It’s just another typical marriage that everything was O.K. at first, but now both partners can’t stand each other presence. This story deals with a very real situations, and the characters in it are people we might have seen at the store of our local gas station. This story takes a look at all that can be lost in marriage, and what it can mean for someone to suddenly, and unexpectedly, lose a significant other. Stephen King explores Ray’s initial emotional numbness, what it takes for him to realize his loss, and how he also realizes that now he can smoke wherever he wants without Mary nagging him about it. This leaves us to think how fragile the human life really is – you never know what will happen tomorrow.
This one didn't really grab me as much as the others I read, It wasn't bad, just not as interesting, although I like the ending (minus dogs dying :( ) The characters were very relatable and did feel like real people, in a common situation of a love-less marriage. I own a jack russell so I think I was a little biased toward the dog dying part.
It's tragic that people sometimes forget to be grateful for the things they love. In a split second things can be taken from you, like it was from Ray in this story. Sure, he wasn't particularly happy with his marriage, but he was happy enough not to leave her. And he was jealous of the way Biz looked at his wife, he wanted Biz to like him more than her. And in just a few hours both were gone forever. Very sad story.
I like the fact that the author drives the metaphor of the greyhounds in the beginning and how they race around the problem. the diction and the actual character of/about dogs is present though out the entire piece. and i think it is to symbolise the ultimate loyalty that is dogs and the fact that the dog dies is showing how their trust in each other and their marriage is done.
I think Ray is just a jerk. He comes off pretty hypocritical, no matter how he's trying to save money, when he's still buying cigarettes. He needs to stop being on Mary's case about her weight issues. Everyone has their addictions, but he can't put his addictions more important than hers. I know that her addiction killed her, and I hope that his addiction will eventually kill himself, too. I think that her death was a gift in disguise, especially with her unhappiness. Ray carelessly killed your dog! He didn't care much anymore about Mary or Biz. He didn't think twice about giving Biz the Sno Ball, even though it was hard and stiff. This relationship was done, but I think that Mary put up with too much from Ray. How are you going to park right next to a building and make your wife sidle along their car with her weight issue? Dick! In my opinion, I think the wrong person died. I think it was a great writing strategy to connect with the audience better with more realistic characters, in this case, a pair of squabbling husband and wife. It definitely reached me.
I guess I should say this is a sad story because it involves deaths. However, I also think that was something sort of set up by Mary and Ray. Ray smokes so many cigarettes which eventually is going to kill him. On the other hand, Mary is over weight and eats so much bad food which also is going to kill her one day like it did. I assume they were letting each other do their own bad things to kill themselves. Ray is a jerk, but I don't believe that Mary is so innocent either.
I feel their marriage went the same way that so many do. After so much time together or however many years, stuff gets stale or perhaps too routine. After that both partners would put up with more than they should in whatever arguments until the relationship. In this particular scenario Ray was certainly in the wrong. As a smoker myself, I can relate to him wanting to smoke and how buying cheaper smokes may help out the cause, I'm guilty of this myself. However, constantly berating his wife about her weight and such isn't right, and there are much more tactful methods he could employ, like lets take a walk as a couple or whatever or just let her know it could eventually become a health problem. It obviously was, because she dropped dead doing nothing more than walking in a gas station.
Forgetting the dog fits with Ray's character, as said in class, keep him true to his character. The only part of the story I don't really understand is this. If she died, he went in, the saw her body and called the ambulance, they come and check and take her. All of this would take max an hour, now assuming that he had a window cracked ( I would have to reread to see if it was) and knowing how hot it gets in Maine this doesn't seem likely. This does take place in his fictional town though, so some off the wall heat wave is possible I suppose. Not really important but just threw me off a bit. I realize the dog dying is just another thing to lead to Ray killing himself quicker because he can smoke at his leisure, eventually dying because he's alone... and lung cancer.
What we see in the beginning of this story is nothing different from the average marriage. A couple engaging in light bickering over topics they've argued over in the past. Nothing new at all.
