I Used To Live Here Once

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I Used to Live Here Once Theme Mary E. Bruner Ashford University Introduction to Literature ENG 125 Instructor Heather AltfeldFisher January 9, 2012 Following the plot of any short story is fine, but an astute reader will be able to identify the theme of the story. The theme of a short story is the message the writer will use in the story to convey to the reader about life in general. Understanding the theme gives the reader an additional level of appreciation for a short story. Theme often answers the question, what did you learn about the human condition or human nature? For instance, in “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the theme is about a woman who has lost her freedom and identity to her husband and marriage. The theme in a piece of literature is not a summary of the plot; it is not a statement about a dominant impression or mood; it is not a moral or proposition; it is not the attitude of the writer (Clugston, 2010). To understand what the theme of a short story is I will discuss the short story “I Used to Live Here Once” by Jean Rhys. I am going to look at how symbolism, the setting and the point of view are used in the story, and how they are used to contribute to the development the theme. “I Used to Live Here Once” by Jean Rhys can be considered to be a mysterious story. It is about a woman who seems to be a ghost visiting her childhood home. The narrator seems to follow the woman on her exploration from a nearby river and down an old unfinished road that leads to the home where she grew up. The title of this story proposes that it is written in the first-person, however as you read the story, you realize that it is actually written from the third-person point of view. The speaker is not part of the story, and it is limited omniscient, that is “when the thoughts and feelings of only one of the characters are related through

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