...A Simple Exchange of Niceties - by Joanne Fedler ‘’Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake’’, a quote from one of Wallace Stevens’ books. Sometimes we need time and space to explore and discover the truth in our life. We will meet things in our life that change our view and way of living. The short story is written in first person narrator. The narrator writes colloquial language. She uses simple and everyday language with varied vocabulary. The style of writing is simple and straightforward – the narrator tells us whatever she has on her mind: ‘’Do you mind? I looked up. Did I look like I didn’t mind?’’ (p. 9, line 69-71). The narrator is a young teenage girl. Her view of herself and others is absolutely critically bad. In the beginning of the story she doesn’t mentioning anything positive at all. She demeans herself when she uses the words trashy whore which she was called by the father of her child. She mentions these words a couple of times through the story, and it is clear that she see herself worth nothing. Her view of other people isn’t positive either. She has a lot of prejudices and she is negative about other people. We see an example of this when the woman with the bottle sits next to her. The narrator calls the old lady’s action of joining her on the bench, without asking, for ‘’bad manners’’ (p. 8, line 31). One might suggest that she simply doesn’t like other people. The bench is very precious to the girl. It means a lot to her and she considers...
Words: 792 - Pages: 4
...A Simple Exchange of Niceties “I like benches. They make you feel as if people matter… They just sit and wait for you, an invitation that’s never revoked.”[1] This sentence in Joanne Felder’s short story, “A Simple Exchange of Niceties”, 2007, is very important. During her upbringing she has never really felt appreciated or special by her own mother, “My mother wouldn’t even put up the $500 bail for me. I guess I understand her point. I’m bad news”[2] It seems like she is very clear with who she is; she does not blame her mother – but instead she blames her self. She keeps away from social surroundings because they bring her back to her own childhood, “I got all panicky. She reminded me of my Nan who’s been dead for more than ten years”[3]. This is also why she is so attached to this bench – as she says herself, she feels welcome there, but it is also a dead piece of wood put together and therefore it can never hurt her like she has been hurt so many times before. It is the place where she can find peace and quietness in her mind. This is why the bench has such a big significance in the short story – it is the only place that she feels welcome and not judged. It is also the place where her life changes in many ways, “Since I’m already pregnant and all that, maybe I’ll just have it, and give it to her. It was the first time I had ever thought about coincidence and fate.”[4] Even though her pregnancy was an accident she now gives it a deeper thought and the meeting with the lady...
Words: 1206 - Pages: 5
...A simple exchange of Niceties None of us knows what life brings us. Some of us don’t even know what we want to do and achieve in our lives. But we all have some sort of dreams, hopes and expectations, to not just our lives, but to who we want to be as a human being. Sometimes it doesn’t quite work out the way we want it to, and sometimes we make big mistakes. But the mistakes we are making, or the unexpected things there are happening to us, can have a certain meaning of how our lives turns out in the end. In the short story “A simple Exchange of Niceties” written by Joanne Fedler, “2007” is a young woman facing all the things that turns up, when she didn’t expected it. By an accidental mistake and a simple exchange of niceties, her life turned out for the better. The short story “A simple Exchange of Niceties ” is told by a first-person narrator. Seen in a bigger picture, the short story is about a young woman whose 8 weeks pregnant and she’s going to have an abortion. She works as a waitress and doesn’t have a lot of money. She has a favourite bench in the park, that she’s sits on, but it’s only if anyone else aren’t sitting there. She likes the idea, that the bench is put there especially for her, and she’s actually calling the bench for “hers”. She hates when people comes over and sits on her bench, without a simple exchange of niceties as “do you mind” or “May I”. While she’s sitting on the bench, we hear about the boy, Damian who got her pregnant, her best friend Barbie...
Words: 1306 - Pages: 6
...------------------------------------------------- A Simple Exchange of Niceties “A Simple Exchange of Niceties” is about a girl getting unexpectedly pregnant. She often goes to a park and sits on her favourite bench. Here she sits and reflects about her life and her surroundings. One day a young lady approaches her, and her life changes forever. The novel “A Simple Exchange of Niceties” is written in 2007, by Joanne Fedler. The main character does not see herself as someone who is important. She feels as if, she is worthless and a failure. Her self-esteem is very low, and she explains how she is different from other girls. “It’s not like I’m going to find a decent bloke and get married.” She has a good heart and would give up anything to anybody. Some people see that as a weakness. She puts other peoples happiness before her own. On the other side, she also describes herself as “bad news”. She was caught shoplifting and she tells, that it sort of just happened. Her relationship with her mother is really bad. She explains to the lady, that her mother does not love her. She even refused to pay the bail of her own daughter. The first time the main character sees Damian she is very attracted to him. But when they are in the middle of sexual intercourse, she sees him in a different light. “When just two nights before, he held his strong hands behind your hair and licked you from your throat to your bellybutton in a way that made you think, you know, that maybe he loved you...
