My blog on "The Lost Phoebe"

Even though the main focus of Theodore Dreiser's, "The Lost Phoebe" is "Old Henry Reifsneider." (www.bsu.edu/ourlandourlit/literature/Authors/dreisert.html#lost) Mr. Reifsneider's wife is a main character also, I believe.

The Mid-West is, I believe, the region of interest within the piece. Primarily, because of the quote, "They lived together in a part of the country which was not so prosperous as it had once been, about three miles from one of those small towns that, instead of increasing in population is steadily decreasing."(www.bsu.edu/ourlandourlit/literature/Authors/dreisert.html#lost) In the South, which I thought was the location at the beginning of the story, there were many more miles between farms in those days. During the depression years, when the story was written, many people, especially young people, left the countryside and moved to the cities to search for work, because of dropping farm crop prices. However, Henry Reifsneider and his wife did not move to a city choosing to live a extremely common and isolated life. Naturalism, is the mode of writing Theodore Dreiser chose for his epic narrative. For Henry, the head of the household, revamped his family homestead, adding onto the original log portion with framing boards, lovingly for his bride, is the impression I received from the narrator's voice. As the narrator's flashbacks at the beginning or introduction of the piece is completed in the final sentence stating Henry's age and marriage, I, the reader, gleaned the idea from the beginning that Henry poor, but not destitute, ordinary man. Thus, whosoever he married was destined to join him in a very plain life.

The German decended man, married for love, certainly not for riches! In those days, whatever a woman owned automatically became the property of the husband, especially the wife. The wife apparantly did not come with a dowry. I did not realize the extent of the legal aspects of marriage until I began studying American history and American literature more in depth. Now I am enlightened.

The devoted husband loved his wife Phoebe to the point of obsession, I believe.

I do not think I could love anyone, but Jesus to that point. Not one person on this earth has been willing or is willing to pay for my sins, in a horribly tortured manner, with his natural life.

My mother-in-law loved her husband almost to that point, though. I do not know if the cause of her seeing his shaddow, hearing his voice sometimes, and dreaming of him as if he were still alive, after he died, is that she is on too much medicine or too much imagination, or something else. The 75-year-old woman would never chase a fantasy off of a cliff, however, like Henry did.

"The Lost Phoebe" tale is not such a far-fetched fiction to me in light of my hearing my mother-in-laws reports.

My blog on Jack London's "To Build a Fire"

The main characters in the epic narrative "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, were the weather and the man, I believe. Nature's element, cold, killed the man, showing the greatest opposition to the main character. Therefore, demonstrating the character's antagonistic frame. A name was not even given to the man, even though he was the main character and protagonist. In the Bible, if a name is not given to enlighten me as to the identity of the person remonstrated about, then I get the idea that that person was not worthy to be remembered by name. Was that idea inferred by the narrator? I believe it was, because of the young man's pride of self-sufficiency, he lost his life and his identity.

Usually, travel is done in the Yukon, I thought, by sled dog teams. From what I have read, it is a faster, and safer mode of travel. To travel alone in 50 degree below zero weather, to me, is ludicrous.

Most people in real life, I have heard, when they get in trouble say an exclamation about God or to God. I did not see those words when the primary human character got into trouble.

When I read a fictional story such as, "To Build a Fire" or a real reported story of a similar happening I wonder about what prompts a person to risk his or her life in such a seemingly useless purpose? It makes me want to interview a risk taker like the man in the story was, to ask them; why do you take such great risks?

I would never purposefully place myself in such a predicament unless the Lord called me to. However, I know that that situation may happen to me at some future time.

God called me to tutor in the Dayton and Montgomery County Human Rehabilitation Center a few years ago. to some it is a dangerous place to be, but it was not to me, because I was in God's perfect will.

my blog on "Triffles" by Susan Glaspell

Although, the deceased minor character, John Wright, had no dialogue from the narrator, he spoke volumes through what the other characters said about his wife. Even though, Mrs. Wright was also a minor character, her plight in the story impacted me greatly. The story line reveals her underlying trouble through the protagonist of the work, Mrs. Hale. Mrs. Peter's dialogue with Mrs. Hale carries the tale to the reader and involves the reader in the narration as if the reader is invited to help solve the murder mystery presented by the narrator.

