My first of the five is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. I read this when I was in High School and the name itself leads you to believe what the outcome will be. But as your read, The Lottery is one of the scariest events in the small village that the story takes place. This would have been a perfect short story to use for a New Criticism analysis. This short story has a lot of questioning morals and ideas that occur in this tiny town, enough to get a good discussion going on. For my class in High School we talked about the short story for three days and how preposterous the whole idea was.
My second would be In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka. I’ve always been interested in WW2, not because of the torture of the Jews but, because I don’t want it to be erased from History. So many people have tried to say the extermination of the Jews never happened, but it did. So, I want to read more and more about that time period and know the facts and read the stories wrote by the people who lived through it or witnessed it. My being a writer, I find that when writing stories, I tell a lot about how I feel and what’s going on in my head. So, I figure, if we read a story written by someone who’s endured the prejudice of that time, we can get a feel for what it was like. I think it would be a great read, learning from four different character’s roles in this story about this machine that took part in the extermination.
My third would be He Would Never Hurt a Fly by Slavenka Drakulić. I skimmed through this story and thought this would be interesting to discuss. It’s kind of controversial in a sense. This man had become this sort of executioner from what I’ve read and enjoys killing yet to his friends, he’s nice and calm and loves fishing. It almost seems like this guy is shifting personalities from what I’ve read. I’d really like to read more and find out what exactly was going on here.
My fourth would be What Work Is by Philip Levine. This poem talks about work and what work is to someone. They talk about how their brother sleeps in all the time working a late shift at Cadillac, and waking up to study German and other activities this brother is doing, where as the Narrator is standing, waiting for work, real work—heavy, hard labor. This kind of reminds me of the Hispanic men you with the hauling trucks or like in Fun with Dick and Jane, the men standing in the alleyway, waiting for someone to come by and ask them to do work and the struggle they go through fighting with each other to get the job. It would be interesting to look at this poem.
My fifth would be Punishment by Seamus Heaney. This seemed interesting. It leaves the question, who murdered this girl? Was the Narrator or was it someone else? Does Narrator know who did, do they know who this girl is? It kind of makes you wonder. You want to assume that the Narrator did it, but it could be the write who’s trying to trick you into thinking that way. Interesting poem, would like to look at it deeper.
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Your recommendations are intriguing! I also chose a story about WWII and I cannot express enough that we can never forget what happened to so many people in such horrific ways. I actually read most of the stories you recommended because of how you described them! Thank you by the way! I also agree that The Lottery was a jaw dropping story and it would be a great to discuss with the class as a whole! The other story you recommended I am glad you did because after reading it, I had some comments to make about it as well questions for the author. The one thing I read that I thing would be ideal for our class is that the social standard that beautiful people are kind and generous whereas ugly people are disengenuous and mean. To a certain extent, I agree with that statement. Beautiful people are treated differently than those who are not and therefore they have a better outlook on life; which in turn leads to good deeds without a reward (except for self-satisfaction). It all depends on how one sees themselves: if they feel good about themselves the more likely they will be willing to help out, whereas if someone has been mistreated their enitre life they may not be so willing to lend a helping hand because they don't feel they deserve it so why should a stranger! This story all-in-all has a way of making you think about what would you do in his shoes. Good story, and excellent recommendation!
ReplyDeleteAs for the last of your recommendations, I believe it to be the best of all! "Punishment" is a poem that is written beyond excellent! There is such mystery and vividly expressed. In my opinion, I believe the author is the one who killed her and that she was his maid or some house worker that he mistreated before he killed her. There is too much to speculate that, to me, says that the author was the one who is to be blamed for her horrific death. From my understanding, he knows to much about the details of her body and about how she lived. This poem gives a new twist about how author's can play a role in the poems they write.