Short stories go down like ice cream, but they often leave the reader with lingering sensations. What are those sensations? What do they have to do with your experience? Is "Literature" with a capital L a more effective brand of cultural meaning-making than commercials, Twitter, or the news?
Hopefully, we'll get the ball rolling on some of these questions. Featured texts describe utopian visions, bovine rebellion, freezing to death, and school shootings (among other things).
I liked James Agee’s short story “A Mother’s Tale”. At first I didn’t realize that the children were actually calves and the mother was a cow. But I feel like the whole story about the one cow coming back from the slaughter house alive was too far-fetched for me considering he was half skinned with injuries to both his ankles and a hole in his head. I realize it’s a fictional short story but I just didn’t like how he made it all the way back to the pasture half dead because there’s no way he would’ve made it in that shape. Anyways, the story line reminded me of Christ’s story line as well. How he came back for his people and went through all the pain for those around him. The mother cow did the right thing by telling her calves about what it truly meant to be taken away by the trains and not hide it from them. It didn’t make sense to me that she would want to hide it and in the beginning she did try and make it sound like a decent place to go. She did that until she realized that her youngest wanted to go there, then she told the whole truth. I wasn’t sure what she meant by saying it was “a great honor to be chosen to stay” in the pasture because I couldn’t tell if she was saying that to persuade the calves to strive to stay home or if she really meant it. In terms of being chosen as one of the strongest and biggest bulls to stay in the pasture for reproducing, I understand her. I really didn’t like how she kept beating around the bush for 4 pages of the short story instead of telling her children the dangers right at the beginning because it only made them more curious as to what story is true and what it’s like in the place the elder cow talked about.
For some reason I did not realize right away that this story was about cows! So that made sense ones I figured it out. Also, I liked that this was a different kind of story that was not about humans and was about animals. Anyways, I agree with Courtney’s blog post in that it really does seem weird that this cow was able to survive that slaughter house and as a result, walked all the way back to the pasture with the injuries it sustained. Does not seem like it will ever happen. I want to expand on Courtney’s other point in that the cow said that it was an honor to have been chosen to come back to the pasture. I believe that she really meant it because being able to survive that slaughter house and live to tell the tale is amazing. The cow is grateful to have been given the second chance to live and come back to tell the calves what a horrific experience it was, warning them that it is a place that they do not want to end up at. She was chosen for a reason, despite her injuries, and come back to tell her experience.
The short story, “A Mother’s Tale” was definitely one of my favorite readings. Yes, it was strange that it was about cows and the slaughter house and many readers would think that this story is terrible, but I enjoyed it. I like the fact that it was in the perspective of animals and not humans. At first it reminded me of when I was a kid and my mother was reading a nighttime story to me and it was about animals that had some kind of hidden meaning to it. As the story went on and the other cow talked about how the male cows are taken to some unknown place where the conditions are bad and they are killed, it reminded me of the Holocaust. The cows were mistreated, and believed they were going somewhere special, but in the end they were “abused”, treated horribly, and slaughtered. It made me a little sad and depressed. I felt bad for the cows and for the mom, who was telling the story to the calves. As woman, in which society gives the role of a women to be compassionate and loving towards children, as a mother I would have such a difficult time telling the story to my own child because I would never want my child to have to go there in the first place. The story had lot of different themes going on too. I also thought of Christ who suffered for the sin of others. Like Christ, the cow “resurrected” from the slaughter house and lived to tell the tale. I noticed a theme of innocence vs. ignorance where the mother did not want to tell the story but did anyways. The baby calf in the end thinks about all the reasons why his mother told the story and contemplated on what he should do about it when he gets to that age: revolt or deal with it. And then he asked his mother what a train was, still emphasizing his innocence even after his mother’s ignorance of telling the tale.
I am really glad that you told me that this story was about cows at the conference before I read this. I would have been very confused for a majority of the story. I thought that the cow that cow that came back from the slaughterhouse had a Christ like persona. the story was pretty sad and that all the calves wanted to be chosen and then it was such a terrible place to go. I also thought that it was far fetched that the cow lived, but that is what makes the story the most interesting in my opinion. to me the calves seemed naïve with their questions on life. to me the calves waiting to be picked reminded me of children in orphanages waiting to be adopted.
