The Country of the Pointed Firs

Sara Orne Jewetts, The Country of the Pointed Firs, was a very heartwarming book for me to read. I found myself feeling like I was almost part of the family, just as the narrator felt all throughout the story. Every character seemed to have such liveliness and welcoming nature, it was very hard not to feel somewhat connected to them in some way. Early on in the book the narrator described Mrs. Blackett's hospitality, and I remembered these lines as I read on because I felt the same way all throughout the book. She spoke of her hospitality as being, "Something exquisite, she had the gift many women lack, of being able to make themselves and their houses belong entirely to their guests pleasure,-that charming surrender for the moment of themselves and whatever belongs to them, so that they will make it a part of one's own life that can never be forgotten" (Jewett 31). I felt that this was a very powerful line in the story, and it was this comfort that the narrator felt that helped carry me throughout the book. She was made to feel as though she was part of something special, and that can never be forgotten. The bonds between the characters and the strong family tradition is what made me find this book so special.
I also found the imagery of this book to be incredible. Nearly every page gives you an image of the beautiful New England landscape, and it seems as though I was right there experiencing everything from the colors of the seasons, to the singing of the birds. I loved the way the narrator spoke of the Bowden family reunion, and the scenery as they all walked. "There was a wide path mowed for us across the field, and as we moved along the birds flew up out of the thick second crop of clover, and the bees hummed as if it were still June" (Jewett 67). Jewett paints such a beautiful picture of nature as the narrator experienced it. She went on to say, "There was a flashing of white gulls over the water where the fleet of boats rode the low waves together in the cove, swaying their small masts as if they kept time to our steps" (Jewett 67). Jewett synchronizes nature with the family so well, and I found it very interesting to read. I really enjoyed The Country of the Pointed Firs.

"The Use of Force"

William Carlos Williams, "The Use of Force" left me wondering with what the title stood for. Before reading the story, "The Use of Force" seemed like it would be a very violent story just by the title itself. Does "The Use of Force" might refer to the way the parents forced the doctor to come to the house, the actual force the doctor used, or the child's force in keeping her mouth closed so that the doctor could not check her. I think these are all possibilities in which the "Use of Force" could be talking about.


After reading the short biography about William Carlos Williams, I realize he may be talking about his own life experiences in this story. Was he trying to convey some of his feelings and emotions as a doctor? "I could have torn the child apart in my own fury and enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to attack her" (Williams 1172). These disturbing sentences led me to believe that the doctor knew he could use almost any force necessary against the child, and she would be completely defenseless. Although the young girl never hears the doctors innermost thoughts, I was able to see inside the mind of the doctor that came to the house. The doctor continued by saying, "It was a pleasure to attack her. My face was burning with it" (Williams 1172). It seemed as though the doctor in the story used possibly a little too much force to check the child's throat, seeing as she was bleeding before he could even get her mouth open. It was this force in the story that led me to believe that the doctor used his profession to hurt the child in some ways, for his own enjoyment. This story left me wondering if this story paralleled the life of William Carlos Williams.

"The Cask of Amontillado"

"My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so." (Poe 939). I think this line was Edgar Allen Poe's way of using the verbal irony that we discussed in class to show that Montresor was really sick and possibly even feeling guilty over what he had done to Fortunato. As Montresor was getting the chains ready to restrain Fortunato, I believe the guilt started to hit him. He said, "For a brief moment, I hesitated, I trembled" (Poe 939). The simple act of Montresor hesitating, even for a moment, leads me to believe that the "sickness" he felt in his heart at the end of the story was a genuine feeling of regret forming over what he had done. I think the sick feeling that Montresor felt was something he did not want to feel, and that is why he blamed the dampness on his feelings. As much as Montresor hated Fortunated, he began to feel some remorse at the end of the story.
Montresor's hatred for Fortunato was so bad that he planned to kill him in a very cruel way. My favorite line in this story was, "He repeated the movement-a grotesque one" (Poe 937). Just the word grotesque gave me the image of disgust that he felt for Fortunato, and the fact that Montresor would describe his enemy's mere movements as "grotesque" led me to see how much he really hated him and wanted to see Fortunato gone for good.

"The Rocking-Horse Winner"

"They looked at her coldly, as if they were finding fault with her" (Lawrence 709). I found it interesting in D.H. Lawrence's story, "The Rocking Horse Winner," that the way the protagonist, Paul, looked at his mother, was seen as cold. The protagonist, Paul, ironically had blue eyes which is a symbol to me in a sense of being cold. Throughout the whole story, Paul's eyes are used as almost a center point of the emotion. Every time something happens in the story, there is mention of the way Paul's eyes looked. "The boy gazed at his uncle with his big, hot, blue eyes, set rather close together" (Lawrence 713). As the story progresses, Paul's eyes seem to change as he becomes more and more crazy about the outcome of the horse races. Paul says, "I've got to know for the Derby!I've got to know for the Derby!" (Lawrence 716), while his "Big blues eyes were blazing with a sort of madness" (Lawrence 716). It is obvious that Paul is slowly losing his mind trying to make money for his mother to make her happy, and make the house stop "yelling." Lawrence uses Paul's eyes as a way to express Paul's emotions and I think it is pretty neat the way it is done. As a big Derby drew closer Paul began to get more and more anxious, "He was very frail, and his eyes were really uncanny" (Lawrence 717). I think Lawrence used the word uncanny because no one really knew what was going on inside Paul's mind, and his eyes confused them even more. They could no longer see anger, sadness, or madness. Paul was beginning to change and no one really knew why, and I think Paul did not know what was happening to himself.
By the end of the story, when Paul could not fully gain consciousness, his eyes were like, "blue stones" (Lawrence 718). Paul had become so worked up with trying to help his mother that he became completely cold. I was intrigued by the way D.H. Lawrence used Paul's eyes to help interest me in the story. I think looking into someone's eyes help give a deep connection, and I felt that with Paul, and I sympathized with him all throughout the story.

"A Good Man is Hard to Find"

"It was a big black battered hearse-like automobile" (O'Connor 909). This line foreshadowed the ending of the story for me, and I knew there would be some sort of a death towards the end. I was still shocked to see that the Misfit had killed the entire family, but I had a feeling someone was going to die. A hearse is most often used to transport the deceased to their grave site, and the idea of an average person driving it around seems very eerie and ominous to me. O'Connor was able to symbolize death by using the approaching car as a means of hinting what may come for the family. In a way, the grandmother, who did not want to go on the trip, and who was afraid of running into the Misfit in Florida, she played a huge role in the family's death. The grandmother was led the family into the wrong state, waved the misfit towards them as he drove by. "The grandmother stood up and waved both arms dramatically to attract their attention" (O'Connor 909). The grandmother unknowingly waved the hearse-like automobile towards the family, and this simple act played a big role in their death.
The story's irony continued when the grandmother went as far as identifying the Misfit. "You're the Misfit!" (O'Connor 910). The Misfit then replied, "Yes'm, the man said, as if he were pleased in spite of himself to be known, "but it would have been better for all of you Lady, if you hadn't reckernized me" (O'Connor 910). The grandmother realized at this point that she had put the whole family in danger by acknowledging The Misfits identity. The grandmother, who had worried so much about going on the trip, ended up costing the family their life.