In Class Questions

1.     I found this story to be an interesting narrative, based on the strange way it was splintered. While I did find it to be odd, I think my constant questions kept me glued to reading the story. Based on the first segment of the story presented, I was most surprised by the direction it wound up taking. I am still slightly confused about the ending, which seems to imply that our main character was afforded diplomatic immunity for his crimes, but I am still not 100% sure that this is what the story is telling us. While I enjoyed the splintered timeline of the story, I still struggled with trying to put some of the events in order, between his crime, his various jobs, and his addiction.

2.     I connected with the passage left under the husband’s pillow by his wife, in which she quotes the critic on his view of sympathy. I have found that it can be difficult to relate to certain specific tragedies, ones that can’t be imagined. Still, there is no doubt that in reading about these horrific events, you can’t help but naturally feel sympathy for those involved. Despite this natural response, there is still an emotional disconnect between you and people involved in disasters on the other side of the world. While it may be commonplace for everyone to comment on large tragedies publicly, even though they have no bearing on your life, it is still normal not to have anything else to add. There is a strange atmosphere online that you must either make a point to comment on tragedy or else it can be assumed you don’t care. Just as the critic pointed out, I am hesitant to try and publicly sympathize with those whose hardships I can’t even begin to imagine, as I will never truly be able to say that I understand.

3.     If I were to adapt this into another form of media, I would likely choose film, as I feel a lot of these passages would make for good Wes Anderson-esque voiceover narration. In order to do that properly, I would need to reorder some of the information presented so as to keep the narration paced out properly in relation to any purely action scenes. Still, I would try and keep the fractured narrative, and would try and convey the crime described throughout the story without actually showing it, as the story itself tends to do. I think the photographs being sent through instagram work as a successful way of viewing the crime through the wife’s eyes. In this way, we never really know the truth about her husband’s actions, whether it was really self-defense as he claimed, but we still have a pretty good idea. I would also make a point to soundtrack this movie using Bob Dylan songs almost exclusively, as it feels fitting.