Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

In the short story "Hills Like White Elephants," Earnest Hemingway tells the vague story of a man and a young woman, their relationship, and conflicts.  Through symbolism, setting and a dialectical structure, Hemingway characterizes the relationship between the two main characters as dysfunctional and uncommunicative.  

One of the big symbols from this piece is the name "Jig" of the girl.  We first learn her name when the man is trying to convince her to go forward with her upcoming operation, "It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig.  It’s not really an operation at all" (Hemingway).  A jig is a kind of dance, so by naming her this, Hemingway is suggesting that the two characters are almost "dancing" around the subject at hand, and almost avoiding it.  This is essential to the characterization of their relationship, because through symbols such as this, we are able to see that they are greatly lacking in communication.  Similar to this, the setting, and more specifically the weather, of the piece plays a very important role in describing the dynamic of the two main characters.  When Hemingway first begins to describe where the story takes place, he talks about the warm, sunny area, but when describing the location of the two, they "sat at a table in the shade, outside of the building" (Hemingway).  This shows that the main characters are in a cold and dark place; however since they could easily step into the warm and happy place (the sun), by making the final call on the operation shows that they do not work well together, and are unable to communicate.  Lastly, the overall dialectical structure of the piece suggests that they almost fake communication, and pretend everything is okay so they do not have to deal with the real problems at hand. 

Through all aspects of the short story, it is apparent that the two main characters do not function well together, and have a serious lack in communication.  

I Stand Here Ironing Literary Analysis

In "I Stand Here Ironing," Tillie Olsen tells the story of a woman who greatly struggles as a young and inexperienced mother.  Through a stream of consciousness point of view, a pessimistic tone, and an unstructured construction, Olsen solidifies how unsuccessful she feels her performance as a mother is.
Right from the beginning of the story, Olsen does not seem to focus on what specific event or occurrence, but seems to just simply ramble on about her struggle as a new mother.  This exemplifies her concept that she was not a good mother because it demonstrates a lack of focus as well as attentiveness, which are both key traits required to raise a young child.  Also, throughout the whole story, she says very few positive things, putting great emphasis on her failures as a parent.  For example, when Emily was first getting sick, and she would call for her mother in the middle of the night, she would call back, "now go to sleep, Emily, there's nothing to hurt you," (268) greatly showing her lack of maturity when dealing with children.  Lastly, on the topic of the construction of the piece, there is very little organization, which also goes along with her interior monologue point of view. However, the syntax itself remains consistent in its assembly, but the fluidity from paragraph to paragraph, and thought to thought is almost non-existent.  Olsen is jumping around in a form that does not seem to make sense to the reader, which finally illustrates her own views on her struggle parenting because she saw herself parenting in a way that no one could follow, therefore making Emily's life unstable.
Through all aspect of, "I Stand Here Ironing," it is apparent that Olsen saw herself as an unsuccessful parent.

