Jumble Short story

Tonight is the night that everyone has been waiting for, a night that most people will remember until they are octogenarians.  Everything about this night was created for remembrance.  It was the perfect night.  Perfect, that is, until the incident.  The incident that would change the lives of many people. The incident that started with one fatal flaw.  This is my story.  My name is Toby.

Up until the incident, the night was fantastic.  I was having the best time of my entire high school career, which seems very hard to believe because I am very popular here at Oakland High. But tonight was the night of graduation, where everyone you use to love and be friendly with would soon be absent from your life forever. As the principle called each and every student’s name in my senior class, to extend them congratulations and luck, my best friend texted me saying that he wanted to go out with me after graduation.  Although post-graduation is usually family time, where your family floods you with congratulation, I agreed with my best friend that we should hangout after.  After throwing our caps in the air, and wishing those who I had spent the last umpteen years with good luck in their life, my friend James and me set out for a night of freedom and adventure.

Walking to my set of wheels, we screamed and shouted of freedom, as we no longer had to be confined to this hellhole of a school. I asked my friend where our destination lay and he replied, ‘where every the winds takes us’.

Strapping myself into my father’s car, I was quite worried that I was neither qualified nor legal to be driving non-members of my family. This indeed would be my first time driving with a friend, with me behind the wheel, because I had just (finally) gotten my license just days before.  My choice to drive was the fatal flaw that would change my life forever. Sitting there waiting for some sort of traffic jam in the high school lot to disperse, James blared the music until I couldn’t hear my own voice singing. After finally getting out of the parking lot, I headed to the town beach. With the music still blaring, utter blackness lay ahead of me, I was no longer aware of my surroundings or capable of taming them

Hangman reflection

Life in some perspectives has both controllable factors and uncontrollable factors. The controllable factors are how you live your life and how you view the world, while the uncontrollable factors are your chemical and biological makeup. This means that somethings in life can be changed and somethings can't and yet the many times people get judged on uncontrollable factors, which has a direct impact on the formation of a person’s identity. Society unfairly judges an individual by appearance and  other uncontrollable factors, and once a person learns to ignore these judgements and develop their own character is when one 'comes of age'.  This message of coming of age is effectively portrayed in the short story Hangman, by David Mitchell, through the use of literary techniques such as hyperbole, personification, and similes.

Throughout this short story the author uses hyperbole to illustrate how people often magnify their problems to be much greater than they actually are. For example, when Jason was discussing his stammer in school he proclaimed, “You can’t stammer in a classroom, either. My students’d crucify me” (Mitchell 35). This exemplifies that Jason is really scared to stammer in class for he is afraid of the judgement that will result from him speaking his mind, and although his stammer is uncontrollable he will still get the reprimanded for his stammer.  He uses the word ‘crucify’ as an over exaggeration of this judgement.  This exemplifies that if one magnifies their problems to make it a much bigger deal, it indicates that they are not ready to 'come of age' because it’s a childish phase to make small problems a big deal. This proves that in order to 'come of age' one has to ignore the haters and let them be their motivators, which will allow a person to develop into their true character.

The major conflict in the story is how the main character, Jason, must deal with the repercussions of his stammer, which he refers to as his 'Hangman'.  The author uses personification to illustrate the conflict. For example, when Jason is telling the readers about the stages of his stammer, he says, “February’s Hangman’s favorite month. Come summer he gets dozy and hibernates through to autumn” (Mitchell 29). This proves that Jason is treating this stammer of his as a living creature. By using words like hibernates and ‘he’ is giving a life to an inanimate object. Also this proves that he does not accept his stammer as a part of him, but instead sees it as an annoyance that he has to deal with it everyday. When one learns to accept these uncontrollable factors in their genetic makeup, that is when they will 'come of age'.

The message of 'coming of age' that they author is portraying in this piece is also depicted through his use of similes. For example, in the beginning of the novel Jason feels that “Most people think stammering and stuttering are the same but they’re as different as diarrhea and constipation.” (Mitchell 25). This shows how Jason compares the problem of his stammer to diarrhea, which is used to show how disgusted he is with his problem. Also, this shows how these two uncontrollable conditions are alike because they are both viewed as disgusting and hated in Jason’s mind.

"The Red Dress"- Coming of Age Reflection

Each persons coming of age journey is different, but at the same time very similar because ultimately we all go through the same transformation.  This journey isn’t always easy or short, most of the time it’s a very tedious and enlightening experience. This journey of coming of age forces us to assimilate to our environment to be who others want us to be, and a newer more mature version of the childish us. These messages pertaining to coming of age are prevalent in the short story “The Red Dress” by Alice Munro. In this short novel it tells the journey one girl goes through to come of age and to transition into adulthood. The author shows through the narrator’s journey that when we come of age we are forced society to change into this new and reformed version of ones self that meets more of the expectation of society.

As one grows older and their identity becomes more mature and society starts to influence a person more than they can control. From the beginning to end of this short novel it drastically shows what and how this no named girl saw herself. For example in the beginning she had “Worn these clothes with docility, even pleasure, in the days when I was unaware of the worlds opinion”(Munro 1). This exemplifies the main message of the short story because it shows how, she was once unaware of these expectations society had for her, and that ones environment sometimes forces person to change. This may happen for many reasons, that include wanting to assimilate to our environment, and get into the norms of society.  People come of age to get a better understand of who they are and how they see themselves. 

Coming of age may sometimes be interpreted as a period of time where one was engulfed in awkward and uncomfortable situations that are helping a person shape their identity and create their self-image. People come of age to get a better understand of who they are and how they see themselves. For example, at the end of the short novel, “ Was it possible, could I believe it, was there nothing the matter with me after all?” (Munro 11). This shows how even through her journey at the end she realizes that she was never doing anything wrong and that she has the power to do anything. This shows the message of the story because it shows that she is assimilating to her environment to feel more confortable and mature. This quote also gives the reader a sense of importance of self image, and how your life is lived is dependent on how your view yourself and the world. One has to comfortable with who they are, if that person is every going to love and accept others and this new maturity of acceptance forces a person to come of age.