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The State
Unknown Binding
First published March 26, 2018
1 person is currently reading
1550 people want to read
About the author
Tommy Orange
21 books5,141 followersTommy Orange is a recent graduate from the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. He is a 2014 MacDowell Fellow, and a 2016 Writing by Writers Fellow. He is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. He was born and raised in Oakland, California, and currently lives in Angels Camp, California.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 29, 2018
Not so much short story as a chapter excerpted from the novel There There, & published shortly before the book (as a teaser?). I read it in context of the whole book, where it works well as 1 of many POVs (this is the only part of the novel written in 2nd-person). I'm not sure how well it would stand alone, but it's an interesting part of an amazing whole. :-)
April 7, 2019
Devastating, beautiful. Orange crafted a character who might be inaccessible, so different (gender, ethnicity, age, socio-economic) from me and yet I can so relate. And the language! It is near poetry. It is daring and unconventional and is one of those stories that just totally caught me and enraptured me.
March 22, 2021
Brown Arms, White Legs: A Review of The State
We all yearn to know ourselves, to know our place in this world, the commonly coined term is "finding yourself". As we grow and age we struggle through both vices and blessings all the while feeling like a fish out of water flopping around gasping for breath, just wanting the rollercoaster of life to finally fade into a steady peaceful pulse that echoes our hearts. Some of us live in this vacuum of unease and disconnect that echoes with silence. For an instant as I read "The State" I felt a steady rhythm, like a drum beat, break through the white noise in my head and lead me down a path of self-discovery.
"The State" immediately captures the reader's attention with an immersive second-person narrative as the main character Thomas retells splashes of memories of the life that built him, "You were finding out that everything made a sound. Everything could be drumming, whether the rhythm was kept or it strayed. Even gunshots and backfire, the howl of trains at night, the wind against your windows. The world was made of sound," (Orange). This second-person narrative further illustrates Thomas' struggle with identity, even to the point where he doesn't even use personal pronouns to narrate his own life, coupled with short rhythmic sentences that flow together and seem to imitate Thomas' drumming or knocking and isolation, "But there was too much going on with everyone else in your family for anyone to notice that you should probably have done something else with your fingers and toes than tap, with your mind and time than knock at all the surfaces in your life like you were looking for a way in," (Orange).
Thomas further illustrates his struggle to belong as a bi-racial American torn between his Caucasian mother and Native-American father. Raised between two worlds, two traditions, two ideologies, two religions, with one side more readily accepted by society while the other side being almost "alien"; a part of him and yet never coming naturally. The war within Thomas on identity even affects his skin as he feels too light to be Native American but too dark to be Caucasian and both the positive and negative feelings he has regarding his diverse heritage, "As for your mom's side, as for your whiteness, there's too much and not enough there to know what to do with. You're both and neither. In the bath, you'd stare at your brown arms against your white legs in the water and wonder what they were doing together on the same body, in the same bathtub," (Orange).
While not a perfect read "The State", a single chapter from the novel There There by budding author Tommy Orange, is a beautiful story that does not disappoint the reader and holds more and more discoveries with each reading. From Thomas' confusion in where he belonged in a broken biracial family, to his feelings of isolation by his family who failed to see his need to belong. This short story is set to the heartbeat of a bi-racial Native American man who feels out of place with the world around him, it is filled with both sorrow and hope in the eventual understanding that no matter what you do there is a place for you somewhere. It's a message reaches anyone, regardless of background or ethnicity, as we all claw our way through life seeking and searching for that place, our place, the place where we belong, where we find our identity, the place the author calls, "The State".
We all yearn to know ourselves, to know our place in this world, the commonly coined term is "finding yourself". As we grow and age we struggle through both vices and blessings all the while feeling like a fish out of water flopping around gasping for breath, just wanting the rollercoaster of life to finally fade into a steady peaceful pulse that echoes our hearts. Some of us live in this vacuum of unease and disconnect that echoes with silence. For an instant as I read "The State" I felt a steady rhythm, like a drum beat, break through the white noise in my head and lead me down a path of self-discovery.