When Mary seemed to be taking long in the gas station, I had a feeling something had happened to her and when he left with the dog in the backseat of the car, I knew it would come to share the same fate. I don't see Ray has being anything more than a typical guy, even when he comments on Mary's weight. Sometimes, when someone is pushing your soft spot, you feel the need to do the same in return.
The story does a good job of showing you never know what your last words will be to your loved ones. Ray didn't expect for his wife to die and even less for the dog to die. Although you get the feeling he is more happy Mary and Bizznezz are gone. The way he feels a weight is on him at the beginning of the story to being "a relief..." that the dog died at the same time Mary died. Its obvious he is very sad and grieving over his losses, but he does see the silver lining.
Well written story. It gave me the impression that the writer is Ray telling his own story. I can tell the issues between them started either before they got married or shortly after since it said "He thinks it might be different if they’d had kids, but she couldn’t." There was no effort made by either one of them, they both did what the other hated the most as a proof of giving up. They were both very selfish but is seems like he was more selfish that her since all he could think of how free he was going to be without her.
Well that was depressing... Definitely makes you want to appreciate what you have and make the most out of everything.
I do have to say though I laughed like a dumb-ass at this comment "He does find a Hostess Sno Ball still in its wrapper. He pokes it. It’s as stiff as a corpse. It’s got to be a thousand years old. Maybe older. Maybe it came over on the Ark."
I found this one a tough read, while everything was pretty straight forward as far as what was happening in the story. it still felt flat and uninteresting. There is a real-world feel to it since some relationships today sadly follow this trend, in this case both seem equally responsible for the marriage's failure.
I think this story sends a very overwhelming but true message. Relationships are a troubling thing and that is why people say love hurts or love is pain because it is! Whether you are struggling to stay in the relationship because its hard for you to decide what you want or it is hard working at the relationship to keep the romance going, it is going to be a lot of effort and mental effort in general but through it all, taking not taking something for granted is easier said then done because you truly do not know what you have until it is gone because our brain plays crazy tricks on us. The grass isn't always greener.
Never take anything for granted. We forget sometimes how truly vulnerable we truly are until something horrible happens. When it does our perspective changes and we begin to think about stuff that originally we wouldnt have given a second thought too.
If there's anything I've learned from reading + watching the Great Gatsby, it's that extreme heat is a metaphor for intense situations. That being said, I find the death of Mary to be somewhat anticlimactic since the situation before her death was not that intense at all. "GO GET ME A PACK OF CIGARETTES AND GET THAT 99 cent BALL" he says. There wasn't really much happening at all. All I can guess from the whole plot is that though the moment at hand was not as enticing, what lead to her death was the sum of all the menial arguments they had where not once did they have a beautiful moment together. But that's just my 2 cents.
I did not see Mary's death coming. I was really confused about what this story is about because not much was happening. Ray and Mary were arguing and "it has circularity", which means that their arguments are a routine and it follows a certain order/ pattern. Ray doesn't learn to appreciate his wife until she's gone, which is true for a lot of us today. Many people take their relationships with their families, friends, and significant others for granted, when instead we should take every moment to love and appreciate them because we never know the last time we will see them or the last thing we will say to them.
that was unbelievable. i didn't think that Mary would die so quickly. i thought that maybe there would be a car crash or something. knowing that he wanted to have sex with the other woman, while his dead wife is right there just made me want to slap him. i was getting rather annoyed with him and his thoughts. in the end i guess he got what he wanted and didn't wait long to start new habits either.
It's nice to read this one after reading King's theory because I can pinpoint so well. For instance, that opening line, "They’ve been married for ten years and for a long time everything was O.K.—swell—but now they argue. Now they argue quite a lot." That hooked me in immediately. Additionally, I wouldn't say this was my favorite piece from Stephen King, yet, I was somewhat moved by it.
I wasn't expecting the dog to die. Jeez. But right away I was interested because there was a lot of familiar references and the argument was something we have heard before or have been apart of. The fact that he is relieved shouldn't be a bad thing, they had a terrible marriage. King did a great job and it is kind of a hop away from his usual stuff which is refreshing
I have never read anything by Stephen King before mostly because I thought everything he wrote was kinda scary, and I am a big baby when it comes to anything scary or terrifying. This story is an easy read and straight forward. Right away you know that something is going to go wrong because of the way King sets up the story.
