"The Outsider"

“The Outsider” by H.P. Lovecraft is a first person narrative story that depicts the sad life of a human being who is lost inside his own conscious and does not know anything of a normal life besides his dark surroundings. It does however strongly portray a very gothic style of a short story of a lonely man who hardly recognizes himself throughout his whole life. The narrator takes the role of a very lonely person who knows nothing but of his own life locked away in a dark, eerie, lonesome castle. His memories are quite vague and non-existent as if they had taken place along time ago, when he recalls being taken care of once by someone cared. The poor man has never even seen light outside the castle, nor has he even seen another human being beside himself. The only thing he knows outside of the castle is what he reads in his collection of moldy books, which line the walls of his castle. Yet the man is curious and is full of adventure and courage and wants to see what life is like outside of his lonesome castle. So he does the unthinkable and begins to explore the old staircases of the castle, which are nothing but new to him. After searching and crawling through various openings the man discovers the moon for the very first time. He quotes that "Their came to me the purest ecstasy I have ever known”, for the very first time he had seen the wilderness and the outside of his castle.
In complete awe the lonesome individual sought to explore the outside and what seemed to appear as an intriguing distant castle for it was "maddeningly familiar". As the narrarator left his own comfort zone of his own castle, he began to follow the moon towards the other familiar, yet distant castle. Once their the narrarator crawled through one of the open windows only to be awaited by several other human beings who began to scream in disbelief as if they had just seen a terrifying glimpse of an horrific being. In little disbelief the narrator realizes why he has been kept away in a dark castle his entire life. He feels the truth when he presses his fingertips against "the polished glass" and sees that the scary creature is his reflection is himself. Once “it” realizes that it was kept away for a reason it runs in back to its home to escape the torment. The main character then also understands that he can now ride with the "friendly ghouls", and accept his "new wilderness and freedom" and that he will always be an “outsider” to the rest of the world. That his life will continue be nothing more then it was before, which was unlimited moldy books and decaying castle walls.
In this short story I will use the convention known as point of view. Point of view is the position of the narrator in relation to the story, as indicated by the narrator's outlook from which the events are depicted and by the attitude toward the characters. The position of the narrator throughout the story in relation to it is that he does not know a single thing about himself. Not even at the end of the story does he understand his position when he is staring at his decaying self in the mirror. The narrator felt that by exploring his surroundings outside his comfort zone he might be able to start a new life. Having to stay in the castle for his entire life known is the relation to the character of the story. A being that has been kept away in darkness his entire life and is simply decaying and horrific looking cannot just expect life outside of there home to be welcoming. Therefore it is sad that narrator may never know anything outside the castle besides stories in dark moldy books that align a dark, lonesome castle.

"Allal" Close Reading

In this short story, the main character, Allal, grew up at a hotel where his mom gave birth to him and left him a few months later. When he was old enough to go to work in the town he was laughed at and called the “son of sin” because his mother had left him behind. He earned enough money to live in a small house where no one was nearby. One day in town he watched an older man struggle to gather up his snakes that he had dropped while the other townspeople yell at him that they don’t want snakes in their town and to get them out. Allal helped the man gather his snakes and offered for him to stay the night. While the man is sleeping, Allal lures one reddish-gold serpent, which he finds particularly beautiful, out of the sack with milk and kif paste and hides it outside. After the man leaves for the next town Allal trains the snake to come out whenever he wants it to. One night, he summons the snake again with milk and kif paste after he has also taken a few spoonfuls of the paste and washed it down with tea. By the time the kif paste had taken over Allal’s mind, the snake was rested between his head and shoulder so Allal fell asleep looking into the snake’s eyes. The next morning when he wakes up he realizes he switched bodies with the snake.

One paragraph that I found to be significant is on page 226-227, particularly when it says, “It seemed to him that in this way they hoped to make him into a shadow, in order to have to think of him as real and alive” (227). It seemed to Allal that by the townspeople calling him the “son of sin” and laughing at him would make him a shadow to them. A shadow is real, but also something that is just there. He was trying to go about his days unnoticed by being in town as little as possible and avoiding the townspeople as much as possible. Therefore, he turned into a shadow to the townspeople; he didn’t have a life to them, he was just there. This paragraph sets up Allal’s role in the town as an outsider and sets up perhaps why he agreed so easily to allow the man with the snakes to stay with him for the night. The man was also instantly out casted as much as Allal because he brought snakes into the town. In the end, when Allal switched bodies with the snake, he probably wanted to experience what it would be like to be someone else since he was made fun of and excluded from society almost his whole life.