James Agee’s “A Mother’s Tale” was definitely a bit different short story than the ones we’ve been reading. I believe that this story was written from a religious perspective. The first and most obvious hint was that he used the word “His” when the cows entered the slaughterhouse. Although God is the creator of life, it eventually ends. The cow saw this man as the main reason why all these cows were dying. He later escapes after being hung by his hooves and partially cut up by Him and His Hammer. He comes back to the range where he tries to warn all the other cows of what will happen to them if they are put on this train. Also, I believe the train and the experience after the cows arrive at the slaughterhouse is somewhat like a hospital. The cows were brought there by a train and once they got there, were treated very nicely by the workers until they died. Anyways, he gives them fair warning about his whole experience of what happens there. He gives them very strong warnings such as “Never be taken” and in the end, all the cows are “betrayed”. Eventually, the cow dies from either being shot or loss of blood. The mother cow is telling this story to all of the calves to warn them about what will happen if they’re put on the trains and that they want to make sure to stay far away from them. I believe that the great grandfather cow is like Jesus, because he is tortured almost to death and tries to tell the others about what will happen & also to “Tell them! Believe!”, like Jesus told his two friends about God. On another note, I just liked how he made this book about animals! It really got my attention and painted a picture in my head.
This short story A Mothers Tale was very far-fetched and out of the ordinary. The only difference with the other ones, is that I actually thought it was normal except that cows were telling the story. It is a nice pace though, having a story told from a perspective that is not human and especially by a cow who is telling a story about a slaughter house. This story actually reminded me of the short story Harrison Bergeron because at the end the mother said “He meant doing as men want us to. Not for ourselves, or the good of each other.” In Harrison Bergeron, the people didn’t do anything for themselves or for the good of each other, but they did what the government wanted them too. Also with the one cow escaping the slaughter house reminded me of when poor young Harrison broke his handicaps. These are similar situations, and they both end with the being that broke free being shot. I see another similarity in the stories because both are told form the perspective of a viewer. In Harrison Bergeron it was through a television, and in A Mothers Tale it was through a story. I didn’t feel like I was there with the characters in either reading. It’s a unique perspective because I am used to reading literature where it feels like I’m in the story with the character. I thought from the beginning though that a cow or a man was going to die, but then again, I think that about every story we read. On a brighter note, this is my favorite story that has been assigned so far.
After reading this story one of the aspects that stood out to me was how it allowed us to see our own world through something else’s eyes that didn’t really know what was going on. I thought that it was interesting to read how the mother tried to describe the train to the young cows as wagons with an angry monster at the front. Also when the old cow comes back to the ranch and explains the smell coming from what turned out to be the slaughterhouses as the smell of man when it actually was the smell of his fellow cows being slaughtered. It was interesting to see how our world was described by a creature that really didn’t understand what was going on. Another aspect of the story that I found interesting was how it seemed to be similar to the book Night by Elie Wiesel, which was about the holocaust in Germany during World War II. In Night, there is a man that is able to escape before he is killed by the German police. He returns to his village just like the cow in this story and tries to warn the others about what will happen to them if they don’t leave. Like the Cows in the story that don’t really think that something like that could happen, the man’s advice is not taken seriously. This lack of action in both stories causes the injustices to keep happening, in Night, the Germans come back and end up taking the entire village to concentration camps in cattle cars, and the cows continue to make the trip to the slaughterhouses. I thought that this story was interesting in that it allowed up to see our world through a different perspective but also disturbing because it showed how inhumanely these animals are treated.
In the short story, written by James Agee, “A Mother’s Tale,” a mother cow tells some calves a story after they see some cows leaving the ranch in an attempt to encourage the calves to want to stay on the ranch. She tries to express to the children that it is a privilege to be chosen to stay and you have to work hard for it. All of mother cow’s frights about leaving the ranch are understood when she describes the horrible things that occur to the cows that leave the ranch. She describes one who got away, that inspires all the others to not want to be chosen to leave.His suffering was an inspiration to all the other cows to work hard and become strong so that they never have to endure the things he went through when he was sent off the ranch. This story is very sad and really makes me wonder what are the thoughts that go through cows minds when they are sent to a slaughter house.
This story was very confusing. James Agee really played with my mind. I had no idea that this story was about cows. Making the story about cows really put a twist to the whole setting. It was sad to read about the cows making the trip towards the slaughterhouse. The trip signified the struggle that the cows had to endure. The mother shows strength throughout the story and tries to keep her cows in order. Even though other cows talked badly about their future and the slaughterhouse.
