English Final Stories

mrs. beazley's deeds

Ms Lawrence stays with the family and is an attorney. The only thing about play within this story is that Mrs. Beazley experiences little to no play, and Mr. Beazley gets to do what he pleases. We see that Mrs. Beazley has many great opinions on how their money should be spent, but since she is a woman, she is silenced with no second thoughts,"What do women know about business, anyway! You just tell him you're perfectly willin' and under no compulsion and sign the paper-that's all you have to do!...Mr. Beazley minded her outcry no more than he minded the squawking of a to-be beheaded hen" He lives of his wife's money, and chooses to spend it the way he sees fit. He tried to sell the house she grew up in. Mrs. Beazley has always been the one with money and property. Goes to judge and wants her property, In the end Mr. Beazley gets what is coming to him, he loses everything including his wealth, family, and capital.

the sun also rises

The Sun Also Rises opens with the narrator, Jake Barnes, delivering a brief biographical sketch of his friend, Robert Cohn. Jake is a veteran of World War I who now works as a journalist in Paris. Cohn is also an American expatriate, although not a war veteran. He is a rich Jewish writer who lives in Paris with his forceful and controlling girlfriend, Frances Clyne. Cohn has become restless of late, and he comes to Jake's office one afternoon to try to convince Jake to go with him to South America. Jake refuses, and he takes pains to get rid of Cohn. That night at a dance club, Jake runs into Lady Brett Ashley, a divorced socialite and the love of Jake's life. Brett is a free-spirited and independent woman, but she can be very selfish at times. She and Jake met in England during World War I, when Brett treated Jake for a war wound. During Jake and Brett's conversation, it is subtly implied that Jake's injury rendered him impotent. Although Brett loves Jake, she hints that she is unwilling to give up sex, and that for this reason she will not commit to a relationship with him. The next morning, Jake and Cohn have lunch. Cohn is quite taken with Brett, and he gets angry when Jake tells him that Brett plans to marry Mike Campbell, a heavy-drinking Scottish war veteran. That afternoon, Brett stands Jake up. That night, however, she arrives unexpectedly at his apartment with Count Mippipopolous, a rich Greek expatriate. After sending the count out for champagne, Brett tells Jake that she is leaving for San Sebastian, in Spain, saying it will be easier on both of them to be apart. Several weeks later, while Brett and Cohn are both traveling outside of Paris, one of Jake's friends, a fellow American war veteran named Bill Gorton, arrives in Paris. Bill and Jake make plans to leave for Spain to do some fishing and later attend the fiesta at Pamplona. Jake makes plans to meet Cohn on the way to Pamplona. Jake runs into Brett, who has returned from San Sebastian; with her is Mike, her fiancé. They ask if they may join Jake in Spain, and he politely responds that they may. When Mike leaves for a moment, Brett reveals to Jake that she and Cohn were in San Sebastian together. Bill and Jake take a train from Paris to Bayonne, in the south of France, where they meet Cohn. The three men travel together into Spain, to Pamplona. They plan on meeting Brett and Mike that night, but the couple does not show up. Bill and Jake decide to leave for a small town called Burguete to fish, but Cohn chooses to stay and wait for Brett. Bill and Jake travel to the Spanish countryside and check into a small, rural inn. They spend five pleasant days fishing, drinking, and playing cards. Eventually, Jake receives a letter from Mike. He writes that he and Brett will be arriving in Pamplona shortly. Jake and Bill leave on a bus that afternoon to meet the couple. After arriving in Pamplona, Jake and Bill check into a hotel owned by Montoya, a Spanish bullfighting expert who likes Jake for his earnest interest in the sport. Jake and Bill meet up with Brett, Mike, and Cohn, and the whole group goes to watch the bulls being unloaded in preparation for the bullfights during the fiesta. Mike mocks Cohn harshly for following Brett around when he is not wanted. After a few more days of preparation, the fiesta begins. The city is consumed with dancing, drinking, and general debauchery. The highlight of the first day is the first bullfight, at which Pedro Romero, a nineteen-year-old prodigy, distinguishes himself above all the other bullfighters. Despite its violence, Brett cannot take her eyes off the bullfight, or Romero. A few days later, Jake and his friends are at the hotel dining room, and Brett notices Romero at a nearby table. She persuades Jake to introduce her to him. Mike again verbally abuses Cohn, and they almost come to blows before Jake defuses the situation. Later that night, Brett asks Jake to help her find Romero, with whom she says she has fallen in love. Jake agrees to help, and Brett and Romero spend the night together. Jake then meets up with Mike and Bill, who are both extremely drunk. Cohn soon arrives, demanding to know where Brett is. After an exchange of insults, Cohn attacks Mike and Jake, knocking them both out. When Jake returns to the hotel, he finds Cohn lying face down on his bed and crying. Cohn begs Jake's forgiveness, and Jake reluctantly grants it. The next day, Jake learns from Bill and Mike that the night before Cohn also beat up Romero when he discovered the bullfighter with Brett; Cohn later begged Romero to shake hands with him, but Romero refused. At the bullfight that afternoon, Romero fights brilliantly, dazzling the crowd by killing a bull that had gored a man to death in the streets. Afterward, he cuts the bull's ear off and gives it to Brett. After this final bullfight, Romero and Brett leave for Madrid together. Cohn has left that morning, so only Bill, Mike, and Jake remain as the fiesta draws to a close. The next day, the three remaining men rent a car and drive out of Spain to Bayonne and then go their separate ways. Jake heads back into Spain to San Sebastian, where he plans to spend several quiet days relaxing. He receives a telegram from Brett, however, asking him to come meet her in Madrid. He complies, and boards an overnight train that same day. Jake finds Brett alone in a Madrid hotel room. She has broken with Romero, fearing that she would ruin him and his career. She announces that she now wants to return to Mike. Jake books tickets for them to leave Madrid. As they ride in a taxi through the Spanish capital, Brett laments that she and Jake could have had a wonderful time together. Jake responds, "Yes, isn't it pretty to think so?" Princeton BOXER. Read many books and played tennis.