Words: 976 - Pages: 4
...A Simple Exchange of Niceties Joanne Fedler’s essay begins with the narrator making it obvious that she is pregnant, as well as that she does not care about too much. The narrator shares with the reader her intimate relationship with her favourite bench at the park, conversations she has had with strangers on the bench, as well as personal memories and opinions. The essay revolves around the narrator, her pregnancy, and her intimacy with the specific bench at the park. Fedler created the narrator as an extreme pessimist, not viewing things very positively or in a nice manner. The narrator grew up with a rough childhood – often believing her mother would exchange her for opulent desires, and not knowing whom her own father is. Another hint that the narrator grew up without luxuries, is that she was once a shoplifter. Children and adolescents that are normally caught stealing, are taking it because they can not afford to pay for it – and when the narrator’s bail turned out to be only $500, her mother would not pay for it. From this, the narrator views herself as an underachiever, taking more out of the world than what she contributes. She does not feel worthy of many things in life, bringing many issues upon herself. A fine example of this would be the areas she goes to; one place being where she met Damien (her baby’s father). Damien approached her in a pool pub, which is normally not a nicer area to be (in America), quickly flirting with her via body language; inquiring if...
Words: 837 - Pages: 4
...A simple exchange of niceties In this paper I will analyze and interpret the short story “A Simple Exchange of Niceties” by Joanne Fedler. The short story is about this girl – the narrator - who gets pregnant with a guy who doesn’t want anything to do with it. At first she wants to get an abortion but something changes her point of view. One day in the park - while she was sitting on the favorite bench - a woman joins her. They started to talk about babies even though the narrator didn’t want to. The woman tells that she isn’t able to get pregnant but the narrator doesn’t really react or show any interest. A few days later the narrator changes her mind and decides to give birth to her baby. Not so she can keep it herself, but to help the woman. She never sees the woman again and the story ends with the narrator giving birth to her child. In this paper I will focus on respectively the narrator’s view on herself and others, how the bench in the story changes her life, the main themes and the narrator’s language. Throughout the whole story – except the end – the narrator is very angry at the world. It seems as she thinks that everyone is against her and doesn’t accept her. “Benches like that don’t seem to mind that you’ve never reached your potential or managed to finished anything you’ve ever started.” (p. 8, l. 13) This quote gives us an idea of how she sees the world or more specifically how she is not seeing the world. For her, the world only contains people who are very...
Words: 970 - Pages: 4
...A simple Exchange of Niceties What would you do if you had to make the decision to keep a baby or get an abortion? It is this decision the character in Joanne Fedler’s short story “A simple Exchange of Niceties” is so sure about that she have not included other than a boyfriend that did not love her. Through what she observes in the park, the women she meets and her mother she ends up revealing what she really needs. The main character in the short story holds a negative opinion towards the other characters she meets or observes. She finds it rude if people do not consults her first when they interfere with her doings: “… if I’m already sitting there (the bench) and someone comes and sits down without even simple exchange of niceties … well, that’s just bad manners …”. The quote shows that the main character is a bit touchy when it involves her. She does not like to chit-chat, when she comes to the bench it is to relax: “Today, of all days, I needed to be alone on my bench”. But this day a girl came up to the bench and started to chit-chat. The girl was unable to have children. And when the conversation ended it had changed the main character’s opinion a little. In the beginning of the story the main character does not have a lot of self-insight. She is selfish and only think about her own needs: “I know you’re not supposed to smoke when you’re pregnant, but fuck it … “. After she talked to the sterile girl she thinks about giving the girl her child. After the main character...
