M. Bakhtin once said, "We are to our own lives what the authors are to the books they write (Bakhtin in Gallagher, 40)." It's really hard to disagree with this assertion. The best evidence of this statement can be found in the story "Happy Endings" written by Margaret Atwood. The author develops, in a very interesting and attractive way, the idea of living a life and writes a plot of the story. To find a good understanding of those concepts, it is impossible to skip the process of asking correct questions and, of course, getting answers. Margaret Atwood like no one else does it so skillfully through asking a reader just two simple questions: "what" and "how and why." It is really hard to disagree with the essential inevitability of those …show more content…
There is a rising action ("If you think it is too bourgeois..." etc. (71)), the discriminated occasion ("The only authentic ending is the one provided here..." etc. (71)), and the falling action ("That's about all than can be said for plots... Now try How and Why (71)." The story shows us that life can never be the way we want it to be. The author uses not really kind and simple way to reveal it through John and Mary's story because even life at times gets very rigid and hard.
At the same time a complicated plot can confuse the reader at the first sight. There is no strong and endless plot line, as it was already mentioned. The author shows just A-story, then B-story and so on. Another thing that confuses greatly is that the author finishes all the parts of the story, which are supposed to have a happy ending, referring to paragraph A. In paragraph B it sounds like ."..and everything continues as in A (70)." Then, in paragraph C it is ."..and everything continues as in A, but under different names (70)," in paragraph D one is ."..and continue as in A (70)." It creates an effect of having a couple of different stories which are ending with an A-story, of course. Why is Margaret Atwood doing it? Does she still have a story?
M. Atwood confuses a reader purposely. Sometimes it seems like the author writes two or three, or even more stories in one, but there are two stories presented in her work A-story and the B-C-D-E part is a second story: one
Life in a book Is our life like our own made up book? Everytime i read whether it's at home or at school i feel like i'm actually part of the story. Literature was made to imitate life through conflict that reflect our direct and indirect characterization that mimics our actions and thought process and types of narration that life is experienced in. Sharon Draper uses indirect characterization to describe how Andy is feeling.
In comparison to scene A, John and Mary have a “stimulating and challenging sex life” (paragraph 3). While in scene B, the sex life of the characters is more descriptive, as Atwood states that John “fucks her [Mary] and after that he falls asleep” (paragraph 5). There is a shift in tone between these two scenarios. For example, in scenario A, the tone appears to be so optimistic and positive that it is almost impossible to believe that everything is going well with a smooth ending. With this over-positive tone, Atwood inserts an instance of hyperbole where she repeats John and Mary’s lives being “worthwhile” and “stimulating and challenging” to suggest a fairy-tale like story. Within this optimistic tone, a positive diction is also witnessed, throughout the story, when Atwood mentions words like “remunerative,” “worthwhile,” “charming,” “well,” and “fun,” to give the audience a sense of perfect life. At the end, both eventually
The significance of the title, “The Story We Tell”, in my opinion refers to the historical narrative told from the viewpoint of the victor, the White Americans. Throughout our K-12 education we often learn history from the viewpoint of the Euro-American or Whites. This creates a false truth, creating a racial hierarchy and justification for wrong doing. We often hear that history repeats itself, which as we see with the mistreatment of non-whites, this is true. We only know, what we know… we need to be taught the true history that took place from all aspects, not just from the viewpoint of the victor.
The climax is very heart-retching and deals with the narrator selfishness. After that, the narrator should have learned not to be selfish and to never let anyone get left
Throughout the entire story, Mary is a very interesting character. She faces many issues in dealing with her husband’s news that he is leaving her. She reacts based on her instincts and kills her husband and this shows her cold heartedness. In the end she has to create an alibi to cover up her devious crime in which she has to manipulate the police into eating the evidence. Mary is a very unique complex character and she has, through her actions conducted a devious crime in which she will be proven innocent. Through the use of Many Maloney’s character, as well as irony and suspense, the author was able to maintained the interest of the reader throughout the entire short story.
