Truthful Lies

FRANKIE MCMILLAN

CHARACTERS:

Main character: first person narrator (a women talking to herself)

Minor character: no other characters except her because she was just talking to herself, but she
mention her fiance(the dwarf- Stan)

THEME:

Tragedy, sorrow and sadness are in her voice in each word she says. The main theme is about to live
with truthful lies, lies she uses to believe herself, that won’t hurt anyone but she needs to run from
reality. White lies.

Plot:

A woman talking to herself convincing herself that she can use white lies or saying what she wants
to hear but not the truth.

She asks herself about ordinary things( breakfast, and how she often wash her hair) she answers with
very ordinary and safe answers.

She asks if she’s ever been engaged to a dwarf, and she answers hesitantly yes. His name was Stan,
she describes him mockingly.

She asks herself about kids and she answers with misery that she had four bout now they are only 3.
She tells the story of how she gave birth to the baby and she lost him. How Stan ran with the baby
under the rain and how the dog tried to help the baby.

She ends her conversation with herself again convincing herself with white trivial lies that make a
loving picture in the mind instead of tragedy and headache.

Conflict:

The pain she faced in losing her baby and the fact that she used a lies to tell people her story. Facing her
life tragedy with lies to make it easier.
Man Carrying Books
Linh Dinh
CHARACTERS: Pierre Bui (an illiterate bicycle repairman)

The narrator is a third person narrator who is telling us about Pierre

THEME:

Caring about appearances in front of people.

Mockery is a bit clear in the way the narrator what us to see how someone who is illiterate and can read
would use books to gain people respect.

Plot:

The narrator starts with reminding us how in any society books make their carrier somehow respected.

He introduces Pierre Bui for us and where he is from. He was an illiterate bicycle repairman, but what
was different about him is that he used to hold books wherever he goes. People respected him for that
and he enjoyed the idea of feeling better than others and being respected even from beggars
prostitutes, mugger and children. They all keep quit and show respect when he was around.

The books, what type, kind or topic never matter for him all what matters was to have books that shows
him as a scholastic man.

It was not easy to gain all these books it was actually expensive for a bicycle repairman but he used to
cut all his expenses, live and eat poorly.

The narrator shows us how Pierre faith in book was rewarded in a 1972 during one of the strongest
battles of the war, all the houses of his village were incinerated burnt down except for his . He was afraid
trembling, surrounded and protected by thousands of books.

Conflict:

Its and irony that an illiterate person wanted to gain respect by using books, to show people at that
time that he was intellectual. He wanted to escape and change the fact that he was poor and illiterate
by caring about what people think about his. He wanted a greater impression every time, although he
could use the money he gain from repairing bicycles to live in better conditions.