Respice Finem

Latin for "Look to the End", this statement comes to prominent significance in "The Death of Ivan Ilych" in a literal statement and a figurative meaning. The statement appears on a medallion he attains in the story as an ornament to himself. This materialistic bent on a very important message is prophetic of Ivan's own neglect in his life. He fails to "look to the end" of his own life. His short-sightedness costs him his dignity and the comfort of others in the final days of his life. He missed the message the medallion was supposed to convey, and so lost the meaning of his life.

The Death of Ivan Ilych

Ivan's life was "most simple and most ordinary, and therefore most terrible". Why is it such a curse to live a "normal" life? What is it that made his life so terrible? The answer lies in the end, when Ivan is on his deathbed. Throughout his life, Ivan's struggles are very ordinary: finding a good job, finding a wife, trying to improve his position. During the slow and painful process of his death, he cannot take comfort in the company and love of other people, having never formed any lasting bonds with other people. We see after his death that there are no true friends that he ever had. His fair-weather friends viewed his passing as a burden and an opportunity, while his wife views it as a payday. There is no respect for the dead among Ivan's company. All his struggles in his life proved to be fruitless in the end. However, even in the bleakness of Ivan's situation, there is a lesson to be learned: normality leads to boredom and stagnation, therefore a "normal" life is a pointless life.

The Yellow Wallpaper

The unnamed narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is an "unreliable narrator" because of the warped perspective she places over the story. It is not apparent at the outset because there is no frame of reference for the reader in the story style, which is written in the form of journal entries. As the narrative continues however, it becomes more and more clear that the narrator has, at best, a tenuous grip on reality. She starts to personify the wallpaper, convinced that it can have real effects; trapping people inside, being her friend, and even harming her child. Upon reading these strange visions, it becomes unclear to the reader if anything she writes is the truth or simply a psychosis-induced delusion. The ending is especially unclear, as the narrator refuses to explicitly state what she had just accomplished. She seems to have escaped her room, getting past John in the process, perhaps even killing him. Of course, in her mental state, it could just as easily have been a fabrication scribbled in a journal.

This leads the reader to question the writing: Why use an unreliable narrator as storyteller? The answer lies in the assumption that characterization is more important than storyline. The reader can with their own imagination, infer the various minutia of the plot. The importance is placed on showing the reader the depths of the narrator's mind, allowing them to experience the feeling of seeing through that person's eyes.

A Rose for Emily

This story presents an interesting view of the eponymous character. The story paints a portrait of a miserable old maid named Emily, who even at the beginning of the story, shows complete disconnection from the rest of the town. The story is told through the eyes of an anonymous observer, who begins speaking in the present, beginning with her funeral, then jumps into the past to explain her description as a "fallen monument". The narrator explains parts of Emily's past, and how she came to be in the lonesome situation she died in. The narrator explains her father's death, and her subsequent deterioration into a bitter old woman. At her father's death, who had restrained her her entire life, she goes into denial, clinging to the body for several day until the townsfolk intervene. She even descends into seemingly considering suicide. The narrator explains in the story how the people of the town resent her for her isolation, such as rejecting visitors and not paying taxes, and yet a the same time they feel a heavy sympathy for her, repeating the phrase "Poor Emily". She also seems to find a lover in a working foreman, who disappears into her house along with her. The narrator's limited point of view leaves some unanswered questions at the close of the story, leaving the reader to ponder whether the town had in fact misjudged Miss Emily.

The Chrysanthemums

This short story by John Steinbeck is a portrait of a middle aged woman who lives on a ranch with her husband. Her hobby is tending her garden of chrysanthemums, which she cares for greatly. however, her garden is also more than a hobby. The Chrysanthemums seem to change in their description along with Eliza. At the outset of the story, Eliza is depicted as being "lean and strong". However, by the end of the story, she is quietly sobbing to herself. She is also described using more masculine terms at the beginning; terms such as "mature", "handsome", and "over-powerful". At the end she is "crying weakly" over her chrysanthemums. Similarly, the state of the chrysanthemums seems to reflect this change. They go from being healthy old stalks to discarded little sprouts. In this way, they seem to function as an emotional barometer for Eliza.