The Birthmark

Although I found this story easy to get through and interesting, I did not enjoy it. I found it was constantly making me mad that the people in the story, especially the men, were so superficial that something as simple as a birthmark would bother them. I found that the story was almost boring because it revolved solely around Georgiana's one imperfection. Aylmer spends the entire story obsessing over his wife's imperfection and how it could be fixed by his scientific skills. He seems to be under the impression that without that red hand shaped birthmark on her cheek Georgiana would be perfect. That impression leaves him very unhappy with his wife and her appearance.

One day he suggests to his wife that he remove that mark from her face. He had a disturbing dream about trying to remove the birthmark and having it sink in and grasp her heart. Because his wife is troubled by his absolute hatred for the make on her cheek she agrees to let him remove it. Georgiana even states that she considers her mark given to her by nature and thus connected to her heart. She has some of her own foreshadowing that the removal of this mark was wrong but due to her husband and her feelings for him she still agrees to the surgery.

Aylmer makes up a concoction or "potion" that is intended to remove the birthmark. Georgiana wants so much to please her husband that she feels she would rather go through with the process and possibly see death than go against him and live with the mark on her cheek. To Aylmer's great delight after Georgiana ingests the potion it starts working just as planned. The birthmark starts to fade, but at a price. As the birthmark fades so does Georgiana. She proclaims to her husband that she is dying and as the birthmark disappears she breathes her last breath. The adverse obsession that Aylmer had with Georgiana's birthmark ultimately led to his wife's death. Perfection is unattainable no matter how hard we try, and here in the story Aylmer went against nature and paid the price.

Sleepy Hollow

I have already read the story "Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving in either early high school or late middle school but it was interesting to read it again. Knowing what was coming in the story made it seem contradictory that the beginning of the story is so serene. It starts off describing the setting of a small town called Tarry Town. It describes a tranquil setting in the hills of the town with a brook near by that creates a constant and soothing sound. It sounds like a beautiful place.

The narrator then goes on to describe the little valley and how it has long been called Sleepy Hollow by inhabitants that descended from Dutch. Sleepy Hollow is a dreamy and enchanted place that tales often derive of and is thought of as enchanted or bewitched. The most widespread tale of haunting in the area is the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. The story is that of a trooper from the Revolutionary War who lost his head in battle and still haunts the valley and adjacent areas years and years later.

We soon as readers are introduced to Ichabod Crane who ended up in Sleepy Hollow with the mission to teach the children there. The story went into great detail about Ichabod Crane and his teaching and how his life in the town proceeded. Washington Irving was very descriptive, almost to the point that I was trying to bypass some of the build up of the story to get to the actual action. I almost found the build up of the story like to be a bit dull. It is something I feel like I've heard a million times. A man (Ichabod) becomes infatuated with a woman (Katrina Van Tassel) but there is another so-called better man (Brom Bones) who tries to take the woman instead. Ichabod loses this battle for the dear Katrina and is dismissed. During his fateful ride home he becomes extremely superstitious and nervous. After Ichabod Crane comes into contact with the Headless Horseman the real action begins. What happened exactly that night is just speculated by the people in the area. Some claim Ichabod disappeared, some say he died and some say he still lives nearby. The pumpkin has a sort of Halloween feel to it which makes it seem like that is what was thrown at Ichabod.

The story leaves the reader with questions. Did Ichabod really see the Headless Horseman or was it the dreamy atmosphere of Sleepy Hollow and just an old wives story? Where did Ichabod Crane really go? I thought this story was a great one even though it was a little drawn out.

Lusus Naturae

"Lusus Naturae" by Margaret Atwood was by far the most interesting story that we've read so far. The story was about a girl who had some sort of deformity or genetic disorder that caused her to look almost like a monster. It wasn't a feel good story at all but at the same time it kept me reading and wondering after I was finished. There was so much emotion in that very short story. I felt a range of emotions from anger to being truly upset to actually feeling at peace with what was happening to complete shock. It was truly a story of an outsider. I thought it was interesting because even though it was almost science fiction there was still a lot of truth to this person who was so different being outcast from society. Maybe it isn't as drastic, but people are still cast out from society for even less differences. People still judge based on looks

I think the part of the story that bothered me the most was how her family treated her. I find it strange that she was born "normal" and then somehow morphed into something weird. There must have been a simple explanation for what was happening but the story was set in a time when things like this were explained by saying there was a devil or demon possessed the child. It was mind boggling for me to see that the only solution the family had to their child’s disease was to fake her death. Was social status really that important back then? Apparently, and I think to this day it still is for some people. Fortunately it didn’t seem to bother the narrator that much. She almost seemed at peace with the fact that she was not wanted. She began to gain independence as she tested her boundaries at night after the town thought she was long dead. During one of her runs of independence she stumbles across two people who she naively thinks are like her and is seen. When the townspeople began to charge her house I almost thought of it as normal at this point due to the feel of the story and the setting. The thing I was shocked by was that her family had joined in for the cause. They were right by the townspeople’s sides to charge the house and try to kill this “thing” that was part of their own flesh and blood.