It was different, I can say from King's usual stories. I liked it, off the top it captured my attention. Lol, reading about him fining for a cigarette makes me want to smoke.
I give kudos to Stephen King for painting this awful picture because it's a horror in itself how this man thinks. The sad fact is though, even in these moments of shock when you are in the center of attention, sometimes emotions don't follow suite. So this guy who was stuck in this rut routine with his wife finally the tables turn on him in an instant. He doesn't have the mental capacity to feel the appropriate emotions. Ray was like the hot animal in a car. Stuffed, beaten mentally down. Lost faith in love and romance. Been around the track too long then all of a sudden he sees freedom and he can't process it. Like a person in jail who gets institutionalized and can't cope with the new changing world. This was a great read. Love how so closely rooted it felt to suburban middle class life with wal-marts, cigarettes, etc.
I've never read anything by Stephen King, but I do know his genre of writing tends to be on more of the horror side. This story stood out from his usual type of writing. Extremely sad story though! This story is a great example of how life can literally change in a blink of an eye. It teaches us that life is so precious. We should live every day like it is our very last. I feel that Ray had mixed emotions in the end. He lost faith in his marriage, but as soon as it was taken from him he was a lost puppy. He didn't know whether to be sad or to have relief and comfort in knowing that he could have freedom in doing whatever he pleased. I loved the foreshadowing he used when he described the, "Sno ball, still in its wrapper, stiff as a dead corpse." Overall, it was a good read, but pretty depressing!
Leave it to Steven King to make a dark situation humorous. Never really thought of how non eventful a person’s death could be – I always seem to think some sort of extravagant dramatic exit is in order for everyone I know, but the baseline ‘heh – she’s dead’ seems a bit more real. I guess this is why some people always say ‘I Love You’ whenever they leave the house, even after an argument.
I really dont know how the entire event affected the husband; he seemed heartbroken at times, showing emotion mentally and physically. However, other times he contemplated sorrow sex from one of the ladies there as well as the mere fact of cutting her open so casually. The deaths of his wife and dog seemed to be okay in unison, but had they happened separately, i feel his reaction would have varied.
Stephen King is not my favorite writer so it’s been a long time since I read anything by him and he didn’t disappoint with this short story. I found myself reading about every third word just to get to the end especially when they were all standing around in the store talking about her. That all being said I guess I still have to comment on the story… He begins by painting a picture of a young couple in dire straits, with a house they can’t afford. Not really sure how that was even a necessary point. I think you get a better since of who this couple is as they sit outside the store and discuss how Mary needs to buy him a pack of cigarettes that cost $5.00 and all she wants to do is buy her niece a purple ball for less than a dollar. We see how selfish her husband is even after her death when one of his first thoughts is now he can smoke anywhere in the house. I think this is a man who is going to die alone. When you don’t have compassion for people or animals I think it shows your true character and it’s not an attractive quality that many would find attractive.
I think they had some issues they could have resolved before moving ahead. It's funny to know that there are couple like that out there that argue for the smallest and dumbest things. If you are a situation like there's i think you should take the time and listen what your partner is saying and just go with it. Sometimes you have to do things for the ones you love...
I rather enjoyed this story. It's both dark and humorous at the same time. I believe the husband did feel a little remorse at first but he soon realized he could do as he pleased and seemed to enjoy the fact that he was "free".
This was a sad story. It was a good read, but really sad. It is sad because it is true, to a certain extent. You never know when the last time you will see someone is, that is why I never try to leave anyone on bad terms. It's true relationships have arguments, and people disagree, but I am a strong believer in working it out before you go off on a bad day. I like to make peoples day's not put a damper on them. The end shows that no matter how bad things can get, people still have the things they like, for him its cigarettes. Even though his wife who just died didn't like him to, he felt now he could all he wanted. It proves that no matter how hard some people try to change a person, sometimes people just never do. It was a sad story, but a really good read.
