In the short story, “Love in L.A,” written by Dagoberto Gilb, tells a story of a man, Jake, who manipulates his was out of a traffic incident. Throughout the short story, Jake is made out to believe as someone who wishes for a better, a more relaxing life. “A steady occupation had its advantages and he couldn’t deny thinking about that too. He needed an FM radio in something better than this ‘58 Buick he drove. It would have crushed velvet interior with electric controls...a nice warm heater and defroster...a cruise control… mellow speakers… windows that hum closed…” However, Jakes desires for better things are nothing more than a fantasy that he dreams of, than something he would rather work for. Furthermore, after rear ending a Toyota, Jake distracts the owner by flirting with her, “So how you doin? Any damage to the car? I’m kinda hoping so, just so it takes a little more time and we can talk some. Or else you …show more content…
can give me your phone number now and i won’t have to play my regular b.s on you to get it later.” This is important because it not only distracts the owner of the Toyota from the accident, but it also allows Jake to believe he can get away with anything by lying. However, unlike Jakes, the narrator in the story, “My kid’s dog,” comes off as someone who is soft on the inside and hard on the outside. The narrator claims that he hated his kid’s dogs, Sparky, and that the feeling was mutual. As the narrator accounts for his experiences with the dog, it is undeniable, that he feels something for the dog other than hatred. “With the kids or my wife little Foo-Foo was a changeling, conning them with the tail, the prance, the peppiness, the soft chocolate eyes, the sloppy expressions of love, the easy tricks that if I performed I’d get no credit for.” Though it appears that the narrator is jealous of the attention the dog, it is evident that the narrator notices the dogs alluring traits and abilities. Especially after the death of the Sparky, the narrator can’t shake the feeling that the dog is actually dead. “And then pangs of conscience assailed me. Hadn’t my investigation of said demise of Precious been rather cursory?...The innocence of my childhood had been spoiled with the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, so it was not difficult to conjure images of Scruffy clawing through tarpaulin and earth as he fought for one last gasp of air, air that others could more profitable use.” This is significant because it shows the narrator's second guessing his decisions. In other words, the narrator is having trouble accepting Sparky's death. Due to the narrator's personality of not admitting he cares for the dog, he displays his feelings by insulting the dog. Lastly, the character Spunk Banks, in the short story, “Spunk,” is described as someone who is not only strong, but brave.
Most importantly, Spunk is described by the villagers as fearless. “He ain’t skeered of nothin’ on God’s green footstool-nothin’! He rides that log down at saw-mill jus’ like he struts’ around with another man’s wife-just’ don’t give a kitty. When Tes’ Miller got cut to giblets on that circle-saw, Spunk steps right up and starts riding’. The rest of us was skeered to go near it.” Most importantly, Spunk is a person who will take things that aren't his, like another mans wife, and make them his. However, after the incident of Spunk killed Joe, be believes Joe’s dead spirit is out for revenge. “The thing got Spunk so nervously up he couldn't shoot. But Spunk says twan’t no bob-cat nohow. He says it was Joe done sneaked back from hell!” This incident causes Spunk to become paranoid that Joe is trying to prevent the marriage between Splunk and Joe’s wife, Lena. Eventually, Spunk dies from a saw-mill incident, believing the Joe shoved
him. Furthermore, out of all of the characters in the short story, Spunk would be more unprincipled than Jake from “Love in L.A.” and the narrator from “My Kids Dog.” To explain, not only is Spunk a character who does not respect the Joe’s marriage with Lena, by having an affair, but he also committed the biggest sin of all and killed Joe. It is arguable that Spunk was just defending himself against Joe’s attack, but it is undeniable that Spunk is described as a giant man, while Joe was described to be the exact opposite. Spunk, without a doubt, could of easily defended himself without the use of a gun. However, Spunk took his opportunity to get rid of Joe, the person who stood in the way from his relationship with Lena. Karma or the act of a guilty conscious, Spunk eventually suffered the consequences for his actions. Lastly, the narrator from “My kids Dogs,” would not fall under the category as an unprincipled character because he acted on what he believed what the right thing to do was. To explain, though the narrator had trouble expressing his true feelings for the dog, he had the right intentions when he found out the dog had pass, he decided to bury the dog's body. Though the narrator claimed he buried the dog as a way to limit the “waterworks” from his children, a part of him believed it was the right thing to. The act of the narrator going through the process of burning and unburying the dog's body through the course of the day, reflects his true feelings of unacceptance.