"A Mother's Tale" is a short story by James Agee that is told by cows' point of view. The cows are being sent away to a slaughter house and one of the cows tells the story to the calves. She talks about a cow that experienced "The Man with the Hammer" and who has come back to warn others of the danger. But at the end of the story she tells each calf that she doesn't believe the story and it's used to frighten the calves. I didn't believe the mother cow when she said she didn't believe the tale. The mother put a lot of emphasis on why it was best to stay than to go out on the range. She explained the honor of staying and that careless cows were chosen to leave. So she had to know the tale existed because of how bad she wanted her son to stay home. I think the lesson of the story is that sometimes it's wise to listen to others' advise and learn from their experiences. However, sometimes people have to experience something on their own to understand it. The mother's son didn't trust if what his mother said was correct or not. He still wanted to travel and decided to charge the hammer man if the tale was true. This showed that the calf didn't know what to believe and he wanted to form his own judgement on the situation. But this also relates to how people can be stubborn and not want to listen to someone who wants to help them. Similar to the calf, he listened to the tale and continued with his decision to go out on the range
The short story a “Mother’s Tale by James Agee is about the protagonist telling a tale to young calves. While reading the story I wasn’t able to tell that story was about cows being sent to slaughter House. I honestly believed that the story was about the day of Judgment, heaven and Hell. The people who aren’t strong or worthy enough they are sent to the slaughter House and the mother claims that the best place is to be at farm. I think that goes along with the idea of religion also, the strongest and not the weak willed are able to keep their faith and practices and not given in to the pressure of performing worldly wrong deeds. They strong ones are the ones that were kept at the farm and the people strong willed enough to do the right things while alive are awarded heaven. One the other hand, the ordinary and not important ones are out sent to be slaughtered. Just as the weak ones give in to the desires of the world, they perform unfaithful and wrong deeds that ultimately land’s them in hell according to religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. This short story also reminds me of genocides that have happened around the world such as the Holocaust, Bosnian and Armenian where people are killed for no purpose at all.
"A Mother's Tale" by James Agee, was one of the longer short stories that we have read so far, but I was very intrigued by it and wasn't bored with it like I have been with the others. My first impression was that this was just a mother warning her son and other calves about being taken away with the herd. Throughout the story, my mind went in a thousand different directions, or so it seemed. After the cows were placed on the train and it was explained to the readers that they were all very compact, were going without food and water, and were forced to stand in their own waste, I instantly thought that this was a parallel to the holocaust and how countless amounts of people were taken away in the same manner. But as the story went on, and the cows could smell "old fire, old blood, fear, darkness, and sorrow" I went to back to thinking that this was simply about cows being taken to the slaughterhouse. When "The One Who Came Back" returned to the farm where the rest of the cows (who were safe for the time being) and warned all of them about the dangers and tragic truth of being taken away, I thought of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and how the animals were planning on overtaking the humans. Near the end of this short story, there were quotes retold by the mother that I feel could be relevant to our own lives. "Obey nobody. Depend on none" and "We are all brought into this life only to be victims; and there is no other way for us unless we save ourselves" were the two quotes that really stuck with me. The first, is relevant, because I think that while we should "obey" when necessary I strongly believe that you can't depend on anyone else for anything in your life. It is yours of your own, it is not someone else's responsibility and one should never expect that someone will put a peer's life before their own. With the second quote, I am a firm believer that life is what we make of it. Nobody is going to change your life for you, you have to go out and "save yourself" by working hard for what you want, and not stopping until you get it.
This short story actually managed to keep my attention the entire time I was reading it. It was very interesting and had some very intense and specific details that made it a relatively easy read. The story that the mother told was also interesting and, at first, I didn't know where the cows were going. It didn't take long for me to realize, however, that they were going to a slaughterhouse. The fact that all of the young calves want to go out on the range is kind of interesting, especially when they still want to go after hearing the story of The One Who Came Back. I think it plays into the curiosity of the young, though, because when you're young, you want to explore everything. You'll do whatever you can to explore, especially when someone tells you not to do it or says something bad will happen. It plays into a sort of pride thing too, because the Mother's son wants to prove that he is a bigger hero than The One Who Came Back. All in all, I think it was a very good and very intriguing short story, one of my favorites so far.
It was difficult for me to get in this story for some reason. I didn't find it interesting. I actually couldn't bring myself to finish reading. At first I didn't realized that the story was about cows. I then realized it pretty quickly after. I understood that the mother cow was trying to tell her son that he shouldn't want to go with the herd. After that the story kinda fell off for me and I couldn't get back into. What I thought the mother was talking about was about the herd dying and going to heaven. I thought she didn't want her son to follow because she didn't want him to die. She was talking about the place as if it was a good place and I finally realized she meant the slaughterhouse. I realized this went she slipped and said the place wasn't safe. I didn't like this story very much maybe because I didn't finish it.
