Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 221 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations BEFORE we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing/reading on a weekly basis in an informal forum.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

The scene with Wallace, Kim and molly is a glimpse at the life Wallace might have had. I understand this scene to be a moment in which he can do nothing but admit to all of hi wrongs or at least the recent ones and it's mostly because he is questioning everything after his defeat. His daughters silent treatment and his ex's admonishments are  enough to make him feel like even more of a failure. He failed in his fight, failed to control himself, failed his daughter and his ex. wallowing in a lot of self pity is only a fraction of what he's doing. throughout the whole story he is running. He runs from the aftermath of the fight after his knock out. he runs from society after the the loss becomes public. he runs from himself after his self pity gets stronger. runs from the small altercation with his neighbor. running is his thing, kind of ironic considering his job requires him to be the stand up guy. In the story his job is portrayed as his life. this loss and his reaction to it is maybe the truest reflection of his life.

The conversation between Wallace and his neighbors wife is almost looking at what could have been a part of his future. He had gone to her after his conversation with coach which gave him the idea of retiring. Her story of why her husband was 30yrs younger than her gave me the impression that she didn't care what people thought of her. I think Wallace admired that, coupled with his disbelief in the idea of not working. the conversation they had helped Wallace come to terms with his self pity and inability to to be decisive. by the end of the conversation i think this i the mot honest Wallace has been with himself and another person from the beginning. when his neighbor has arrived and he realized that  he had probably heard their conversation he just sort of accepts it  and faces him with a different mindset. he opens the door but there is no anger for being lied to. in fact if anything he seems to still feel a bit apologetic though i think its only the beginning of apologies for him.

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