Tuesday, February 24, 2009

A Coin

In this short story the writer seems to have two different lines of narration. On the one hand she is sending letters to Aida in Sarajevo and on the other hand she is writing for herself and the reader. It is sometimes hard to tell which is which, and I don't think that the italics can necessarily be used to differentiate. I like how Hemon experiments with time. The narrator mentions that it takes a very long time for her letters to reach Aida. Because of this, "they're obselete, they're rendering someone other than myself, someone saner-" It seems that in the extreme conditions that the narrator is in, time moves much faster, in a way she is aging faster as well. She is also reminded of the passing time by the smell of her deceased aunt in the other room.
I also liked how Hemon used the metaphor of the cockroach to represent the people trying to get from point A to point B. Placing the narrator in the position of the sniper, as the one playing God.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Greasy Lake

This story in some ways reminds me of the movie "Dazed and Confused" and the book "The Outsiders." The narrator opens this short story with descriptions of Greasy Lake itself and the narrators two friends Jeff and Digby, the "bad" dudes. We learn that Digby and Jeff are supposedly tough and dangerous as evidenced by their ability to roll joints while driving at high speed and wear their sunglasses at night among other things. This sets up the narrator as somewhat of a tag-along who looks up to his two friends. But then when they start fighting the "greasy character" it is the narrator who ultimately brings the fight to an end.
When the narrator is explaining why he and his friends tried to rape the girl from the car he mentions "Virgin Spring" which was a movie from 1960. In the film a Swedish girl is raped and killed by three shepherds.
I think that by the end of the story the narrator has gotten a dose of reality. He realizes that being "bad" isn't clean and glorious like he thought. This is evident when the wasted girl calls them "bad characters" and the narrator almost starts crying.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Fiesta!

I would like to talk about the short story "Fiesta 1980" by Junot Diaz. I thought it was "dope" how the narrator had the dialect of a boy from the 80's. He refers to the fiesta as a "dope idea." Thankfully the word "dope" has fallen out of popularity in recent years. Parts of this story are funny, but mostly there is a sense of real tension between all the members of the family. The only relatively drama-free interaction is between the mother and her sons. But later in the story even this relationship is a source of conflict as Yunior and Rafa must conceal thier father's indiscretions. I would argue that the brothers have a strong bond, even though they pick on eachother, they also rely on eachother for comfort and support from time to time. For instance, when Yunior frequently looks to measure his brother's expression, looking for aknowledgement. Of course I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the uncontrolled vomitting that Yunior and his family must endure. On a literal level this vomitting could be mere car-sickness. But it's repetition in the story leads me to believe that there is more to this puking. Allow me to drop a mouse into this story and see what I can learn. I'm going to assume that the car-sickness could be better described as "country-sickness." Yunior and his family who are Dominican immigrants are out of their element in the United States. In the background information for Diaz we learn that he personally felt a sense of bewilderment when he first arrived in this country. Perhaps Yunior's sickness is a physical representation of the feelings that some immigrants may have, that this country is like a fast car that smells funny and makes you lose your lunch.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The first thing I noticed when I read Catastrophe was that it seemed to be dealing with race. There is a repetition of black and white and ash. The first time I read this I thought it was describing a director critiquing a person of color. But after looking into this script more I think its message is meant to be much broader than race. And then once I watched the film version I was sure it had to do with something other than race. The script version is similar to the film version. One difference is that in the film you get to see the old man’s last expression of disgust. This brings home the idea that the human body has been objectified. You really get the sense that this man on stage is being treated like a prop.