A life destroyed by a single phone call. So many innocent years have passed by unknowing to the dark past and terrible, yet inevitable, future. Everyday before this had been almost the same routine robotically repeated: waking in the morning to straighten her kinky, unruly hair and shoveling her breakfast inside her well lip-glossed lips. After her daily dose of school and friends, she comes home to her mother ready to greet her after finishing up the latest creation for the upcoming art show. Her father, however, was usually absent when she got home. With the amount of time her father spends at his job, it seems like he lives there. Although few, there were days when not even her mother would be home and a bright, yellow sticky note would be placed on the stainless steel refrigerator telling her where her mom was and when she would be back. With everything so perfectly in order, her world seemed to be utopian. She had no reason to be unhappy if it weren’t for the ignored sense of superficial love that left her feeling empty and on some level, in question of her security. Unfortunately, she felt as if those feelings weren’t allowed in this house of bliss she called home. So every night she locked them away in her carefully hidden journal before bed, temporarily suppressing every ounce of uncertainty and masking it with her signature accessory, her unforgettable smile. She was known for the beaming expression twinkling for anyone to see, all of which were just as skeptical as she was of her seemingly unblemished life. Today, though, no one suspected her wide grin to be false. She had achieved one of her many life-long goals of representing her high school as valedictorian. She could barely contain her urge to run home and tell her... ... middle of paper ... ... Stranger still, who was Samson Maslov? Before she had any more time to ponder these burning questions, adrenaline took over. She had to get out of there. She shuddered at the image of the “bad men” the voice had spoken of on their way to abduct her as they did her parents. She was frustrated with herself for not listening more intently and strained to remember what the old woman had said. After some thought, things the mystery woman had said earlier began to slowly appear in her memory. I do not blame you, young Lily … forgive me for not being in your life…bring justice to my daughter’s death… she tried to be the best mother she could… sorry you didn’t know sooner… Be safe… They just kept flooding in, and even through the fear of the men she had to escape, she had to pause to take in her startling realization. Had that truly been her grandmother?
After six years, she finally earned it. She was now a typical American teenager. She was even what you would consider a “popular kid”. She had her friends, and her thick accent was not so thick anymore, even if it was not gone. However, there was still one thing that separated her from the rest of her group, and every time she introduced herself to a new person she knew that.
Although this story is told in the third person, the reader’s eyes are strictly controlled by the meddling, ever-involved grandmother. She is never given a name; she is just a generic grandmother; she could belong to anyone. O’Connor portrays her as simply annoying, a thorn in her son’s side. As the little girl June Star rudely puts it, “She has to go everywhere we go. She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day” (117-118). As June Star demonstrates, the family treats the grandmother with great reproach. Even as she is driving them all crazy with her constant comments and old-fashioned attitude, the reader is made to feel sorry for her. It is this constant stream of confliction that keeps the story boiling, and eventually overflows into the shocking conclusion. Of course the grandmother meant no harm, but who can help but to blame her? O’Connor puts her readers into a fit of rage as “the horrible thought” comes to the grandmother, “that the house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee” (125).
In Chapter 13, Lily learns that her mother indeed ran away from the both of them to August’s home and she’s given proof of this because she’s given some things that were in her possession. Lily becomes angry because most of her life she has had to live with the guilt of killing her own mother. She becomes hopeless, and it shows when she says “I drew into myself and stayed there for a while… I spent most of my time down by the river, alone. I just wanted to keep to myself” ( Kidd 277 ). Lily contemplates whether she should forgive her mother for leaving, whether her mother even loved her in the first place. She calls herself “the girl abandoned by her mother… the girl who kneeled on grits” ( Kidd 278 ). These events cause her to finally let go of her mother and live her life without guilt taking
It was a sunny day with a sweet aroma of blooming tulips. The sunlight glittered on their faces as the breeze rattled the chestnut tree above. There was an occasional giggle as they talked, but there was also a hint of discomfort and awkwardness between them as they peeked at each other’s face and recoiled when the other looked up. When the bell rang twice, I saw them say goodbye and walk away from each other. In the darkness of the crowd, a glimmer flashed into my eyes from Hannah’s cheeks.
The unpolished floors and graffitied lockers with pictures of the Beatles glued to them indicated to me that no summer cleaning had been done at school, for what seemed like several years. As I walked, a neatly folded piece of paper, which I placed in my pocket earlier this morning, grazed my outer thigh was not letting me forget its purpose. My palms were sweaty and all I could think of was that on the first day of school, I had decided to tell my crush that I liked her. What a stupid decision. I decided to wash my hands and then put my plan into action. My walk across the hallway continued till I reached the guy’s bathrooms. Just as I was about to push the door, it opened and out ran a blonde and petite girl. My crush. Her face was surprised and her hazel eyes were
She sacrificed almost all her personal pleasure for studying, but she did not see the point why she should make such sacrifice since she found the class reading as well as essays hardly arouse her interests. As she finally laid her eye on the bookshelf, seeing all the certificates and awards she had earned, Jennifer suddenly thought of what her father had told her, “school always comes first”. Tiredly and aimlessly, Jennifer signed and looked at a picture of her father. Slowly closing her eyes, she temporarily forgot about all the things like a tough life and overwhelming schoolwork which could make her stressful, and let her beautiful childhood memories of balloons, carousels and her father’s smiling face come into
From the outset of the story there is an overwhelming sense of hope that has enveloped the entire community and school with the upcoming graduation. The communitie's involvement strengthens the authors excitement in her rite of passage. Everyone is preparing for the ceremony and seeking to see how it will affect the lives of those involved. "Only a small percentage would be continuing on to college" (835) and others were just excited for the "glorious release" (834) from school. She felt like she was on top of the world, after all, "the graduating classes themselves were the nobility" (834). It is obvious how much pride she takes in her community by the way she describes her class as "an extended family." (834). The author's school was not the most impressive school compared to the white schools in the area but that could not damper the spirit that was filling the air. Parents who were buying or making new outfits for their graduates made everyone including the author the center of attention. Her "momma launched out on [hers]," (835) and she was swollen with pride that she was going to be a walking mod...
