The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, is a collection of short stories, each of which were written in the form of stream of consciousness writing. This means that the narrator follows his train of thought, using one idea to fuel another, bouncing from one thought to another. For example, in the first story of the book, "The Things They Carried," the topic of discussion goes from the literal objects the soldiers carry, such as the letters Lieutenant Cross carries, to the emotional baggage they carry, "grief, terror, love, longing...shameful memories" (21). The form provides the author free reign to take the story essentially anywhere, giving him the ability to more easily achieve his purpose, to tell the stories of the soldiers in the Vietnam War, especially his own. This purpose also leads to O'Brien's use of another form, verisimilitude, which blends the line between fact and fiction. His use of verisimilitude allows the audience to experience the feelings and reality of his own tour in the Vietnam War. He immerses the audience in environments which immediately capture and hold their attention. "His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star shaped hole" (124); this graphic introductory sentence to the story "The Man I Killed" is a fine example of O'Brien's ability to grasp the reader's attention. We find out later in the book that O'Brien never killed a man, but that he was there when it happened. However, by using verisimilitude he is able to communicate the emotion of having the responsibility for having killed a man, an emotion common to almost all soldiers in Vietnam. The author is aware of the verisimilitude in the stories, he even states in the story "Good Form" that his stories are not all true and that he uses the "story-truth" to help the reader "feel what I felt" (179). Through his use of verisimilitude O'Brien does in fact allow the reader to feel what he felt and succeeds in telling his personal story as well as the stories of countless others.

The Women of Brewster Place

The Women of Brewster Place is a novel in stories that details the lives of the women who live on the dead end street blocked off by a massive two story brick wall. All of the women have encountered some type of hardship in their life because of the things men have done to them and they have come to Brewster Place to start anew. It is a world of its own, defined by the attitudes of the women who live there, and yet it is a desolate, dying place. Despite the best intentions of the women, it seems they are destined to be trapped in the same town with the same problems as always. Their stories are interconnected, just like their lives. Each woman serves some purpose in the overall plot of the novel, and each can be seen as a “phoenix,” (5) in that the spirit of the street is reborn and lives in them. For example, Mattie Michael, who had to overcome the loss of her home and son after he fled bail, is reborn when she arrives at Brewster Place and finds her place as a surrogate mother to the other women. The story offers beacons of hope here and there, tempting the reader into thinking that perhaps life at Brewster Place could be what the women dream it as, but during the climax of the story this hope is shot down. Lorraine, a young, skinny, light-skinned, sensitive, lesbian woman who is just trying to fit in with the woman of Brewster Place, gets raped by C.C. Baker and his thuggish friends. This terrible tragedy crushed Lorraine’s spirit, and in her bloody stupor the next morning, still laying there as she did the night before, something even more unthinkable happened. Lorraine “slid against the wall” (172) until she reached Ben, the only person who had befriended her at Brewster Place, where she “smashed [a brick] down into his mouth,” (172) killing him. Ben’s death was accompanied by rain which “came down day and night for an entire week,” (175) seeming to symbolize the sadness which accompanied his death. In the final chapter of the book “The Block Party” Cora finds a bloody brick and states, “It ain’t right…It shouldn’t still be here,” (185) and pries the brick out of the wall. The women of Brewster Place end up tearing down the wall amidst a massive downpour, symbolizing the purging of the street and its inhabitants. The women have finally overcome the obstacles which have stopped them from living the lives they had intended to, and it is shown in the perfect metaphor of the wall being torn down. The last sentence of the chapter reads as follows, “Woman, you still in bed? Don’t you know what day it is? We’re gonna have a party,” (189) seemingly confirming the fact that life at Brewster Place is no longer a dead end.

The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros is a short story cycle which tells the story of Esperanza Cordero as she grows up on Mango Street. Within the book there are many themes that come up. The major two are Esperanza's loss of innocence and also her will to never stop dreaming.

