ENGLISH WRITING(1) - Reading Task #2

Reading Task #2
For our second reading task for the semester, please read the short stories attached to this assignment: Anton Chekhov's "The Lady with the Dog," Joyce Carol Oates' "The Lady with the Pet Dog," and Alberto Moravia's "The Chase." After you complete the readings, carry out the reading task for the assignment by answering the questions/prompts below:

1. Explain the differences between the two stories by Chekhov and Oates with regard to plot and point of view. How are the stories different with regard to the manner in which the stories are told and the perspective of the narrator?

2. How does the final decision of the narrator's in Moravia's story emerge logically from what he has revealed about himself previously? What do you think about this decision?

Minimum 300 words for the assignment (roughly 200 words for the first question and perhaps 100 for the second). Be sure to count and write down the number of words written for the assignment. The assignment is due at the beginning of class on Friday, March 24. As with all reading tasks, late submissions are not accepted. The reading tasks serve as proof that the reading has been completed PRIOR to the start of the class in which the readings will be discussed.

 

 

 

1. The lady with the Dog & The lady with the pet dog

 

Chekhov’s The lady with the dog“ was written in 3 rd person point of view, which puts a distance between the reader and the character, Dmitri Gurov. The distance created by this point of view drops the reliability of the narration significantly. So when the 3 rd person narrator explains the Dmitri’s love toward Anna to the reader, the reader could not trust all narration. The distance between the character and the reader creats reader’s doubt toward the character’s quotes and the narrator’s narrations. I think this effect is intended by the author to underscore the sincerity of love. The narrator said that Dmitri has been cheating his wife for quite along time. I think that the love between Dmitri and Anna would not last long and would be end up being just like his previously affair.

 

The ending of the story is vague. It is an open ending. I cannot say with100 percent certainty that Dmitri and Anna abandoned their families andeloped, but I think the author’s intention was to make readers think that they eloped and that they undergo adventures all around the worldpursuing true love. Also the author tried to make readers who think deepto think longer about the book by ending the book with a vague conclusion.

 

“The lady with the pet dog“ written by Oates also has a 3 rd person point of view. But the tone and mood of the narrating is quite different fromChekhov’s. This narrator knows everything about the character Anna. It is as if the narrator is standing right next to her-even inside her- andwatches her while he is talking. So the 3 rd person narrator knows what and how she thinks and the narration and depiction of the character is much reliable and believable than Chekhov’s. Also the narrator is not talking chronologically because the narrator follows the character’s streamof conscious which is the opposite to Chekhov’s. Another difference of the book from the book above is that the character feels much guilt for her deed. Since the society we live in tends to be much strict on women of adulterer, I think the author chose a female character to be narrated whofeels much guilt than Dmitri.

 

The ending of the Oates’ book is clear. Anna decided that it is right tofollow her instinct and heart and resolutely determined what she wouldlike to do. This resolution even make her lover uneasy and discomfortable. I think that if a person is certain about one’s determination and plan andthink that it is worth risking life to attain it, it is right choice to pursue it and take responible for one’s own choice.

 

Oates’ story is set in the US, but Chekhov’s story is happening in Russia, which is fare enough.

 

2. The Chase

 

In the beginning of the book, the narrator told a story of himself about his bird hunting experience when he was young. When he saw the dead bird after he had shot down the bird in the wild, he said his experience wasn’t that great. He definitely didn’t like the feeling of toughing dead bird.

 

After the narrator got married, he described his wife as ‘tamed’. Before she got married, she was ‘wild’ according to the narrator. I think the narrator described “being responsible and faithful to the partner andacting as a married person” as “tamed“. When a couple get married, the boundary forms and each partner loses certain amount of freedom. Theyhave responsibilities to do certain things and not do to certain things, which the narrator described it as ”tamed“. I think the purpose of the marriage is settling down and being tamed.

 

When the narrator was following his wife, he portraited the scene as bird-hunting. And I think the narrator views interrupting his wife in the middle of the affair scene is like killing a wild bird. Their marriage woulddie inside metaphorically. Since the narrator doesn’t like the experience he experiences when he was young. He didn’t want to repeat the feelingagain. And his wife’s wildness would be dead, and I think he doesn't want to deal with the dead carcass again.

 

I somehow understand his dicision but I wouldn’t act as he did. I think the trust and the sacred vow of marriage was already shattered intopieces and it seems that there is no way to recover the relationship againas before. So if I were him, I would just jump into the scene, and grabthe wife out of the place, calm her a little, talk to her and say good-bye to her. That way, each gains an opportunity to start their new life whichthey think is ideal.