Trifles

I found this story pretty droll and boring. I had to reread a few times to totally understand what had happened at the end of the story. Apparently, the women had been abused and that had pushed her over the edge and led to her killing her husband. The story was , somewhat, dramatic but was not quite exciting enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. The characters seemed very calm and one dimensional throughout the story. All in all, I found it to be very mediocre.

In The Lake of The Woods

This story for me seemed complicated. A boy has an abusive father who eventually kills himself and the boy slowly becomes a man. He falls in love in college and soon finds out that his girl was cheating on him. Eventually, he gets drafted and heads to Vietnam. Where he see's horrific images of violence and death that severely plague him. Upon his return to the United States he is labeled a war hero. Once he is settled back in the states he runs for the Senate and loses. Feeling depressed and alienated he moves out into the woods to a small cabin near a lake. Shortly thereafter, his wife goes missing and many suspect that it was him. He flees the area and the story ends very unfinished.

Symbolism

A hunger Artist was a good story that I found very enjoyable. It was about a man who fasted for absurdly long periods of time. He fasted for forty days and then when it was done he desired more attention and joined a circus where he fasted until his death and his cage was then replaced by a Tiger. The Symbolism in the story that I noticed was the main character was meant to depict the everyday artist. The everyday misunderstood artist that seeks the approval of others while not wanting to be forgotten after they have achieved something. The main character showed the loneliness of artists and the quest for meaning and accomplishment.

The second story by Hawthorne was similar to the other works of his that I have read. It was about a man who was tempted by the devil to the woods and was intent on joining some type of unholy alliance. On his way out to the woods he has some second thoughts, upon his arrival he see that he is among several of members of his town inclduing his own wife. As he and his wife prepeare to be intiated he yells out to the heavens and everyone disppears and for the remainder of his life he is unsure if the events actually happened. He never is able to trust again. The man's trip in the woods with the devil is a symbol for the search and discovery of evil and all of the towns people being there already is a symbol for the inner thoughts and inner nature of the everyday curious human being. The sinful nature of all is shown in this story.

Irony

In Poe's piece the only Irony that I noticed was the lack of motive for killing Fortunado. It mentions that he is very upset and intends on humiliating him but never mentions why and what this revenge is for. Another part that I found a tad bit ironic was the fact that nearly 50 years later the main character is not the slightest bit regretful for what he has done and will most likely never get caught or charged with any wrongdoing.

The Jewlry had far more irony in it then did the first tale. The main irony in the story was how when he was happiest in his life his wife was unfaithful and some sort of a prostitute. The days he considers to the happiest days were those when he has little money but instead had the love of a beautiful whorish women. Upon her death he changes completely he is more focused on selling her precious jewels in order to become rich and he remarries another women very quickly. Although this women is most likely a much more honest women, he has never been miserable in his entire life as he is when the story ends.