The first theme, Esperanza's desire to grow up and become a woman is prevalent throughout the book. The book begins with stories about Esperanza's family and her adjustment to her new home. Nowhere within the book is Esperanza's age revealed, so the reader is forced to judge her age on their own. There are a number of stories which point towards her being a young girl, probably between the ages of 11 and 13. There are stories of her buying a bike with her two friends Rachel and Lucy and all three of them riding it down the street "all wobbly as is the wheels are spaghetti," (16) and of the "First Annual Tarzan Jumping Contest." (22) It can be seen in these stories that Esperanza is still young at heart, and wants to just go out and have fun, but as the book progresses it becomes obvious that she experiences things that change her. For example, in The Family of Little Feet, Esperanza, Lucy, and Rachel get high heels and try them on in a game of what seems like dress up. But as you read on through the chapter the game turns from innocent to perverted when a bum begins to hit on them. After running away from him the girls decide "we are tired of being beautiful," (42) wanting to regain the innocence that comes with being a young girl, instead of the attention that comes with being a young woman. But Esperanza's transformation into a woman is inevitable, as is her loss of innocence. There are a number of stories which she is taken advantage of, in The First Job she attempts to kiss a man at her work on the cheek, but when she does he turns and kisses her "hard on the mouth and doesn't let go." (55) Esperanza seems to be unaware of both her sexuality and the desire men have for her. This becomes evident in the chapter Red Clowns, where Esperanza says, "Sally, you lied. It wasn't what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn't want it Sally." (99) While the reader is not exactly sure what happened it is obvious that something terrible happened, as Esperanza says, "I don't remember. Please don't make me tell it all." (100)

Despite all the terrible things she encountered, Esperanza managed to maintain her positive attitude and her dream of one day owning her own house. After realizing that her house on Mango Street "is not the way [her parents] told it at all" (4) she says, "I knew then I had to have a house. A real house." (5) She holds this dream throughout the book and in the chapter Bums in the Attic she says, "One day I'll own my own house, but I won't forget who I am or where I came from." (87) The book ends on this notes as well, Esperanza states, "One day I will pack my books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango...They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out." (110) Esperanza's dream is more than just a dream, it embodies the hope of everyone in the book for a better life beyond Mango Street.

Mid Term Paper

The Way to Rainy Mountain, by N. Scott Momaday, is a literary exploration of the history of the Kiowa tribe and its oral traditions. In the book the author presents the stories in one of three voices; the first being the oral tradition of the Kiowa tribe, the second being the history commentary pertaining to the story, and the third being the author’s own voice. When the book is viewed as a short story cycle it becomes evident that each of the chapters and each of the voices is part of the cycle, during which the history of the Kiowa tribe is explored and made permanent. From this point of view Momaday’s purpose for writing the book becomes clear; to preserve the culture, identity, and spirit of his people.

The short story cycle is very evident within with book, as each of the three voices within the book is used once in each chapter, giving each chapter a cyclical form. However, the repetition of this form for each chapter makes them part of an overall cyclical form. Momaday breaks this form up into three sections, the setting out, the going on, and the closing in, and within each section he has a purpose. The first section serves to introduce the reader to the Kiowa tribe and its culture, the second serves to give the reader more insight into the culture and identity of the tribe, and the third section serves to make the story of the Kiowa tribe and its people, including N. Scott Momaday, permanent in the mind of the reader. However, each voice also serves its own purpose in the overall form of the book, and as was said earlier, is part of a cycle within each chapter.

The first part of the cycle the reader encounters in each chapter is the ancestral voice, or the oral tradition of the Kiowa tribe. These stories had been passed down through the ages and were a key part of Kiowa identity and culture. It is through these stories that the reader encounters the only primary source within the book, and therefore the most direct contact with the Kiowa culture. Momaday uses this voice to track the history of the Kiowa tribe and offer insight into their customs and traditions. The first story in the first chapter discloses the myth behind the creation of the Kiowa tribe, and it goes as follows, “You know, everything had to begin, and this is how it was: the Kiowa’s came one by one into the world through a hollow log.” (16) This story gives some understanding of the oral tradition, in that it serves to give the Kiowa tribe an identity. However, some stories do more than just provide the tribe its identity; they instead offer an explanation of important cultural symbols. This can be seen in the story of Tai-me, the central figure of the kado, or Sun Dance. The tribe had stumbled upon bad times, and there was no food, so a man went into the wild to look for food. He came upon a canyon on his fourth day of traveling, weak with hunger, when a voice said to him “Why are you following me? What do you want?” (36) He told the “thing standing before him [which] had the feet of a deer, and its body was covered with feathers” (36) that the Kiowa’s were hungry. The creature which stood before him was the Tai-me, and it told him, “Take me with you and I will give you whatever you want.” (36) This story plays a significant role in the story, as it reveals both the origin and the purpose of the all important Tai-me. Each story in the ancestral voice serves to uphold the legend of the Kiowa tribe and its people. This can be seen in the last story of the book during which the tale of a woman buried in “a beautiful dress” in “an unmarked grave.” (82) The story also remarks on how the “dress is still there, under the ground.” (82) The woman seems to encompass the best of the Kiowa tribe, and the story of her and her dress can be considered as a metaphor for the existence of the Kiowa tribe, which is “buried” in the lands which they lived on. However, by the time the reader reaches the end of the book, it can be seen that both the identity and the culture of the Kiowa tribe has been encompassed within the pages of the book.