Sarcastic

Cathedral Questions

1. The first person narrator of "Cathedral" reveals little about himself to the reader.  Throughout the story, he chooses the different aspects of his personality, as well as his wife's that he wants his audience to know about himself.  He uses very little direct characterization other than things such as when he turns on the TV when they are all sitting in the living room; "My wife looked at me with irritation. She was heading toward a boil" (1084). More commonly throughout the piece, he leaves the reader to infer things about his and his wife's personalities through their actions.  First off, the main focus of the book is the wife overwhelming the blind man into their house after he has gone through something traumatizing, which demonstrates her friendly, welcoming personality. Also, throughout the text the narrator is continuously getting himself more drinks, and said things such as "every night I smoked dope, and stayed up as long as I could before I fell asleep" (1086).  This shows his addictive, and harmful personality that seems to be contributing to his lack of interest and friendliness to the blind man.  His tone is very straightforward throughout the whole text, and almost informational as if it is from a textbook.
2. Carver's narrator sets the reader up for meeting the blind man by disliking him right off the bat.  He says things very straightforward such as, "I wasn't enthusiastic about his visit" (1079), and other things not as straightforward in relationship to the blind man and the narrator's wife, suggesting them to be closer than the narrator was comfortable with them being.  My first response to Robert is very different from the narrators, because aside from being lead to dislike him based on what the narrator says about him, I was influenced to like and care for him because of what he has gone through during the past year of his life, as well as how strongly the wife feels about and cares for Robert.  In paragraphs 18-44, Carver uses conversation as well as the narrator's private thoughts to show the blind man character and develop the narrator's character.  When Robert and the narrator first meet each other, Robert said "I Feel like we've already met," and the narrator replies, "'Likewise'... I didn't know what else to say" (1082).  By showing the interaction by the two, it is apparent that Robert is excited to finally meet the narrator in person after having heard so much about him on the tapes, but the narrator does not share the same thrill considering he replies rather half-heartedly.  Following that, the narrator's private thoughts develops his character by representing his lack of interest in meeting the blind man.  It also reveals a lot about the blind man himself as well because although he can easily infer that he is not really welcomed by the husband, he does not let it get him down.
3. Throughout the story, blindness is seen in many different ways.  In the beginning of the story, the narrator is "bothered by his blindness" (1079), which portrays blindness as something that one chooses, simply to inconvenience other people.  Then, as the story goes on, when the narrator and Robert are sitting in the living room watching TV together and the wife is sleeping on the sofa, "she'd turned to that her robe had slipped away from her legs, exposing a juicy thigh. I reached to draw her robe back over her, and it was then that I glanced at the blind man. What the hell! I flipped the robe open again" (1086).  Although either way the blind man could not see the wife's leg, it shows a lack of respect people who can see have for people who are blind. The proper thing to do, no matter who is in the room, is to cover up the wife's thigh.  Finally, at the end of the selection, the narrator is learning and amazed by the blind man, and begins to understand the life of being blind by becoming more knowledgeable as a result of communicating with the blind man.
5. I think that Carver withholds the specific information of what the narrator's epiphany at the end of the story to let the reader think and conclude their own personal opinions of what they think a blind man can teach a man who can seen. The other information that is withheld from the reader is what the narrator does with his life after finally meeting the blind man, is he changed for good? Does he have a new respective on life? Is he changed for the better?
6. Based on the characterization of the relationship between the narrator and his wife, I believe that Carver does judge them.  He adds many excerpts specifically to describe their relationship, but does not describe it/them in positive ways.  For example, when describing their dinner, it is very boring and uncommunicative, "We didn't talk, we ate" (1084), then excess number of drinks they had throughout the night and neither of them seemed to realize how much they were drinking, and her casual reaction to him smoking dope in the living room, and then proceeding to smoke with him.  I do judge them, because they are unaware of the life their living, their relationship, and their spouse, which I believe is destructive to not only themselves and their own environments, but to their respective other and their way of life as well.

Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been?

In "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' Joyce Carol Oates shares a story about a teenage girl struggling to find herself, and winding up in dire trouble.  Through the typical struggles on teenage-parent relationships, and the desire to grow up faster, Oates solidifies the naivety and vulnerability young women are faced with on a regular basis.
Right from the very beginning of the short story, the unhealthy relationship between fifteen year old Connie and her mother is noticeable, who is constantly putting her down.  Her mother would say negative things to her such as, "You think your so pretty?" (Oates 468) and would constantly compare her to her older sister, of whom her mother praised.  And as one would expect, Connie always replied with the typical teenage remarks and attitude, depicting her naivety towards her family, and her luck of having a stable support system.  By focusing solely on the relationship between two of the main characters, both of their true personalities are revealed.
As the story goes on, Connie's constant discontent is very apparent but mainly only seen through her words and interactions with friends.  But as the story goes on, and Connie more physically defies her mother, she finds herself in a whirlwind of turmoil.  Knowing the vulnerability of teenage girls, Arnold Friend took advantage of Connie.  Through the behavior of Connie when around Arnold, her fear and anxiety is highly detectable.  This further exposes the natural teenage personality that still urns for childhood.
Characterization is seen in all aspects of literary pieces, and can redefine many aspects of the story. Through the changing characteristics of Connie throughout the story, the always altering personalities and traits of teenagers is greatly represented, solidifying how naive and vulnerable teenage girls are in the world.

