First Portion of Fictional Readings

Kim Addonizio's Survivors discusses the role of a male who doesn't want to lose his lover. Both have AIDS and are on the brink of death, as mentioned in the statement, "He and his lover were down to their last few T cells ...". The main character seems to be materialistic and harsh when he says that he doesn't want to take care of "his lover's parrot or deal with his lover's family". However, later in the short story we find that he is just saying that he's gone through so many troubles in his life that the idea of his partner dying is so uncomfortably painful. He humanizes his relationship with his partner by describing their apartment and all it's knickknacks. By doing this the author allows us to understand the disarray of thoughts that the main character is experiencing. He's going through his last moments reminiscing their lives together and knows that any second without his lover is an eternity of sorrow. For those who've are in love, and even those who haven't found their loved one, can understand his predicament. We can comprehend the impact of what he is saying within the lines.

                Sherman Alex's Misdemeanors is about an "Old Man" who acts all tough and mighty when he recounts his thievery. It's a bit comical because the "Waitress" explains that is was a bowling alley that he stole from and it was only pennies that he took. The imagery the author uses is hilarious. For example, "... Here comes the police and they find the Old Mane barefoot, with his socks in his hand like gloves, and his pants hanging down to his knees because his pockets are full of pennies." You can totally imagine the scene the police came upon and it's so funny.  Really, the only thing "tough" that he did was punch the window in order to get into the bowling alley.

             Sharon Krinsky's Poetry was a short little statement about how a girl gives someone her poems to read and his reaction. He places them in a "plastic cup", but she believes they should be in a "china cup". Clearly, she is saying that she feels that her thoughts and works are so important that they should be treasured like a delicate china cup would be. I understand where she is coming from. When you pass something along that you feel is important, you want others to treat it the same way.