The ancestral voice alone is not enough for the reader to understand and derive meaning from the text, a supplement is needed. This is where the historical voice comes into play within the cycle. For example, on page 17 the historical voice gives background information on the Kiowa tribe, including its various names, the “Kwuda,” the “Tepda,” and the “Gaigwu,” as well as their origins. But this voice does more than simply give facts about the Kiowa tribe; it gives the reader a historical perspective to aid their understanding of the ancestral voice. For example on page 39 the ceremony behind the “peyote ritual” is explored. The reader learns that during the ritual “the songs go on all through the night, broken only by intervals of prayer, additional distributions of peyote, and, at midnight, a peculiar baptismal ceremony.” The historical voice is Momaday’s way of helping the reader become more aware of how the ancestral voice plays into the history of the Kiowa tribe.

The last part of the cycle is Momaday’s personal voice. This is where Momaday adds the human aspect to his book. He uses his voice to make the reader more emotionally involved in the book, or in other terms uses it as pathos. The style of writing he uses is very vivid and allows the reader to immerse themselves in the story. For example, on page 17, Momaday describes “coming out upon the northern Great Plains in the late spring” using terrific imagery and says, “I now see the earth as it really is.” Through this and other stories Momaday offers the reader the closest thing they can get to getting in the head of a real Kiowa Indian. Having already figured out so much about the culture and identity of the Kiowa tribe, the reader is drawn to the more human side, the spirit, of the Kiowa people. Momaday gives this insight to the reader in each of the stories in his voice. On page 37 he talks about his first and only encounter with the Tai-me, describing the room as having “a great holiness… as if and old person had died there or a child had been born.” The connection of the past, the legend of the Kiowa people, and the present, Momaday’s experiences and voice, allows the reader to humanize the culture and experience it from both a historical perspective as well as a personal one.

In conclusion, The Way to Rainy Mountain, by N. Scott Momaday, took the form of a short story cycle broken into three sections during which the reader is exposed to three voices, each playing their own role within the overall experience of the book.

The Way to Rainy Mountain

The Way to Rainy Mountain, by N. Scott Momaday, is a collection of short stories told in three voices. Each chapter is composed of three stories, each told in one of three voices: the ancestral and oral tradition of the Kiowa people, the historical commentary about that oral tradition, and Momaday’s personal reminiscence. Through these three voices Momaday attempts to give the reader both insight and appreciation for his lost culture, and the same time convinces them that the culture still lives.

The first voice in each chapter is the ancestral one. Each short story told in this voice is part of Kiowa oral tradition and serves to prove a point or teach a lesson. These stories were passed down and added to through the ages. Momaday’s purpose for adding these stories to his collection is to give the reader an insight to a life and culture that is long gone and cannot be relived, except through the oral tradition. However, the stories passed down through this oral tradition hold little to no significance to a modern day reader. To help the reader interpret meaning from these passages Momaday offers relevant historical commentary. Through this commentary he allows the reader to better understand the context of the ancestral voice. Lastly, Momaday offers his own personal voice to the collection. Through this voice he connects the past to the present, and brings the spirit of the Kiowa people back to life. I believe that is what Momaday’s purpose was for the book, to preserve the culture of his people, which he was successful in doing.

The structure of Momaday’s book also holds a fantastic metaphor that symbolizes the Kiowa existence. The beginning of the book describes a story in which “seven sisters and their brother [were at play]” (8) when the boy turns into a bear and attempts to eat his sisters. The sisters end up climbing on top of a tree stump which rose high into the air, and they were “borne into the sky, and they became the stars of the Big Dipper.” (8) This story seems to be completely arbitrary until the last two pages of the book, when Momaday describes a meteor shower that took place at the start of the decline of the Kiowa people. There were “brilliant flashes of light in the sky…with the speed and intensity of falling rain, stars were falling from the universe.” (85) The Kiowa had lost their place in the universe and “the falling stars seemed to image the sudden and violent destruction of an old order.” (85)

In Our Time

Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time is a collection of short stories all pertaining to common themes. The major theme of the book is how youthful innocence, fatherhood, and death are all connected. Although the stories do not all share common characters, plot, or even location this thread can be seen throughout the book.

