A Doll's House Act II and III

By now we can see why the book is called a Doll's House. Torvald treats Nora like a doll. The postive side to this is that he is gentle and kind with her, the negative is that she has no free will. The free will she thinks is hers has been manifested in what Torvald wants therefore, it is not her will as she thinks, but his. She comes to the realization of this at the end of the book when the falling action results in the resolution of her leaving Torvald to find her own way, her own way of thought free of his impressing ideas. Towards the beginning of Act II we can see Nora telling the confidant character Miss Lynde that Torvald doesn't like seeing sewing in his home. This shows just how much Torvald has control in his house and how much appearance really means to him. Another doll like treatment in that she can only look beautiful and do nothing on her own accord unless it is something that will make Torvald happy. We see that the plot is one of coincidence when in the end Nora leaves Torvald. He had been her boss and controller their whole married life and now he has no one to control and she has no one to listen to. A bit of dramatic irony is also seen towards the end of this drama when Miss Linde gets together with Krogstead who in turn will no longer have to fear his not be able to provide for his family. The end of the play is suspenseful and what actually happens isn't what one expects.

A Doll's House Act 1

The beginning of, "A Doll's House" takes place during the Christmas season. The protagonist, Nora, is just arriving home with a Christmas tree. Right away we see symbolism in the Christmas tree, the festive decoration is symbolic of Nora and her role in the household. We then meet the character of Helmer at this time when he calls out, "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" Right away we get a feeling of the atmospere and the types of characters the husband and wife are. Helmer, is a business man and loves his wife very much. Nora is a bit flighty but also loves Helmer very much. Each, however, have there many problems in the relationship. Nora lies to her husband practically right away when she tells him she has not eaten any macaroons when in fact she has. We also see that she is very child-like, and we see that in the way Helmer treats her when it comes to money, calling her a spendthrift.

The rising of the plot starts to occur when Miss Linde comes over the house. The dialogue between Miss Linde and Nora shows how Nora is very niave, where Miss Linde has had a lot of life experience and has suffered much. Nora gets the feeling that Miss Linde thinks she has done nothing in life to be "proud" of. This insinuation persuades Nora to tell Miss Linde about her borrowing money to pay for her husband to go to Italy when he was ill. This secret is revealed and much comes from it as the story moves forward. The man to whom the money is owed is now about to be under Helmer in the bank. This turn of events makes matters very tricky because the antogonist, Krogstad tries to convince Nora to persuad her husband to keep Krogstad in the same position in the bank. She cannot do this, however, and we see that her sway isn't as powerful as one thought. We then learn that she has dealt wrongfully in the gaining of the loan in committing the crime of forgery.

When Krogstad leaves and we see Nora, once again talking to Helmer we see that the reason Krogstad is being demoted is because of forgery, this dramatic irony plays out through Nora, who has committed the same crime.

The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

Analysis

The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” by Stephen Crane, is a short story about a man, his wife, and a town drunk who he comes in contact with at the end. The author writes in third person and uses a lot of dialogue throughout the story. At first the story appears simple and basic, but the meaning behind these basic every day experiences is more when one looks deeper in to the story. The beginning of the story takes us to the place where Jack and his new wife are on their way home. They have just been married without the townspeople knowing about it, something Jack and his wife are secretly both ashamed of. Jack especially is nervous because he thinks of the duty he has to the community, because he is the town marshal. The author reveals the authors personality through vivid description of the characters themselves. He describes the wife, who is never given a name, as “not pretty nor was she very young.” He shows the way she acts, which reveals her part in the story. The author also uses personification, similes and metaphors throughout the story as he vividly describes the scenery, and the characters. “As darkly brilliant as the surface of a pool of oil” is an example of a simile. The point of the story, and the point the author is trying to make is made obvious through the way he describes things in the story. Everything represents something. The drummer is referred to as innocent, Scratchy is referred to as a kid when the author says, “the man was playing with this town; it was a toy for him.” Every character has a greater purpose than what he or she appears to have. Towards the end, Scratchy the town drunk comes face to face with Porter and his wife. They have a little argument but one can tell that nothing bad is going to happen, because of the lightness of the mood the author writes in. When Potter tells Scratchy he doesn’t have a gun, and is in fact married, Scratchy becomes disappointed and walks away.

Response

This short story seemed difficult to follow at first, not because it was hard to read, but because, for me, it was hard to find a deeper meaning to a story that didn't seem like it had one. As I reread it I understood more of what the author is trying to get across, but yet I feel as if I don't fully understand what he's trying to convey. I realized that everthing represents something, as does everyone, the style he writes in makes me think that. The story was good, the purpose to me is still unclear.

The Found Boat

Analysis

The short story, “The Found Boat” by Alice Munro, is about a group of children living in a small town, the story takes the children on a sort of adventure. The story is written in first person omniscient objective, which shows all but leaves the meaning up for interpretation. This experience involving children uses symbolism to depict a greater meaning. The conflict experienced in this short story is man vs. society. We can see throughout the story how the men’s role back in the time this took place was significantly greater than the women’s. The women was thought of as the home maker, the men were greatly respected and often times thought themselves better than women, this is revealed through the children. Towards the beginning we see the segregation of the children. The boys and girls do not talk to each in direct conversation, other than mocking them, or speaking rudely to one another. However, we see them getting closer as they begin working on the boat and we see once again the gender role as Clayton tells, not asks, Eva to, “go in and heat this on the stove.” Eva does so submissively. Through the time spent together the girls and boys grow closer, the boat finally gets finished and they all go to test it out. We see then the rising action of the plot. They all become friends, and later play truth or dare. The climax then occurs while during their little game, where gender roles start to diminish and equality seems near, Clayton puts Eva back in her place and the roles are once again established. In the end the girls quickly get over the fact that the boys left them there and they go back to the way things were before.

