Mauricio The Eye Silva

This short story is very meaningful and has lots of powerful words. The way the narrator describes the story itself is also very powerful, and the story "The Eye" tells really brings an emotional side out of the reader but also in the character. The author seems to explain a lot in such a short story. First how "The Eye" is very hidden and somewhat protective of his identity. He didn't go showboating his resistance of Chile or anything. And once the narrator became friends with "the eye" they become closer and he realizes that "the eye" may be homosexual. Finally right before he left for Mexico he confessed. I think this is a very important part of this story, just because it really shows how important and how good it can make somebody feel if they are open with their sexuality. But also there seems to be a reoccurring theme that "the eye" hated violence in which he always avoided at all costs. Then the both of them split up for a few years traveling working in different areas around the world. Then once the narrator ends up in Berlin they run into each other where "the eye", who comes across as this emotion less, strong character has an epiphany. They talk and "the eye" pretty much describes a part of his life that he may not necessarily want to remember. Basically "the eye" went to India to photography brothels for a book, and what he ended up finding was really a life changing experience. First he sees a culture that is wanting attention and really shows struggle for the people. The author makes quite clear that this story is very important to "the eye" by explaining how he always pauses for a couple of minutes and then the narrator "lit up a cigarette". "the eye" is really giving it all hes got not to breakdown in front of his friend. "the eye" talks about how male brothels and prostitutes are basically cutting the boys balls off. This is where "the eye" had a turning point in his life and really couldn't take it anymore. He ends up pretty much kidnapping two of the boys and they travel faraway. "the eye" takes care of them teaches them and loves them unconditionally that is. However they die of a disease and "the eye" is devastated. Overall "the eye" seems lost again, he has really no money no friends and lacks structure. I think India screwed up his head and now he is looking for help anyway he can, crying.

One More Year- Maia in Yonkers/Better Half

The short story Maia in Yonkers is a story full of meaning and imagery displaying a mother and sons relationship. The first half of the short story shows a little bit of the struggle the mother and some of the family members go through in Tbilisi. The son goes to the embassy to get his visa and needs to pass an interview. This reminds Maia of her own struggle to go through the interview, she ended up lying to the embassy in order to come to America. The mother also constantly thinks about her husband who passed away. "At these moments she doesn't feel that her life with him has ended, but that it's still playing underneath her present life" I think this quote is very important in that in those societies woman are almost helpless by themselves. I don't mean this in a bad way at all, it is just the way it is sometimes. In our society woman are becoming more and more independent and some married women are making more money then men these days. However in eastern Europe women still struggle to get by and need more structure and as in Maia's case she needs her husband. I think Maia moved to America to not only get away from the hardship, but America is so much more open to women leading the way and being able to do and work at whatever they would like. America opens the opportunity for many women. Once the son comes to visit the reader feels a distance between the mother and son. This is unfortunate due to the fact the son seems to be very ungrateful for the fact his mother pays thousands of dollars for him to go the a private school. "In New York City nothing impresses him, He drags his feet when they run to catch buses." Gogi seems to be disappointing in everything like nothing is good enough. Instead of being happy with his mother he almost doesn;t want to be anywhere around her. This pattern seems to shift when they go shopping and walking around in New York City, they seem to grow closer and want to learn more and more about each other. But once again he shows an attitude at the end of the story and it seems all the mother wants is for him to be happy just as any mother does, and once he leaves she is sad and she knows Tbilisi isn't the right place for her son but she feels like there is not much more she can do about it.