Words: 764 - Pages: 4
...A Simple Exchange of Niceties By Adam Tage Stavnstrup 1M In the short story: “A Simple Exchange of Niceties” we are introduced to the narrator by herself, a young girl who is pregnant. The short story is about this girl – the narrator - who gets pregnant with a guy who doesn’t want anything to do with it. At first she wants to get an abortion but something changes her point of view. One day in the park - while she was sitting on the favorite bench - a woman joins her. They started to talk about babies even though the narrator didn’t want to. The woman tells that she isn’t able to get pregnant but the narrator doesn’t really react or show any interest. A few days later the narrator changes her mind and decides to give birth to her baby. Not so she can keep it herself, but to help the woman. She never sees the woman again and the story ends with the narrator giving birth to her child. In the beginning of the story she has low self-esteem, probably caused by the thing she has experienced througout her life. You can also see it in statements like ”I'm bad news. I hang around in pubs after work. I'm not going to amount to anything. It's not like I'm going to find a decent bloke and get married” Furthermore She thinks her mother does not love her. She would have “exchanged me for a weeks holiday at a three-star resort”. Also the guy that knocked her up, Damien, will not acknowledge her and calls her a trashy whore. Something that does not quite helps her self-esteem. She became...
Words: 993 - Pages: 4
...A Simple Exchange of Niceties The narrator is a teenage girl whose view of herself and others definitely is critically bad. She starts telling the story about herself, without mentioning anything good at all. She kind of demeans herself by using the words “trashy whore,” which she was called by the father of her child. She mentions these words a couple of times in the story, and it seems like she doesn’t see herself as anything, like when she says: ”I’m bad news,” or “I’ve never done anything with my life. I’m not going to amount to anything, it’s not like I’m going to find a decent bloke and get married.” However about other people she isn’t positive neither. She has many prejudices, like of the woman with the bottle of water. She calls the old lady’s action of joining her on the bench, without asking: “Do you mind?” or “May I?” for bad manners. She simply doesn’t like other people, which she shows by telling the woman that her mother doesn’t love her, what she surely does, and by saying that being alone isn’t the worst thing at all. The bench is very precious to the girl, and it means a lot to her. She considers it her property, and has always thought of the bench as her own bench. The reason why she chose exactly that bench, and not one of the other hundreds in the park is, that it’s the one just to the left of the big duck pond. Because it’s comfortable and doesn’t have stats that protrudes into your back. Simply because it’s the best bench in the park, and she have spend...
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...Joanne Fedler has written a short story called: ”A Simple Exchange of Niceties” and it has been written in 2007. The text is about a young woman who becomes pregnant. I want to give an analyze of the story and I will try to give you an characterization of this pregnant woman and then I will tell you about the special bench and try to find out why it is so special. The woman in this text is also the narrator of the story, so through the story we get to know this pregnant woman better and hear her feelings. The narrator of the story doesn’t count so much on herself, because she got pregnant with some guy called Damien. She doesn’t think that she has achieved much in her life and all her teenage dreams about art school in Paris will never happen. The woman had met Damien when she was playing pool and he asked her if she had a cigarette. They ended up having sex and the woman became pregnant with a random guy, who doesn’t want to have kids or anything to do with the child they are waiting. “We hadn’t spoken much, so I couldn’t have known he didn’t want kids”. After the episode she was called a lot of abuse, such as whore and trashy, and it doesn’t help your self-confidence, so the woman don’t think she can achieve so much in her life. “Smoking may be dangerous in pregnancy” the old woman said. The old woman was sitting on the same bench as the narrator and she answered impolite that it was a ‘fucking’ cigarette that got her into the mess with the pregnancy, because Damien asked after...
Words: 769 - Pages: 4
...A Simple Exchange of Niceties The story is about a presumably young woman, who accidentally has got pregnant. She has a fond an obsessive relationship to a paticular bench in a park and she do not like to share it with others but one day she meets another young woman at the bench. The main character finds out that this woman is not able to get pregnant and she desides to give her baby to her when she has given birth, but she ends up keeping her daughter. This meeting might have been destiny, even though destiny is not something she believes in. The main character suffers from really bad selfesteem. This reflects in statements like ”I'm bad news. I hang around in pubs after work. I'm not going to amount to anything. It's not like I'm going to find a decent bloke and get married”[1]. She sees herself as a giving person who would share at any time. In the text it says”It's not that i don't like sharing. I'd give anyone the shirt off my back, or the food off my plate ... i just like to be consulted first”[2]. It is true that she does not mind sharing material things but this statement testifies she cannot share her bench with random people, because it feels like having her personal spfere invaded and she will not share intimacy. She likes to think of that bench as ”my bench”[3]. The bench is personified in her own description of it - it gives her the feeling like someone is waiting for her and it is mentioned that the bench is like a cousin who don not mind being left...
