A crappy essay about short stories

[Rincewind]

dont even bother reading it, i'm posting it because i cant email it to myself from the computer lab, and need to access it on my computer



Characters in short stories are the driving force behind the plot, and in the way they are brought alive by the author, the story seems more real to us, and can be applied to ourselves in everyday life.
Hemmingway brings the character Krebs, from “Soldier’s Home” alive in many ways. First of all, his past is largely kept secret, except of course what we know of his service as an enlistee during The Great War. This simulates to an extent, what we perceive of people based soley on first impressions upon just meeting them. This impression of Krebs, that he could easily be a real person, is cemented in the way we can see into his own rational (to his mind) thought processes.
Most people are illogical often, and their own thoughts versus their actions usually never make sense. By instilling this into Krebs, Hemmingway makes him more real through the use of irony. For example in the second paragraph of the story, the author describes a picture of Krebs, his CO, and 2 German girls on the bank of the Rhine, but then goes on to specify that the Rhine is not in the picture. Later in the story, just as his return to Kansas is described- Krebs is very tacit, and feels no compulsion to talk about his experiences during the war. Whereas later, when he does feel like talking about his memories of the war, people had already heard all about it.
Hemmingway also uses metaphor to bring his characters to life, citing the fact that people will examine events in their own head and cite precedent to themselves. Remembering this, Krebs’ view of women is a metaphor. To him, women simulate happiness in life, despite the fact that it takes work and effort to court a woman. He says on the second page; “He did not really need a girl, the army had taught him that”. This symbolizes his view of his experiences in the war, that he could live without happiness and emotion.
In Andre Dubus’ Story; “Killings” two murders are explained through a series of twistingly disconcerting pages. One, committed by Richard Strout – is a crime of passion against the son of Matt Fowler, Frank. The other is a premeditated act against the man who killed his son. Irony plays a huge role in the story, where two murders for different reasons receive completely different reactions from the populace of the town, and from the people themselves.
When Richard Strout kills Frank, he is portrayed throughout the story as a barbaric, inhumane bastard, which is somewhat misleading considering the circumstances; that Strout’s wife had left him to be with Frank, and it had driven him into a jealous rage. Where, when not infuriated like before, Strout was a normal, if somewhat lazy and content man. The town’s reaction to the murder is shock and anger, to the point that they shun Strout completely. Whereas Matt Fowler is helped to plan the murder of Strout by the populace of the town, and this is completely accepted. Even though, his murder was done in cold blood. The most dramatic case of irony is when the Matt and his wife realize that they cannot tell their children of the murder that he had committed,
Letting them think that Strout had gotten away with murder.
“Eveline” by James Joyce is the story of a young Irish woman living in Dublin who is abused by her father, and longs for an escape. The setting of the entire story is very plain; most of the story takes place with Eveline sitting by the window in an extremely lifeless room. The room is filled with "the odor of dusty cretonne" from the curtains, and has a "yellowing photograph hung on the wall above the broken harmonium" (432). Similar to the room in which the story takes place, Eveline is brought to life by her essential lifelessness. Where a girl who was brought up under the iron heel of her father and mother, who could never hope for an escape was finally offered one in the form of a marriage to Frank.
Eveline is a paradox in this story, because as much as she wants to leave her current situation and be free, she is stuck here by the sense of security the small home offers, as well as a promise made to her mother. Also, Eveline has no way of knowing if her life with Frank could turn into one worse than her current life, and so defeats herself, eventually deciding to stay with her family.


to any mods- feel free t odelete this when you see fit, as long as i have enough time to copy and paste it back into word when i get upstairs

thanks