Soldier's Home

Krebs went to the war in 1917 from a Methodist college in Kansas. There is a picture of him with his fraternity brothers all in the same collar. He came back from the war in 1919, after he had been in the Rhine. There, a picture was taken of him, a fellow corporal, and two German ladies. When Krebs returns, no one celebrates. He comes back after most everyone else, so he misses the hysteria. He also cannot get anyone to listen to his stories. Everyone has heard too many gruesome stories to care. To get people to listen, he has lied twice. But he is disgusted by that so he has stopped talking about the war. Even his lies bore people, anyway. During this time, Krebs is sleeping late and hanging around all day. He is a hero to his younger sisters and to his mother. She sometimes asks about the war, but she gets bored. The town has not changed in his absence except that some of the girls have become women. Krebs likes to watch them, but he does not want to be a part of their lives. He does not want to get involved in the politics or the lying involved in a courtship. Krebs does not want any consequences. The army had taught him that he did not need a girl, even though many men claimed that they could not live without one. Krebs likes the looks of the girls, but does not want to have to talk. That was one nice thing about the French and German girls: not so much talking. Krebs had not wanted to come home, but he had. Now, he watches girls walk by and thinks that they are made out of a nice pattern. He starts reading a book about the war, about all of the battles he was in. He is finally learning about the war. Krebs' mother tells him that he can take the car out at night. Krebs goes downstairs for breakfast and starts to read the paper. His mother tells him not to muss it. His sister, Helen Krebs, tells him that she will be pitching in an indoor baseball game that day. She asks if he'll come. Their mother shoos her away and tells Krebs that he should think about finding a job. She tells him that she prays for him and the temptations that he must have faced. But, she says, he must find a job. After all, she says, the other boys his age are getting jobs and wives. She asks if he loves her. He says no, meaning that he cannot love anyone. She is only hurt, so Krebs tells her that he did not mean it. Krebs tells her that he will try to be good. She asks him to kneel with her and pray. She prays, but he cannot. He leaves, thinking that he will get a job in Kansas City and get out of the house without too many more confrontations. He only wants to have his life go smoothly, which it is not. He goes to watch Helen play baseball.

Sound and the Fury

if you don't know this then you're a bigger idiot than Benjy

an extinct angel

is a clever satirical tale examining the history of the "angel in the house," a metaphor for the perfect wife and doting mother who adheres to the tenets of "true womanhood." Presented as a fairy tale but with a subtext rooted in historical fact, Gilman alludes to the "rule of thumb" and other forms of violence affecting women bound by the cult of domesticity. "An Extinct Angel" effectively illustrates Gilman's view that domestic servility is both unhealthy and potentially dangerous.

hills like white elephants

"Hills Like White Elephants" opens with a long description of the story's setting in a train station surrounded by hills, fields, and trees in a valley in Spain. A man known simply as the American and his girlfriend sit at a table outside the station, waiting for a train to Madrid. It is hot, and the man orders two beers. The girl remarks that the nearby hills look like white elephants, to which the American responds that he's never seen one. They order more drinks and begin to bicker about the taste of the alcohol. The American chastises her and says that they should try to enjoy themselves. The girl replies that she's merely having fun and then retracts her earlier comment by saying the hills don't actually look like white elephants to her anymore. They order more drinks, and the American mentions that he wants the girl, whom he calls "Jig," to have an operation, although he never actually specifies what kind of operation. He seems agitated and tries to downplay the operation's seriousness. He argues that the operation would be simple, for example, but then says the procedure really isn't even an operation at all. The girl says nothing for a while, but then she asks what will happen after she's had the operation. The man answers that things will be fine afterward, just like they were before, and that it will fix their problems. He says he has known a lot of people who have had the operation and found happiness afterward. The girl dispassionately agrees with him. The American then claims that he won't force her to have the operation but thinks it's the best course of action to take. She tells him that she will have the operation as long as he'll still love her and they'll be able to live happily together afterward. The man then emphasizes how much he cares for the girl, but she claims not to care about what happens to herself. The American weakly says that she shouldn't have the operation if that's really the way she feels. The girl then walks over to the end of the station, looks at the scenery, and wonders aloud whether they really could be happy if she has the operation. They argue for a while until the girl gets tired and makes the American promise to stop talking. The Spanish bartender brings two more beers and tells them that the train is coming in five minutes. The girl smiles at the bartender but has to ask the American what she said because the girl doesn't speak Spanish. After finishing their drinks, the American carries their bags to the platform and then walks back to the bar, noticing all the other people who are also waiting for the train. He asks the girl whether she feels better. She says she feels fine and that there is nothing wrong with her.

