The Overcoat

The overcoat is about how a man feel more accepted when he is wearing his new coat. At the beginning of the story he was very shy, he did not talk to anyone at work. He did not really have friends. He likes being alone at first. He did not feel the need to be socialize when people. He lived in a very poor neighborhood. After he brought his new coat, people begin to talk to him and he was accepted. He fit in with people. He did not buy new shoes that he needs to save the money to buy this expensive new coat. He went to the city where there are a lot of lights and a lot of stores open during night. When someone stole his coat he told the police but they didn’t believe him because he was so poor looking. In the end of the story he was very sick and he die. 

Things fall apart

As a story about a culture on the verge of change, Things Fall Apart deals with how the prospect and reality of change affect various characters. The tension about whether change should be privileged over tradition often involves questions of personal status. Okonkwo, for example, resists the new political and religious orders because he feels that they are not manly and that he himself will not be manly if he consents to join or even tolerate them. To some extent, Okonkwo’s resistance of cultural change is also due to his fear of losing societal status. His sense of self-worth is dependent upon the traditional standards by which society judges him. This system of evaluating the self inspires many of the clan’s outcasts to embrace Christianity. Long scorned, these outcasts find in the Christian value system a refuge from the Igbo cultural values that place them below everyone else. In their new community, these converts enjoy a more elevated status.

Motorcycle Diaries

Motorcycle Diaries is mainly about two guys Ernesto and Alberto travel with their motorcycle around South America. As they travel, Ernesto changed his view about his future and about politics. At first they were only gonna travel for 5 months but they ended up travel for a few years. throughout the story Ernesto changed as he came across people who are lower class then him. When they came across the two couple, who travel to find jobs to feed their family Ernesto gave them $15 that his girlfriend gave him. He is also a very honest human being. One of his famous quote was "you gotta fight for every breath and tell the death to go to hell.."

The Kite Runner

I was really surprise when Amir did not help Hassan when the other boys were beating him and raped him. Afterwards, for some time Hassan and Amir keep a distance from each other. Amir reacts indifferently because he feels ashamed, and is frustrated by Hassan's saint-like behavior. Already jealous of Baba's love for Hassan, he worries if Baba knew how bravely Hassan defended Amir's kite, and how cowardly Amir acted, that Baba's love for Hassan would grow even more. I was very surprise when i found out that Amir and Hassan were half brothers. i really like how the story end, Amir taking care of Hassan's son. Amir said the same that Hassan used to say when they were young to Hassan's son. 

The namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

In the namesake i think Ashima and Gogol are the main characters of the story. while Ashima is tryng to learn how to adapt the american ways of living, Gogol is trying to find his own identity. Gogol struggled with his name throughout the story. Before his father death, he did not really like being around his parents. When he moved to New York, he started dating Maxine and become part of her family. He is more comfortable being around Maxine and her family then his own family. But when his father die, he became more closer to his family but i think he is feeling guilty about how he was not around his family. He married to Moushumi who is a Bengali like him. I think that they got married because they are both Bengali not because they love each other. Their marriage did not work out in the end. At the end of the novel, Ashima sold the family house and went back to India. Gogol pick the book that his father gave him on his graduation and started reading it.

The dead by James Joyce

The dead is story about how Gabriel and his wife Gretta went to dinner party set up by his two aunts. Even though there were a lot of things happen in this story, the part that I like the most is where Gabriel realized he did not really know much about his wife past live. In the dinner party, Mr. Bartell D’Arcy played a songs and Gretta became so lifeless. When they got home Gabriel asked Gretta what was wrong. She told him about how the song reminded her about her first love Michael. When she was young she was in love a boy named Michael and he had die because of her. Even though he takes the new very hard he still have love for his wife. I like this story because even though Gabriel and Gretta lived together for so long he did not know anything about his wife. 

Ichiyo' Child's play

Child’s Play is a story about young kids who lived in the small town in Japan. Midori is one of the characters. She is the sister of Omaki who was a well know prostitute. The whole town believe that Midori will follow her sister footstep since she was very pretty and know how to entertain people. Midori has some sort of feeling toward one of the characters named Nobu, who was believe to be a future priest. But Nobu was very mean toward Madori because the town people joke about him and Midori. Chokichi who was the fire chief’s son, the leader of back-side gangs. He convinced Nobu to join the back-side gangs. He also beat up Sangoro, Shoto friend. Shoto lived with his grandmother. He was very wealthy. He would collect debt around the town. He was also main gang’s leader and Midori friend. I really like this story because the kids grow up to be what their family was. Toward the end of the story, the kids begin to become adult and they each have their own little things to do and begin to grow apart. 

Kafka's "The Metamorphosis"

One of the story themes is who has the power. Gregor when he was human, he provided his family with food to eat and a place to stay. His family lived a very comfortable life with maids and helpers. Once Gregor became unable to support his family like he did before, his family is slowly become like Gregor was not one of their family member. They locked him up and throw him foods on the floor. His father threw an apple at his back and no one dare to heal his wound. His parents were so dependent on their children but now that Gregor is not working, they have to find a job to support their family. His younger sister slowly becomes a person who has the power in their household. Toward the end of the story, his sister suggested to kill Gregor since he was a beetle and that he was going to die soon. They believe that Gregor might not be their son or brother and that they have been letting the animal live in their house. In my opinion, Gregor and his sister switched position in their household. At first, Gregor was the one who provide the family and have power in the family. Ever since he became the beetle his sister begin to take his role in the family.

Ladies and Gentlemen: to the gas Chamber by Tadeusz Borowski

This story is about unnamed narrator who member of the so-called Canada squad, members of the Kommando labor gang whose job is to unload the Jewish prisoners from the cattle cars and send them either to the work camp or to the gas chambers. They worked at the train station along with SS soldiers. When the train stops, they have to unload prisoners and sent them to work camp or to the gas chambers to die. Each train have a lot of people on it, these people were gasping for air and water. When prisoners ask where they were going he could not answers them. He has to clean the cars fill with dead babies and take every valuable things that the prisoners have. Sometimes he did not want to go to the train station. He wonder what he is doing is right but he has to do it in order to survive. He has a friend who named is Henri who seem to think what he is doing right.