"Incarnations of Burning Children" by David Foster Wallace is fast paced traumatizing story which leaves the reader really thinking about who was to blame and what happened to the baby at the end of the story. Basically what happens is that hot water falls over a baby because of the mother being carless and at the same time the father trying to calm the baby down but not realizing that there was piping hot water in his diapers. This story creates a lot of discussion when being viewed from the parent's point of view. As a reader, taking a look at this piece for the first time, like I said before leaves me very puzzled at the end because how can someone really determine who had the fault of the baby almost dying and what really happened to the baby at the end in the ER. From the mother's point of view, the father can be blamed by not having realized that the baby's diaper was filled with hot water but at the same time you can't really blame him because everything is happening so fast. The mother does not even have a chance to explain how and what happened while the dad rushes giving his best effort to save the baby. From the father's point of view, the mother is the one to blame by being careless leaving the baby in a dangerous spot which would be underneath a pot with hot water and not having done anything about it after it happened. All she does is screams and cries for help. How first contact is emphasized here is trying to understand how to the parents react and what their obligations are towards dealing with a situation like this and in the future, preventing one. Also, as mentioned before, trying to figure out what happened to the baby at the end is also something that can be discussed. Many speculations say that he was gravely injured, scared for life or died. Again, whichever may be the case, the blame is traced back to either the mother or father. Personally, I had read this story once a few years ago and that was when it struck me the most but I had never thought about it analytically with the concept of first contact.
Moving on to "Hills Like white Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, first contact is not so clearly displayed when reading the story once. I had to read the story more than once to answer questions such as what did each one of the characters want? It is important to point out that at the beginning of the story the girl seems more enthusiastic than the woman by having found attractiveness in the mountains and stating that they look like white elephants, while the American simply responds by saying that he has not ever seen one. By saying that, I think that the American is self centered and selfish. What if the girl had never seen a white elephant but just uses imagination to think about something like that? It seems like the girl wants to establish a lost connection with the American but he just wants to satisfy him self and that is shown as the story progresses. Like said before, the girl seems more enthusiastic at the beginning but later in the story, when the American mentions the operation, he is thinking of it as a benefit only for himself, where as the girl asks her whether the operation will enhance their relationship in the future? Although the American says he cares for her in the story, the tone I got out of the dialogue between them seemed as if he was doing this on partially for the girl's sake but more for his own purposes. An important thing to note on the side is that during the entire dialogue, the bartender keeps on bringing alcoholic drinks for them to enjoy and that can be a effect on their conversation but is not clearly displayed. Anyways, the woman's tone as the story progresses becomes more melancholic and a little bit questionable. In the first contact way of thinking about it, what I think of the American is that yes he does in fact care for the girl and wants the relationship to move forward but for his own benefit but the girl wants overall satisfaction within both of them.
Comparing both the stories, the thing I found the most important and is really highlighted in both pieces of writing is that they are narrowed down to two important main characters. In DFW's writing it is the mother and father while in Hemingway's piece it is the American and the girl. Both also have what can be considered a bystander one being the bartender and the other one being the baby. In both stories one can think about who the good character is and who the bad character is. In other words, is the mother to be blamed or the father and who really wants the best for the relationship, the girl or American? Bartenders usually have the freedom to overhear a conversation happening at the bar and he can be considered the judge to which is more "correct" in the dialogue between the girl and the American. The baby also can be the judge whether he survived or not after being burnt with water. Out of all, he knows the situation the best because the tragedy happened to him so in the future he can decide if he wanted to whether the father should have realized that water was in his diaper, or the mother was careless enough for it to happen in the first place. Such short stories lead to so many speculations on who really is the hero and the villain or who is right and who is wrong. The intriguing feeling one gets while reading these stories usually happens at the first reading since they are quick yet intense stories and it is this way that first contact is applied. Right off the bat one can start to think about everything mentioned. These are piece of writing which lead to a lot of debate and a good one because of the many factors to be considered when thinking about first contact.
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