Reading 3: "The Child Screams and Looks Back at You"

"The Child Screams and Looks Back at You" by Russell Banks is haunting in a very subliminal way. The result at the end was predictable by mid-story, and sad, but what was haunting was the death of Marcelle's son, and the ghost of the child lingering on for the rest of her life. The idea of forgiveness, or lack thereof, is present at the beginning and end of the story, carrying a weight to it that's hard to describe. At the end, Marcelle states that her son never forgave her. I wonder why the author chose to use this as a closing point. Was it because a mother felt as if she didn't do enough to save her son? Was it because she ignored what she truly knew? Or did it have something to do with not being able to offer protection, from her to her son or vice versa? That theme I found a little harder to grasp.

Some thing else that I noted was the readability of the story. I found the language that the author used to be very understandable and easy to read. I also liked how the author used punctuation to further a feeling and express an emotion. For example, at the beginning when describing getting the kids out the door, there is no punctuation separating the tasks to be done. Rather, the lack of, allows the sentence to feel rushed, hectic, and a little frazzled, much like I assume the mother feels here. I felt that Banks did a very good job of portraying Marcelle's emotions and spirit through his language.