The Glass Menagerie (Part 2)

Now that I have finished reading this play and we have discussed it in class, it makes more sense. So I wanted to blog about it again this week since I understand it more, and I have a different perspective on it. Apparently, the title The Glass Menagerie is not necessarily referring to Laura's collection itself, but to the characters in the play as the glass menagerie. They are fragile like glass. This is not what changed my perspective on this play, however. What really changed my mind about it was when I started thinking about it as a memory play. Tom was just thinking back to all of that stuff happening. Sometimes you remember things differently than how they actually were. Therefore, Amanda may not have actually been that annoying, and Laura may not have been that crippled (both in the physical limp and shy sense). Also, he was not even in many of the scenes, so how did he know what really happened? I thought this made the play more interesting because it was no longer just a simple play about a family and their problems. It became a story with possibilities. It got me thinking...

The Glass Menagerie

Okay, so I have not finished reading this yet, but I decided I wanted to blog about it now anyways. I cannot make up my mind whether or not I like this play. Part of me thinks it is kind of boring, especially compared to some other plays, but then the other part thinks maybe it is not actually that boring since I have yet to fall asleep reading it or watching it in class. Two things I have been confused about are how Laura is crippled and why is the glass menagerie so important. Is Laura's leg what makes her crippled? And I know Laura loves her glass menagerie, but I do not see how they are important enough for the play to be named after them. I thought Tom was the main characters since he is the narrator, not Laura. Or maybe this is just one of those times where the play is named that because it sounds cool and it interests you. I know I was definitely interested in reading it based on the title alone because I was not sure what menagerie was. Maybe the answers to my questions are at the end of the play and I should just stop being impatient and go finish reading it.

Hills Like White Elephants

I had to read this story twice. The first time I read it, I completely missed the point of the story. The whole time I was waiting for something obvious to jump out at me as the main point. When I got to the end I was just kind of like "ohhh, so that's it?" Once I realized what the story was supposed to even be about, I reread it so that it would make more sense to me. I did not fully understand the things it was supposed to be hinting at until after our class discussion on it though. After that, I just had a whole new perspective on the story, so that made me want to read it a third time. I do not know if it was that I was not looking for clues to pick up on because I was not expecting it to be that type of story or if I am just not good at taking a hint. I would like to believe it was the first option. Whatever the case, if anyone would like to fill me in on more subtle clues I missed, please do. I now know about the use of the words ‘man’ and ‘girl’ and their significance, and also about the operation being an abortion.

A Good Man is Hard to Find

This was probably one of my favorites out of the stories that we have read so far. The surprise ending was a real shocker! I think the reason I liked it so much is because I want to be a Forensic Scientist so all of that crime stuff really interests me. My only complaint about the story was the middle. The middle was kind of boring and just seemed to drag on. For example, I understand that the part where they stopped to get something to eat was significant because they talked about a good man being hard to find, but I did not think that part was all that interesting. I believe the story could have had just as much of an impact without that scene as it did with the scene. Maybe even more so of impact because more people would want to read it since it was not quite as long. On the other hand, that scene helped build suspense. While reading the story, it is like you are just waiting for something to happen because the story does not really seem to have much of a point. You are just reading and waiting and waiting and reading and then all of a sudden...SLAP TO THE FACE!