A Story, Dylon Thmas

                                            A Story

Summary

            'A Story' was written by Welsh poet, Dylon Thomas . This story is all about a days outing in a Charabanc made by a group of adults and it parents the adults world from the perspective of a boy.

         The write/narrator of this story used to stay with his uncle, Thomas and his wife, Sarah when he was small boy. His uncle was big, noisy, dirty and red hairy. In contrast, his aunt was small, quick and quiet.

        On evening, the boy was reading a newspaper in his uncles shop when some friends of hi uncle, Benjamin Franklin, Noah Bowen, Will Sentry and Mr. Weazley came in. Benjamin Franklin, who had been assigned the responsibility of collecting fund for the outing, reported that he had collected enough money for the bus fare and 20 cases of pale ale(light beer). HE also complained with Mr. Thomas for being followed by Will Sentry all the times. They tried to shout saying that there was no fault with Will Sentry as he was keeping an eye on the outing fund. Benjamin Franklin got furious at the critical remark of his friends. They spent some time playing cards and went out.

   On Sunday evening, the narrator and his uncle were eating Sardines when Benjamin Franklyn and Will Sentry arrived. When Sarah knew that her husband was going to outing with his friends, she threatened him tot go to her mother house if he went for outing. She also offered him a choice between she herself or outing. When Thomas chose to go to outing, she got even more furious. On Saturday morning the day of outing, she went to her mother house leaving him a note where the eggs were kept. On the day of outing everyone assembles and went into the bus. After everyone got into the bus they drove out of the village. On the way, Benjamin noticed that old O' Jones was missing so they drove back to village to pick up their missing friend and resumed their journey.

       On the way to Porthcal they stopped at mountain Sheep. The owner of the public house was long, lean and black- fanged man, who welcomed the, like a wolf. The members of the outing went into the public house leaving the boy outside. 45 minutes later the boy also went into the public house following a French onion seller. The boy could not recognize his uncle and his friends because they had turned red and were shouting. After drinking the public house dry, they left it. On the way to their destination, they stopped at every restaurant they came across on the way. It was getting darker but the didn’t mind the flow of time. They also stopped at a river and enjoyed with cold water. Finally they stopped at Hemrits Nets for a rum. Then they started their journey back.

     On the way home they stopped the bus, took out remaining cases of beer and started drinking it. Old O'Jones began to cook sausage and crushed potatoes in the middle of bus feeling sleepy, the narrator began to sleep lean against the waist coat of his uncle.

Questions

1.     How does the boy, the narrator, look at his uncle and his friends?

The narrator finds his uncle and his friends whimsical and animistic. He expresses his attitude towards them using several figures of speech related to animals. In the beginning of the story, the speaker compares his uncle with an old buffalo squeezed into an airing cupboard. At one point of the story the narrator says that the members of the outing rushed out bleating into bar. Towards the end of the story the narrator says that Mr. Weazley would cough like Billy goat. All these similes and metaphor justify that the narrator views his uncle and friends as human being degenerated into animality.

2.     Write a paragraph to describe the relation between Thomas (the boys uncle) and his wife.

The boy's uncle, Thomas and his wife lived their life with a sense of affection and caring. Sarah did not want her husband to got to outing only because he would come home heavily drunk. Thomas choose to go outing not because he didn’t love his wife but because he wanted a break from his monotonous life. Even at the state of anger. Sarah took care of her husband very much. Living him a note, telling him where the eggs are kept shows that she was worried about her husband in her absence. When Thomas knew that his wife was furious with him he would lift her in his arms so that she could beat him. Occasional disputes are casual part of married life which makes their relationship even more colorful and life like.

3.     The plan was to go to Porthcawl for the outing. Did they ever reach there? Why?

The plan of the narrator's uncle and his friend was to reach to Porthcawl for the outing. But they could not reach to their destination because of their habit of drinking. But it does not mean that it was the only one cause for it, there are many. The first cause was their late departure. It was only at eight o'clock they started their outing. Another cause of it was the late arrival of one of their partner. Because everyone was worried about himself, they moved without counting all heads. But when they knew that one was missing, they could not continue their journey. They returned to receive him. The third and the greatest of the causes as already said is their nature of drinking a loot. They did not think of their destination. It was only after the owner informed them of the closing time. They came out though it was already late to reach to Porthcawl. Noone warned about even after they cam e out. They thought of playing with water when they reached to river. Hence, they could not reach to Porthcawl.

4.     Do you think that "A Story" is not a story proper.

Story is one of the genres of literature which narrates past event artistically. The events narrated might be real or fictious. A Story, in traditional sense of the term, needs to have a tightly knit plot with proper beginning (exposition
), rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. But 'A Story', as the narrator himself admits, has neither proper beginning, nor conclusive ending and there is very few details int the middle. Viewed from this traditional point of view, ' A Story' can't be called a proper story as it lacks the prerequisites of thee story.

    However, the definition of story has greatly changed in the modern and post-modern times. The critics have begun to feel that the traditional form of the story cannot represent the change realities of modern and post modern times. As a result, there has been great change in the form of writing a story. Analyzed from this modern and postmodern stand point, 'A Story' can't be called a proper story. Though loose it has plot. There are various characters who are both individuals as well as type of there class. The events and circumstances presented in the story bear very close resemblance to life. It also coveys a moral lesson while entertaining readers. The relationship between Mr. Thomas and his wife is realistically presented. So, A Story is a good story from modern and past modern point of view though it might appear to be just a jumble for people from traditional point of view