Reese B – Story Power

Author: Reese B

Once a Stranger

On May 21, 2025

In Albert Camus, Existentialism, George Saunders, King Lear

I died today.

Well I guess that’s not really true. At the very least, it’s quite misleading. See life, death, it’s all just a matter of perspective. It just depends where you’re looking from, and what the view is. From here, the view looks pretty damn amazing. I can see the flash of lightning, hear the crack of thunder, feel the air rushing past me, the rain against my face. Now this, this is the sensation that makes you forget where you are, what is happening, and crucially: who you were four hours ago. And that’s a good thing, because I really need to forget four hours ago. For the sake of the here and now, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what happened then. You know, because of the whole forgot who you were thing that I just said. But for the sake of the story, there’s so much you have to learn.

See, the night before had ended in a way that I’m not quite proud of. I’m not entirely sure if I’ve had a night I’m proud of in the last couple of years. But this one was especially poor. After what felt like the longest of days and the most unfortunate of nights. I found myself with little to protect me from the rain but an overpass. And not a particularly well built one either. But it was the one I had chosen to find a bit of comfort from the cold and damp world and it was where I chose to pretend to sleep. I say that I was pretending to sleep because that allows me to believe that where I was was in my control and what I was doing was in my control. In actuality, I was trying to sleep, but I couldn’t. I’m gonna make a wild guess and say that it was probably the bridge, it can’t be my fault. I was up and walking at 4. Pretending gets harder when the thunder starts to mumble.

But the rain hadn’t begun to hit just yet and I didn’t care that it was obvious it was about to. That and the fact that bridges aren’t as waterproof as once thought. Anyways, I walked along the road. I think at this point it was LeSalle Boulevard, or was it Wayne? I was looking for a place to eat some breakfast. I had this craving for some eggs. Like the eggs that I had had when I was 10, back on the farm. I’ve still never had eggs that taste like that. It was about 5 by the time that I was able to find some semblance of civilization. Then it took me another 15 minutes to find the church. I figure a church has to have some food for the weak and weary even though I had never stepped foot into a church before.

There was only one man in there. It seemed to me like he was whispering the sermon he would give later that night, which would make him the preacher. So I started a conversation with him. I asked him his name, “Lear,” he said. He looked to be on the older side, “91” was the answer when I asked him his age. And we began to talk. After about 15 minutes of talking, he offered me the breakfast that I had been looking for since I had woken up. But I didn’t want it anymore. In our conversation, I learned that he had cancer. The doctors had said that he had only a few months left to live. Now I had to learn how this man had come to terms with his life ending. I mean how can someone learn that they’re just going to stop living, allow everything to fade to black, and just stop being? Well that happens to everyone, but how could someone be okay with it?

I talked to the preacher for 2 more hours about his life. He told me about his daughters, his career, and his hobbies. I felt like this man’s life was flashing right in front of me. I learned about his love for fishing. He told me about all his great fishing stories- the bass, the marlin, the time that he spent a month straight on the boat. He had done everything he wanted and he disregarded the thoughts of society-something that I had not done yet, something I needed to do. I realized at that moment that I had somewhere to be. I thanked the preacher for the conversation and I told him that I had my own “fishing” stories to make, and I left.

I walked for 40 minutes to find the plane. It was now pouring rain, the storm had become volatile. I had never flown it before, but I knew it was there and I knew there was something I had to do. I walked into the cockpit to find the plane running, which was quite convenient. It occurred to me that I had never flown a plane, but it was time for me to make a choice that I would remember. Somehow, I was able to start the plane, but the rain in front of me was blinding while I was on the ground, so I began to move forward. I just drove to speed up as much as I could, I just continued to speed up. And suddenly, I found myself in the air. The sound of the engine was deafening, the only thing that broke it up was the thunder above-the thunder that I was heading towards the source of.

The plane continued to climb and the rain was no longer blocking my view. I looked down to see the beauty below. This was the life that I was looking for, the life that would allow me to die peacefully. See now, for those of you keeping track at home, it was 4 hours after the start of my day. This was the sensation and the feeling that allowed everything to fade away. But in a flash of light and one last mumble of thunder, the plane was split in two. It was a crash louder than I had ever heard and it was the brightest light that I had ever experienced in my life. I found it quite ironic that the brightest light was followed by such great darkness. This darkness was one that I could not see past. I found myself in the moment that I had dreaded and avoided my entire life. I spent my life incredibly scared of this, but here I was now, with no worries or doubts about my future. I was finally fulfilled.