Regret

"Regret" is Kate Chopin's short story about a fiftyish, unmarried woman who becomes responsible for the care of her neighbor's four children. Mamzelle Aurélie. Sad when kids are taken away by mother and she's left with her dog.

today is Friday

At eleven o'clock at night, three Roman soldiers are still drinking after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. When the first soldier suggests they try the red wine that a Hebrew wine-seller has in an earthenware pitcher, the second soldier agrees, but the third complains of a stomach-ache; nevertheless, he drinks some, only to complain about the wine. The wine-seller merely replies that if the third soldier will drink it, the wine will "fix" him up, and the other soldiers encourage him to drink. As he drinks the cup down, the soldier makes a face, exclaiming "Jesus Christ." To this, the second soldier says, "That false alarm!" and the first soldier answers, "Oh, I don't know. He was pretty good in there today." To this remark, the second soldier counters that all crucifixion victims want to come down from the cross, adding observations on the brutal process of crucifixion. The two men continue their discussion with the first soldier reiterating his phrase, "He was pretty good in there today" as though speaking of a prizefighter. The third agrees that he "was all right." Then, the first soldier asks, "You see his girl?" and the second says that he knew her before "he did," then asks what happened to his "gang." The first replies that just the women stuck by Christ. The first soldier adds, "You see me slip the old spear into him?" Hearing this, the second advises him that he will get into trouble by helping. Finally, the wine-seller tells the men that he must close, but the first two object. However, the third wants to go, saying he "feels like hell tonight." As they depart, the second soldier makes a pejorative remark about the Hebrew wine-makes and tells the third he has been doing his job too long, "That's all."

unnatural mother

Esther Greenwood sacrificed her life and the life of her child to save 1500 other people. The dam was about to burst, so she sent a warning to the three villages that would have experienced casualties. Esther's child survived but the other mothers consider her "negligence" now a burden since they ended up raising her child.

Great Gatsby

F Scott Fitzgerald's classic book. The story of a man Jay Gatz, Daisy, the woman he loves, and Tom, Daisy's arrogant husband. Told from the perspective of Gatsy's neighbor, Nick.

snows of Kilimanjaro

Harry, a writer, and his wife, Helen, are stranded while on safari in Africa. A bearing burned out on their truck, and Harry is talking about the gangrene that has infected his leg when he did not apply iodine after he scratched it. As they wait for a rescue plane from Nairobi that he knows won't arrive on time, Harry spends his time drinking and insulting Helen. Harry reviews his life, realizing that he wasted his talent through procrastination and luxury from a marriage to a wealthy woman that he doesn't love. In a series of flashbacks, Harry recalls the mountains of Bulgaria and Constantinople, as well as the suddenly hollow, sick feeling of being alone in Paris. Later, there were Turks, and an American poet talking nonsense about the Dada movement, and headaches and quarrels, and watching people whom he would later write about. Uneasily, he recalls a boy who'd been frozen, his body half-eaten by dogs, and a wounded officer so entangled in a wire fence that his bowels spilled over it. As Harry lies on his cot, he is aware that vultures are walking around his makeshift camp, and a hyena lurks in the shadows. Knowing that he will die before he wakes, Harry goes to sleep and dreams that the rescue plane is taking him to a snow covered summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Its Western summit is called the Masai "Ngàje Ngài," the House of God, where he sees the legendary leopard. Helen wakes, and taking a flashlight, walks toward Harry's cot. Seeing that his leg is dangling alongside the cot and that the dressings are pulled down, she calls his name repeatedly. She listens for his breathing and can hear nothing. Outside the tent, the hyena whines — a cry that is strangely human.

