Page 2 of 2

Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:28 pm
by taiya
I found the everything converges story pretty bleak as well and couldn't figure out how it was related to the blog. I suppose the blog is mostly about Lyn's relationship with her mother and about being stuck somewhere she doesn't want to be and with no one really caring about helping her reach her potential.

I've never read the Yellow Wallpaper story but I remember seeing it on TV in a playhouse theatre thing or something. Again, it's about a woman being denied everything she needs for personal growth and eventually emotional survival.

The McSweeny thing certainly looks like more fun.

Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 5:29 pm
by JoannaChildsface
I did a literary analysis research paper on The Yellow Wallpaper in HS!
Its a really good s.s., but not as unsettling as A Rose for Emily. Anybody read that one? Its super creepy.
Anyway, its about this lady, an invalid, that stays in a country house to try and get better as per her doctor/husband's orders. She lived in an old nursery on the top floor with obnoxious yellow wallpaper. Through the weeks she becomes fixated and eventually obsessed with the wallpaper. It sort of drives her insane by the end. It's been interperated as a metaphoric story of one woman's journey to empowerment (she eventually rejects her husband's "treatments" and peels the wallpaper away, which symbolises freeing herself from that which traps her), or a first person narrative of her journey over the edge (the tone and repitition of the story is specifically designed to make the reader anxious and even drive them a little crazy). Most people believe that the other characters in the story (husband, baby, brother, etc) are figments of her imagination, and that she is in an asylum. This is supported by the fact that she has a regular caretaker, she is never allowed out of her room, and that her bed is nailed to the floor.

Don't know if that helps, but I thought i'd throw it out there.
->J

Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 5:31 pm
by JoannaChildsface
For anybody that's interested, here's the "convergences" url:
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/books/everyth ... est25.html
Enjoy!
->J

Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 9:31 pm
by taiya
Well that's a lot more entertaining than the short story. Do you think Ms. Kelly knows about this site? Perhaps she gets images from it...