In the short story better half, the reader sees another women's struggle to be happy in the society she is faced with. anya seems to be locked up and cant escape the tight grip of her husband. The both of them constantly fight and it seems as if they lack happiness altogether. Part of this may be due to the fact that they are 22 and got married a bit too young or the both of them are just ignorant and immature. "Scheming! What would I be scheming about? You're always coming to the diner to spy on me." Here is a prime example of how the couple really lacks the basic fundamentals of any relationship whether married or not. Couples have to trust each other or else you would drive each other crazy. And defiantly before somebody gets married trust needs to be the number one thing you like about each other. This story seems to be an ongoing fight between the both of them, every night or everything they do, there is no happiness. Obviously they get a divorce which is the best for the both of them and finally Anya gets what she wants freedom to live her life the way she wants. She moves to New York city and begins taking classes and working. This allows her to build a new life and use America to its full advantage. Once again the author uses America as a way for the characters to escape the hardships of the motherland. There really seems to be no other way for the characters to escape and so they let go of what they have endured for so many years and move on with their lives. In doing so they seem to be at peace with what they have in front of them.

Bridgeroom-Ha Jin

The satire in this short story is not as easily understood as in the previous short story. Honestly I don't see much satire at all, I do see some humorous parts in the story. However the satire I do catch in this story goes back to how narrow sided the Chinese people are when it comes to things such as homosexuality. I'm not saying it is their own fault but more so the Chinese governement's fault. Basically the story is how a very handsome man marries a somewhat non-attractive women, and, and how the bride's adoptive father is constantly thinking about how their marriage will fail. There is some light of hope when the couple gets married after a short while, yet after about a year of marriage they still havent had sex and it seems the interest is being lost. The reason for this is because Baowen is gay. He has no desire really for women, and at first to me seems to be mainly just curious but then faces the fact he really does have feelings for other men. However, his homosexuality ends up putting him in jail, due to the fact that this is a crime punishable by jailtime in China. This story has much more meaning behind it than one may think, it really makes the reader think to themselves, how ignorant they may be about gays, or how ignorant they may be about being gay themselves. A prime example of ignorance over homosexuality in this story is, when Chief Miao says,"Homosexuality is “a social disease” and that it “originated in western Capitalism and bourgeois lifestyle." Here is a great example of how and what they think sexuality is, that it is western civilization that created this. However it is not only the people of China who are straight that are ignorant it seems to Baowen himself is almost just as ignorant. “Years ago I tried everything to cure myself. I took a lot of herbs and boluses, and even ate baked scorpions, lizards, and toads. Nothing helped me. Still I’m fond of men”, its just like why would he ever think that insects and toads would cure something, especially something as abstract as homosexuality, that is pretty funny.
This short story is a great example of how ignorance can really control they way a certain people think about one another. Chinese people are ignorant and dont want to believe that homosexuality is what it is a choice basically, however we have a lot of those types of people in America as well. One thing that is changing with newer generations is that more and more people are accepting people's homosexuality. This story does end up showing some signs of satire however not really the satire I was looking for, this story disappointed me overall but I still liked the previous short story from Ha Jin.

After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town

This short story is just the type of stories I like, full with imagery and satire. Satire is easily my favorite type of reading. Not only is it enjoyable put keeps me glued to the pages and wanting more, which is a very important quality in all types of writings.

