Theories of the Indian Camp

I chose to write on Hemingway's "Indian Camp." I felt closer to this story than I did Joyce's story "Araby." There were many ideas that you can take from the story "Indian Camp." I had to read the story twice in order to get a feel for all the characters, especially, Uncle George. I did not really thing about who he was or his purpose in the story until we had group discussion.

Nick and his fathers place in the story were in some ways easy to understand. I personally feel that Nick's father, the physician, took Nick to the birth of the child for a learning experience. The father may have wanted Nick to follow in his footsteps. There could be many reasons that Nick's father wanted to take him along. "Indian Camp" does not really give the reader a good since of when the story took place. It is even possible that in a Native American culture that a child experiencing such things was a way of life for the Indians.

I felt more for the woman than I did any of the other characters. I am pregnant right now, so her position in the story touched me. It is true, Nick had to see the difficult birth of the child then see that the poor father had killed himself. That would be hard for anyone to bare. Imagining that I was in the position of the woman giving birth seems much harder to me. Being in labor for two days is enough to make me cringe. It does not say much about the child's father; only that he had cut his foot and was lying on the top bunk smoking his pipe. He did not have anything to do with the birth or help in any way. That and the fact that the child's father slit his own throat made me believe that he could not bare the intensity of the whole situation. It is possible that Uncle George's character could come in around the death of the father.

Uncle George's purpose in the story was not easy to understand like Nick, Nicks' father or the woman giving birth. I found there could have been many reasons for Nick's father to bring Nick to the birth; I also find many ideas for Uncle George's role in the story. Uncle George could have come along with Nick's father to assist him anyway that he was needed. Like I find with Nick, Uncle George could have come a long for the experience. Now if you really wanted to contemplate about Uncle George's character you maybe able to place him with having something to do with the child being born. The fact that he gave cigars to the young Indians could be a sign of celebration of the birth. It may have been a good gesture for helping pull the boat up on the beach. When it comes to the said father of the child killing himself, it could have been because he thought Uncle George was the real father. I personally do not find that to be the best conclusion to the suicide. In the end, Uncle George disappeared and Nick's father said that it's something that he has done before. I do not know why he disappeared but Nick's father saying, "It's something he's done before" leads me to believe that Uncle George was just there to assist in some way.

I enjoyed reading the short story and coming up with different theories of how and why the things happened the way they did. Stories that are easy to conceive are more enjoyable to sit and think about the many different reasons for the things that happened. Writing this blog and thinking about the story as much as I did has made me see that I should think just as hard about other story's such as Joyce's "Araby."

Life Lessons of Charles Wales

People have to learn hard lessons in life. Charles Wales is one of these people. In reading his story, I found that there were many lessons that can be learned from his mistakes. A major lesson that can be learned from Charles' situation is to think about the consequences of your actions. It is evident that Charles did not do that. As he began to get his life together he felt bad for the things he had done. In the end, he wanted to correct them. It is sad to say you cannot always fix the broken.

It is very hard to fix a bad reputation. Charles faced this problem. His past behavior got him nowhere. He lost his wife. His daughter had to go live with Lincoln and Marion, his wife's sister and her husband. It was a good decision on his behalf to go to Paris to try to show Lincoln, Marion and his daughter he had changed. I could tell by Marion's tone Charles had a lot to prove in able to get his daughter back. I think it is perfectly understandable. After all, Marion felt like it was Charles' fault her sister died. There was a part in the story where Charles spoke of Helen dying of heart trouble. Marion responded almost sarcastically, "Yes, heart trouble." It made me feel Charles hurt Helen very deeply. Possibly because of the things he did, such as, his drinking and not being a good father to their daughter. With that, Marion had every right to be upset with Charles. When Marion had decided to let Honoria, their daughter, go back with Charles, some old friends of his showed up. Immediately, Marion remembered all the terrible things about Charles. Her reaction to seeing Duncan and Lorriane, Charles' friends, is a prime example of a ruined reputation. Even though Charles had changed his life nothing could change the way Marion felt about him.

The story did not end in Charles' favor. He didn't get his daughter back, or a second chance at showing Marion he had changed. Everyone makes mistakes. The story leads me to believe that Charles will have to deal with his for the rest of his life. Charles' daughter, Honoria, really wanted to live with him. That must break his heart even more. Something good I interpreted at the end of the story was even though he did not get a second chance, Charles still wanted to continue to do right. He did not want more than his one drink a day and he still sent Honoria some toys. A good lesson learned is no matter how bad a situation gets, continue toward the positive.

A Walk With Lona

My name is Lona Michelle McGee and I am twenty-four years old. I recently married a wonderful man and now I am expecting a beautiful baby boy. My husband and I just purchased some property in Crawford County and are now in the process of building a log home. It seems like my life is moving so quickly, but I feel it's all in the right direction. We have a chocolate lab named Molly and we treat her just like she's our child. At times, she can be more than a hand full. Sometimes, I wonder how I'm going to balance taking care of Molly and a newborn. I'm pretty sure that when my son does come, my motherly instincts will kick in and I will be fine. I'm starting to get very anxious about giving birth. I cannot help thinking about it as much as I do. This will be my first child and it's very exciting.

There are so many things that a person can write about his or herself. Many people have hobbies, which I don't particularly have. I do love to play softball and basketball but cannot at the present time. I hope to be able to get on some sort of softball team after I get the hang of being a mother. There are many things that I love. I have a little brother that's five years old. He is the only sibling I have, so I truly adore him. He doesn't live in Macon so I don't see him as much as I would like. We talk on the phone all the time, though. I love all kinds of music. My favorite music is some good old southern rock. The Allman Brothers are my favorite band. That's not because they came from Macon, but I do think it's pretty cool. Right now in my life I am just trying to concentrate on my pregnancy and achieving my goals for school.

This is my third semester at Macon State. I found out that I was pregnant in my first semester. I am very proud of myself considering that I have not given up at getting my education. It does make me sad to have to sit at home and do online courses. I love to interact with the teachers and other classmates. As Dr. Lucas said in the class today, many people need to have the in class courses to understand the material. I have lots of motivation and I'm prepared to work very hard at passing this online course. This is my first time taking any kind of online class, so I hope I do well. Last semester I took the English 1101 class and I actually did very good. There were many things about the class I did not like and many things I did like. I really enjoy writing about things that are familiar to me, but who doesn't. I also like a good challenge when it comes to writing. I feel I will find a challenge in write the blogs for this course. I look forward to writing many more blogs and continuing to learn more about the wonderful world of English.