The Lame Shall Enter First

Flannery O' Connor stories "The Lame Shall Enter First" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge" has a lot of resemblances of grief and troubled family relationship.
The similarities of both story suggests that author herself seems unhappy and had experience some hard times in her own life, like her incurable disease that eventually lead to her death. The personal family trouble and the lack of attention from Sheppard to his son, also is similar in the relationship between Julian and his own mother acceptance in the “Everything Must Converge” story. Both stories show that trouble relationship between a parent and a child may have consequences later in life. The lack of parental attention from Sheppard with his son and the loss of his mother contributed to Norton unhappiness and difficult grieving of his mother death. Selfishness took over Sheppard not realizing that he could not save the world helping others and he could be more thoughtful of his own son. The regrets that consume his thoughts after his son’s death, contributed for his realization that now is too late and like most people in life, only appreciate something when you can’t have anymore and unfortunally it can’t go back in time, being too late to recognize the mistakes made.

Everything that Rises Must Converge

The author of this short story Flannery O'Connor exposed very well the trouble relationship between a mother and a son, and also the social problems in an racist world that Julian mother's and all of us live in. Being poor to her is acceptable, she assures herself all the time that once they were wealthy, they had a beautiful house, but her reality is completely different, she lived her life struggling to pay the bills and to pay her son's college, but appearance is more important to her than anything else, she never let her status go down, even broke and failed. The story shows a reality that is most common than we imagine. Only after loose his mother, Julian realizes he could be more kind and regrets for a lot of things he could have done. A lot people like him don't appreciate anything in life, just realizing that they lost something wonderful when is too late. The racial tension occurred in the story, is an example of arrogance and despair. Nobody is better than nobody. Every human being is the same and deserve mutual respect. The world would be a better place to live if tolerance and kindness were thought since childhood, the results would be invaluable.

A Pair of Tickets

From all the stories I read from the Norton Fiction book, this one is the one that really touched my heart. The fact this story is a fiction still may have some resemblance with author real life Amy Tan. Like the story she is also born in America and her parents is also Chinese immigrants. The struggle Jing-Mei's mother went through durant war period alone with twin baby girls, showed a gruesome reality in many people lives in a war time. To have to decided to leave her daughters to "be found by a kindhearted person who would care for them... not allowed herself to imagine anything else" must be the hardest decision a mother would have to endure in her whole life time. Having no other choice that is what she end-up doing. Her dream to find her babies alive even many years later never end. Jing-mei carry on her mother's dream to find and meet her sisters when she pass away. The fathers support to accompanied her to China and be there for her encounter with hers sisters was invaluable to her. Her mother looks in her sisters face made her believe that now she knows and can finally understand what it really meant to be Chinese.

Three Short Short Stories

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" storie may be relate with the folk tales and fantasies from the childhood of the Latim American author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He may be trying to camouflage the country problems portraying unrealistic stories that may scape the reality of social problems of a third world country to the magical realism of his stories. The old man with the enormous wings may symbolize the heavenly spirit full of good intentions towards the community, being patience his major virtue. But the lack of angelical traits besides his wings left the people on the community wonder if he was really an angel.

"Girl"by the author Jamaica Kincaid born in the island of St. John's, Antigua is a dialogue almost a monologue by her mother or believe to be her mother that tells the daughter what to do in a harsh way almost like a general in the military. Clearly is not a loving relationship between mother and daughter. The way the mother teaches her manners demanding her to do chores in the house and to be respected by others and telling her in a such negative way to don't act like a slut, make me believe that the way some children are raised reflect their personallities as an adult. In this case I felt that the girl never had a chance to express her feelings or opinions back to her mother, obeying her above it all, and eventually growing up as an woman with a sense of insecurity and submissiveness to others reflected by her mother's verbal abuse as a child.

The Japanese author of "The Grasshoper and the Bell Cricket" storie Yasunari Kawabata, portrait the innocence of a group of children playing and chasing insects in the woods and with their lanterns. The dark setting leads to a mood of discovery and romanticism symbolizing the purity of youth love in the air between a boy and a girl. The discovery of the bell cricket much more rare than the grasshopper leads me to believe the boy intentions to give the girl such a rare insect, and her acceptance with such warm feelings, that they became fond of each other, and the bell cricket symbolizing more than a bug but a piece of his pure love to her . Kawabata storie demonstrate imagination and the subtlety of the vivid details with a lot of implictity meanings and the semblance of a colorful fairy tales.

How Much Land Does a Man Need?

