Matty The Short Story

Alternative title: “Who’s to know” The original title “Barbie-Q” is probably a play on the word “barbeque”, since at the end of the story the narrator mentions that the dolls come from a factory that burned down the night before. I really like this title because the fun wordplay actually describes a pretty disturbing image of a human-like doll being burned and slowly melted. Freaky. This contrast shows in the story as well. The narrator takes an unwavering fun and excited tone throughout the entire story, even during the mention of the factory fire. When she hears the news, she is really excited because the fire means she gets to buy some toys on the cheap. However, if you think just a little harder, her excitement completely overlooks the disturbing reality that a whole factory burned down and probably some people with it. I don’t know if this signifies some other deeper meaning to the story, but I just found the connection between the tone of the title and this scene very interes...

Connect any of the stories we’ve read this semester to the current global crisis. How does the story help us understand our time? How do current events affect how we understand the story? The story “There Will Come Soft Rains” depicts a destitute, post-apocalyptic scenario: humans are presumably extinct. The house, which represents the last trace of humanity on Earth, begins to deteriorate, breaking down and eventually being consumed by fire. It’s a bleak scene, as nature reclaims what ultimately always belonged to it. Based on the historical context, this story, which was written in 1950, can be interpreted as a criticism of the tensions of the Cold War. It illustrates the potential future of humanity wiping itself out through nuclear war, leaving nature to slowly reclaim the Earth, until the last house which represents millions of years of our civilization turns to dust. This story presents the idea of nature being a higher power which is above petty human conflict—it’s a forc...