Close Reading of "Allal"

In the story, Allal is a boy who was left behind by his mother as a baby. He grows up being an outcast. Everyone considers him a sin since his mother left him. As Allal himself says in paragraph 5 and page 227, they want to make him into a shadow so they don't have to recognize him as a person. I think him saying this has an important significance because on that same page in paragraph 7, Allal describes the snakes coming out of the bags as two dark forms. He's already kind of comparing himself to the snakes-he's a shadow and they're a dark form. This also illustrates the way the people view the snakes and him, as both being outcasts and not wanted into the town. Allal compares himself to the snakes without even knowing it, before he even has the idea of taking the one snake for his own. Having that subconscious connection right in the beginning of the story makes it easier to believe what happens at the end when he actually turns into the snake.

Allal

Allal is a story about a boy who lives his life as an outcast. He is known as the "son of sin" because he was born to a very young woman and abandoned at a young age. He grew up on his own and didn't have a family to live with. He feels more comfortable away from the people of the town and eventually moves to the outskirts of the village. At one point, Allal meets a man carrying a sack full of snakes around town. The man and Allal become friends when Allal helps him recapture his snakes after he drops the bag. Allal eventually decides that he wants one of the snakes and steals it from the man. Allal and the snake then become so close that Allal turns into the snake and lives his life in the snakes body before being killed.
I found great importance in the paragraph where the townspeople yell "Find your snakes and get them out of here! Why are they here? We don't want snakes in this town!" (p. 227). This paragraph develops the theme of people being unwanted. It establishes a connection between Allal and the snakes because Allal has been an outcast all his life, and now the snakes are being rejected also. In a way, it is comparing Allal to a snake and foreshadowing what happens at the end of the story when Allal becomes the snake. It works as foreshadowing because it occurs at the beginning of the story before any of the major events take place or any conflict is resolved. This paragraph In essence, it states that Allal and the snakes are very similar because they are outcasts and not wanted in the town. When Allal turns into the snake, this is displayed fully as the townspeople get so annoyed that they eventually kill what they don't want.

Close Reading of "Allal"

In the short story “Allal”, the main character, Allal, is an outcast in the town. He was known as the “son of sin” because his mother abandoned him after giving birth to him at the hotel she worked at. He was put to work at the hotel by the owner as soon as he was able to move around. When he became older, he decided to leave the hotel and move into town to find a job that paid him. After he moved into town, he ran into an old guy who carried two snakes around with him. He brought the old guy to his small house after the people of the town were yelling at him to get the old man out of town. While the old man was at Allal’s house, he let out his two snakes. Allal took notice of the red and gold one and instantly became fascinated with it. He decided he wanted it and when the old man fell asleep, Allal used milk paste and a sack made out of a blanket to catch the snake and hide it. When the old man left his house, Allal brings the snake out of its hiding place and starts to summon it out of the sack. One night after taking some kif, Allal fell asleep with the snake laying on him. When he woke up, he realized him and the snake had switched bodies.

The paragraph I thought was most important in this story is when the old man tells Allal that “Snakes are like people. You have to get to know them. Then you can be their friends,” (page 228). This line stood out because it points to the issue that something is going to happen with Allal and the snakes. It also compares snakes and people together. A snake is the biblical symbol of sin. The old man could have also been comparing them together because people commit sin and by the end of the story, the people of the town commit the worse of all sins by murdering Allal, which was the snake by then. Also, Allal spent months trying to get to know the snake. He tries to summon it by telling it to “come here”. After the snake finally responds to Allal’s command and they “get to know” each other, Allal ends up becoming the snake and not really its friend.

"The Outsider" Narrative Convention

The biggest Gothic convention of this story is the characteriztion of the other. The narrarator is the other in this story. He shows this when he says that he was alone all of his life and only vaguely remembers the person who raised him and that the person who raised him was as grotesque and filthyas he was. Secondly, when he hears human voices he cannot understand them because he never heard human voices. The third indication was when he came into the room in the castle and all of the people began to panic at his grotesque appearance. This obviously shows that he truly is an outsider. Lastly, he isolates himself further as he learns that normal humans are only scared of him.

