First Confession

 

    First Confession is a short story written by author Frank O’Connor.  This story describes the internal struggles of a seven year old boy, Jackie the protagonist, who has to do his first communion and his first confession. The young boy narrates the story with an innocent eye perspective and a stream of consciousness perception.  He explains how miserable his life has been ever since his grandmother (antagonist) came to live with his family.  The protagonist, Jackie, is presented with a conflict when he is told that all those persons that do a bad confession end up in hell or continually come back from the afterlife and burn other person’s furniture.

    The mood is humorous and playful. The setting seems to be in a small religiously devoted town, maybe a rural place. The theme seems to be something like the truth will set us free. Jackie is convinced he will go to hell if he does a bad confession but at the same time he fears of having to tell his “sins” to a priest.  The protagonist struggles with his own ideas, what he believes is wrong or right, and what seems to be acceptable by society. The author uses irony and hyperboles in a humorous way to make us relate to this young boy. Jackie has to choose between being a hypocrite or lying in his first confession and therefore condemning his soul for eternity.

    This story is witty and comical. The author uses a lighter and subtle approach as he focuses on intense topics. O’Connor talks about the hypocrisy of women, eternal justice, death and religion with a trivial and lighthearted attitude. I believed this story was entertaining and at the same time cynical. The young boy reminds me of Tom Sawyer, always getting in trouble and believing that everything that happens to him is the worst thing on earth.

The Lottery

    The Lottery, a short story by Shirley Jackson describes the annually practice of a small town. At the beginning this tradition seems to be an innocent diversion, as the characters in the story seem to wait for the arrival of the 27^th of June. At the same time there isn’t enough excitement from the citizens, this seems to make the mood appear as anxious, nervous and fretful although most of the townspeople try to act calm and composed. 

    The story takes place around ten in the morning in a sunny June day, all the persons from the town start gathering in the town’s square. A man with a black box (an omen, indicating bad news) appears and starts calling the names of the town’s residents. The plot seems to reach a climax when a family draws the unfortunate paper slip that will eventually condemn one of their family members. 

    The village inhabitants seem to be the protagonists and the antagonist would be the situation, custom and ignorance that engulfs their lives. They are caught in a vicious and brutal tradition that seems to rule their lives. It is ironic how they don’t consider wrong what they are doing and treat other persons that have abandoned such a vile rite as a “pack of crazy fools” (pg 5). Another irony is the title of the short story, when we hear the word “lottery” most persons think of a game, a prize, and diversion but in this case is the total opposite. 

    This story is told from a third person objective omniscient point of view.  Both the protagonist and antagonist seem to be static characters that are afraid of change.  There are several themes in this short story such as, what is popular is not always right, appearance can be misleading and it can be dangerous to stagnate. 

    This story is really interesting and I never thought it would have such a denouement. It is really surprising what mass hysteria or group influence can generate. It was alarming how willing some persons can be of adhering to a protocol or practice just because that is the only thing they knew, even if it was a cruel and pointless tradition. The characters from The Lottery, really believed that their harvest would be better if they sacrificed one of their own members. As one of the characters says, ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (pg 5). It really made me think of how we judge books by their covers and don’t stop to think how deceiving they might be. As Shakespeare said “One may smile, and smile, and be a villain”.

The Yellow Wallpaper

     The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story written by Charlotte Gilman. The story takes place in a colonial mansion rented by a couple for the summer. The wife or protagonist suffers from what the husband calls temporary nervous depression or a slight hysterical tendency. The husband is a main and static character. He is a physician who is convinced of keeping her wife away and making rest to cure her.

      The mood appears to be ironic and cynical at times. The protagonist accepts to spend her summer at the mansion, but she is convinced that more time with friends and society would help more rather than being isolated. She accepts everything her husband dictates but when she is alone she does things her way.