winter dreams

In winter, Dexter Green, son of the owner of the second-best grocery store in Black Bear, Minnesota, skis across the snowed-in golf course where he caddies in the warmer months to earn his pocket money. In April, the spring thaw begins and the first golfers brave the course. Unlike the dismal spring, the autumn and winter empower Dexter and stimulate his imagination. Dexter imagines beating the golf club's most esteemed members. At work, he crosses paths with Judy Jones, who, attended by her nurse, asks Dexter to carry her clubs. Dexter can't leave his post, and Judy throws a tantrum and tries to strike her nurse with her clubs. When the caddy-master promptly returns and Dexter is free to be Judy's caddy, he quits. Hastily ending his employment as a caddie is the first in a lifelong series of impetuous acts that would be dictated to Dexter by his so-called winter dreams, which drive him to desire material success. Dexter foregoes state school for a more esteemed eastern university, where his financial resources are stretched. He still longs for luxury, but his desires are often denied. After college, Dexter, articulate and confident, borrows $1,000 off the strength of his degree and buys a partnership in a laundry. By age twenty-seven, he owns the largest chain of laundries in the upper Midwest. He sells the business and moves to New York. We learn more about a period of time during Dexter's rise to success. At age twenty-three, Dexter is given a weekend pass to the Sherry Island Golf Club by Mr. Hart, for whom Dexter used to caddy. Dexter feels superior to the other competitors but also that he does not belong in this world. At the fifteenth green, while the group searches for a lost ball, Mr. Hedrick is struck in the stomach by Miss Jones, who wishes to play through and doesn't realize that she has struck another player. She hits her ball and continues on, as the men alternately praise or criticize her beauty and forward behavior. Later that evening, Dexter swims out to the raft in the club's lake, stretching out on the springboard and listening to a distant piano. The sound of the tune fills him with delight at his present situation. The peaceful scene is disturbed by the roar of Judy's motorboat. She has abandoned a date who believes that she is his ideal, and she asks Dexter to drive the boat so that she can water-ski. Waiting for Judy to arrive for their date the next evening, Dexter imagines all the successful men from esteemed backgrounds who had once loved her. He has acquired polish and sophistication despite his humble origins. Judy arrives in modest clothes, tells the maid that dinner can be served, and informs Dexter that her parents will not be in attendance, which is a relief for Dexter. After dinner, on the sun porch, Judy asks Dexter whether it is all right if she cries. A man she was dating has confessed he is poor. When she asks Dexter what his financial standing is, he tells her that he is most likely the richest young man in the entire region. They kiss, and Dexter's passion for her increases. Dexter continues his pursuit of Judy, but during a picnic she leaves with another man. She claims that nothing has happened between her and the other man, which Dexter doesn't believe. Judy toys with the various men who seek her affections. The summer ends, and Dexter takes up residence at a club in town, showing up at the dances when Judy is in attendance. He still desires her and dreams of taking her to New York to live. He eventually forces himself to accept the fact that he will never possess her in the way he wants. He throws himself into work and becomes engaged to Irene. One night, just before the engagement is to be announced, Irene's headache forces her to cancel her plans with Dexter. He return to the University Club, where Judy, back from her travels, approaches him. They go for a drive. Judy flirts with him, telling him he should marry her, and they discuss their former passion. She asks to be taken home and begins to cry quietly. She repeats her desire to marry him. She asks him in, and he relents. Later, he does not regret that Judy's ardor cools after a month, that Irene and her family were deeply hurt by his betrayal, or that his reputation in the city has been compromised. He loves Judy above all. Leaving for the East with the intention of selling his laundries and settling in New York, the outbreak of World War I calls him back west, where he transfers management of his business to a partner. He enters basic training, welcoming the distraction of combat. In New York seven years later, when Dexter is thirty-two, he is more successful than ever. Devlin, a business associate, informs Dexter that Judy married a friend of his, a man who cheats on her and drinks heavily while Judy stays at home with the children. She has also, according to Devlin, lost her looks. Dexter feels the loss of her beauty and spark personally, because his illusions of Judy are finally and irreparably shattered. He cries, mourning the past and his lost youth, which he will never be able to reclaim.

the end of something

Hortons Bay had been a lumber town. The sounds from the mill by the lake were always audible. Then, the logs stopped appearing. The machinery was taken out of the mill building. The mill and the complex that surrounded it lay abandoned. Ten years later, only the foundations were still visible to Nick Adams and Marjorie as they row along the lake shore, fishing. Nick says that he can only barely remember the mill working. Marjorie loves nights like these, fishing with Nick. She says the fish are feeding, but Nick counters that they will not strike and be caught. The two pull the boat up on a shore and cut up the perch that they have caught for bait. They go back out to set the lines. Then, the two pull up on shore again. Marjorie asks Nick if something is wrong, but he claims not to know what is bothering him. They make a fire and put down a blanket. She summons him to eat their picnic, even though he says he does not feel like eating. They eat in silence. Then, they make a little conversation. Nick teases Marjorie, and she becomes frustrated. She asks again what is wrong, and, after some prodding, he finally tells her that he is not having fun anymore. She asks whether love is any fun, and he says no. She leaves without a goodbye. Nick lies there for a while. Bill arrives and asks whether she is gone. Nick tells him that she is and that there was no scene. When Bill asks how he feels, Nick tells him to go away. Bill takes a sandwich and goes to inspect the fishing rods.

the short happy life of francis macomber

It is noon. Francis Macomber is on an African safari; Macomber is thirty-five years old, a trim, fit man who holds a number of big-game fishing records. However, at the moment, he has just demonstrated that he is a coward. However, members of the safari are acting as though "nothing had happened." The natives at camp carried Macomber into camp triumphantly, but the gun-bearers who witnessed Macomber's cowardice do not participate in the celebration. In a flashback, the reader realizes that Macomber and his beautiful wife, Margot, are wealthy Americans, and that this jaunt is their first safari — and that Macomber, when faced with his first lion, bolted and fled, earning the contempt of his wife. Of course, though, she has been contemptuous of him for some time; Francis' running from the lion like a scared rabbit has only increased her dislike for her unmanly husband. She makes no secret of this as she slips off in the middle of the night for a rendezvous with the safari guide, Robert Wilson. Next day, as she observes Francis gaining a measure of courage as he engages in a standoff with a charging water buffalo, she realizes that if Francis continues to prove himself strong and willful and courageous, he might leave her and rid himself forever of her sharp-tongued ridicule. As the standoff with the second water buffalo becomes more intense as the water buffalo's horns inch closer and closer to goring Francis, Margot takes aim at the water buffalo, shooting Francis in the back of the head, and he dies at the most courageous moment of his "short happy life."