In my mind I could see myself falling to my demise, but the darkness that filled my eyes remained. But this was my chance to finally open my eyes. And for one last second I was able to open my eyes and feel the ground approaching faster than I could possibly fathom.

Where are the mothers in King Lear?

By Reese B

On February 2, 2025

In King Lear

I’ve spent a lot of time on King Lear thinking about the similarities between the two main families. The comparison is relatively easy. Gloucester and Lear are quite similar as fathers, Edgar and Cordelia are some of the only characters that can be categorized as good, and then Edmund and Goneril/Regan share many similarities. One more similarity in these families is that neither of them has a mother. In doing a quick Google search, I found that Shakespeare did not have a lot of mothers in his plays. This was probably because women were played by younger boys, creating some pretty obvious issues for playing a mother. But still I think it is important to talk about when trying to dissect the characters.

As far as I can tell, the only mention of a mother in the play is in the very first act when Gloucester is making fun of Edmund’s mom. This hardly counts as talk of a real mother figure in Edmund’s childhood. That could explain some of his less desirable character traits. But there is also no mention of Edgar having a mother, and he is clearly a more positive character in the play. So what makes them different? What makes Cordelia, Regan, and Goneril different? I think it’s pretty clear that Edgar and Cordelia were the favorites of their fathers. What is interesting to me about this being the conclusion is that we see all of the negative traits of Lear early in the play and that conclusion would be predicated on the idea that that Lear was a good father. I, personally, find that hard to believe.

The conclusion that I can draw is that there have to be some sort of mother figures behind the characters that are not mentioned in the play. I think it is the only plausible explanation for why characters like Edgar and Cordelia are good people while the fathering of Gloucester and Lear can only be assumed as bad. Even still, I wonder how the play would be different if there were mothers in it. Could Lear act differently early in the play if he had someone that could call him out for his outrageous acts? Would characters like Edmund, Goneril, and Regan end up developing into better people if they had more significant maternal figures? Overall, I think the absence of mothers reflects many of the other topics of the play, like family dynamics and power.

What Makes “One for the Road” Poetry

By Reese B

On December 7, 2024

In Music, Music Poetry

“One for the Road” is a song by Arctic Monkeys and it is a part of their 2013 album “AM”. The use of the phrase “one for the road” as both the first lines of the song and the title of the song and the use of symbolism within it is what drew me to the song and made me think about the devices that are used in the song. Altogether the poetic devices stress the complicated feeling that the speaker has about this person and the emotional complexity and paradoxical nature of understanding when something has to end while wanting it to move on. This experience is marred by the feeling of longing, resignation, and helplessness.

The speaker is a person that is forced with handling an impending breakup which causes them to reflect on their past while hoping for one last moment with this person. The beginning of the second stanza of the poem introduces the situation. It is creatively introduced with the line, “From the bottom of your heart, the relegation zone” The reference to a relegation zone is a metaphor. A relegation zone is typically used in soccer and it is a term for a team in the bottom of a sport league that is in danger of being demoted to a lower league. The relegation zone represents the point in the speaker’s relationship because they are facing the demise of their relationship and they are in the last moments before they will be “relegated”, or in this case they will break up. From this it becomes clear that the speaker is able to clearly recognize that this will be the last interaction they have with this person. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of the first part of the line, “from the bottom of your heart”, which is emotional and heartfelt while the second part of the line is competitive and a reference to sports. The reference to competition emphasizes the struggle of the speaker in this moment. This line and these devices emphasizes the experience and the feeling that the speaker is going through of this break up.

