A Rose For Emily

A Rose for Emily is a short story about a woman who strives to remain young. The main character never leaves her house and fears the thought of being alone, her fear of loneliness results in her killing the one she loved so he could never leave her. From what I understand the setting takes place in a small southern town. Due to the towns size news traveled fast and things were said about Emily and how she lived. I didn't really like this story due to the fact that not too many events took place.

The Lady with the Dog

The Lady with the Dog is about an affair between the two main characters Anna and Dmitri . It all starts in Yalta where they meet and begin to have feelings for each other which intensify as the story goes on. The setting plays a large role in this story and not only consist of the location but also the change of season. Summer time instills happy thoughts for most people, and such thoughts were exactly what the two characters experienced. Dmitri seems to view women merely as objects for his pleasure and it is not uncommon for him to have more than one. Anna however seems to think badly of herself and seeks acceptance. As summer begins to fade away so do the feelings Dmitri and Anna once shared. With winter approaching their affair is put in danger because winter is a time where things slow down and become quiet. At the stories end it seemed to me as though they would continue to have their secret affair and possibly divorce their spouses.

Recitatif

Recitatif was a decent story and also easy to understand. The main characters in the story are two females named Roberta and Twyla. The two girls reside in an orphanage due to the fact that their parents are not able to care for them. Roberta's mother is very ill so she is not able to watch after Roberta, whereas Twyla's mother appears to be a prostitute who has no interest in caring for a child. Throughout the four months spent at the orphanage the two girls formed a bond that would last a lifetime. Both of the female's led different lifes but their life intersected a few times down the road. Each girl had their own way of living, Roberta became more of the adventurous type whereas Twyla seemed to be more of the sheltered type. I found this story to show that bonds made in life can be of great value and how times change.

Arabi

The story Arabi is about a boy who falls in love with one of his sisters friends. The girl he likes in this story seems like the typical pretty girl, the girl everyone crushes on. The boy is the main character and was made to seem round and dynamic, whereas all other characters carry little to no details and are flat. The boy seems to be quiet and he keeps to himself, but throughout the story he becomes so infatuated with this girl that she becomes the only thing on his mind. When it comes to relationships it is commonly known that the male generally makes the first move, but the boy in this story seems to be to shy to make a move or he may lack the confidence. Towards the end the boy begins to doubt that he ever had a chance with the girl and feels dumb for trying to pursue her. I feel that the characterization in this story was well thought out, however it was only for one character.

Girl

The events in this story revolve around knowledge being passed from mother to daughter. I read this story twice and the first time i thought it was an older woman just rambling information out, but then i began to think that the older woman was sharing these things with possibly her daughter. It is still unclear to me exactly who the two figures were but overall this was not one of my favorite stories.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

The story consists of the north and the south having disputes. A farmer from the south is hesitant to fight against the north for fear of being hung. Despite of his fears he fights anyways and as he waits to be hung a new plot unfolds. The farmer begins to think of ways to escape but once the man steps off the board that supports him the rope breaks and the farmer crashes into the water below. In his struggle to escape he is shot at by soldiers but he manages to make it out alive. In his journey home he suddenly feels immense pain, this was the pain of his neck being broken from the rope. The entire story was in his head and he never actually broke free.

This story was a smooth read and i enjoyed it. I just assumed that he would be back with his family by the end. When it came to the rope breaking i thought he escaped being hit by any bullets and survived. Towards the end however i was hit with the realization that he did die and all else was a false reality.

Hills Like White Elephants

I had a hard time enjoying this story and so far it is not one i would recommend. I found it to be confusing at time and often found myself re-reading parts. It was not clear to me what it was he wanted her to do. The first thing that came to my mind was sex, but then i got to thinking about all the chances they had to have sex and didn't. I never got what he was talking about and i also was unsure if she wanted to live in barcelona or not.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

This was an enjoyable read for me and it was able to keep me interested. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" is about a family's trip to Florida. The grandmother has no desire to go to Florida and insists there is a killer heading there, she would however like to go to Tennessee instead. When they enter Florida the grandmother tells the children of a house that had 6 white columns and there was a secret panel with silver in it. While driving the grandmother states that the dirt road is a few miles away so they head down the dirt road. After driving for some time the grandmother realized she had made a mistake and the house was in Tennessee not Florida. The grandmother was so upset by her mistake that she jumped a little in the car. The cat that was on the grandmothers lap then freaked out and attacked the driver. The driver then looses control and flips the car. They had no hopes in anyone finding them but to their surprise a car came over the hill. Three men exited the car and stated they could be of help. As they approached the grandmother, she realized one looked familiar. Suddenly she realizes one of the men was the killer "misfit" on his way to florida. Misfit had two other men with him and these men proceeded to kill the whole family excluding the grandmother. As the entire family was being murdered the grandmother insists misfit is a good man, but in the end he kills her too.

"The Story of An Hour"

“The Story of an Hour” is the story of an hour in the life of Mrs. Louise Mallard. As the story begins, the narrator reveals that Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble. Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards come to her after the death of Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard freaks out and holds up in her room. Louise begins to think that she is happy about her husbands death but suppresses the thought. Once Mrs. Mallard accepts the feeling, she is happy that she will never have to listen to him again. In the end Mr. Mallard walks in the front door. He had been no where near the accident scene. The short story ends with the abrupt death of Mrs. Mallard, whose heart gives out.

I found this story to have a pointless plot setup and I found it hard to enjoy. The story does not have a real meaning or message to it but it is merely a short story. Also to me it seemed a bit unrealistic that Mrs. Mallard found so much joy in her husbands death that she died when she realized he was alive.