The Sister - James Joyce

rating: 5.5/10

It was hard to catch the author's intent when I first read this story. I think it's because of the tough themes such as 'death' and 'paralysis,' and Joyce's writing style that provides details and suggestions but never completes the puzzle.

The story tells about how 'death' affects individuals and society simultaneously. Father Flynn's death made the narrator refuse the crackers and disabled the narrator's aunt to broach the subject. It kind of 'paralyzed' the people.

This paralysis not only stops individual activities but also leads to the poor development of society. The writer may have wanted to address these kinds of issues. (101 words)

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The Student

The Student - Anton Chekhov(1894) rate: 6.5/10 [Crossing the Threshold] Ivan, a student of the clerical academy, has hated the circumstances around him. It was dark and quiet in the forest, with a cold winter atmosphere. He even disliked going home, where his mother cleans the room and his father coughs beside the stove. Then, he approaches the garden owned by two widows, Vasilisa and Lukerya. This is where Ivan starts to cross the threshold, leaving the ordinary world and taking a step into the adventure. That night, Ivan tells the story about 'Peter', one of the twelve apostles. His story made Vasilisa cry and Lukerya to be in pain. The reactions of these two widows made Ivan realize the common emotions which link everyone, flowing one out of another. The story says that 'the inexpressible sweet expectation of happiness, of unknown mysterious happiness ... and life seemed to him enchanting, marvellous, and full of lofty meaning.' Basically, his approach to th

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Araby - James Joyce

rating: 8.0/10.0 Before reading the end of this story, I thought the theme of this story was a bit cliche. It seemed like a typical romance where a boy is in one-sided love, and a girl never notices it. However, as the story goes off, I was surprised by how his emotions changed. Going through several obstacles while heading to Araby, a Dublin bazaar, the narrator's feeling toward Mangan's sister faints. Finally, he realizes that his feelings were not genuine love, and his fantasies about the bazaar were exaggerated. Also, I was curious why there aren't any actual names for the main character(narrator) and Mangan's sister. In my opinion, the anonymity of the characters abled the generalization in this story. These are the reasons why I loved this story very much, and so I gave it 8.0 (135 words)

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Gooseberries - Anton Chekhov

rating: 8.5/10 This story was the most impressive one for me in the entire story we have handled. In the story, Nikolai was a greedy man who even married a woman he did not love and was only interested in having a country estate. Ivan found that his brother became insufferably supercilious, and it is mentioned that even the gooseberries at his garden seemed sour and unripe. Since Nikolai was Ivan's brother, I could fully empathize with Ivan about the emotions one feels when someone close to them becomes so greedy. Also, this story made me think about which is more important, the result or the process. Up until now, I have considered that visible accomplishments are much more important than the process of something which no one knows about. However, if the result is hypocrisy, like Nikolai, I thought it could be better to go through many trials and find a good meaning even though that process is callous. (160 words)

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Boyoung Jun World Lit Journal

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