As we go into the fiction part in class, we are reading the first fiction packet. In this packet, there are a few very interesting short stories, but this one was one of my favorites. This short story, Morning News, is by Jerome Stern. The main character, a husband in North Carolina, gets the news that his wife is sick. Her sickness is unknown, but my guesses are cancer, because the language in it seems to be more accurate to this type of sickness than other sicknesses. As he gets the news, he faints, and is automatically picturing the worse. He thinks about what he would do if he was in his wife's shoes; how he would spend his remaining life before he passes. By the end of the story, he and his wife go to a discount warehouse and buys the biggest television set they have. Although the story doesn't give a message or a moral in plain sight, I think it gives a message that we all need to learn.
Some readers will say that the meaning of this story is to,"Live your life to the fullest," and that can be true. We only have one life and if we spend it not doing things that can give you complete satisfaction, then you'll pass on without knowing what it would've been like. However, I think that this story is telling more than that. When something goes wrong in a person's life, they either mope in their sorrow and will never get over it. Others will try to do everything that they can to fix it, or make the best of the problem. regardless, they waste their time not looking at the big picture. When something goes wrong in our life, we are so quick to fix it or deny it and it falls apart. Our lives are fragile, and one simple mistake can make everything can go wrong. The message I felt from this story was to stop, and breathe. Look at the big picture. Okay, so there is a bump in the road in my life. I can either, go slowly over the bump, or I can go really fast over it. Most people never think about taking a breather on what has thrown onto them. No one ever thinks about going the "middle" speed, or the" middle" position. I think what this story is trying to say is that, "Yes, something like this can happen in our lives, but it takes us to inhale for a second and look at every side of the situation." Realize what is happening, and try to do the best decision possible that would make you happy.
The husband realizes that he can either rush his wife to do every glorious thing they can think of, or spend his and her life worrying and trying to not over do it. He should see that he should see how she feels about it and do whatever it takes to make her and him happy. He must take a step at a time. However, we may feel in some way that time is running out, so spontaneous things must happen. This is why he still buys the biggest television set in the store. Although there still is time to do things before they get worse, we are humans and we must act on our impulses.
When it comes to situations like this, people are quick to go to one side or the other. No one ever thinks about the middle. If we start to think about the middle decisions in situations, I think things will go more pleasantly and no one will regret what they did or didn't do. If the husband thinks about what the middle part is in his situation, he might be able to satisfy his and his wife's wants and needs, thus lessening the chances that they will regret anything. Like I said earlier, we only have one life. If we sit back and think about what we can do to help our problems, there will be a better chance to live our lives in a better way.
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