The feeling of the song does not change much throughout. There is no revelation in the last few lines. Two lines later in the song that helps to emphasize this are, “Some out of tune guitar-Soundtrack to disaster”. The use of this metaphor to explain their relations explains that even after their last hurrah the speaker still feels the same way as in the beginning of the song where they felt a certain level of understanding within the poem. The lines portray something that is off or not quite right while attempting to come close and this is the same way in which the speaker feels. This helps to understand the speakers perspective and experience in this because these lines underscore this imminent collapse around them. This is where the speaker can be seen as feeling helpless because they understand that something is wrong in the moment but the past keeps them around for a minute and they know that they’ll still have this longing for the past no matter what happens.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the title of the song and the lines repeated in the chorus of the song are a metaphor for the feeling that the song is portraying. The line “one for the road” appears 9 times and it can be heard in the background throughout the rest of the song. Typically, one for the road is a saying referencing having one more drink before leaving. This line takes on a whole new meaning in the song because it is portraying something much bigger than a drink before departing. The departure is not temporary as in the saying, but it is forever. The drink is a symbol for the last time that these people will ever be with each other and though there is something wrong with what is going on, they still have a past together that is obviously hard to forget. The metaphor encapsulates this idea that even though their past was good, the future is imminent and these people have to understand that and prepare themselves for it.

The song does not feature many lines and it repeats itself often. It also does not have any change in emotion or feeling. The speaker feels the same way throughout the song, but the complexity lies not in changing the feeling of the speaker, but in the fact that the speaker is fighting the way they feel in this singular instance by offering this proposition. The feelings that relate with the situation the speaker is in are not ones that anyone wants to feel but they are necessary to fix what is wrong.

Importance of 124

By Reese B

On November 23, 2024

In Beloved

I think that one of the more underrated aspects of Beloved by Toni Morrison is the use of setting. I find it very interesting that the setting doesn’t change much at all in the story. Outside of a few exceptions, we are either in a flashback in Sweet Home or at 124 and its surroundings. I want to focus just on 124 because, not only does it represent far more than just a house, it also changes drastically throughout the story.

At the beginning of the story, 124 is haunted by the ghost of Beloved. The house is even described as “spiteful”. It reflects the tension and the unresolved/avoided nature of Sethe’s past trauma and grief. She avoids those like she avoids confronting what is truly going on with the house, as she just accepts it. The haunting has a profound effect on both Denver and Sethe’s life, as it isolates them from the rest of the world. With the fact that the haunting represents the tension of Sethe’s past, it is clear that the haunting of the house that isolates them isn’t actually the house but Sethe’s life before the house. In this way, her house and her past are controlling her life in the present and her not facing it is not allowing her to move forward.

When Paul D arrives, the house shifts. Paul D literally beats away the ghost of Beloved from the house. But in a more figurative sense he forces Sethe to confront her life before 124 because of Paul D’s presence and the fact that they knew each other in Sweet Home and he reminds her of her past. Beloved then comes to the house physically and at this point everyone in the house has to face their past and the house becomes a place of judgment. At this point, the house becomes physically more crowded because of Beloved’s presence. As it is becoming physically more crowded it is also becoming more crowded emotionally and the house as a whole seems more conflicted.

At the very end of the story, 124 becomes a place where Sethe and Paul D can heal from their past and from Beloved’s physical presence. The house becomes quieter after Beloved is “exorcized” from it. Not only because of that but also because Denver leaves to start working more. Denver is the first person from the house to really break the isolation that they had previously been provided from the isolation. The transformation of 124 from crowded to quiet shows how people can move on and heal. The house also is no longer the boundary for Denver and Sethe’s life and it is not their identity. Though they don’t leave the house behind, they leave what the house represents behind.

Time in Exit West

By Reese B

On October 27, 2024

In Exit West

I know that many people have taken issue with the way that Mohsin Hamid ends each section in Exit West. I understand this completely and I somewhat agree. It is asking too much of the story to have something profound come from every two page block, and that seems to be what Hamid is trying to do with how he finishes each section. Sometimes it works and sometimes it just seems out of place and unnecessary and somewhat trite. But one time in particular that I think it worked incredibly well is on page 11. The final line of that section foreshadows what is to come in the story. Talking about the house that Saeed’s family lives in, saying, “War would soon erode the facade of their building as though it had accelerated time itself, a day’s toll outpacing that of a decade.”

