Blog assignment #2

Blog Assignment #2

"question 2"

I actually appreciated the story being portrayed just as it was. The progression of events and the growth of each character conveyed solely through his eyes was what I think I appreciated the most. I guess I find personal narrative like that more attractive than stories told from an omniscient point of view. And honestly I don't feel there was a place for the characters to be "penitent for their sins" in this story. It didn't seem like there was supposed to be a moral waiting for you at the end, because after all, it was a happy ending (or at least it would appear so for the two main characters judging by what we were shown) It seemed as though the author purposely left out that part of their journey together because it was irrelevant to their destination. He even says something the effect of "..And it seemed as though in a little while the solution would be found, and then a new and splendid life would begin.." However, I don't think he is trying to glamorize the notion of having an affair either because he clearly paints a picture of his and hers inner struggle through out the story. You clearly see their individual, and collective guilt about the events they go through. Morality is subjective to each person, and that being said I can see why some people would think it unnecessary to try and write stories with that premise. Life will never work out to be a clear cut series of events with a climax and a resolution. You are only left with a fog of emotions and thoughts, the person you are, and the circumstances you are in etc. through all that you make your own decisions and try for what you want. That's how I think this story was meant to be taken in. You travel through this journey with him, and are free to make up whatever you want from it and draw your OWN morals. That's our only choice anyway.

"question 3"

I think we needed Gurov to tell us this story because without him we would not have truly understood it. It's not always enough to know what happened(because sometimes "what happens" isn't even necessarily the story) you need to know how they became the people they are in order for them to transition into the people they become. And, we needed to understand how Gurov was going to take Anna into himself. In this story, we get three different versions of Gurov that are all important. You have the person he was that made him who he is as he was telling it, who he is "now", and who he became. That kind of depth truly adds to the story, and perhaps begs a little on the author's part for the slightest of sympathy.