"The State" immediately captures the reader's attention with an immersive second-person narrative as the main character Thomas retells splashes of memories of the life that built him, "You were finding out that everything made a sound. Everything could be drumming, whether the rhythm was kept or it strayed. Even gunshots and backfire, the howl of trains at night, the wind against your windows. The world was made of sound," (Orange). This second-person narrative further illustrates Thomas' struggle with identity, even to the point where he doesn't even use personal pronouns to narrate his own life, coupled with short rhythmic sentences that flow together and seem to imitate Thomas' drumming or knocking and isolation, "But there was too much going on with everyone else in your family for anyone to notice that you should probably have done something else with your fingers and toes than tap, with your mind and time than knock at all the surfaces in your life like you were looking for a way in," (Orange).
Thomas further illustrates his struggle to belong as a bi-racial American torn between his Caucasian mother and Native-American father. Raised between two worlds, two traditions, two ideologies, two religions, with one side more readily accepted by society while the other side being almost "alien"; a part of him and yet never coming naturally. The war within Thomas on identity even affects his skin as he feels too light to be Native American but too dark to be Caucasian and both the positive and negative feelings he has regarding his diverse heritage, "As for your mom's side, as for your whiteness, there's too much and not enough there to know what to do with. You're both and neither. In the bath, you'd stare at your brown arms against your white legs in the water and wonder what they were doing together on the same body, in the same bathtub," (Orange).
While not a perfect read "The State", a single chapter from the novel There There by budding author Tommy Orange, is a beautiful story that does not disappoint the reader and holds more and more discoveries with each reading. From Thomas' confusion in where he belonged in a broken biracial family, to his feelings of isolation by his family who failed to see his need to belong. This short story is set to the heartbeat of a bi-racial Native American man who feels out of place with the world around him, it is filled with both sorrow and hope in the eventual understanding that no matter what you do there is a place for you somewhere. It's a message reaches anyone, regardless of background or ethnicity, as we all claw our way through life seeking and searching for that place, our place, the place where we belong, where we find our identity, the place the author calls, "The State".
October 26, 2022
Sound as Symbolism: An Analysis of “The State” by Tommy Orange
We were each born into a world of sound. The cacophony of noise that surrounds us daily is not always noticed; nevertheless, it is present almost everywhere we go. As we grow up, we learn ways to ignore it, to relocate it to the background, but for some of us, its beat never fades away. Instead, like a heartbeat, it adds a further layer of dimension to the rhythm which already beats within our chests. This type of noise is both a blessing and a curse. Like a drug to an addict, it can act as a salve, but too much of it and it causes an overdose. It has the ability to make a person both seen and utterly invisible. In “The State” by Tommy Orange, the symbolism of sound presents an analogy between the feeling of being invisible and a desire to be seen.
The first mention of sound comes from the narrator’s parents listening to his heartbeat out of time before he was born. It isn’t a defect, though, despite what the doctor said, and his dad wonders briefly if “maybe he’s a drummer” (Orange 1) to which he later adds that his arrhythmic heartbeat could be because “he knows the rhythm so good he doesn’t always hit when you expect him to” (Orange 2). This suggestion by his father lays the foundation for Orange’s sonata to follow. It implies that despite being “off-rhythm” to the rest of the world, internally, his heartbeat drummed normally. As he grows, he is “finding out that everything made a sound. Everything could be drumming, whether the rhythm was kept or it strayed. Even the gunshots and backfire, the howl of trains at night, the wind against your windows. The world was made of sound,” (Orange 2).
The curse of living a life full of constant noise like this is that “inside every kind of sound lurked a sadness” (Orange 2). Throughout the story, he constantly straddles the line between silence and noise. In shutting the world off to listen to his own rhythm, he often detaches himself from the reality around him. In his job as a janitor he wears earphones believing that “no one wants to talk to the guy cleaning up. The earphones are an additional service. People don’t have to pretend to be interested in [him] because they feel bad that [he’s] taking their trash out from under their desk and giving them a fresh bag,” (Orange 3). He chooses to opt for silence at the cost of shutting himself off from the people around him. In silence, he believes, there can be no pain but at the same time, there isn’t any meaning. His first experience with the powwow demonstrates what happens when he finally allows himself to become reacquainted with the sound of others. For the first time, he hears “old songs that sang to the old sadness that [he] always kept as close as skin, without meaning to”. He describes this as “the sound of pain forgetting itself in song” and it makes him continue to come back “every Tuesday for the next year” (Orange 4). This demonstrates the healing power of music. By being given a voice, it allows him to slowly reveal himself and move away from his own rhythm to harmonizing with many.