     The protagonist uses a first person point of view to narrate the story. She writes journal entries when her husband or her sister-in-law are not watching her. She believes that there is something weird and supernatural about the house and tries to say it to her husband, but he only laughs and dismisses her ideas. She feels controlled by her husband but powerless when she tries to change her situation. The protagonist is certain that more work instead of rest or more socialization instead of isolation could cure her, but fears her husband’s reaction. Incapable of doing anything physical she starts obsessing with the wallpaper in her bedroom. As her mental condition starts deteriorating, she focuses on liberating the woman she sees trapped in the wallpaper. At the denouement of the story, the protagonist locks herself in the room, rips the wallpaper from the walls and when the husband finally opens the door he finds her crawling and he faints at the sight.

I believe that The Yellow Wallpaper is a very interesting short story. I think it is a feminist argument that wants to prove the therapy methods for mentally ill persons of later centuries as useless. At the same time it shows female subjugation and the sometimes internal struggle to challenge it. This work demonstrates how the main character had to defy the approach of an entire society and specially to find a way to do what she believed was right while dealing with an inflexible and unsentimental husband. At the end I believe that she compared her sanity to the wallpaper and just wanted to get rid of the façade, of all those tags imposed by society and just be herself, a wall.

I Stand Here Ironing

     Tillie Olsen in her short story, I Stand Here Ironing, conveys the thoughts and memories of a mother and her relationship with her child during the Great Depression. The story is narrated by the mother in a first person point of view. The mother stands ironing while someone calls her and tries to arrange a meeting so they can discuss her daughter’s future. The mother then starts to remember how her actions and behavior shaped her oldest daughter. The story seems to take place during the 1950’s since her daughter was a child of her age, a child of depression. The story mainly describes the early years of the protagonist, Emily. She was born to a young and distracted mother and a father that left her when she was barely eight months old.

    The mood in this short story appears somber and melancholic. The mother, who serves as the narrator, while recalling her daughter’s infancy, thinks of all the ways she failed as a mother and how different she would have made her choices if she only knew more or was more experienced. I think that the prevailing conflict in this story is a man vs. circumstances conflict. There is an external context which influenced the story greatly. The mother had to work hard in times in which the country’s economy declined and then during the Second World War, very difficult and challenging times for a single mother raising a child.

 

     I liked this story but at the same time I felt a little sad and empathetic towards the characters. The mother was trying to do what she then believed was the best for her daughter. It must have been really hard on both of them to live under those circumstances and the worst is that space or distance that was created between them and know can’t be filled. Nobody might say anything about those feelings of guilt or regret but I believe that both of them feel the tension of the past events and not even time can heal something like that.  

Everyday Use

     Everyday Use is a short story written by Alice Walker. The introduction of the story’s plot is where the author presents the characters of the mother or the narrator, the protagonist which I believe is Maggie. The story has a first person point of view in which we see and feel everything through the mother’s perspective. The protagonist, Maggie, is presented as a thin, shy, young woman. Maggie is a humble and reserved girl that lives with her mother. The story takes place in the yard of the family house. There while the mother and Maggie are waiting for Dee (the older sister), the mother recalls her memories of the two girls and identifies the great differences that exist between them. Maggie has always been timid and introverted, she is not considered to be bright or quick and she lives up to the expectations of others. Dee on the other hand has always been that assertive and extroverted woman many are impressed with. Dee has education, good looks and confidence. Their mother believes that Maggie admires and envies Dee and at the same time she thinks that Dee hates Maggie.

     Dee visits her mother with the intention of acquiring some of the articles that belonged to her ancestors, this turns to be ironic because Dee only became interested in those objects after she went to school and discovered how valuable they are, while Maggie, although uneducated, has always been aware of the great importance of those articles. The mother then decides to stand up for Maggie who won’t do so for herself and put a stop to Dee who always has obtained what she wants. The theme in this story is to be yourself and be proud of who you are. Don’t always go with what is more popular, follow you own beliefs. 

    I liked Everyday Use, I believe it’s kind of amusing and many could easily relate to it. The situation that occurs in this story happens in many families, especially in families of a native background where the predominant society only sees them as something good for a museum exhibition. I believe there should be more interest in culture and heritage, they are a part of who we are and we should be proud.