The author Leo Tolstoy had proved that been an orphaned boy doesn't take nobody's talent away. He was Russian born into noble family in the 1800s, became religious and served in the army. He went through a lot of issues through his life and at the end he left his wife but tragically died in an railway station. Ironically Tolstoy believed life it was an "absurd... a stupid and pitiful joke"(800).

"How Much Land Does a Man Need" story is clearly stated how greedy man can be in life. Pahom the protagonist of the history was worried he didn't have enough land, and if he had he shouldn't fear the Devil. He didn't realized though he already had plenty and the Devil himself has been watching the peasant's and decided that he could have as much land as he want but that would have a price to pay. When he met the Bashkirs he couldn't believe the offer, it was almost too good to be true the land for such a low price. He knew in his heart he could walk and mark as much land he could in the time negotiate. The dream he had could be an alert to him that the Devil it was there next to him pleasuring himself with all the greed this man had, but he couldn't notice that in time. By the time the sun was setting he gave in all the strength he had to be back in time but it was too late... The exhaustion had won his ambition and he drop dead by the Bashkirs feet. Ironically they buried him in a six feet grave as the title of the story already stated this is all the land he really needs. This story is a great example of how some people lead their lives always desiring more and more and not enjoying what they already have, ending up with nothing.

The Loons

Margareth Laurence the author was born in the city of Neepwa, Manitoba in the 1920s. She used the fictional town of Manawaka in The Loons story to relate herself a truly native with the Indian character Piquette Tonerre. The idea the author gave me it was that the the sick and wounded Indian girl it was not interest in school, or making friends or in life itself. She seems to me as an unhappy and depressed person. The lack of communication and short answers with her family and friends show that the character it wasn't in any way looking to please anybody or enjoy life, her own opinion and point of view is that what counts only.

In the story being an Indian is not necessary a factor for her to be more protective of nature. She didn't have any appreciation for the forest, the lake and the singing of the birds was sad and annoying to her. I would think any Indian would like the preservation and conservation of nature to be in first place, but not in this story. She didn't have enough interest to find out more about her background as well and lived day by day inside her little shell keeping her thoughts to herself. Meanwhile the small green place became a national park surround by people and local commerce. It was clear to me this girl wouldn't care about the impact that would have in nature and the popular regional birds, the loons. I could tell from her personality she wouldn't have a bright future and unfortunately tragedy strike at the end, taking a unexpected turn to worse. Her depressed life was cut shorter than expected quieting forever the crying of the loons.

Sonny's Blues

The author James Baldwin was a talent in writing short stories for black Americans in the 1950s and 60s. His experience as a church minister in the past lead him to a spiritual acceptance of himself. He knew being black and a homosexual it was a taboo back in the date. The fact the author lived in a racist society it was even harder to became a recognize writer, but his talent proof that not even prejudice can darken his shine star.

I became fond of the Sonny's Blues story because I could relate myself with the protagonist and his brother. I also have a younger brother, but only five years apart, and like Sonny he went through a lot of issues after the loss of our dear mother. The part in the story that really touch me it was when his mom ask him to watch for Sonny's well being. I remembered my own mother before she pass asking me to watch and protect my younger brother. As the story evolved I could recognize that is not only coincidence between my own story and the events in this fiction, but that also love and hatred in a siblings relationship may walk together side by side in the same path of up's and down's in life. In the story Baldwin showed that anguish of Sonny's drug addition and troublesome relationship with his brother had new meaning at the end, and that Sonny's it was much more than a talented piano player, he was his brother whom he loved with all his virtues and faults.

An Ocurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

The author Ambrose Bierce was a major at war and a journalist in London and California. Lost two sons and divorced his wife and end up moving to Mexico where he later disappear. Wrote many books and was publicly recognized for his great talent to write short stories. One of his best achievement was An Occurrence at owl Creek Bridge. The protagonist of the story was Peyton Farquhar a highly respect planter in his community. The other characters was his wife, the soldiers, the sergeant and the captain. The setting of the story it was at a bridge in Northern Alabama, the Owl Creek Bridge and happened back in the 1800s. The story conflict is between the soldiers and the protagonist Peyton Farquhar.

In the plot the protagonist was captured by the soldiers and with all the pressure of death being so close to him, it was clear he was psychological disturbed while waiting to die. All the emotions and memories came to his mind before he was hung. He had a strong desire to be a free man that in his mind he pictured himself escaping and running to his dear wife's arms and experience the taste of victory when actually it was just his imagination and he end up crossing to the other side...I believe the story is a dramatic fiction and a little melancholic. The tone used was despair. I like the story. I thought it was very intriguing and the author kept the sequences of the events in an interesting way that hold my attention to the story. Even though it was sad I don't want to stop reading and I actually read more than once, what helped me picture the facts of the story with greater details.