SQ response

“He used to say, “ Once you know what you’re doing, the only thing you need to think about is how to do it.” I believe that is deeply true.”

            This story was different. I think that its an original idea to create a post-modern world where mental health is being perfected, and I think the author captures what this world might be like quite well. My opinion on this world and the world we live in today is that everyone is a bizarre in their own sense. If people weren’t interested and passionate about bizarre things the whole world would be grey. The people that are interested in something out of the ordinary is what makes them sane.

            I find this quote intriguing because it manages to mention the what and how of living, but it doesn't mention the why. There is always a reason why someone does something. And if the why of the equation isn’t strong enough to that person then they will lose interest and stop doing what they are doing. To elaborate on this story, I don't know why people where failing this test, or what for that matter was even on the test. Most people are sane in a very unique way. The world is filled with millions of toys, gadgets, books, culture, music, and religion, that one person from one side of the world might say to a person from a different culture who listen’s to different types of music and reads different literature, and say “You are crazy”. However that person is doing may seem completely normal to them. It is what that person believes to be cool, true, or normal.

            In this story there is also the narrators motif of believing. The narrator talks a lot about belief. In the beginning the narrator says that she believes people need beliefs. What I find interesting about this is the connection that it has to the secretary running the world at the end of the story. The secretary is running a world that is basically empty, with most of the civilians in an asylum. She acts like running the world is easier than one might think, and I think that this connects to believing in something. I like to think that this is a metaphor for how everyone runs their own little world by believing in something that matters to them.

the most dangerous game played

“Maybe. But sometimes I think sailors have an extra sense that tells them when they are in danger. Sometimes

I think evil is a tangible thing--with wave lengths, just as sound and light have. An evil place can, so to speak,

broadcast vibrations of evil.”

I think this quote is interesting because Rainsford didn't know what the Casscus was talking about when he said that he was hunting something new.  He didn't have the slightest idea until the man went on about how what he was hunting was a creature with reason. I also think this quote is interesting because it doesn't really fit in with the story. After this quote is written there isn’t anything else that references evil in the story, besides that a man is hunting humans. It almost seems like this quote should belong in a horror story rather than a thriller like this one. So what does it mean?

My best guess is that this means that the theme of the story is how evil in the story is being hunted. This would mean that the humans in the story are evil and are being hunted because they are evil. But that contradicts the ending of the story—a man who began the game of hunting evil dies from that same evil. Although this could allude to the quote if you live by the sword you die by the sword. Meaning if you live to hunt evil, you will die from that same evil. If this story is anything like dying by the sword than this would make sense. Also if evil is tangible maybe it is released when hunting a human. In the bible it says that we are all born sinners, and although we have done nothing wrong we already have sinned. I can see how if the writer had this in mind maybe the wavelengths are the energy of the soul exiting the body.

Thinking on a more grounded level, I think that this story’s lesson is that a person gets what they have coming to them. At the end of the story the man knows he has lost and simply bows before being killed. This can project what happens when a person who knows they are in the wrong, yet still equipped with reason, will do when they are being killed.

reflection on Owl creek

Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him. In the code of military etiquette silence and fixity are forms of deference.”

            I don't know where to begin. But if I had to choose a place in the story, it would be this quote. I like this quote because it connects me to the author of the story. I understand what his definition of death is as it pertains to the story. I like to think that when the author wrote this story, their purpose was to write about how death reflects life and vice versa. The noun reflection means a fixing of thoughts on something. It is clear in the story that moments before this mean dies he has a reflection on his life. That reflection of his life is viewed as a journey where he makes it to his destination and is then killed. The manner in which his imagination brings him to the harsh reality that he is no longer alive alludes to a respectful notion, a notion that his beautiful wife will be waiting for him when he gets home.

            Everyone has hears the phrase there is a bright light when you die, and that your life flashes before your eyes. I like how the author sticks to this idea, but doesn't it in a way where it isn’t such a cliché. The author took great care in making sure that this story was realistic and poetic at the same time. Even the name of the bridge, Owl Creek Bridge, it's a name that made me think of a something very wise. Then of course there is great lines in this story that makes my mind flow smoothly, and can enjoy the sophistication of the vocabulary.

            The last thought I had pertains to fear. I enjoyed reading a story about death that didn't have to do a lot with fear. I think its safe to say that most people are afraid of dyeing, and if that's true what does that say about life? Does it mean that people are afraid to live? This story really makes me believe that death isn’t something to be fear, just respected. Just as life is to be respected so is death.

