Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

This is a creepy story of a young girl growing up in a hurry. This story was one of absolute horror. Fifteen year old Connie seems to be not unlike any other teenage girl. She is consumed by her vanity. This character is vain and thinks of nothing but her own needs. "to glance into mirrors, or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right" page 509. Connie's mother was hard on her it is understood from this story. "You think you're so pretty?" page 509. I sense Connie's mother was just overly worried about her daughter's well being. Unfortunately all the negative feed back and no positive feed back leads Connie to have horrible wishes regarding her mother "Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over" page 511. Be careful for what you wish for. Connie being young and naive thought her looks would be her life "she knew she was pretty and that was everything" page 509.
The first sense of horror in this story is on page 511 with the line "Gonna get you, baby". This first introduction of the devil in disguise, Arnold Friend, is hair raising. The character Connie seemed to blow it off but the reader feels something chilling in the air. I could somehow sense once Connie's family left for the barbecue that something awful was going to happen. I could hear myself telling Connie she should have gone with her family. Arnold Friend the evil tries so hard to get Connie to come out of the house. The more he tries and the more impatient he becomes the more horrified Connie becomes in her realization of what is happening. I as the reader almost feel as if she is being punished for something. I feel as though the character may be stuck in a bad dream and can't wake up. The ending left me as the reader wondering what truly happens to poor young Connie? Maybe she wakes up from the horrible nightmare a new person. I would much rather imagine that way.

JenN

Doe Season

I found this story very interesting. A nine year old girl not quite ready it seems to choose between femininity and masculinity. Andy's father seems to want a son or boy to do masculine things like hunting together. Andy remembers going to see the ocean with her mother and father and how her father was not as consumed by the ocean as her mother was. I think in this story the ocean may symbolize her mother and femininity and the forest and hunting may symbolize masculinity and her father. On page 459 Andy remembers her trip to Jersey and the ocean as being awkward. This is maybe to say she is too young and awkward to find comfort in womanhood yet. Andy trying to find her way finds herself on a hunting trip with her proud father. Andy is fine with the trip for the most part until she shoots a doe but the supposed dead doe gets up and runs. This causes Andy to dream in a way that allows her to feel the pain the deer feels. On page 466 where it is said that Andy's arm is engulfed by the shot gun wound of the deer. And later when the gutting of the deer begins Andy runs. I believe Andy is being pulled by her parents to choose their desires but in the end Andy finds that she does not like the Jersey ocean side nor does she like hunting. Maybe all Andy would like is the approval of both her parents and to fit in. Not because she is a girl but because she is human; male or female. On page 467 it is stated that she would no longer be called Andy. I think this is of her choosing. It could be that the hunting trip had obscured her from trying to be her dad's son and instead to be herself.

The Lottery

I as well as many others I am sure have heard this story before. I believe I may have even seen short movies on television inspired by this story. I have not however before read the original story. This is a story of unfortunate beliefs. A community believing that if they don't sacrifice one of their own, the crops won't grow, is to me horrific. I think that Warner is so tied up in tradition he never allows himself to once think about getting rid of the Lottery. When the fact that another community has dropped the Lottery, Warner argues on page 408 that that village is a "pack of crazy fools". Mr. Warner continues to state that quitting the lottery would cause trouble. Mr. Warner has too much say maybe because he is one of the older town folk. This story is sickening in a way. When you begin to read it, it describes a happy little growing community, yet in little pieces begins to warn what is coming such as on page 405 when it is mentioned that some of the children are already gathering stones. You have happiness and warning or foreshadowing at the same interval. Strange to me is the way the adults make small talk and joke with one another knowing what is about to come. Another strange and uneasy piece of this story is the black box. It is describes in detail of the wear and tear this box has endured. Describing that the box really did need to be fixed or replaced and every year there was talk of doing so. Every year the box was left alone as if to touch it would cause a change of tradition which this community seemed to feel was evil. I cannot stop thinking about the woman to be stoned Mrs. Hutchinson. Instead of telling the town she would not subject herself or her family to such a display of ignorance, she kept stating how unfair the drawing was and how her husband did not have enough time to draw. Why would these families subject themselves to such horror? All in the name of tradition and superstition.

Story of an Hour

The first fact noted in this story is Mrs. Mallards heart condition which is a foreshadow to the ending. Mrs. Mallard as well as her sister Josephine and husband's friend Richards believe Mr. Mallard has just died tragically in a train disaster. Mrs. Mallard seems to be torn between grief and relief. Mrs. Mallard loved her husband but not all of the time. She is sad that he has died but she feels more relief than sadness. She will no longer live as a shadow of her husband. She will have a new freedom. A freedom that allows her to answer to no one but herself. Josephine and Richards are blind to this relief or excitement that Mrs. Mallard is feeling. They believe she is grief stricken.
The ending is quite surprising. It is stated earlier in the story that Richards himself confirmed twice that Mr. Mallard had indeed perished however the story ends in a twist with Mr. Mallard walking in the door unscathed. Mrs. Mallard with her heart condition dies instantly at the shock of her husbands presents. Mrs. Mallard had grieved for a short moment and then consumed the new found freedom. In an instance the freedom was taken back. However looked at freedom in its many forms is important for survival and for a moment Mrs. Mallard lived for it.