The Uplifting Tale of Today Will Be a Quiet Day Some readers see death, but when I read the story "Today Will Be a Quiet Day" by Amy Hempel, I find it to be a light hearted, first-hand account of people coping with transition. Even its location in the table of contents under the heading "Childhood and Adolescent" (Barnet), implies that the story is not about death at all. A newly defined family, one man, a boy and a girl, is faced with the aftermath of divorce and explore among themselves the intricacies of life. The story gives us sublime but keen insight into the transition and adjustments these three people make in this story. The children’s transition is marked by a rivalry, one that surfaces early on in the story and is portrayed through delightful banter and retorts. The children’s bantering relieves some stress created by the unknown tiny steps they are taking in establishing a new type of relationship with their father in the absence of their mother. At no time do the children’s harmless antics towards one another escalate as indicated by critic Tara Baker when she explains that their arguments become deeper than the usual childish bickering. Baker seems to believe the children’s digs into one another are being fueled by difficult situations they have had to deal with lately (170). Brian Motzenbecker supports my idea that the parents are divorced but finds symbolism in what the children discuss and the father’s "quips" (174). I can suggest to the contrary that these stories within the story are meaningful but not symbolic at all. The rapid succession of jumping from one topic to the next suggests to me that the need for conversation without a break is necessary. It keeps everyone from simultaneously t... ... middle of paper ... ...d happily due to the father being able to encompass the entire day’s events into his affirmation. The natural resilience his children display is admirable and probably has much to do with how he and their mother raised them. They show a type of frustration that is both contained and civilized. They avoid expressing their emotions too much throughout the story. Their lives are continuing, and at this point I’m sure the children know that even their father is going to be "all right." Work Cited Baker, Tara. "Is Today Really Quiet?" Ode To Friendship Ed. Connie Bellamy. Virginia Beach: Gann Designs, 1997. Hemple, Amy. "Today Will Be a Quiet Day." Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Motzenbecker, Brian. "Does It Spell Disaster?" Ode To Friendship. Ed. Connie Bellamy. Virginia Beach: Gann Designs, 1997.
Silence — the sound of quiet, the state of mind, the lack of meaning — all these pertain to its definition. Communication is expanding, noise is increasing, music is becoming more obtainable as people search desperately for a moment of peace or a breeze of silence. As the scarcity of physical silence increases, its value as a rare commodity increases as well. The idiom “Silence is golden” may perhaps only grow closer to reality as time passes, as exemplified by the white noise machines or silent fans entering the market and fictionalized in Kevin Brockmeier’s short story, “The Year of Silence.” In light of this, Brockmeier explores the value of silence and noise in his story without putting one above the other. Through strange clues and hidden
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 2011. Print.
On Jan. 17, 1920, America went completely dry. The 18th Amendment of the United States Constitution had been ratified a year earlier, banning “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” within the United States and its territories. This began the era of Prohibition, a 14-year time period of law-breaking unlike any other in our country’s history fueled by bootleggers, gangs, speak easies and mafias. The 18th Amendment was a rarity in that it limited the rights of the individual rather than the activities of the government, thereby guaranteeing an unfavorable reception and reaction. “Last Call” The Rise and Fall of Prohibition was written by Daniel Okrent and published in May 2010 and is a historical explanation of the Prohibition era. Prohibition through the 18th Amendment holds the distinction of being the only constitutional amendment ever to be repealed. This fact leads one to ask: How did this even occur? Why would Americans sacrifice their precious right to drink?
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Introduction To Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th Ed. New York, Norton, 1998. 2: 630-642.
Once prohibition had been passed the demand for alcohol increased. Many people would do whatever they had to just to get their hands on something that contained alcohol. This had created a new business
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." 1892. The New England Magazine. Reprinted in "Lives & Moments - An Introduction to Short Fiction" by Hans Ostrom. Hold,
In the story "Today Will Be a Quiet Day" written by Amy Hempel, one may be inclined to believe that there is a tone of depression or sadness among the father and the two children. This is shown in the opening sentence, while the three are stalled in traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The boy states, "I think if the quake hit now the bridge would collapse and the ramps would be left" (Hempel 1202). We also learn that the boy had a best friend who committed suicide about a year before. Finally, the fact that a mother is not mentioned leaves the reader with a suspicion that the parents may be divorced, separated, or even worse, the mother may be deceased. Even though these incidents probably make the reader feel as if a disaster is likely to occur, there is also ample evidence to show that the family is moving on in their lives, and happier times are yet to come.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." 1892. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. 7th ed. Eds. Richard Bausch and R. V. Cassill. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2006. 598-608.
Wagner-Martin, Linda. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. 981- 982.
The 18th amendment was ratified in the year of 1920. Although the ‘noble experiment’ was to last only until 1933, it had a profound effect upon the face of American social life. Those who supported Prohibition believed that it would solve all of the country’s woes. Prohibition was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America (p.70 USA Today 1992v120n2562). The fact of the matter is, however, not only was none of the above accomplished, the reverse ...
According to Frederick Asals, the first half of the story serves a significant purpose as it informs the audience that the family’s journey to Florida is only a “mere empty movement through space” (42). Prior to the car accident, the family acts out of vanity and disobedience despite believing they are devote Christians. Through their actions and behaviors, O’Connor reveals that they are heading down a path of destruction. T.W. Hendricks examines the structure of the family and their relationships with each other, he comments that “the structure of the family is in disarray” (203). The patriarch of the family, Bailey, despises his mother and prefers to overlook her presence by participating in self-absorption. In comparison, his wife does not pay attention to her external surroundings, but simply puts sole focus on her infant child. Furthermore, she and her husbands are parents t...
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 1684-1695.
In a typical family, there are parents that expected to hear things when their teenager is rebelling against them: slamming the door, shouting at each other, and protests on what they could do or what they should not do. Their little baby is growing up, testing their wings of adulthood; they are not the small child that wanted their mommy to read a book to them or to kiss their hurts away and most probably, they are thinking that anything that their parents told them are certainly could not be right. The poem talks about a conflict between the author and her son when he was in his adolescence. In the first stanza, a misunderstanding about a math problem turns into a family argument that shows the classic rift between the generation of the parent and the teenager. Despite the misunderstandings between the parent and child, there is a loving bond between them. The imagery, contrasting tones, connotative diction, and symbolism in the poem reflect these two sides of the relationship.
Perkins Gilman, Charlotte. "The Yellow Wallpaper"." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Concise Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 1597-1609. Print.
Coffman, Kelly. "A Turning Point." Ode To Friendship & Other Essays. Ed. Connie Bellamy. Virginia Beach, 1997. 190-191.