We see a business owner move to China and opens up what?, a fried chicken restaurant. Overall, this just starts off as a perfect satire. What average American or whichever ethnicity would think that Chinese people like fried chicken. Fired chicken in China seems somewhat riduclous but in today's society this is quite believable. But the basic story is told from a workers perspective, and lots of the story has hidden meanings between socialism China vs. capitalism America. A lot of what Mr. Shapiro, the store owner, does is very confusing for the Chinese workers to comprehend. To me this could be a little bit of satire, but it really shows how much the Chinese governement hides from its people, they are so tightly locked up in only China's way of living they have no idea what really goes on beyond China. In way its sad that people are forced to live and think in a certain way. However, China has also opened up many of its ways today, but still limits many of the things citizens can learn or see whether on tv or internet. A quick example of how a Chinese person thinks differently comes from a quote from the story, "I was about to move to another table, I saw a hole on the seat burned by a cigarette, the size of a soybean. It must have been the work of that son of a dog. Instead of refunding his money, we should've detained him until he paid for the damage. " In China this person would go to jail, most likely in America most places would be oh its ok it was an accident type of attitude.
Another example of satire in this story is the whole buffet scene. Basically the store owner wanted to try a buffet and after the first night he lost lots of money which the workers already knew was going to happen, and instead of realizing this and facing the facts he kept the buffet and kept losing money, but finally the Mr. Shapiro decided to pull out of the buffet. This reminds me of somewhat of how America is run, just doing things because they "think" it will help either themselves or somebody in a way, without really looking at other people's mistakes. But this story keeps going into detail of how Mr.Shapiro changes things about the restaurant, for example he throws a wedding shower, and another funny thing happens after this shower. A man comes in showing a fly he had found in his food apparently, and eventually the workers prove that the fly did not come from the restaurant. However the man wants to sue the restaurant, which is pretty stupid a fly is harmless it isn't going to kill you it is nothing you would ever sue anyone over. But just as Americans do they sue over their own stupidity things like suing Mcdonalds, over spilling hot coffee on their lap and burning themselves because it did not say hot on the side of the cup? This is another prime example of how the writer incorporates satire into this story.
" I hated Mr. Shapiro's hypocrisy. He always appeared good-hearted and considerate to customers, but was cruel to us, his employees." I could see this relating to the big time CEO's of America and how a lot of them come across as nice but are two faced, paying low wages low benefits, just as Wal-Mart has had a problem with this in the past.

Overall this is a very funny story with some serious meaning behind it, and that is the beauty of satire. A person can literally write about almost anything serious in today's society and tweak it a bit, just have to be creative, takes time but is fun to do, just as this author has done.

Here are two videos that are from Dave Chappelle that I think are funny and relate to the satire in this short story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqBu-JBm0Q0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU28Pv26nNQ&feature=related

Movie Stones of Summer Part Three

In part three of the movie, we finally meet the author, and finally get the feeling the narrator is content. Overall this movie opened up my eyes not only to this book and the author, but books in general and how much they can mean to somebody. The narrator had his heart set on finding Dow, the author and it is really just a great story about how and what the narrator goes through to find Dow.

But in part three of the movie we still see the determination and strong mindset the narrator has. As he continues on his journey he meets the agent of Dow, and shows him his top ten list of books, and the last book he shows him is Stones of Summer, and at this point you can see the agent in awe. But once again the narrator asks the agent why would anybody write just one good book. The agent replies it just happens almost as if he has no idea. Throughout the movie this is a reoccurring question that the narrator asks. He just can't understand how Dow wrote only one great novel. But once the narrator has finally tracked Dow done, he almost didn't know how to act, its as if he didn't think he would ever find Dow. But once he visits his home, he becomes comfortable, they search for the contract from the novel and Mark, acts as if he is in his home, and commands Dow,"Hey lets go downstairs", and without hesitation begins to run downstairs. I just think its funny how he doesn't really even give Dow a chance to say anything.

My first impression of Dow, is really just a weird person in general. I can defiantly see why he ended up in a mental hospital. He shows signs of something weird in his mind that I just can't quite figure out. He slurs a lot of his words and rambles too much, and the narrator of the movie seems to notice this as well, but out of courtesy and how much he has worked to find Dow, it doesn't phase him to much. On a more positive side of Dow, he seems to be very well educated and very well rounded. He loves Shakespeare, and talks very highly of him. But once again I can see how Dow could be a very good author just from his persona. He seems to be very strong willed in what he thinks and very passionate about what he does as well, just as the narrator himself. Right before the movie ends I think both Dow and the narrator end up having a strong connection not with only the book but just with life in general.

I think this movie is a great eye opener and very well documented I am going to tell some people about it, and hopefully it opens their eyes as much as it did mine.