Being reintroduced to sound is a pivotal point in the story, but sound was always more of a variable subject to miscalculation than a constant. With too much noise, new challenges arrive at the prospect of feeling completely seen. Suddenly everyone in Oakland can see him for what he fears he is “one of [those] big, lumbering Indians. Six feet, two-thirty, chip on [his] shoulder so heavy it makes [him] lean, makes everyone see [him], [his] weight, what [he carries],” (Orange 7). Now, having allowed himself to begin listening once more, he is suddenly much more self-conscious. Struggling with his identity and the space he occupies, blocking out the sound before was his only respite. Bobby, a member of his drum group tries to convince him of the valuable addition his voice adds to the larger group. “Voice can take a long time to come all the way out, brother,” (Orange 5). Although the visibility that sound brings feels foreign to him, Bobby urges him to “be patient,” (Orange 5), reasoning with him to give it more time.
The story ultimately crescendos with him feeling too seen. By increasingly taking greater risks to reveal himself –dropping his former crutches of silence, drinking to the point of achieving “the State” –all of his defenses have been dropped by the time his cadenza moment occurs. In it, all at once, he is utterly visible to everyone. “[He] crushed the bat in [his] hands. Blood and thin bones and teeth in a mess in [his] hands. [He] threw it down,” (Orange 11). In a mixture of confusion and terror at what he’s just done, he imagines that “[He] would mop it up quick. Wipe clean the whole day. Start over again. But no. The whole powwow committee was there. They’d come out to watch [him] catch the bat after [he’d] chased the thing into their meeting. They looked at [him] with disgust. [He] felt it, too. It was on [his] hands. On the floor. That creature,” (Orange 11). The bat presents an analogy between feeling invisible and a desire to be seen. Like him, the bat is a creature that would otherwise go unnoticed unless placed in a situation where it was given space to be seen and heard. Motivated by his desire to finally be noticed, yet forever walking the tightrope between that and concealment, his impulsive decision to crush the bat allows him to fully reveal himself.
Struggling to pick up the shards of his broken identity and his shattered confidence after exposing himself, “The State” by Tommy Orange is ultimately a story about the ability to straddle more than one opposing way of being. He was never really broken because he was never fully whole, to begin with. Instead, by accepting that he can be more than one thing, it allows him to experience the many rhythms in his life. So much color is left out when the world is viewed as black and white - visible or invisible, silent or full of sound, Indian or White. We were each brought into the world with the ability to hear, so why not choose to listen? Why opt for silence when there’s so much to be said? And why, like he ultimately learns, choose to stay invisible when you could instead live proudly?
We were each born into a world of sound. The cacophony of noise that surrounds us daily is not always noticed; nevertheless, it is present almost everywhere we go. As we grow up, we learn ways to ignore it, to relocate it to the background, but for some of us, its beat never fades away. Instead, like a heartbeat, it adds a further layer of dimension to the rhythm which already beats within our chests. This type of noise is both a blessing and a curse. Like a drug to an addict, it can act as a salve, but too much of it and it causes an overdose. It has the ability to make a person both seen and utterly invisible. In “The State” by Tommy Orange, the symbolism of sound presents an analogy between the feeling of being invisible and a desire to be seen.
The first mention of sound comes from the narrator’s parents listening to his heartbeat out of time before he was born. It isn’t a defect, though, despite what the doctor said, and his dad wonders briefly if “maybe he’s a drummer” (Orange 1) to which he later adds that his arrhythmic heartbeat could be because “he knows the rhythm so good he doesn’t always hit when you expect him to” (Orange 2). This suggestion by his father lays the foundation for Orange’s sonata to follow. It implies that despite being “off-rhythm” to the rest of the world, internally, his heartbeat drummed normally. As he grows, he is “finding out that everything made a sound. Everything could be drumming, whether the rhythm was kept or it strayed. Even the gunshots and backfire, the howl of trains at night, the wind against your windows. The world was made of sound,” (Orange 2).