The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis

       In "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells the story of a young woman who suffers greatly both physically and mentally as a result of her mental illness.  Through the narrator's view of the wallpaper, in relation to her own stability and her separation from the rest of the world, Gilman challenges the perception of gender equality in 1892.

       From the very beginning of the story all the way through to the end, the narrator is isolated by her husband due to her mental illness. The two of them rent a house for the summer for her to "get better," while in this house, the narrator is restrained to living in what she believes to have been a nursery in previous years.  But based on the bars on the windows, and nails holding the bed down, it can be inferred that the room has been used to treat mental patients in the past. The setting of the whole piece focuses on isolation and more specifically the room with ugly yellow wallpaper that the narrator was confined too.  This demonstrates the control that the narrator's husband had over her, but very specifically defining how horrible and uninteresting the room that she was forced to live in.  His force is also very apparent because although she was not very happy where she was, she never really put up a fight to get away from it, also exemplifying the dominance of the male power in their relationship.
       In a nutshell, without the setting of the story, Charlotte Perkins Gilman would not have been able to successfully prove her message of male dominance within "The Yellow Wallpaper."  By having such a horrible depiction of the narrator's living area, Gilman was able to exemplify the inferiority and fear that the narrator feels towards her husband, and how woman as a whole can feel towards over-powering and controlling men.

The Yellow Wallpaper

1. The narrator undergoes a profound change from the beginning of the story to the end.  Her change is revealed in relation to the wallpaper through the fact that at the beginning of the story, she hates everything about the wallpaper, and it is very ugly.  But as the story goes on, she begins to like it because it "dwells in (her) mind so!" (Gilman 1070).  And then finally at the end when she is really approaching drastic change, she finds a new aspect of the wallpaper to focus on, the pattern, and how it is ugly and always continuous.  The wallpaper represents her change because she is not happy with her "progress", and even more upset with the wallpaper than she was in the beginning.  She is very upset with her change that is occurring.  My feelings about the change differ from hers because I am supposed to be happy that she is getting better, and able to get away from her mental illness and be happy with her family.

2. The narrator describes the room with yellow wallpaper as a former nursery, but based on various examples from the text, this room may not have been a place where children played, ate their meals and may have been educated.  For example, "the windows are barred for little children" (Gilman 1067), and the bed is nailed down suggests that the people or children who had used this room previously were not in their by choice.  Also, when talking specifically about the wallpaper, she said "when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide - plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions" and "there is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare down at you upside down," (Gilman 1068/1069), which also suggests a previously very negative use of the room. This discrepancy helps to develop the character of the narrator by showing her in different light, but still suggesting and elaborating on her mental illness.  This also communicates the theme of the story by repeatedly focusing on and emphasizing the aspects of mental illness, and what their views of reality are in comparison to that of a "normal person".

4. Based on paragraphs 96-104, the syntax of the sentences both mirror the pattern on the wall and suggest the narrator's agitation through the repetition and similarities seen from word to word, line to line and paragraph to paragraph.  As the narrator gets more and more agitated, she finds the patterns within the yellow wallpaper more distinct and irritating to her, therefore showing the symbolism between the emotions of the narrator, specifically anger and agitation, and her view and opinion of the wallpaper.

September 8th 2014 - Their Eyes Were Watching God

In literature, even though people may believe that their journey or quest will go a certain way, or has a certain purpose, almost always, the trip will change along the way. A great example of this is in Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. In the beginning of the story, the main character Janie sets off on a journey for love, or so she believes. As the story continues, and Janie is faced with many hardships as well as countless experiences that test her personal strength both physically and mentally, her quest for love quickly turns into a journey of self-fulfillment as well as finding her true, inner-self.

In the non-fiction novel How To Read Literature Like A Professor, author Thomas C. Foster analyzes many key factors that can relate to the key factors in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Chapter 1: Every Trip is A Quest (Except When It's Not), especially connects because of the focus that even when you believe something to be true, it always turns out differently than you believe it to. One specific example from the text is that the real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason, and the real reason is always self knowledge. Overall, this connects to Janie's story because although she believes herself to be searching for true love and happiness, as her trip goes on it is seen that the real reason for the quest is self-knowledge, and may have been that from the beginning, she just did now know it.