Unit 3 Prompt 1

Through reading Richard Rive’s No Room at Solitaire, it is pretty clear the story can be considered a political story just by reading the circumstances as to why Fanie van der Merwe is having a difficult business day on Christmas Eve. For the beginning of the story, Richard Rive provides background information as to why Fanie van der Merwe and Oom Sarel are having issues between themselves and the financial consequences for Fanie. When Fanie argued that a black can be educated beyond the standard six through using Witbooi’s cousin educational success as an counterargument for Oom’s belief it is not possible, Oom responded in anger by proclaiming, “he would not drink in a bar owned by a man who had sold his people to the communists” (Rive 39). This proclamation was not the only act of retaliation; Oom held a braaivleis with free boerewors and brandy on Christmas Eve. Add on to the fact that Oom is a wealthy and powerful man in their district, Fanie fears his influence will spread the word of his “communist” beliefs and possibly extend the financial misfortune. The situation that Fanie is going through is very similar to what many in the United States had gone through in the McCarthy Era. Many people in that era were accused of communism through little evidence and face severe consequences through imprisonment and financial punishments. For Fanie, this is a replication of what occurred during the McCarthy Era through Oom isolating Fanie’s business. This view of retaliation because of an accusation of communism can make this story a political story. 

Review of Lydia Davis' "Five Stories"

When I first started reading Lydia Davis' Five Stories, I was surprised by how short her stories were and started questioning her style of writing. After reading The Outing, my opinion on her writing changed and appreciated how short of a dialogue can bring out such strong human emotions. What made The Outing powerful was the imagery of emotions through action that were occurring in the story. When Lydia mentions “An outburst of anger near the road, a refusal to speak on the path”, there was a perception of people involved in these actions however, there were no symbols used to act the events.  The reason The Outing is the most successful of all the stories is because it did not give much detail about where the actions were coming from or why all the events were occurring. The emotions through action forced readers to picture where the direction of the story was heading towards without using imagery. It also made the story realistic for those who have ever been in a similar situation. Through observations of Five Stories, the more detail Lydia Davis added, the less strength the story had. Although The Mice illustrated great descriptions of the household of the narrator, the extra details hurt the opportunity for readers to wonder why the mice are acting the way they were. An example of the unnecessary detail was when the narrator compared the differences between the home and the neighbor’s mice issues; “We are pleased but cannot understand why they do not come into our kitchen where we have straps set”. After reading this excerpt and reading further into the story, one can deduce as to why the mice will not come into the kitchen as compared to the neighbor’s kitchen–the trap. The overly detailed narrator gave too much information to make readers question why the mice are not taking advantage of the mess and made the story felt dragged. Of the Five Stories, The Mice was not the most successful of the other short stories.  

Introduction Post

Hello everyone, my name is Marcos Gonzalez-Ramirez. I am currently a second year student in the School of Arts and Sciences with a major in Economics. In terms of literature, I have not read many books or short stories since the start of my college career. However, I do enjoy reading whatever I can get my hands on when I have time. I will admit that I was a fan of Harry Potter when I was a child and read all seven books in the series. I am interested in reading fiction, non-fiction, history, and philosophy but I am always curious to explore different genres. 

Although I have always enjoyed reading, writing has always been my preference. I only write for fun but have never done any serious hobbies involving writing. I do want to start writing more because it is one of the most enjoyable hobbies I like to do when I don’t want to be productive. Also, I feel more comfortable writing because for me it is better to communicate. I hope I can start reading more variety of literature through the course and become better in formulating more constructed arguments and analysis. This is my first time blogging and I hope I will start to blog more after this class.