The Hunter Gracchus

Kafka begins "The Hunter Gracchus" with a pedestrian description of different villagers in their daily routines. Two men carrying the dead Hunter Gracchus enter a house where they meet a man in a top hat. This man isolates himself in a room with the dead hunter who suddenly wakes up and begins a conversation with the man who is revealed to be the Burgomaster of Riva.

The Huntsman reveals that he died several years ago falling from a cliff in the Black Forest but he claims that "my Death Ship lost its way". So the Huntsman now remains on Earth, always in motion, unable to find his destination. The Huntsman claims that his situation is unique and unmanageable. No matter where he goes, no one wants to help him because no one knows where to find him, thus the Huntsman travels the Earth aimlessly

The Huntsman Gracchus is a mysterious character. There is very little to guide the reader in how to interpret the Huntsman's bizarre situation. Kafka simply presents us with the facts and leaves us to draw our own tenuous conclusions. It seems that the Huntsman's situation is an anomaly, yet his situation is similar to the village people at the beginning of the story.

No one really has any idea what happens in the afterlife. Gracchus's story serves to remind people of just how little they truly know. While religion can provide an illusion of knowledge, it cannot even begin to grasp the true nature of death. Not even Gracchus nor his boat captain have any clue as to what sort of forces are at play. In any case, "The Huntsman Gracchus" is a story that presents more questions than answers. Gracchus's fate bears no connection to how he lived his life, so what determines what eventually happens to humans after they die?

I don't know and neither does Kafka. The point seems to be whatever happens afterlife is unknowable so it is foolish to pretend otherwise. If you have any stories that you would like me to read and write about, just let me know in a comment.

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A Hunger Artist

Kafka's "A Hunger Artist" is about a performer who fasts before an audience. This performer is incredibly committed to his art, but he is surrounded by people that do not understand it. The artist lives in a small cage with only a clock and a signpost showing how many days he has been fasting. In the beginning of the story, the hunger artist is a popular attraction in his local community. People are impressed and mystified by the hunger artist's capacity to perform a seemingly impossible task, yet the hunger artist feels that his task is quite easy. He laments the 40-day limit imposed on his fast by his impresario and also the ceremony after he completes his 40 days. The hunger artist feels that this 40 day limit essentially cheats him out of his own fame.

At the very beginning of "A Hunger Artist", Kafka tells us "During these last decades, the interest in professional fasting has markedly diminished." From this we can infer that "professional fasting" is a dying profession. Yet the hunger artist is truly connected with his profession. He has reached a stage of being totally consumed by his art. In fact, the hunger artist considers fasting to be the primary element of his identity. Fasting is everything for the hunger artist, like writing was to Kafka. Once Kafka realized that writing was his sole purpose for living, he completely abandoned the rest of his usual activities. According to Kafka's diaries, this was necessary because what little energy he could spend needed to be spent on writing.

The later pages of "A hunger Artist" depict the performer moving to a crowded circus environment. The hunger artist's enclosure is placed close to the main tent where the most exciting circus spectacles take place. This is both a blessing and a curse for the hunger artist. A lot of people pass by his tent but barely any of them are interested in his performance. Whatever spectacles await inside the main tent are much more appealing to the circus patrons. While he may be able to fast without a time limit, his talents are wasted because no one is interested in him anymore.

Eventually the hunger artist is replaced by a young panther. It's incredible how quickly the panther consumes the space of the hunger artist and begins garnering attention. Kafka's depiction of the panther is a stark contrast to the hunger artist: "the joy of life streamed with such ardent passion from his throat that for the onlookers it was not easy to stand the shock of it. But they braced themselves, crowded round the cage, and did not want to ever move away." The panther represents a 360 degree turnaround from the hunger artist. The panther needs no explanation to be entertaining. It's a freaking panther for god's sake. Yet the panther is lauded for its ability to draw a crowd, something the hunger artist failed to accomplish in his later years. One could also argue that the hunger artist and the panther are more similar than you might think, since both creatures performances obscure a more complex reality.

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Axis

Alice Munro's story "Axis" has appeared in The New Yorker and was published in the 2012 edition of The Best American Short Stories. What follows is my attempt to summarize the story's plot and provide some insight into the story's meaning.