Movie Stones of Summer-Part Two

In part two of the movie we are watching in class, we see the narrator/main character of the movie continue his search for the infamous author of the book Stones of Summer. The narrator is still practically in love with this author and still is confused how such a great writer can only write one book. I also wonder why somebody who writes a great book basically falls off the side of the earth. But the narrator finds out more and more about this author, when he goes on his final search for him in Iowa. On his search he first goes to the Iowa University Library and searches for the authors old manuscripts, and old thesis he may have written during college. I think once the narrator does find the author's old things he is amazed at what he is looking at. He finds old rough drafts from the Stones of Summer, and the narrator cannot believe how much editing really went into the book. The narrator also finds older pictures of one of the authors professors, who he seeks out to find next for more clues. I think at this point of the movie, we as viewers see somewhat of a climax or an epiphany from the narrator. The narrator searched and searched online, traveling to different parts of the country for the first part of the movie, which I don't know how long the time span is of part one, but doesn't seem like he made these trips in one week. But the narrator had nothing at first, went to talk to editors, critics, authors, professor, all whom had never heard of the book nor the author. I'm sure the narrator had a blast talking to all these people, but they never lead him to where he wanted to go. This being said, part two shows an even more determined person and viewers really get a sense of how much this book means to him. For example, when he lands at the professors house who taught the author of the book, he asks him a couple of questions, and then asks the professor what was the most memorable person/novel he had taught and helped with. The professor then mentions he ended up making this guy go to a mental hospital from all the work he made him do for this novel. He mentions the name of both the author and the book, and when the narrator finally explains to the professor why he is there, I think they both are surprised but almost relieved. The emotions and feeling are expressed from both the professor and the narrator in how much this book means to them. But the next step in the movie is yet to be unveiled and I hope they find the author, I anticipate something quite special.

This movie is good, and is somewhat heart-warming for the fact that something has so much meaning to a person. This guy is doing everything out of his own pockets, his own determination, and when he finally gets leads he loves it and enjoys every minute of it, without getting down on the failure he had searching for this guy in the first place. Overall this movie is great and I can't wait to watch the rest of the movie.

Movie Stones of Summer-Part one

This movie is good and has a very strong meaning of commitment and desire to want something. The narrator and main character of the movie, has read a book and wants to find the author. This book seems to obviously have a lot of meaning to the narrator. The book was written in 1972, and at this time I personally believe the narrator went through a life changing experience or something. The narrator constantly searches for answers on the author of the Stones of Summer. The narrator seems very sincere in his words he uses while narrating, and seems to very well educated. He looks through book reviews back from 72 and can only find one. He writes emails online to people, blogs to see if anyone has ever read the book, yet fails to really find anyone who has actually read it. The narrator found one person who was sitting next to a person who carries the book around everywhere with her, but that was the end of the lead. Next he sends the book to an old friend from Iowa, who he hasn't seen in ten years. But his friend writes back with finding and leading to nothing once again. The author tells a little about his life back in 1972, when the book was first written, when he talks with his mother but nothing that really gives a purpose to why he really wants to meet this author. He says he had pneumonia for about 6 weeks, and during this period he read a lot. His mother also said he was a very likable, sociable person.
Then the narrator of the film goes back into the search of the author of Stones of Summer, and it really is almost inspiring how much desire he has put into finding this author. He is determined and comes up with a plan to find the author. The narrator also wants to find out why after writing such a great book, that the author didn't write another one. Yet many of the critics and people, the narrator interviews during the film say that many authors do this. Some authors have so much success that it makes them stop. The others have complete failure and commit suicide. I personally believe it takes much effort to write a book that other people will like not just something you the writer like. You have to take a look on how other people will or would perceive your book and that is very difficult for authors to do. However when books do become successful an author may become shocked and lead to basically just giving up. sometimes success is always what people want they want the message to get across. Gone with the Wind's author was the only book she wrote. That is amazing to me that how something so famous, could only have one book.
This film is very interesting and shows how determination is sometimes all you need to finally get something you want. We have only watched till the end of part one, but I feel the narrator will defiantly find the author. he has talked with the original critic and has some other leads and letters that come in the mail, to help on his quest. he has informed a lot of people about his quest and a lot of people seem interested but the book is his main drive and keeps him going on and on.