This same convention is seen in "The Temple". The woman is obviously an outsider. She lives by herself and goes as far as to dig up these bones for some type of companionship. She also does not want anybody to see her doing this, indicating that she is a loner. The fact that she digs up these bones expresses that she has an element of lonliness.

In "The Outsider", it is evident that the narrarator is looking for some type of companionship when he tries to go to the neighboring castle. This proves that he is lonely. It is also evident that he is a loner because he has never heard anybody speak and people are just appalled by his appearance.

"Nevermore"

"The Outsider", by H.P. Lovecraft is a perfect example of what gothic fiction is all about. The story starts off with the narrator suffering from complete isolation. He has resided in the castle for many unknown years, and does not recall any form of contact with another being. However, he assumes that someone, at some point in time, did care for him. Unfortunately, he does not know when he was born, or even how long he has been living in the decaying castle that is located in the natural wilderness. He wastes his days away by creating another life in his mind from the mouldy books he reads. The narrator is constantly questioning his identity, and just cannot find any peace of mind because of all the secrets that surround his past life. Then, he finally reaches his breaking point, and escapes the castle to discover the mysterious other, or light. After he climbs out of the home, the "purest ecstasy" that he ever knew shined brightly in the night sky was "the radiant full moon". He starts to wonder around for about two hours in search of more light. While on his journey, some memory starts to develop again, but is still coming out fuzzy in his mind. He finally reaches his "goal", which is a castle that is "maddening familiar", and strange to the character. He witnesses the aesthetic of sublime, when he saw the people outside. Their language, and looks were very awe-like to the narrator. However, the deviant aspect comes into play, when he joins the party. The people inside are terrified of him, and is trying to escape. He sees a creature that "is not of this world-or no longer of this world". The subjective and objective view points shows in this scene. The narrator realizes the truth when he presses his fingertips against "the polished glass" and comprehends that the scary creature is his reflection. He escaped to go back to his home, but could not get in. The main character did not mind one bit because he can now ride with the "friendly ghouls", and accept his "new wilderness and freedom". Even if alienage is part of it. He claims that nepenthe, which is "anything that induces a pleasurable sensation of forgetfulness. epically anything that causes trouble" to help him calm down. He now finally understands the truth that he is and always will be an outsider.
For the story, I will use the convention called characterization. Characterization is a way for the writer to "develop a character"; For instance, by appearance, actions, language, thoughts, and thorugh other people's reactions. It is easy to see from the beginning that the character is ignorant of everything about himself. He does not even know that he is looking at his own decaying, frightening reflection in the mirror at the end of the story. We do, however, see how his thought process changes in the story. In the beginning, he wonders what "the other" is exactly. It reaches to a point where he leaves his comfort zone, instead of wondering around, and dreaming about another life. He becomes brave, and ventures out to find more light. The narrator does find the moon light fasinacting, but needs more, which is at another castle. Sad to say, he sees that his appearance or form of existence, a ghost, to be unwelcoming by the mortals. Now he is worse off then before because he understands why he is alienated. He comes to terms with the facts by bothering with others of his kind, and finds ways of suppressing the loneliness. His mind finally gains knowledge of what he truly is as a being, the "outsider".

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nepenthe
http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/characterization.html

Time ana again

Time and again by Breece D’J Pancake is a story about a man who owns a hog farm and during the winter months he plows the street and that is how he makes most of his money. The whole time he is doing this he is also looking for his son who had ran away when his mother had died. This short story takes place in a winter storm while plowing the road. While plowing the roads he picks up a hitchhiker who talks about all the hitch hikers over the years who have died in the area. In the end of the story you figure out that the killer is the main character of the story and that the hitchhiker who gets in the car is actually his son. When they pass MR. Weeks, the hitchhiker must tuck down so that that Mr. Weeks doesn’t see the hitchhiker and figure out it out that the farmer has been killing the hitchhikers for all these years. This story takes place in first person, which is the driver’s point of view whose name you never find out. The point of view Pancake used is very important to the story and makes it that much better. There is a very dark and cold tone around this story. He talks a lot about his hogs dying and how they die a hard death.

