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Let's Blog It! — 6 Short Stories

A Rose for Emily

A rose for Emily was written by William Faulkner that was published on 1930 and it was his first story published in National Magazine. This story tells about Emily's isolated life. The story began with the funeral of Emily Grierson. The town views her funeral as an obligation and a bit of a chore.

After the civil war, Emily and her father both continue to live their life traditionally, with her father refusing to allow her daughter to marry. When Emily's father died, she became friendly with a man named Homer Barron. However, Homer declared that he isn't that kind of man whom she should marry and he intends to stay a bachelor forever. The townspeople believe that Homer's declaration was the reason why Emily drove herself to suicide.

After the funeral, the townspeople were curious about Emily's house so they explored and was shocked to see a rotten corpse on a bed, full of gifts — the townspeople believe that it was Homer.

The major theme of this story is tradition. Their life were stuck on the past and continued living their life before. Her father controlled her life resulting to her, controlling Homer's decision and when she was not able to get what she wants to get, she killed him.

I honestly pity Emily because of her situation. The only permanent thing in this world is change but unfortunately, Emily's life were stuck on the past. The story is a haunting example of what happens when the mind refuses to accept change, and what happens when an entire community both watches and ostracizes one of its members.

God Sees The Truth But Waits

Leo Tolstoy's short story was published on 1872 where Aksionov was the main character who were accused of killing his co- merchants. The story began when he and his co-merchants decided to leave for the Nizhny Fair one summer but his wife stopped him from leaving because she had seen on her dreams that something will happen. However, Aksionov dismissed that thought and still continued to go. Then the cruel incident happened, where other merchants were killed and he was accused of killing them because a bloody knife was found on his luggage. He was brought to prison and spent 26 years; he learned how to make boots, sings in the prison choir, reads, and prays. He is well-liked, and the fellow prisoners call him endearments like “Grandfather” and “The Saint,” as he is known as a just and honest man.

Then new inmates arrived where they tells a story of how they commited a sin and ended up in prison. Then a man named Makar told him his sins then suddenly words that could prove Aksionov innocent slipped on Makar's mouth — meaning to say, Makar was the one who killed the other Merchants. Unfortunately, Aksionov died when Makar was confessed and was accused guilt.

This story's theme are forgiveness and faith wherein Aksionov rely all his faith on God because God was the only human who seen the truth and the truth shall prevail when the time comes.

This story is also related to what is happening right now, like the Ampatuan massacre where ten years already passed until justice and truth prevails. It really took time, but with faith, the truth will always set us free.

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Eveline

“Eveline” is a short story by James Joyce. It is one of 15 stories in Joyce’s short story collection, Dubliners, and it was published in 1914.

In this story, Joyce let the protagonist of the story choose whether that girl would live in the past or move forward.

As the story began, Eveline reminisced about her past and everything about it makes her happy — now she's worried about moving forward because changes really bothered her. Until she found Frank who changed her, but still she can't fully accept him because she is afraid to move forward in her life and by living with Frank, she would be leaving her father so she ended up deciding to continue living what is stuck in the past.

"Memories often prevent us from letting go. They keep us locked in vicious cycles that make us unhappy. Even when we remember something fondly, these memories stop us from living in the present." - SuperSummary

The Handsomest Drowned man in the World

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” is a 1968 short story by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.

This story is about a dead man who was drowned and was seen by the townspeople in the shore. They washed the face of a man and was surprised to see that he was that handsome. So, the women decided to give him a makeover because they believe that he deserves an appropriate funeral. The man was very tall and he can't fit on any houses there because their houses were too small for him. After so many phenomena, they decided to bury Esteban to the sea. To accommodate their memory of him and the hope of his return, the villagers decide to widen all of their doorways, paint their houses in bright hues, and cultivate beds of flowers all around the village. 

"The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” is centrally about the role of imagination and hope in civilization-building, showing that the well-being of a community depends on how it acts towards those it knows least, and on those it can only imagine." -SuperSummary

The Masque of the Red Death

“The Masque of the Red Death,’ a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in 1842 is about Prince Prospero who shuts himself and a thousand of his favorite courtiers into a large abbey while a lethal plague called the Red Death terrorizes the rest of the country outside the castle. However, the prince had a terrible fate when he met the red death itself.

The symbol of this story is death’s inevitability and ubiquity; no living thing can ever truly hide from it or escape its clutches. 

The Piece Of String

The piece of string by Guy de Maupassant is the story of a man named Hauchecorne, who stoops over one day to pick up a piece of string from the street and then he was accused of stealing the 500 francs. He dismissed the idea of stealing because he did not even steal any. As soon as the 500 franc were found, instead of asking for forgiveness, the people still accused him of stealing and he denied every single thing they said about him. Unfortunately, Hauchecorne died and still, the false rumor about him continuously spread.

I was saddened about this story because the people did not even gave him a chance to explain and to prove himself that he was innocent. I really hate the fact whenever people judge someone when they don't know nothing about that person.

Moral of the story, don't judge someone.

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Let's Blog It! — Oedipus Rex

Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like. - Lemony Snicket

Well, it was quite indeed fate for a mother and son to be reunited — but not when incest happened. They had a relationship and both of them weren't aware that they were blood-related, they only found out when a messenger revealed the truth. Also, King Oedipus was fated to kill his father in order to eliminate the plague that struck Thebes.

