Response to "Pagan Night"
Gousia Shoukat English 1B Professor Ritz 12/05/2011 Response to “Pagan’s Night”
Kate Braverman’s “Pagan Night” is a story about a young woman named Sunny who departs with her boyfriend after their band breaks up. They are living in a van and have an unplanned child. Sunny attempts to give it a name, however she is unable to do so. Throughout the story she has urges to kill the baby and make her boyfriend content as he had not wanted this child in the first place. This story is reflective of the struggle many young mothers face today when they face unplanned pregnancy. Sunny and her boyfriend especially were not expecting Sunny to become pregnant and when she does that is when everything in their lives messes up. They are both really young to be parents in that they haven’t even figured out who they are as individuals and what they both want to do in life, essentially basic things that are crucial to have been figured out before one decides to start a family. Both Sunny and her boyfriend do not seem to have sufficient amount of resources to provide simply for each other and this baby will become a burden upon them and their fun, easy going and chill life-style. Also, it doesn’t even seem like they know or understand each other so well either. For instance, they both have a very poor communication system in that Sunny is not able to comfortably express her complete thoughts and concerns with Dalton. Every time asks her what she is thinking about her response is always “Nothing” (page 502). She does not find it important to share her concerns with Dalton, which is unhealthy for a relationship especially parenthood.
To a certain extent society can be blamed for this, but not solely. Partially, Dalton and Sunny are to blame as well. Society plays a huge role in raising a generation of young people with the idea of doing what they love to do, living in the moment without any care or concern for responsibility. One can easily be influenced and trapped in this idea,
Kate Braverman’s “Pagan Night” is a story about a young woman named Sunny who departs with her boyfriend after their band breaks up. They are living in a van and have an unplanned child. Sunny attempts to give it a name, however she is unable to do so. Throughout the story she has urges to kill the baby and make her boyfriend content as he had not wanted this child in the first place. This story is reflective of the struggle many young mothers face today when they face unplanned pregnancy. Sunny and her boyfriend especially were not expecting Sunny to become pregnant and when she does that is when everything in their lives messes up. They are both really young to be parents in that they haven’t even figured out who they are as individuals and what they both want to do in life, essentially basic things that are crucial to have been figured out before one decides to start a family. Both Sunny and her boyfriend do not seem to have sufficient amount of resources to provide simply for each other and this baby will become a burden upon them and their fun, easy going and chill life-style. Also, it doesn’t even seem like they know or understand each other so well either. For instance, they both have a very poor communication system in that Sunny is not able to comfortably express her complete thoughts and concerns with Dalton. Every time asks her what she is thinking about her response is always “Nothing” (page 502). She does not find it important to share her concerns with Dalton, which is unhealthy for a relationship especially parenthood.
To a certain extent society can be blamed for this, but not solely. Partially, Dalton and Sunny are to blame as well. Society plays a huge role in raising a generation of young people with the idea of doing what they love to do, living in the moment without any care or concern for responsibility. One can easily be influenced and trapped in this idea,