Fiction Packet Blog Response

There were three short stories out of the fiction packet that really stood out to me. The first was "Survivors" by Kim Addonizio. This poem stood out to me because the contents of it. It discusses two lovers who are both dying from HIV Aids which is and has been a very controversial epidemic. The first sentence of the poem, "He and his lover were down to their last few T cells and arguing over who was going to die first." From this sentence, you can tell that this is a same sex couple, particularly male, and that they are dying of HIV Aids. I found the use of the word, "arguing" to be quite interesting; generally people do not argue over such horrible things. It implies that they have accepted their fate, and that either one did not what to outlive the other. It proceeds to say that he does not want to have to deal with the blame that will be place by the others mother, although she would never say it, he knew she believed it. I think it represents the struggle that same sex couples go through when it comes to situations like this.

The second short story that I found to be interesting is "The letter from home" by Jamaica Kincaid. I found this story to be confusing and all over the place, with no clear destination. After I finished reading it, I realize that this was due to the fact that she does not use any periods until the very last sentence of her story; it is all comas and semi colons. I can now see why in high school, my English teachers steered us away from using comas and semi colons too often. They can make your story look like a bunch of run on sentences, and ultimately, give the wrong affect. However, I do believe that the author did this n purpose... now if I only knew why.

The third and final story that I would like to discuss is titled, "Morning News" by Jerome Stern. For me this story really hit home. I work with Cancer patients daily, so I can relate. I like how throughout the story, he never mention how he told his wife, or what her reaction was; he didn't focus on the big, bad, and ugly. I also like the way he decided to tell us that he was not a very religious person, so he could find no piece or substance in spending his last days in becoming one. He says, “But I have never been able to take seriously my earnestly mystical students, their belief that they were heading to join the ringing of the eternal spheres." So what does he decide to do? He takes a rather light hearted turn in the story to keep the readers spirit up and to possibly add a little humor. In his final days he and his wife, go buy the biggest television at the store; a 60-inch. And this is where he found happiness. I believe that any disease is 60% disease, but 40% mindset and spirit. If you stay positive, it can be very beneficial. This is why I loved the humor at the end.