With these two divergent personas that define the grandmother, I believe the ultimate success of this story relies greatly upon specific devices that O’Connor incorporates throughout the story; both irony and foreshadowing ultimately lead to a tale that results in an ironic twist of fate and also play heavily on the character development of the grandmother. The first sense of foreshadowing occurs when the grandmother states “[y]es and what would you do if this fellow, The Misfit, Caught you” (1042). A sense of gloom and an unavoidable meeting with the miscreant The Misfit seem all but inevitable. I am certain that O’Connor had true intent behind th...
The patient was more beautiful than she realized. If only she could see it for herself. The color from her dainty face had drained to a sickened green tint and her eyes widened in fear. The walls of the clinic exam room were ordained in calming colors, but offered the young woman no comfort. She continued to blink rapidly as if she would awaken from the nightmare; her long eyelashes could not fan the health worker’s words away. She thought it was harmless, just a night of fun. It made her feel valuable and attractive. Yet being desired now left her alone, crumpling to the floor screaming between sobs and desperately reaching to the empty air around her. She couldn’t grasp any security. Not only did that harmless night of fun result in her becoming
Lily has been raised motherless and alone, but through seeking out the Boatwright sisters, she has many female figures and a new found contentment of her mothers passing. Lily has been affected profoundly by her mothers passing. She constantly seeks to uncover the truth about her mother leaving her and her untimely death. “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life.” This quote shows just how much Lily is affected by not having Deborah in her life and the uncertainty is causing Lily great distress. At this point in the novel, Lily is vulnerable due to the overwhelming thoughts that plague her. From Lily’s journey to Tiburon, we see her break free from her time of loneliness and vulnerability, and instead, flourish
In the story of “Life after High School” by Joyce Carol Oates, one of the main characters Zachary has a hard time with his love for Sunny. This leads to his death. Zach later shows the reader just how much he loves Sunny by asking her to marry him. Joyce Carol Oates introduces themes of growing up and transition from youth to adulthood and feeling the need to conform to other people to her short story “Life after High School” through a typical plot line about the love story of Zachary and Sunny. Which reveled a couple deep secrets of the three main characters. The author wants to make the reader believe that is a typical story, having a shy and goofy teenage by trying to get the attention of a popular cheerleader. That way reads can easily identify and relate to the characters and their positions during high school and Living behind masks.” masked identity.
In the days leading up to her graduation, she was so excited about receiving her diploma for her academic accomplishments, even though she hasn’t accomplished a lot in life by experiencing a little bit of it. She felt like the birthday girl with her pretty dress, beautiful hair, and the presents she received from Uncle Willie and her mother. She felt like it w...
I had expected my performance in school to make me truly happy when it really couldn’t. When something as important as my identity failed me, I felt empty. Although the real reason for this emptiness was unimportant, it revealed a much larger and deeper issue. Instead of putting my confidence in unfailing love, I had let a worldly concern determine my
It was one of the most exciting and nerve racking days of our lives. Although we were finally leaving high school, the feeling of being unsure didn’t go away. The whole day was full of practicing for the big moment when the entire class graduated on to a new beginning. All the girls wore shiny bright red robes and the guys were dressed in a shiny navy blue. Standing there, I had no idea what to expect. Some things I were aware of, my friends were leaving and we wouldn’t be the same friends anymore. My role was that of being so aware of the future that I was too shocked to soak in the present; being a pessimist was my main goal and everything I was sure of became true.
Imagine you or one of your family members being in a persistent vegetative state, a conduction in which a medical patient is completely unresponsive to physical and psychological stimuli and shows no sign of high brain function, being kept alive only by medical intervention. That would be more than difficult to imagine, but for the Cruzan’s family it was a reality. Nancy Cruzan was in a car accident, which resulted in massive injuries. Nancy was in an unconscious state and very unresponsive in daily activities. She was in a vegetable state with an implanted feeding tube in her stomach. As years passed by the family decided they wanted the feeding tube to be removed in order for Nancy to get the peace she needed. The Supreme Court didn’t quite agree with the family’s decision of removal of the feeding tube. The Supreme Court seized the family’s upright decision to remove the feeding tube from Nancy Cruzan because her family knows what is better for her rather than someone who knows almost nothing about her.