"The Reach" by Stephen King

One of the paragraphs that I felt was important to the story was the beginning paragraph on page 379. This paragraph tells of each character which was ghosts later on in the story that Stella had seen. This paragraph allows for the character development of the whole story while allowing the character development of Stella also. The story starts out with Stella telling the story of the mainland to her great grandchildren. This paragraph allows the reader to know that Stella can see ghosts and in fact sees her deceased husband. As the story progresses Stella goes through the story feeling the effects that cancer is taking on her body. She takes a trip over the reach as bill tells her too and she eventually dies. As Stella is dying she is taking to the reach by bill and she is joined by the all the other people from that island that she had known.
The second paragraph that I feel is important is the very last paragraph from 396-397 when Alden is telling the story to his children he does not tell the story to his grandchildren because he does not want them to know of the cancer that had taken their grandmother. Eventually at the end of the paragraph Alden answers the questions if the dead love and if the dead sing because he believes that they do both. Alden believes he can hear the ghost sing in the wind and he knew they loved by the fact that his mother was found wearing his deceased fathers had. These two paragraphs develop the beginning of the story and the last paragraph wraps up the entire story and answers the most important questions asked throughout it.
The mood that these paragraphs is a dark one. talking about all the people that have died and how they died shows that the mood throughout this story is not a lighthearted happy one.

Narrative Conventions of "The Reencounter"

"The Reencounter" was written by Isaac Bashevis Singer. One main thing that the author uses is characterization. More specifically his use of antithesis. His use of antithesis seems to give the story two sides of a situation.

The story revolves around the death of two people that were once in a relationship, but split up and go their separate ways. They meet again at a funeral home where the man in the story, Max, thinks he is going to the viewing of the woman he was in a relationship with, Liza. He is there by himself at first, but then a woman comes in and he thinks its the Liza's sister. He introduces himself and then is informed by the women who comes to the viewing that she is Liza and that he, himself, is also dead.

This is the point where the major display of antithesis begins. Liza has already come to see herself and she tells Max that his body is in one of the other rooms in the building. She asks him if he wants to go see his body. He replies by saying, "No, I'm not curious." They later go to the chapel where a service is being held for Liza. They both sit in on the service and she notes that the chapel is half empty. She asks Max if he wants to stay and see how many people come to his service but again he replies by stating that he doesn't want to find out. She decides to continue on their "walk" rather than sit there and continue to here what else they are going to say about her. They make their way outside to where the limos and the hearse are parked. She sees her coffin being carried out and sees a large and thought to be expensive wreath on it. She thinks its nice and wants to continue on their "walk". He decides to go because he doesn't want to see his coffin or the people who came to pay their respects to him. He takes up Liza's hand and they float off into the sky. He notes that he can see everything except for other people.

These two characters seem to be opposite in their views of their current situation. Liza seems to portray the positive side of death. She goes about this transitional phase with positive energy and attitude. She seems willing to accept her position and move on. On the other hand, Max portrays the negative side of death. He thinks that they are both in this transitional phase, but he almost seems like he regrets dying or isn't ready to accept the fact of death. He doesn't ever want to see the people who came to see him and doesn't even want to see his own body. This may seem a bit out there, but I think maybe that Max committed suicide maybe due to depression. He seems to want to be isolated from other people and trying to isolate himself by not wanting to see his body or the people who came to see him. What really makes me feel like he wanted to isolate himself is when it mentions on how he can see everything except for people. Maybe he killed himself to get away from people. If this is not true, antithesis still plays a major roll as characterization in the story.

Narrative View of The Reencounter

In the Reencounter by Isaac Bashevis Singer, he tells the story of two people, Dr. Max Greitzer and Liza Nestling. It begins when Dr. Greitzer receives a phone call that his once lover Liza Nestling is dead. At first we think that Liza is the only one that is dead, but both of the characters are actually dead. Dr. Greitzer at first does not know this of himself, but is later told by Liza that in fact he is dead too. Though one of many things the story does not prevail is how they both died.

