American Novelists and Motherly Speaker Figure Essay

And today in the wide world of Literature, well maybe just short stories, we will be going over Rick Moody’s â€Å"Boys† and Jamaica Kincaid’s â€Å"Girl† and discerning the way in which Moody chose to make his story very quick paced to the reader and in a way difficult to read, but with a purpose. Also how that affects the way the reader may read, perceive, or understand the story in a different way. And comparing how the similar writing style of Kincaid compares to Moody’s use. In â€Å"Boys† we are immediately introduced to a recurring theme, event, or phrase, if you will, that pops up throughout the story many, many times. â€Å"Boys enter the house, boys enter the house† (Moody 579). Moody starts his story off with an action already taking place, he chooses not to setup a scene for the reader to immerse his or herself into. We are immediately drawn into the story on what seems to be a roller coaster ride of events and emotions through the years of the boys’ lives. He accomplishes this rushed, almost crazed reading by writing very quick short sentences all in one paragraph, literally making it very difficult for the reader to take their eyes away without losing their place and thus missing out on the action. In â€Å"Girl† the motherly speaker figure rapidly lists things a proper woman of their society should do, such as how to clean and cook. The list goes on and on and has a theme related to what must be done as a grown-up essentially that also gives this sense of following the steps taken over time growing up to be a better person. This quick pace in which the stories progress is similar to Susan Minot’s â€Å"Lust† in that each story told different excerpts from the speakers’ lives that helped mark the growth of the speakers as the stories progressed.