Week Three Readings

Week Three Blog Posts

 

A Pair of Tickets  by Amy Tan

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this short story.  I liked how through out the story the author talked about how even though the main character never really felt Chinese, that it was indeed in her and it was just waiting to be let go.  This reference came up a couple of times and in the end – when she sees her sisters, she realizes that the part of her that is Chinese is her family.  I also liked how she described the angst that she felt about meeting her twin sisters and the scenarios that she played in her head.  How often I have done that with things in my life as well.  Most of the time, much like narrator, I think that things will be far worse than they actually end up being.  When the time does come and she meets her sisters – the reunion is joyous, loving, wonderful and nothing like she anticipated it would be. 

 

Another chord that really resonated with me was when the mother left her two daughters on the side of the road.  I am a mother myself – of five children and I cannot fathom leaving my children on the side of the road – however – yet I have never been in a situation anything remotely the same as that mother and the sacrifice that she made for them – hoping that they would be found safe, pinning to them all her material possessions in hopes that they would be cared for was such a sacrifice.  I cannot imagine what it must have been to walk away, not look back and live the rest of my life not knowing for certain what happened to my children.  That’s the one thing that I wish had had a different ending – that the mom could have known and seen her beautiful girls – to have known, that they had been well taken care of and that they were alive.  I also thought it was very neat of the mother that took them in – that she didn’t hide from her daughters that they had another biological mom and that she had encouraged them to want to find her too.

 

 

A Clean, Well-lighted Place – by Ernest Hemmingway

 

I honestly didn’t like this story at all.  For me it was not an easy read and I found the flow to be less than smooth.  I thought it was a dark, sad story with no real happy ending.  Here you have an old man – one that comes to the café frequently and gets drunk.  He is obviously a sad and lonely old man as the story indicates that the week before he tried to kill himself by hanging.  Then you have another character – an impatient, uncaring waiter that is mostly concerned with himself and getting home to bed and to his wife.  He is nothing short of rude to the old man and clearly has not time for him.  The older waiter seemed to have a bit more compassion and understanding – knowing that some people needed the well lit little café and the drinks that it had to offer.  Maybe to feel less lonely – maybe to not feel all alone in the world. 

 

The thing that resonated with me in this story was that even though I disliked the younger waiter the most in the story, I think that at times, I am most like him.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my own thoughts, worries, sorrows, troubles, engagements, etc. that I forget about those around me that might need a cheerful hello, or a smile.  Instead, at times, I am short with others, non-caring and also nothing less than rude.  

 

 

The Gift of the Magi – by O. Henry

 

While at first, I had a bit of a hard time getting “into” this short story – it paid off to press on through because the story was amazing and touching.  This young wife, who so loves her husband, is troubled that the next day is Christmas and all she was able to manage to save for a gift was $1.87.  That simply wasn’t enough to get him something proper.  She is sad about this and then finds a way that possibly she can earn more and get that special gift.  You see, our young wife has beautiful long hair.  I am guessing that this hair is something that her husband also very much loves about his wife.  She proceeds in having her hair cut off so that she can sell it and in turn gets $20 for her hair.  She is then able to buy her husband the chain for the beloved watch of his father and grandfather.  While she is saddened by the loss of her hair, she is more excited that she was able to purchase the chain for her husband.  She is worried about what her husband will think of her without her precious hair – but she reassures herself (and him when he sees her) that her hair grows back quickly.  The husbands response to her haircut was so sweet to me.  He says “I don’t think there’s anything in the world that could make me like my girl any less.”  So his hesitation wasn’t that he loved her less because of her sudden lack of hair – but more so by the irony of the entire situation.  He bought her combs for her hair by selling his beloved watch.  She sold her hair for a chain for him.

 

I agree with the author – these two characters were the wisest.  They gave completely for someone other than themselves.  They sacrificed their greatest treasures for the other person. 

 

I can only imagine the telling of this story from year to year and how their eyes must have shone when the recounted the story of how great their love for one another was.