I think this story is written about the in between time of a person death and heading to the afterlife. Singer writes this in a third person objective point of view. Meaning that an outside person is telling the story as it happens with no extra information given about the characters of the events that happen previous or in the future.

Both characters are found at Liza's funeral, where they both finally realize that they are dead and begin to talk about the afterlife in which they are heading. Liza asks, "Is this what they call death. It's the same city, the same streets the same stores. I seem the same, too" Max replies "Yes but without a body" (239). They then continue to talk about the situation at hand, to the end where they seem like they are starting to leave and continue to the next phase. "They began to rise without purpose, without destination" (240-1).

Though through the whole story we are never told anything about the two characters. We know nothing of the previous relationship. Like I mentioned before there is no information on how they both died. Also no information on what happens in the end. We can only assume what happened throughout the story. I think this is exactly why Singer wrote this story in the objective point of view because we do not know what will happen in the end, it is open to our interpretation. If Singer would have wrote this in any other point of view it might make sense, but it would lose the meaning and mystery it has. By knowing all the information about the characters and what they thought or how it ended for them, it would have a different meaning. I think Singer wrote it this way so we could write the ending, make it the way we want it to end.

The Reencounter

In the story “The Re Encounter” by Isaac Singer, Dr. Max Greitzer is woken up to telephone call by an unknown woman telling him Liza Nestling is dead. Max and Liza were once lovers for thirteen years, but after breaking up they have not spoken since. Max goes to Liza’s funeral but has arrived early, he talks to the receptionist and is let inside to see Liza. A woman who resembles Liza walks in a few minutes after Max and Max assumes that the woman is Liza’s younger sister because they look so much alike. Upon talking to each other Max learns the woman who walked in is actually Liza and they are both in fact dead.

The point of view in this story is told from third person. Max and Liza’s thoughts are not revealed to the audience and details are being impressed as they are both going through the motions. The tone of the story seems to me like it doesn’t take place until Max realizes Liza is dead, and you feel a sense of sadness as he goes through his thoughts about when they first got together and how it ended. Liza on the other hand seems to be a bit more vocal about her feelings about what is going on. The setting seemed to be like a normal day, perhaps a Saturday or Sunday since Max was woken up by a phone call. Other than Max being at home, going to the funeral, and floating above the city with Liza, there wasn’t much detail about the setting. The imagery seemed a bit better but not by much. Obviously it’s easy to picture being woken up by a phone call and going to a funeral, but what about everything else? Singer did mention the buildings below as Max and Liza floated away but there was nothing so in depth that I could picture in my head.

The style seemed a bit dry as well. It seemed like I was just reading through the story with nothing to put thoughts into my head, no intense thinking. Also, the way Singer introduces the characters were dead was a little odd as well. One second you think Max is seeing an old friend for the last time and then it hits you in the face that he’s really dead. I had to double read that section just to make sure I wasn’t adding my own ideas to the story.

The “Re Encounter” wasn’t an awful story, I just wish there was a little more detail about what was really going on. Although, with that being said, the conversation with Max and Liza does bring up an interesting point about the belief in the afterlife with religion. Liza and Max being to question if there is a Hell or Heaven, and if they’re going to float somewhere and tell someone lists of all their good deeds. I love Max’s line at the end “Of all my disenchantments immortality is the greatest” (341). Of all my illusions, immortality is the greatest.

Narrative Conventions "The Reencounter"

Narrative Convention

“The Reencounter”

By: Isaac Singer

In this story we have an all knowing narrator or a third person omniscient point of view. I think that this story needs an all knowing narrator who is outside the story. If the story was told from Liza’s or Max’s point of view the reader would have been really confused with the thoughts of the other person. Having someone to explain what they are both thinking really clarified the story for me. For example if the story was told in Liza’s perspective we wouldn’t have answers to all of her questions that she asked Max. We would have known what she had thought. Not what Max really answered.

Seeing the story from the outside in also help me to come up with the conclusion that both of our charters have problems dealing with reality. They both cannot come to grips with the fact that they are no longer living. Max cannot understand why he is with Liza after so many years of being apart. Liza cannot understand why she is alive but still dead at the same time. I think the last line “Of all my disenchantments, immortality is my greatest.” (Page 241, from the story “The Reencounter” By: Isaac Singer) Means that Max doesn’t want to be alive forever. Again if this was told in a first person narrative with Liza’s point of view, we wouldn’t have known that.