The first conflict John faces is the loss of his mother. Tabby’s death both angers and upsets John. In any case, losing your mother is a horrible. It was especially unfortunate for John because he has no idea who his true father is. He is irritated that she never even got around to telling him who his real father is. It even makes him more resentful when he finds out she lived sort of a second life as “The Lady in Red”. The most tragic of John’s experiences is the sacrificial death of Owen Meany. John is absolutely traumatized by the death of Owen. Owen’s death is the reason John lives in Canada, hates America, and is stuck in the past. John still hasn’t even come close to getting over Owen’s death, and he never will. John even ends his memoir with “O God-please give him back I shall keep asking You!” (617). The trauma John has gone through has even damaged him sexualy. He is still a virgin and has never felt sexual desire. Katherine’s husband describes him as a “non-practicing homosexual” but he believes that his problems are caused by his
As stated previously, the reason why a book, novel, poetry is important in understanding our world is because every being perceive the story differently and it provides a different meaning for each individual that reads that piece. For example, to me Dugard’s memoir showed me a side of the world that I knew existed, but never knew it existed for others. While, someone outside of my world may view this written piece as a lesson for young females. The writing is not what makes literature piece important; it’s the visual image we have while we read the piece. The questions we ask ourselves when reading the novel, memoir, and
The story “A Bag of Oranges” by Spiro Athanas tells about a poor family lived in the rotting slum and the boy in this family became a mature person from a childish kid. Because the boy’s father needs to pay his responsibility to his family and the people who he loved, so his rude behavior and act makes his son hate him for a short time. After the boy notice his family’s financial situation, then he realize it’s not easy be an adult to making life run in the society, and you would lose some important things while you are paying responsibility to your family, so he begin understand his father. When the boy know his father hit by a car, all his emotion spew out and make his act like an adult in the end of the
Also, the other question every critic must consider is what the story means. The only real consensus on this point is that the exact meaning of the story is not possible. There is even a question by some as to whether the story is meant to have an exact meaning. Yet, many critics also agree it is the discussion the story encourages which gives it much of its value rather than a complete understanding. The primary concern was the
Flow was another issue in the piece. The Author adds many questions in the story that narrator asks themselves which at certain parts of the story it interrupts the flow. Certain lines were added that ruined the flow such as written by the author, “You sit up and bed and think about this for a second”. This line is something that has poor grammar and it is unnecessary piece that ruins a flow to an already long piece.
The resolution of this story was the end because the Old Man helped out Ed. The Old Man told the Clerk to tell the summoner to summon the Vacuum Company. The vacuum company came and rang the doorbell when Ruth wanted the truth from Ed. The Old Man helped out Ed because he cannot lie to your wife. The meaning of this story is that the author wants us to know what is happening and who everyone is. Also, the author wants us to know that in the beginning that everyone can be late for work or just a little
Many people tell stories to inform others about themselves. Throughout my life people in my family have told me many stories, and behind each story there is a purpose. The stories I was told growing up were about experiences that people in my family have had or things that I have done. These stories mean a lot to me because through these stories different family members reveal many things about themselves. They want me to understand their ideas, beliefs, or feelings about a certain subject. They want people to praise or admire what they have done or accomplished. Funny stories are told to humor or embarrass someone, usually me. Other stories express that we are not alone in the world, and there are other people,
Storytelling is the oral tradition of sharing stories and recounting events of the past. It is an ancient art form and is a dear form of human expression (What is). Most historians and psychologists alike agree that storytelling is one of the many things binding and defining humanity as we know it because everything revolves around storytelling in one form or another. Humans are possibly the only animals capable of creating and telling stories.
Mary deals with the sense of displacement because of the absence of a stable home. Since her husband, James, was an actor, the family would have to move around depending on his schedule. Leaving Mary and her children on cheap hotel room. Mary was not a fan of this, she never had a place to call home. She fondly remembers her ideal childhood home, and contrasts it with her present dwelling.
The diction through the story Unbecoming really sets the tone for the book. In the Beginning of the story Caroline expressed her feeling about Mary with her words to the doctor. When asked if Mary