Summary

"Axis" is about Grace and Avie, two young women attending the same college. Grace has a boyfriend named Royce who visits Grace on her parents' farm. Royce eats dinner with Grace's family and then the couple goes for a walk. The two devise a plan to have sex while Grace's family is away the following day. But as Grace and Royce are about the have sex, Grace's mother barges in on them, causing Royce to leave in a hurry. Royce hitchhikes to an area called the Niagara Escarpment and he realizes that Geography is his true calling.

The story now switches gears to Avie who ends up marrying her boyfriend Hugo and having six children. Hugo works as a teacher while Avie spends most of her time reading and taking care of her children. On a train to visit one of her daughters, Avie runs into Royce who is now a retired geology teacher. Royce tells Avie about the Frontenac Axis, a natural phenomena viewable from the train. Avie thanks Royce who falls asleep.

The story now switches gears to the last time Avie remembers hearing from Grace. Avie has reason to believe that Grace is unwell but she is too busy to visit her. Avie asks Royce if he has heard from Grace but Royce says "no".

Analysis

"They understood - everybody understood - that having any sort of job after graduation would be a defeat. Like the sorority girls, they were enrolled here to find somebody to marry. First a boyfriend, then a husband. It wasn't spoken of in those terms, but there you were."

The most impressive thing about this story, in my opinion, is the amount of realistic detail given to the characters. In sixteen pages the story tells Avie's entire life story and does virtually the same thing for Grace. There is so much meaning in the characters' small gestures. The effect is that you (the reader) feel for the characters because they are vulnerable and human. As a writer I understand the difficulty of creating characters, therefore I give credit to Munro for her characters in "Axis".

The overall mood of this story is depressing. At the end I felt bad for Avie who seems disappointed with her life. The outlook for Grace is even more bleak since there's an assumption that her life went downhill after failing to hook up with Royce. I wouldn't call "Axis" a tragedy but it does leave you feeling rather pessimistic about the human experience.

There is a lot to talk about in this story and my brief analysis here does not do it justice. As of today I think the major theme of the story is the unending battle of the sexes. Grace and Avie's primary objective in life is to find men who will be their husbands. But this is not either woman's choice. It is a consequence of their environment and socioeconomic status.

If you have read "Axis", feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on the story. I welcome any thoughts on this story because, honestly, I'm not sure what to make of Alice Munro at this point. Thank you for reading.

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"Fat" - Raymond Carver

"Fat" is the first story in Raymond Carver's collection Will You Please Be Quiet Please?.  The story is framed as a conversation where an unnamed woman tells a story to her friend Rita about serving an extremely fat man at the restaurant where she works. The waitress takes the fat man's large order and brings it to the kitchen. She is approached by one of her co-workers who says, "Who's your fat friend?"

The narrator serves the fat man bread and a caesar salad. Despite her co-workers' jabs, she talks to her customer, making an effort to appear helpful. After serving the man a special dessert with a big bowl of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup to the side, the man says, "we have not always eaten like this...but there is no choice."

Later that night the waitress is lying in bed where she is violated by her partner Rudy. She admits that while this happened, she felt enormously fat like the customer she served earlier. Rita doesn't seem to understand the point of the narrator's story . The narrator admits to the reader that she feels depressed and that she feels her life is going to change.

In Raymond Carver's fiction small actions and statements mean a lot. It's easy to read one of his stories and feel like absolutely nothing meaningful has happened. But that is usually not the case. It's necessary to read Carver's stories at least twice to uncover the deeper meanings. This is my favorite thing about Carver's writing style -- how seemingly insignificant actions are revealing.

In this story the most telling action is the fat man's admission that there is no choice. He wants the waitress to understand that he should not be blamed for the way he eats. Just this one statement adds psychological depth to this character. It also speaks to a larger theme of control, specifically the question of if someone can be blamed for their actions if they are not in control. The narrator compares herself to the fat man when she is raped to illustrate her lack of control. This explains why the narrator treats her customer so well when her co-workers are quick to make fun of the fat man.

It's amazing that such a small and seemingly insignificant story deals with such a universal theme. In my opinion this is the most useful effect of Carver's minimalist style. It always feels like something is missing from his stories and this is most likely true. Carver's editor Gordon Lish was a ruthless editor who made Carver trim his stories down to the bare essentials. Without Lish's help, Carver's fictions would perhaps say too much and lose their ability to speak to universal themes. Despite its short length, "Fat" is a great illustration of Carver's minimalist style.

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Al Roosten

Getting back to some George Saunders stories here.