Dagoberto Gilb, an esteemed author, wrote the short story, “Love in L.A.” Jake is stuck in LA traffic in his ‘58 Buick on Alvarado Street, underneath the overpass of the Hollywood Freeway. He imagines having a better car with a FM radio and crushed velvet interior. He rearends the car in front of him because he is too involved in this daydream of freedom. He checks his car for damage and then goes up to the Toyota. He asks the lady how she is doing and if her car is damaged. He hopes that something is wrong so that they can talk more. He asks her out for breakfast or coffee and she rejects both offers. She asks for his driver's licence, but he claims that he left his wallet in his pants from the previous night. Instead, he writes down a fake
People all over the world are gentle and kind right? The problem here is that others know that and they have no issues with taking advantage of and deceiving those nice people. “Love in L.A.” by Dagoberto Gilb is a short story that provides an outlook on this playful side of reality. It is normal and a good sign if someone feels guilty over lying, but this story shows a man who has no regard over who he hurts by lying and using trickery. It isn’t uncommon to see this kind of behavior in our modern day society and Gilb is acknowledging it in this short story. Gilb’s use of characters, events, and tone conveys the friendly aspects of life and how some people take advantage of those aspects.
“Terminal Avenue” versus “We So Seldom Look on Love” Eden Robinson’s “Terminal Avenue” was published in the anthology or collection of fictional short stories called “So Long Been Dreaming” in 2004. Bose “Terminal Avenue” is a futuristic dystopian short story about a young aboriginal man named Wil, who is torn between his aboriginal community whose traditions are being punished for by the police and or being punished by his family if he becomes a peace officer to survive the adjustment. Barbara Gowdy’s “We So Seldom Look at Love” is a collection of fictional short stories and was published in 1992. (Broadview Press) “We So Seldom Look on Love” collections include a short story about a young woman that lives the life of necrophilia who grew up in a moderately normal childhood until the age of thirteen. Where one day she finds a forceful energy she gets from when life turns into death, and continues to experiment with dead animals and cadavers.
"Love in L.A.," written by Dagoberto Gilb, is a story full of irony and multiple themes. The story is set in Hollywood during the summer time. Written in third person objective, "Love in L.A." guides the reader along through the story as opposed to an omniscient point of view.
When young and experimental, everyone remembers their first love and what it meant to them and how it shaped them. They are often fond memories of purity or naivety, however, sometimes, those experiences are haunting and leave permanent scars in people's hearts. “Coleman (1993)” tells the tragic love story of a female speaker and her lover. They appear to live out happy lives while keeping to themselves however, are separated later in the poem by a group of white boys who decide to murder her lover on a whim. Her interactions and thoughts about Coleman shape the fundamentals of the poem to the point that he is the driving force of this poem. His being is the purpose of Mary Karr’s piece of writing and her time with him and without
When most people were young, he or she would sit by the window and wonder off imagining of what their future would hold. Most people have the same vision called the American Dream. The American Dream is a façade that money is entirety and can make a person feel content. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, that American Dream is portrayed through the character Billy Pilgrim. According to Vonnegut, “He married his fiancée, finished his education, and was set up in Ilium by his father-in-law. Ilium is a particularly good city for optometrists because General Forge and Foundry Company is there. Every employee is required to own a pair of safety glasses, and to wear them in areas where manufacturing is going on” (24). According to society, Billy Pilgrim would be considered a successful individual, for his life was set up for him by family, including a well-paying job and a family. Although the American Dream seems like the perfect life, money truly cannot buy anyone’s happiness. Billy was a prime example of someone who had it all but was still struggling to accept his life as a whole...
The idea of the American Dream is it began as an idea people could thrive from, but became detrimental through corruption. Society’s necessity for material goods and money for personal happiness distorts the American dream. One’s morals will be compromised once one decides to live a life for the sole purpose of following a corrupted ideal. In Hunter S. Thompson’s literary work, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his viewpoint of the American Dream is expressed. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, written by Hunter S. Thompson, expresses the decline of society’s morals due to materialistic needs. Thompson proves through symbolism and characterization that society‘s corrupted perception of the American Dream provokes an individual’s morals to decline.
