Unifying Themes in Short Stories - Coursework Example

number: Identify Unifying Theme in Short Stories Introduction The theme of any story is the idea or the point the author wishes to deliver. A unifying theme in short stories, therefore, is a similar idea that is reflected by different authors but different stories. The stories have many unifying themes but one of the most outstanding themes in all the three stories is the love. Though the three stories have different ending, the three stories share this theme. Different emotions are evident in the three stories. The characters have different view about love and friendship and their views have created different reactions as well as the endings. This paper will try to identify a unifying theme in three short stories. The first one is “Why I Live at the P.O” by Eudora Welly. The main characters in the story include Stella-Rondo, her sister and their family that are used to bring out a family love. Although Stella-Rondo and the sister seem like they are always in conflict, they love each other. For instance, after Stella-Rondo and the husband, Mr. Whitaker, separated, her and her daughter moves in back home. The story further express love by showing incidences of family conflict; how a family that is not based on love can live in crises. For instance, the sister to Stella doubted Stella claims of her daughter being adopted, something that led to conflict between then and the entire family. Stella-Rondo also expected favors from their mother since she was a victim of a divorce (Kreyling 34). The second story is “The Blood-Burning Moon,” by Jean Toomer. It revolves around the main character Louisa who has two lovers; Tom Burwell and Bob Stone. Tom Burwell is a black while Bob Stone is a white. Bob has more time with Louisa, while Tom has less time since he spends more time in the fields. Both lovers have not been able to express their feelings to Louisa. Although the theme of racism is reflected, just like in “Why I Live at the P.O” conflict is evident but in this case because of love and romance. Additionally, the love conflict in this stories is further expressed where Tom is murdered by a mob paid by Bob (Solard 23). Lastly, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” a story written by Flannery O’Connor. The story has three main characters; Shiftlet, Lucynell and her deaf and dumb daughter Lucynell. All the characters believe that they can have a symbiotic relationship, where one can benefit from the other. Shiftlet is a 26-year old young man who has never settled in life. The young man arrives at the Lucynell’s farm as a carpenter and during his stay he is interested in Lucynell’s motor car. On the other hand, Lucynell when she met shiftlet, she not only saw a carpenter but the husband to his deaf and dumb daughter. Despite Lucynell effort and her offer to supports Shiftlet wedding plans, Mr. Shiftlet was not interested but still end up with the daughter (Asals 51-66). Unifying theme In the story, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” Shiftlet believes that he might never find a lady to fall in love with and have a family because he thinks that there are no “innocent women in the world today.” Mrs.Crater also points out that she really loves her daughter Lucynell. She seems to be provoking Shiftlet to make advances toward her daughter so that she can offer her daughter’s hand for marriage (Asals 53). Mrs Crater believes that her daughter qualifies to be married to Shiftlet because she is as innocent as sixteen year old. She also emphasizes that the daughter can do all the chores like feed the chickens, sweep the floor, wash, clean and hoe. Mrs. Crater is desparate to see her daughter married to the unwilling Shiftlet. She stretches further to even to offer money to facilitate their wedding and honeymoon. Shiftlet does not want to enter marriage but he sees it as a chance to get his materialistic interest. From the point of view of the theme, love, Shiftlet is not married for love but to gain materialistic possession from Mrs. Cater (Asals 54). In the “The Blood-Burning Moon,” story, there is a conflict as the love, friendship and romance theme unfolds. Louisa has two lovers. She has diverse reasons for having the two lovers, one who is a black and the other a white. Bob Stone who is a white and Tom Burwell seem to be challenging each other for love of Louisa who is an African-American woman. The conflict is created because and passion for Louisa. As a matter of fact, the plot is built around this. Bob Stone views Louisa as a sex object and therefore his interest in Louisa is basically that of sexual possession. On the other hand, TomBurwell seems to be really in love with Louisa. Louisa seems to be interested in both Tom and Bob. She is passive on the conflict between Tom and Bob. This leads to competition and also violence that emerges. She seems confused about who she should love. The conflict between Bob and Tom due to love becomes so intense that it leads racial conflict. However, the author of this story tries to create the theme of love and affection in extreme racism environment (Solard 47). In the story “Why I Live at the P.O” the theme of love, friendship and romance comes out clearly. The Sister was the first to fall in love with Mr. Whitaker before Stella-Rondo snatched him from her. Stella-Rondo fell in love with Whitaker and they moved together as they got engaged. Whitaker and Stella-Rondo moved to Illinois and lived for some time. Stella-Rondo bears Whitaker’s daughterthough she is quick to deny that the daughter is adopted (Kreyling 39). This shows that a rift has been that exists in their relationship. The Sister seems to be falling out with the father and Uncle Rondo thanks to the hatred propagated by Stella-Rondo through some lies that she has given with an aim of causing the rifts. There seems to be a big rift and hatred between the Sister and Stella-Rondo. It is predicted that one of the causes of these rifts might be the fact that both