Go, Yield, Stop Blog

GO (I like this):

I have really enjoyed the class so far this semester. Blogging about the writing has actually been very positive for me. I feel like I have a better understanding of things when I blog about it. I really enjoyed Allen Ginsberg this semester, especially “Howl”, mainly due to the fact it is something different, not so plain, and he is very graphic. I also really like “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. I would say, personally I like about 90% of what we have read in the class so far. I really like the in class discussions, every day it is something new. You keep the class very interesting, not your traditional English class which is great, keep it up. Your input on each of the readings helps everyone clear things up if somebody didn’t understand something. I like the different themes we read about to. I also like how we don’t always have the same type of readings, it keeps me interested in the reading, and leaving me to read more. The syllabus is organized and very easy to follow. Everything is laid out exactly the way I would want it to be. Other classes are hidden on assignments sometimes, here it is clear, concise and to the point. The work load is just fine, I feel I can balance the rest of my work with this class perfectly, fits right into my schedule. I really enjoy this class a lot, it is an easier class but it gives me time to recuperate and think about something else for a change other than thermodynamics and statics/dynamics. Keep it up.

YIELD (things we should do more often):

I think something we should do more often in class is watch parts of plays or novels in order to grasp different perspectives on novels and or plays. I think we should incorporate more poems into the syllabus as well. I would like us to read more satirical writings. I would say I would like to learn more about writing papers and what it means to write well. The papers could be shorter, nothing really intense but small papers only two or three pages, in order to get feedback on our writing. I would also like to read more persuasive papers or essays and evaluate them on how those authors write papers and get their message across. Another thing that would be cool to incorporate into this class is maybe some type of field trip. Maybe see a play at the Peace Center in Greenville, I think that would be pretty cool. Maybe see a play pertaining to what we are reading of course, and then we could blog about it or write a paper on it.

STOP (please, no more!):

I can’t really complain too much about anything in this class, other than the fact that Lolita was really not my favorite type of book. Lolita was too much of the same themes throughout the novel and I disliked it from the beginning. Not taking anything away from the book, very well written. Just was a bit long for my taste. I think that is one thing you should change, the reading of really long novels. The novels take a lot of time sometimes, especially since I read somewhat slowly. It just seems it is hard for me to get motivated to read something like Lolita with a section of 70 pages, it takes a while. But overall that would be the only thing I would change sometimes it is just hard for a normal college student to get motivated to read something that is lengthy.

Glenngar, Glen Ross-David Mamet

In the play Glenngary, we see a lot of real world things that happen to business people, especially sales people. The play consists of a little bit of failure, success, lies, deceit, and just how much people can learn and take from one another. I personally really like this play. It was a very smooth flowing play, not too much stage actions and I think the writer did this on purpose. I think the author sees the business world as a place where things happen on a day to day basis. This being said, he wants the words to speak louder than actions. I feel like man of the characters in the play, really struggle to move on and make a living. They want to make as much money as possible, just like any person would, however there is so much effort and power in making it in sales. For example when Roma says, "I swear it's not a world of men it's not a world of men, Machine it's a world of clock watchers, bureaucrats, officeholders what it is, it's a fucked up world there's no adventure to it." Here I feel the sales people think of themselves as a type of people, and that they stand out or like they are a minority. I also think when Roma talks about its a world of "clock watchers, bureaucrats, and officeholders" he talks about what the "big shots" do in a corporation. There are defiantly a lot of people who get handed many things, whether it be money or a business. And many of these people take what they have for granted. This being said sometimes getting up in the business world takes a bit of selfishness. However when Roma complains about this, he I think is being ignorant. He should do something about it, and stop complaining, work a bit harder.
In the novel we see a lot of different themes from each character. For example, Levene is more of the type of person who is constantly struggling to make ends meet and basically at the brink of failure. Levene always talks about how good he was in the past, and yes that may be true but the past is the past and now is now. Just like for many college students, we were all good in high school but it really doesn't matter anymore, college is different and we need to adapt to things we face. Roma is more of a successful person in the play than most other characters. Roma is smart and a bit sneaky. Williamson is the manager and who everyone seems to somewhat dislike. Many of the sales-men feel like Williamson's job is secure and so he wouldn't push any envelopes. However Williamson does give in at some point when bargaining with Levene to break company policy by selling him two leads for 100 dollars plus 20 percent of Levene's commissions. Moss is an older man as well, who seems not to be in such a struggle as Levene but just mad at some things. Being that he is older, I think makes Moss more independent than the other workers and he realizes he has to do the work. Somebody can complain and yell at him but it is really up to himself to build yield and make a good deal of commission. He is basically the persona of a person who is just trying to get ahead in life. Another character is Lingk, who basically is oblivious to much of Roma's sneaky techniques. Lingk is every sales persons dream, Roma takes advantage of Lingk and Lingk seems to know how he has a weakness. The last character is Aaronow who is struggling as well. However Aaronow knows what his problem is and wants to fix it a bit. But he can't get out of his same old habits, which I defiantly can relate to. When I worked at a Thrifty Car Rental, we had to sell coverages, and almost 90% of the people declined it and I was told I need to change something I was saying or how I was saying it to up my yield. However I just got into a habit of saying only two sentences on trying to sell coverages, either it worked or it didn't i never pushed the issue. For me commission wasn't to important but I still wanted a bonus.
In conclusion this play is a great play and shows plenty of different personalities that are in any businesses. I think these different types of personalities keep the business world moving. Nobody does things the same or else nothing would function, people have to innovate, that is what the real world is all about.

