The Mouse Dinners

In Russell Edson’s “The Mouse Dinners,” he proves the point, “You are what you eat.” Although it is never revealed in the story, what species the main characters are, I kept seeing them as more cats or birds than humans, because they eat mice, and I can’t really see humans eating mice, but now I believe the word “mice” and “mouse” could be substituted for anything.

In every kitchen in the world, someone could be eating something they didn’t really like, but wanted to appear grateful for their spouse’s efforts. I could relate to this couple and what they were going through. When I cook something, I expect people say thank you and to give an honest opinion about it, so I know if they would like me to cook it again or never again.

When the husband says, “I never liked mouse. I thought you liked mouse, so I liked mouse so you’d like me,” mad me laugh, because who hasn’t done something to make someone like them more, and then realize the person doesn’t really like to do that one thing. I would think the couple would know each other well after 20 years, and know what each other likes and doesn’t like.

“Perhaps it was the twenty years of mouse, eaten to please a wife, who he thought liked mice, has worked the metamorphosis,” reveals to me that if someone pretends to be something they are not, they lose their own identity and become something they don’t want to be. I think the theme of this story is be who you are and voice your opinion.

A & P

While reading M. Gilbert Porter’s critique of John Updike’s “A& P,” I was enlightened with a few lines from the story I missed while reading through the story the first time, like “women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs” and “once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it.”

Porter believes Sammy looks down on the customers and thinks he is better than them, because he is a teenager, “such are the verdicts that Sammy hands down on the patrons of the A & P, rather harshly investing each with his most characteristic animal feature.” I have worked in places where I have been a cashier. I know how strange the people can be some days, and how stressful customers can be on the cashiers. I had one customer who spent like 15 minutes just screaming at me because he didn’t want to follow the company’s policy.

I agree with Porter when he writes about how Sammy was right in letting the girls continue to shop with only swimsuits and asks, “Does the attire of the girls satisfy the requirement of ‘decency’ which the policy of A & P demands?” Since we don’t know exactly what the store’s policy is on paper, we can assume there’s nothing about swimsuits on there.

When I was at work one time, some kid came in with a t-shirt that had the “F” word on it and security made him cover it up with duct tape. Some people’s definition of decency is different than others.

I do agree with Porter when he writes, “That no to follow the voice of conscience is to be false to one’s own integrity and therefore to live a lie, and Sammy has chosen to live honestly and meaningfully.” The manager’s behavior was in the wrong. He targeted those girls based on his own personal opinion, and Sammy had every right to make his own opinion matter.

June Readings

I have been reading poems and stories by Anne Finch, Matthew Prior, Jonathan Swift, Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, Alexander Pope, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, William Hogarth, Samuel Johnson, Thomas Gray, and William Collins for British Lit.



I read "The Mother" poem for Critical Theory. "The Mother" poem is about a woman who has many abortions. I also read the poem, "Killing the Bear" and had to write a limerick.

The Necklace

In the story, The Necklace, Mrs. Matilda Loisel is an unhappy woman who always desires better things. She borrows what she assumes is a very expensive necklace from her friend, Madam Foestier, for the party and then realizes she has lost it. Matilda and her husband spend a lot of money to find a perfect match to replace it with. Ten years later, her friend tells Matilda her original necklace was a fake.

I, like many others, sometimes have insecurities like Mrs. Loisel, not feeling like we are good enough and wondering what it would be like to have more. I feel like the theme of this story, is don’t always look to the things you want in the future, but appreciate what you have now. I don’t think I would ever borrow expensive jewelry, for fear of losing it. I thought the story was a good example of irony, with Mrs. Loisel wanting expensive things like the necklace, when she could have afforded it in the first place, because it was a fake.

The Mother

I had to read Lynn's criticism of the short story, The Mother. I like when Lynn explains to us what he thinks new criticism is, and that we should only use and examine the words the author has written, instead of the author’s background, time period, or reasons for writing what he or she did.

