Response on “The Underdog“ by Sean Johnston

In my opinion, the short story “The Underdog“ by Sean Johnston was on the one hand very confusing and on the other hand very interesting in terms of how it describes the violent relationships of the other characters toward the Underdog.

Generally, the story offered very little information about the time it is set in or what war the speaker was telling about. Also, I missed more detailed information about the Underdog himself such as what exactly makes him being the Underdog and how did he slip into this role? To me, the text leaves out too many details what makes it rather hard to approach its content.

However, I liked the way the text represented the relationships between the other characters toward the Underdog. It seemed to me that violence plays a big role in this story. It was rather unsettling to read that two characters of the story, the speaker and the preacher’s wife, were tempted to hurt the Underdog physically. Also, the text mentions that the Underdog suffers from several wounds that symbolize physical violence as well. Besides physical violence, the story displays emotional violence, too. So, I think the worst thing for the Underdog is not being injured physically but emotionally. He obviously suffers not as much from “his missing ear” but from being constantly pitied even by his own children.

To sum up, to me the story of the Underdog strikes through its display of different types of violence human beings can suffer from. However, it leaves out too much crucial information which is necessary for the better understanding of the text.

Response on "This House" by Sean Johnston

The short story “This House” written by Sean Johnston is about the troublesome relationship between a mother and her husband (or is it her son? I’m not sure about that). The mother seems to be very controlling and religious and her husband on the other hand sees her as an enemy rather than a caring wife. So when he is actually dead, he comes back as some sort of ghost and watches her. It seems that he enjoys not being criticized any longer by the mother because he says: “You may be thin air, fine, but she doesn’t even hear the sound of glass when you almost drop the bottle pouring.” This passage also presents the main problem between these two characters, namely, his alcohol abuse.

The wife on the other hand seems to be very religious. This becomes very obvious in the following text passage:

“Some day, everything will change, she said, and those that keep their mouths shut will babble with such fierce power the ones that couldn’t shut up will have no choice. They that are fattened and gorged on money from blood will be sickened while the starved finally swallow their own pure hearts and grow to astounding heights. And the blind will see.” This strongly reminds me of the Bible and Matthew’s book which states that "So the last shall be first, and the first last."

In comparison to “The Underdog”, this story is too unrealistic for my taste. The story would make perfect sense if the husband would not appear to be a ghost at the end.

Who Are You? (Part 2)

I try to look cheerful while tears are running down my cheeks. I don’t know why I’m always reacting like this. I should have known better. Really, I should. “Could you please sit down, Mommy? It’s your favorite soup, you know. I cooked it myself. I know, it’s not so good as yours, but I tried my best. Try something of it and tell me if you like it. Okay, you don’t know where to sit down? There is the chair, see? ” When I look at you I can’t hold my tears. I hope you don’t notice it. “After all these years I still can’t accept what has happened. Why you? Why me? Do you know why? No?”
Can she see me? I mean can she really see me? There she sits. She looks as if collapsed back upon herself in a world of strangers. Strangers… “How often was I annoyed about you, Mommy, but only because I didn’t see what you saw. But how could I? You looked as ever in your fancy dress. I didn’t realize you were changing until it was too late. It took very long to understand. You’re now in a foreign country where you are all on your own. You don’t know anybody and you don’t understand their language. Everything is alien. People are talking to you but you wouldn’t understand a word. You even can’t understand what the people around you are doing. It seems all very strange- like strange customs you’ve never seen before. And the worst of all is that you’re constantly meeting unknown people who are talking to you and pretend knowing you for ages. Only ever know and then you would smile at them and pretend to know them, too…

Response on "Consider the Lobster" by David Foster Wallace

This article is very well-written, originally, partly exhilarating and thought-provoking at the same time. In a first part, Wallace is examining one of the biggest sea food festivals of the United States, the Maine Lobster Festival. He makes cynical comments about people’s behaviour during such festivals. However, the article continuously becomes more serious.

Wallace starts his determined inquiry into the in ethics of boiling lobsters alive by giving some background information about the lobster itself and how we usually don’t see him- as a insect living in the ocean. Later he is discussing how lobsters are cooked which was very unsettling to me. Of course did I know that lobsters are boiled alive, but the way he describes how these animals suffer from being boiled does not miss the effect and made me feel uncomfortable. He writes:

“However stuporous the lobster is from the trip home, for instance, it tends to come alarmingly to life when placed in boiling water. If you’re tilting it from a container into the steaming kettle, the lobster will sometimes try to cling to the container’s sides or even to hook its claws over the kettle’s rim like a person trying to keep from going over the edge of a roof. And worse is when the lobster fully immersed. Even if you cover the kettle and turn away, you can usually hear the cover rattling and clanking as the lobster tries to push it off… The lobster, in other words, behaves very much as you and I would behave if we were plunged into boiling water (with the obvious exception of screaming).”