I wasn’t quite sure why this line stuck with me through all of the lines and long sentences, but for some reason it just stuck with me. I think that time is something that comes up in the book a lot, especially in the early going. But I don’t think that topic of time seemed to stay with the story as much as I expected it to early on. Instead, I think it morphed into this idea of life. The process of going through a door is like a rebirth of sorts. And for all intents and purposes it is a rebirth. Saeed and Nadia and presumably millions of others are able to put the life that they previously had away. This is their new life, no strings attached. That theme of life is carried further when it is stated that we murder those we leave behind when migrating.

The idea of a complete and utter renaissance when going through the door is all too simple. In truth, Saeed, Nadia, and others don’t experience as much of rebirth as a rebranding. They are still migrants and their identity is tied to this for their lives. This got me thinking about absolutes. How part of the past can absolutely define a person. Usually we define people absolutely by their past mistakes. This happens all the time in the criminal justice system. Someone that kills is defined as a murderer for their whole life, probably rightfully so. Someone that steals, a thief. Someone that deals drugs, a drug dealer. It doesn’t seem right that someone that migrates could be deemed an immigrant in that same absolute vain.

The point I’m getting at is that Saeed and Nadia, despite the magic of the doors, are not truly granted a fresh start as are immigrants in the world today. They are given this identity that can be worn proudly or avoided but nevertheless it exists. This is the real topic of time in Exit West, the past we have defines us moving forward even though we try to avoid it. Nadia and Saeed end up going back to their home country and talking in the end of the book, revealing that although they moved on from their homeland and each other in varying degrees, it is still a part of their identity that they cannot completely lose.

Relationship Between Matthew and Meursault

By Reese B

On October 15, 2024

In Albert Camus, Stranger, Trust (film) - Hal Hartley

When we watched “Trust”, most of my thoughts revolved around the question of how the movie connected to The Stranger. I think the easy connection to make is about how the characters differ from society around them. One of Maria’s reasons for being interested in Matthew is that he is patently himself. This would be an apt way to describe Meursault.

But both characters are not as simple as opposition to the general trends of society or the world around them. They are actually not even the same. They are opposed to each other in almost every possible way. Meursault is a man that has his life together in the first act. He seems to be living a normal life while not giving much of any attention to the world around him. Matthew, on the other hand, is lost. He can’t stand to see other people disregarding quality or watching TV. These are the thoughts of a man that cares deeply about the details of the world.

Meursault and Matthew’s actions may seem similar but they are actually motivated by completely opposing views. This is why Matthew gets so frustrated all the time. He hates seeing how other people live and he hates what is going on around him. Meursault couldn’t care less.

The Characters in “The Tenth of December”

By Reese B

On September 27, 2024

In George Saunders, Short Stories

When I read the “Tenth of December”, the first thing that jumps out to me is the complexity of the characters. We are told very little about the main characters, Robin and Eber but we can learn so much through their thoughts in this one moment of their lives. We learn a lot about Eber’s past because he wants to move on. I think that Eber is looking back on his life so much because for most of the story he feels as though this is its end and he can’t help but reminisce.

I don’t think Eber looks back on his life poorly, he seems to remember many of the people that he loved. But he is scared of being viewed poorly by them. He doesn’t want his loved ones to see him suffer in any way because he fears that will make him like Allen, or make like “that”. Eber is scared of judgment and doesn’t let them help him, he shows this by revealing when he hits a tree in the woods, “He hadn’t cried after the surgeries or during the chemo, but he felt like crying now”(231). This was surely not the most pain that Eber had undergone but he felt like crying and was able to cry if he wanted to because he was free of the judgment of anyone else and almost free from his own judgment of himself.

The hidden character in the story is the winter weather. It sets the whole story in motion. The best way to describe the winter would be unforgiving or harsh, it is an obstacle for the characters to overcome. But it is what propels the characters to help each other. The winter weather reflects the lives of the two main characters. Robin doesn’t admit to seeing his life as a struggle but he realizes it in some ways. Eber has accepted the harsh realities of his life. Both of these are reflected in the weather on that day.

Story Power

Blogging the Lit Life

Author: Reese B

Once a Stranger

Where are the mothers in King Lear?

What Makes “One for the Road” Poetry

Importance of 124

Time in Exit West

Relationship Between Matthew and Meursault

The Characters in “The Tenth of December”

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