Lessons From Short Stories
Something of Value Can Be Learned From Reading Short Stories
There can be much learned from reading short stories. This will be demonstrated in this work, which review three short stories including Michael Winter's work entitled "Archibald the Arctic," John Cheever's work entitled "Reunion" and Raymond Carver's work entitled "Cathedral."
John Cheever: "Reunion"
The work of John Cheever entitled "Reunion" is a short story in which the main character Charlie thinks about what is his last meeting with his alcoholic father when he was a boy. Charlie had dreamed of a reconnection with his father since he had not seen the man in over three years however, Charlie soon realizes that due to his father's problems including alcohol abuse that this will not be the case. During the meeting with his father, his father ordered two 'Gibson Beefeater' drinks and apparently consumes both of them as his behavior and speech worsens during the meeting. What is learned from this short story is firstly, that family members are not someone that the individual chooses and this is evidenced in the statement of Charlie who says: "He was a stranger to me [...] but as soon as I saw him I felt that he was my father, my flesh and blood, my future and my doom" (183). Charlie goes on to state "…that was the last time I saw my father" (185)
The second thing learned from this short story is that intelligent people are sometimes the worst people to deal with and this is evidenced in the fact that Charlie's father has a secretary to which he speaks the languages of French, German and Italian" indicating that the father of Charlie, although being an alcoholic, is obviously a man of great intelligence and learning. The third lesson learned from reading this short story is the sorrows of the abuse of alcohol. Charlie's father is obviously a terrible alcoholic and is unable to interact with his son in a normal...
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