The Cranes by peter meinke - Essay Example

The bare plot of the story is quite simple: a couple who have mated for life are driving on the seashore and watching the Whooping Cranes, which also mate for life. They admire the cranes and wish that they could see a mating dance. There is not any time to wait, because the woman has a terminal disease. We are never told what the disease is, but we can guess at lung cancer from her coughing. At the end of the story we are not quite sure what will happen, but the author hints that the husband will kill the wife and then himself.

The most ironic note in the story is that Whooping Cranes were once almost extinct, but are now a viable population. We might wonder if humans who mate for life are as lucky. We learn all of this in a just a few pages, because the writer uses what we now about the cranes and what most people know about the controversial subject of euthanasia is also used. The description of the tall and stately cranes hints at how the author see the two people, dignified. This is a mainstay of the euthanasia controversy, that people have the right to die with dignity.

We find out how old the couple is by the conversation. The man says that he has been coming for years and never seen a Whooping Crane. When she says they make the little birds look like clowns makes him mention that he could use some laughter. This prompts her to wonder if this is the right things to do. She says she feels responsible. It is then that we get a fuller picture of this couple, who have, apparently, been married a very long time. He answers her statement that she feels responsible with a list of all the things he cannot do, and we realize that his health is not very good.

At this point we do not know that it is she who is terminally ill, but her statements hint at this. At first read, we might assume that this couple do not believe in God. However, that is not really what is said. She mentions a time when he got