Reflection #4: The worst risk in life is not taking one (Eveline)

Life is all about taking risks and overcoming your fears. Eveline’s life was not easy. Since her mother died, she had to take over all of her mothers roles in the house; and her father did not made it any easier on her. Eveline had the chance to take the risk of leaving everything behind and go to a new life with Frank, where she didn’t know what it was going to be like. That was what made it a risk actually. She decided not to take the risk. In my opinion, she didn’t take the risk for three reasons. The first reason is that she had fear of the unknown, by this I mean that she had always had a very traditional and normal life but she had never experienced the unknown and she was afraid of what was going to be like in the new country she was going to. The second reason was that she missed the way her father used to be and she also thought that he might be like he was before all the tragedies had occurred in his family. The third and last reason was that she actually didn’t love Frank. He was her “tissue paper” by this I mean that he was comforting to her when things were not that good, it also means she a shoulder to cry on; but deep down in her heart she didn’t love him at all. I agree with the decision she made because leaving her father behind was not a very good thing to do. I think that taking risks is what life is all about and that these risks are the one’s that make you prosper and become a better person but taking risks is not always the best move in life. That’s why balance is so important to succeed in life.

Reflection #3: Alcohol can kill People (The Cask of Amontillado)

The Cask of Amontillado was written by Edgar Allan Poe. The two main characters in the story are Montresor and Fortunato. In fact, they are the only characters in the story. This story was amazing. I dare to say this because Edgar Allan Poe said so much in so few words that I don’t think many people are capable of doing that. The main topic of the story is irony. Irony is portrayed in the story when Fortunato, a wine connoisseur, dies by being tricked into tasting wine. I really liked this story and there is not a single thing that I would change in its plot. Montresor was a brilliant man and he was portrayed as a very rancorous person, but what Edgar Allan Poe lets us to find out is that Montresor isn’t that way because he wants to. Montresor was raised like that since the day he was born. We can deduct this when Edgar Allan Poe tells us the family motto, “no one attacks me with impunity”. Impunity means that when you do something wrong you do it without getting caught or without paying the consequences. Therefore since Montresor was deeply offended and insulted by Fortunato, Montresor is not going to let him insult him with impunity and he is going to make him pay. At the end of the story we can infer that Montresor was starting to regret killing Fortunato. This leads us to another theme in the short story which is forgiveness. In conclusion, Edgar Allan Poe talks about irony, vengeance, rancor, and last but not least forgiveness. I used the topic alcohol kills people to use irony just as Poe did in his story. It is ironic because alcohol can actually kill you, but that is not the reason Fortunato died even though it was related with it. In conclusion, Edgar Allan Poe tells us a lot in very few words, a very simple plot and only two main characters; not everybody can accomplish that.

Reflection #1: The Hills like White Elephant

The story “The hills like white elephant” was very different from every other story that I have ever read. It did not give many details and it made it a little hard to understand. In fact I think that Ernest Hemingway did it on purpose to make us interpret the story in our own ways. I really liked the story because not every story deals with topics like abortion. It is very original and in my opinion it makes us think about that situation and what would we do if we were the characters. Since the author gives us so few details and does not tell us if the girl went on with the abortion it makes you analyze a lot more than if the author would have just gave the details in the story. I think that the girl after went through with the abortion. I think she was thinking of having the baby instead of having an abortion but in the end the American guy’s influence was too heavy for her too think otherwise. Nevertheless, after she went through I think that she realized the mistake she had made and also noticed that the American guy was a very bad influence and she left him. This situation made the girl matured a lot and became a more responsible person. She was very ashamed of what she had done but in the end she went on with her life and lived a mature and responsible life. To conclude, I must say that I really liked this story even though at first I did not understand it very much but after discussing it and giving a lot of thought I really liked the story and I also liked that I could be the one that imagined all the details instead of the author just giving them to the reader.

Reflection #2: A Good Man Is Hard to Find

The author, Flannery O’Connor, uses a lot of description to write the story. This makes it very easy for the reader to know how the story goes. O’Connor described every single detail she could about the setting of the story. She described the cars, the personalities of the characters, the clothes they wear, the roads, the surroundings and every single situation of the story. The grandmother was Bailey’s mother, she was what a consider a normal type of grandmother, very conventional, makes stories about her past and when she wants something she tries to obtain it; like for example she wanted to go to the house she was talking about and she made up the argument about the secret panel in the house so the children would get excited and would made the father go. John Wesley and June Star where very smart, they were outgoing children, but they were also spoiled brats. We can see this when Bailey didn’t want to go to the house that the grandmother talked about and instead of trying to convince his dad in a rational way they started screaming and manipulating his dad telling him that they never did “anything fun”. Bailey, the father, was a very reserved person, he liked tranquility but he also was a loving father. The author doesn’t focus much on the mother nor the baby so basically few things are said about the mother and the baby and it makes it almost impossible to the reader to draw conclusions about these characters personalities.

I really liked the story because you always kept thinking what was going to happen next. What I didn’t like was the ending because first of all everybody is killed and second of all I didn’t understand why the grandmother told the Misfit “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” I also didn’t understand why the Misfit said that he didn’t enjoy killing but nevertheless he did it anyway. The whole story was pretty clear till’ the end that got me a little confused.