Biting Humor

In You're Ugly, Too by Lorrie Moore, Zoe uses jokes extensively. She tells them with no regard to the current situation. They tend to be cynical and sarcastic. For example, Zoe's favorite joke is rather dark and 

depressing: " 'You want a second opinion? OK, ' says the doctor. 'You're ugly, too.' " (Moore, 360). Zoe's humor comforts her and helps her to escape her feeling of loneliness and alienation. Those jokes, however, also cause her to become alienated and lonely. While talking with Earl, a potential prospect, she tells a rather crude joke that concludes with a girl shooting herself with a shotgun. Earl feels dismissed and defeated and has lost some interest in Zoe. Zoe, in the interest of joking even more, nudges Earl as he leans over the rail. Although it was meant as a joke, Earl is shocked and has now lost almost all of his interest for Zoe. Zoe's humor, although comforting, contributes to her alienation and feelings of loneliness. 

Mine

Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver symbolizes modern American family life. The father and mother enter into a divorce and fight. They cannot agree upon most things and end up with a custody battle. They are figuratively tearing the child apart, trying to win his affection to one side. The child suffers and becomes torn apart, not knowing what to do. The parents are selfish and are harming the one thing they both dearly care about: "In this manner, the issue was decided" (Carver). Their selfishness creates only more pain. Furthermore, the title indicates the commonality of this situation. The fighting, divorces and custody battles are very common or "popular" and have become the normal procedures or "mechanics". Many children are being torn apart because of their parents' selfishness.

Free At Last

In The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, irony conveys an idea of personal freedom. Mrs. Mallard received  news that her husband has died. She became melancholy for a brief moment of time, then realized the true implications of the husband's death. She was no longer imprisoned by the marriage. She became free: "She said it over and over under her breath: ' Free, free, free!' " (Chopin). She had lover her husband, but she loved freedom more. She could now live for herself and live her hopes and dreams. Then, her husband comes home and she dies of heart disease. The doctor believes that she died from an abundance of emotions, mainly joy, when she saw her husband alive. This is mistaken since the reader knows she praised the death of her husband. What caused her death was the realization that her hopes, dreams, and freedom had vanished.

A Rash Marriage

In Getting Out by Cleopatra Mathis, a young married couple is divorcing. In question 2, it asks about the one detail about their marriage: their eyes and hair. Their marriage became too confining. The marriage was based on infatuation, not love. Their only commonality was their matching eyes and hair. The couple had no deep for love for each other. Furthermore, the last line contributes to this: "Taking hands we walked apart, until our arms stretched between us. We held on tight, and let go." (Mathis, 896). Holding hands is very superficial. Most loving couples kiss or hug. This couple has a very basic form of intimacy and shows that they were emotionally naive and unprepared for marriage.

16 pages of junk. . . or is it?

In How I Met My Husband by Alice Munro, I was sure that Chris Watters was going to marry Edie. The plot made it seem like it was going to happen. She talked with him many times. He complimented on her beauty: "Just because you looked so nice and pretty." (Munro, 135). They talk more, end up kissing, and then he leaves. He promises to mail her a letter and it never comes. She ends up marrying the mailman, a nice fellow, but not the man of her obsession. Her interaction with the mailman was described in about two paragraphs whereas the other pages describe her interactions with Chris. It seems that about sixteen pages of the story is a waste and the ending makes no sense; however, Edie's interaction with Chris is needed and the ending is inevitable. If Edie never met Chris and interacted with him, she never would have waited at the mailbox everyday and she would not have married the mailman.

Fear of Change

In Eveline by James Joyce, the protagonist Eveline, wants to lead a new life. She wants to leave an abusive father, more respect, more money, and an easier life. She does not want to live unhappily and end up insane like her mother. As she is about to leave and experience a new and possibly better life, she cannot abandon the life she has. She imagined Frank's desire to drown her and let her fears plague her mind and impulses. She experiences a spiritual paralysis. This theme of fearing change plague Eveline's heart to the point that she cannot live the life she dreams about. Several instances foreshadowed that she would find her life inescapable. Her life was not that bad: "now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life." (Joyce, 220). Her journey began with her body becoming distressed and nauseous. She desires change and happiness, but she cannot overcome her fear of the unknown.

Eternal Transience

In  Bright Star by John Keats, the speaker wants to emulate the star, but only its eternity: "would I were steadfast as thou art" (Keats, 792). The star hangs in the sky in a state of loneliness. It is always watching and looking upon the universe. The star is personified as a hermit, existing far away from anyone or anything. The star looks upon the changing of time and the vanishing of human generations of one after another. The star could also be gazing at the snow falling and covering the mountains and moors, lonely and desolate places on the Earth. The only aspect of the star the speaker wants is its eternity because he wants to feel and live intimate and special moments forever. The speaker wants his transient moment with his love to seem like an eternity. The speaker does not want to be lonely, know and see everything, live distant from society, or see the changing of time and places. If he cannot feel eternity in his transient moment, he would rather last an eternity in death.

Love The Imperfect

In Delight in Disorder by Robert Herrick, imperfections attract the speaker. The disorder in one's clothing allures the speaker. Paradox conveys the theme of loving imperfections. People want order, structure and perfection. They spend their live perfecting machines, organization, the people around them, and even themselves. The pursuit of perfection is drilled into the minds of every person by the world around them. The speaker states the opposite: "Do more bewitch me than when art is too precise in every part" (Herrick, 979). Rather than seeking the person with the perfect qualities, the speaker finds that the person with imperfections is perfect. The imperfections make people unique and contribute to their attractiveness. The perfect person happens to be the one without every perfect quality.