Keel A Fictional Narrative

Kate Branch, an orphaned servant girl, began to suffer from a series of fits that disturbed her employers Mister and Mistress Wescot. Through Mister Daniel Wescot’s public service, the family had become prominent figures and were charged with providing Kate the basic needs and spiritual guidance as if she were a part of their family. Soon after Kate’s symptoms began, Mistress Abigail Wescot summoned the local midwife, Goodwife Sarah Bates, to examine

As the women walk through the house, they begin to get a feel for what Mrs. Wright’s life is like. They notice things like the limited kitchen space, the broken stove, and the broken jars of fruit and begin to realize the day-to-day struggles that Mrs. Wright endured. The entire house has a solemn, depressing atmosphere. Mrs. Hale regretfully comments that, for this reason and the fact that Mr. Wright is a difficult man to be around, she never came to visit her old friend, Mrs. Wright.

The following passage is an excerpt from Katherine Anne Porter’s short story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how such choices as figurative language, imagery, and dialogue develop the complex emotions the character is feeling.

When Janie was about sixteen, she spent a spring afternoon under a blossoming tree in Nanny?s yard. Here she comes to the realization that something is missing in her life? sexual ecstasy. The blooms, the new leaves and the virgin- like spring came to life all around her. She wondered when and where she might find such an ecstasy herself. According to Hurston, Nanny finds Janie kissing a boy named Johnny Taylor and her ?head and face looked like the standing roots of some old tree that had been torn away by storm? (12) . Nanny can think of no better way to protect Janie than by marrying her to a middle-aged black farmer whose prosperity makes it unnecessary for him to use her as a ?mule? (Bush 1036).

The lives of Suitcase Lady and Curley’s wife are full with feelings of loneliness and seclusion, eliciting feelings of pity in those who are reading. Curley’s wife lived during a time in which women had little rights and were considered to be the property of their husbands. The men on the farm would not allow her to talk to them as they feared how Curley would react to his wife talking to men other than himself, “I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her. You leave her be (24).” George’s words perfectly describe the mentality of the men on the ranch towards Curley’s wife, they viewed her as a trap and piece of jailbait simply because she was a woman who wanted to talk to someone. Living on a ranch with only men who refused to acknowledge her because of her marital status was deeply troubling to both Curley’s wife and the readers, “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time? (55).” Similarly, Suitcase Lady is immensely isolated because comparable to

This dream left Curley’s wife with an unfulfillment within herself as she would breathlessly claim ,”I tell ya I could of went to shows…not just one neither,” when around the other men (Steinbeck 78). This is her defense towards the farm laborers consciously for Curley’s wife to feel better since she beheld an impressive chance. Whereas, this dream was in the hands of a male figure who saw potential in the young woman which only ended with Curley’s wife’s remark, “I never got that letter...and I thought my old lady stole it and I could not stay where I was stuck,” as for Curley’s wife she remained stuck in only a different way (Steinbeck 88). After Curley’s wife’s dream was destroyed she became the product of a female environment and married into a family with money, thus she gained substantial funds but her hopes of being on the spot light faded into the background. This exemplifies how the world is not created for aspiring women in this era and how easy being the victim of the world stands for women similar to Curley’s wife as she blamed her old lady for holding her back. Even more, the accusal can show the minute amount of faith within the household and also the minimal faith of the figures in Curley’s wife completely as low expectations are accounted for

She is intent on going where she wants, when she wants and never fails to point a finger of blame or pass judgment when an opportunity arises. She enjoys indicating her position as an upper-classman, or at least high class of the past, in comparing her own status to her surroundings. When her granddaughter June Star comments on a young African American boy who is playing outside without pants on, the grandmother sneers, “He probably didn’t have any…little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do.” In contrast, once her life is threatened, she hastily seems to remember all of her Christian values and family ties and her heart opens to empathize even with her enemies. As her son Bailey is threatened, all the begrudging she had against him melts away and she calls to him as if he were a little child, “Bailey Boy!”

"Here you go." Amy snatched the tickets and tossed the money through the small opening at the counter. Soon they were on their way.

She breezed on through ‘Avalon’ and ‘Margie’, unfazed by Cecil as he tried his damnedest to get her to look at him. She would look right through him, a dull glaze settled over her green eyes. Her mother and father had the worst taste when it came to potential suitors — influential men with limited, insipid views. It had taken weeks to convince Cecil to let her sing and have a good night out, and he had the audacity to follow her to make sure her fun was limited.

       As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist.  Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be.  She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170).  However, in a time

Finally, the reader is introduced to the character around whom the story is centered, the accursed murderess, Mrs. Wright. She is depicted to be a person of great life and vitality in her younger years, yet her life as Mrs. Wright is portrayed as one of grim sameness, maintaining a humorless daily grind, devoid of life as one regards it in a normal social sense. Although it is clear to the reader that Mrs. Wright is indeed the culprit, she is portrayed sympathetically because of that very lack of normalcy in her daily routine. Where she was once a girl of fun and laughter, it is clear that over the years she has been forced into a reclusive shell by a marriage to a man who has been singularly oppressive. It is equally clear that she finally was brought to her personal breaking point, dealing with her situation in a manner that was at once final and yet inconclusive, depending on the outcome of the legal investigation. It is notable that regardless of the outcome, Mrs. Wright had finally realized a state of peace within herself, a state which had been denied her for the duration of her relationship with the deceased.

While Mrs. Mallard remembers Mr. Mallard as a kind and tender man who loved her, she also viewed him as the oppression that marriage put upon women and men. While Mr. Mallard was kind and loving to his wife, he was also controlling and overbearing. Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister and Richards, Mr. Mallard’s friend is there to break the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. Richards has learned of Mr. Mallard’s death at the newspaper office, not wanting to believe the information that was received, Richards waited for the new to be delivered for a second time before enlisting the help of Josephine. They are both there to support Mrs. Mallard and their support shows that they care for Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.

It was the next morning after Phillip Higginbotham had gone to the Rabinowitz’s house for dinner, and he had realized something! He realized that he showed up to the dinner invite wearing a dress coat, but forgot to take it from the coat rack on his way out. He knew it was a gamble, but he decided to drive over to the Rabinowitz home this sunny, humid, morning to retrieve the coat. As he pulled up to the Rabinowitz home, Susannah could see that it was him through the living room window. Still flustered from their moments in the kitchen the night before, she made sure her hair was somewhat decent in the mirror on the wall, and then wrapped a light shawl around her shoulders. She then headed for the front door in anticipation for him to ring

She looks forward to moving away like others in her town. She admits she will not be missed at her job and at nineteen, without the former protection of her older brothers, she is beginning to feel "herself in danger of her father's violence.” This danger she sees is taken away when she meets her suitor, the sailor, Frank who promises her a better life away from these hardships she has faced.

Her relationship with the wealthy, charming Rodolphe Boulanger is a diversion from tedious country life as well as an intentional subversion of the establishment of marriage and an attempt to undermine her husband’s authority. After her first conjugal transgression, Emma distinctly feels “the satisfaction of revenge” and “savoured [sic] it without remorse, without anxiety, without worry” (161). Though her husband Charles is guiltless of cruelty or vice he is representative of a patriarchy that is entirely neglectful of the emotional, psychological, and intellectual needs of women and assertive of its superiority and power. She is expected to fulfill the duties of a simple-minded, submissive, and sexless creature who is devoted to the comfort of her family and upkeep of the home. By pursuing a sexual relationship with Rodolphe, Emma invalidates the authority of the prohibitive government institution over her actions and demands autonomy in the face of a banal provincial life.