Response to "I Go Back to May 1937"

The poem "I Go Back to May 1937" by Sharon Olds is a reflection of how the speaker views her parents in their younger days now that she is older.  The overall theme is that despite the troubles her parents have had, some of which probably effected her, she would not changed any of them.

The speakers first describes her parents at their separate colleges as they are "about to graduate."  It seems as if he parents didn't go to the same college and lived pretty far away from each other.  The speaker describes the arch that her dad is standing under as "ochre sandstone arch, the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood."  The ochre sandstone makes me think of a western state.  One part of this description that caught my attention was the description of the tiles.  She describes the color as blood, which in my opinion is a strange object to compare a tile too.  There are many other objects that are red in color that carry a more positive connotation.  Maybe she is foreshadowing something that will happen later in her parents life.

She describes her mom as carrying "a few light books."  The first thing that I thought was that it's not normal for people to have books at graduation.  Maybe this could mean she isn't ready for the real world.  She goes on to say "they are kids...dumb...innocent."  This adds to the idea that they don't know what they are getting into.

The second half of the poem describes how her parents are wrong for each other.  The speaker says "she's the wrong woman...he's the wrong man."  Then she explains that they both do things that they would have never though they would do and eventually they wish they could just die.  Then she goes on to describe her parents after they have met each other.  She describes her mom as "hungry pretty face" and her dad as "arrogant handsome face."  The description of her mom could mean that she has a desire to succeed or maybe she is not satisfied with the relationship she is in.

Perhaps the most important words of the poem come after the second description of her parents.  She says "I want to live."  It's a very simple sentence, but caries a powerful meaning, especially to the speaker.  It serves as a contrast to the lives of her parents.  For most of the poem the speaker has told about how unhappy and sad her parents lives have become and even goes as far as to say they wish they could die.  Her statement that her life is important to her despite what she has been put through by her parents hints that it might not be as bad as she has made it out to be.  The grass may not be greener on the other side so to speak.

Response to "A Different Road"

"A Different Road" by Elizabeth Strout is a short story that attempts to explain how being held at gun point altered Olive and Henry Kitteridge's relationship.  The story starts out with Olive going to the store to buy some fabric and follows her all the way home.  During her travels their are numerous flashbacks to an important night in their New England town.  The night starts out when the Kitteridges go to eat with another couple.  On the way home Olive starts to feel bad and must stop at the hospital to use the bathroom.  Even though it is just an upset stomach, the nurse insists that Olive stay and get checked out.  Then out of nowhere two masked gunmen enter the hospital and take everyone hostage in the bathroom.  While being held hostage Olive and Henry make harsh comments to each other that eventually lead to a strain in their relationship.

People in town notice that the Kitteridges aren't quite as friendly as they used to be before the hostage situation.  They attribute this to the general situation they were in.  Little do they know that the real reason for the change in Olive and Henry's attitude is the words that were said to each other that night.

The insults are started after Olive tells the nurse to quite saying her Hail Marys.  She really is just trying to help Henry because she knows how he was raised and how much she believes he dislikes to hear Hail Marys.  Instead of thanking Olive he tells her to shut up.  This infuriates Olive and the insults start to fly.  There are two main insults.

The first is when Olive says that their son, Christopher, left because he knew that Henry would not accept his Jewish wife.  Henry however blames Olive and says that Christopher left because Olive was too overbearing and took over his life.  This insult is hurtful to both of them because they both love Christopher and hated to see him leave.  Instead of thinking about logical reasons, they resort to blaming each other for their son leaving.

The other insult deals with Henry's mom.  Olive says that Henry isn't really to blame for his actions because of how he was raised by his mother.  She goes on to say that his mother basically thought she was perfect and could do no wrong.  No matter how strong a relationship is, talking about the other persons family is always a sensitive subject.  Henry gets really irritated when Olive mentions his mother.

The audience knows that Olive and Henry are an older couple, perhaps in their 60's, who have probably been married for a long time.  It is strange that they would resort to insulting each other like they do and especially in front of other people.  This might hint that their relationship isn't very strong or even that there are even more problems.