The third person omniscient is used greatly in "Triffles" by Susan Glaspell. The narrator speaks knowingly through most of the characters.

I believe, the antagonist is the county attorney. The county attorney is at odds with the women throughout the entire epic. The county attorney is very condescending to the women. I know men like that. Those kind of men are not comfortable for me to be around, therefore, I try to avoid them.

I can empathize a small amount with the minor character, Mrs. White, in the story. My mother stayed in an emotionally abusive marriage until my dad died of ALS. Divorce was not an option to my mother for different, but yet similar reasons as the character in the work. My father stated that if my mother divorced him he would make sure that she was left penniless. Therefore, she stayed with him until his death.

In the period in which Susan Glaspell was living women had no recourse, but to stay in unhappy marriages because they had few legal rights in those days.

I do not believe in murder is a righteous act, regardless, if that is what the character, Mrs. White, did perform within the imaginary home of the writer's mind. The Bible says, "Thou shalt not kill." Thou, in my opinion, means everyone.

The underlying theme, I believe, is sexism in marriage within some American homes.

I did not want to end up like my mother and in a different way Mrs. White. As a result of my mother's marriage woes, I looked for a different kind of spouse than my father was. I was successful!

Did MS. Glaspell write "Triffles" to elicit empathy for the plight of such women in the past society of the U.S. at the time?

Was MS. Glaspell opening up a closed subject within our society in her time period?

I do not know, but I do know that the work is very thought provoking to me as an American woman interested in social issues pertaining to men and women in relationship.

My blog on "The Yellow Wallpaper"

John, John's wife, and the yellow wallpapered room, I believe, are the main characters of the narrative "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I have very little knowledge about mental illness such as is described in the work by Gilman. At times however, under stress, I can empathize with the character in the story and the author whom, I believe, was writing the story in response to a tremendous stress in her own life.

The antagonist in the piece, I believe, is the husband, John, who even though a doctor, did not know how to treat his ill wife, or maybe her hormone imbalance.

When the paper in the room was new, bright, pretty, and happy looking for the children in the nursery who enjoyed it, it was a joy to look at. However, the mentally disturbed wife dwells on the deterioration of the paper to the extent of excessive compulsiveness. Now the paper is a dirty faded yellow, which to some represents fear and cowardice. To the imagined woman caught in the yellow wallpaper the doctor's wife thought that she could not escape without her help. In setting the woman free in the wallpaper, by tearing it down, she would be freeing herself. The confused wife would be in control instead of John.

According to Charlotte Gilman's biography, she had been wrestling with a postpartum nervous breakdown. Gilman was treated by a doctor in real life to whom the wife in The Yellow Wallpaper was threatened with being sent to if she did not get well quickly. Silas Weir Mitchel was the name of her real life doctor.

The third-person omniscient is used by the author as she has the main character, the doctor's wife, equate scripture with the wallpaper. "It sticketh closer than a brother" (511) . The quote found in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman can be found in Norton Anthology of American Literature Shorter Edition Vol. II. Edited by Nina Baym and in the King James Version of the Bible. In the situation in the wallpapered room, the paper was not considered a blessing to the disturbed main character. Jesus in contrast meant the words found in the book of Proverbs 18:24, "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." The friend, or woman in Gilman's story caged in the wallpaper was herself, and she needed to free herself in her mind because she was her only true friend and savior.

Constantly referring to the wallpaper, the action rises to a climax as her husband passes out when he sees that his wife has gone completely mad. By crawling all over the floor of the room in the midst of her handiwork of tearing the yellow wallpaper off the walls she demonstrates her separation from reality.

I guess the question is; should a woman stay with a man that is driving her nuts or should she stay until he dies or he divorces her? God hates divorce, but he also hates abuse. By not understanding his wife's needs was John abusive? I do not think so, but others might.

