Fiction Combined Short Essays

Fiction Short Essays

1) This excerpt is from the story "Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason. It is significant to the story because it is in this moment where we see Norma Jean becoming dominant in the story. She is no longer docile and dependant on her husband and education is giving her a voice, one which she is getting more confident using. This snippet of text shows the direct contrast between Norma and her husband. While she is outlining paragraphs he is playing with Lincoln Logs at the table.

2) My second short answer comes from the story "Use" by Alice Walker. I find this part of the story to be relieving. When Dee comes home she has changed her name and starts collecting precious things, crafted by relatives, to take back with her. She is taking derogatory pictures of her family and their little home. It is almost as if she can get away with anything, until she tries to take the quilts, then she meets a wall. It seems as though the mother in this story has always favored Dee and Maggie has been a side concern until this moment when the mother realizes Maggie has a skewed perception of life and fairness and corrects her past mistakes. Dee makes it clear that she wants to preserve the old quilts but the mother would prefer Maggie to have and use them and snatches them from Dee's hands, setting them in Maggie's. My favorite line is the very last one in the story. "Maggie smiled; maybe at the sunglasses. But a real smile, not scared....And then the two of us sat there just enjoying, until it was time to go in the house and go to bed." This is the first time Maggie is not described as shuffling about or nervous. She genuinely smiles and enjoys the night.

3) In Flannery O' Conner's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the family packs up to go to Florida and they take their Grandma with them. I find this question intriguing because the Grandma is the cause of every issue in this story. The Grandma didn't wan to go to Florida. She wanted to visit friends in Tennessee but went along for the trip any way. Every side stop they made was for the Grandma and when she falsely lead them off the road they ran into the misfit who had escaped and killed them all. Yet even while her son and his family were being shot behind her she tried to sweet talk her way out of death. Luckily, in this story, the antagonist gets what she deserves and dies with the rest of them. This fate is kind of foreshadowed through the multiple rants the Grandma has about the misfit and he urge to change plans.

4) Stephen Crane uses this quote to build suspense and shadow the whole story. It is said three or four times throughout the short story in different varying lengths and varieties. Every time you see it the situation of the crew is more desperate and the ocean more traitorous. These lines also characterize the men in the boat. Each thinks it at one point or another and it must mean something different to each of them. The chef, for example, thinks of pie. Oddly, the only man who doesn't dream of land is the only one who dies before reaching land. Maybe that is a foreshadowing of his life.

5) In "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver the quote that stuck out to me the most was this last line. This whole story is about seeing and acceptance. Bub is severely disliked by his wife and has nothing in common with this guest his wife adores and is willing to do anything for. His character seems to be a directionless man who is bored with his current situation. His connection with Robert is vital to his awakening in that it took a blind man to help him use his eyes properly. Symbolism in this piece is enormous as it is a cathedral that helps Bub see what he has been missing. He closes his eyes and draws the building with the faith and encouragement of Robert to obtain higher enlightening and vision.

6) "The Gilded Six-Bits" by Zora Neale Hurston is one of the happiest stories we've read and probably the best example of problem resolution. This quote represents how Joe uses his losses and pain to repair the relationship that was falling apart. He uses the fake gold pieces that nearly destroyed his personal life to buy sweets for his lady to find, just as he did before the whole occurrence. He is able to turn the very evil into the band-aid to heal past wounds. Missy May is responsible for part of the issue by trying to get the fake gold for Joe but he is