The curse of living a life full of constant noise like this is that “inside every kind of sound lurked a sadness” (Orange 2). Throughout the story, he constantly straddles the line between silence and noise. In shutting the world off to listen to his own rhythm, he often detaches himself from the reality around him. In his job as a janitor he wears earphones believing that “no one wants to talk to the guy cleaning up. The earphones are an additional service. People don’t have to pretend to be interested in [him] because they feel bad that [he’s] taking their trash out from under their desk and giving them a fresh bag,” (Orange 3). He chooses to opt for silence at the cost of shutting himself off from the people around him. In silence, he believes, there can be no pain but at the same time, there isn’t any meaning. His first experience with the powwow demonstrates what happens when he finally allows himself to become reacquainted with the sound of others. For the first time, he hears “old songs that sang to the old sadness that [he] always kept as close as skin, without meaning to”. He describes this as “the sound of pain forgetting itself in song” and it makes him continue to come back “every Tuesday for the next year” (Orange 4). This demonstrates the healing power of music. By being given a voice, it allows him to slowly reveal himself and move away from his own rhythm to harmonizing with many.
Being reintroduced to sound is a pivotal point in the story, but sound was always more of a variable subject to miscalculation than a constant. With too much noise, new challenges arrive at the prospect of feeling completely seen. Suddenly everyone in Oakland can see him for what he fears he is “one of [those] big, lumbering Indians. Six feet, two-thirty, chip on [his] shoulder so heavy it makes [him] lean, makes everyone see [him], [his] weight, what [he carries],” (Orange 7). Now, having allowed himself to begin listening once more, he is suddenly much more self-conscious. Struggling with his identity and the space he occupies, blocking out the sound before was his only respite. Bobby, a member of his drum group tries to convince him of the valuable addition his voice adds to the larger group. “Voice can take a long time to come all the way out, brother,” (Orange 5). Although the visibility that sound brings feels foreign to him, Bobby urges him to “be patient,” (Orange 5), reasoning with him to give it more time.
The story ultimately crescendos with him feeling too seen. By increasingly taking greater risks to reveal himself –dropping his former crutches of silence, drinking to the point of achieving “the State” –all of his defenses have been dropped by the time his cadenza moment occurs. In it, all at once, he is utterly visible to everyone. “[He] crushed the bat in [his] hands. Blood and thin bones and teeth in a mess in [his] hands. [He] threw it down,” (Orange 11). In a mixture of confusion and terror at what he’s just done, he imagines that “[He] would mop it up quick. Wipe clean the whole day. Start over again. But no. The whole powwow committee was there. They’d come out to watch [him] catch the bat after [he’d] chased the thing into their meeting. They looked at [him] with disgust. [He] felt it, too. It was on [his] hands. On the floor. That creature,” (Orange 11). The bat presents an analogy between feeling invisible and a desire to be seen. Like him, the bat is a creature that would otherwise go unnoticed unless placed in a situation where it was given space to be seen and heard. Motivated by his desire to finally be noticed, yet forever walking the tightrope between that and concealment, his impulsive decision to crush the bat allows him to fully reveal himself.
Struggling to pick up the shards of his broken identity and his shattered confidence after exposing himself, “The State” by Tommy Orange is ultimately a story about the ability to straddle more than one opposing way of being. He was never really broken because he was never fully whole, to begin with. Instead, by accepting that he can be more than one thing, it allows him to experience the many rhythms in his life. So much color is left out when the world is viewed as black and white - visible or invisible, silent or full of sound, Indian or White. We were each brought into the world with the ability to hear, so why not choose to listen? Why opt for silence when there’s so much to be said? And why, like he ultimately learns, choose to stay invisible when you could instead live proudly?
October 12, 2021
The short story "the state," written by Tommy Orange, talks about feelings, problems, and how music is a passion, and the story creates emotional feelings, which has to do with parents and moving to states. This short story teaches us about life, ourselves, and others. Storytelling is a beautiful opportunity for students to understand better, tolerate, and appreciate various cultures and establish a positive mindset toward individuals of all races, beliefs, and backgrounds. Tommy Orange's story "The State" transports you to another world full of pain and demonstrates how music can make a significant difference in your life. Life can be difficult at times, as evidenced by the writing of Oranges. According to this short story, music has been demonstrated to reduce anxiety, heart rate, stress, quality of sleep, attitude, mental clarity, and memory. Through biographical experiences, music can elicit favorable solid feelings. This short story made an impact because it can influence sickness, sadness, spending, creativity, and our outlook on life. This story stood out for me mainly because I stress a lot, and I tend to find music helpful, especially some of the lyrics, which makes me relax and listen to it. I chose this story because I found it very interesting how the boy tends to go through many things, and then he solves his life and puts it all together, and you can also feel his struggle. The narrator, the main character in the story, is always a music enthusiast. Even as a child, his parents began to observe how he would incorporate music into every aspect of his life. Music helped him get through difficult times in his life, and once he recognized how much it helped him, he began to listen to music constantly.