I like the way he goes through line by line, and takes notes, calculating what it means and how some lines contradict others. I liked how he set up the guidelines for shaping our essays, brainstorming ideas to write about, and drafting your critique of someone’s writing.

When he writes, “It [abortions] can’t make “you” remember or keep “you” from forgetting” in note A, the critic seems to believe that the mother is haunted by her decisions. I also agree with the critic, when he wonders “if your child is not living, is that person still considered a mother?” I like how he wants us to look at the intent of the characters and what is important about what they are telling us.

Like the critic, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who was little confused by the line “you got that you did not get.” He writes “Either you got them or you didn’t, it would seem.” It got me thinking of what that sentence means and I think it means that speaker has hope for the children who she aborted, and hopes they got a second chance at a new life somewhere else.

The critic asks us to examine why the poem is called a certain title, like this one is called “The Mother,” even if it is about her abortions. My initial response was that the author wants us to believe she is the Mother of guilt or regrets, but now reading through this critique, one reason for the title being “The Mother” is to refer to her being the mother and letting the readers to know it was a female telling the story, and not the father.

I like when he wrote, “It’s fine if your ideas aren’t similar to those above. In fact, it’s great because I would certainly be bored if everyone thought the same things.” Anybody who critiques a poem isn’t going to have the same set of notes. People think of different things when they read something, and none of the thoughts we have are good or bad, they are just unique.

I thought it was interesting when he asks us to think, “What holds it together?” referring to the poem. He basically says to examine the work and it is okay to ask questions. I like how he sets up a basic formula when drafting your essay from your notes, and the notes in the margin.

Like the critic, I also thought the mother was dividing herself in half, “as a murderer and a murder.” I agree when reading poems we need to develop a theory and a thesis of what we think the poems means, and give several reasons why we think what we think about it.

Usually when I write a paper on someone’s writing, I try to be objective in my response and look at both sides of the equation. I think with this certain poem, if you’re Pro-Life, you should look at it like someone who is Pro-Choice, and vice versa. I think when critiquing, you need to develop a different feels for the writing from all of the issues. I feel like the author of this critique did the same. I feel like the critic also didn’t put a personal stance of the mother’s decisions. I think you have to remain neutral and look at both sides of the issue like he did.

In conclusion, I think this critique of “The Mother” will be very helpful to me when I do the other assignments on other poems, because he set up a formula to follow. There wasn’t much I didn’t like about his critique, besides some of his notes that I commented on above. He did give reasons for why he wrote what he did that I didn’t agree with, and made me think more about the concepts with a different perspective.

Dryden, Bunyan, Butler, and Wilmot

I read some stories by John Dryden, Samuel Butler, John Bunyan, and John Wilmot for my British lit class.



John Dryden writes about the events of rulers, marriage, war, and God. His faith changing from Puritanism to Catholicism certainly plays a role in his writing. I feel like he's writing on what he perceives happening, with a personal voice. I couldn't really get into the poems he wrote because they seemed like they are full of vengeance and are depressing.



John Bunyan is another writer who changed his faith. "The Pilgrim's Promise" is a more upbeat reading material. I liked how he included the scriptures from the New Testament into his story. As much as he writes about God's wrath, he writes equally about God's love.



Samuel Butler had a puritan background like Dryden. They both have the same sort of form for their writing. I loved the visualization he uses in his description in "Hudribras:"

And with as delicate a hand

Could twist as tough a rope of sand

And weave fine cobwebs, fit for skull

That's empty when the moon is full

Such as take lodgin in a head.

John Wilmot is an anarchist and anti-religious. His writings are mostly satire and not full of doom and gloom like the others. He was a pioneer with his writing, because he broke the mold and was very risque.

Summer Semester Begins

I just started summer semester at Weber State, and I will be a junior at the end of this semester. I'm taking three English classes (British Lit: Neoclassical/Romantic, Critical Approaches to Literature, Structure of English) and it will last 8 weeks. I have to say that I like how short it was compared to other semesters (15 weeks).