Olive is portrayed as a feisty women, but deep down she seems insecure and unstable.  It is strange that Henry defending the nurse would get her worked up as much as it did.  She must be upset about other areas of her life.  One area is probably Christopher.  When she is talking to a friend of her's about her daughter, Karen, she seems delighted to hear that Karen has been having an affair and that Karen's children dislike their grandmother (Olive's friend).  Olive takes pleasure in hearing this because she dreamed of having grandkids of her own.  She had already planned what she would do with them.  Now that Christopher is gone, her dreams are also gone.

Another big issue that creates problems between Olive and Henry is the fact that Olive seems to be attached to one of the gunmen.  The connection starts while they are still held hostage when Olive comments that she bought her son a ski mask very similar to the one that the gunman is wearing.  From that point on Olive sort of takes the young man under her wing.  She constantly dreams about the young man and what he is doing in prison.  She even wants to make him a smock to wear.  This issue might be the hardest for Henry to deal with.  He must think that she is crazy for wanting to keep in contact with someone who had almost taken their lives.

Chapters 10-13 of No Country for Old Men

This novel did not end like I suspected it would.  I thought that eventually Ed Tom Bell would catch up to Chigurh and possibly kill him.  That would make sense considering how these types of books tend to go, but that was not the case.  The final chapters basically talk about Bell's decision to retire and why he feels that way.

I think the primary motivation for Bell to retire was the fact that he could not uphold his duty to protect the citizens of his county.  Having the unsolved murders on his record was too much for him to handle.  Bell pretty much took the job to make up for leaving his men behind to die.  Not being able to solve the murders eats away at Bell to the point where he has no other choice.

Bell might also be worried about the increasing dangers associated with his job.  He mentions quite a few times throughout the novel that the job is getting more dangerous and that it isn't what it used to be.  He gives specific examples of how people have been killed on the job.  He doesn't think that he would be willing or capable to give his life for the job.  The fact that Chigurh can not be found and that he has killed so many people, including Carla Jean, who had no direct contact with the murders, probably scares Bell.  He might think that Chigurh might try to kill him one day.

I thought it was strange that there is not really a conclusion to Chigurh's character.  The audience is never told what happens to him.  I suppose it is somewhat fitting considering the man that Chigurh is.  He seems like the type of person who could just disappear.

Chapter 9 of No Country for Old Men

There isn't a whole lot that happens in this chapter plot wise, but the audience does learn more about Chigurh and Bell.  The three main events in this chapter are Chigurh killing Carla Jean, Ed Tom Bell's conversation with his uncle, and Chigurh getting into a car accident.

The first event that happens is Chigurh killing Carla Jean.  Somehow Chigurh tracks down where she is living and is waiting inside her bedroom when she comes back from her mother's funeral.  Carla Jean isn't really shocked to see him because she knew that it would always be a possibility from the moment Llewelyn took the money.  It seems as if Chigurh is set on killing her, but wants to torture her mentally.  Instead of getting right to the point, they have a long conversation about fate and promises.  Chigurh feels like it was meant for him to be there and that he promised to kill Carla Jean so he must do it.  I thought it was strange however that the coin flip is brought back into the novel.  Chigurh flips a coin and tells Carla Jean to call it.  She refuses, but eventually makes a call which is not the right one.  Apparently Chigurh takes this to mean that her death is justified and that he is just the one who has to do it.

While reading about the coin flip I wondered to myself what would have happened if Carla Jean had called it right?  Would Chigurh have let her live?  After thinking about it I came to the conclusion that he would have killed her either way.  It was stated earlier in the novel that nobody that knew what Chigurh looked like was still alive.  I believe he wanted to keep it that way.

This coin toss senario is different from the one at the gas station.  As we know the attendant at the gas station correctly called the coin and was spared.  Chirguh didn't go into the store with the intention of kill the man.  He just randomly happened to stop at that particular gas station and that man was the one working.  It could have easily been someone else.  This differs with Carla Jean's situation because Chigurh was trying to find her.  He wanted to find and kill her.  There was nothing random about him finding her.

