What about "Until Gwen" sticks out the most to you? You could focus on a scene, an image, a character, the style, the point of view, a theme--anything really. Write a perfect paragraph of 5-7 sentences in response.
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What does this picture say about the story?
In "Until Gwen" I liked the final scene when Bobby killed his father. I liked the imagery used to describe how the cuts from his hands while he was digging the grave. when everything was done, Bobby killed his father by breaking his neck, sending him in the grave with Gwen's decaying body. I like second person point of view, so the whole story left strong images on me.
ReplyDeleteThe part that sticks out the most to me is the part when Gwen and Bobby were talking about who killed George's mother. It was humorous and I quite love a good laugh. It confused me because i popped into class late so I wasn't to sure who actually did kill his mother but i just skimmed it so I think I know now. I like how the author added a little bit of profanity, because I mean we all know a few random curse words are funny.
ReplyDeleteThe last scene sticks out to me the most in "Until Gwen". I liked the imagery Dennis Lehane used at the end of the scene describing Bobby looking over his girlfriend and father in the grave.
ReplyDeleteIn "Until Gwen", I have to say the aspect I enjoyed the most was the point of view. Second point of view is scarcely used, and to find it used in this short story is delightful. It made me feel like I was the character, like I was Bobby, and I like being able to connect with the characters in the story, so to have it told in second person made it easier to connect and be Bobby.
ReplyDeleteI really like when author's use second person point of view in dramatic or horror stories. It wouldn't have the same effect in a comedy so i think "Until Gwen" was a great example of an effective use of second person. It makes you feel like you're the central character so anything that happens to that character effects you more. It draws you into the story more. I also liked the imagery Lehane used. His language was very vivid throughout the story which also helped draw us in.
ReplyDeleteOverall, the style "Until Gwen" stuck out to me the most. The dialogue was smooth; it wasn't too profane and it also wasn't too exaggerated either. To me, it's easier to relate to the plot of this story as opposed to A Prayer for the Dying. Born in a time where the only real disease epidemic that could happen to me without any form of consent would be H1N1, it's difficult to grasp the widespread destruction that a massive disease can cause. However, in "Until Gwen", the stealing of the diamond and the subsequent deaths are scenarios that are seen on a more day-to-day basis in this time. If anything, the interpretations just come down to a person's mindset.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the first paragraph of this short story "Until Gwen," because Dennis Lehane did an extraordinary job with the imagery he used to introduce this short story. The first few sentences effectively describe the setting that "I" am in. While reading this short story, it actually feels like I'm in the car riding with my dad along with a hooker named Mandy. Lehane did a great job making the story seem so realistic. Although I'm usually not a fan of second person narratives, this is one story kept me intrigued. The language was vulgar but also very realistic because that's how most people talk nowadays. The picture can be viewed in two different point of views, when I first looked at the picture--I seen it from the aspect of me being in the grave and me looking up towards the sky. You can also look at it as if you were the person digging the grave and you could be looking down into the hole. It also depends on your perspective of things.
ReplyDelete-Brianna Corbitt
"Until Gwen, you had no idea who you were. None. During Gwen, you knew. After Gwen , you're back to wondering."(34)
ReplyDeleteThis line seemed to be the basis of the story in dedication to Gwen for her impact on him. No matter Bobby's life of crime or his dysfunctional relationship with his sociopath father she accepted him as he was. Gwen proved to be reassurance in Bobby's life and after his father killed, he became lost and didn't know he was again. Whoever he was died with Gwen.
The part that stuck out most to me in the story was the part when Bobby killed his own father. It showed how his love for Gwen powered over the love for his bad because he saw his dad as a greedy person. The part that says that he "made sure" that his dad's neck broke was crazy because its his own father who "loves" him.
ReplyDeletethe part of Until Gwen that stuck out to me the most was the dialogue between the characters. i like the way that the author uses the second person to write a successful horror story. it make you feel more as one with the character when you are reading in the second person. i like how he used all the imagery was very strong and help me to visualize the story.
ReplyDeleteUntil Gwen
ReplyDeleteA man who essentially knows nothing about himself will never be able to complete his self-portrait because it lies within a dead corpse, Gwen. The ending of this short story defines Bobby's interdependence on Gwen, "weep for not knowing what your real name is, because whatever it is or could have been is buried with her..." When Gwen dies so does Bobby ("you"). Imagery in "Until Gwen" is strong which causes the readers' imagination, for each scene, to run wild with accurate visualizations. Second person point of view captures every action and thought through the reader's eyes, "you". Dennis Lehane uses second person point of view to help the reader to not only get in the mind of the central character but also makes you feel as though you are the central character, which is the best way to keep readers' interest.
