Fiction stories packet response

I think that the perspective of the narrator in Survivors was shockingly insincere. I understand that a major part of the poem was to describe the prejudice and unfairness that same sex couples are put through, even at death, which makes the prejudice so much more powerful as you’d expect the family of the narrator’s lover to look past the nature of his homosexuality and sympathize with him, but they don’t. However, the narrator himself becomes so preoccupied with these coming attacks of prejudice he is portrayed as being blaringly selfish. He not once describes his grievances from his lover’s possible death. He is only concerned with what will happen to him, not the fate of his lover. The face value intention of the short story seems very counterproductive towards what you’d think the poem would be trying t to present: a pro-homosexual narrative.

               In Misdemeanors I think it is quite interesting the way that the Old Man is portrayed. He is a criminal, which typically is cause to look at a person with disdain. However, I feel slight pity for the Old Man. He wants to be regarded as a “tough ex-con”, but he is no more than a penny pinching old man. The manner in which his heist is described is pitiful: pockets sagging with pennies, wearing socks like gloves, and a passed out getaway driver. The fact that he was one sent away from being considered a felon is also significant. If the conditions of his crime were different, if he weren’t so pitiful, maybe I’d view him in another manner, but I do not. You could say I am one cent away from regarding him in a darker light, but right now he appears to me just as a sad and silly old man.

Morning News confused me a bit. I assume that the narrator was diagnosed with a terminal illness of some kind. The short story seems to be in opposition to religion? He directly mocks God at the end by him remarking that he and his wife buy the largest TV in the whole “God damn store”. He also seems to not have much fear of death, as he remarks, “Where is fear?”, whereas the puritan is fearful of damnation. It seems that a message to be interpreted could be the simple lifestyle that accompanies one who does not believe in a religion, particularly Abrahamic religions.  While everyone else wants to go make the last moments of their life fulfilling, as they are more so consumed with the end, the narrator and his wife simply go out and buy a nice flat screen television.