I feel like, and perhaps this is maybe slightly overreaching, that if they were both willing to compromise, they'd get out of the petty squabbles and would have noticed the important things about each other. It's sad, but it seems so numb to emotion, when the majority on the story focuses on Ray's thoughts about his world. I suppose that's what bothered me the most about this. That it was about Ray and his misplaced thoughts about really trivial things, and the emotion only seemed to come at the end as an afterthought.
I feel like, and perhaps this is maybe slightly overreaching, that if they were both willing to compromise, they'd get out of the petty squabbles and would have noticed the important things about each other. It's sad, but it seems so numb to emotion, when the majority on the story focuses on Ray's thoughts about his world. I suppose that's what bothered me the most about this. That it was about Ray and his misplaced thoughts about really trivial things, and the emotion only seemed to come at the end as an afterthought.
This story had not really drawn me in to wanting to read it. It is true that a lot of people focus on their own world and don't look to see the other peoples life. When you care about someone, you dont look at all the problems or think about getting some from some other person right after your wife dies.
Such a sad story, gets you right in the feels on how true it is. I never want to leave anything on a bad note with someone when they matter to me. I never let my girlfriend go to sleep with a fight. i dont want to regret it like other things if i left it on bad terms and later that was the last thing they remembered me by. I know how it feels, i still to this day wish i could make it up to someone that mattered but that person never wants to hear my voice ever again. and it hurts because you just wish you could replace the bad with the good. to one day be forgiven and the past forgotten. but sometimes we never really get that option in life.
This story was quite upsetting. Its sad that things like this happen in real life on occasion or even with animals like family pets. Leaves a bitter taste in your mouth and I would hate to cause drama with someone just to lose them moments later.
It’s just another typical marriage that everything was O.K. at first, but now both partners can’t stand each other presence. This story deals with a very real situations, and the characters in it are people we might have seen at the store of our local gas station. This story takes a look at all that can be lost in marriage, and what it can mean for someone to suddenly, and unexpectedly, lose a significant other. Stephen King explores Ray’s initial emotional numbness, what it takes for him to realize his loss, and how he also realizes that now he can smoke wherever he wants without Mary nagging him about it. This leaves us to think how fragile the human life really is – you never know what will happen tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThis one didn't really grab me as much as the others I read, It wasn't bad, just not as interesting, although I like the ending (minus dogs dying :( ) The characters were very relatable and did feel like real people, in a common situation of a love-less marriage. I own a jack russell so I think I was a little biased toward the dog dying part.
ReplyDeleteVery unfortunate... On both parts of the death, and the fact that the dude only cares about his freedom without the dog and his wife. Saddening,..
ReplyDeleteIt's tragic that people sometimes forget to be grateful for the things they love. In a split second things can be taken from you, like it was from Ray in this story. Sure, he wasn't particularly happy with his marriage, but he was happy enough not to leave her. And he was jealous of the way Biz looked at his wife, he wanted Biz to like him more than her. And in just a few hours both were gone forever. Very sad story.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that the author drives the metaphor of the greyhounds in the beginning and how they race around the problem. the diction and the actual character of/about dogs is present though out the entire piece. and i think it is to symbolise the ultimate loyalty that is dogs and the fact that the dog dies is showing how their trust in each other and their marriage is done.
ReplyDeleteI think Ray is just a jerk. He comes off pretty hypocritical, no matter how he's trying to save money, when he's still buying cigarettes. He needs to stop being on Mary's case about her weight issues. Everyone has their addictions, but he can't put his addictions more important than hers. I know that her addiction killed her, and I hope that his addiction will eventually kill himself, too. I think that her death was a gift in disguise, especially with her unhappiness. Ray carelessly killed your dog! He didn't care much anymore about Mary or Biz. He didn't think twice about giving Biz the Sno Ball, even though it was hard and stiff. This relationship was done, but I think that Mary put up with too much from Ray. How are you going to park right next to a building and make your wife sidle along their car with her weight issue? Dick! In my opinion, I think the wrong person died. I think it was a great writing strategy to connect with the audience better with more realistic characters, in this case, a pair of squabbling husband and wife. It definitely reached me.
