Skip the Door

I had planned on talking about a story I read a week or so ago but I recently read a short story by Sherman Alexie that I enjoyed so much I would rather talk about it. The story's title is "Breaking and Entering" and can be interpreted a different way every time you read it. The story is about an independent film editor who is a victim of a breaking and entering while he is in his house. Without giving away anything important let me just say that one thing led to another and the right to act upon a person wrongfully breaking into your house may have been taken to far. The first time I read it I felt sympathy for the man who had to fend off a burglar. As I thought about what I read I didn't consider the fact that the narrator is the man who was being burglarized. I then read it in the light of a man on testimony defending his actions of his violent defense. He did not seem guilty but the question of who was to blame became more disputable. This story can be interpreted many ways and it brings up many good points pertaining to racism, proper justice and honesty. For the few, if any, people that read this, read this story:

http://peopleandstories.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/breaking-and-entering.pdf  

Frankenstein

The popular culture view of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein demonstrates the degeneration of society that has been gaining speed for the past several decades. The only information drawn from the story is from the horrific instances related to the monster rather than taking the merit offered through Shelley's composition. The message trying to be passed can still be done even if the recited story is taken out of context from the book but the recitation tends to have the monster's tale embellished to the point where he is only meant to convey fear in the recipient of the story. The commonly known, misinterpreted version of the story goes something like this: Evil scientist creates monster from assembled corpses and the monster begins to wreak havoc on the town until a mob of townspeople end his life. This rendition is solely to appease the interests of the majority that would find reading a relatively short novel too much work. I know I am not the first person to show discomfort with this but it still needs to be said. The monster's name is not Frankenstein either, he doesn't have a name.