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.