Using this point of few, third person omniscient, helped me and I’m sure most of you to understand the story better. If Singer had used another form we would be missing some of the most important details of the story. The way he used this point of view works perfect to easily comprehend the story.

"The Veldt" - Cultural Context

The story “The Veldt” touches on a subject that seems to strike a nerve with the middle aged generation. They feel that children these days are much too engrossed in their video games, IPods, and television shows. Overall, this generation feels that there is much too much emphasis on technology in today’s world. This story focuses, almost solely, on the fear that advances in technology will eventually leave people with no reason to live, and after that it will eliminate people completely. In this story, George and Lydia play the role of the older generation that fears this new technology while their children seem to embrace in fully. This fear is manifest in the form of the children’s nursery room that changes the scenery to what the children want it to look like. George and Lydia grow scared when they feel that the lions in the African dessert scene are too real. George feels that the house, which does all of their everyday chores for them, has left the children spoiled. Lydia begins to feel unimportant because she is no longer in charge of taking care of her children. She feels as though she has been replaced by this house. The story seems to take a very strong stance on the subject of advancing technology. The story makes a point to show all of the negative things that could potentially befall the human race if we allow our beloved technology to take over our lives. It makes the children perfect examples of what can go wrong when we become desensitized to the real world and begin to focus more and more on mechanical things to give us happiness. The children cannot bare to live without their various gadgets that are installed throughout the house. They would rather kill off their parents then live without the technology. It’s almost as if the house has replaced their parents.

- MJF

Close Reading: Stephen King, The Reach.

In Stephen King's story, "The Reach", we see Stella Flanders in her last final days. She lived on Goat Island, and never wanted to cross the reach to the mainland. Throughout the story, Stella saw the ghosts of her friends and family that had past. It started with her visions of her husband telling her to come across the reach. Throughout the story the question, "Do you love?" kept reoccurring. It is not until the end, that the reader could notice any significance that these three words could possible have.
Towards the end of the story, as Stella walked toward the reach, she talked with her deceased husband. On page 387, Stella remarked again how she did not want to go across to the mainland, "But the wind spoke other words. She did want to. She wanted to have this adventure." This paragraph essentially explains that she has been holding back because of the cancer. The closer she came to dying, the more apparitions she saw. Even though the story might have been confusing, jumping back and forth between thoughts and reality, along with the many characters that were constantly being mentioned, the point of this story was made clear at the ending.
Stella was afraid of dying. She thought that the reason for the visions of her husband Bill was to warn her that there was nothing to be scared of at all. As she crossed the reach and made it to the mainland, Stella died. Again the question appeared, "Do you love? Do they love?" Her son found her and recognized his dead father's hat on her head. That was when he realized that yes, the dead do, and are able, to love.

The Enormous Radio: tune in!

The characters of married couple Jim and Irene are portrayed as somewhat shallow, common, and eager to "look" good. I took some interesting things from the initial seeds of characterization the author planted. One thing that really stuck in my head was the line about Irene Westcott having "a fine forehead upon which nothing at all had been written". Because of my occasional tendency to read too much into things, I gathered that the narrarator was saying she did not have much going on mentally that made her special. She was unmarked, unremarkable. I sensed both Jim and Irene were not characters the narrarator was particularly fond of, and although it was not said directly, I sensed the narrarator did not want to go through too much trouble to make them look good in our eyes as well.

The plainness, the "white picket fence" mentality of the couple was very apparent. That particular point fascinated me, since I would expect fans of classical music to be very unique, colorful, and clever people. It takes a special kind of artistic intelligence, emotional awareness, and sophistication to enjoy and "get" classical music. And the Westcotts were not portrayed as having that kind of depth. Until the end, of course. It is at the point where Jim loses his temper on Irene that the true colors of their pain and humanity becomes apparent. I find it interesting how they lived a somewhat closed-off existence, and in their own little world. Prisoners of a lack of self-awareness and an over-abundance of arrogance. What I mean by that is when they heard the people in other apartments they were so convinced that they weren't like that, and that they were above such behavior. Yet the author portrayed them as becoming like that towards the end of teh story. Yet we knew all along they were no different from other people. The only difference with the Westcotts is that they had a mirror, a thing of true supernatural and spiritual wonder: the Enormous Radio. They could have used it to gain insight into the brutal subtleties of human nature, and perhaps avoided the fight they had at the end of the story. And they also would have been able to get all their neighbors the most wonderful gifts for Christmas and birthdays.