I found the story A Mother’s Tale written by James Agee to be very interesting. I liked that it was told in the point of view of calves. I also enjoyed that it was a story telling a story. The mother was telling this story of what happens to others of their kind when they get herded and put on the train but throughout the story, she was interrupted and asked questions. It was sad to see how fearful the mother was getting because I imagine that is how cows really do feel. The start off being clueless and fearful but then get sort of happy and comfortable when we feed them and take care of them for a little bit. Then they unexpectedly get pushed into a factory type setting where they get killed. It was sad to read this and know that this is really what happens to cows when they are going to be made into meat. I found it interesting that the mother’s son seemed to be slightly sad throughout the whole story, asking questions and asking if this was really real but in the end, he still wanted to go and see if his mother’s story was true and he also wanted to experience this for himself.
The short story “A Mother’s Tale” by James Agee was about a mother calf explaining where cows (who leave the farm) go. The young calves (including her son) kept bothering her until she told the story of The One Who Came Back. This told the true story of what happens to cows that leave the farm. However, at the end she told them all it wasn’t true, but her son didn’t believe her. He was determined to go and see for himself. If she was right, he could stop the slaughterhouse. If she were wrong, he would be able to see for himself. The story ends with the calf asking his mom “what’s a train?” This story reminded me of the book Animal Farm, which is one of the few books I actually liked. I don’t know why, but for some reason, talking animals gets me interested. This story also showed a ton of dramatic irony (this literary element was used throughout the entire story) with the readers knowing where the cows were going before the cows did. Also, this could’ve easily been a longer story of the young calf’s triumph to stop the humans, but that probably wouldn’t have ended well. Since, The Man With The Hammer is disposable and every human is capable of being that guy. However, I didn’t know someone knocked the cows out with a hammer (if that is how it really happens). However, I know slaughterhouses are called slaughterhouses because they are brutal and unforgiving; so, I would not be surprised if there was a guy who knocked every cow out with a hammer one-by-one.
“A Mother’s Tale” by James Agee was a story that made me upset. There was just so much written in describing how the cows thought and spoke among each other, it made me feel really bad that I am a meat eater. What really got me in the end was, yes, the way that the cows were treated even besides their being as alive as we are and as capable of feeling pain as we are; but it was when the little calf wanted to go to the slaughterhouse and be the bigger hero. Being told about the cow that was butchered in the way that he was, and to know that this is what he went through to end up the way he did would make me pursue a life in which I would be chosen to stay. I think that the stubbornness of the little calf of not wanting to believe his mother and then thinking he would be the one capable of beating the “guy with the hammer” is terrible because we all know how he will end up besides what he believes. All in all I just felt really bad that I eat beef and that they have to endure what they endure so that we are fed. Cows are real people too!
I typically don't like reading, especially anything over ten pages, but this thirteen page short story was able to keep my attention throughout. The short story, "A Mother's Tale" by James Agee, is a story about the lives of cows. At first it doesn't seem as it will be very interesting, but the story will soon have your eyes glued to the words. This short story is about mother cow explaining to her son and the children what happens when the other cows are placed upon a train. Evidently its a sad story about how cows are transported to a slaughter house, but the main part of the story is how one cow escapes from his chains, and comes back to the ranch to spread the story as to what actually happens after the train ride. This one cow warns the others about his experience and that they need to fear the train. He tells them about his awful experience and shows his war wounds to the other cows to provide the cows with evidence of how awful this place really is. After racing this story its easy to make a connection with this story and the holocaust. In particular this story reminds me the most of the movie "The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas." This story is extremely similar except instead of cows the movie talks about the holocaust and a young boy who is just as curious about the factory he sees as the young cow was about what happens after the train ride. This is by far one of the best short stories I believe we have read.
Actually the story has an attracted perspectives, since the narrator chose to tell it in the vantage point of claves. That's what gives the story its own impression. I mean that if the narrator would have chosen to tell it in the the point of people, it could have seemed to be boring yet it might have taken a small numbers of paragraph. Anyway, the story is full of meanings; first, the fath is that the cows must have in there lifetime, rather than trying to get what they wanted. The one who came back senses the cows of the important of fath in life instead of being frustrated on what they have failed to achieve.
