The three short stories I read outside of class were all extremely different. I read "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty, "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, and "The Endless Streetcar Ride into the Night, and the Tinfoil Noose" by Jean Shepherd. All three were interesting in their own way, but Shepherd's story seemed to be the most atypical. Thick amounts of figurative language and an infinitely sarcastic, almost sadistic humor play right into the oddly depressing theme. There is enough humor to make the story slightly less pessimistic but the overall theme is unquestionably negative.
The story begins with a long introduction to the "two streams" of people who both began life as helpless babies. One group goes on becomes the officials, politicians, world leaders, movie stars, hip singers, and "dynamic molders of the Universe." The others are destined to remain ever the spectators to the lives on the screens. Shepherd chalks the difference down to each group's reaction to moments of blinding truth. Can you just roll with the punches, or do you choke on your own tongue? He uses a personal anecdote- his first blinding moment of truth at the age of 14- to illustrate his point.
Two things that grasped my attention quickly were the characterization and figurative language used in this story. For example, when describing the groups of stars, the only name Shepherd mentions is Adolf Hitler. Yet also, when speaking of the onlookers he asks, "When did I make that first misstep that took me forever to the wrong side of the street, to become eternally part of that accursed anonymous Audience?" He also uses an almost absurd amount of metaphors and other imageries to drop you into the scene. Because both of these elements play greatly into the plot and theme of the story, my thesis will probably be based off of one or both.
So to wrap up, here are my reading times:
"Hills Like White Elephants": 10/23- 15min. (3 pages.)
"The Endless Streetcar Ride into the Night, and the Tinfoil Noose": 10/25- 25min. (6 pages.)
Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien: 10/24- 10min. 10/26- 10min. 10/28- 2hrs. (13%-kindle)
Total: 3hrs. 9 pages, 13%
That sounds like an interesting short story I should probably read it.
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