Unfinished Blog

1.What were your initial reactions to the story? What emotions do you think the author is trying to evoke from the reader AND why? Use at least two direct quotes as textual support for your opinions.

My initial reaction to this story was that this woman would be talking about her daughter who must be out of control. I thought this because on the first page someone says, "She's a youngster who needs help and whom I'm deeply interested in  helping." But as you read on, the narrater goes back talking to how beautiful her daughter was as a child. "She was a beautiful baby." -page 172. Because she repeats this exact same line right now the page, I thought she might be another crazy like The Yellow Wallpaper. However, that turned out not to be the case. The author is trying to evoke sadness and grief for the narrator and her family. "She was a miracle to me, but when she was eight months old I had to leave her daytimes with the woman downstairs to whom she was no miracle at all, for I worked or looked for work and for Emily's fathers, who "could no longer endure" (he wrote in his good-bye note) "sharing want with us." This sentence makes you feel sorrow towards the family, as the daughter is left with a nanny at such a young age because her father's left and her mother is trying to find work.

2.What message is our narrator trying to communicate through the last line of the story? Explain your interpretation in as much detail as possible.

The narrator is trying to communicate that this is the end of the story. What happened to Emily, her rough childhood, happened and there is no more that can be done. The last line is trying to say that Emily has overcome the obstacles in her life, and she is not hopeless. She has the ability to go out and change and lead a better life.