The theme comes into play in the very first story of the book, "Indian Camp". A boy, Nick, and his father, Henry, go to an Indian village to help deliver a woman’s baby. During the course of labor Henry attempts to teach his son about how babies are delivered. Through this gesture Henry seems to be caring, attempting to teach his son a useful skill, but during the entire event Nick is completely uninterested and he “was looking away” (17), as “His curiosity had been gone for a long time” (17). Later in the chapter Nick sees the body of the Indian father, who had cut his own throat from “ear to ear” (18). During the experience young Nick, who still calls his father “Daddy” (19), lost his childhood innocence. On the way back to his home Nick asks his father several questions to include, “Is dying hard, Daddy?” (19), and his father responds “No, I think it’s pretty easy, Nick” (19). Hemingway echoes this thought in his description of the Indian father’s death; he simply “rolled over against the wall” (16) and no one realized he was dead until Henry pulled the quilt off him. In his death the Indian also symbolizes Hemingway’s opinion of fatherhood, which is that fathers are required to take the innocence from their sons.

This opinion can be seen in a later story, "My Old Man", with Joe and his father, a jockey. The story, narrated by Joe, starts with innocent father-son workouts and Joe describing himself as being “nuts about the horses” (117). The story seems innocent at first but by the end of the story this opinion takes a complete 180. The first significant event during the story is when Joe and his father leave their home in Milan to live in Paris after a scene during which two men accuse his father of being a “son of a bitch” (118). While attending a race in Paris Joe’s father asks George, the jockey riding the odds favorite, who is going to win the race. George tells him that his horse, Kzar, “won’t win” (121) and that he should bet on Kircubbin instead. Joe’s father does just that and ends up winning the bet after a very close finish between Kzar and Kircubbin. When Joe asks his father what he thought of the race his father responds, “It sure took a great jockey to keep that horse Kzar from winning the race,” (124) admitting that the race was rigged. Joe has a different opinion of the jockey, calling him a “son of a bitch” (124). Hemingway did not repeat this accidently; in fact his reuse of the phrase is genius. In the last scene of the story Joe’s father dies in a race and Joe overhears the reactions of two men watching the race, saying that “Butler got his, all right” and that “the crook had it coming to him on the stuff he pulled” (129). Through his death Joe’s father solidifies his son’s loss of innocence.

There are many other parts of In Our Time where the connectedness of youthful innocence, fatherhood, and death can be seen but the length limitation of this blog ends my analysis here.

The Dubliners

James Joyce's The Dubliners is a short story sequence during which the reader is immersed into the lives of 19th century Dubliners. The major themes of the book include the repetition of daily life and death. These themes penetrate and play a role in every story. The people in the book never seem happy with the difficult and boring repetition that is their daily lives, and yet are unable to do anything about it. The thing that restrains them is not their ability to make change but instead their unwillingness to do so. For example in “Eveline,” a young woman is considering leaving home with a sailor named Frank to begin a new life in Buenos Aires, where “he would give her life, perhaps even love” (31), but at the last moment she becomes “passive, like a helpless animal” (32) and does not get on the boat with Frank. Frank has given her the ability to start a new life but Eveline is too afraid to take the action necessary to do so. This theme of helplessness can also be seen in “The Boarding House” where Mr Doran, a “thirty-four or thirty-five year” (52) old man, is essentially forced to marry the 19 year old daughter of his landlady, Polly, with whom he has been having an affair with. This is all despite the fact that “his instinct urged him to remain free, not to marry.” (54) Maybe Joyce is simply frowning upon sexual relations between two unmarried people. Or perhaps through these anecdotes of its people Joyce is instead attempting to characterize the city of Dublin; a city in which everyone seems to be miserable and yet no one makes any change or even effort towards change, a city that is paralyzed. The 9th line of the first chapter even alludes to this when the narrator states as he stares out of his window at Dublin, “Every night as I gazed up at the window I said softly to myself the word paralysis.”

Death ties into this theme of paralysis, which is evident in first chapter of the book. This chapter, “The Sisters,” explores the death of Father Flynn, an ex-priest accused of simony. Apparently not even death was escape for “poor James” (10), as the narrator recalls, “The fancy came to me that the old priest was smiling as he lay there in his coffin. But no…he was not smiling.” (8) It is also interesting to note the reaction of the child narrator to the death on page 6, “I found it strange that neither I nor the day seemed in a mourning mood.” The city seems to go on as if nothing has happened, and yet it revolves around death. The character Gabriel Conroy seems to be a microcosm of Joyce’s purpose for writing the book. The character attends a party hosted by his aunts during which he expresses his wish to leave Dublin and Ireland altogether. At the feast Gabriel gives a toast during which he addresses both death and the paralysis of daily life. It reads as follows, “Therefore I will not linger on the past. I will not let any gloomy moralizing intrude upon us here tonight. Here we are gathers together for a brief moment from the bustle and rush of our everyday routine.” (177) This proposal could not have come at a more opportune time for Joyce and his The Dubliners, as his book “dies” twenty pages later.

In conclusion The Dubliners was the portrayal of Ireland and the city of Dublin at the turn of the century by James Joyce and his literary genius.