Regionalism-"The Day Before Easter"

A peaceful serenity combated an otherwise bustling and chaotic neighborhood. Snow was falling with big flakes, the kind that was perfect for little children running around, heads up, and mouth open, catching them with their tongues. Anthony (“Antek” to his grandfather) strolled closely by his grandfather’s hip. Together, they strolled through Old Polonia, one of many selective neighborhoods throughout the city with a predominately polish population. Both were on their way to the Broadway Market to pick up supplies and groceries for an Easter celebration like none other Antek and his little brother of four had ever experienced. As they reached the innards of the Market, the smell of polish sausage, fresh chicken, fish, and sauerkraut overwhelmed the nostrils of little Antek.
As Antek and Grandpa Joe reached home, both were greeted by Grandma, Mom, Dad, Brian. Since Easter was tomorrow, no one really had the patience to do much cooking on account of what was to be done the next day. The consensus among the adults were to order a pizza and buffalo style chicken wings to the thorough enjoyment of Antek and Brian.
On the way to pick up the food, Antek and Brian, sitting in his booster seat, sat in the back seat admiring the passing sites on French Road including a Jubilee Super Market (which Grandpa Joe and Grandma went to all the time but was shunned to the strong, holiday tradition of going to the Broadway Market), the exact K-Mart that little Antek and Brian got all their toys, and a Mighty Taco which recently opened up. The shining, bright lights excited Antek, while the serenity of a car right put Brian right to sleep.
The smell of the pizzeria made Antek’s mouth water. With Grandpa Joe in the car with a slumbering Brian, Antek admired the pictures of Gilbert Perrault, Jim Kelly, Joe Ferguson, Danny Gare, and aerial shots of Pilot Field and Rich Stadium. Standing on his tip-toes with his hands on the counter with only from his eyes up exposed, Antek wondered what it was like to be in the hustle and bustle of the pizzeria.
As Antek laid with Brian in Grandpa Joe’s bed, while the adults hid the Easter Eggs, he was excited to think about what the Easter Bunny brought for him. He wondered if the Easter Bunny know Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. How did the Easter Bunny get from house to house? As the young ones drifted off to sleep, the elders sat quietly in the living room watching Irv Wienstien deliver the news, and Tom Jolls give the weather on WKBW, dreading the certain seven o’ clock wake up call they would get from little Antek and Brian.

Henry James/Edith Wharton

It was interesting to read Henry James's work "The Art of Fiction." It was a little difficult, but in any event, I took it as a nineteenth century how-to book on a subject which was largely frown upon for many years prior. It took a couple pages to realize that James was in fact, pro-fiction. For any person reading a manual about how to fix something (for argument's sake I will use a car), one would not use a manual for a '79 Ford to fix a 2004. Times change, text books change, but there are numerous things I pulled from "The Art of Fiction" that I whole heartedly agree with. Fiction should be looked at as an art form. Fiction writers should be in the same boat as painters are to painting, or musicians are to an orchestra. Fiction writing is without a shadow of a doubt, a work of art. Writers are always tinkering with their piece hardly ever, sometimes never satisfied with what they write. Fiction should also be about personal experience as well. Although fiction is a work that deals with things that have never happened in reality, fiction still needs a muse to become effective. Fictionalizing real events are what many of the world's greatest works are based upon. Finally, the quote that grabbed my attention the most was on page 556. "The 'ending' of a novel is, for many persons, like that of a good dinner, a course of dessert and ices..." This quote couldn't have rang truer. The ending of a work of fiction is what pulls every loose end together. Since the ending (dessert), is what the reader looks most forward to, a bad ending can ruin the whole story.

James's piece applies greatly to Emily Wharton's work, "Souls Belated". Wharton does a tremendous job using everyday occurances from the eyes of characters like Lydia and Gammet. Both have varying views on how the proper way to live life. There is certainly a romance between the two, but conflict definately arises. These varying views serve as a force that could potentially pull the two away from each other. This case happens every day in modern terms as it could have happened in Wharton's time. I must apologize for the approaching cliche, but the ending was typically the sweetest part of the story. We were lead on for roughly 90% of the story to believe that the relationship between Lydia and Gammet would never work. As we read on, even up until the fourth to last paragraph on the last page (865) it seemed as if the inevitable were to happen. When Gammet finally came to grips with having to be without Lydia, who was already on the wharf awaiting departure, had second thoughts and rushed off the boat to ultimately wed Gammet. This turn, in my eyes, is what makes "Souls Belated" such a powerful work, and ultimately, such an effective fictional story.