The word choice in “The Shawl” paints a bleak picture. Rosa with “sore breast” and Stella, “her knees were tumors on sticks, her elbows chicken bones” (Ozick 1) display the tragic lifestyle that the two are facing. The two main women in the story are desperately hungry and tired. “Rosa and Stella were slowly turning into air” (Ozick 6). These descriptions and words create an image of a death camp. One can infer this though the author does not come out directly and say it. Throughout the whole story the description paints a picture of despair. In this particular situation Stella’s value become warped. Stella becomes envious of the child; “Stella wanted to be wrapped in a shawl,” (Ozick 1) like the sleeping baby Magda was. Rosa’s

This story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is also a tragic story. Before the ending tragedy, the author paints a sad and lonely life of the grandmother despite her being surrounded by family. The grandmother receives lack of respect, attention, and love by her whole family. The author uses the grandmother to portray a generic version of elderly people in this day and time. It seems that the grandmother and the Misfit are generic characters that symbolize different values. Throughout the story the grandmother’s son, Bailey along with his wife constantly ignore her. This is shown when the grandmother is trying to voice an opinion on where they should go on vacation and “Bailey didn’t look up from his reading,” (O’Conner 2) while Bailey’s wife “didn’t seem to hear her” (O’Conner 3). The children seem to have picked up the way their parents treat the grandmother and respond by teasing the poor old women, representing their lack of respect. The grandmother does notice the way she is treated and makes the statement “children were more respectful … of their parents and everything else” (O’Conner 12). The irony is that the lack of respect her grandchildren give her and their parents is similar to the lack of respect she receives from her son.

In “The Shawl” word choice and symbolism play a vital role.

Some topics in this essay:
Hard Find”, Magda Rosa’s, Shawl Magna, word choice, “the shawl”, throughout story, lack respect, “a hard find”, characters values, hard find”, “a hard, Values Ozick’s, Shawl” O’Conner’s, play vital role, vital role, grandmother misfit, values characters,