Yours - Analysis (formalist Approach) 5l5w3s

Cazac Nadejda Group EF43Z 19.09.2017

Text Analysis of Yours by Mary Robison Formalist Approach

The story Yours is a short one, but it focuses on such universal concepts as love, relations among people and the cycle of life and death. In this story the author tries to illustrate, by means of the language and the main characters, that love may be unconditioned “Clark was much older-seventy-eight to Allison’s thirty-five”, relations among people have to be reciprocal “Allison and Clark gutted and carved the pumpkins together” and the cycle of life and death is inevitable “That night, in their bedroom, a few weeks earlier than had been predicted, Allison began to die”. The idea the author intends to transmit is that it would be good for people to live intensely today's day, because nobody knows when the last day arrives. At the first sight the story seems to have a classical structure: the exposition where we find out about the characters (Allison and Clark) and settings (“on the twig-and-leaf-littered porch behind the house”). The rising action seems to occur when Allison finds an unpleasant letter, and it continues with their work on pumpkins. The turning point pretends to emphasize the fact that Allison's pumpkins are uglier. And just when the action seems to fall down, the veritable climax of the story is emerging “Allison began to die”. The resolution in this story is practically absent; we just know that Allison is filling worse than previously “her pulse cords were fluttering under his fingers.” and we also know that Clark “was speaking into the phone”. So, it is an open ending story, and it is up to the reader to decide what happened. Trying to analyse the characters I observed that the text transmits a limit of information through the direct statements, but, at the same time, he is filling the text with sense and meaning through indirect methods. The first mechanism that comes into notice is the title Yours which, at the first side, seems to be inappropriate and foreign for the text. But when penetrating into the essence, the title which is represented by the possessive pronoun “yours” reflects Allison’s emotions, feelings and love he gives Clark, all her essence of a human being

is his, so she is devoting her life to him, idea that may be proved by the next statements: “Clark was much older-seventy-eight to Allison’s thirty-five” (here it is seen that she sacrifices her youth and all her beauty for him, even though he is older); and he is devoting his life to her too “a few weeks earlier than had been predicted, Allison began to die” even if it was predicted that she would die, Clark didn’t cease to be with her. While speaking about pumpkins; Clark says “Yours are far better” here the pronoun yours represents Allisson’s work, and soul that she dedicates while making these jack-o-lanterns. Allison, in fact, is a courageous, kind and self-conscious woman, these features are emphasized trough the following sentences: “Alison struggled away from her white Renault, limping with the weight of the last of the pumpkins” - even if she is ill, she is trying to enjoy her life, fact that proves her strength of character; “Allison wore a natural-hair wig” – she doesn’t want to show everybody that she is ill, she wants to look as beautiful as people know her; she doesn’t make the differentiation between her and others “late, late… Allison and Clark gutted and carved the pumpkins together”. Although she suffers a terminating disease she keeps to be pride in being a woman “Don’t look at me if my wig comes off”, withal underlining her love and attitude towards Clark, we may presuppose that she wants him to her as beautiful as she was previously. She is also very kind and caring, even if she is ill she is trying to make some children happy “she volunteered afternoons at a children’s daycare center”. Clark is a reflexion of Allison “they were both quite tall and looked something alike in their facial features” and this also emphasizes the fact that they are a good couple. Clark is a careful, attentive and loving person, he is always beside her “Allison and Clark gutted and carved the pumpkins together”; even if Clark was a watercolourist and cut beautifully the pumpkins and Allison cut just triangles instead of eyes and noses he encourages and s her “Your jack-o-lanterns are much, much better than mine”, “Yours are far better”. Clark’s enormous love towards his wife is demonstrated by the sentence “He wanted to get drunk with his wife once more” and the fact that he needs her, and he is unable to live without her. he is worried and very restless when Alison’s pulse is fluttering “at the telephone Clark had a clear view out back and down to the porch”. The story Yours is the representation of an ideal couple, that is ing each other, and the representation of an ideal behaviour in the case you know you will die. Nothing is to do about a terminable disease, but you may enjoy the last moments of your life, making those who are around you happy.