"Until Gwen," is a powerful because it portrays how one person can change another person's life entirely. My favorite part is when Bobby kills his father and he is remembering all the things about Gwen that used to stick out to him. He remembers a, "mole on her left breast, her laughing once with a mouth full of popcorn." I like this because it shows how much he really did love and care about Gwen that cared about everything about her, even the little things. He loved her so much that it drove him to kill his father because his father killed Gwen.
ReplyDeleteThe second person point of view is helpful in portraying the dark eerie mood of the story. The author writing, "you," did this and that makes you feel as if you are in the story and it helps to try to imagine the emotions of the main character. I understood Bobby's emotions when he missed Gwen deeply and still loved and cherished her. The author did a very good job at getting emotions across.
In "Until Gwen" , I liked the imagery and the point of view. I felt like I had a connection with the characters and the story left me with images in my head. My favorite part was the end when Bobby killed his father. The image of Bobby looking at the grave was stuck in my head.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that stuck out to me within “Until Gwen” was Bobby’s father. He was a dysfunctional character, for he was a conman and brought his own son into it. Getting money was his main priority, not even his son meant as much to him as the diamond he spent years trying to track. After Bobby got out of prison, his own father wouldn’t even tell him about his mother, what she was like, how she died, or even what she looked like. Bobby was left in the dark about all sense of identity. He didn’t know where he grew up, for he was told he lived in Idaho, Nebraska, and Nevada, or even if Bobby was even his real name. His fathers main concern was cashing all the checks he’s received from scams. Even at the young age of seventeen, Bobby had knew how to extort money out of people and how to get free meals, all due to his fathers “parenting” skills. Overall, Bobby’s fathers drive in life is revolved around making a profit in any means possible, even if it results in the death of his own son.
ReplyDeleteThreaded through the story is the theme of identity and self-definition. Bobby doesn’t know his real name, his birthplace, and he doesn’t know his social security number. He has none of the concrete milestones people plot their identities around. Instead he finds his identity in another person, in Gwen. She becomes the landmark of his life and all the frayed threads of his life fan out from Gwen and their brief time together. Photographs are mentioned multiple times as a way to capture memories or the essence of people, as if a small scrape of their identity could be preserved in them, to be pulled out later by the owner in a moment of wistful nostalgia. Bobby feels he could be reconnected, however briefly with his mother, or Gwen, even if it only serves to stir up his memories of them. People are defined by what they do, who they are, how they act, Bobbies defines himself by Gwen, and his memories of a bygone summer when he found himself in his love for another. I enjoy reading pieces that breakdown the theme of identity and I was surprised to find it here. It added another layer of enjoyment to me and added depth to what was already an entertaining, suspenseful, and fragmented story.
ReplyDeleteI think the most striking part was when the old woman died. The way the characters reacted to the situation evoked the most emotion in the story. The way George blamed Bobby and Gwen for shooting his mother made me feel sorry for him, and feel like he didn't completely have his wits about him. Gwen's shock is the realest, most human thing in the short story. It's the only part where I felt truly connected with the words on the paper.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the most interesting aspect of the story was the characters and the way they were portrayed. These are character's that could just as easily have no redeemable qualities. The second person style of writing portrays some of the character's in a different light. It's easier to identify with criminals when they display familiar qualities. Due to the second person and the authors talent, it's easier to differentiate our sympathetic main character, and his dillhole of a father.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story by Dennis Lehane, "Until Gwen", the part that sticks out the most to me is the beautiful, lustorus imagery and characterization of the father and son, and even Gwen who is dead and lives on in the story to beautifully written memories of the main character, who seems to be you because the story is skillfully written in second person. It appeals to me, that although fiction, the story is realistic. The tone of somber recollection and the mix of action toward the end builds up through the main characters realization that his dad intends to kill him.
ReplyDeleteThis short story is truly a master piece and one of my new favorites.
I like the end of the short story when the writer says "Until Gwen, You had no idea who you were. None. During Gwen, you knew. After Gwen, you're back to wondering." I thought that was kind of weird because it was true. I don't understand why you would write something that you know is confusing. But I liked it. It was weird like any other 2nd person writing but I liked how it hit the nail on the head about Until Gwen
ReplyDeleteLedibel Rivera
ReplyDeleteIn the short story of Until Gwen i think it is a very good example of a short story thais written in the second person. I loved the way that the author started the short story with the sentence, " Your father picks you up from prison in a stolen Dodge Neon, with an 8- ball of coke in the glove compartment and a hooker named Mandy in the back seat."
This first sentence is what captivated me and what made me want to keep writing. I was shocked when Bobby killed his father I definitely wasn't expecting that. I also found it very interesting that Bobby knew nothing of himself such as things we all have and take for granted like our names, our birth days, our social security number these are all things that give us our identity and say who we are. It was very interesting to read about a character who had neither one of these things. The picture reminds me of Bobby standing over his fathers grave.