Many individuals have complicated lives, and we all struggle at some point, but at the end of the day, you're dealing with it, and how being hurt can drive you to learn your lesson is crucial to the story "the state." Individuals may be both helpful and terrifying, according to this story. He was able to overcome all of his life's challenges with the help of music. The man finds himself and perseveres, proving that everything is possible. Discuss how different types of music appeal to other people. This narrative is about a guy who lives with his parents, the difficulties he has in relocating out of state, and the hard work they put in at their occupations. It talks about how you could think you're dreaming, but you're awake, and it's not pleasant. Many emotional moments in this story make you sad about what they are going through.
Louder music might help you concentrate and feel more awake. Upbeat music may improve your mood and make you feel more optimistic about life. Slower music can help you unwind and relax to think more clearly. Calm your muscles, making you feel calmer and letting go of the day's tension. He came across music because he realized it would help him release the pain of his parent's separation. Music can help you calm and relax a bit of emotion. The boy in "the state," a short story, goes through a period of sadness. He believes that no one loves him. So he decided to pray to avoid being anxious and experience how praying connects you to God and makes you feel less fearful. He claims, for example, that crying is bad for you, that family can make you unhappy, that any troubles can make you sad, and that he constantly remembers the events. The parents are going through a divorce, and the boy appears to be closer to his mother. "You feel a rush of sadness for your mom and her failed attempt to make you believe, for your failed family," says the author. The boy's emotions are that he wants to cry and feels compelled to do so, but he can't. And memories of his mother and family at various points in his life keep coming flooding back. This can be connected because, At first, music may conjure up memories of despair. Music, on the other hand, can elicit happy and humorous memories. Music has also been connected to the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter implicated in mood regulation and seeking behavior, which appears to anticipate music's propensity to make us happy. Music seems to make people feel comfortable and connect with people, especially when we generate music ourselves.
In conclusion, the short story "the state" reflects how music reduces anxiety and tension in teenagers and aids with emotional regulation. Many individuals, in my opinion, may connect to this short story because we all utilize music to help us at some point. Music can lift someone's spirits, stimulate them, or soothe and rest them. Therefore, music helps people feel almost or potentially all of the emotions we encounter in our lives, which is crucial. The options are limitless. It's a significant part of their lives, and it satisfies a want or needs to make music. Music can elicit emotions in the listener. Also, at a certain point in time, we all have family issues, and some of our parents move out, and you feel closer to one parent than the other. This can make us unhappy because we miss how things used to be, and we may feel compelled to cry to let go of everything.
Many individuals have complicated lives, and we all struggle at some point, but at the end of the day, you're dealing with it, and how being hurt can drive you to learn your lesson is crucial to the story "the state." Individuals may be both helpful and terrifying, according to this story. He was able to overcome all of his life's challenges with the help of music. The man finds himself and perseveres, proving that everything is possible. Discuss how different types of music appeal to other people. This narrative is about a guy who lives with his parents, the difficulties he has in relocating out of state, and the hard work they put in at their occupations. It talks about how you could think you're dreaming, but you're awake, and it's not pleasant. Many emotional moments in this story make you sad about what they are going through.