I cannot imagine how hard and challenging what King Oedipus went through, to the point that he commited suicide for him to end his tragedy.

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Rustum and Sohrab

Rustum and Sohrab is an epic blank verse poem by Matthew Arnold. This story is about Sohrab's search for his father who disappeared years earlier. Sohrab's journey led him to a battle with Persian forces who were led by his long time lost father, however he did not realized that it was Rustum — so, he decided to challenge the old man to fight him. Sohrab was wounded by the spear of his father and so does he started talking about his birth — by that, Rustum realized that it was his son. Grief-stricken, his son died so he promised to give him a royally burial.

Upon reading this piece of literature, I admit that I was not really inclined by this piece because it was quite tedious — for me.

Troy

Troy the movie was a 2004 epic historical war drama film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff. This movie is a must-watch film if you are really into historical war drama film!

The highlight of this movie was the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans. The war started when Paris abducted Helen (Wife of King Menelaus) and of course, his husband was very furious. The Greeks were very determined to watch the fall of the Trojans as thousands of warriors landed at Troy — yet, Trojans were unbeatable for their astounding tactics. However, no one could ever triumph over Achilles — the strongest and bravest man Greeks could ever have. The war was about to end when Achilles decided to leave Trojan and also when Hector tried to stop his father from believing in the prophecy of their God, but his father did not listen to him and still continue to attack the Greeks. As they were attacking the Greeks, Hector thought that it was Achilles whom he killed — the hair and the armor were all similar from Achilles — but it was Achilles' cousin. The bravest man of Greek was very furious because of the news and so, he decided to have a battle with Hector. Hector died and no one could stop the Greeks from entering the Kingdom of Troy — the wooden horse became their key to attack the Trojans. However, Achilles also died when Paris shoot an arrow to his toe.

Okay, so here's the thing. First of all, Brad Pitt was a perfect fit for Achilles — those bulky muscles and graceful movements! Second, the cinematography was a hundred percent amazing — the battle between Trojans and Greeks were very realistic. Lastly, the over all production — I swear this movie is really a must watch!

Odyssey

After the Trojan War, Odysseus has still not returned to his native land. He faced mystical creatures and faces the wrath of Gods. He had encountered so many hindrances because the Gods were playing at him — but in the end, Odysseus wins a contest to prove his identity and retakes the throne of Ithaca.

This movie wasn't that quite catchy for me; first, because we watched the 1997 version; second, this movie have so much advertisement and; lastly is because I don't understand the exchanges of dialogues — but I was able to understand it when the climax of the movie was being showed on the screen.

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Let's Blog It! — Gilgamesh and Rubaiyat

Most of us enjoy a good read — whether that novel moves us to tears or poems that ignite the passion within us. A piece of well-written literature could have a strong impact on our emotions and could possibly lead to a point where it could change our life.

"That is why literature is fascinating. It's always up for interpretation and could be a hundred different things to hundred different people. It's never the same thing twice." - Sarah Raasch, Snow Like Ashes

I admit that I was once not a fan of reading books — well, it bores me. Not until I read a certain book that changed my entire life. However, I am not here to tackle about how books changed my life (maybe I'll put that on another blog)!

I am here to discuss what I realized and learned upon reading the Epic of Gilgamesh and The Rubaiyat.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is extremely important to world literature because it is one of the oldest written stories that ever existed in the world! Plus, it is based on the historical record of an actual Sumerian King named Gilgamesh, who ruled Uruk in 2700 BC.

(Source: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/why-is-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-important-to-world-995207)

As I've read this piece, I can say that Gilgamesh is a type of man who is full of himself. He may be the most handsome and strongest mortal, but his attitude is not the type any girls would die for — except Ishtar. Anyway, his adventures proved how strong he was that is why he was reigned as the strongest mortal that ever existed.

When Enkidu came into the scene, this is where my perspective somehow changed towards Gilgamesh. He was a friend whom Enkidu could rely on, a friend whom he could trust and a friend whom he could simply lean his head on Gilgamesh's shoulder.

The death of Enkidu had an emotional impact on me because he was the person who proved that Gilgamesh is not just someone who is always full of himself.

This is when I realized that you cannot simply judge a person because of the qualities he acquire. We should know them before putting a judgement on what we only see or hear. But the biggest realization I will forever keep in my heart is, even the strongest man has its own weakness.

On the other hand, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam presents an interesting challenge to any reader because it has its heavy symbolism and it is hard to figure out the underlying meaning of each methapor.

But, I think the main point of this poem is one should seize their moment because life is finite. This poem made me realize that we should not spend our today worrying about the future — not like, literally not care about the future but we should allow ourselves to enjoy whatever we have today because God already has a plan for us.

We do not need to overthink about the future or struggle ourselves today — we have to seize every moment starting today. Life may not be always sprinkled by fun, but that's how life should be. We need to learn to pass every obstacle in our life or deal with different kinds of people everyday — that is life. We should stop worrying about the future, not that I am saying that we should not care, but we need to enjoy this moment right now — because today could also be the future.