I liked James Agee’s short story “A Mother’s Tale”. At first I didn’t realize that the children were actually calves and the mother was a cow. But I feel like the whole story about the one cow coming back from the slaughter house alive was too far-fetched for me considering he was half skinned with injuries to both his ankles and a hole in his head. I realize it’s a fictional short story but I just didn’t like how he made it all the way back to the pasture half dead because there’s no way he would’ve made it in that shape. Anyways, the story line reminded me of Christ’s story line as well. How he came back for his people and went through all the pain for those around him. The mother cow did the right thing by telling her calves about what it truly meant to be taken away by the trains and not hide it from them. It didn’t make sense to me that she would want to hide it and in the beginning she did try and make it sound like a decent place to go. She did that until she realized that her youngest wanted to go there, then she told the whole truth. I wasn’t sure what she meant by saying it was “a great honor to be chosen to stay” in the pasture because I couldn’t tell if she was saying that to persuade the calves to strive to stay home or if she really meant it. In terms of being chosen as one of the strongest and biggest bulls to stay in the pasture for reproducing, I understand her. I really didn’t like how she kept beating around the bush for 4 pages of the short story instead of telling her children the dangers right at the beginning because it only made them more curious as to what story is true and what it’s like in the place the elder cow talked about.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I did not realize right away that this story was about cows! So that made sense ones I figured it out. Also, I liked that this was a different kind of story that was not about humans and was about animals. Anyways, I agree with Courtney’s blog post in that it really does seem weird that this cow was able to survive that slaughter house and as a result, walked all the way back to the pasture with the injuries it sustained. Does not seem like it will ever happen. I want to expand on Courtney’s other point in that the cow said that it was an honor to have been chosen to come back to the pasture. I believe that she really meant it because being able to survive that slaughter house and live to tell the tale is amazing. The cow is grateful to have been given the second chance to live and come back to tell the calves what a horrific experience it was, warning them that it is a place that they do not want to end up at. She was chosen for a reason, despite her injuries, and come back to tell her experience.
ReplyDeleteThe short story, “A Mother’s Tale” was definitely one of my favorite readings. Yes, it was strange that it was about cows and the slaughter house and many readers would think that this story is terrible, but I enjoyed it. I like the fact that it was in the perspective of animals and not humans. At first it reminded me of when I was a kid and my mother was reading a nighttime story to me and it was about animals that had some kind of hidden meaning to it.
ReplyDeleteAs the story went on and the other cow talked about how the male cows are taken to some unknown place where the conditions are bad and they are killed, it reminded me of the Holocaust. The cows were mistreated, and believed they were going somewhere special, but in the end they were “abused”, treated horribly, and slaughtered. It made me a little sad and depressed. I felt bad for the cows and for the mom, who was telling the story to the calves. As woman, in which society gives the role of a women to be compassionate and loving towards children, as a mother I would have such a difficult time telling the story to my own child because I would never want my child to have to go there in the first place.
The story had lot of different themes going on too. I also thought of Christ who suffered for the sin of others. Like Christ, the cow “resurrected” from the slaughter house and lived to tell the tale. I noticed a theme of innocence vs. ignorance where the mother did not want to tell the story but did anyways. The baby calf in the end thinks about all the reasons why his mother told the story and contemplated on what he should do about it when he gets to that age: revolt or deal with it. And then he asked his mother what a train was, still emphasizing his innocence even after his mother’s ignorance of telling the tale.
I am really glad that you told me that this story was about cows at the conference before I read this. I would have been very confused for a majority of the story. I thought that the cow that cow that came back from the slaughterhouse had a Christ like persona. the story was pretty sad and that all the calves wanted to be chosen and then it was such a terrible place to go. I also thought that it was far fetched that the cow lived, but that is what makes the story the most interesting in my opinion. to me the calves seemed naïve with their questions on life. to me the calves waiting to be picked reminded me of children in orphanages waiting to be adopted.