This is when the narrator surprises me the most. As death approaches her she seems to look forward to it. Life has been so bad to her that death actually seems like a better option. When she hopes aloud that the she will be pretty as an angel or that all angels will look like her I finally understood that even though she seemed at peace with her life she was not. She was not okay with the life she had and wished that she could be normal and accepted which was clearly placed in her wish to be like everyone else in heaven.

A & P

I did enjoy reading John Updike's short story because it was incredibly descriptive. It was a little different and although at times I felt as if it had too many details it still made me feel like I was in the story. The story didn't lead onto what was going on at all the entire time so it kept me interested and guessing. I found it interesting how intrigued Sammy the narrator was with the girls. He noticed every detail about them and even started to make assumptions about how they lived and interacted with each other. He seemed a little surprised at first to see them waltz into the store in bathing suits but aside from the initial surprise he almost brushed it off. The story gives off a feel that it is in a time when it is completely inappropriate for women to be dressed scantly let alone for 3 girls to walk into a store in bathing suits. One silly thing in the story that bothered me as a person majoring in something in the health field was that the girls were walking around the store barefoot. It was funny but I really could not get past how much of a hazard and how gross that really is.

I think the most influential part of the story that I read was when the girl actually stood up for her and her friends. In the face of authority many would cower away in fear of getting into trouble. Sammy notices a tone in the girl's voice but she does not cower but instead stands up for herself. It seems as if Lengel was surprised that the girl actually spoke up to him. The entire time this disagreement is going on Sammy is having thoughts that confused me. He seemed to have made a connection with these girls and his fantasies about their lives. When he decided to quit his job because he believed that Lengel intentionally embarrassed the girls I was incredibly surprised. As a person who has never even thought about quitting something, who in face was raised to believe quitting is failing I was completely caught off guard by his move. He didn't even know these girls and here he was quitting his job to prove a point for them. I was still left with the feeling of confusion at the end of the story. He never explains the real reason that he quit the job and I wonder if it's because he fantasized that it would impress the girls or if it were for the simple reason to prove a point.

The Lottery

I was not surprised by this story. I was suspicious from the beginning and knew there had to be something bad that was going to happen. At first the story bored me but after the first page I was hooked. I think the reason that the beginning is so hard to get into is because Jackson described every little detail. It seemed a little overdone.
As the story developed I tried to decide what this whole lottery was about and why it was so significant that the entire town had to gather for it. This is why the story is so good because it has you constantly wondering. Jackson makes the lottery seem like a great thing that should be continued because of tradition. As a reader you soon learn that tradition isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes traditions are kept going simply because it is a tradition. People in these situations never look at it with the idea that maybe as the world around us changes that we should change also. This is a huge thing to think about especially coming from a college where tradition is so prevalent.
I think I almost knew from the beginning what the stones would be used for but there was still an element of disgust when it was confirmed. I think it is a little strange that the entire town was so nonchalant about the situation. No one seemed to think that killing someone through a lottery was wrong. Even the children sat around excited to see who would be the lucky person to be stoned that day. I was left with the feeling of anger and sadness after reading this story. And also the fact that they believed the other towns that were doing away with the lottery were in the wrong was horrendous. How could these people actually believe that killing someone through a lottery is alright? It's an interesting story because it made me completely re-evaluate the term tradition.

The Story of an Hour

I found that this story to be thought provoking. I think it was normal of Mrs. Mallard's family members to want to break the terrible news to her as easily as possible and with the least amount of pain possible. It's interesting because that is such a major thing in human nature. Sometimes people even avoid the truth to protect another person's feelings. I think that's an important thing in human nature, how we care for others.
Then came the emotional rollercoaster that Mrs. Mallard was sent on which I found extremely realistic. Loss provokes many emotions in a person and sometimes it is hard to sort through them. It was nice to read the line, “She knew she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment into the long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” It is in this line in which she realizes that she will cry again over her husband, and she will miss him, but she will also live.
This story also made me think about marriage. When Mrs. Mallard came to the realization that she was free: I thought that to be the last thing I would see in this story. Then also hearing her thoughts as she realized all the things she was missing and she could now do; it again made me think. A person could be in a perfectly healthy and happy relationship and still feel trapped. Sometimes with all the compromising you stop being yourself and you start being who that other person wants you to be.
The end was a huge surprise. It was almost a way of saying you can’t always get what you want. Mrs. Mallard finally realized how happy she would be as a free woman and then luck had it that her husband was not even dead. They had been so careful about saving her heart with the news of his death that it is almost ironic that him being alive is what killed her.