Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" relates to us the message that you can never be too sure about what is going on around you. Towards the end of the story the evil figure says, "Evil is the nature of mankind" (Hawthorne 546). This statement scared Goodman Brown and made him feel uneasy, but it is a truthful statement. Many people do evil things, possibly without even realizing it. A person would be extremely hypocritical to say they never have committed an evil or bad act or that people did not do these things all the time. Hypocrisy is a central focus of this story. Goodman Brown finds the most influential people in his life are all a part of this cult that promotes evil. This goes back to the notion you are never really certain about anyone. He looked so highly upon his wife Faith and then looked at her with disgust for being a part of the evil cult. Goodman Brown at the end of the story is just as big as a hypocrite as the rest of the people in Salem. He looks so poorly on the people in his town, but yet he remains there for the rest of his life. He also stays with Faith and has children with her. If Goodman Brown was so against this way of thinking then why did he spend his life in that society with a woman who was a part of it? Faith's name is also something I must comment on. To have faith in something is to have confidence in it, regardless of substantial proof. This is yet another hypocritical element to Hawthorne's story because Faith's own husband has no faith in her. The last time Goodman Brown had faith was with his "parting kiss" to his wife (539).

The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" was such a change for me for many of the things we have read. We are focused inside the mind of one character again, but this time the character is crazy or at least is crazy by the end of the story. In the very beginning Jane describes her husband as a physician and says "perhaps this is one reason I do not get well faster" (487). I immediately became suspicious after John from this comment. It was foreshadowing for me because I realized this man was going to have strong control over Jane's life. Looking back at the story after finishing reading it this comment bothers me, however. If Jane realized in the beginning that John may have been the reason she never got better then why didn't she do anything about it? Throughout the remainder of the story she simply obeyed him and followed every rule and plan he laid out for her. Jane says, "I have a scheduled prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more" (488). If you were describing someone who took care of you, one would normally say "he takes all care me" not "he takes all care from me." Again she is acknowledging her husband has all the power. He has taken even the power to care for herself away from her, but she feels as though she must be grateful to him for taking care of her. Later in the story Jane once again comments on John's love and care for her. She says, "he asked me all sorts of questions, too, and pretended to be very loving and kind" (495). He "pretended" to be loving and kind. So maybe Jane does not really think her husband is caring for her in the right way. If this is the case then why is she letting it happen? The only assumption I can make is Jane made a connection between herself and the woman in the wallpaper. Once the woman is the wallpaper was free then she would be free as well.

A Rose for Emily

William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" contained such strong imagery of the characters, especially Emily. The way Faulkner describes Emily and the other characters in certain stages of their lives is so vivid you can easily picture the characters. The funny thing about these descriptions is that he does in it such a funny way, a way one would not normally describe someone. For example, he says, "She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue" (Faulkner 405). Faulkner easily could have simply said she was bloated, but my adding the rest of the sentence you can actually see this woman in a tub of water. I just really love the way he words things. Another example of this is when he is describing the Negro man who takes care of Emily. He says, "...his voice had grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse" (409). Not only does this description help you understand the actually sound of her servants voice, but it keys you in to the relationship the two had. It makes you think that this woman never talked to anyone, not even those who surround her on a daily basis. I loved the way the town's people talked about Emily. They go so back and forth. For example, at one minute they are happy she is with someone and thinks she is going to get married, but once he leaves they all say they aren't surprised. They are so obsessed with this woman they don't care whether or not she is happy or sad. I love how Emily does not care about the town's people even though they are obsessed with her. She has plenty of bad things happen to her, but she is "too furious to die" (408). I loved this quote. This made me want something good to happen to Emily. She realizes what is going on around her, but is not just going to give up and die. I was so happy at the end of the story how you see she had someone to be with inside her little home. I really don't know who "the man" is though (409).