Words: 1026 - Pages: 5
...It is only polite to greet the stranger next to you on a bench. This is a social rule. It is nice to help others where you can. If someone wants something so badly, and you want to get rid of, should you give it to them, even though it is your own baby? A Simple exchange of niceties is written by Joanne Fedler in 2007. The main character has gotten pregnant by mistake. In her spare-time she likes to sit on a special bench in the park. This bench might her source of safety, in her messy life. She thinks she is the only one, that she owns it, until she meets someone who feels the same way about the special bench. The short story is written from a first person narrator point of view. The narrator of the story likes to sit on a special bench in the park. She sees the bench as her property, and she does not like when anyone else is sitting on it. The bench get the role of a friend to the girl. This is her place of safety, and she does not want to share it with anyone. She does not mind giving anything else away, of any material value to make others happy; “It’s not like I doesn’t like sharing. I’d give anyone the shirt off my back or the food off my plate.” (ll.23-24, p.1). She would even give her child away, but the only thing she doesn’t want to share with others is the thing she cannot have for herself; the bench. The narrator’s view of herself is pretty trashy. We are told that she does not have a very well relationship to her mother; “She would have exchanged me for a...
Words: 878 - Pages: 4
...How is it that a completely stranger can change your life, and make you keep your unwanted baby. In A simple exchange of Niceties the author Joanne Fedler makes a young lady with a favourite bench in a park, change her mind about getting an abortion by meeting a stranger, with the opposite problem as herself. But why does that meeting have so much effect on the narrator? And could a stranger affect us all in such an extreme way? But in some cases we have to believe a little bit in fate. In the story we meet a typical woman, who likes to keep things to herself. She is also the narrator of the text. The woman is pregnant with a man called Damian, but he doesn’t want kids “we hadn’t spoken much, so I couldn’t have known he didn’t want kids”. She feels trashy, and doesn’t think she’s worth anything at all. She didn’t achieve her teenage dream about going to Paris, after her pregnancy she have been called a lot of things like whore, and that doesn’t help at her picture of herself. Whenever she wants to be alone and clear her head she goes to her bench, it’s the one bench she always returns to and she doesn’t like sharing it with others. The bench is really personal and intimate to her and she dosen’t want to share that with strangers. One day a stranger sit down next to her, and not only just sit there but also talks to her. “You shouldn’t smoke”, the woman who sit next to her says. The narrator is just answering impolite and irritated. But something unexpected is happening...
Words: 511 - Pages: 3
...Written assignment about “Reunion” Write an essay in approximately 700 words in which you analyze and interpret John Cheever’s “Reunion”. In your essay you must include the following points: * A characterization of the boy * A characterization of the father * The relationship between the boy and his father * The ending Tips about writing analytical essays: * An essay in English is not the same as in Danish. In English it is a broader term referring to an analysis of a given text - and a structure with an introduction, an analysis and a conclusion. * Start off by writing an introduction where you introduce: * The overall theme(s) of the essay * Make a short presentation of the short story you are going to write about. The introduction may sound like this: “In this essay, I am going to analyze the short story “Reunion” by John Cheever in which the main themes are… and … My main focus will be on the characters and their relationship as well as the ending”. (You may use this introduction or a variation of it in your essay) * Avoid a summary (your reader knows the story!!!). * Do not use headlines in the middle of the essay. * Handle one aspect/point at a time. * Analyzing means reading between the lines to find the author’s message. * When you characterize a character make sure you focus on what lies beneath the surface, fx how he relates to others, his behavior and needs and how he develops in the story. ...
Words: 275 - Pages: 2
...English essay 2 - This was preordained In life as we know it today, people are born with different opportunities. And today the meaning of the word “luck” is close to being undefinable. However, it is up to one self to decide what luck is. This problem is exactly what Joanne Fedlers - A Simple Exchange of Niceties is all about. In this case, we are dealing with two people with a problem just like that. Because they are both lucky in each other’s eyes. The story takes place in mostly two different places, the one place is a hospital and the second place is by the bench, by the little lake. We follow our main characters way to “her bench” every day. Her bench is located “just to the left of the big duck pond” (page 1 line 7.). At this particular bench, we follow our main character through her everyday life, and through her processes of thinking when she is reflecting on her issues, in this case it is her baby that’s on its way. The other part of the story takes place in the hospital. We hear about her sitting in the waiting room while reading some “stupid” magazines about having a baby. Afterwards we are with our main character and her mother at the maternity home. At this point they are praising the new born baby. In the beginning of the story the narrator only manages to notice all the bad things in life. She is actually being a bit selfish, and could never dream of doing something good for other people, why should she? No one has ever done anything for her. This feeling...
Words: 801 - Pages: 4