Summary

This story feels like a roller coaster of contradictory thoughts. The constant banter of Roosten's inner thoughts makes it difficult to follow the story, but I am going to give it a shot. Roosten is the owner of a store called Bygone Daze, a shop that sells vintage collectibles. Roosten is volunterring in a strange charity event called LaffKidsOffCrack. Along with Larry Donfrey, Roosten is going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Roosten and Donfrey both saunter down a runway, presumably to increase their chances of being bid on. After Roosten does his runway walk, he walks to the "cardboard jail" where he has "his own barred window". Once this bizarre spectacle is over, Roosten retires to the changing area where, in a fit of jealous anger, he kicks Donfrey's keys and wallet underneath a "stack of risers."
Roosten drives "through the town where he'd lived his whole life" while his mom talks to him from heaven. Roosten feels guilty about Donfrey's keys so he envisions an alternate timeline where he goes back to the event and helps Donfrey find his keys and wallet. He even envisions himself eating dinner with the entire Donfrey clan. None of this is actually happening.

Roosten reaches his shop across the street from a junkyard where "hoboes hung out." Roosten imagines himself beating up a homeless man with "ghoulish" teeth and red eyes. Roosten frames this as a valuable lesson for the homeless man. Instead Roosten and the homeless man exchange weak smiles and go on their ways.

Analysis

The narrator of this story cycles between a third person detached POV and direct access to Al Roosten's real thoughts. I would argue that the focus of the story is the distinct voice representing Roosten's inner thoughts. The voice is contradictory. It goes from one thought to the exact opposite immediately. I would characterize it as neurotic and possibly unstable. Roosten typically envisions himself performing outrageous feats but his real-life behaviour is contained and measured. The frankness of the third-person narrator brings the reader closer to Roosten, making him a more sympathetic character. There's a tension between Saunders's view of Roosten as disgusting and the narrator's desire to make Roosten seem pitiful and sweetly stupid.

Donfrey acts as an interesting foil to Roosten. Donfrey is much more successful and handsome than Roosten and Roosten even admits that Donfrey is a "good guy". The narrator remarks that Donfrey and Roosten are "twin pillars of the local business community," yet appears to have a much better life. Donfrey is simply and upgraded version of Roosten in every way.

The voice of Roosten's mother is an interesting aspect of this story. It's telling that the dead mother is still speaking so coherently and frequently in Roosten's head. We can add hearing voices to the list of Roosten's issues. The mother is giving and realistic. She tells Roosten that his "moral courage" is his most important trait.

I am surprised at how much there is to examine in this story. On the first reading, it was hard to track the story's plot while following the crazy statements of Roosten's inner thoughts. Once I became comfortable with this structure, it became easier to find the meaning in this story. It will be fun to revisit this story and find even more insane ways that Saunders creates meaning. There's a lot to chew on in Roosten's thoughts and in the story's unique setting. 

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"Mr. Voice" by Jess Walter

"Sometimes your life changes in big, dramatic ways, as though you've been cast in a play you don't remember auditioning for. Moments have the power of important scenes: being paraded in a tiny purple dress at a wedding, someone putting headphones on you and playing a rock song. But other scenes seem to occur offstage; it's as if you just awake one morning and understand that a certain thing is now something else."

Summary

I recently checked out 2015 edition of The Best American Short Stories. The final story in this collection is Jess Walter's "Mr. Voice". The teller of this story is a young woman named Tanya who lives with her single mother. Tanya's mother is a "stunner" who goes through men like toilet paper. Out of nowhere, Tanya's mother settles down with a man referred to as Mr. Voice, a fifty-year-old radio host known for his distinctive speech patterns. Tanya and her mother move in with Mr. Voice and his son Brian, a teenager who wiles smoking weed and playing guitar.

One day, Tanya's mother leaves with Brian's guitar teacher Allen. This forces Tanya to spend more time with Mr. Voice who she starts referring to as Claude. Tanya realizes that Mr. Voice AKA Claude is the closest thing to a responsible parent that she will ever have. He even teaches Tanya about female reproduction. Tanya reaches puberty and starts to notice the attention of men, but Tanya only has eyes for her step-brother Brian. To get closer to Brian, Tanya flirts with his best friend Clay. Unfortunately, this leads to Clay practically raping Tanya when she is home alone. But this story interrupts the rape by having Mr. Voice kick Clay out of the house. Mr. Voice teachers Tanya that she never has to do something that she doesn't want to do. Tanya also learns that Brian is gay so there goes her chances with him. After her mother dies, Tanya learns that Allen, the guitar teacher, is her biological father, though at this point, Tanya could care less because the only real parent she has ever had is Mr. Voice.

