Quote Comparison

“It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards”: “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

“‘It’s not the way it used to be,” Old Man Warner said clearly. “People ain’t the way they used to be.’” “The Lottery”

            

            Both quotes relate to a larger picture that people are not themselves. The Vietnam War dehumanized its soldiers forcing them to bare the weight of death on their soldiers. In “The Lottery” the town was dehumanized as well, almost coerced to take part in a cruel punishment. In some way’s the quotes both signify how the characters were brain washed. The soldiers in Vietnam were degraded and broken to a point where they couldn’t feel fear because it was shameful. They were brainwashed, dehumanized, reduced to something small in a vast world. The town folk in “The Lottery” whilst against the whole act of randomly getting drawn a poor number still went along with stoning somebody. People had changed, they aren’t the way they used to be. That’s because of society.

            

            The Vietnam War was very controversial from the start. Many people believed that we were entering a war that wasn’t ours to fight for. This backlash put even more strain on the soldiers as they we’re forced to go to war, but they also weren’t completely considered heroes. They weren’t able to escape the hold society had on the soldiers. The same thing happened in “The Lottery” the towns people could not escape societies old ways. In both stories the opinions of others is what would break them. In “The Lottery” they couldn’t go against there towns opinions the lottery was tradition and it was your job to take part in it. In “The Things They Carried” the soldiers we’re to frightened of being labeled as weak or scared to show the true things they struggled with and in the end shar the weight of all they had to carry. The one question that stands is, we’re all the problems accredited to society?

Quarantine In Relation to "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"

              “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” is a story of two boys named Victor and Thomas who live on a reservation. The short story in hindsight is about the evolution of the two children. How Victor and Thomas grew apart and how each embraced themselves. Victor conformed to other adolescents on the reservation because it was easier to fit in than be bullied for being different. Thomas took the other route he stayed true to himself and stuck to his stories and his imagination. Thomas has a greater understanding of the world when Victor asked him how his father died, he said “I heard it on the wind. I heard it from the birds. I felt it in the sunlight.” Thomas understands that there is more than just facts in the world but a story can invoke emotion. These were my initial thoughts of the story.

              

             However, with the Covid-19 pandemic happening and a quarantine being put in place I found other meanings that relate to this. Specifically, that Thomas is isolated in an already isolated setting. Reservations in the first place are already isolated from a “normal” society and as a generalization people on the reservation would prefer not to be there. It’s the same with the ongoing crisis now. We’re all in our own isolation and learning to cope with it. In the story the characters are isolated in our eyes but don’t feel that they are isolated. It’s as if the roles are reserved, we weren’t isolated before and now we are, and we have to find things to entertain ourselves. Like spending time outside and finding things to do without our friends. Thomas has his thing his stories, he tells stories even if no one is listening. It’s our turn to find what that is for us.

Alternative Title for "Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying"

              If I were to change the title of a short story I would change the title of Alice Sola Kim’s “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying” to “Daughters Lock Up Your Mothers Because They Are Terrifying”.

             

              Kim’s story revolves around the journey of three girls Mini, Caroline, and Ronnie and how a supernatural being named Mom effected their lives. We learned the three best friends were longing for individual attention, a support system, and a relationship more than their friendship. When I first read this story, I never understood the purpose of the title as it made the daughters seem like terrible children. I deciphered the story as three girls who were struggling with family, school, and simply managing stress. The girls weren’t terrifying rather they were acting out because their parents weren’t fulfilling the position they needed.

            

             I switched the title to “Daughters Lock Up Your Mothers Because They Are Terrifying” because the supernatural being Mom was terrifying and should’ve remained locked up. Mom impacted the girls negatively almost causing a car crash and pitting the girls against one another. There life got “better” with Mom as it provided them a sense of importance. They had someone who almost aggressively but openly loved them. The girls enjoyed this until Mom made it a competition of who she loved most. When Mom was locked up again the girls finally realized how fortunate they were to have each other. Mom was the problem and the daughters were her solution. Mom was locked up for a terrifying reason and Mini Caroline, and Ronnie discovered that. She had the power of control and manipulation and held it over the girl’s heads. Even Ronnie who didn’t fall into the trap was forced to live with Mom in the end. The daughters should’ve never freed Mom and Mom shouldn’t have locked them up.