River of Names-Dorothy Allison/Cathedral-Raymond Carver

In this short story the reader sees a very tough and troubled childhood the narrator has gone through. This story most likely reflects the authors childhood experiences from Greenville. I think the narrator feels angry and animosity towards her family. Another thing that caught my attention was what Allison really describes to the reader and public. First of all, I think many people think of people from the south of being dumb, getting married to a family member and redneck and all of Allison's stories comprehend to this. Allison really does not hide the fact that her family is southern, for example "when she laughs at the broken teeth, torn overalls, the dirt, I set my teeth a t what I do not want to remember and cannot forget". This is a very important quote from this short story, fist is shows how the narrator was very descriptive in all her stories, and second it really shows what the narrator wants as a human being. She has had horrible memories, many family members and loved ones have died. The narrator hates this feeling, its getting to be too much for her. This brings up the main theme of the story, and really how the narrator came about surviving. The narrator knew if he/she had followed the traditions of her family then she wouldn't be able to enjoy and live the life she wanted. "and it does not matter that I am the lesbian, the one who will not have children". The reader here can clearly see how she goes against much of what her family stands for just for the fact she is a lesbian. But this shows courage and strength and she knows what she has to do to survive. The narrator has struggled all her life with her family and now she is ready to break away and move on with her life.

In Cathedral by Ramond Carver, we see a very insecure narrator especially due to the fact he does not like blind people. The narrator seems to be very disappointed in how his wife feels about this blind man, almost as if she would cheat on him with the blind man. "I can remember I didn't think much of the poem", here the narrator is talking about how his wife wrote about how she almost had an epiphany when the blind man touched her face. However the narrator seems to be very disdainful and disgusted and just doesn't really care and hear about what this blind guy did or does. But basically the main part of the story is the narrator complaining about the blind man and how close he was with his wife and really how much he meant to his wife. We see the narrator seems to have a bit of a drinking problem which could cause some of his anger issues. The narrator seems to be very narrow minded and not open to meeting or being open to something that means so much to his wife. I would be somewhat jealous as well, but she is with you for a reason. He should just get over it, and be a bit more mature about things. I feel the narrator thinks that his wife needs to base all her happiness off of him, in order for the narrator to be happy. But once the blind man comes, a lot of the narrator's attitude changes, he seems to become more open minded and outgoing. Robert’s encouragement, loosens up, and draws the cathedral with Robert, guiding his hand with a pencil onto paper.There is also a very close personal connection the narrator and the blind man have which really turns the whole story around. It happens when the two of them draw the cathedral. Here the narrator is able to connect with Robert, and finally the narrator can get rid of his insecurities and actually interact with someone else.