The Story of An Hour

Louise Mallard has heart trouble, so she must be informed carefully about her husband's death. Her sister, Josephine, tells her the news. Louise's husband's friend, Richards, learned about a railroad disaster when he was in the newspaper office and saw Louise's husband, Brently, on the list of those killed. Louise begins sobbing when Josephine tells her of Brently's death and goes upstairs to be alone in her room. Louise sits down and looks out an open window. She sees trees, smells approaching rain, and hears a peddler yelling out what he's selling. She hears someone singing as well as the sounds of sparrows, and there are fluffy white clouds in the sky. She is young, with lines around her eyes. Still crying, she gazes into the distance. She feels apprehensive and tries to suppress the building emotions within her, but can't. She begins repeating the word Free! to herself over and over again. Her heart beats quickly, and she feels very warm. Louise knows she'll cry again when she sees Brently's corpse. His hands were tender, and he always looked at her lovingly. But then she imagines the years ahead, which belong only to her now, and spreads her arms out joyfully with anticipation. She will be free, on her own without anyone to oppress her. She thinks that all women and men oppress one another even if they do it out of kindness. Louise knows that she often felt love for Brently but tells herself that none of that matters anymore. She feels ecstatic with her newfound sense of independence. Josephine comes to her door, begging Louise to come out, warning her that she'll get sick if she doesn't. Louise tells her to go away. She fantasizes about all the days and years ahead and hopes that she lives a long life. Then she opens the door, and she and Josephine start walking down the stairs, where Richards is waiting. The front door unexpectedly opens, and Brently comes in. He hadn't been in the train accident or even aware that one had happened. Josephine screams, and Richards tries unsuccessfully to block Louise from seeing him. Doctors arrive and pronounce that Louise died of a heart attack brought on by happiness.

indian camp

Nick Adams and Nick's father arrive at the lake shore with Nick's Uncle George. Two Indians are waiting there to pick them up. The Indians row the two men and one boy across the lake in two boats. Nick asks where they are going and his father replies that they are going to the Indian camp because an Indian woman is very sick. The boats arrive on shore and they all walk through a meadow to the woods. There, they follow a trail that leads to the logging road, which is much lighter. Around a bend, they come upon some shanties. Nick, his father, and his uncle enter the one nearest the road. Inside, they find an Indian woman who has been in labor for two days. She is lying on the bottom bunk of a bed. Her husband is on the top bunk with a cut foot. When she cries out in pain, Nick's father explains that she hurts because her muscles are trying to get the baby out of her body. Nick asks if he can give her anything to make the pain stop, but Nick's father answers that he does not have any anesthetic. Nick's father boils some medical instruments and washes his hands carefully. He explains to Nick that babies are supposed to be born head first but sometimes become turned around. He says that he may have to operate on this woman. When he does operate, several men must hold the woman down. She bites Uncle George. A boy is born. Nick's father asks Nick if he likes being an intern. Nick lies and says he likes it fine. However, Nick refuses to watch his father sew up the woman. Afterward, Nick's father and Uncle George are elated from the excitement of such a haphazard delivery. Nick's father says that the father of the baby must be very excited. He goes over to the father and pulls back his blanket. The father's throat is slit and the razor lies next to him. Nick's father tells Uncle George to take Nick away, but he does not do so before Nick sees his father tip the Indian father's head back. On the way home, Nick's father apologizes for bringing him, all his excitement gone. Nick asks if women always have a hard time having babies. The answer from his father is no. Nick then asks why the man killed himself, to which his father replies that he must not have been able to stand things. Nick asks if many men kill themselves. His father says no. Nick asks the same question about women. His father says no again. Nick asks where Uncle George went. His father says that he will show up later. Then, Nick asks if dying is hard. His father says that he thinks it is probably pretty easy. There is silence. The sun is coming up, a fish jumps, and Nick runs his fingers through the water. Nick thinks to himself that he is pretty sure that he will never die.

3 day blow

Nick Adams walks through an orchard on his way to Bill's house, picking up a fallen apple. When Nick arrives, the two boys stand together on the porch, discussing the weather. They predict that the wind will blow hard for three days. Bill says that his father is out with the gun. The two go inside. They decide to drink whiskey and water. Nick takes off his boots to dry them by the fire. He puts on a pair of Bill's socks. The two talk about baseball and their team, the Cardinals. Then, they talk about books. Nick does not like books whose symbols are impractical. The two agree that they love Chesterton and Walpole but cannot decide which of the two is a better person. They talk about their fathers' drinking habits--Bill's drinks regularly, Nick's never. The two are getting fairly drunk but do not want to admit it. Nick goes outside to get another log for the fire. The boys start drinking Scotch because they do not want to open another bottle of whiskey. They drink to fishing and decide it is better than baseball. Bill tells Nick that he is glad that Marjorie is gone. He did not want to see Nick married. Yet, this conversation makes Nick sad. But, as Nick says, it was suddenly over, like the three-day blow taking the leaves off the trees. Still, they had planned to do many things together, like travel. Marjorie's mother had even told people they were engaged. Bill says that Nick might always get back into the relationship. This idea comforts Nick somewhat, because he had not realized that nothing is irreversible. Cheered somewhat, the boys decide to go outside and find Bill's father. Nick reminds himself that he can always go into town on Saturday night and find Marjorie again.

the killers

One winter evening, around dusk, while he is sitting at the end of a counter and talking to George, the manager of a diner in Summit, Illinois, a small town south of Chicago, Nick Adams watches two over-dressed strangers in black (Al and Max) enter the diner. After complaining about the serving schedule, the two men order dinner, joking sarcastically about George and Nick being a couple of dumb country boys. Finishing his meal, Al orders Nick and Sam, the Black cook, to the kitchen, where he ties them up. Meanwhile, Max boasts to George that he and Al have been hired to kill Ole Andreson, an aging boxer, who, they've heard, eats dinner there every night. When the boxer fails to show up in the diner, Al and Max leave, and George hurries to untie Nick and Sam. He then suggests that Nick warn Andreson, who lives in a nearby boarding house. When the boxer hears about Al and Max's plan to kill him, he's unconcerned; he's tired, he says, of running. Nick leaves and returns to the diner, where he tells George and Sam that he's leaving Summit because he can't bear to think about a man waiting, passively, to be killed by a couple of hired killers.

