“The Laughing Man” by Jeroma David Salinger may seem like a confusing story to some. I know the first time I read it I was scratching my head in confusion. This analysis will examine “baseball”, “the dentist”, and “baby carriages” as well as what they have to do with the conflict of the story. This will help the reader better to understand exactly what is taking place. “The Laughing Man” is a series of stories told by Chief. Chief happens to be the leader of the Comanche Club that the unnamed narrator was a part of as a young boy. Through the telling of the stories the Chief is able to express himself to the young boys who are basically his only friends. One day Chief picks up the children as usual and the narrator notices …show more content…
Even before the narrator and the reader is introduced to Mary baby carriages are mentioned. The first page the narrator says “...where the playing fields were regulation size and where the opposing team didn’t include a baby carriage.” The mention of baby carriages at the beginning foreshadows to Mary’s pregnancy. Baseball comes back into play with the baby carriages. As the narrator is walking backwards after talking to Mary “…smacks into a baby carriage” which is supposedly on third base. Another major clue to the reader that Mary was pregnant. Yes, “was” pregnant because by this point in the story Mary has had an abortion. This is clued in the by the Chiefs final story of “The Laughing Man.” In the final story told by Chief “Omba bowed his own slightly distorted head and revealed to his master that the Dufarges (Mary and her father) had killed Black Wing (the baby).” The more I came to understand the little hints in the story the more I could understand the bigger picture of the story. Through analyses of “baseball”, “the dentist”, and “baby carriages” the story is one the reader can come to
As the writer gave freedom to her son, he tore a binder paper from the notebook, and he started writing about any story he wanted. Moreover, she was startled when she saw his story about The Boy In The Red Sox Shirt and Baggy Jeans. It was about a fourteen-year old girl, who
With an evident attempt at objectivity, the syntax of Passage 1 relies almost entirely on sentences of medium length, uses a few long sentences for balance, and concludes with a strong telegraphic sentence. The varying sentence length helps keep the readers engaged, while also ensuring that the writing remains succinct and informative. Like the varying sentence length, the sentence structures vary as complex sentences are offset by a few scattered simple sentences. The complex sentences provide the necessary description, and the simple sentences keep the writing easy to follow. Conversely, Passage 2 contains mostly long, flowing sentences, broken up by a single eight word sentence in the middle. This short sentence, juxtaposed against the length of the preceding and following sentences, provides a needed break in the text, but also bridges the ideas of the two sentences it falls between. The author employs the long sentences to develop his ideas and descriptions to the fullest extent, filling the sentences with literary elements and images. Coupled...
The two stories “War” and “About Effie” from Timothy Findley’s Dinner Along the Amazon are both told by the same child narrator, Neil. In each of the stories Neil attempts to make sense of a mystery of the adult world. In “War” Neil tries to understand the adult world of war, and explain why it seems that his father has betrayed him, and in “About Effie” Neil tries to understand the mystery of Effie’s strange need to wait for a man in a thunderstorm. Neil reaches an understanding of each of these mysteries in a similar way: through observation of non-verbal clues from adults. However, Neil’s own attempts to communicate non-verbally through his behaviour are unsuccessful. Taken as a whole, these two stories show how very important non-verbal communication is in child-adult relationships.
Mosby’s analysis allows the reader to understand one of the major themes of this story: inability to
...mother realize the identity of her daughter's rapist before the Marquise, establishing irony and advancing engagement between reader and text. It is also clear to the reader that by the conclusion of The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator has become maniacal.
Laughter is an interesting topic. Mainly because of the lack of thought that goes with it as to why we laugh. In an article titled Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson, the theory behind why things are funny is explored. He mentions many different things in his article pertaining to the comic, however, there are a few that stand out more than others. He talks directly about the fact that things are only funny if they relate to humans. Then he touches on the idea that accidents are funnier than planned events. Finally, he speaks on laughter being directly related to social setting. The 1992 film Noises Off is a perfect demonstration of everything that Bergson writes about. Henri Bergson’s essay on laughter is perfectly supported by the film Noises Off.
Southern family preparing to go on what seems to be a typical vacation. The story is humorous at first because the reader is unaware of how the story will end. The tone changes dramatically from amusing to frightening and plays an important part in making the story effective.
In conclusion, it is hard to grasp the true meaning of the story unless the story is read a second time because of the author's style of writing.
...onal confusion comes his inability to accept his brother Allie’s premature death. Through characterization, symbolism, and internal and external conflict, Salinger uses the baseball mitt, the red hunting hat, and the carousel to explore the protagonist struggle to resolve his grief.
middle of paper ... ... ity going in the last paragraph. The structure of the passage helps the responder to clearly see the changed perspective of the author. The passage starts with the child’s perspective; the writing has almost a curious and flighty feel to it. This feeling is empathized through the use of verbs, adjectives, similes, metaphors, imagery and descriptive and emotive language.
Suffering from the death of a close friend, the boy tries to ignore his feelings and jokes on his sister. His friend was a mental patient who threw himself off a building. Being really young and unable to cope with this tragedy, the boy jokes to his sister about the bridge collapsing. "The mention of the suicide and of the bridge collapsing set a depressing tone for the rest of the story" (Baker 170). Arguments about Raisinettes force the father to settle it by saying, "you will both spoil your lunch." As their day continues, their arguments become more serious and present concern for the father who is trying to understand his children better. In complete agreement with Justin Oeltzes’ paper, "A Sad Story," I also feel that this dark foreshadowing of time to come is an indication of the author’s direct intention to write a sad story.
Short stories have particular settings to supplement their themes. The eerie catacombs during a carnival in “The Cask of Amontillado” supplement the themes of revenge, and deception, which the protagonist takes responsibility in; whereas in “Hills Like White Elephants”, the atmosphere around the Spanish train station emphasizes the themes of miscommunication between characters and their evasion of responsibilities.
Presenting the story from a third person perception and having the narration by the mother or “Mama” gives the story great relevance to real life situations that ha...
Wilson, M. & Clark, R. (n.d.). Analyzing the Short Story. [online] Retrieved from: https://www.limcollege.edu/Analyzing_the_Short_Story.pdf [Accessed: 12 Apr 2014].
A typical story is littered with details, explaining the history of the world the story takes place in, who the characters in the story are, all the while remaining correlated to the plot and subplots that drive the story forward. The story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson however does not follow these conditions, as the reader is left to interpret a majority of the story on their own as it progresses. Jackson is not the only writer to incorporate a style of selective exposition in their work; Raymond Carver is widely recognized for his rejection of explanation and the use of characters that do not always communicate with one another, both of which are elements which Jackson incorporates into her own story. Initially, a lack of exposition may seem detrimental to the story, but instead it plays to the “mysterious nature of story” according to Charles E. May in his essay ‘Do You See What I’m Saying?’: The Inadequacy of Explanation and the uses of Story in the Short Fiction of Raymond Carver. Therefore, by refusing to expound upon setting, characters, and plot allows the author to create mystery, and the reader to form their own interpretations of the story.