So, Wallace intends to offer a very graphic picture of how the lobster suffers when boiled and intensifies our feelings by stating that we would behave the same way in case somebody places us into boiling water. Finally, he asks the reader if it is possible that “future generations will regard our own present agribusiness and eating practices in much the same way we now view Nero’s entertainments or Aztec sacrifices?” Maybe this comparison far-fetched, however, we should consider how we deal with animals more often.

Response on “Other Math” by David Foster Wallace

This short story was very odd and unsettling. It is a story about a Joseph who has fallen in love with his grandfather and tells him so. Reading the short story’s title I did not expect is to deal with that kind of topic.

Letting declare the grandson’s love for his grandfather seems to be normal at first. Of course, do grandsons love their grandfather! But Reading further, the story becomes very odd since Joseph tries to explain to his grandfather that he really loves him

Generally, the author is playing games with the audience since he destroys anything we would expect to be normal. He adds weird details that do not really fit into an every-day conversation with a little boy, for instance, he is telling about somebody who has fallen in love with a “cadaver” and finally put him away. Also, the grandmother does not act like a we would expect from a grandmother by telling Joseph “Your Gram pa's h and w as a dead thing, attach ed to h is wrist by the same force that flung everything toward him, dead and brown, a flat, square conveyor of chill, an extension I never recognized and certainly never held.”

Finally, the oddest thing of the story is the way the speaker indirectly describes how the boy looks at the grandpa in a rather sexually manner. So he lets the grandpa refer to how the Joseph looks at him which makes the story very unsettling: “Don't say anything, Grampa. Just sit. Just like that. That's perfect.” or “Do an old man a favor and don't stare like that, son. All in all, it’s interesting how the author plays with our expectations of how society should look like.

Who Are You?

The creative part for this week’s and next week’s blog is an excerpt of one of my short stories. The following excerpt is scene one:


“Hey Mommy! How was your day?” Puzzled eyes are starring at me. Today, it’s one of these bad days. Again, I wished I could turn back the time and pretend I was living in 1975. It was a cheesy world for a little girl. It’s amazing how carefree kids can be. I remember our holidays at the coast. We used to go every summer on vacation. It was always the same place and the same people. We liked it though. “Do you remember the day, when I and Jimmy Wallace got into this fistfight? I can’t even remember how it happened. Can you? No? Anyways, when I came home you got mad at me. ’Not again’, did you say. And then I would tell you what had happened and you would grab my hand we would go to Jimmy’s parents in order to talk to them. You always seemed to be so strong and dominant. You were as firm as a rock. Can you imagine how often I wished to be like you? No? Why didn’t I tell you before? Maybe, you would have seen me with different eyes. Anyways, how was you day again? Could you please sit down? I’ve brought some lunch. I hope you like it. I mean you used to like it. Do you know what this is? No?” “Please, Mommy, don’t go to the phone and call 911. It’s not necessary. You know that, don’t you? It’s me, your daughter. What do you mean you have no daughter? Of course, you have. Look at me! I said look at me, please. Don’t you see how similar we look? No? My grandma always told me how similar we look. Remember? No?” I go toward you and try to embrace you. You seem to be as less affected as anybody could be… (to be continued)

Response to Good People by David Foster Wallace

Although the short story is very similar, even too similar to my taste, to Ernest Hemingway’s story entitled Hills like White Elephants, Good People written by David Foster Wallace is well done. It is amazing how the author gives the reader an insight in the main character’s life. We learn that the couple is facing some sort of problem and all indicates that the girl got pregnant and they both have decided to go to a doctor and have the baby aborted. Actually, the text does not reveal if it really is about an abortion. So the author kind of plays with the reader’s expectations and finally, lets him in the dark.

Moreover, the text strikes with many stylistic devices that makes the story more vivid. For instance, the speaker point’s at the girl’s cleanliness several times which seemed to be rather unusual to describe a person.

The girl wore a thin old checked cotton shirt with pearl-colored snaps with the long sleeves down and always smelled very good and clean, like someone you could trust and care about even if you weren’t in love.

Sheri’s hair was colored an almost corn blond, very clean, the skin through her central part pink in the sunlight

Describing how clean she is seems to indicate her pureness although she is pregnant.

All in all this short story is a very interesting one by not telling the reader concretely what really has happened to the young couple but by implying so much action.