ReplyDeleteWell... Besides the death of his wife and pet dog, at least he got to smoke them Premium Harmony cigs all the way to the hospital.
ReplyDeleteI guess I should say this is a sad story because it involves deaths. However, I also think that was something sort of set up by Mary and Ray. Ray smokes so many cigarettes which eventually is going to kill him. On the other hand, Mary is over weight and eats so much bad food which also is going to kill her one day like it did. I assume they were letting each other do their own bad things to kill themselves. Ray is a jerk, but I don't believe that Mary is so innocent either.
ReplyDeleteI feel their marriage went the same way that so many do. After so much time together or however many years, stuff gets stale or perhaps too routine. After that both partners would put up with more than they should in whatever arguments until the relationship. In this particular scenario Ray was certainly in the wrong. As a smoker myself, I can relate to him wanting to smoke and how buying cheaper smokes may help out the cause, I'm guilty of this myself. However, constantly berating his wife about her weight and such isn't right, and there are much more tactful methods he could employ, like lets take a walk as a couple or whatever or just let her know it could eventually become a health problem. It obviously was, because she dropped dead doing nothing more than walking in a gas station.
ReplyDeleteForgetting the dog fits with Ray's character, as said in class, keep him true to his character. The only part of the story I don't really understand is this. If she died, he went in, the saw her body and called the ambulance, they come and check and take her. All of this would take max an hour, now assuming that he had a window cracked ( I would have to reread to see if it was) and knowing how hot it gets in Maine this doesn't seem likely. This does take place in his fictional town though, so some off the wall heat wave is possible I suppose. Not really important but just threw me off a bit. I realize the dog dying is just another thing to lead to Ray killing himself quicker because he can smoke at his leisure, eventually dying because he's alone... and lung cancer.
-Codey Robinson
What we see in the beginning of this story is nothing different from the average marriage. A couple engaging in light bickering over topics they've argued over in the past. Nothing new at all.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mary seemed to be taking long in the gas station, I had a feeling something had happened to her and when he left with the dog in the backseat of the car, I knew it would come to share the same fate. I don't see Ray has being anything more than a typical guy, even when he comments on Mary's weight. Sometimes, when someone is pushing your soft spot, you feel the need to do the same in return.
The story does a good job of showing you never know what your last words will be to your loved ones. Ray didn't expect for his wife to die and even less for the dog to die. Although you get the feeling he is more happy Mary and Bizznezz are gone. The way he feels a weight is on him at the beginning of the story to being "a relief..." that the dog died at the same time Mary died. Its obvious he is very sad and grieving over his losses, but he does see the silver lining.
ReplyDeleteWell written story. It gave me the impression that the writer is Ray telling his own story. I can tell the issues between them started either before they got married or shortly after since it said "He thinks it might be different if they’d had kids, but she couldn’t." There was no effort made by either one of them, they both did what the other hated the most as a proof of giving up. They were both very selfish but is seems like he was more selfish that her since all he could think of how free he was going to be without her.
ReplyDeleteWell that was depressing... Definitely makes you want to appreciate what you have and make the most out of everything.
ReplyDeleteI do have to say though I laughed like a dumb-ass at this comment
"He does find a Hostess Sno Ball still in its wrapper. He pokes it. It’s as stiff as a corpse. It’s got to be a thousand years old. Maybe older. Maybe it came over on the Ark."
I found this one a tough read, while everything was pretty straight forward as far as what was happening in the story. it still felt flat and uninteresting. There is a real-world feel to it since some relationships today sadly follow this trend, in this case both seem equally responsible for the marriage's failure.
ReplyDeleteI think this story sends a very overwhelming but true message. Relationships are a troubling thing and that is why people say love hurts or love is pain because it is! Whether you are struggling to stay in the relationship because its hard for you to decide what you want or it is hard working at the relationship to keep the romance going, it is going to be a lot of effort and mental effort in general but through it all, taking not taking something for granted is easier said then done because you truly do not know what you have until it is gone because our brain plays crazy tricks on us. The grass isn't always greener.
ReplyDeleteNever take anything for granted. We forget sometimes how truly vulnerable we truly are until something horrible happens. When it does our perspective changes and we begin to think about stuff that originally we wouldnt have given a second thought too.
