokes about everything, whether it be serious, stupid, silly, or all of the above. She refuses to take herself or anyone seriously. This is what makes her so entertaining, but also so frustrating. I can't help but love her, because she is hilarious, but at the same time I just want her to take off the bonehead and be normal for a while.
The men that have been her life are the best example of this. True, the men weren't necessarily good men that she pushed away, but she certainly didn't take any of her relationships seriously. She was constantly brushing things off, such as pregnancies and ants, rather than talking about them or pursuing them seriously. I think with Earl on the balcony, she comes to a peak of weirdness. She actually performs a physical act of what she usual does with words- pushing others away.
In all of these ways, her irony becomes biting sarcasm and gives real meaning to her bonehead costume.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
A ten year old and his father walk into a bar.... (Structure)
"I knew Father was quite capable of lingering there till night fall. I knew I might have to bring him hone, blind drunk, down Blarney Lane, with all the old women at their doors, saying: 'Mick Delaney is on it again.' I knew that my mother would be half crazy with anxiety; that next day Father wouldn't go out to work; and before the end of the week she would be running down to the pawn with the clock under her shawl. I could never get over the lonesomeness of the kitchen without a clock." -pg 346-347
The kid in this story spends a lot of time making predictions. He notices patterns that emerge in the people around, especially his father, and then makes predictions out of them. In the very beginning, he relays the pattern of his father's drunk and sober cycle. He recognizes the warning signs and carefully marks them as the funeral progresses. At the quote above, he has just entered the bar with his Father and can already tell the reader exactly what is about to happen. This is probably why we don't see the ending coming. The entire story is structured with predictions followed by events. We have expected the Father to get drunk since the first page, but the boy is the one who ends up stumbling down the alley cursing at women. A lot of the humor in this story originates from the unexpected nature that comes from the sly structure of the author.
The kid in this story spends a lot of time making predictions. He notices patterns that emerge in the people around, especially his father, and then makes predictions out of them. In the very beginning, he relays the pattern of his father's drunk and sober cycle. He recognizes the warning signs and carefully marks them as the funeral progresses. At the quote above, he has just entered the bar with his Father and can already tell the reader exactly what is about to happen. This is probably why we don't see the ending coming. The entire story is structured with predictions followed by events. We have expected the Father to get drunk since the first page, but the boy is the one who ends up stumbling down the alley cursing at women. A lot of the humor in this story originates from the unexpected nature that comes from the sly structure of the author.
The Most Fair Unfairness (Point of View)
" 'It wasn't fair' Tessie said. " - pg 269
The concept of fairness is the main topic examined in the short story "The Lottery". Since the catch in the plot doesn't occur until the very end -where Tessie is stoned- the story seems very normal, and even boring. The process of organizing the lottery is very methodical, and clearly built on many years of tradition. Old Man Warner, the largest proponent for the lottery's continuation, claims this was his seventy seventh year of participating in the lottery. People are excited, children are present, everything seems normal. Until a woman is killed. By the time I finished the story, there were two things that immediately made me protest (besides the obvious).
The first was the irony of so fairly choosing a victim for an unfair death. The second was how no one even thought to question the fairness of the fate that the lottery's victim had to face. This is where point of view came into action. The thoughts or opinions of one particular character were never thoroughly elaborated upon. A few characters, such as Old Man Warner and Tessie Hutchinson, were narrowed in one to provide general opinions, but they represented the attitude of the whole congregation and only helped specify that attitude. The point of view was of an entire town completing one act in unison and agreement. This point of view was unique, and slightly disturbing. It created the possibility that when people are in such agreement, they can make the most unfair slaughter seem normal.
The concept of fairness is the main topic examined in the short story "The Lottery". Since the catch in the plot doesn't occur until the very end -where Tessie is stoned- the story seems very normal, and even boring. The process of organizing the lottery is very methodical, and clearly built on many years of tradition. Old Man Warner, the largest proponent for the lottery's continuation, claims this was his seventy seventh year of participating in the lottery. People are excited, children are present, everything seems normal. Until a woman is killed. By the time I finished the story, there were two things that immediately made me protest (besides the obvious).
The first was the irony of so fairly choosing a victim for an unfair death. The second was how no one even thought to question the fairness of the fate that the lottery's victim had to face. This is where point of view came into action. The thoughts or opinions of one particular character were never thoroughly elaborated upon. A few characters, such as Old Man Warner and Tessie Hutchinson, were narrowed in one to provide general opinions, but they represented the attitude of the whole congregation and only helped specify that attitude. The point of view was of an entire town completing one act in unison and agreement. This point of view was unique, and slightly disturbing. It created the possibility that when people are in such agreement, they can make the most unfair slaughter seem normal.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
King Solomon
"But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard. In this manner, the issue was decided". -pg 345
This story reminded me of the story about the two women who come to King Solomon, both claiming that one particular child was theirs. In reality, one woman had accidentally smothered her baby and was trying to claim the other child as her own. As both were newborns, it was a difficult issue to settle. Solomon offered to cut the baby in half, for surely that was the fairest way to settle the matter. One woman (not the mother) was alright with that idea, but the other (the real mother) told him the other woman could have the baby, as long as it went unharmed. King Solomon then gave the baby to the second woman for she truly cared about it. Comparing these two stories led me to discover several meanings or morals behind "Popular Mechanics".
Firstly, the two characters in the story go unnamed, which conveys the feeling that this situation (not exact situation, but similar) happens to quite a few people. These situations are ones that involve a decision that is difficult to decide fairly, often with a person or thing caught in the middle. In these cases, the fairest decision is not always the right one. Or the fair decision ends up hurting the one that was intended to be protected. Either way, the woman who give up her child will always be smarter than the fools in this story that pulled their child apart.
This story reminded me of the story about the two women who come to King Solomon, both claiming that one particular child was theirs. In reality, one woman had accidentally smothered her baby and was trying to claim the other child as her own. As both were newborns, it was a difficult issue to settle. Solomon offered to cut the baby in half, for surely that was the fairest way to settle the matter. One woman (not the mother) was alright with that idea, but the other (the real mother) told him the other woman could have the baby, as long as it went unharmed. King Solomon then gave the baby to the second woman for she truly cared about it. Comparing these two stories led me to discover several meanings or morals behind "Popular Mechanics".
Firstly, the two characters in the story go unnamed, which conveys the feeling that this situation (not exact situation, but similar) happens to quite a few people. These situations are ones that involve a decision that is difficult to decide fairly, often with a person or thing caught in the middle. In these cases, the fairest decision is not always the right one. Or the fair decision ends up hurting the one that was intended to be protected. Either way, the woman who give up her child will always be smarter than the fools in this story that pulled their child apart.
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