SSRJ #2 Soldier's Home

This short story me feel as though I know this person and drew compassion form the reader. All of the emotions of the main character are clearly portrayed. The city and house where he lives play a big part of how the reader connects with the story. As I was reading the story I started to sympathize the solder who has served hard only to come back home with not so much as a thank you or the deserved welcome. This was the one thing that stood out to me as the most impotent part of the story, since as a result it caused Krebs to lie about the war just to get some attention. It reminds me of my friend who served in Iraq as a marine. The same sort of thing happened to him. When he first came back from the war he did not want to talk about it and what happened there. The people, for which he jeopardized his health and life for did not respect him and his dedication for this country. He was very frustrated with the ignorant people running their mouth about things that they had no idea about. I think that is partly why I liked this story. Hemingway used atmosphere throughout the story to draw on emotions of the reader. Both the town and family settings are used for this purpose. We can tell it is a smaller town since Krebs would "walk down town to the library to get a book, eat lunch at home, reading on the front porch until he became bored"(186) and then again walk into town to play pool. The smaller town should theoretically treat its citizens better then a huge city, but that is not the case in the story. Hemingway purposely makes it so to gain sympathy for the returned solder. We can tell that he has a close family because "He was still a hero to his young sisters"(186) and his mother would make him breakfast and serve it to him in bed if he wanted it there. If the family was not close then their interactions with would be lacking the care for each other. Reading the story and feeling sorry for the solder who is unwelcome back to his own town you respect the fact that at least his family is close and caring to him. We can see this in the story when Krebs mother talked to him about his depressed condition "your father is worried too"(189) and "you know we love you"(189). The very end of the story when he said that he does not love anyone causing his mother to cry also drew on the emotions of the reader.

SSRJ #1 The story of an hour by Kate Chopin

This short story caught me completely off guard and made the story that much more interesting. It started out a little mundane to my taste and not the type of story that I would read in my leisure time. The main character, a woman with a heart condition, is just something that is not on my reading list. As the story went on and it seemed like everything was fitting into place. Mrs. Mallard was starting to handle the news and calm herself then the reader is shocked with the huge twist which makes the whole story exiting and surprising. There is nothing in my life that relates directly to the story and I hope there never is. The ending of the story reminded me of “Romeo and Juliet”. Both stories leave the reader wanting to change the outcome and somehow help the characters. Kate Chopin used irony in this particular story. She began with the image of Mrs. Mallard wanting peace and looking at the clouds and the outdoors for comfort and “freedom”. “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and screamed to reach into her soul. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life”(15). As she sat there all she longed for was freedom and peace. Sitting by the window she was “drinking in a very elixir of life”(16) and regaining the strength to live on through the days alone. The conclusion was where the author uses irony to tie in the rest of the story. As Mrs. Mallard’s assumed to be dead husband walks through the door she is overtaken with tremendous joy which causes her heart to give out and she dies. “It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his gripsack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; at Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. But Richards was too late. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills”(16). Kate portrayed the character as wanting to be free of the pain and strong enough to continue living the rest of her life alone. As soon as Mrs. Mallard accepted that decision she ended up dying because of it. The only thing that really stood out to me as not entirely believable was the fact that Mrs. Mallard’s grieving time was so short. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come”(16). It seems too soon to be looking past the burial ceremony and onto the rest of her life. Does anyone else think the same way?

Introduction

Hi, I'm taking this class to free up the little free time I have to spend with my family. This class will serve the requirements needed in order to for me to transfer to CSUS with an AA in Business Management and continue the rest of my education there. This is the first online class I've ever taken so I'm really looking forward to see how it turns out for me.