ReplyDeleteJames Agee’s “A Mother’s Tale” was definitely a bit different short story than the ones we’ve been reading. I believe that this story was written from a religious perspective. The first and most obvious hint was that he used the word “His” when the cows entered the slaughterhouse. Although God is the creator of life, it eventually ends. The cow saw this man as the main reason why all these cows were dying. He later escapes after being hung by his hooves and partially cut up by Him and His Hammer. He comes back to the range where he tries to warn all the other cows of what will happen to them if they are put on this train. Also, I believe the train and the experience after the cows arrive at the slaughterhouse is somewhat like a hospital. The cows were brought there by a train and once they got there, were treated very nicely by the workers until they died. Anyways, he gives them fair warning about his whole experience of what happens there. He gives them very strong warnings such as “Never be taken” and in the end, all the cows are “betrayed”. Eventually, the cow dies from either being shot or loss of blood. The mother cow is telling this story to all of the calves to warn them about what will happen if they’re put on the trains and that they want to make sure to stay far away from them. I believe that the great grandfather cow is like Jesus, because he is tortured almost to death and tries to tell the others about what will happen & also to “Tell them! Believe!”, like Jesus told his two friends about God. On another note, I just liked how he made this book about animals! It really got my attention and painted a picture in my head.
ReplyDeleteThis short story A Mothers Tale was very far-fetched and out of the ordinary. The only difference with the other ones, is that I actually thought it was normal except that cows were telling the story. It is a nice pace though, having a story told from a perspective that is not human and especially by a cow who is telling a story about a slaughter house. This story actually reminded me of the short story Harrison Bergeron because at the end the mother said “He meant doing as men want us to. Not for ourselves, or the good of each other.” In Harrison Bergeron, the people didn’t do anything for themselves or for the good of each other, but they did what the government wanted them too. Also with the one cow escaping the slaughter house reminded me of when poor young Harrison broke his handicaps. These are similar situations, and they both end with the being that broke free being shot. I see another similarity in the stories because both are told form the perspective of a viewer. In Harrison Bergeron it was through a television, and in A Mothers Tale it was through a story. I didn’t feel like I was there with the characters in either reading. It’s a unique perspective because I am used to reading literature where it feels like I’m in the story with the character. I thought from the beginning though that a cow or a man was going to die, but then again, I think that about every story we read. On a brighter note, this is my favorite story that has been assigned so far.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this story one of the aspects that stood out to me was how it allowed us to see our own world through something else’s eyes that didn’t really know what was going on. I thought that it was interesting to read how the mother tried to describe the train to the young cows as wagons with an angry monster at the front. Also when the old cow comes back to the ranch and explains the smell coming from what turned out to be the slaughterhouses as the smell of man when it actually was the smell of his fellow cows being slaughtered. It was interesting to see how our world was described by a creature that really didn’t understand what was going on. Another aspect of the story that I found interesting was how it seemed to be similar to the book Night by Elie Wiesel, which was about the holocaust in Germany during World War II. In Night, there is a man that is able to escape before he is killed by the German police. He returns to his village just like the cow in this story and tries to warn the others about what will happen to them if they don’t leave. Like the Cows in the story that don’t really think that something like that could happen, the man’s advice is not taken seriously. This lack of action in both stories causes the injustices to keep happening, in Night, the Germans come back and end up taking the entire village to concentration camps in cattle cars, and the cows continue to make the trip to the slaughterhouses. I thought that this story was interesting in that it allowed up to see our world through a different perspective but also disturbing because it showed how inhumanely these animals are treated.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story, written by James Agee, “A Mother’s Tale,” a mother cow tells some calves a story after they see some cows leaving the ranch in an attempt to encourage the calves to want to stay on the ranch. She tries to express to the children that it is a privilege to be chosen to stay and you have to work hard for it. All of mother cow’s frights about leaving the ranch are understood when she describes the horrible things that occur to the cows that leave the ranch. She describes one who got away, that inspires all the others to not want to be chosen to leave.His suffering was an inspiration to all the other cows to work hard and become strong so that they never have to endure the things he went through when he was sent off the ranch. This story is very sad and really makes me wonder what are the thoughts that go through cows minds when they are sent to a slaughter house.
ReplyDeleteThis story was very confusing. James Agee really played with my mind. I had no idea that this story was about cows. Making the story about cows really put a twist to the whole setting. It was sad to read about the cows making the trip towards the slaughterhouse. The trip signified the struggle that the cows had to endure. The mother shows strength throughout the story and tries to keep her cows in order. Even though other cows talked badly about their future and the slaughterhouse.