Wiser Than A God

Paula Von Stoltz was a piano player who lowered herself by playing for graduation party. George Brainard returned from college and likes Paula. George walks her home and her mother died. Months pass and Paula receives entreaties from her mentor, Max for a romantic relationship, which she rejects but he continues to remain in her life. George visits her one night and ask for her hand in marriage. Paula rejects him because she doesn't believe that his perception of marriage will suit her because she wants to continue to be free. He asks again and says to return in a week. When he returns, he learns that she has left the country. The story ends with telling the reading that she did marry Max who was patient and gave her the space she wanted

50 Grand

The aging hero, a common figure in Hemingway's work, is Jack Brennan, aged 37, trained by Jerry Doyle, the narrator, at Hogan's health ranch. Dwelling on his age, his insomnia and how much he misses his wife, Jack decides this will be his last fight. The day before the fight, he is visited by his manager, John, and two strangers—Steinfelt and Morgan, referred to as "wise boys" and "sharpshooters." John asks Jerry to leave the room, so the reader does not know for sure what John, Steinfelt and Morgan, and Jack talk about. After the meeting, Jack gets drunk and tells Jerry that he is going to bet $50,000 against himself. Jack says that since he knows he cannot win against a younger, stronger fighter, he may as well make some money on the deal: losing intentionally will be easy. He tells Jerry to bet on Walcott. Most initial interpretations of this secret meeting assume that Steinfelt and Morgan conspire with John to bribe Jack to fix the fight. Following this interpretation, Jack makes a good showing and almost loses his bet when Walcott throws him a low blow. Walcott would have been disqualified, making Jack the winner of the fight and loser of his bet. (This is the double-cross" John later refers to: Walcott's low blow might be evidence that Walcott intended to fix the fight.) Jack stays on his feet to save his bet, inevitably loses the bout, and saves some integrity by making it to the final round. John apologizes for asking Jack to lose intentionally.

yellow wallpaper

The narrator begins her journal by marveling at the grandeur of the house and grounds her husband has taken for their summer vacation. She describes it in romantic terms as an aristocratic estate or even a haunted house and wonders how they were able to afford it, and why the house had been empty for so long. Her feeling that there is "something queer" about the situation leads her into a discussion of her illness—she is suffering from "nervous depression"—and of her marriage. She complains that her husband John, who is also her doctor, belittles both her illness and her thoughts and concerns in general. She contrasts his practical, rationalistic manner with her own imaginative, sensitive ways. Her treatment requires that she do almost nothing active, and she is especially forbidden from working and writing. She feels that activity, freedom, and interesting work would help her condition and reveals that she has begun her secret journal in order to "relieve her mind." In an attempt to do so, the narrator begins describing the house. Her description is mostly positive, but disturbing elements such as the "rings and things" in the bedroom walls, and the bars on the windows, keep showing up. She is particularly disturbed by the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom, with its strange, formless pattern, and describes it as "revolting." Soon, however, her thoughts are interrupted by John's approach, and she is forced to stop writing. As the first few weeks of the summer pass, the narrator becomes good at hiding her journal, and thus hiding her true thoughts from John. She continues to long for more stimulating company and activity, and she complains again about John's patronizing, controlling ways—although she immediately returns to the wallpaper, which begins to seem not only ugly, but oddly menacing. She mentions that John is worried about her becoming fixated on it, and that he has even refused to repaper the room so as not to give in to her neurotic worries. The narrator's imagination, however, has been aroused. She mentions that she enjoys picturing people on the walkways around the house and that John always discourages such fantasies. She also thinks back to her childhood, when she was able to work herself into a terror by imagining things in the dark. As she describes the bedroom, which she says must have been a nursery for young children, she points out that the paper is torn off the wall in spots, there are scratches and gouges in the floor, and the furniture is heavy and fixed in place. Just as she begins to see a strange sub-pattern behind the main design of the wallpaper, her writing is interrupted again, this time by John's sister, Jennie, who is acting as housekeeper and nurse for the narrator. As the Fourth of July passes, the narrator reports that her family has just visited, leaving her more tired than ever. John threatens to send her to Weir Mitchell, the real-life physician under whose care Gilman had a nervous breakdown. The narrator is alone most of the time and says that she has become almost fond of the wallpaper and that attempting to figure out its pattern has become her primary entertainment. As her obsession grows, the sub-pattern of the wallpaper becomes clearer. It begins to resemble a woman "stooping down and creeping" behind the main pattern, which looks like the bars of a cage. Whenever the narrator tries to discuss leaving the house, John makes light of her concerns, effectively silencing her. Each time he does so, her disgusted fascination with the paper grows. Soon the wallpaper dominates the narrator's imagination. She becomes possessive and secretive, hiding her interest in the paper and making sure no one else examines it so that she can "find it out" on her own. At one point, she startles Jennie, who had been touching the wallpaper and who mentions that she had found yellow stains on their clothes. Mistaking the narrator's fixation for tranquility, John thinks she is improving. But she sleeps less and less and is convinced that she can smell the paper all over the house, even outside. She discovers a strange smudge mark on the paper, running all around the room, as if it had been rubbed by someone crawling against the wall. The sub-pattern now clearly resembles a woman who is trying to get out from behind the main pattern. The narrator sees her shaking the bars at night and creeping around during the day, when the woman is able to escape briefly. The narrator mentions that she, too, creeps around at times. She suspects that John and Jennie are aware of her obsession, and she resolves to destroy the paper once and for all, peeling much of it off during the night. The next day she manages to be alone and goes into something of a frenzy, biting and tearing at the paper in order to free the trapped woman, whom she sees struggling from inside the pattern. By the end, the narrator is hopelessly insane, convinced that there are many creeping women around and that she herself has come out of the wallpaper—that she herself is the trapped woman. She creeps endlessly around the room, smudging the wallpaper as she goes. When John breaks into the locked room and sees the full horror of the situation, he faints in the doorway, so that the narrator has "to creep over him every time!"

