The Lesson

This short story takes place in NYC during a time of apparent injustices that were placed upon African Americans. The title, "The Lesson" is the lesson an educated black female tries to impose upon some young kids regarding class identification by taking them to an expensive department store full of a bunch of toys, teddy bears, etc. After an enjoyable day of going to a store and finding out they couldn't afford anything and receiving underlying messages of how their parents are all dirt poor, one of them gives in to her persuing goal of awakening by stating, "I think...that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough." Miss Moore lights up like a Christmas tree knowing her boring escapade was purposeful. Miss Moore needs to get some adult friends, IMO.

A&P

This short story is about a man working as a cashier at a grocery store. While he's working, he spots girls wearing bathing suits which instantly grabs his attention and admiration. He's only fond of one girl, but describes all of them in detail. Soon the manager comes up and makes the girls exit the building because he finds their attire unsuitable for the setting. He attempts to charm the girls by siding with their malcontent, he tells his boss that he quits. The girls don't notice, the boss suggests he's only going to be hurting his future. He then exits, the girls are gone and then looks back inside only to notice the grocery store is functioning as usual. Making his attempt to interrupt and define society and its norms a failure. I think the theme is about social norms and how changing them is difficult.

Everyday Use

The story is about an African American family. The theme seems to be about the power of voice and how it can influence how someone thinks, whether it be a positive influence or negative. In the beginning of the story the mother states that the prettier and smarter daughter Dee is the "perfect" child. Dee uses her intelligence to undermine and subdue her sister's worthiness to her mother. But, by the end of the story her mother becomes aware of Dee's malicious ego-driven attempts to misguide her perception on Maggie. The story is also about a family quilt which that has been passed down by generations. When the quilt is decided to go to Maggie instead of Dee, it shows the mother's distaste and realization of Dee's actions. The mother then hugs Maggie, something she hasn't done in a very long time.

A Worn Path

The story of "A Worn Path" is about an elderly black lady who appears to be senile and delusional. She makes visits by foot to the doctors to get medication for her son on a regular basis. On the trip to the office she has encounters with a semi-friendly man who then turns a gun onto her provoking the old lady but ends up leaving. When she arrives to the drug store her attitude changes, she becomes rigid and anti-social. The stories theme seems to revolve around the hardships this old lady has encountered for being african american. The title of the story "A Worn Path" seems to be about her physical and mental condition.

A Good Man is Hard to Find

Connecting the theme of this story to the title of this short story, "A good man is hard to find" is pretty confusing. At first I thought it was going to be a story which revolved around what a man can supply financially since there was a lot of indications of material goods such as their discussions about men in the story having things such as cars, and how wealth was an important factor for what they found appealing in men. Then the story did a complete 180, they got in a car accident and were killed one by one while the grandmother tried to convince the "misfit" that he was a decent man. We then found out the misfit's father was murdered, and the misfit was the accussed murderer.

It seemed as if the misfit's perception on what murder is was conflicting with reality. He said "I found out the crime don't matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you're goin to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it." Is this suggesting that if they got in an accident the events that happen afterwards aren't his fault?

I also found a couple quotes at the end of the story to be confusing. The misfit says, "She would of been a good woman, if it had been somebody to shoot her every minute of her life" Why does he believe she is a bad woman?

A Hunger Artist

The story has an interesting and morbid feel to it. The "Hunger Artist" is about a man who is put on display for his ability to fast for such a long time. He comes under great criticism and doubt by his audience whether he is the real deal. Throughout the story he tries to keep the audiences interest but ends up having to join a circus to promote his talent. I get the feeling that the story is about the nature of the entertainment industry and how hard it is to entertain the public and keep their interest. The insatiable demands placed on artists, and the stressful lifestyle of an artist who keeps his audiences more entertained than the last time they saw them.

Young Goodman Brown

This story is much like the story of "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde", which is about the good and evil which is immanent within human nature. I think this story has a religious theme to it, which suggests a story of morality. His wife, ironically named "Faith" sparks Goodman Brown's understanding of the good and bad that lies within human nature. Goodman leaves his house where his wife Faith resides. Which is most likely a symbol of leaving his religion, to begin a journey to an undisclosed location. I believe this story was also written not too long after the witch trials in the late 1600's, but it doesn't seem clear whether or not that has any relevance to the focus of this story.

The Purloined Letter

The story starts off with the Prefect of Police in Paris visiting a man named Dupin with a problem. He explains to him that a letter has been stolen and is being used to blackmail the person from whom it was stolen. He introduces him to find the letter since the owner of the letter is an important government figure. The Prefect believes Minister D has the letter, so he searches his home thoroughly, but finds nothing. Dupin suggests they research the house. A month later, Monsieur G returns, but finds nothing. This time, he says that he will pay fifty thousand francs to anyone who can obtain the letter for him. Dupin invites him to write the check; when this is done, Dupin hands the Prefect the letter without any further comment. The story doesn't have a lot of reader detective work that they have to follow throughout the story, the story more revolves around Dupin doing all of the detective work and we as the reader understanding his logic of detective work.

The Use of Force

This short story is about a doctor who makes a house call. The doctor is greeted by two friendly parents of a possibly very sick child. The story goes into extensive detail about the process of testing the child for the possible infectious disease, known as diphtheria. The story did have a psychotic feeling to it like some kind of bad 30's horror flick. The doctor seemed like an honest, caring doctor but for him to say, "I could have torn the child apart in my own fury and enjoyed it" was kind of disturbing. The title "The Use of Force" is regarding the force the doctor uses to examine the childs condition. But, it might also be relating to the dominant nature of man. One side of this man wants to cure her, and the other side of him wants to tear her apart. The story might be talking about the instabilities of human nature.

Hills Like White Elephants

This story consists of a man and a female talking about a highly controversial issue during the time of this short story, which is around 1927. The topic of the story is abortion, although we as the reader are indirectly pointed to that conclusion these people are debating the operation. The only sign these two are contemplating an abortion are the words "operation", the indirect eye contact between the two, and the repetitive reassurance the male gives to the female that it will be okay. The male obviously wants the operation but the female is unsure of the outcome of the situation. She isn't worried about her own safety or well being but rather she is concerned about how their relationship will be after this operation is over. It's interesting to read how conversations would be during this time period between partners when abortions were not as common, not as controversial, and not a safe practice for its time. I'll have to do some research on how abortions were treated, specifically in Madrid during this time period.