"He released her and she moved upward to lie on top of him, resting her head on his shoulder. She spoke dreamily. "I would do anything with you."
"You would not. You would be disgusted."
"Disgusted by what?"
"You would be disgusted if I even told you."
She rolled away from him. "It's probably nothing."
"Have you ever been pissed on?"
He gloated as he felt her body tighten.
"No."
"Well, that's what I want to do to you."
"On your grandmother's rug?"
"I wand you to drink it. If and go on the rug, you'd clean it up."
"Oh."
"I knew you'd be shocked."
"So? That isn't any good to me."
In fast, she was shocked. Then she was humiliated, and not in the way she had planned. Her seductive puffball cloud deflated with a flaccid hiss, leaving two drunken, bad-tempered, incompetent, malodorous people blinking and uncomfortable on its remains. She stared at the ugly roses with their heads collapsed in a dead wilt and slowly saw what a jerk she'd been. Then she got mad."
This passage is taken from Mary Gaitskill's short story A Romantic Weekend. I chose this passage in particular because of the physical effects that it had on me as the reader. This dialogue between the two main characters offers so many different emotions in a very short period of time. The first line here starts with "he released her" which shows, first of all, that he was constraining her prior to the release and secondly, the release itself. There must have been at least a slight change in his temperament to transition from one action to the next from victimizing her to setting her free. As an audience to this action the readers join in her new freedom with a sigh of relief. This relief, however, is short lived in both the character and the reader. But not before a new emotion is brought into the picture.
After being released from his hold, rather than seeking escape from the situation, the woman proceeds to rest her head on this man's shoulder and speak to him "dreamily". As a... [continues]
"You would not. You would be disgusted."
"Disgusted by what?"
"You would be disgusted if I even told you."
She rolled away from him. "It's probably nothing."
"Have you ever been pissed on?"
He gloated as he felt her body tighten.
"No."
"Well, that's what I want to do to you."
"On your grandmother's rug?"
"I wand you to drink it. If and go on the rug, you'd clean it up."
"Oh."
"I knew you'd be shocked."
"So? That isn't any good to me."
In fast, she was shocked. Then she was humiliated, and not in the way she had planned. Her seductive puffball cloud deflated with a flaccid hiss, leaving two drunken, bad-tempered, incompetent, malodorous people blinking and uncomfortable on its remains. She stared at the ugly roses with their heads collapsed in a dead wilt and slowly saw what a jerk she'd been. Then she got mad."
This passage is taken from Mary Gaitskill's short story A Romantic Weekend. I chose this passage in particular because of the physical effects that it had on me as the reader. This dialogue between the two main characters offers so many different emotions in a very short period of time. The first line here starts with "he released her" which shows, first of all, that he was constraining her prior to the release and secondly, the release itself. There must have been at least a slight change in his temperament to transition from one action to the next from victimizing her to setting her free. As an audience to this action the readers join in her new freedom with a sigh of relief. This relief, however, is short lived in both the character and the reader. But not before a new emotion is brought into the picture.
After being released from his hold, rather than seeking escape from the situation, the woman proceeds to rest her head on this man's shoulder and speak to him "dreamily". As a... [continues]
Cite This Essay
- APA
-
(2005, 12). Compare 3 Works Using Affect. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 12, 2005, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Compare-3-Works-Using-Affect-75400.html
- MLA
-
"Compare 3 Works Using Affect" StudyMode.com. 12 2005. 12 2005 <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Compare-3-Works-Using-Affect-75400.html>.
- CHICAGO
-
"Compare 3 Works Using Affect." StudyMode.com. 12, 2005. Accessed 12, 2005. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Compare-3-Works-Using-Affect-75400.html.