a very short story

The narrator recollects his romance with an Italian nurse while he was wounded and in the hospital. On a hot evening in Padua, Italy, some people carried him up to the ROOF to look at the town. The others went down again when it got dark and the searchlights came on. Luz and he went to bed together. She took night duty for three months so that she could be with him. She prepared the table for his operation. Then, when he was on crutches, he went around taking nighttime temperatures so that she did not have to get out of bed. Everyone knew about them. Before he went back to the war, they prayed. They wanted to get married, but they did not have the right paperwork or enough time. Luz wrote to him often, but they were delivered all together. They decided that after the war, he would go to New York to get a job, and she would come afterward. They left each other while still quarreling about her not coming with him. He left for America. She stayed behind to open a hospital. There, the major of an Italian battalion made love to her. She wrote to the American that their romance had only been boy-girl love. Now she had found adult love. This major did not marry her, though. Her American love never wrote back. Soon thereafter, he contracted gonorrhea from a department store employee while riding in a cab through a residential area of Chicago.

a pair of silk stockings

The story's main character is Mrs. Sommers, a wife and mother. Her family is very poor, and she is trying to pick up a few items of clothing for her children. On this particular day, she is tired and worn out as she goes about her errands. She is an expert at finding bargains and saving money, always looking for a good sale, but she finds a pair of silk stockings that she desires for herself. They feel nice against her skin, and the store has several in her size and in various colors. She buys them and immediately puts them on. Instead of continuing with her errands and heading toward the bargain bins as she normally does, Mrs. Sommers gets fitted for gloves, something she has not done for some time. After getting gloves, she is hungry, and treats herself to lunch at a nearby restaurant. Later she goes to the theater, sitting among the elegantly dressed women and men crowding the theater. Each time she does something for herself, she becomes more comfortable with herself. Consequently, she dreads going home more and more with each activity. The story ends with Mrs. Sommers sitting in a cable car, wishing that it would continue traveling forever.

death of a salesman

Willy Loman, a salesman who finds himself regarded as useless in his occupation because of his age, kills himself. A speech made by a friend of Willy's after his suicide is well known and ends with the lines: "Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." And the people aren't fruit quote

in another country

Trying to regain use of a knee that was wounded during World War I, Nick is in an Italian hospital for therapy, riding a kind of tricycle that his doctor promises will keep the muscles elastic. Nick is dubious of the machine and the therapy, as is a friend of his, an Italian major who is also undergoing therapy with a machine that exercises his hand that was injured in an industrial accident. Four other young men, Italian soldiers, are also using therapy machines, and they brag about the medals that they've received for their valor in battle. In contrast, the major never brags about his own bravery. He is deeply depressed and finally reveals to Nick that his young wife has just died.

a clean well lighted place

Two waiters are, um, waiting to close up their café for the night. They only have one customer left - an old man, deaf, drunk, and seemingly peaceful. He's a regular at the café, and the waiters seem to know all about him. Apparently, the old man attempted to hang himself the previous week, but was stopped mid-suicide by his niece. The older waiter and younger waiter debate the possible cause. Meanwhile, a soldier walks by with a young woman, presumably out beyond curfew. The waiters wonder idly if he will get picked up by the guard, but decide that it doesn't matter, as long as he gets what he wants from the girl. The old man asks for another drink, and the younger waiter goes to serve him, disdainfully commenting that the old man should have killed himself (this is no Mr. Sensitive). Watching the old man from afar, the two waiters return to their conversation about the his attempted suicide. The younger waiter thinks that old age is a terrible thing, but the older waiter disagrees - after all, this particular old man is still clean and proper, even when he's drunk. The old man signals for yet another drink, but this time, the younger waiter refuses, saying that they have to close up for the night. The old man carefully pays and leaves, drunk but dignified. As the two waiters close up shop, they continue to argue mildly about the old man, and about people who "need" the café to stay open. The older waiter sympathizes with these people - he recognizes that sometimes someone might need to take refuge in a "clean, well-lighted place," rather than a dark, dim bar or bodega. After the younger waiter hurries off home to his wife, the older waiter takes his time, continuing their argument in his mind. He realizes that life, when it comes down to it, is simply meaningless - and that we all need a brightly lit, pleasant place to sit to avoid thinking about the dark demons of death and nothingness. He stops at a bar, but finds that it's not to his liking, and continues home, ruefully commenting that his malaise is probably just insomnia.