"How did you know I wanted one of these? Jim and Irene, you are such kind and perceptive people!"

I likened the Westcotts to the ape characters at the beginning of 2001: A Space Oddysey and the space monolith the apes discover as the Enormous Radio. Like the monolith, the Enormous Radio was a thing of intimidating mystery, learning, and beauty. And just as in 2001, the initial reactions of awe and wonder give way to violence. I remember that hypnotic opening scene in 2001 and I conjure up images of the Radio, shiny and complicated. I picture the Westcotts sitting in front of it, listening intently, much like families must have donen in the original radio days of the 1930s and 40s.

The Westcotts were actually on a fresh welcome mat of discovery and evolution: the Radio represented an entirely new age of technology, thought, and communication. But at the end of the day, I feel that no matter who posessed and enjoyed the wonders of the Radio, it would cause emotional (and perhaps eventually physical) ruin.

The Veldt

Throughout The Veldt it was obvious that the nursery was the main source of fear and anxiety. It is a huge room that the kids have complete control over. Anything they think is projected into real life images in the walls. When the parents go into the nursery it is an African veldt. Not only are they able to see the lions eating but they can feel the sun, and smell the blood and meat from the lions’ mouths. It is so realistic that Lydia runs away from it crying. It is far from Alice in Wonderland, which is a common theme of the room. George went into the room and was unable to change what he saw, but when the kids are questioned about it the nursery then turns into a beautiful forest. The kids were unable to change what he couldn’t.
From this story it seems that the main anxiety Bradbury is trying to get across is the fear of future development. As the future progresses there are new inventions made that are meant to aid people in their everyday lives. In this case these new developments are hurting them rather than helping. They don’t do anything for themselves anymore. The simplest things, like taking a bath and cutting up food, are done for them. In the case of the nursery, the parents are basically helpless. The kids are the only ones who are able to control it. Even today younger generations have a better understanding on how to work technology than most adults. Therefore, in addition to the fear of the future, it also brings up the idea that kids can end up having more power and control in the world than adults do.

The Enormous Radio

The Enormous Radio is about a very average couple who seem to genuinely like each other. The narration is from someone who is not involved in the story alone, purely just informative and has no connection to the characters in the book, so there is no opinion about our characters, just facts. The only thing that sets this couple apart from the norm of the everyday life is their love for music. The description of the old radio and the new one is very minimal. The only detail that really stuck with me was that Irene thought that the new radio was ugly.
I feel it was ironic how Irene never wanted to be like the people she was hearing on the radio and at the end her husband was yelling at her and complaining about all the things she did not want him to worry about like the other people. You get a sense that the author wanted you to see that though they were not privileged, they still had a good life during the story. It seemed that if they did not worry about it and just went about their daily lives, all those problems that normal couples have did not seem to apply to them. However, when Irene was exposed to what other people go through every day, it consumed her to not be like “other people” and to be almost perfect. Since that was all she could think about and all she wanted to do was judge others, it seemed at the end that it broke down her marriage.

