The Day They Set Out Response Brandon Moreira In the short story “The Day They Set Out” by Beverly Harris, the protagonist, Jean is stuck in a life in which she does the same predictable routine. This makes her feel empty inside, and that she needs to try something new. The causes for her emptiness and difficulties are that, because of her lack of social skills, she has almost no friends. Her husband, Ross does not love her anymore, so he looks at other women to satisfy himself. Also, her lack of intelligence has left her with no job and an inability to get a job.
* poem "drifters" about a family who continuously pack belongings and move, to mothers disapproval * mother dreams of settling down, building a house she can call home. but each time that they move, part of this dream dies. "she won't even ask....wish". * tone used in quote regret. mother regrets leaving house because she wants to settle down but she is also getting sick moving around and has given up hope starting new life.
She also mentions that she has a caretaker named Zulema, who visits her every once a week. She has problems with her leg, as she can't walk 6 steps without falling. She never asks anyone else for help if she needs it because she as a fear of being sent to Stafford House, an old people's home, because of some superstition. One of the dramatic devices that Alan Burnett uses is the setting to bring the character of Doris alive. Firstly, a lot of action takes place in the living room.
“A Cream Cracker Under the Settee” is set in the semi-detached home of a frail, old lady called Doris. Doris has a cleaner from the council who threatens to put her in nursing home, if she continues to clean her house. Doris is very concerned about this happening to her, even though she is at the moment situated on the floor of her home, unable to get up. “The Laying on of Hands” is set at a memorial service, which is being held for a masseur, who was also a male prostitute to the rich and famous. No-one knew as to the real reason for Clive Dunlop’s death, but everyone had surmised that it was because of AIDS.
This use of bildungsroman is subtle, and quite intriguingly played out. Instead of the typical narrative, where events unfold as they happen, Hannah is the one narrating her story, in a beyond-the-grave type fashion. The tapes are her final words, and her last hints of life. Within the tapes, she tells of her downfall, mentally and emotionally. One could even say her character develops through her depreciation.
Comedy can break through all the red tape and say what others cannot. Secret thoughts are observations that society as a whole might feel or want to say without the fear that usually follows. Comedians are able to speak freely and be honest about their opinions. People laugh at something funny not only because it’s entertaining, but also because the context of the material used by the comedian. An example is used by George Carlin and his “Sever dirty words”, which were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C.
“This grew; I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together.” This quote creates a sense of loneliness to the reader seeing as the speaker is saying that “all smiles stopped” implies that the person who smiled is no longer alive but now dead. Being alone in a household after someone has died makes you lonely. Even though the speaker doesn’t say this the reader can tell this is what he is feeling because of the fact that he is now looking for a new wife to give him company. We can see this by the quote: “Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed”. When lonely you look for company; searching for a new wife/partner is the same as searching for company to fill in the loneliness.
The tone that she uses in her piece seems to be sarcasm and this sarcasm is what leads me to the assumptions I make and the way I read her essay. She obviously wants to go to school and become economically independent and be able to support herself. I think that she is not happy with her current situation of being a mom and a wife and feels unappreciated. She stays home and does all the things she lists for her husband, but she resents this role in society that she is in. I assume that she wants a divorce from her husband but because of the role that society has placed on her, but she is unable to get one because she is very dependent on him.
Dorothy and her mother had a great relationship, they where always making fun of aunt Lucy and how she was the ideal mother and wife. One day, when Dorothy is a grown woman, her mother dies. Meanwhile, aunt Lucy had lost her husband and has turned 75, so she is an old lonely woman. Of gratitude for all the summer holidays Dorothy had spend at aunt Lucy’s, she invites her to stay at her place for a couple of days, so she doesn’t have to be alone while she is grieving over her sisters death. At first Dorothy can’t even recognize aunt Lucy, she has always pictured her as this kind chatty woman, but now she is cold and quiet.
Maggie’s mother was also older and better suited to be a mother because she was older and more experienced however, Maggie’s father also left the family. Maggie turned out to be shy and refrained from social life since she did not leave the house after being burned. “She stoops down quickly and lines up picture after picture of me sitting in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me” (Walker 746). Too much attention leads to Maggie clinging to her mother and not enough attention drives Emily to not seek out a close relationship with her mother. Both mothers are concerned with the status of their daughters.