The Norton Anthology Of Short Fiction

"The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction"

These stories are about people who struggle with life in their own different ways.

In the story "Where I'm Calling From" a man is what seems to be a rehab for alcoholics He meets a man named J.P. J. P. sits with the man and tells him about his life. How he met his wife, where he worked, how he started drinking and how things got out of control. They start to become very good friends. The man thinks about his wife and girlfriend. He tries to call them on occasion. They do not answer. One day J.P.'s wife comes to visit. The man sees how much they love each other and see how supportive J.P.'s wife is. This makes the man envious. He tries to call his wife she dos not answer. He starts to have the shakes.

The story "The Lady With the Pet Dog" is about a man named Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov. He is a man that thinks little of women. He calls them "the inferior race". He has a wife, a daughter and two sons. He is unfaithful to his wife. When he is in Yalta he meets a women named Anna Sergeyevna. Anna was married as well. He watched her for a couple of days. He finally got the chance to talk to her. They became lovers. Gurov would look at her and think that she was naÐ"Їve, stupid, and annoying at times. She had to leave and he was relived. After she left he felt a bit sad. He then returned to his home in Moscow. He knew that day by day he would forget about her, but that did not happen. Instead he thought more and more about her. He finally went to her home in Petersburg. He watched her house and went where he thought she would be. Finally he found her in the theatre. She was with her husband. She told him that she would see him in Moscow. She finally came to Moscow to see him. They would see each other often. They decided that they needed to decide what to do. They knew what they had to do. They couldn't live without each other. It was the end of some things but the beginning of others.

"The Fourth Alarm" is about a woman named Bertha. Bertha is a very strict and stern woman. Bertha is married and has children. One day she decides to go to New York to try out for a play called the Ozamanides II. In this play they have to be naked. She goes home after the auditions and tells her husband. He says that she'll never get it. Within ten minutes she receives a phone call telling her that she got a part in the play. She explains to him that she feels so free and excited. She says "Oh, how wonderful and rich and strange life can be when you stop playing out the roles that your parents and their friends wrote out for you. I feel like an explorer". He asks her what they will do. They decide to divorce. She moves to a hotel in NYC. He decides to go see her in the play. At the end of the show they ask the crowd to take of their clothes and join them. He thinks to himself why not. When he is undressed he is holding his key, watch, and wallet in his hand. They tell him to put it down. He decides to go back and get dressed. He then realizes that it is over.

"A Rose for Emily" is about a woman named Emily who had been controlled by her father all her life. Many suitors came to Emily's father. Emily's father denied many. When he passed away she refused to let anyone to come in to take the body. After three days she gave up. She seems to have issues with letting things go. She meets a man who is not of her status. They seem to get along well. They are very happy together, but all of a sudden he disappears. Emily is not seen much after that. When she dies people come to pay their respect. When they go upstairs into a room that has been locked, they find a body of a man. It looks like Emily kept him there and when he died she couldn't let go.

"In the Cemetery Where Al Johnson is buried" a girl talks about her friend who is sick. She talks about how she is afraid of heights and her friend is not. Towards the end of the story her friend seems to get worse. The girl and her friend are lying in the hospital bed. They fall asleep. When the girl is asleep she dreams that her friend is an interior designer. Her friend designs her room for her. When the girl looks at it, it is very dark and scary. When the girl wakes up she tells her friend that she needs to go home. Her friend gets upset and tries to get up from her bed. She has trouble breathing. Alarms start to go off and the doctor is called. Her friend dies. I think after the dream the girl realized that her friend was going to die soon and couldn't bear to witness it.

In "The Lottery" a town gets together and picks slips out of a black box. Everyone seems to be very anxious and scared. People start to pick theirs slips one by one. When everyone is done they look at their slips. Mr. Hutchinson one of the towns people pauses. Everyone can see that he has a black spot on his paper. He and his family then line up and pick 5 more papers. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson sigh in relief. The two little boys laugh when they open theirs. There little girl opens her paper and looks very upset. The town starts to gather. They start to pick up rocks and start to chase the little girl. A rock hits her in the head. She screams "It is not fair, it is not fair".

"The Use of Force" involves a little girl who is very ill. Her mother and father call a doctor to come see her. When the doctor arrives he wants to see if she has a soar throat. He admires he beauty. He says that he has seen many children die from Diphtheria and he did not want it to happen again. He asks the girl if she can open her mouth and she claws his glasses off. He then decides to use force. The little girls father holds her while the doctor tries to open her mouth. He inserts a wooden tongue depressor and the child bites down breaking the depressor and cutting her tongue. He asks for a silver spoon and does it again. He looks down her throat. He says that she has been hiding her soar throat for three days. When he is done she tries to attack him. She feels defeated and vulnerable.

In the story "The Notorious Jumping