ReplyDeleteMan this guy had such rotten luck.
ReplyDeleteIf there's anything I've learned from reading + watching the Great Gatsby, it's that extreme heat is a metaphor for intense situations. That being said, I find the death of Mary to be somewhat anticlimactic since the situation before her death was not that intense at all. "GO GET ME A PACK OF CIGARETTES AND GET THAT 99 cent BALL" he says. There wasn't really much happening at all. All I can guess from the whole plot is that though the moment at hand was not as enticing, what lead to her death was the sum of all the menial arguments they had where not once did they have a beautiful moment together. But that's just my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteI did not see Mary's death coming. I was really confused about what this story is about because not much was happening. Ray and Mary were arguing and "it has circularity", which means that their arguments are a routine and it follows a certain order/ pattern. Ray doesn't learn to appreciate his wife until she's gone, which is true for a lot of us today. Many people take their relationships with their families, friends, and significant others for granted, when instead we should take every moment to love and appreciate them because we never know the last time we will see them or the last thing we will say to them.
ReplyDeletethat was unbelievable. i didn't think that Mary would die so quickly. i thought that maybe there would be a car crash or something. knowing that he wanted to have sex with the other woman, while his dead wife is right there just made me want to slap him. i was getting rather annoyed with him and his thoughts. in the end i guess he got what he wanted and didn't wait long to start new habits either.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to read this one after reading King's theory because I can pinpoint so well. For instance, that opening line, "They’ve been married for ten years and for a long time everything was O.K.—swell—but now they argue. Now they argue quite a lot." That hooked me in immediately. Additionally, I wouldn't say this was my favorite piece from Stephen King, yet, I was somewhat moved by it.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't expecting the dog to die. Jeez. But right away I was interested because there was a lot of familiar references and the argument was something we have heard before or have been apart of. The fact that he is relieved shouldn't be a bad thing, they had a terrible marriage. King did a great job and it is kind of a hop away from his usual stuff which is refreshing
ReplyDeleteI have never read anything by Stephen King before mostly because I thought everything he wrote was kinda scary, and I am a big baby when it comes to anything scary or terrifying. This story is an easy read and straight forward. Right away you know that something is going to go wrong because of the way King sets up the story.
ReplyDeleteIt was different, I can say from King's usual stories. I liked it, off the top it captured my attention. Lol, reading about him fining for a cigarette makes me want to smoke.
ReplyDeleteI give kudos to Stephen King for painting this awful picture because it's a horror in itself how this man thinks. The sad fact is though, even in these moments of shock when you are in the center of attention, sometimes emotions don't follow suite. So this guy who was stuck in this rut routine with his wife finally the tables turn on him in an instant. He doesn't have the mental capacity to feel the appropriate emotions. Ray was like the hot animal in a car. Stuffed, beaten mentally down. Lost faith in love and romance. Been around the track too long then all of a sudden he sees freedom and he can't process it. Like a person in jail who gets institutionalized and can't cope with the new changing world. This was a great read. Love how so closely rooted it felt to suburban middle class life with wal-marts, cigarettes, etc.
ReplyDeleteI've never read anything by Stephen King, but I do know his genre of writing tends to be on more of the horror side. This story stood out from his usual type of writing. Extremely sad story though! This story is a great example of how life can literally change in a blink of an eye. It teaches us that life is so precious. We should live every day like it is our very last. I feel that Ray had mixed emotions in the end. He lost faith in his marriage, but as soon as it was taken from him he was a lost puppy. He didn't know whether to be sad or to have relief and comfort in knowing that he could have freedom in doing whatever he pleased. I loved the foreshadowing he used when he described the, "Sno ball, still in its wrapper, stiff as a dead corpse." Overall, it was a good read, but pretty depressing!
ReplyDeleteLeave it to Steven King to make a dark situation humorous. Never really thought of how non eventful a person’s death could be – I always seem to think some sort of extravagant dramatic exit is in order for everyone I know, but the baseline ‘heh – she’s dead’ seems a bit more real. I guess this is why some people always say ‘I Love You’ whenever they leave the house, even after an argument.
