“Fruits and Words” Essay “Fruits and Words” by Aimee Bender a short story that is full of symbolism and metaphors. The protagonist struggles with her relationship with steve, and on the road she discovers a strong craving for a mango. The mangos and the words symbolize the protagonist's lost hope and dying relationship. In the story “Fruits and Words” there are several times when the protagonist relates to her dying relationship. When the narrator and Steve were planning on getting married, but when Steve says he has to go and that she can drive home herself. Basically abandoning her the day before they got married. She says that “the kiss was an old dead sock,(pg90 Fruits and Words)” meaning that the love between them had died out. …show more content…
After he left, she goes swimming in her new swimsuit that she bought. She was trying to comfort herself by buying expensive things. Than that night she says “I slept diagonal on the king bed.(pg90)” Subtly suggesting that she was alone and that Steve really had left her. Later on in the end of the story, when she goes home the driveway was empty. Meaning that Steve was gone and he wasn’t coming back. The progression of the words symbolize the progression of her relationship.
At first she sees these beautiful words, kinda like how at first in her relationship with Steve it was all great; it seemed so perfect and beautiful. When she buys a word it's like she is entranced by the idea of it; like she is entranced by the idea of getting married. In the story she says “they were beautiful on their own and they were beautiful all together”(pg 95). In this she seems to be so over come on how wonderful these words seamed and like when she was craving the mango she couldn’t think of anything else. When it gets to the liquid she notece that there is something not right, but she wanted to believe it was still ok. “I went over to LAKE and held that and it had litter ferns floating ... It was next to OCEAN which looked more or less exactly like LAKE. (pg 98)” At this time she was getting suspicious, but still hoping and holding on to the idea of how wonderful it is. This is kinda how when she mentioned that they had there rocky times where they would fite, but then got over it and stayed together because she still had hope that it would work. She was less in love with him more in love with the idea of the relationship. When she got to the gasses part of the tour she new for sure something was wrong and wanted to get out of it. This was the end of
the relationship. At that point when she broke hope she new she lost all hope for the relationship. When the protagonist starts to crave a mango she knows that the only thing that would stop the craving is getting an actual mango, nothing else would help, but when she gets it; it's like the beginning of a relationship where everything seems to be grate. Also she got all for mangos not just one as if in a relationship she dove in head first and think all of them would be great, but then after she completed the first one and went on the tour the rest were rotted; like her relationship. It was going to work. Those where a waist of time and money. When the remains of the first mango finally rotted it's like the memory of the great times turned bitter as well. In conclusion, threw out the story “Fruits and Words” there is much symbolism. There are many subtle and clear references to her relationship with Steve. Also, the words mean more than just words they represent her relationship. The mango was just one big symbol for her dying relationship.
Is it better to be loved alive or dead? In The Best American Essays edited by Lauren Slater, Toi Derricotte writes an exquisite short story “Beginning Dialogues” about the love for her dead mother, a love that was never there while her mother was living. The loss of her mother was not a poignant moment for her as she confesses, “I truly do not miss her like that, do not feel that irreversible moment of no return” (49). She navigates us through the stringent power her mother had over her as a child leaving us to wonder if when we feel love is as paramount as the feeling of love itself. Derricotte’s short story exhibits her sumptuous prose with vivid descriptions of her ambiance, her calamitous childhood moments, and her captivating ending.
She thinks that if she vandalizes his precious “souped-up four wheel drive” it will stop him from being unfaithful- to teach him a lesson. However, in “perfect” the thoughts haunt her mind as she realizes she serves no purpose to her boyfriend. “ I hear you talking 'bout her in your sleep”, she feels as if he’s distancing himself from her; as if he has lost the love he had for her; it can make any women feel defeated wondering what the other women is doing that has such of an effect on them. “I can taste her lipstick, it's like I'm kissing her, too”. She has reached a turning point in the relationship; she knows he is being unfaithful from the way he acts towards her, tasting her lipstick as she kisses him, when he says her name in his sleep. She knows he’s being unfaithful yet she still stays- she stays hoping he will change when he does not. While in “Before He Cheats” she does not stay another second to an unfaithful man; she leaves the relationship. Secondly, in “Before He Cheats” she keeps thinking about her ex, thinking back to the memories they had and insulting his new replacement how she is nothing like her and how she believes she is much more better than who he preferred to be with. “He’s
She questions, “What I am to you now that you are no / longer what you used to be to me? / Who are we to each other now …” (Sutphen 1-3). She remembers the good times, but she is uncertain about what he is feeling. She wants to know, and she needs to know. According to Shawn Lewis, “Divorce people often fantasy hiring a hit-man one moment, and discussing a reconciliation in the next moment. They sometimes become recluses, and frequently spend sleepless nights contemplating whether life will be worth living the next morning.” In other words, the doubts are consuming her. There are unanswered questions, which leaves the woman confused about her feelings. Likewise, the reader can relate to the woman because she is having anxiety waiting for answers. On the other hand, the reader are left wondering how her partner felt towards
Cheryl Dunye's film, The Watermelon Woman, combines elements from both narrative film-making and elements from the traditional documentary. The film follows Dunye (as a film-maker and as a character) and ventures on the journey of finding the Watermelon Woman. Whereas most of the film follows Dunye as a character throughout her life as she goes through the process of filming her finds, a few of the scenes are filmed as if the film was an actual documentary. The film is based primarily around the character Cheryl's life and adventure in finding the Watermelon Woman than it is about learning about the Watermelon Woman.
