It is definitely a big transition to go from excerpts of long novels to short stories consisting of only a few pages. My initial thought as I began to read was that I did not need to pay much attention, just quickly read through it, especially since I have read The Yellow Wallpaper before. Though it is short, you almost have to pay more attention because there is so much detail in such little text. Our previous readings seemed to draw everything out, so that you could usually skim some parts and still know completely what is going on.
In the Yellow Wallpaper the narrator either goes outside or “sees the woman” go outside. “So I walk a little in the garden or down that lovely lane, sit on the porch under the roses, and lie down up here a good deal. I’m getting really fond of the room in spite of the wall-paper. Perhaps because of the wall-paper” (Gilman 509). I had to read this part a couple times and pay close attention to exactly what happens. In this story I think one reason you must pay close attention to detail, is not because of the length of the story, but because the woman’s insanity causes you to question her actions and whether everything is actually happening as she tells it. It is hard to know if you can trust her, somewhat like Sybil in A Whisper in the Dark when she is in the isolated house.
Another thing I noticed about short stories is that they immediately jump into the story. There is no big introduction or leading up to events, the author just throws the reader into the story. This happens in Desiree’s Baby. The only introduction to the story is “As the day was pleasant, Madame Valmonde drove over to L’Abri to see Desiree and the baby” (Chopin 517). After this one short sentence the story is a bit confusing as Chopin moves quickly from each character and situation.
One of the major differences for me is also how we are just thrown into the story in a short story while because there isn't a huge introduction. I think it is sometimes confusing too because we do not get a lot of background and we have to piece together clues for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas and feel that it is imperative that you read in such detail because there is so much going on in such a little text. The part you refer to in the "Yellow Wall Paper" confused me also and I found myself doing double takes as well when reading that part. I also like how you brought up how short stories just jump into the plot and don’t really have an intro. Overall a very good posting.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree about jumping right into the story. Even when we were discussing in class many still did not seem to catch onto why she was depressed and it just shows yet again how important those details are to understanding the story.
ReplyDelete