The second event is the conversation between Moss and his uncle.  They talk about their family history, Moss' actions during the war, and about luck.  While talking about war, Moss reveals how he earned, or in his opinion did not earn, the bronze star.  Moss' squad was held up in house when a mortar round hit it and tore it apart.  Many of his fellow soldiers died.  Moss however was alive.  He knew that the enemies would come looking for survivors so he found a .30 caliber machine gun and killed some of the enemies who tried to approach.  As night fell Moss thought that the enemies would start throwing grenades and there was no way he could defend against that.  Moss decided to save his life and leave as fast as he could.

Moss explains this to his uncle who is supportive of Moss.  Llewelyn said that he always thinks about it. What I got from that story was that Moss because a sheriff in order to try and make up for leaving his men behind in battle.  Moss probably feels that if he can keep others safe then he will feel better about his previous actions.

One of the memorable quotes about luck comes from their conversation.  His uncle says "you never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from."  I thought that that statement was pretty true. People seem to complain about certain events in their lives, but really don't think about how much worse it could have been.

The last important event is the car accident Chigurh is involved in.  Chigurh is just driving along when out of nowhere a vehicle hits him.  A split second before the hit Chigurh notices the vehicle and is able to jump to the passenger seat.  Even this does not keep him from being injured.  He still suffers a badly broken arm and several lacerations.  Chigurh comments that he always keeps his seat belt off for moments like that.  This shows me that Chigurh is always planning ahead.  He seems to have an answer for every situation.

Chapters 7 and 8 of No Country for Old Men

In my opinion these chapters where the most shocking so far.  In these chapters Carla Jean calls Ed Tom Bell to let him know where Llewelyn will be.  This tips off the people who are looking for Moss because they have Bell's phone wire tapped.  Moss is mainly busy keeping a hitchhiker company throughout these chapters.  He just saw her on the side of the road and decided to pick her up.  The most shocking event that takes place is the death of Moss.

Carla Jean calling Bell to reveal her husband's location was shocking because in the previous chapters she had been strongly supportive of Moss and acted like she would never give him up.  I think she eventually gave in because she couldn't handle not knowing what was happening with Moss.  She might have thought that if she told Bell where Moss was then he could take him into custody.  Even thought Moss might have to go to prison for a little while at least he would be safe and alive and she would get to see him again.  This plan completely back fires and ends up being the cause of Moss' death.

The fact that Moss picked up a hitchhiker shows to me that he was trying to be helpful.  It reinforces the idea that Moss is more or less a normal person.  Moss might have also picked her up because he wanted someone to talk to.  He had been unable to communicate his feelings to anyone for quite a long time.  I think picking up the hitchhiker made Moss let his guard down a little bit.  He was drinking about talking with her on the outdoor steps at the motel.  He would definitely have not done that in previous chapters.

Moss' death came as a big surprise, at least this early in the novel.  It occurs with over forty pages left.  It was also surprising because it came from nowhere.  The hitchhiker and Moss were talking, then a pause there a paragraph about a Barracuda, another pause and then Police show up and it is revealed that Moss is dead.  There is no real explanation of what happened.  The author might have eliminated Moss this way so that the audience would have unanswered questions and keep reading.  At the same time however it might turn people away from the book in disgust because the "would be hero" is dead.

Rest of Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of No Country for Old Men

This chapter is definitely an important one for the plot of the novel.  Both Chigurh and Moss were shot in the last chapter.  In this chapter the two of them both get treatment, but in different ways.  Chigurh treats himself, while Moss relies on a hospital.  Even though Moss is undoubtedly worse off than Chigurh I think the ways they handle being hurt reflect how prepared they are.  Moss doesn't really know what he is getting into, while Chigurh acts like he's done it before.

