Hunter in the Snow

"His knuckles were hairy. He wore a heavy wedding band and on his right pinky another gold ring with a flat face and an "F" in what looked like diamonds. He turned the ring this way and that." p.189

In this short story, the character of Frank stood out to me the most. He was by far the most interesting because of his relationship with his babysitter and his wife. In addition he was probably the most normal. As in, he wasn't always picking on Tub (i.e. almost running him over) nor did he shoot someone. I did not necessarily like Frank as a character but I enjoyed reading his parts. Especially the part when they are eating food and Tub comes clean about his eating problems and that he really wants to change, then Frank makes him eat a ton of pancakes... And what better time to do this than when your best friend is outside in the cold bleeding to death? Opportunities like that don't just come all the time. Anyways, Frank was the only character that I read in this chapter that really had some sort of change or growth. This was shown as he transitioned from sticking by Kenny's side to having Tub's back, even though he did something wrong.

Everyday Use 2

"I use to love to milk till I was hooked in the side in '49. Cows are soothing and slow and don't bother you, unless you try to milk them the wrong way." p.175

Another symbol in this story that stood out to me quite a bit was the reference of the cow. This story has a minimal amount of seemingly insignificant back story or stories of occurrences prior to the events in the story. So, as a reader, I can infer that because the narrator mentioned a story from the past, it most likely has some relevance within the story. That was showed at the very end when Dee wants the quilts that have been promised to Maggie. Mama sees Maggie's face when she says that Dee can have the blankets and Mama is deeply upset about this. Because of this, Mama sort of unleashes something inside of her that protects Maggie's rights and denies those of Dee. She is "rubbed the wrong way", similar to the cow. The whole story she is calm and passive, but when Dee is demanding the quilts, Mama realizes that she no longer has to be soothing like a cow.

Everyday Use

"In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man. My fat keeps me hot in zero degree weather." p. 174

In this short story, the character of Mama stood out to me the most. The fact that she is the narrator and talking about herself and her two children allowed me, as a reader, to understand her more fully. She directly characterized herself in the beginning, "in real life, I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands" (p. 174). She also refers to herself being uneducated by saying that her school closed down while she was in the second grade. Finally, she infers that she is African American: "colored asked fewer questions then". In addition to her direct characterization, the reader can infer that she is a pushover and not assertive. This is showed throughout the story whenever she gave her daughter, Dee, her way. For example, she sent her to a boarding school and let her take all the things she wanted from the house in the very end (pictures, salt and pepper shakers, etc.). However, she had a major character shift towards the end of the story when Dee wanted to take the quilts and she denied her that "gift" because it was supposed to go to Maggie. This shift showed her transitioning from someone who was a pushover to someone who was rubbed the wrong way and could be assertive.

Interpreter of Maladies

" 'So these patients are totally dependent on you,' Mrs. Das said. She spoke slowly, as if she were thinking aloud. 'In a way, more dependent on you than the doctor.' "

This part of the short story really stuck out to me. Today, I job shadowed in the ER at the hospital so my mind is kind of already in the whole doctor-patient thing. So when this line was read, I little part of me perked up and payed closer attention. I never knew that jobs like that really existed. I mean, I guess I knew but I never really payed attention to them before. But that job is actaully really important. This is kind of sybolized throughout the entire story as well. Mr. Kapasi is like an interpreter in more ways than his job. At this point in the story, he is interpreting much more things than just a language. He is discovering through the use of body language and the how the couple acts around each other that they are no normal family and have some issues.

A Rose for Emily

"She did not ask them to sit. She just stood in the door and listened quietly
until the spokesman came to a stumbling halt. Then they could hear the invisible
watch ticking at the end of the gold chain. Her voice was dry and cold."

The Character of Miss Emily was a very odd one. She kind of reminded me of Bathilda Bagshot from the Harry Potter series. She is creepy and old. And I'm not going to lie, I definitely thought she was going to be dead the whole time (just like in the books or even from "The Sixth Sense" when the little boy is like "I see dead people" when in fact he was a ghost the entire time... I definitely thought something like that would happen). I feel like she had some sort of psychological problem even though that was made pretty apparent based on the fact that she killed someone. Also, she had a way with people and no one messed with her. I'm not sure why that is. Intimidation, perhaps? This was shown through her never paying her taxes, not allowing mail, and how she got the arsenic from that guy without her having to give him an excuse. Also, she had a servant for all of that time and there is no way that he didn't know that she was crazy (there was a dead guy in their house!) but he didn't do anything about. Well, at least to the town's knowledge. In short, the character of Emily was a creepy, controlling, psychotic one.

A Rose for Emily

"Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary
obligation upon the town..."

From the very beginning, the author set a mood that was sort of uncharacteristic (at least to me) of what they were writing. Further, the author was talking about a lady who had passed away and the whole town was in attendance for her funeral or showing. As a reader, I would expect the mood to be somber or something like that. However, the mood the writer chose was kind of nonchalant. The way they worded how people came to see her "like a fallen monument" and the women just because they wanted to see the inside of her house kind of surprised me a little. That then set the mood for the rest of the short story. Because the author forshadowed Miss Emily's death, the reader already knew what was going to happen and that it was not something they should feel saddness for. This carried out the whole way and actually made me expect the ending. I think the ending was meant to be an "Aha! moment" (as Ms. Sander would say), but the way the author presented the details in the story through the mood, I felt like I already knew the ending.

How I Met My Husband

"He always tells the children the story of how I went after him by sitting by the mailbox every day, and naturally I laugh and let him, because I like for people to think what pleases them and makes them happy"

What stood out to me the most while reading this short story was how the main character sort of settles in the end. I think this is a main theme throughout the story. This is shown by the fact that Edie always is looking for something more but deals with what is presented in front of her. For example, the part where she tried on the dress could symbolize her yearning for something more. This is also shown when she gives up on schooling after receiving the lowest marks. Because of these she does not expect much of herself and settles. Perhaps the part of the story that stood out to me the most as contributing to the theme was in the very end when she is waiting and waiting for this love letter to come, and it never does. The reader gets a tiny bit of hope that she will finally move on when she states that she does not want to spend her entire life waiting. Yet, that is taken away when Edie receives that phone call and -again- settles for Chris.