The Day the World Almost Came to An End- notes

SUMMARY

This short story was told from the perspective of an adult and chronicles the events behind a child’s (the adult narrator) belief that the world was about to end. The story is set on a plantation in Louisiana in 1936, where the church was the axis around which plantation life revolved. Despite this fact, the narrator was holding on to being a sinner because she believed that she could not ‘live upright’. One day, while she was playing, her cousin Rena informed her that the world was coming to an end. This was based on a conversation that Rena overheard, and misunderstood, about the eclipse. The hellfire sermons in church did not help to stem the narrator's mounting panic and she worried herself into a frazzle as a result. She had a conversation with her father about this issue and he tried to quell her fears, but unfortunately, he only managed to increase it with his statement that the world could come to an end at any time. The narrator spent the night conjuring images of dooms day, which led to her overreaction to hearing the rumblings of an old airplane. She ran out of her house screaming that the world was coming to an end. Her father caught her on the road and calmed her down. She appreciated life a lot more after that incident and lived her life to the fullest.

SETTING

The story occurs on a plantation in Louisiana in 1936.

CHARACTERS

Daddy:

• Understanding
• Has a good relationship with his daughter

1st person narrator:

• Imaginative
• Bold
• Naive

Rena:

• Naive

THEMES

Religion:

This is the central theme in this short story. Plantation life was centered on religion to the extent that even the narrator's father was a deacon in the church. Religious fervor, in the form of hellfire preaching, is also the fuel for the panic that overtakes the narrator/protagonist in this short story.

Love & Family Relationship:

The love and trust between father and daughter is glaring. When the narrator/protagonist was worried about the world coming to an end, the first person that she thought to consult on this issue was her father. His response to her childish fears, in turn, highlights the easy relationship between the two. Daddy's care in covering his daughter after her mad dash through the turnrow is also an indication of the love that he has for his child.

A Stone's Throw (Poem)

Literal Meaning

         A crowd has caught a woman. The persona implies to the reader that the woman is not decent. She was beautiful, but scared because she had gotten 'roughed up' a little by the crowd. The persona states that the woman has experienced men's hands on her body before, but this crowd's hands were virtuous.

          He also makes a proviso that if this crowd bruises her, it cannot be compared to what she has experienced before. The persona also speaks about a last assault and battery to come. He justifies this last assault by calling it justice, and it is justice that feels not only right, but good. The crowd's 'justice' is placed on hold by the interruption of a preacher, who stops to talk to the lady. 

          He squats on the ground and writes something that the crowd cannot see. Essentially, the preacher judges them, thereby allowing the lady to also judge the crowd, leading to the crowd inevitably judging itself. The crowd walks away from the lady, still holding stones [which can be seen as a metaphor for judgments] that can be thrown another day.

Literary Devices

SARCASM:

          The persona is making the point that the lady was in fact NOT decent looking.

PERSONIFICATION :

         This device is particularly effective because the word 'kisses' is used. Kiss implies something pleasant, but it is actually utilized to emphasize something painful that has happened to the lady; she was stoned.

 PUN :

Title: The title of the poem is itself a pun on two levels. A stone's throw is used by many people in the Caribbean to describe a close distance. eg. "She lives a stone's throw away". The other use of the title is to highlight the content of the poem. It is a figurative stoning, or judging, of a woman.

 ALLUSION (biblical) The content of the poem alludes to the story of Mary Magdalene in the Christian Bible. See John 8 v 5-7.

Contrast

Lines 13-15: These lines show that the men who were ‘holding stones’ believe they are more morally upright than the other men with whom the woman associates.  

Irony

One would think that men with ‘virtuous’ hands would have only pure thoughts, but these men intend to stone the woman , who  seems utterly defenseless. Also, images of cruelty are used, such as ‘bruised’, ‘kisses of stone’, ‘battery’ and ‘frigid rape’. 

TONE

         The tone of the poem is mixed. At times it is almost braggadocious, then it becomes sarcastic, moving to scornful.

Themes

Discrimination-  The poor treatment the persona receives by the men in the poem as a result of her profession. 

Religion

Appearance vs reality

Hypocrisy, 

Oppression,

Power and Powerlessness

I hope this was helpful. We want to provide more original content for you. Please continue to support the blog by clicking on the advertisements whenever you visit our blog. This helps us to continue to provide free content for you.

Note Taking Tips

Video Summary of Play Julius Caesar