Lacy Fuller
Informal Critical Response
In “A Conversation with My Father” by Grace Paley I feel like the author is
trying to give herself hope that her father isn’t really going to die soon. Through her
story, she tries to explain to her father that there is always hope to look forward to. That
is why she argues with about the ending of the story because she wants to show him that
there always could be a happy ending or there is always hope for a person to change their
ways. I enjoyed this story because it it trying to show that you should always have a a
little faith and hope. Many stories have some tragic event that occurs during the story
and I’m glad to see a story that shows more of an optimistic side.
Of all the stories that were read this “A Very Short Story” by Ernest Hemingway
was probably my least favorite. “A Very Short Story” lacked emotion and it seemed so
disconnected. It could have been a very potentially powerful story because of the subject
matter, but because of the lack of emotion the story fell short. The subject matter
involves a man and a woman falling in love and then being separated because the man
went away to the army. Then the woman left the man for someone else and then the
story ends with the man getting gonorrhea. I think the story would have been more
emotional if you would have got to know the characters more intimately. I also think that
it would have been a better story if we had some more details about the relationship
between the couple. The story is too simple; it’s very cut and dry.
I found the main character in “Editha” by William Dean Howells very unlikable.
Therefore, I really didn’t enjoy this story that much. Editha makes her fiancée feel bad
for not wanting to go to war. So she basically talks him into going off to war to be
patriotic. In the end, her fiancée ends up dying while fighting in the war. I don’t feel any
sympathy for Editha because it is her fault that he went off to war in the first place. I
didn’t enjoy this story because of Editha, she was a very selfish person. I feel like you
have to at least somewhat like the main character in the story to enjoy the story.
“The Other Two” by Edith Warton was a narrative about a man, Mr Waythorn
and his wife, Mrs. Waythorn. Mrs. Waythorn has had two previous husbands, one of
who she has a child, Lily, with. Lily is very sick, so her father, Mr. Haskett, has been
coming to the Waythorn’s home to visit Lily. I really enjoyed this story, it was amusing
to hear about the awkward situations between Mr. Waythorn and the ex-husbands. I
enjoyed at the end of the story Mr. Waythorn and the ex-husbands formed an uneasy
friendship. I thought it would have made the story more effective if we would have seen
more of the daughter. You hear the name mentioned many times, but you never ever
actually get a glimpse of Lily. I also think it would be more effective if we would have
heard more of a voice from Mrs. Waythorn. It would have been nice to see more
background information as to why Mrs. Waythorn and her ex-husbands broke up.