The Story of an Hour (pp. 449-451)
This story is very ironic. The story begins with Mrs. Mallard, who learns becomes aware that her husband, Brently Mallard, was just in a horrific train accident. Her husband’s friend worked at a newspaper, his name is Richard. After getting the news and verifying it, Richards believed Mrs. Mallards’ husband was dead. Mrs. Mallards’ sister Josephine gave her the bad news in broken up sentences. Mrs. Mallard then wept. Mrs. Mallard then remains at home and is very depressed; she becomes ill as she thinks spirits OR joy possesses her. She acted like she had nothing else to live for toward the end. The end is ironic as when Josephine, Mrs. Mallard are walking downstairs to meet up with Richard, Mrs. Mallard’s husband walks through the door and the sight of him causes Mrs. Mallard to die due to heart failure, “of joy that kills.â€
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings (pp. 451-455)
Pelayo and Elisenda are a couple who live near the sea. They have to constantly remove all of the crabs both in the yard and in their home as the stench of dead fish is unrelenting. One day at noon, the sky was very dark and Pelayo spotted what looked to be an old man stuck in the mud or sand. The man was later discovered to be an angel as he had real wings. A woman who knew all about life and death said the rain knocked him down out of the sky. The couple put him in the barn with the chickens. The local town’s people all become intensely interested. When this occured Pelayo and Elisdenda charged five cents for people to come by and look at him. The angel would not eat mothballs or lavish meals, the couple would rarely if ever see him eat at all. After awhile, the couple had saved up enough money to buy a new house farther away that would keep the crabs out in the winter. They also put steel bars on the windows to keep the angels out. Throughout the story, various carnival actors came to try and make money on the discovery. Toward the end, Elisenda was slicing onions and a strong window blew throughout the kitchen. Elisdenda looked outside and she saw the angel was trying to fly. His first attempt he fell down, his second attempt he gained some altitude but then failed again. On his third attempt he flew away and was no longer an annoyance to the couple because he was then an imaginary dot on the horizon on the sea which represents him flying far away into the distance.
The Use of Force (pp. 459-462)
This is a story of a doctor who goes to a mother and father to inspect their child for a possible diphtheria infection. Both the mother and father are described as being very big. The child stared the doctor in the eyes and did not express any facial movements. The child had a fever for three days, when the doctor asked if she had a sore throat; the parents said that she did not. The doctor then asked the child but she did not say anything. When the doctor got close initially, the little girl leashed out at him like a cat would directly at his eyes. While she did not get his eyes, she knocked off his glasses. At this point the doctor started to become infuriated. Knowing the risks of a possible diphtheria infection, the father allowed the doctor to proceed and force opening her mouth. He put a wooden spoon in her mouth to keep it open while he attempted to get a throat culture, before he knew it she had crunched the spoon and it had become wood splinters in the back of her mouth. Throughout the ordeal the child had also bittern her tongue, which was now bleeding. The doctor then stated he was going to continue and they were going to get through this. The doctor, at the peak of his frustration overpowered the child and forced a heavy silver spoon between the back of her teeth and down her throat until she gagged. Then, he discovered that she had been lying all along as he discovered both her tonsils will covered by membrane. The girl had fought every attempt to keep the doctor from knowing her secret. At the end, the girl was crying in defeat, almost because she did not win the battle between herself and the doctor.