that evening sun

We start with twenty-four-year-old Quentin remembering his hometown of Jefferson. He recalls how the black women would do the white people's laundry. He doesn't point out anything wrong with this sharp racial divide, though. C'mon, Quentin. Then he focuses on Nancy, the black servant who did his family's laundry. He remembers how she was a prostitute for white men. This, as you can imagine, was a traumatizing experience for poor Nancy. She was beaten by one of her customers. She tried to commit suicide in jail and was beaten there too, and ended up drinking and sleeping too much to blot out the memory of her abusive johns. She also had a husband named Jesus who seemed prone to getting into fights. One day he threatened to cut off the penis of some white man who'd impregnated Nancy. Then Quentin recalls a specific day when Nancy was afraid to walk home. Jesus had skipped town, but she'd been told he was back, and she feared he meant to kill her because she was pregnant. Yikes, dude. Quentin, at nine years old, shows a special sensitivity to Nancy's plight, but he doesn't help her despite his discomfort with the situation. As the adult narrator, he chalks up his nine-year-old unease to the fact that their kitchen (where Nancy was worrying about Jesus) was lonely and cold instead of busy and cheerful. He seems uncomfortable with the memory. His father walks Nancy home, which makes his mother complain. His younger siblings, Caddy and Jason, tag along, Caddy teasing Jason for being afraid to walk the lane to Nancy's house in the dark. That concludes the first section. Pretty simple, right? Moving right along to the next section. We see Nancy staying at the white family's house overnight, since the mother is too scared to be left alone while her husband walks the servant home. That night, Nancy begins wailing in fear, seemingly detached from reality. The father, armed with a gun, checks for Jesus, but he's nowhere in sight. The next day, Dilsey, another black servant, tries to help Nancy figure out what to do. Nancy says she is hellborn; she feels doomed to death at the hands of Jesus. Boom—now we're in the third section. Nancy gets even more frightened and wants to stay in the children's room, but the mother won't have it. So the servant comes up with a new idea: the kids should stay with her, at her house. It's as though she thinks their very whiteness will protect her from Jesus. She promises them fun, and after a little debate, the three kids go with her. Section four; are you ready for more? (We're poets and we know it.) Nancy tries to keep the children entertained by telling a story and popping popcorn, but the kids are increasingly restless and fearful that their parents are looking for them. Meanwhile, Nancy is acting a wee bit unhinged. She leaves her hand on a hot lamp chimney and in the fire and seems not to notice the pain. The kids are pretty creeped out, and then everyone hears someone coming. Nancy begins wailing. We're worried Jesus is coming to kill them all. That's it for the antepenultimate section. (Vocab time: antepenultimate is a million-point SAT word meaning next to-next to-last.) The penultimate section (next to last!) reveals that the "someone coming" was the white family's father. He tells Nancy that Jesus is nowhere in sight and suggests she go stay with someone else. The servant insists that would do no good— her death at Jesus' hands belongs to her like a destiny. The father tells the children to come home with him. Good call, Pops. The adult Quentin goes off on a digression about a Mr. Lovelady who collected black folks' burial insurance. It seems he's increasingly disturbed by remembering Nancy's plight—like maybe he's trying to change the subject in his head. But then, in the last (ultimate!) section, he narrates how the family returned home. They hear Nancy wailing as they abandon her. The nine-year-old Quentin asks, "Who will do our washing now, Father?" The story ends with his two younger siblings arguing pointlessly over Jason being afraid to walk back in the dark. Quentin's questioning and Caddy and Jason's arguing seem to be all the inadequate family can do in the face of Nancy's plight. That the adult Quentin ended the story with those two items suggests he's realized how unfair his white family's indifference to Nancy's fate was. We're left hanging as to whether Jesus kills her or not.

making a change

When Frank Gordins asks for a way to stop his child's crying, Julia, his wife, claims she does not know of any, but his mother insists she does and wishes she were in charge of the infant's care. Julia says that they can make a change if Frank is dissatisfied with the child's mother, and though the baby's crying hurts her ears, especially since she is a sensitive musician, her conscience and pride are also sensitive; Albert is her child, and she devotes her days and nights to tending to his needs! When Julia and her mother-in-law begin to argue, Frank objects to how his wife speaks to his mother, but Julia will not stand for interference in raising her child, and she is furious when her husband suggests they may all get a little peace if she lets his mother take care of their child. then they start a baby farm for daycare...

undefeated

the protagonist is Manuel Garcia, a veteran BULLFIGHTER, who basically has to beg Retana, a promoter, for work. Retana finally agrees, giving Manuel a fraction (300 pesetas) of what the younger, more popular bullfighters are making. Manuel then goes to a cafe to wait for his friend, Zurito, a picador (a horseman who uses a lance to help the bullfighter). Zurito tells them they're both too old. He pleads with Zurito to "pic" for him, and Zurito only concedes after Manuel agrees that if he does not perform well, he will quit for good. Fighting with Hernandez, another up-and-coming bullfighter, they engage in a long battle with a bull. Readers get perspectives mostly from Manuel, but also from the audience, a bull-fight critic, Zurito, and even the bull itself. It takes Manuel five tries to stab the bull. The first four times, his sword either bends or bounces off as if, Hernandez says, "He's all bone." In the end, Manuel kills the bull, but is gored and rushed to to the doctor. While Manuel lies on the operating table, Zurito raises a pair of scissors to cut off Manuel's coleta (pigtail), a veritable castration which would symbolically end Manuel's bullfighting career. Zurito claims he was just joking, and the story ends with Retana quickly losing interest and Zurito staying to watch over Manuel.