The most important part of this chapter, at least in my eyes, is the introduction of Carson Wells.  Wells is a hired gun basically.  He is hired to find the money and bring it back to its' owner.  Carson tracks down Moss with relative ease.  He explains to Llewelyn exactly who Chigurh is and what Chigurh does to people he meets.

I think Wells is important for a few reasons.  The first is that he connects all of the characters.  He has ties with the mob or cartel, Chigurh, and now Moss.  He is the one person who seems to be in the middle of it all.

Carson is also similar to Chigurh and Moss.  Wells was in the military like Moss and Wells is a killer like Chigurh.  I personally think that Wells was the one person who could have killed Chigurh.  Wells knows Chigurh very well.  He understands that Chigurh does not let people live.  Wells shows how fearless he is during his final encounter with Chigurh.  He doesn't really back down and keeps the pressure on Chigurh.  All of it was for nothing though because he dies just a little while later at the hands of Chigurh.

Another feature that Wells shares with Chigurh is the fact that he believes in fate or predestination or something of the sort.  When Wells finds the bullet hole in the old lady's calendar he knows that it is significant, but I don't think he realizes why.  When he faces Chigurh he then understands that that date was to be the day that he was killed.

Chapters 4 and Part of 5 of No Country for Old Men

I thought these chapters were the most exciting yet.  The basic plot of these chapters is that Moss recovers the money that he hid in the air duct and discovers a transponder.  Moss now understands how he was being tracked so easily.  Llewelyn searches for the transponder and eventually finds it.  Instead of breaking it or discarding it, he chooses to leave it in the room with him.  I thought this was a strange decision.

Early the next morning Moss suddenly wakes up for no apparent reason.  He has a feeling that something is wrong though.  Moss hides under the bed with his shotgun and waits to see what is going to happen.  Chigurh appears in the door and enters the room.  Moss immediately considers shooting him, but holds off. Chigurh goes to investigate the bathroom, but does not go in.  Instead he turns around starts to leave the room.  That's when Moss comes out from under the bed and makes Chigurh surrender his weapon.  Moss eventually leads the two of them outside and starts to run away.  Chigurh takes aim at Moss and hits him a couple of times.  Llewelyn is only able to hit Chigurh in the leg.

The confrontation continues out into town where two other men start to shoot at Moss.  Somehow Moss escapes the gunfire with just a few wounds.  He comes to a bridge.  He throws the briefcase full of money down into some tall grass and continues across.  Moss struggles to survive, but eventually finds someone who will take him to a hospital.

I figured that Moss would eventually have to face somebody who wanted to either harm or kill him.  I guess it makes sense that Chigurh was that person.  The gun fight they take part in was thrilling, but I questioned Moss' actions.

When Chigurh first enters the hotel room I figured that Moss would just shoot him right there, but instead he holds off.  That did not make sense to me.  Moss must know that Chigurh is there to take the money and probably kill him.  Maybe Moss cannot make himself pull the trigger.  Chigurh would have had no clue where Moss was if Moss would have just destroyed the transponder.  One of Moss' previous statements was that he knew he would probably have to kill somebody.  Moss might have intentionally left the transponder in the same room so that he could fight the person on his own terms instead of having them track him down without him knowing about it.

Chigurh's accuracy is unlucky for Moss.  A few pages before their fight started Chigurh had taken aim at a bird, but had missed.  Moss was not as lucky.  He was shot several times, enough to make him feel like passing out.

It seems like Chigurh operates purely on fate.  He must think that he is supposed to be doing what he is doing and that the people had it coming for them anyway.  Moss is different though.  I think Moss is lucky and smart in someways.  You could argue that finding the money was lucky for Moss.  The fact that the intruders failed to shut the blinds all the way and that he wasn't killed by Chigurh is also lucky.  Moss could be considered smart because of actions such as making a sawed off shotgun, hiding the money in the air duct, and knowing not to give in to his temptation to lay down after being shot.  I think a lot of this can be attributed to his time in Vietnam.  He probably learned a lot of valuable skills that he is now putting to good use.