Week 13 The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich

This story was very easy to understand simply because it was a story that could have actually happened. The red convertible represents a bond of brothers. They purchased this car and together it gave them so many memories. They were able to take a trip together before Henry had to set out to Vietnam. Upon return, Henry was not the same person, he no longer had the same connection with his brother like his brother still desired to have with him. I am sure this was very common in men returning from war. Sticking to themselves and figuring out what life was worth to them. Even though Henry at times was very rude to his brother, he stuck right beside him and offered to set out in another trip in their car. The second time around was not the same. It ended in tragedy by Henry setting out into the river and never returning. The waters were high, but I believe that this was his choice not to pop up from the waters. Now Lyman was left wondering what happened to his brother and why he could not save him in time. Now he will probably live with that guilt, similar to the guilt Henry probably had from Vietnam.

Week 12 Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston

This story was powerful in showing the hard life that Delia lived everyday with her deadbeat husband. The dialect really helped me get a better sense of the life she was living everyday. She was a woman who worked so hard everyday, to survive and support her husband who had no respect for her. He abused he with words and her fears of snakes, just so he could receive a laugh from it. She would bring her work home with her to get ahead and he would walk his dirty feet all over the clothes she had to wash. She was a very religious woman and that is one reason I feel she did not leave her husband. The other men in the town gave her respect, but when it came to her own husband he could care less. The snake appeared in the story again and scared Delia. She was able to escape but realized that the snake he husband put there to scare her scared him. He died from the snake and she was now able to begin her life for herself and explore her community around her that she did not know before. Her husband tried to scare his wife and it came back to end his life. This story showed the readers that you will be rewarded for the hard work you have done. I don't think that she wanted her husband dead, but now she was able to not live in fear and take the abuse her husband always gave her.

Week 11 A Clean,Well-lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway takes a very simple approach to this story. His characters have no names, and are classified by whether they are young or old and two of them as their jobs as waiters. The younger waiter is frustrated with the old man because he won't leave the cafe. He makes the comment that he should of killed himself last week, like he was planning to do. This man has no sympthathy and is just concerned about himself and not the fact that this old man might be sticking around the cafe so he won't feel alone. The other waiter begins to explore the old man a bit more it why he was wanting to die. He feels like he doesn't have much going on in life similar to the old man. He is not confident and he is young and alone. He begins figuring out wrhat is important in life and all he is realizing is nothing. I found it very interesting how he took the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary and added nada to all the important words. Maybe he is searching for religion to come into his life and right now those words do make sense. The western world does not make sense at times and this man was just trying to go back to nothing and figure things out from nothing. Reading the short bio about Hemingway it seemed interesting that this story dealt with suicide and drinking something that is remembered by Hemingway's life.

Week 10 Robert Frost Mending Wall

As I read this poem I was able to follow along with the story of two neighbors, but at the same time the poem let us know how the speaker truly felt about the situation. He does not understand why there has to be a divider between entering the life of his neighbor. He brings up the point that neither neighbor had livestock and therefore there is no real need for a separation. Even though he feels this way he still helps put up the wall every year. I feel like he desires the relationship and will do anything to expand a relationship with his neighbor, even if it is fixing the separation. The neighbor repeatedly say "good neighbors make good fences" and I would have to disagree. With that fence you are automatically saying that you do not want to expand beyond the fence for a relationship. Fences do serve a purpose when there is livestock, but other than that they should be down. I really enjoyed how Frost really showed the speakers emotion throughout this poem.