Reading Response: Week 12-1

The first time I read “Willi” I could not make sense of the story, but reading it again helped me understand it much better. I am not sure if I like this story or not, I think I’ve got reasons why I think it worked and did not work. Personally, I think I do not enjoy stories written in first person because most of the time it makes it seem unreliable. When I was reading “Willi” there were so many times I did not know if he was imagining things or if it was actually taking place. I think this is what made the story a bit confusing for me. I initially liked the way he started the story (I had no idea it was about masturbation even after the second time I read it) but after awhile it seemed to drag too much, and then it ended in a rush. After discussing the short story in class I thought it was quite interesting that romantic language was used to describe a not so romantic action. Also, I liked the way it ended, “This was in Galicia in the year 1910. All of it was to be destroyed anyway, even without me.” I read it to mean that Willi knew that his parents’ marriage would have ended even if he had not told his father about his mother’s affair with the tutor. However, I enjoyed the different ways some of the others in class had read it. I thinks it’s always great when there are different ways you can analyze a story. Overall, I think there are some elements that make this story quite interesting but I think there are definitely some aspects that could be changed.