ReplyDelete"A Mother's Tale" is a short story by James Agee that is told by cows' point of view. The cows are being sent away to a slaughter house and one of the cows tells the story to the calves. She talks about a cow that experienced "The Man with the Hammer" and who has come back to warn others of the danger. But at the end of the story she tells each calf that she doesn't believe the story and it's used to frighten the calves. I didn't believe the mother cow when she said she didn't believe the tale. The mother put a lot of emphasis on why it was best to stay than to go out on the range. She explained the honor of staying and that careless cows were chosen to leave. So she had to know the tale existed because of how bad she wanted her son to stay home. I think the lesson of the story is that sometimes it's wise to listen to others' advise and learn from their experiences. However, sometimes people have to experience something on their own to understand it. The mother's son didn't trust if what his mother said was correct or not. He still wanted to travel and decided to charge the hammer man if the tale was true. This showed that the calf didn't know what to believe and he wanted to form his own judgement on the situation. But this also relates to how people can be stubborn and not want to listen to someone who wants to help them. Similar to the calf, he listened to the tale and continued with his decision to go out on the range
ReplyDeleteThe short story a “Mother’s Tale by James Agee is about the protagonist telling a tale to young calves. While reading the story I wasn’t able to tell that story was about cows being sent to slaughter House. I honestly believed that the story was about the day of Judgment, heaven and Hell. The people who aren’t strong or worthy enough they are sent to the slaughter House and the mother claims that the best place is to be at farm. I think that goes along with the idea of religion also, the strongest and not the weak willed are able to keep their faith and practices and not given in to the pressure of performing worldly wrong deeds. They strong ones are the ones that were kept at the farm and the people strong willed enough to do the right things while alive are awarded heaven. One the other hand, the ordinary and not important ones are out sent to be slaughtered. Just as the weak ones give in to the desires of the world, they perform unfaithful and wrong deeds that ultimately land’s them in hell according to religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. This short story also reminds me of genocides that have happened around the world such as the Holocaust, Bosnian and Armenian where people are killed for no purpose at all.
ReplyDelete"A Mother's Tale" by James Agee, was one of the longer short stories that we have read so far, but I was very intrigued by it and wasn't bored with it like I have been with the others. My first impression was that this was just a mother warning her son and other calves about being taken away with the herd. Throughout the story, my mind went in a thousand different directions, or so it seemed. After the cows were placed on the train and it was explained to the readers that they were all very compact, were going without food and water, and were forced to stand in their own waste, I instantly thought that this was a parallel to the holocaust and how countless amounts of people were taken away in the same manner. But as the story went on, and the cows could smell "old fire, old blood, fear, darkness, and sorrow" I went to back to thinking that this was simply about cows being taken to the slaughterhouse. When "The One Who Came Back" returned to the farm where the rest of the cows (who were safe for the time being) and warned all of them about the dangers and tragic truth of being taken away, I thought of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and how the animals were planning on overtaking the humans. Near the end of this short story, there were quotes retold by the mother that I feel could be relevant to our own lives. "Obey nobody. Depend on none" and "We are all brought into this life only to be victims; and there is no other way for us unless we save ourselves" were the two quotes that really stuck with me. The first, is relevant, because I think that while we should "obey" when necessary I strongly believe that you can't depend on anyone else for anything in your life. It is yours of your own, it is not someone else's responsibility and one should never expect that someone will put a peer's life before their own. With the second quote, I am a firm believer that life is what we make of it. Nobody is going to change your life for you, you have to go out and "save yourself" by working hard for what you want, and not stopping until you get it.
ReplyDeleteThis short story actually managed to keep my attention the entire time I was reading it. It was very interesting and had some very intense and specific details that made it a relatively easy read. The story that the mother told was also interesting and, at first, I didn't know where the cows were going. It didn't take long for me to realize, however, that they were going to a slaughterhouse. The fact that all of the young calves want to go out on the range is kind of interesting, especially when they still want to go after hearing the story of The One Who Came Back. I think it plays into the curiosity of the young, though, because when you're young, you want to explore everything. You'll do whatever you can to explore, especially when someone tells you not to do it or says something bad will happen. It plays into a sort of pride thing too, because the Mother's son wants to prove that he is a bigger hero than The One Who Came Back. All in all, I think it was a very good and very intriguing short story, one of my favorites so far.
ReplyDeleteIt was difficult for me to get in this story for some reason. I didn't find it interesting. I actually couldn't bring myself to finish reading. At first I didn't realized that the story was about cows. I then realized it pretty quickly after. I understood that the mother cow was trying to tell her son that he shouldn't want to go with the herd. After that the story kinda fell off for me and I couldn't get back into. What I thought the mother was talking about was about the herd dying and going to heaven. I thought she didn't want her son to follow because she didn't want him to die. She was talking about the place as if it was a good place and I finally realized she meant the slaughterhouse. I realized this went she slipped and said the place wasn't safe. I didn't like this story very much maybe because I didn't finish it.