ReplyDeleteI really dont know how the entire event affected the husband; he seemed heartbroken at times, showing emotion mentally and physically. However, other times he contemplated sorrow sex from one of the ladies there as well as the mere fact of cutting her open so casually. The deaths of his wife and dog seemed to be okay in unison, but had they happened separately, i feel his reaction would have varied.
ReplyDeleteStephen King is not my favorite writer so it’s been a long time since I read anything by him and he didn’t disappoint with this short story. I found myself reading about every third word just to get to the end especially when they were all standing around in the store talking about her. That all being said I guess I still have to comment on the story…
ReplyDeleteHe begins by painting a picture of a young couple in dire straits, with a house they can’t afford. Not really sure how that was even a necessary point. I think you get a better since of who this couple is as they sit outside the store and discuss how Mary needs to buy him a pack of cigarettes that cost $5.00 and all she wants to do is buy her niece a purple ball for less than a dollar. We see how selfish her husband is even after her death when one of his first thoughts is now he can smoke anywhere in the house. I think this is a man who is going to die alone. When you don’t have compassion for people or animals I think it shows your true character and it’s not an attractive quality that many would find attractive.
I think they had some issues they could have resolved before moving ahead. It's funny to know that there are couple like that out there that argue for the smallest and dumbest things. If you are a situation like there's i think you should take the time and listen what your partner is saying and just go with it. Sometimes you have to do things for the ones you love...
ReplyDeleteI rather enjoyed this story. It's both dark and humorous at the same time. I believe the husband did feel a little remorse at first but he soon realized he could do as he pleased and seemed to enjoy the fact that he was "free".
ReplyDeleteThis was a sad story. It was a good read, but really sad. It is sad because it is true, to a certain extent. You never know when the last time you will see someone is, that is why I never try to leave anyone on bad terms. It's true relationships have arguments, and people disagree, but I am a strong believer in working it out before you go off on a bad day. I like to make peoples day's not put a damper on them. The end shows that no matter how bad things can get, people still have the things they like, for him its cigarettes. Even though his wife who just died didn't like him to, he felt now he could all he wanted. It proves that no matter how hard some people try to change a person, sometimes people just never do. It was a sad story, but a really good read.
ReplyDeleteI feel like, and perhaps this is maybe slightly overreaching, that if they were both willing to compromise, they'd get out of the petty squabbles and would have noticed the important things about each other. It's sad, but it seems so numb to emotion, when the majority on the story focuses on Ray's thoughts about his world. I suppose that's what bothered me the most about this. That it was about Ray and his misplaced thoughts about really trivial things, and the emotion only seemed to come at the end as an afterthought.
ReplyDeleteI feel like, and perhaps this is maybe slightly overreaching, that if they were both willing to compromise, they'd get out of the petty squabbles and would have noticed the important things about each other. It's sad, but it seems so numb to emotion, when the majority on the story focuses on Ray's thoughts about his world. I suppose that's what bothered me the most about this. That it was about Ray and his misplaced thoughts about really trivial things, and the emotion only seemed to come at the end as an afterthought.
ReplyDeleteThis story had not really drawn me in to wanting to read it. It is true that a lot of people focus on their own world and don't look to see the other peoples life. When you care about someone, you dont look at all the problems or think about getting some from some other person right after your wife dies.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad story, gets you right in the feels on how true it is. I never want to leave anything on a bad note with someone when they matter to me. I never let my girlfriend go to sleep with a fight. i dont want to regret it like other things if i left it on bad terms and later that was the last thing they remembered me by. I know how it feels, i still to this day wish i could make it up to someone that mattered but that person never wants to hear my voice ever again. and it hurts because you just wish you could replace the bad with the good. to one day be forgiven and the past forgotten. but sometimes we never really get that option in life.
ReplyDeleteThis story was quite upsetting. Its sad that things like this happen in real life on occasion or even with animals like family pets. Leaves a bitter taste in your mouth and I would hate to cause drama with someone just to lose them moments later.
ReplyDeleteWe liked it, Very Nice.
ReplyDelete