Louder music might help you concentrate and feel more awake. Upbeat music may improve your mood and make you feel more optimistic about life. Slower music can help you unwind and relax to think more clearly. Calm your muscles, making you feel calmer and letting go of the day's tension. He came across music because he realized it would help him release the pain of his parent's separation. Music can help you calm and relax a bit of emotion. The boy in "the state," a short story, goes through a period of sadness. He believes that no one loves him. So he decided to pray to avoid being anxious and experience how praying connects you to God and makes you feel less fearful. He claims, for example, that crying is bad for you, that family can make you unhappy, that any troubles can make you sad, and that he constantly remembers the events. The parents are going through a divorce, and the boy appears to be closer to his mother. "You feel a rush of sadness for your mom and her failed attempt to make you believe, for your failed family," says the author. The boy's emotions are that he wants to cry and feels compelled to do so, but he can't. And memories of his mother and family at various points in his life keep coming flooding back. This can be connected because, At first, music may conjure up memories of despair. Music, on the other hand, can elicit happy and humorous memories. Music has also been connected to the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter implicated in mood regulation and seeking behavior, which appears to anticipate music's propensity to make us happy. Music seems to make people feel comfortable and connect with people, especially when we generate music ourselves.
In conclusion, the short story "the state" reflects how music reduces anxiety and tension in teenagers and aids with emotional regulation. Many individuals, in my opinion, may connect to this short story because we all utilize music to help us at some point. Music can lift someone's spirits, stimulate them, or soothe and rest them. Therefore, music helps people feel almost or potentially all of the emotions we encounter in our lives, which is crucial. The options are limitless. It's a significant part of their lives, and it satisfies a want or needs to make music. Music can elicit emotions in the listener. Also, at a certain point in time, we all have family issues, and some of our parents move out, and you feel closer to one parent than the other. This can make us unhappy because we miss how things used to be, and we may feel compelled to cry to let go of everything.
March 23, 2021
Taking One’s Life Back Through Music: A Review of the State
In the story, ”The State”, by Tommy Orange, It takes you into another world full of sadness and how music can help so much in your life. Life can definitely be hard at times, which is shown through oranges writing. The main character in the story, The narrator, is always a lover of music. Even when he was younger his parents started to notice how he would apply music to everything in his life. Music would help him through the rough times in his life and once he realized how much it helped him, he started to listen to it all the time.
I believe a lot of people can relate to this story because everyone can have bad, stressful, and overwhelming days, but music can be very helpful in expressing emotions, not feeling alone, and acts as an escape goat from reality. music can help express happiness, sadness, or even wanting to calm down. a lot of people rely on music to help live their life and express themselves with all the different genres. Music can take someone into a different world and relieve the hardship in life. The boy in the story uses music in this way to escape his reality. The art of music can help remind themselves of someone, something, or place that can make you feel some type of way. Within the three minutes of a song anyone can forget all the hardships, stress, and sadness in their life. The beats of a song can differentiate making it uplifting, energized, excited, and sad. This is the foundation of a song and can make what the listener relates to the words more.
The boy loved music so much and felt a connection with it even when he was in his mom's stomach. He would kick beats in the stomach of the mother, which shows his knack for the music industry. This story can relate to many people because music has been around for so long and allows everyone to connect. The boy in the story suffers greatly and the only way he's able to relax or take himself from the suffering, that is his life, is to express himself through different melodies. He believed that music was all around him, but it all contained some sort of sadness with each sound. The need for him to listen to the pieces was led by a feeling of protection.
He felt that if you listened to music he would be able to protect himself from the world and anything that could harm him. Negativity kind of took over his wife and he thought he wasn't good enough. He believed that the world was slowly breaking down and people took advantage of it. For example, with the thought of global warming, he would get upset with how women would use Aquanet for their hair or just the arrogance of people in general. The boy gets aggravated with people who are entitled and don't belong, which is caused by him being uncertain of who he really is. He is Indian, but also half white and that made him very confused because he quoted in the story,” You’re from a people who took and took and took and took and from the people taken. You’re both and neither.” Which shows his confusion with himself. He doesn't know how he can be one but also the other and how it can be in the same body.
His life as a whole was a bit traumatizing and it affected his life trumendously. He starts to question why he didn't experience more of his Indian culture and what it involves. Through all the troubles of his life, music helped him overcome them. The man finds himself and persevered, which shows that anything is possible. There’s always a new tomorrow and the story is an example of that.
In the story, ”The State”, by Tommy Orange, It takes you into another world full of sadness and how music can help so much in your life. Life can definitely be hard at times, which is shown through oranges writing. The main character in the story, The narrator, is always a lover of music. Even when he was younger his parents started to notice how he would apply music to everything in his life. Music would help him through the rough times in his life and once he realized how much it helped him, he started to listen to it all the time.