Emergency-Denis Johnson/Home-Jane Anne Philips

In the short story Emergency by Denis Johnson, we see two young men. One thing I noticed in this particular short story is how it abruptly starts and how it abruptly ends. There is no real introduction of any characters or real build up of the characters. Also the plot seems to just wonder around as well as the setting, seems to me to be a little unorganized. However I personally believe that with short stories the author leaves most of the interpretation up to the reader. That is what is so great about short stories, there is no specific way anybody has to write one, and I think that is what Denis Johnson went with while writing this.
My first impression of the narrator and Georgie is that they are both very young men, most likely in there early 20s. Both seem to have mediocre jobs at the hospital and I guess they seem to enjoy life mainly due to the drugs they steal from the hospital. What is weird about this story is how Georgie especially seems to always tries to save the day. For example, when somebody walked into the hospital with a knife in his eye, Georgie is not doctor and the guy was about to go blind, and as a doctor was trying to call in a team Georgie took matters into his own hands. Georgie was suppose to just prep the victim however "from shaving the patient's eyebrow and disinfecting the area around the wound, and soon- he seemed to be holding the hunting knife in his left hand." Everyone was in shock and this proves one fact of how Georgie wants to be something he is not, however when he is on drugs he gets a "god -like" feeling. Another example of this is when the characters run over a rabbit, and then they figure they will eat the rabbit as stew. "In a minute he was standing at the edge of the fields, cutting the scrawny little thing up, tossing away its organs. I should have been a doctor, he cried". Here again Georgie is in his state of mind that he can basically make everything better which is a good attitude, but while your on drugs can defiantly have some consequences. Another thing I notice in this short story is that both characters always are high, and to me this story is either a hallucination they have or a type of dream they have. The reason I came about this conclusion is just the fact of how they describe things, when you are high or on drugs people seem to pay close attention to little details just as they do. For example,"The only light visible was a streak of sunset flickering below the hem of the clouds", this is full of imagery and most people on drugs are very good at describing things like this. In conclusion overall very interesting story and keeps the reader on their feet and wanting more.

In the short story Home by Jayne Anne Phillips the reader can see a full-traditional American Home. Yes the parents are divorced, but the story revolves around the same mentality that American families have. And it always comes down to how the younger generation will most of the time think differently about things than the older generation. In this case, the daughter is much more open about sexuality then her mother is. Basically this is what the story is all about, how two people are having a conflicting relationship because they disagree on sex. I am not exactly sure about the overall theme in this story, but one main idea I can think of after reading this is that both characters seem to be lonely. They both want sex but in different ways. The mother wants to be married, and hasn't had sex since her divorce, and the daughter constantly thinks about sex and has multiple partners. I feel like in today's society whether male or female it is more accepting than in the past, just look at the movies and advertisements, much of which is based on sex. But both characters just always seem to be awkward around each other, and really seem not to want to be around each other. "I won't watch television at night. I will watch only the news, which ends at 7:30. Then I will go to my room and do God knows what. But I feel sad that she sits there alone, knitting by the lamp. She seldom looks up." This quote alone, shows a variety of things that the reader gets from this story. First we see how independent the daughter can be, however when she says she feels sorry for her mother, she feels like she needs to be with her mother at all times. Hence maybe the reason she is "Home", and trying to save money. I think the mother has an agenda to transform her daughter back into an innocent child. She feels like this is her last chance to maybe leave an impression on her daughter. But when an old lover comes back into the daughter's life for a couple of days, we see the daughter fall back into her old habits. While she is talking to him she says to Daniel,"Oh yes I say. There's a guest room. Bring some Trojans." I think this quote itself shows how insecure the daughter is, and how lonely she is. The fact that she constantly wants sex is troubling, and her mother sees this in her. Once Daniel comes to visit they are suppose to stay in separate bedrooms however the daughter ends up sneaking into Daniel's room and they have sex. Her mother hears them, and fells utterly disappointed and disgusted."I heard you, I heard it, she says. Here, in my own house. Please, how much can you expect me to take? I don't know what to do about anything..." finally the mother has given up on her daughter, unfortunately, yet i feel like both are finally contempt with one another and come to a bit of an agreement, even though they both still think very differently.

