Correspondence
In the
story Correspondence, Henky had some
qualities that seemed typical of some high school freshman. Although she had
made some friends with the other girls, she didn’t really know where she fit
in; the others simply didn’t care about the topics that she considered
important. It is very likely that this is the reason she turned to
correspondence with a foreign student. She had hoped that somewhere in the
world was someone similar to her in age, interests, and world views. Despite
knowing nothing about Manoel, she jumped right into conversation with him about
these topics. She even goes as far as to invite him to her home without knowing
anything about him.
In the
end, Henky was extremely let down. She had revealed some very personal things
about herself to a complete stranger, and after receiving no letters back she
felt that she was betrayed, possibly a feeling that she has gotten from others
at her high school. Although she had the right intentions, she was far too
eager to make friends with anyone
and she may have scared Manoel and others away using this approach. Ultimately
her anger gets the best of her, telling Manoel that he is a waste of time.
However, I feel most people would not have written the final letter if they
truly felt this way. For example, if I felt that someone was a waste of my time
I would simply drop communication with that person. I think that Henky thought,
in the back of her mind, that maybe she was mistaken and he would write back
with sincere apologies if she wrote one final angry letter.
The Fish Tank
The
shadow of the protagonist in The Fish
Tank is almost a universal symbol for an approaching predator or upcoming
danger. After reading this story I could imagine a cartoon of Tom and Jerry
where Jerry (the mouse) is lounging and enjoying a day in the sun when all of a
sudden a shadow creeps over him and blocks his sun. Sure enough, there is Tom
(the cat) standing over him ready to feast. It could also be used to describe
an approaching storm; the sky usually becomes very dark when a tornado,
hurricane, or extreme thunder storm is approaching.
The Center of the Story
It was
a bit peculiar and confusing reading a story about writing a story, but it tied
together well in the end when the author pointed out that while the story has
no specific center, it does have a specific theme. I believe that theme is the
idea of balance in everyday life. This is signified by “… the man was sick but
not dying, the hurricane approached but did not strike, and she had a religious
calm but no faith.” Each of these events was balanced, perfectly in between two
ends of a spectrum. For example, the religious calm describes the woman who was
not exactly atheist, but also didn’t
believe in a specific God.
The Other
My interpretation of The Other was a very simple message; you
can change or undo the actions of others, but you cannot change the thoughts of
others no matter how much you disagree.
No comments:
Post a Comment