My blog of "The Other Two"

The main character in "The Other Two" by Edith Warton are Mr. Waythorn, Alice Waythorn, and Lily Hasket. Alice Waythorn is on her third marriage with Mr. Waythorn. Alice Waythorn's little girl, Lily, poses an antagonistic challenge to the couple. Although the sick child never has a voice, the child's presence is greatly felt by all the characters in the story, through her nurse, her biological father, etc. Lily's care created strife in the new family.

Mr. Waythorn's challenge is to keep out of the way of the first two of his wife's husbands and still take care of his family. The wealthy man ironically ends up sharing his life with the wife's previous two husbands by necessity. Haskett has to come to the house to see his daughter. If Haskett had never had a child with Alice, Mr. Waythorn would not have had to deal with him, because the present clerk would have stayed in the other state where he was better off financially. Haskett wanted to be close to his daughter. I would want that too. I like living close to my children and grandchildren. Then the first husband is thrust into Mr. Waythorn's life as a result of his job.

Alice Waythorn probably divorced her previous husbands because they were poor. I do not believe a marriage in these modern times could stand without a firmer foundation than that. I did not marry for money, nor would I ever, because Jesus supplies all my needs according to his riches in glory. Jesus promised me that He would never leave me nor forsake me. The greatest gift is love. Therefore, love in greater than a grand income.

I found this narrative to be realistic in scope.

My brother has been married five times. Therefore, I can believe a tale such as "The Other Two" as really happening.

The antagonist, Lily Haskett, was not voiced in the narrative. I would have liked to have heard what she thought about all the action that was going on around her. Since the story was in the third person omniscient point-of-view, it would have been interesting to hear Lily's point-of-view.

I liked the narrative, finding the denouement slightly humorous and ironic. However, I could not commiserate much with Mr. Waythorn, because he had an idea of what he was getting into before he married a divorcee.

My blog on "A White Heron"

The main characters in the "A White Heron" realism narrative by Sarah Orne Jewett, are Sylvia, her Grandmother, (Mrs. Tilley) and the man who Sylvia, at first mistook for a boy, because he came whistling down the path that she had been walking on just like a boy that would occasionally tease her. Her obstinant cow is a minor character.

The antagonist, I believe, is the man The young man presents the challenge of the killing something alive, natural and beautiful, or should it be protected, to the girl Sylvia who was named after the woods. Sylvia also has a crush on the scientist, which makes her decision more difficult.

I believe the story is eastern in its region of origin, because of the nearness of the sea and the salt marsh, along with other descriptions of the land that give me an indication of regionality. The woods, the birds, the levelness of the land makes me think of the terrain slightly inland of an island off of the New England coastline. Many New Englanders did during the period of the writing of the piece like the grandmother in the work did and still do, pronounced and continue to pronounce the word marsh without the consonant 'r'. By watching a great deal of PBS television shows I have become familiar with the New England accent.

Sylvia loves the land, the trees, the animals, and even the temperamental cow. The nine year old child hand feeds the animals, even the blue jays, which are extremely shy birds in the presence of humans. I have fed wild animals by hand and have helped raise wild birds. One has to have a quiet and serene disposition as well as a love of wild creatures in order for the animals to trust a human enough to eat from the hand.

The setting is around the state of Maine, I believe, because the author had a tendency to write about the places that she knew, according to her bio.

The climax of the story, to me,of the climbing of the huge tree by Sylvia was something that I do
not believe I would have done for any amount of money no matter how poor I was. I really thought Sylvia was going to fall out of that tree on her way down. It was a surprise to me and the characters that she made it back home, at all, much less scratched-up and covered with tree sap.

Sarah Jewett's narrative left me wondering if I could, at the age of nine, being poor, and needing money desperately, have turned down an offer of money for sinply giving a hunter the location of a bird's nest. Sylvia did not know, probably that the Snowy Egret was an endangered species at the time. I do not know if the onothologist knew either. Did the autor know? Was there a little bit of Universal Omniscience going on? Anyway, it seems as if the writer made the child wise beyond her years at the conclusion of the story.

I would like to see if Sylvia's island really exists. It sounds like a romantical place to me, a place that I would enjoy visiting.