I believe a lot of people can relate to this story because everyone can have bad, stressful, and overwhelming days, but music can be very helpful in expressing emotions, not feeling alone, and acts as an escape goat from reality. music can help express happiness, sadness, or even wanting to calm down. a lot of people rely on music to help live their life and express themselves with all the different genres. Music can take someone into a different world and relieve the hardship in life. The boy in the story uses music in this way to escape his reality. The art of music can help remind themselves of someone, something, or place that can make you feel some type of way. Within the three minutes of a song anyone can forget all the hardships, stress, and sadness in their life. The beats of a song can differentiate making it uplifting, energized, excited, and sad. This is the foundation of a song and can make what the listener relates to the words more.
The boy loved music so much and felt a connection with it even when he was in his mom's stomach. He would kick beats in the stomach of the mother, which shows his knack for the music industry. This story can relate to many people because music has been around for so long and allows everyone to connect. The boy in the story suffers greatly and the only way he's able to relax or take himself from the suffering, that is his life, is to express himself through different melodies. He believed that music was all around him, but it all contained some sort of sadness with each sound. The need for him to listen to the pieces was led by a feeling of protection.
He felt that if you listened to music he would be able to protect himself from the world and anything that could harm him. Negativity kind of took over his wife and he thought he wasn't good enough. He believed that the world was slowly breaking down and people took advantage of it. For example, with the thought of global warming, he would get upset with how women would use Aquanet for their hair or just the arrogance of people in general. The boy gets aggravated with people who are entitled and don't belong, which is caused by him being uncertain of who he really is. He is Indian, but also half white and that made him very confused because he quoted in the story,” You’re from a people who took and took and took and took and from the people taken. You’re both and neither.” Which shows his confusion with himself. He doesn't know how he can be one but also the other and how it can be in the same body.
His life as a whole was a bit traumatizing and it affected his life trumendously. He starts to question why he didn't experience more of his Indian culture and what it involves. Through all the troubles of his life, music helped him overcome them. The man finds himself and persevered, which shows that anything is possible. There’s always a new tomorrow and the story is an example of that.
January 21, 2023
This was a really interesting read that made really good use of second person. I felt the description of hitting things and listening to the sounds they made. I found myself being able to empathize better with the character, which was likely because it was in second person and very unfiltered. The usage of "you" fits the stream of consciousness vibe (switching from janitor to DC to janitor abruptly). Feels like you're recalling all these loose memories in rapid succession, like a mind would work. Although, it's well done in my opinion because it comes back to thoughts and I never feel like I missed out. For example, being fired is mentioned at the beginning, but not brought up until the end. "You" address the reader & calls them out for not taking action for change. It's supposed to make the reader uncomfortable and question how maybe being in The State isn't working for everyone.
December 30, 2021
Ah, this is from his book There There! Or this came first...
I love this quote: Most addictions aren’t premeditated.
So very true...
I love this quote: Most addictions aren’t premeditated.
So very true...
December 11, 2019
This is mind-blowingly beautiful. If you like the luscious language and imagery of Karen Russell (Vampires in the Lemon Grove), you might give this story a try.
February 11, 2022
The title refers to the state of drunkenness, or a specific state of drunkenness, the state for short.
Read
August 23, 2023Its start flowing as poem agd one and contoniu to make silnis in the end why cant fllow in same reham as music liyric.its end violancy in the end.
Read
November 1, 2023for english lit 🙊
January 28, 2020
I read it, re-read it, printed it, read it out loud, read it on the bus...
...and I'm going to come back to this review and revise what I've written because I'm still processing.
The sentences feel like music, lyrical without sounding forced, the words flow in a way that truly moves. I've seen other reviews mention how this feels incomplete, like an excerpt, and technically yes, it is, but it is far from incomplete. Having read both now and spaced them out over a couple of weeks, this works as a beautiful standalone.
And to the author - bravo. Your work is stunning.
...and I'm going to come back to this review and revise what I've written because I'm still processing.
The sentences feel like music, lyrical without sounding forced, the words flow in a way that truly moves. I've seen other reviews mention how this feels incomplete, like an excerpt, and technically yes, it is, but it is far from incomplete. Having read both now and spaced them out over a couple of weeks, this works as a beautiful standalone.
And to the author - bravo. Your work is stunning.
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