Ted Lavender's Perspective from Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"

            I never asked to be here. I carried enough to weigh me down, forcing me to slog through the muck I treaded daily. The weight was enough to collapse under, fall face first into the mud beneath me. This was not allowed. We were trained to stay upright, to tread on. “Don’t tread on me”. What a fucked-up phrase. We don’t have freedom. Individualism. We’re all just lost in this land of nothingness. Look at our First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, he can barely keep his head on straight, dreaming of seducing Martha. Henry Dobbins drowns his feelings in the sugary syrup of canned peaches. Dave Jensen, the clean freak, doesn’t he know we’re all going to die of disease. Then there’s me. The scaredy-cat in the troop’s eyes. I call it preparedness, but then again what do I know?

            

           What is war? Is it a fight, a battle, a disagreement, or a difference of opinions? War is conflict. Conflict of myself. I’m lost. So are the ghosts. The ghosts that we carry. We float into the empty spaces of the mind being pulled further and further away from reality. Not that it matters. We’re all just murderers performing a service to the audience. A necessary service. We’re constantly in the spotlight. Fear of people’s opinions, fear of our opposers, and fear of ourselves. Maybe it would be nice to be a ghost, to be the burden instead of the bearer. All I had to do was draw the 17.

            

           Night is god’s hour in war. I’m not religious, but it’s nice to believe in something more. Everyday I feel empty, hollow, unattached, yet still I find myself sinking. The weight becoming more unbearable each and every day. Night is serene. I can dream of home. I’m flying. I don’t have a destination, I’m free to choose. The air is cool and crisp, a new sensation for my lungs. I breathe in and out, in and out, in and out. I close my eyes. I am one with the night. But peace only lasts so long. My eyelids fill with an orange blaze dancing in the wind. Engulfing everything around me. The screams. The terror. The fear. I awake to the sun blinding my eyes.

            

          Am I a coward? Is it bad to show fear? That’s what Lieutenant Cross would say, and the rest of the troop would have to agree. Maybe I’m just human. At least still human. Everyone else lost that, they became one with war instead of night. Maybe I’m headed down that road. We’ve lost hope. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross will accept that Martha never loved him. Henry Dobbins will realize he’s simply an obese middle-aged man. Dave Jensen will discover he can never cleanse himself from the germ that is himself. And Ted Lavender. Me. I will survive. Carry-on.

Boom.

The guy’s dead.

Alternate Ending: First Person Shooter by Charles Yu

           It took me a moment to realize she left without paying. But there was no use, no one would come to help. WorldMart would go on without a few beauty products. The shelves would stay stocked, the fluorescent lights would continue to gleam their unnatural glow, and I would live.

           I hang a left, a right, and walk straight back to Home Entertainment. I grab the remote concealed behind the electronics and turn off House of the Dead Two. Like domino's, each tv screen goes black, one after another, after another. I stare at my reflection. A grey hollow complexion appears on the black screen.

           

           Why did Janine say yes?

           Am I beautiful?

           Am I alive?

           With a spark the fluorescent lights begin to flicker into intermittent darkness. I make my way to the front doors weaving in and out of aisles. Pass Housewares. Toiletries. Firearms. Home and Bath. With a whoosh of the automatic doors. I exit. Falling into silence, darkness, and bliss.

Analysis:

           As a whole, I really enjoyed Charles Yu’s short story “First Person Shooter”. A big part of what made the story enticing was his writing style. It was conversational and scattered all whilst drawing the reader in. I tried to convey some of his style in my alternative ending. Jumping from mere thoughts to motion in the store.

           However, in the end I was longing for more reflection and humanity from the characters, specifically the narrator. In this alternative ending I wanted to incorporate the change in the narrator’s personality from his encounter with the Pretty Zombie Lady. I wanted the narrator to see himself more than just a worker at WorldMart. I did this by adding more direct thoughts into the reading. Charles Yu did this with the sentence “Whatever flicker of awareness I might have seen behind her eyes a moment ago isn’t there anymore”. Rather, I added personal reflection of the narrator’s character.

           I wouldn’t have been able to do this without conveying the repetition and tediousness of a workday at WorldMart. Incorporating key details of the story such as aisle names helped relate this ending to Charles Yu’s original. In addition, giving a first-person view to navigating the store made the ending more interesting. Charles Yu used this tactic in the short story. Rather than saying I went to Home and Bath he would explain the journey the character took to get there. This could be in the form of thoughts or the turns taken to reach the specific neighborhood of WorldMart.

           Overall, my ending is simply an alternative. Yu’s conveys the safety and comfort the characters feel for WorldMart. My ending focuses on the repetition and the aspect of wanting more. Each seek a different meaning that are equally impactful.