If you liked "Cathedral..."
If you liked Raymond Carver's "Cathedral"....
then you might also enjoy "Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason, or ”Travis, B." by Maile Meloy. For Friday, read the first of those stories and post a 4-5 sentence reflection/reader response here as a comment to this blog post. You also need to REPLY DIRECTLY to 2-3 of your classmates comments (think: Instagram/Facebook feed, but slightly more detailed than a series of emojis or five word responses!) as part of this assignment. There's no need to include actual textual evidence in either your original responses or when you comment on classmates' work, but you certainly can. If you're having a hard time generating ideas, feel free to look back to the short story questions we used last term. I just want to get a sense of what you thought about the story you've chosen; there's no pressure, so have some fun and be creative. I can't wait to have a virtual discussion with you all!
then you might also enjoy "Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason, or ”Travis, B." by Maile Meloy. For Friday, read the first of those stories and post a 4-5 sentence reflection/reader response here as a comment to this blog post. You also need to REPLY DIRECTLY to 2-3 of your classmates comments (think: Instagram/Facebook feed, but slightly more detailed than a series of emojis or five word responses!) as part of this assignment. There's no need to include actual textual evidence in either your original responses or when you comment on classmates' work, but you certainly can. If you're having a hard time generating ideas, feel free to look back to the short story questions we used last term. I just want to get a sense of what you thought about the story you've chosen; there's no pressure, so have some fun and be creative. I can't wait to have a virtual discussion with you all!
In "Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason, the central conflict that affects the entire outcome of the story is when Leroy Moffitt injures his leg in a big rig accident, forcing him to stay out home with his wife, Norma Jean, which brings out both the best and worst in each other. The relationship that Leroy has with his wife can be characterized as plain, because of the lack of physical love that is exhibited in the story. Leroy says that he is confident that his wife has confidence and faith in him, but he was a little underwhelmed by her reaction to his permanent homecoming. This helps illustrate how, even though there is support in their relationship, there is nothing romantic that adds to the support. On the other side of the relationship, Norma Jean is only focused on getting her husband out of the house and back into the workforce, which causes her to sacrifice the loving element that Leroy hoped to come back to. As put by Norma Jean at the end of the story, "In some ways, a woman prefers a man who wanders" (161).
ReplyDeleteAlthough I haven't read this short story, the way you've described their relationship dynamic seems to foil the relationship between Miranda and Dev in "Sexy." For example, although Miranda and Dev seem to have a less committed relationship than Norma Jean and Leroy, Miranda also struggles with understanding the way her partner thinks, and this struggle leads to her character development as well as the development of the story arc.
Delete-Sofia M
Those are excellent points, Sofia...it's true that in both relationships people have a fundamental misunderstanding of their partners. And you should go ahead and read this one...it's really good!
DeleteYou're my lone "Shiloh" responder so far! Never fear...we can have our own conversation! I love this story. You've captured the relationship nicely here. Leroy seems pretty clueless about what's actually going on with his marriage, and in lots of ways I find him way more sympathetic than the narrator of "Cathedral." He has a more tragic ending, perhaps, because he doesn't get any connection. What are the other factors, besides his injury, in the dissolution of this marriage? And what do you make of the characters' names?
ReplyDeleteThe story "Travis B" by Maile Meloy shows the coming of age for protagonist, Chet Moran, which starts with a "small and wiry" boy from Logan, Montana and ends with an older, bigger man who has accepted his future as a ranch hand. As we see in the beginning of the story, Chet Moran was diagnosed with polio before he became two years old, but he endured and partially recovered. His only hindrance was his hip. To show that he was "100%" healthy, he took up riding wild horses, which ended with many injuries, all in all resulting in a "a steel rod in his good leg from hip to knee" (Paragraph 5). This injury concluded his childhood antics and coincided with his depart from Logan in search of work. Unlike his brother, who had joined the army, Chet didn't know what he wanted to fill his future with, so he took up work with the only thing he knew, which was ranching. While he was working with the cattle and the horses, Chet snuck into a school law class, and became enticed, not only by the subject, but also by the teacher. He soon began to better understand both of them. But this act strew too far from the norm, and Chet had to make a decision, but he was a little too late when his teacher stopped showing up for the class. This ended his reroute from his previous path and he went back to ranching.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that even as the character grows, learns, and discovers himself, he ends up back in the same place he started.
Delete--Kate G.
This feels more like plot summary than analysis, Ronik...your previous response and comments have all been great, so kick this up a notch! Address the end of the story: what do you think of his decision to try to find Ms.Travis? How does what happens there figure into his coming of age?
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