Marco’s Comments (group member since Oct 05, 2015)

Marco’s comments from the Forms of Literature (Keating's Goodreads Discussion forum) group.

The stories, "I Stand Here Ironing" and, "Everyday Use" examine the relationships between a mother and a daughter. While in "Everyday Use", the daughter, Dee, is actually very fond of her families heritage, it seems that she isn't as connected to it as is her sister Maggie. Thus, we are given a slight indication that although Dee does have respect for her families heritage, she isn't as a part of it, saying that she will just hang the quilts and never use them, while Maggie would probably put them to everyday use. Furthermore, Dee goes on to tell her own mother she doesn't understand her heritage, as if she wasn't brought up the same way under the same culture. In comparison with, "I Stand Here Ironing", the mother's main focus was not to care for her daughter, but to keep her family alive and healthy by working. Thus, it conveys an emotional detachment between Emily and her mother. This detachment is caused by the mother's lack of presence in, "I Stand Here Ironing." While in, "Everyday Use", the detachment is formed by Dee herself, and her embarrassment of her family. The values are different from one another, as in I Stand Here Ironing's values are more economical, while Everyday Use's values are more about heritage.

In the story, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" we are shown the three brothers Mabel has. In describing the brothers, we are giving characteristics of them. One symbol I found very interesting is their moustache. In introducing the brothers, the author first starts off with Joe, the oldest, and says how he is, "broad and handsome" and explains how he, "twisted his black moustache over a thick finger...". By saying, "twisted his black moustache" it may symbolize perhaps how stubborn and aggresive Joe might be. In comparison with Fred Henry, the middle child, which is descriped as, "If he was an animal, like Joe, he was an animal that controls, not one which is controlled." The author writes, "He pushed his course moustache upwards, off his lip..." symbolizing exactly what was mentioned before in how he is who is in controll and is further shown by going against his moustache, and not with it. Finally we are introduced to Malcolm and we are told that, "He was the baby of the family, a young man of twenty-two, with a fresh jounty, museau". This means that Malcolm actually has no hair, symbolizing how young and immature he is, since a moustache typically represents a man, which Malcolm may not be.

Before going to war Krebs was a fratboy attending a Methodist church surrounded by his fraternity brothers. However, once enlisted in the army and returning home, he felt distant throughout his society all-together. Throughout the story, we are given simple sentences that may be in relation to how the overall personality of Harold is. An exapmle of simple and direct sentences we are given would be, "He liked the pattern. It was exciting" and, "That was a lie. It was a lie both ways." Here, Hemingway decides to use two sentences to pretty much say the same thing, allowing us to think this is how the thought process is for Kreg. When Kreg is speaking to his sister, she is asking him quite a few questions, which Kreg responds with, "Sure" and, "Maybe." I believe that the author uses simple sentences to allow us to see how perhaps Kregs thought process would be.

Alvaro wrote: "There are a number of isolations suggested by the story "A Jury of Her Peers". The first type of isolation that is presented in the story is a physical isolation. This is when the narrator describe..."
I agree with you Alvaro when you say that the writer used both an internal and external way to show that Mrs. Wright was in an isolated state. With being far away from most people, to being like the bird she owned, Mrs. Wright was isolated in more than one way as you mentioned.

Leslie wrote: "In this week's video Mary Helen Washington discusses the idea of isolation in which Susan Glaspell incorporates in her story "A Jury of Her Peers". Throughout the story, Glaspell gives off a sense ..."
I agree with you Leslie that due to Mrs. Wrights isolation her personality has changed all together. From singing in the choir to turning into a very isolated women, it may have been all "due to the isolation she had to endure from her home and husband" as you stated in your discussion.

In "A Jury of Her Peers" we are introduced to the Wrights home as a very, "lone-some looking place". This gives the place an isolated and gloomy setting for the Wrights don't live close to other people as the story states, "it's down in a hollow, and you don't see the road". Because of this, Mrs. Wright is actually seperated from most of society perhaps because of her husband. This strikes Mrs. Hale as completly off-putting for when she was Minnie Foster, she was completely different, as Mrs. Hale thinks, "that rocker didn't look in the least like Minnie Foster--the Minnie Foster of twenty years before". Furthermore, Mrs. Hale regrets not coming to visit Mrs. Wright often, but states that, "it never seemed a very cheerful place". Stating that their home is in fact very isolated and isn't inviting for anyone to visit despite Mrs. Hale's likeness towards Mrs. Wright. Lastly, the two women connect the bird Mrs. Wright had, to Mrs. Wright herself. Stating, "...she was kind of a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty,but kind of timid and--fluttery. How--she--did--change." This suggest that due to the isolation Mrs. Wright had, like what the bird experienced in the cage, changed Mrs. Wright as a person overall.

At the beggining of the story of, "I Stand Here Ironing" we are told that Emily is in fact a flat character. This is because we are told that Emily is a rather depressed an lonely child, wishing to look like her sister Susan. However, as the story progresses, we see that Emily is added more personal traits, one being her talent in comedy. This allows Emily to become a rather rounder character, by showing us that there is more to Emily than a lonely child.