Response

This book brought the characters to life in my head. I enjoyed the the interesting dialogue between the children because it reminded me of how it was when I was little. When you are young there are always rivalries between the boys and girls, and often times at the end of the day despite the differences you were all friends and thats what this book reminded me of. The way they are all starting to realize who each other is also is significant to me. When the girls realize Frank is referring to the boat as, "she," they acknowledged that affection and they saw him differently then the rest. They looked at each of the boys as individuals and saw there strenghts. This is never done in reverse, none of the boys ever see the girls differently than just young girls, at least the author never reveals it if they do. This is significant, and shows the natural role women play as being under the man. Eva's name in itself is significant because it symbolizes Eve from the Bible, and in the end her place was put under the man, just like in the Bible. This story did a great job of taking something small and to most adults unimportant and made it a story of great meaning.

A Rose for Emily

Analysis

"A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner is a story about a woman named Emily. The author explains the story in first person-plural perspective, because he uses we, as in referring to we the people of the town. The author paints a picture in our mind of darkness, loneliness, and eventually death. Everything about the story is sad, and gloomy, even Emily's home which is referred to as, " Coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores." The story is not written in order, as are most, but in a different set of sequences that keeps the readers attention in order to fully grasp what the author is saying. Towards the end, it sort of all comes together and the reader realizes that Emily had murdered her lover with poison, kept his body, and has been sleeping with it. She has been doing this for several years, as we can see by the final sentence, "We saw a long strand of iron-gray hair," which is obviously Emily's.

Response

Although this story was kind of peculiar and interesting to read, it was also really vulgar I thought. Obviously Emily had some sort of mental illness, there's no other way to understand what she did or why she did, even though in her own mind I'm sure it made perfect sense. The story was good, and entertaining, but in a sick sort of way, a way that makes you feel sorry for Emily and all she went through, but also I was kind of grossed out by her and what she did. I had mixed feelings about this story.

A Worn Path

Analysis

"A Worn Path," by Eudora Welty is a a tail of an old black woman named Phoenix Jackson. Throughout the story the author portrays the actions and thought of the older woman using beautiful description and dialogue. This story brought back to life the time during the great depression and was very captivating. One can see the protagonist of the story clearly through the authors description of her and one can tell she is almost blind, "her eyes were blue with age." Through that she manages to make it all the way to town, a long ways we can tell because of the conversation she has with the hunter she meets. In the end the woman makes it to town and receives the medicine her grandson needs. The author does an excellent job in describing the atmosphere by the way the nurses and others refer to Phoenix. The hunter calls her, "Granny," and the nurses called her, "Grandma" and fefer to her as a "charity case." This story shows a wonderful, yet sad scene of what America was during the time of the Great Depression. Although the people were strong, and perserverent, they also had to deal with a lot. The story depicts this beautifully.

Response

I enjoyed this story alot, because even through all of the seriousness and sadness that goes along with the short story, it still made me giggle. The old lady had a wondeful sense of humor even though she was old, decrepit, and her grandson was ill. When the hunter found her, lying in the weeds she made the comment, " Lying on my back like a June-bug waiting to be turned over." This made me laugh, and also showed me that she didn't care what other people thought of her. She was a black woman with dignity and a sense of who she was and that's how she lived, and that's what gave her strength. I also liked the sense of mystery it gave off towards the beginning. Why was she going into town? What was so important? When I realized that it made a lot of sense and I understood why she was so persistent. The story made you feel a sense of compassion for this woman and her grandson and a sense of appreciation for those who fight for what they want.

Miss Brill

Summary

Miss Brill, by Katherine Mansfield is a short story that depicts the character of Miss Brill. It does so through showing Miss Brills thoughts and actions, not by dialogue. The story begins with Miss Brill getting ready to go the park where a band played every Sunday afternoon, and where she also went every Sunday. She finds great enjoyment coming every Sunday and part of the pleasure she recieves comes from the fact that she gets to watch others and listen in on others conversation. She even finds great joy in thinking that the audience is like one big play, a play that even she is a part of. Towards the end of the story, however, her comparison is diminished when she hears a young couple ridiculing her, and her fur that she wore that day. After this she is unable to carry on with her Sunday tradition.

Reaction

My reaction to the piece was that of sadness. Miss Brill's character to me was a sweet old lady. A lady who, like a lot of older people, had no actual realization of the world and how differently it had become since they were young. The innocence is a part of them, and its that way with Miss Brill, everyone has some good in them through her eyes. Through the story we can see how Miss Brill see's others, in one part she calls them, "odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they'd just coe from dark little rooms or even-even cupboards!" I found this funny because this is just the way she is, yet she doesn't see herself this way, its cute. The end of the story almost brought me to tears as it talks about the young man and woman who Miss Brill is secretively eavesdropping on. They speak of her meanly and crush her spirit. This sweet old woman goes home without stopping by the bakers for her usual slice of honeycake. The ending is a sad one, and makes one wonder what happened the following Sunday.