Story of an hour response

When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"

            This is not the first time that I have read this story. I have read it once before for my EN102 class. Now having a chance to reread it, I have a different perspective on what I think the story means. I think the theme of the story is that we are all trapped in some way, shape, or form. In this case bending to the will of her husband traps the main character of the story. I chose this quote because it is a great description of what happens when that entrapment is released. The main character had a sense of abandonment from her self. I think this is a great line because freedom comes with a sense of abandonment. It reminds me of a little kid who is abandon at the zoo. Although the kid is lost and afraid, that kid is still wandering around looking at all of the different animals on his own, and is free.

            And although that kid is free, his parents at the end of the day find him. This correlates to the end of the story when Richard is waiting at the bottom of the stairs. She is no longer free from her husband. She is once again trapped. This makes me think on a bigger scale about freedom. When people say that they are free of something it normally relates to not having to deal with something ever again. That is, of course, until that thing comes back. Does freedom last forever? Or is freedom just an illusion of the mind that allows us to feel at ease.

            

Omelas

  This story reminded of a TV show called True Detective. There is an episode of this TV show called “A Dream”, and during that episode there is a scene when the main character talks about a locked room. He says “All your life, all your love, all of your hate, all of your memory, it was all the same thing. It was all the same dream. A dream that you had inside a locked room. A dream about being a person.” This alludes to the boy in that locked room, and how he had no understanding of time. He wasn't even a person. He was a symbol for the people of Omelas. So that they could live in happiness and not have to feel trapped by their society. And sure enough their were people that saw this boy and realized, “Hey maybe I don't have to live out this script like it was planned, maybe I will write my own life script and live it out.”

            The people that leave the society, all of em, they left on their own. They didn't go to their friends and say we gotta get out this place. No. That's not what writing your own script is about. “I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going. The people that walk away from Omelas.” What I think this means is that the people who stay in Omelas aren’t really living their own life. They are living what is planned out for them. The people that walk away are the ones who choose their own fate. They are the ones who aren’t going to live inside of a locked room, because in a way if all the people of Omelas live in happiness all the time, they aren’t actually happy.

            They think their happy but they don't know for sure. How does anyone know what happiness is without pain. And the irony of it is that the only thing that that 10 year old understands is pain, hunger, and darkness. That ten year old boy has no understanding of time because all he knows are these three things. The people on the outside, living in quote on quote happiness don't really know what happiness is. All they know is that its better than being in a locked room.

Saint and Phoenix review

       Of the two stories I enjoyed reading the Phoenix story. Although both stories had good content, I can appreciate the meaning of the Phoenix story. This may be because the meaning is clearer than the saint story, whatever the case, I like how the meaning behind the Phoenix story was about listening to  Thomas's story. One of my favorite lines in the story is the line about the Indians taking care of one another. It almost seemed like Victor forgot about his own culture and the story that Thomas told, reminded Victor of who he was. And I think thats the point of the story. Its about how stories have something to offer everybody. I also really like the ending of the story. Thomas, who was always telling stories, was the one to preach about how nothing stops. When the story fades to black and the only thing left is silence a new story pops into his head.
      Now the second story is less clear. I think that the part about humility is very interesting. Humility in the bible is about being humble and people are brought to humility through a remembrance of sins. In the story she doesnt remember being scalded by the kettle. But she knows that the pain kept her strong. When the pain went away she couldnt remember and she knew that it should have been the most important thing in the world to remember. Anther thing that I found interesting was the reference to dust in the story. Although this is just a guess I think what it means is that the more you know, the more you have to argue and fight for what you think is right. And there is no limit to standing up for you rights.

A tell-tale heart response

"It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. "

          This line implicates to the reader that the character in this story is going to have to solve his problem to stop thinking about this one idea in particular. I chose this line to analyze because of the irony this line brings to the story. This line also tells the reader how a conceived idea can make a person act irrationally. I also think that this line is important because the character doesn't know how his thoughts led up to this idea. I think the reason why this idea haunted this person is because the eye of the old man was a symbol for the all seeing eye. In reality it was just a regular eye, though, the character didn't perceive the eye this way. In his world this eye was that of a vulture, making the all seeing cynical.
            The idea of an all seeing eye bothered the main character, and as a result he had to destroy it. But destroying this old mans eye came with a price. This old man from what I understood from the story was a person just like anyone else, who had a soul. The soul in this story is represented as the heart of the old man. I think that this story is a metaphor for the connection of a persons soul and some type of all seeing eye. In this story the mans eye represented something bigger than himself, however he still has a soul. We all have souls and each persons soul is connected to a higher power. Thats why when the old man was killed his soul still lived on and it haunted the main character to the point of breaking down in front of the police. A persons soul can not be silenced, nor can the all seeing eye.