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ReplyDeleteI found the story A Mother’s Tale written by James Agee to be very interesting. I liked that it was told in the point of view of calves. I also enjoyed that it was a story telling a story. The mother was telling this story of what happens to others of their kind when they get herded and put on the train but throughout the story, she was interrupted and asked questions. It was sad to see how fearful the mother was getting because I imagine that is how cows really do feel. The start off being clueless and fearful but then get sort of happy and comfortable when we feed them and take care of them for a little bit. Then they unexpectedly get pushed into a factory type setting where they get killed. It was sad to read this and know that this is really what happens to cows when they are going to be made into meat. I found it interesting that the mother’s son seemed to be slightly sad throughout the whole story, asking questions and asking if this was really real but in the end, he still wanted to go and see if his mother’s story was true and he also wanted to experience this for himself.
ReplyDeleteThe short story “A Mother’s Tale” by James Agee was about a mother calf explaining where cows (who leave the farm) go. The young calves (including her son) kept bothering her until she told the story of The One Who Came Back. This told the true story of what happens to cows that leave the farm. However, at the end she told them all it wasn’t true, but her son didn’t believe her. He was determined to go and see for himself. If she was right, he could stop the slaughterhouse. If she were wrong, he would be able to see for himself. The story ends with the calf asking his mom “what’s a train?” This story reminded me of the book Animal Farm, which is one of the few books I actually liked. I don’t know why, but for some reason, talking animals gets me interested. This story also showed a ton of dramatic irony (this literary element was used throughout the entire story) with the readers knowing where the cows were going before the cows did. Also, this could’ve easily been a longer story of the young calf’s triumph to stop the humans, but that probably wouldn’t have ended well. Since, The Man With The Hammer is disposable and every human is capable of being that guy. However, I didn’t know someone knocked the cows out with a hammer (if that is how it really happens). However, I know slaughterhouses are called slaughterhouses because they are brutal and unforgiving; so, I would not be surprised if there was a guy who knocked every cow out with a hammer one-by-one.
ReplyDelete“A Mother’s Tale” by James Agee was a story that made me upset. There was just so much written in describing how the cows thought and spoke among each other, it made me feel really bad that I am a meat eater. What really got me in the end was, yes, the way that the cows were treated even besides their being as alive as we are and as capable of feeling pain as we are; but it was when the little calf wanted to go to the slaughterhouse and be the bigger hero. Being told about the cow that was butchered in the way that he was, and to know that this is what he went through to end up the way he did would make me pursue a life in which I would be chosen to stay. I think that the stubbornness of the little calf of not wanting to believe his mother and then thinking he would be the one capable of beating the “guy with the hammer” is terrible because we all know how he will end up besides what he believes. All in all I just felt really bad that I eat beef and that they have to endure what they endure so that we are fed. Cows are real people too!
ReplyDeleteI typically don't like reading, especially anything over ten pages, but this thirteen page short story was able to keep my attention throughout. The short story, "A Mother's Tale" by James Agee, is a story about the lives of cows. At first it doesn't seem as it will be very interesting, but the story will soon have your eyes glued to the words. This short story is about mother cow explaining to her son and the children what happens when the other cows are placed upon a train. Evidently its a sad story about how cows are transported to a slaughter house, but the main part of the story is how one cow escapes from his chains, and comes back to the ranch to spread the story as to what actually happens after the train ride. This one cow warns the others about his experience and that they need to fear the train. He tells them about his awful experience and shows his war wounds to the other cows to provide the cows with evidence of how awful this place really is. After racing this story its easy to make a connection with this story and the holocaust. In particular this story reminds me the most of the movie "The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas." This story is extremely similar except instead of cows the movie talks about the holocaust and a young boy who is just as curious about the factory he sees as the young cow was about what happens after the train ride. This is by far one of the best short stories I believe we have read.
ReplyDeleteActually the story has an attracted perspectives, since the narrator chose to tell it in the vantage point of claves. That's what gives the story its own impression. I mean that if the narrator would have chosen to tell it in the the point of people, it could have seemed to be boring yet it might have taken a small numbers of paragraph. Anyway, the story is full of meanings; first, the fath is that the cows must have in there lifetime, rather than trying to get what they wanted. The one who came back senses the cows of the important of fath in life instead of being frustrated on what they have failed to achieve.
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