Nicole Harlan

Professor Sanders
ENGL 263.W1
4 March 2016
Journal Response D
My Life with the Wave by Octavio Paz and The Bucket Rider by Franz Kafka were both
interesting short stories that I enjoyed reading. Between the two stories, I enjoyed reading My
Life with the wave more than The Bucket Rider. At first I was confused with the aspect of his
friend being a wave and had to read the introduction a few times before I understood. The
lengths that the man went to on the train to make sure his new friend was safe from harm was
astounding. It seemed to me like the man has recently met his new friend. After returning a year
away from her, her uniqueness seemed to sweep him, as well as I, away. As their relationship
grew, I was more overwhelmed and invested with how their relationship was going to come to an
end. The relationship between the man and the wave was very emotional, and in turn made me
feel the same emotions as well. The love that they held for each other was passionate and
explosive.
While it seemed like the love that they held for each other was passionate and
consuming, the mans lover took more in the relationship than she gave. After the lover turned
violent in her emotions, I realized that I hoped the man would get over the deep feelings he had
for her. When the man realized how destructive his relationship with his lover was, I was elated
and excited for him to reach out to old friends. While it was sad to see the waves demise at the
end, I knew that I was okay with how the story ended. The wave had her place in the ocean and
never fully integrated into the society where she thought she wanted to be. Even though the man

did not feel any remorse for selling his frozen lover to be ice cubes, I still felt sad for how their
relationship ended.
The Bucket Rider was a different story completely, especially compared to My Life with
the Wave. I felt pity for the character that was dealt the wrong hand in life. He was not able to get
any coal himself and could not get any from the coal dealer either. However hard he tried, the
wife of the coal dealer insisted that there were no customers. I felt frustration on behalf of the
bucket rider since one person could engage with him, yet the wife stopped her husband to selling
to him because she could not see him. While normally I would not condone cursing out others, in
Kafkas characters case, I could see his reason behind it. However, the ending to the story was so
abrupt I was left wanting more and could not fully place how I was feeling.
My questions for Kafka regarding The Bucket Rider would be to ask what inspired this
piece of writing in the first place. Even though it is intended to be a short story, it was rather
short and had an abrupt ending. I would ask him what the abrupt ending was about it and why it
ended so suddenly. The last question I would have for the author would be why was the wife so
blind to him and his cries? While the coal dealer saw him and tried to head to his cries, the wife
did not see anything and called her husband out for his, what she thought, bluff.
After rereading The Bucket Rider, I noticed that a few more lines stood out to me that did
not before. The last line, And with that I ascend into the regions of the ice Mountains and am
lost forever, can be interpreted two different ways. I believe he to be dead, but others could
interpret it as him continue to be living. Throughout the story it seems like he is already dead
because of him, float[ing] at an extraordinary height and perhaps this is why the wife shut
down his cries.