Poetry is a part of literature that writers used to inform, educate, warn, or entertain the society. Although the field has developed over the years, the authenticity of poetry remains in its ability to produce a meaning using metaphors and allusions. In most cases, poems are a puzzle that the reader has to solve by applying rhetoric analysis to extract the meaning. Accordingly, poems are interesting pieces that activate the mind and explore the reader’s critical and analytical skills. In the poem “There are Delicacies,” Earle Birney utilizes a figurative language to express the theme and perfect the poem. Specifically, the poem addresses the frangibility of the human life by equating it to the flimsy of a watch. Precisely, the poet argues that a human life is short, and, therefore, everyone should complete his duties in perfection because once he or she dies, the chance is unavailable forever.
The Desert at Hand, the first poem she read to us, although by far the one which moved me the most, seemed very confusing at first. She opens "Love is also fragment: the cheek of the moon's fat-boy face giving itself up to be kissed, the ingredient phrase, I can't live without you, the sum of the few words that truly invent themselves - You are." At first, the impression of the poem's direction and attitude seemed positive, inspiring the thought that love really is self-sufficient despite it's fragility. Even the title The Desert at Hand seems to imply a biblical simile, that love is a test which can both test and strengthen you, just as Jesus' 40 days in the desert was a time of great temptation and redemption for him.
shows us that she wants the night to come. It also says that this is the night that they perform their love. So tedious is this day, she is. impatient for the day to be over. She is looking forward to their time together, though I an sold, not yet enjoyed.
...her to feel despair. Her misery resulted in her doing unthinkable things such us the unexplainable bond with the woman in the wallpaper.
...e and death overtakes her” (Toth). Edna Pontellier began to deal with emotions that were just too overwhelming for her; she received a letter from Robert stating “I Love You. Good-by—because I love you” (Chopin 625). Losing someone you love and having the feeling of being useless can cause you to do the unthinkable. She may have thought of the children and her husband but “they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul.” (Chopin 627).
In Kate Chopin The Story of an Hour, Kate loses her life from being so happy with result of hearing the news that her husband has past. (397) Brain Doyle’s essay is similar to Kate Chopin’s essay. Chopin is overwhelmed with the news of her dead husband (396). But is she really speechless or is she finally glad she is free of her wifely duties? Most women today feel the same way as Chopin did during her marriage. They feel obligated to obey and always do right by what the man they chose to marry. Sometimes marriages fail and individuals become unhappy, rather than choosing to figure out what the issue is they stay married and deal with each other. Some people are comfortable with their lives, and others have nowhere to go or do or how to move on. When two people are in love they are willing to do whatever it takes to make their spouse happy. They may not feel happy, but they feel that if they leave the situation they have failed their marriage. When neither one can bring it upon to each other that it is time to file for a divorce, death is the only thing that might make everything seem reasonable to deal with. Most relationships fail because two people are no longer in love with each other. They are not willing to fix what is broken, so they allow the relationship to fall apart and not be fixed. Sometimes when couples fix what is broken, they are able to live a life of happiness and joy, which is
Words possess many different meanings. The context of the sentence and how the words are used help to create an experience in the reader. In Mary Oliver's, The Honey Tree, she structures her poem in a way that punctuates on the action in the text. Oliver uses the multiple meanings of words to help create a more vivid picture.
This is shown through the tone changing from being disappointed and critical to acceptance and appreciative. The speaker’s friend, who after listening to the speaker’s complaints, says that it seems like she was “a child who had been wanted” (line 12). This statement resonates with the speaker and slowly begins to change her thinking. This is apparent from the following line where the speaker states that “I took the wine against my lips as if my mouth were moving along that valved wall in my mother's body” (line 13 to line 15). The speaker is imagining her mother’s experience while creating her and giving birth to her. In the next several lines the speakers describe what she sees. She expresses that she can see her mother as “she was bearing down, and then breathing from the mask, and then bearing down, pressing me out into the world” (line 15 to line 18). The speaker can finally understand that to her mother the world and life she currently lived weren't enough for her. The imagery in the final lines of this poem list all the things that weren’t enough for the mother. They express that “the moon, the sun, Orion cartwheeling across the dark, not the earth, the sea” (line 19 to 21) none of those things matter to the mother. The only thing that matter was giving birth and having her child. Only then will she be satisfied with her life and
The song’s intangible spirit changes how they both felt each time. He can see her, but he is speechless, and does not know how to expr...
The final stanza creates a vivid picture in your mind when read. If you can imagine anything that has to do with winning, or a victory of some kind, you can see what she is speaking about. For example, if someone was in a race, it would be better to see the winner cross the finish line, and know you almost made it; than to be so far behind that you had no chance of winning.
Her tone in this song is at first mellow, but when she comes to the stanza of this song, she deliberately raises her voice to emphasize her genuine feelings. The tone describes her want and need for her thoughts to be truly heard. She wants the listener to capture her essence and the view of herself. In this specific stanza, she explains that s...