In many ways Las Vegas can be an escape from stressful life. A vacation from all the worries and problems those plaques the people of America on a day to day life. Many people come to seek fame and fortune. Though when looking for this American dream comes at an expensive cost. Hunter S. Thompson paid this price the hard way and even then did not achieve the American dream he was searching for. In Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson explains that drugs will change people even turn your best friends against you and those drugs can make you happy, but will not allow you fully achieve happiness that the American dream promises through allusions and symbolism.
Love is a beautiful thing, it always works out in the end. Everyone is always happy and no problems occur. West Side Story, a musical by Leonard Bornstein based on Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet parallels a love story of two star-crossed lovers. The play takes place in 1961 in New York City. This musical displays importance because it shows that nothing can overcome the power of love. This play is based on a love story between the main characters of Maria and Tony. Theses two are from different gangs that trouble to get along. They are from different gangs that do not get along at all. Roughly two hundred blocks make up Manhattan’s West Side, which stretches from Central Park West to the Hudson River. For the most part, the street youths
The article, “Measurement of Romantic Love” written by Zick Rubin, expresses the initial research aimed at presenting and validating the social-psychological construct of romantic love. The author assumed that love should be measured independently from liking. In this research, the romantic love was also conceptualized to three elements: affiliative and depend need, an orientation of exclusiveness and absorption, and finally a predisposition to help.
“American Sociology 's Investigations of the American Dream: Retrospect and Prospect” is an article that discusses the sociology and the different views that people have on the American Dream. According to this article, sociology has developed a history of studies dealing with each person’s American way of life, and the role the American dream has played on society. Because each person has a different dream they take on different roles in society. Everybody has a different job and contributes differently to society. This article is related to Death of a Salesman because of Willy’s version of the American Dream. He says to Happy and Biff, “I’ll show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there’ll be open sesame for all of us, ‘cause one thing, boys: I have friends” (Miller 1440). Willy refers to the people as being kind hearted and having respect for anyone who appears physically attractive. Willy believed that in order to achieve success you must appear physically attractive and work in the business field. The role he played in society was a failed business man who struggled to be successful. He had a hard time fitting in with society creating a difficult lifestyle for
Every character in the novel has moments of feeling happy and endures a moment where they believe that they are about to achieve their dreams. Naturally everyone dreams of being a better person, having better things and in 1920’s America, the scheme of get rich quick. However each character had their dreams crushed in the novel mainly because of social and economical situations and their dream of happiness becomes a ‘dead dream’ leading them back to their ‘shallow lives’ or no life at all.
The male American dream is most often interpreted as moving your family up in society by increasing your wealth. With this comes the need to purchase items that are on par with one’s income level and therefore showing off wealth and status. This need for items is not particularly because of usefulness or practicality but to distinguish oneself in society as a part of a particular class level, coming from the pressure to keep up with one’s peers. This film shows that society has taken over the definition of our needs and men no longer think for themselves but rather turn to see what others have and from that interpret what society sees as acceptable and standard. The male American dream can be interpreted as a never-ending cycle to prove oneself to others and appear to the standards that others define. According to Tyler Durden, “Advertising has us chasi...
“Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord.” (14.28) Love, in a present-day definition is normally a good thing. According to the brilliant St. Augustine, that would depend on the nature of the love in understanding. In his book, The City of God, Augustine skillfully drew upon two loves: on one hand, a love which is holy: agape, unselfish love, and on the other hand a love which is unholy: distorted love of self; selfishness. Augustine identifies with unselfish love, which is holy love, the love of God, and following God’s rules according to the bible. As contrasted to its opposite, love of self is to the point of contempt of God and neighbor in which these two loves conflict. In this essay, I will give a brief background of the author; I will be discussing the topic of love in The City of God, but more specifically, Augustine’s perception of self-love.
Hate, a passionate dislike for something or someone, has taken part of every war in the world, whether it is a political or civil one. Macklemore, the rapper of the song “Same Love”, uses powerful lyrics and imagery in many of his songs. It is in “Same Love” that he raps about a social issue that the world has been dealing with since, some could argue, the beginning of time. In the song “Same Love” he uses his rap to speak to everyone who can make a change in this world. “Same Love” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis bring awareness to the unjust issue of homophobia by giving people the information they need to obtain a voice and stand up for humans who have had their rights stolen.