Lonliness
This story strangely portrays a relationship between a brother and sister who are going through depressing times: “Loneliness left clues, and I would pick up his while he picked up mine, neither of us ever mentioning them”(82). The short story that I chose is from the February, 2002 edition of Harper’s Magazine. Antonya Nelson is the author of the story titled “Ball Peen”, which refers to a hammer that the narrator describes as a ball peen hammer. This title is significant because it is referred to and used figuratively throughout the story. The author doesn’t let the hammer slip your mind, relating back to it whenever there is a chance. The ball peen hammer symbolizes the narrator’s strength. Much of her strength is derived from her brother, who gives her confidence and consoles her. A young woman, placing you in her thoughts and perceptions, narrates the story. Her name is not mentioned in the story so I will acknowledge her as the narrator. She begins her story by glimpsing back on one Christmas when she is fifteen. This is the Christmas that her brother, Sonny, gives her a hammer as a gift. At first this gift meant that he had forgotten to get her a present, but later she realizes tha
One night her and Sonny wake to fire trucks blaring while racing to a burning building. They both know who did it, and go to see the rubble the next day. After they ride by the smoking ashes that are left, they go to a bar. While they were inside drinking, the narrator sees her ex walk by the window, and unconsciously announces, “That’s him”. Just as she says this, her brother turns his head “like a creature catching a significant scent”(83). He asks her if it is “the robber baron?” In disbelief she explains, “I hesitated hardly a second before nodding, my head swinging like the business end of that ball peen hammer, wreaking its own kind of havoc”(83). Sonny stood up and walked out the bar after him and that is where the story ends. Once Sonny gets settled in, they get up to date with each other. It turns out that the two are in similar situations. Sonny’s wife left him six months before, so they both feed off each other for support using alcohol as another ingredient. The next day after observing the kitchen, Sonny decides to fix the rotting counters and cabinets. Sonny is a carpenter, which fit his personality perfect. He was a big guy, scruffy in appearance, and really hard headed. The narrator reveals, “… my brother was the one to truly protect me. It was he who’d armed me, once upon a time, with a hammer, and this visit, while on the surface a friendly checkup, perhaps a kitchen reclamation, had me as its real rehab job”(78). All these events brought these two together finally. They both were in need of some friendly company. Sonny had recently lost his job because of his
Some topics in this essay:
Colorado Springs,
Antonya Nelson,
Christmas Sonny,
Leaves Clues,
narrator describes,
ball peen,
ball peen hammer,
peen hammer,
narrator reveals,
throughout story,
hammer narrator,
drinking narrator,
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Approximate Word count = 1094
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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