The brothers sit across from one another in their dusty kitchen, brooding. Sam is behind his ever present Royal KMG typewriter, absently making keystrokes. His older brother, Willem, makes notes in a writing tablet. The room is almost silent, save the dripping of the faucet. It dribbles a quick tempo and it is clearly distracting Sam. “I truly wish mother had hired a plumber, this noise is insufferable,” Sam utters with burning contempt. Willem responds to his younger brother’s self-indulgent complaint with such patience and reserve as to mock his brother. “Baby brother, surely you could inquire a plumber, if the noise is such a discomfort.” Heavy with satire, he continues; “Speaking honestly, I’ve grown fond of the steady drip drip dripping. It reminds me of happier times, when mother was with us.” Willem smiles to himself upon hearing his own words, as if he’s made a brilliant joke. Willem and Sam’s mother had passed years ago, and yet so little of their lives had changed. They continue living together in their childhood home, which hasn’t seen a mop or broom since before their mother had taken ill. Moth chewed curtains hang in grimy windows, where they have not been broken and covered over. A musty smell of aging wood and dying matriarch makes the air heavy and confining. Newspapers and old notebook sheets bury most of the furniture. The walls and ceilings are rotting, the floors covered in years of dust and freshly crumbled sheets of paper, and forgotten jars line every shelf and counter. Their home is far from happy, and very close indeed to utter collapse. While both brothers could be considered at fault for the state of their once livable home, Sam in particular is quite fond of jarred food and Sunday comics, and is ... ... middle of paper ... ...ck in a pool of blood. Willem sounds almost heartfelt when he says; “You always were one for a show, eh my Brother?” Sitting down in Sam’s chair, Willem digs through a stack of unused pages to find one with as little blood on it as possible. His findings are less than perfect, but he just needs one sheet to complete, finally, his best work to date. Willem feeds the sheet into the Royal and adjusts it until the roll ‘dings,’ signaling him to begin his work. Willem types deliberately, one hard key press at a time. He must type this way, as the hair wrapped around the Royal’s arms has severely hampered his otherwise fine typing skills. Slowly, as blood mixes with ink, words begin to form and a calm smile spreads from cheek to cheek as Willem basks in his final victory: “Taken Without Honor or Humanity – By Willem and Sam Forastiere. A Book of Sharing. Ages 3 and up.”
Darryl’s house isn’t a house, it’s a home and “A man’s home is his castle”, everything he loves and cherishes is inside that house, from his family to the poolroom, worthless junk to anyone but the Kerrigans. The family is so close knit and together the house is apart of it. The poolroom is an example because everything with sentimental value has it’s own very special spot in the poolroom. Darryl also makes everyone in the house feel very appreciated because he’s always giving compliments to his wife and children, “Why would you go to Thailand when you can have this every night?” and when they g...
She brings light to an issue that divided her family from her father, his “obsession” with fixing up the house. She states, "I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture" (14). She believes her father was detached, living his life through restoring old furniture and fixing up the family home, leaving little attention for the family that lived there. She was suspicious of her father’s décor saying, “they were lies” (14). This left much to be desired, often leading her to question whether her father even liked having a family. This feeling is expressed when she says, "Sometimes, when things were going well, I think my father actually enjoyed having a family. Or at least, the air of authenticity we lent to his exhibit. A sort of still life with children" (13). He occupied his life with fixing up his home almost as if he was trying to cover up the problems going on inside himself. Bechdel suggests that the antique mirrors decorating the home were meant to distract visitors from his personal shame. She says, "His shame inhabited our house as pervasively and invisibly as the aromatic musk of aging mahogany" (20). She states that this shame stemmed from her father’s closeted sexual preferences. This would later connect them in a very powerful
In Derek Walcott’s “XIV,” the speaker, an aged man, is having momentary, but significant, recollection of a childhood experience. This detailed and engraved memory described through Walcott’s tone, selection of detail, usage of tropes, and point of view fully helps to convey the comic surreal nature of aging. The speaker’s recollection of the visit to the elderly woman is rather vivid, revealing to the reader that this particular instance in his life is profoundly unexpected. However, it is also an intoxicating occurrence, moreover, an adventure.
Under the orders of her husband, the narrator is moved to a house far from society in the country, where she is locked into an upstairs room. This environment serves not as an inspiration for mental health, but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serve to physically restrain her: “the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.” The narrator is affected not only by the physical restraints but also by being exposed to the room’s yellow wallpaper which is dreadful and fosters only negative creativity. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.”
