Pueo Reflections 2

Sam St. John’s “Bil Beryl”

In Sam St. John’s “Bill Beryl”, the story functions with elements that hinder the main characters from reaching their objective: to bring a large beet to a festival. One example of these obstacles are the ghost pirates, whose goal is to steal the beet. By causing Mason and Grandma to bicker over the ghost pirates' existence, this obstacle helps move the story forward in multiple ways. Firstly, the conversation arouses suspicion about them, which gives readers a reason to doubt that they will arrive at their destination successfully. Secondly, the issue becomes a character building tool for readers to learn about what shapes each person’s perspective on the situation. In this story, pirates with the intention of stealth create a strong conflict for a practical setting.

Based on the writer’s intentions, this story would sell itself better if it elaborated on the pathway they took to get to the festival. By doing so, it would’ve cleared up why Grandma knew so much about the ghosts, or why Mason was trying to deny it. Given that these two characters are mentors figures of the narrator, it makes sense to assume they have more experience, yet their current knowledge could be supported with more information.

Albert Ferreira’s “By and By”

In“By and By”, Ferreira hints towards relationships instead of direct facts that make up the plot’s framework. Before their history is revealed, the author’s decision to show Roselyn’s frequent attention to the main character implies there might be a connection that the narrator is trying to rediscover. Additionally, Roselyn is likely singing about him as a way of exposing bad habits of people of his kind, especially in a hostile bar environment. Why it’s happening is unclear, but these details have underlying subtext that naturally leads one to understand why the two are having this interaction without directly communicating so. Due to the story’s communication method, Ferreira might have been trying to make it more symbolic than literal, which explains its vague plot.

Some things I would suggest to align how this story is told with the original intentions include structural patterns that may come off a bit amateurish. 

One trivial example I noticed is that sentence structures are pretty similar throughout the entire story. (I have this issue as well, which is why I recognized it.) This is seen on page 1, where sentences start obviously. Sentences with minimal transition like “My cigarette is… A man starts… He’s dressed…”, and “His stubble…” are choppy. With the amount of arbitrary detail that is randomly thrown in, I think sentence variations could help counter the missing flow. Carrying off of that, the story leans into the typical disoriented narrator trope to convince the reader that there’s something to wonder about when, once again, there isn’t enough context. When talking with the bartender, he thinks, “How long have I been here?” (p. 2). Again, this is a slightly rudimentary way of integrating confusion without knowing why the character is confused. 

Additionally, following the story can be difficult due to unnecessary environmental descriptions. One instance where this happens is when Roselyn calls the men “fellas” in two consecutive pieces of dialogue. This could be an example of redundant, poorly infused dialect trying to be authentic in a stereotypical bar scene. Sometimes, moments that make the environment realistic don’t necessarily contribute to the plot.