Analysis

This story is both uplifting and tragic. Although Tanya's mother abandoned her with Mr. Voice, it's probable that she married Mr. Voice because she knew he would take care of Tanya. So even though mother made poor choices, at least she could give Tanya the parent that she would never be. Mr. Voice is clearly a hero in this story. When Tanya finds out that Allen is her biological father, she ends the story by referring to Mr. Voice as father. A parent is not someone who creates you, a parent is someone who takes care of you after you are created.

The turning point in Tanya's character is when she realizes that she is her own person. She doesn't have to listen to her mother's crazy advice and no matter how similar they look, she can blaze her own trail. Without Mr. Voice, Tanya would have lived her life is accordance with her mother's advice: "Your looks are like a bank account...at some point you'll have to spend the money." Understandably, something about this advice makes Tanya feel ill.

This is a very pleasant and succinct story. The events are straightforward and easy to understand and the characters' actions are clear-cut by the story's end. Tanya's mother leaves because that is what the story needs to have happen. The story also gives the audience exactly what it wants. Mr. Voice saves Tanya from Clay because that is what needs to happen. If Tanya were actually raped, the story would progress in a very different fashion. The story gives you the possibility of horror but would never fully allow this horror to take place. God forbid the people reading this story might feel sad or cold at the end and then Jess Walter would look like a creep. There's no chance of that happening. Jess Walter needs his readers to feel somewhat happy so they will go out and read his next book.

I shouldn't say that about this story. It's my first encounter with Walter's work and I found it to be quite clever and engaging. However I hope that the other stories in this collection are not as family-friendly wholesome entertainment. I hate it when literary fiction tries too hard to make you feel happy. Literature exists to challenge us and make us consider things with new perspectives. It has no obligation to feed us warm emotions. This is not what I expect or find admirable in work of literature.

As always, please feel free to leave your thoughts in a comment. Thanks for reading.

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Related Posts:

• "Anything Helps" by Jess Walter
• "Thief" by Jess Walter

Junot Diaz: "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars"

"The Sun, The Moon, The Stars" is the opening story in Junot Diaz's "This is How You Lose Her". The stories in this collection deal with the relationship failures of Yunior, a character who appears in many of Diaz's works. Yunior is a complex character. He is macho like the typical Dominican male, but intelligent and inclined towards referencing famous works of literature.

Summary

This story focuses on the relationship between Yunior and his girlfriend Magda. The relationship starts out well but deteriorates after Yunior sleeps with another woman named Cassandra. Magda learns about Yunior's infidelity and starts treating him differently. While Yunior and Magda still hang out, it's clear that Magda doesn't want to stay with Yunior. However Yunior still loves Magda so the two take a vacation to Santo Domingo to hopefully renew their love for one another. Nothing changes. The two still don't get along and Yunior has to placate Magda's every desire. Eventually Yunior reveals that the relationship ended despite his attempts to keep it going.

Analysis

The tragedy of the story lies in Yunior's inability maintain his relationship. Even though he loves Magda, he has no control over his animal desires. The real question is how much Yunior actually loves Magda. His words say one thing while his actions say another. Magda is probably correct in judging Yunior based on his actions rather than on his words.

Similar to other stories written by Diaz, the teller is looking back to the past and acknowledging that he has changed. Yunior wants to show exactly how foolish he used to be, but how do we know if Yunior has really changed? Yunior expects us to trust him merely on his word. You could argue that the main conflict is not between Yunior and Magda, but between Yunior's past and future selves. The version of Yunior telling the story thinks long-term, whereas the Yunior in the story thinks short-term.

The tragedy of the story is balanced by Diaz's humorous tone. This is the main reason why I enjoy reading Diaz's work. He finds humor in some of the darkest places. He also has a good eye for picking out the most revealing character actions. When describing the fancy resort in Santo Domingo, Yunior says, "Every fifty feet there's at least one Eurofuck beached out on a towel like some scary pale monster that the sea's vomited up."

Conclusion

I am excited to read more of the stories from "This is How You Lose Her". If you liked this post, also check out my thoughts on Diaz's story "Aurora". Please let me know what you thought of this post, or why you read my reviews. Tell me what story you are reading and would like to talk about. Thanks in advance.

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