Countless times throughout Robinson’s work, the idea of the home is used as a way to contrast society’s views, and what it means to the characters of Robinson’s novels. In Robinson’s most famous novel Housekeeping, two young girls experience life in a home built by their grandfather, but altered by every person that comes to care for them. After their mother
The house Sylvie attempts to "keep" must accommodate change including the peace and threat implied by nothingness. "A house should be built to float cloud high, if need be...A house should have a compass and a keel" (184). Rather than being seduced by the ultimate and final separation of nothingness, Ruth learns (as a transient) that housekeeping can be an expansive and inclusive method of engaging and interpreting the world.
The central characters in both “The Yellow Wallpaper” and A Doll’s House are fully aware of their niche in society. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator’s husband believes her illness to be a slight depression, and although she states "personally, I disagree with their ideas,” she knows she must acquiesce their requests anyway (Gilman 1). She says, “What is one to do?” (Gilman 1) The narrator continues to follow her husband’s ideals, although she knows them to be incorrect. She feels trapped in her relationship with her husband, as she has no free will and must stay in the nursery all day. She projects these feelings of entrapment onto the yellow wallpaper. She sees a complex and frustrating pattern, and hidden in the pattern are herself and othe...
...ome the dream of attainment slowly became a nightmare. His house has been abandoned, it is empty and dark, the entryway or doors are locked. The sign of age, rust comes off in his hands. His body is cold, and he has deteriorated physically & emotionally. He is weathered just like his house and life. He is damaged poor, homeless, and the abandoned one.
Armand did not realize the remaining letter left in the very back drawer. From his mother to his father, he read it. She was “Thanking god for the blessing of her husband’s love.” As Armand read further along his mom state to his father “I thank the God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slaver.”
The narrator has two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Dee was this cute girl who was super intelligent and sophisticated. She often saw herself as being above her mother and sister and would often make them feel stupid and bad about themselves. "She used to read to us without pity, forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice". She shows that Dee enjoyed making her mother and younger sister feel dumb about themselves because it made her feel superior. Her whole life Dee detested her family and where she came from and couldn’t wait to get away. But, still her mother worked her booty off to provide her with high education and a good life. Dee goes away to college and when she returns she is a completely different person, suddenly interested in her family; photographing them upon arrival. With her guest, new "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo", invades her mothers house taking everything in like it’s a cute display for her. Finally, when Wangero (Dee) demands that her mother give her some quilts, her mum can not take anymore. She tells Dee that Maggie, not her, will be receiving the quilts and she snaps. "I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands, and dumped them into Maggie's lap. Maggie just sat
Suffering from the death of a close friend, the boy tries to ignore his feelings and jokes on his sister. His friend was a mental patient who threw himself off a building. Being really young and unable to cope with this tragedy, the boy jokes to his sister about the bridge collapsing. "The mention of the suicide and of the bridge collapsing set a depressing tone for the rest of the story" (Baker 170). Arguments about Raisinettes force the father to settle it by saying, "you will both spoil your lunch." As their day continues, their arguments become more serious and present concern for the father who is trying to understand his children better. In complete agreement with Justin Oeltzes’ paper, "A Sad Story," I also feel that this dark foreshadowing of time to come is an indication of the author’s direct intention to write a sad story.
John Grisham’s book, ‘A Painted House’ places the reader within the walls of a simple home on the cotton fields of rural Arkansas. Within the first few pages, the author’s description of the setting quickly paints a picture of a hard working family and creates a shared concern with the reader about the family’s struggle to meet the basic needs of life. The description of the dusty roads, the unpainted board-sided house, the daily chore requirements and their lack of excess cause the reader a reaction of empathy for the family. Although the story takes place in a dusty setting very unfamiliar to most readers, the storyline is timeless and universal. Most everyone has a desire to meet the basic needs of life, embrace their family ties, and make others and ourselves proud. The crux of this book is that it does an excellent job in showing the reader through other’s examples and hardships to persevere and never give up.
It is a serious and quiet event. She sees the boys as "short men" gathering in the living room, not as children having fun. The children seem subdued to us, with "hands in pockets". It is almost as if they are waiting, as the readers are, for something of importance to take place.... ... middle of paper ...
Some readers may define the tone as anger in James Stephen's "A Glass of Beer." Others may even say that it leaves an unpleasant tone. By studying the choice of words that Stephen uses to convey the tone of his scene, I will demonstrate that beneath the seemingly outraged situation of the poem lies something funnier. The true tone of "A Glass of Beer" is a sardonic one.
Max Apple's “Roommates” tells the story of two unnamed men, a grandfather and his grandson, and the unusual circumstances that lead them to share the same house for over 30 years. The grandfather is described as an irate man, a lover of strife, who dedicated his life to perpetual arguments and complaints. The grandson, the author of the piece, never explicitly describes himself, but one can infer from the text that he is an affable man who has a pleasant character, both considerate and introverted. Although it is obvious to the reader that the two men are complete opposites, certain similarities can also be seen after comprehensive examination of the text.