Essay - Ordinary Characters/subjects the Ordinary (And Extraordinary) Characters and Subjects of...

Ordinary Characters/Subjects

The Ordinary (and Extraordinary) Characters and Subjects of Hawthorne, Bradstreet, Williams, Malamud & Wharton

Authors Nathaniel Hawthorne; Anne Bradstreet; Joy Williams; Bernard Malamud; and Edith *****, and *****ten depict ordinary people to whom we can relate, who are thrust into extraordinary circumstances, either of their own making (e.g., Young Goodman Br*****'s nightm*****), or through luck (good or bad) or coincidence. In Hawthorne's short story "Young ***** Brown," the author gives his main character a common n*****me, implying Young Goodman Brown could be anyone: a common man in search of his "Faith" ("Faith," ***** name of *****'s wife, is another *****, like "Brown," that can be either specific, to a person, or general). ***** Goodman *****, then, is an ordinary individual who has ***** extraordinary *****are about what *****re (for a Puritan, at least) common preoccup*****ions about sin and virtue).

***** Bradstreet in her poems "On My Dear Gr*****child Simon Bradstreet, Who died on 16 November, 1669, being but a Month, and One Day Old"; and "To My Dear and Loving Husband" describes tragic yet, unfortunately ordinary (in her day) *****: a beloved child's death in infancy. In "***** My Dear and ***** Husband," Bradstreet writes of love for her husband and a wish for everlasting life together, also an ordinary subject for a Puritan, ***** written with extraordinary skill. Much of the lasting appeal of Bradstreet's work, I believe, is that she writes so skillfully ***** ordinary subjects.

*****n Joy Williams' short story "Taking Care," Jones (like Young Goodman Brown, even Jones's name is ordinary) ***** an ordinary man in trying circumstances: ***** wife is dying and his daughter, to whom he once was close, is estranged; self-destructive and out of control. Jones must find strength ***** cope with ********** hardships, and in t***** process (similar, arguably, to Young Goodman *****'s nightmare) questions, even as a pre*****cher, his relationship to God, a common occurrence in h*****rd times, even for those of faith.

Pinye Salzman; Leo Finkel, ***** Stella, key characters in ***** Malamud's short s*****ry "The Magic Barrel," are ***** more ordinary than not, at least for their time and place. Salzman is a matchmaker, an unusual job but not a unique one. *****'s daughter (like *****) ***** gone astray, a sad but not rare circumst*****ce. Leo Finkel is a young R*****bbinical student who seeks an ideal (i.e., flawless) wife. Leo *****, to grown not just intellectually but humanly, face his own flawed humanity and learn to embrace the real world, in love and in life.

In Edith Wharton's ***** story "Roman Fever," the main characters, wealthy widows Alida Slade and Grace Ansley are unusual in terms of wealth and ability to travel, yet ***** in ***** feelings, recollections, ***** ***** (in Alida's case) schemes. In this story women of wealth and privilege reveal past, universally understandable (albeit extraordinarily interesting) secrets.

***** five ***** these authors depict ordinary *****, or subjects (in ***** case) ***** sometimes *****dinary, but at other times unusual *****. Some circumstances are of the