"time and again" by breece D'J Pancake

“Time and again” by Breece D’J Pancake might have been a short read but it was somewhat tricky. Reading through it the first time I took the reading as a lonely man whose family had left him. He only had the pigs that he took care of and he hoped that one day they would come back. After reading the story for the first time I felt that it didn’t really fit the gothic way of writing so I reread it. During the second time through I looked for more clues that would show a gothic way of writing. The second read through was completely different than the first. The hogs played a huge part in the book, at first I thought that they were only there because the man was lonely but after reading the story closely I realized that the hogs were actually a way for the man to get rid of the bodies. The man was actually a serial killer that would kill hitchhikers along the road, feed the bodies to his hogs and then throw the bones over the cliff. The wife and son were also another huge part of the story. I understood that the wife had died but I didn’t realize in the first read that the man was the one who killed her. The son ran away because he figured out that his father had murdered his mother and actually fed her to the pigs. The man tried to tell the son that the hogs were squealing because they were happy but in reality they were eating his mother. It’s easy to see that something isn’t right with the man especially when he is talking to the hitchhiker while plowing the snow covered roads. He begins to talk about the number of people who were killed in Gauley, the man just agrees and begins to tell stories of being in the paratroops and how it felt to snap the German army’s’ necks. The only thing that saved the hitchhikers life was the fact that the man was just too tired to put the effort into killing him. It’s easy to see this when the man says “he bends forward, grabbing under the seat and his head turned from me. But I am way too tired now and I don’t want to clean the seat.”(Pancake 459) The setting of this story is a very cold and strange setting mostly because of the darkness that takes place. The dark road that only the car lights light up and the man’s house which only has one light on in the kitchen. The coldness of the winter also plays into the gothic writing of the story.

The Enormous Radio

The story "The Enormous Radio" by John Cheever is a thought provoking story in that sense that I did not quite understand how significant the radio was at first glance. However, as a reader my expectations forced to believe me that there has to be something very eerie about this radio. The eeriness begins with the radio's ugly gumwood cabinet that stands out inside Irene’s handpicked furniture. After reading it the story a second time through I realized the radio is not just an expensive piece of equipment.

At the beginning of the story the Westcott’s are described as music lovers attending the theater on a regular basis with a love for "serious music". To Irene Westcott’s surprise the interference that the radio was picking up was somehow picking up the conversations of other people living within her apartment complex. Irene begins the story as a perfectly sane individual but there is something about this new found ability to spy on her neighbors that fascinates her. The conversations that the radio is intercepting are not regular dinner conversations it seems as if the radio only transmits the moments on par with Mr. Osborn's beating his wife. Irene is so obsessed by this point that she has become very distant from Jim and cuts the luncheon date short to make sure she doesn't miss any of the "Reality Radio" going on throughout the apartment building. Irene insanity is clear at this point due to lines such as "On the way home, Irene speaks of the stars like a little candle throwing its beam as to "shine a good deed in a naughty world." which I believe refers to the Westcott’s perfect exterior being observed by all the terrible things taking place within the apartment complex. The radio is essentially the focal point to the demise of the Westcott’s both financially trying to balance the cost of the radio, and the clothing Irene had neglected to mention. Coupled with the strain of the emotional detachment Irene ungo from both her husband and her children enviably put an end to the Westcott’s perfect life.

A lot is revealed about the character of Irene the most interesting in this story. Just for the drastic change in character. In the story you get a sense that she probably isn't the most caring mother by how much the maid tends to the children. At the end of the story however it takes it to a whole different level when she is accused of treating an abortion like trip to Nassau, Bahamas. A phrase as bold as that almost makes your jaw drop. I’m still left with questions however, concerning how a radio could intercept a signal that isn’t being transmitted or is this merely a result of a supernatural?

Cultural Context: The Veldt

In reading the story The Veldt I noticed that the nursery room was one of the biggest problems, even in the beginning of the story. The nursery room is made of some type of crystal and is very large with a tall ceiling. Not only is the room huge (as described) but it also reacts to the person’s thoughts. This way parents were able to see what was inside the child’s mind because their thoughts remained in the walls. Some examples of what the parents saw were Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, cows jumping over the moon, and last but not least the African Veldt. The African veldt was described as almost real thing, not only were sights in this room but also smells and temperature.
Throughout the story we find out that this family lives in such a high tech house that the family does not need to do anything for themselves. Even the simplest things a person can do, like bathe themselves or tie their own shoes. The anxiety that I pick up from this story is the fear of the development of the future. The fear of what children have more understanding of the newer developments also seems like another factor. I think the children are a symbol of the future while the parents are of the past. The mother wishes to go back to the simple times, when she was able to do things on her own while the children seem to not be able to live without the developments of the future. The biggest problem of the whole story is that the future interventions can be used negatively even though those thoughts were not put in the fore front of the persons mind when getting something so advanced. This family in particular thought it was something great that the children would be able to grow with because of the visuals.
Putting it simply, the story basically states a few different points. Do not trust things of the future because things can always become “too real” which can always be a bad thing, especially when it was meant to be only an illusion.