were interested in Mr. Whitaker (Kreyling 27). Shirley-T has developed some sense of hatred toward the Sister. Shirley-T stuck out her tongue at the Sister which signifies hatred. The literary devices in the three stories Repetition The three stories have repetition as one of the literary devices used in all of them. Repetition involves the simple repeating of words or a phrase in a sentence or within a poetical line with without particular placement of such words with an aim of emphasis. In the story “Blood Burning Moon.,” repetition is evident throughout the story. The author of this story has been able to include repetition of some themes, phrases, names and even songs for emphasis. There is repetition of the song “red nigger sinner in this story sang by Louisa. In addition there is a repetition of events. According to Solard, Louisa, Tom and Bob were able to see the blood red moon at different times which marks a repetition of events (33). Repetition appears in the story “Why I Live at the P.O., “Mama and Stella-Rondo have ganged up against the Sister. The normally exaggerate her words. For example when the sister says ”Hm!" sister Stella-Rondo is enquires “what do you mean - Hm!?" (Kreyling 41).When the sister and Stella-Rondo are conversing, the Sister uses the words “very well” three times when she is warned by Stella-Rondo about making reference to the adopted daughter. There is also a repetition of events of events and history. When the Sister questions Stella-Rondo’s claim that Shirley-T is adopted, Stella- Rondo warns her from ever mentioning the girl’s name again. This scenario repeats itself again when Mama warns the sister to never ever mention her cousin in her presence or else she would slap her (Kreyling 12). Repetition also appears in the story“The Life You Save May Be Your Own,”Shiftlet is using repetition in his conversation. For example he says“Theres one of these doctors in Atlanta thats taken a knife and cut the human heart‑the human heart," (Asals 49)Shiftlet repeats the clause the human heart for the sake of emphasis. The old woman tells Shiftlet that she cannot pay her and later in the cause of their conversion she repeats the same statement to put emphasis of her sentiments. Characterization Characterization is the creation of characters in the work of literature. In the story “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,”characterization starts right from the first paragraph. Mr. Shiftlethas a deformity in that he has one arm missing. This is a reflection of his inward deformity. His name Shiftlet tries to define his shifty character: he is a trickster. Mrs. Crater is portrayed as egocentric as well as a trickster. She want to be relieved the burden of her deaf and dumb daughter at all costs. She goes ahead to lie about her daughters age as well as giving material possession to Shiftlet in order to dispose her. Lucynell is portrayed as an innocent victim of circumstances (Asals 45-446). Characterization is also evident in “Why I Live at the P.O,” The Sister is the narrator but she proves to be very unreliable due to her prejudice of every other character. She never grows nor matures in the narrative. Mama is seen as a character that hides her head in the side and she never accepts reality. Stella-Rondo is the source of conflict in the family. Uncle Rondo is very vengeful; he threw firecrackers in the room of the Sister. He is also mentally unstable (Kreyling 96). In the story “The Blood-Burning Moon,” Tom Burwell is a black man who is truly in love with Louisa. He is shy as proved by the fact that he cannot approach Louisa. He is also portrayed as physically strong. He is also short-tempered. Louisa is portrayed as an inferior character and indecisive. She cannot make a decision of who she wants to be with.Bob Stone is a racist. Healso thinks that women are sex objects. He is portrayed as vengeful which explains why he organized a gang to lynch Tom (Solard 23). Symbolism The stories have been able to use symbolism. In the story, “Why I Live at the P.O,” a lot of symbolism has been used. For example the radio is used in the story to symbolize all the contentious communication between the family members, for example Sister and Stella-Rondo. In the same story, the post office seems to symbolize a place of solace and autonomy for Sister. Shirley-T reflects shattered dreams and fantasies of the Mama and Stella-Rondo. In the story “The Life You Save Could be Your Own”, symbolism is seen from the use of the car. The car seems to be a place of rest and also it seems to revive Shiftlet’s ego and dreams. He finds a lot of comfort in the car. The use of the phrase “She looks like an angel of Gawd." Shows symbolism in christianity (Kreyling 63). In the story, “The Blood-Burning Moon” the writer is able to use symbolism. For example he talks about the setting sun in the dusk to symbolize may be the end of slavery or the forthcoming end of a life, probably through death. The use of the moon throughout the story symbolizes the uncertainty and bad omen and an oncoming tragedy. In addition, the moon symbolizes the love triangle that exists between the three characters. The moon also tries to symbolize the “the dark events” of the night (Solard, 39). Conclusion There is always a similarity in different short stories. Some short stories may have a theme that is unifying; others may have the same features of style for example dramatic irony, repetition and symbolism among others unifying factors. It is important to note that the short stories have other common characteristics, for example few characters are included in a single short story. Work cited Asals, Frederick. Flannery O’Connor: The Imagination of Extremity. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1982. Print. Kreyling, Michael. Understanding Eudora Welty. Carolina: The University Of South Press. 1999. Print Solard, Alain. Myth and Narrative Fiction in Cane: "Blood-Burning Moon." Maryland: The johns Hopkins university press. 1985. Print. Read More