Analysis and Interpertation of "Stolpestad"
Stolpestad by William Lychack
I believe that we often consider the fact that we don’t get enough out of our lives. We think a lot about whether we live our lives to the full. Maybe someone chooses not to live an exciting life where every day, is a new day and a new opportunity. Whether we live a boring life – sometimes alone, sometimes with a family – we still wonder if we get enough out of our every day and avoid living a stagnant life. But is that even possible? Or does some just choose to live a predetermined life – which might make them feel secure because it’s something familiar – even though they might find it boring? But maybe it’s not possible to live a secure life with a family and a good job without getting tired of it? Maybe some people are just stuck in a boring life, without doing something to change it. I believe that is what we see in this short story by William Lychack, where we hear about police officer Stolpestad and his stagnant life. Stolpestad certainly seems to be stuck in a routine – a boring life, where every day is the same. Day in and day out.
As mentioned above we hear about the main character Stolpestad. He’s a police officer who doesn’t seem to be pleased about how his life turned out to be. He doesn’t seem happy about his job and it just seems like his life is at a standstill: “Was toward the end of your shift, a Saturday, another one of those long slow lazy afternoons of summer – sun never burning through the clouds, clouds never breaking into rain – ...” The day is described in a bit negative way because of the choice of words such as “long” “lazy” and “slow”. But it also seems like both these word and the weather description are a symbol of Stolpestad’s life. Everything seems a kind of inadequate – just like the weather. The sun is never really shining so much that it’s sunny, but at the same time, it’s not really rain either. The weather seems a kind of stagnant - just as Stolpestads life.
A characteristic feature of this
I believe that we often consider the fact that we don’t get enough out of our lives. We think a lot about whether we live our lives to the full. Maybe someone chooses not to live an exciting life where every day, is a new day and a new opportunity. Whether we live a boring life – sometimes alone, sometimes with a family – we still wonder if we get enough out of our every day and avoid living a stagnant life. But is that even possible? Or does some just choose to live a predetermined life – which might make them feel secure because it’s something familiar – even though they might find it boring? But maybe it’s not possible to live a secure life with a family and a good job without getting tired of it? Maybe some people are just stuck in a boring life, without doing something to change it. I believe that is what we see in this short story by William Lychack, where we hear about police officer Stolpestad and his stagnant life. Stolpestad certainly seems to be stuck in a routine – a boring life, where every day is the same. Day in and day out.
As mentioned above we hear about the main character Stolpestad. He’s a police officer who doesn’t seem to be pleased about how his life turned out to be. He doesn’t seem happy about his job and it just seems like his life is at a standstill: “Was toward the end of your shift, a Saturday, another one of those long slow lazy afternoons of summer – sun never burning through the clouds, clouds never breaking into rain – ...” The day is described in a bit negative way because of the choice of words such as “long” “lazy” and “slow”. But it also seems like both these word and the weather description are a symbol of Stolpestad’s life. Everything seems a kind of inadequate – just like the weather. The sun is never really shining so much that it’s sunny, but at the same time, it’s not really rain either. The weather seems a kind of stagnant - just as Stolpestads life.
A characteristic feature of this