-I-
Why Don’t You Dance?
In the story, “Why Don’t You Dance,” the author illustrates the main character as a nameless man who is a sorrowful and a desperate man. He has lost his wife for some unknown reasons, and that has driven him to sell all the furniture. The action of moving his whole bedroom indicates us that he has strong ties to his past. He seems to try to release the agony for the loss of his wife and embark on a new life.
In order to overcome his sorrow, he shares his memory with a person. The couple who is interested in his yard sale buys some furniture with a discount and has fun to listen to his records while drinking and dancing. It is ironic that the couple does not know how valuable the furniture is to the man. However, he successfully shares his experience with them about how he has spent the good times with his wife. Even though there is no clue in the story to know whether his grief has been removed, the action of selling his furniture shows us that he is trying to do and he is somewhat successful.
-II-
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
There are four characters in the story which are two couples who are married and all of them are in their second marriages. Among the four characters, Mel, a surgeon, is the dominant character. He is the main character and leads the conversations in the story.
He has a romantic personality and seems to truly care for his wife. His wife’s previous marriage has a large influence on his life and he sounds like he still worries for a similar thing or he is kind of angry with his wife. His wife Terresa claims that her ex-husband loved her even though he had tortured her during their marriage. Even after divorcing her ex-husband threaten to harm her. Mel’s wife’s idea truly annoys him and he strongly criticizes her. He believes that true love does not include any violence.
He is eager to defend his ideas and he does not like any interruption. He has certain definitions and beliefs based on them. When someone criticizes his beliefs, even his wife, he is not a calm person. He is a good observer. His profession gives him good opportunities to observe people and he is judging people’s behaviors according to his beliefs and values. He thinks his observations always supports his beliefs also, thus he creates very strong believes in time.
He loves his wife, however, he does not believe in eternal loves or relations. To him, everyone can love everyone in certain conditions and it is not possible for anyone to find eternal love. He has reached a point where he thinks he might be in love with his friend’s wife. His past is affecting his life and his decision making process and he does not forget the things happened in the past. He is trying to overcome them, however, he keeps reminding these things to his wife and his friends.
Consequently, he is not so easygoing person and to be friends with him you should accept him as how he is. It does not look easy to change his character or change his ideas. Though he is not an easygoing person, he does not have violent attitude also. But still his insisting character might disturb other people, especially his close friends and his family.
III
So Much Water So Close To Home
There are two main characters in the story: a couple. The story gives some vague information about the husband and wife. It sounds like they have a regular life. The husband is a kind of Southern man who likes drinking beer, eating a lot, hanging around with friends, and fishing. The wife is a stay-home mom who wonders about her husband and observes his behaviors regularly. The wife is the background voice in the story. She tells the story of how her husband and his friends found the body of a dead girl.
The husband involves in an incident and the woman keeps asking questions about this to him. That riles him. While he is annoyed, however, he does not hurt her by his words. The woman is kind of suspicious about what has happened. She and many people in the community believe the man and his friends committed the murder. The reason for this suspicion is that the men didn’t report the death as soon as they came in contact with the body. Instead, they moved the body so it wouldn’t float down river. They also fished, drunk beer, played games for days before they left the campsite and reported the dead woman to the authority.
The overall feel of the story is frustration from the husband. He tries to make everyone believe he didn’t murder the dead girl but is constantly getting accused by others including his wife. The wife is fearful and uncertain about her husband’s actions. She fears if she pushes too hard for an answer she might end up dead in the water like the murdered woman. So while she questions him, she remains cautious. In the end, the husband tries to ease his wife fears by becoming intimate with her. He holds her waist with one hand and unbuttons her clothes with the other.