We Can Remember It for You Wholesale

Philip Dick's "We Can Remember it for You Wholesale" really did not interest me at all. I really do not find science fiction stories at all appealing and I honestly may have let that influence my reading of the story, as horrible as that sounds. There was this one line in the story though that I read over a few times and keep thinking about. On page 365 it says, "The advantages of it being a memory-and nothing more-could now be appreciated" (Dick 365). At this point in the story Quail is going back and forth trying to figure out whether or not he actually did visit Mars or it was just put into his memory by the scientists. This back and forth that Quail was doing in his mind was starting to drive him crazy. Everyone seems to be telling him something different and he is not quite sure where he will find the truth. For me this line is dealing with his desire to find out the truth. Sometimes when you really wish something would happen you think about it so much it almost becomes a memory. This imagined scenario is now stuck in your head as if it really happened. I think what Dick is saying here is that sometimes its good to be able to fathom up anything you want in your mind because our minds give us the power to do so. It is also good that sometimes what you fathom in your imagination is just an imagined event. Its easy to imagine good things to happen, but its just as easy to imagine bad things as well. Being able to distinguish the good and bad ideas from reality and your imagination is what's key to keeping from going insane. Because Quail does not see the difference at this point he wishes he could make that distinction.

The Open Boat

Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat" is an interesting story. For the most part I really thought the story was going to end up being a dream. I felt when the men kept seeing land or the lighthouse or the man waving his jacket, they were only imagining these things. I thought they were so delirious these were only figments of their imagination. I really thought this was the case because they men kept saying, "Funny they haven't seen us" (Crane 345). This makes me wonder if people were even there to be seen or not. These men could have been lost in the ocean for so long that they just made up people. I didn't really understand why when the guys got closer to shore they would turn around and go back out further into the ocean. This doesn't make sense to me. Why wouldn't they just continue to go to shore so they could save themselves? I would like to know what happened that these men are in the boat together. Its clear their ship got wrecked, but why are these people in the boat together? What made these individuals get into the boat together? Are they the only survivors?

The Story of an Hour

This story was only two pages long, but it evoked such strong emotion from me! When Chopin describes the emotions felt by Mrs. Mallard, I couldn't help but get upset. "There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul" (Chopin 267). This imagery is so precise I could see the old woman exhausted in the chair. I could see the physical and emotional exhaustion's toll on the poor old woman. Losing a loved one is one of the hardest things to deal with, especially a significant other. This reminds me of when my grandfather passed away. My grandmother was so exhausted from the news my father had to carry her to bed because she could not move. One thing in the story that confused me was Chopin's description of Mrs. Mallard's love for her husband. She said said, "And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not" (268). Why did she only love him sometimes? What happened that affected her love for her husband? I wonder if Chopin is just making a statement about marriage. Marriage is something you have to work at and it may not always be great all the time. Or maybe Chopin is literally hinting at a problem in the Mallard's marriage. I was also taken back by the statement "life might be long" (268). This statement got me so upset. The woman realizes now that life without her husband will seem a lot longer than she anticipated.

Second Life/Avitars

In Second Life I chose my avatars name to be StephKate Akina. My first name was simply the nickname of my first name and my middle name combined. I really couldn't tell you why I picked Akina for my last name besides I thought it was such a beautiful name! It was one of the first one's I saw and I had to have it. Its kind of strange to be a "default" shape. It makes me want to question why does the default of a woman look like this? Why is she a brunette? Why does she have a fit body? I guess I cannot complain about having such a perfect body, but I wouldn't even mind looking the complete opposite. I'm actually at a point in my life where I'm somewhat ok with my body so taking on whatever the default shape is really isn't that big of a deal I guess. The only thing I would really want to change is the hair color to blond because I am a blond!! Now I think maybe it would have been cool to make my avatar a man. I always joke that I would love to be a man for a day and I could have lived this desire through my avatar. The only good thing about Second Life is you don't know who the person is behind the avatar so you really can't (well shouldn't) judge the person based on what their avatar looks like. They could look like some demon, but have the most intelligent things to say. I don't really care if anyone knows who I am in Second Life. I haven't told anyone my avitar's name, but to me it doesn't matter either way. Maybe with the avatar I will have conversations with people I never would have before and maybe I won't think twice about saying certain things. This can be a great thing about Second Life. You can hide behind this avatar in a way. By using the avatar you can explore different ideas that you would normally be nervous doing so in "the real world."