Lolita 179-236

In this section of reading from Lolita, the main themes of innocence and not being able to let go, and the whole weirdness about the novel are still in full effect. However the main change I see from the past two sections of reading is Humbert father like attitude towards Lolita. Even though he still is sick considering he has sex with her, but it seems like after her mother died he almost has an awakening of some sort in which he feels obligated to obviously love Lolita, but in a more unconditional way. In chapter 22 part two, the reader sees Lolita taken away from Humbert or more so the other way around, for really the first time since the beginning of the book. I guess its a story and things have to be stirred up even more, or else the author couldn't keep reader's interested. I think Nabokov does great things in this novel, and keeping the reader weirded out yes, but also interested in more of what these characters and the story is all about."While I was not looking, my child was taken away from me! In vain I insisted I be allowed to spend the night on a welcome mat in a corner of their damned hospital", here again Humbert refuses to let go, its quite unbelievable, children grow up and Lolita is sick and its just the fact that it gets annoying. Its the same over and over again, and thing Lolita does or is involved with there is Humbert sneaking a peak or at least trying to. And considering what happens at the end of this chapter where Lolita is basically abducted I can understand, but the chances of something happening like that seem slim, but possible. "To myself I whispered that I still had my gun, and was still a free man-free to trace the fugitive, free to destroy my brother", here comes the theme of just pure violence and hatred built up in Humbert. This line alone bring me to think something happened to Humbert in his past, that really traumatized him. Come to think about it maybe Humbert himself was a victim of pedophilia. I'm not sure about the numbers but maybe victims can also turn into predator so to speak. Just this whole built up anger, and considering the fact that it is his brother obviously has no meaning to him.

In the next couple of chapters we see a furious Humbert who is on the hunt to find the love of his life. The novel really turns into a investigation that Humbert sets out on. No doubt I think I would do the same for somebody I loved. "I discovered at once that he had foreseen my investigations and had planted insulting pseudonyms for my special benefit", basically Humbert concludes that while he and Lolita went on this trip across the country the abductor was following. And that quote states how Humbert feels insulted almost by this and how he could have been so oblivious to this. But basically Humbert goes on a huge private investagtion into lolitas whereabouts. And the reader really gets a sense of Humbert obsession with Lolita, and back to the abduction, Lolita in my mind wasn't abducted she left. She got tired of the same old same old and wanted to grow up and move on. I feel like maybe she knew the abductor and her chance came and she took it. She basically had nothing to lose, as for Humbert he lost everything that he loved. Eventually Humbert somewhat moves on and starts a somewhat meaningful relationship with Rita. I don't think Humbert really wanted her, but Rita seems a bit confused on her lets say outtake on life in general. She is divorced three times and was abandoned by her servant, she just seems a little out there. I don't really see what Humbert sees so appealing in her, but shes lost and he can take care of her for a bit. I think it traces back to the whole innocence thing Humbert loves in girls.

Eventually Humbert comes about learning of Lolita's whereabouts after what seems like a lifetime for him. And once he finds her, shes pregnant, married, the whole innocence is gone but Humbert and his seductive nature finds himself trying to bribing her to come along. "Life is very short. From here to that old car you know so well there is a stretch of twenty, twenty-five steps. Now. Right now. Come just as you are. And we shall live happily ever after." Here Humbert is just the same old way, but it finally Lolita doesn't go for it and basically leaves him hanging. Humbert doesn't though he gives her money and leaves sad of course but, I am happy Lolita has finally grown up, and realized that Humbert really is no more than a father figure.