Stern’s “Morning News” and Shuster’s “Eclipsed”: Comparison

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Reflecting on the Theme of the Stories
Facts Making Morning News and Eclipsed Comparable
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Both Stern’s Morning News and Shuster’s Eclipsed raise the theme of dying and man’s inability to avoid death. When reflecting on their characters’ emotions, the authors show what an individual might be experiencing, having realized that his/her days on Earth are numbered. As the stories develop, the reader starts to track how the apathy builds up within the characters and how it then impacts their thoughts and decisions. Although the narrations are written from different perspectives and are steeped in a grim mood, their endings leave plenty of room for optimistic theories to emerge. Once the stories are over, the reader concludes that one should be thankful for every minute spent next to his/her dearest people, and that remaining time must be used to leave more good memories behind.

Reflecting on the Theme of the Stories

The major theme threading the stories’ plots is the certainty of death and the need to accept its inevitability. Both Stern and Shuster drive a reader to the conclusion that sooner or later one will face the issue of dying in person. An individual may try rejecting the reality or turn angry at the state of affairs, but still, one cannot change the order of things: what is meant to be will be. The only thing a person is capable of doing is accepting fate and using the remaining time to be closer to his/her family, relatives, and friends.

While introducing death as the key theme, the authors skillfully use the atmosphere of sadness to touch upon the related topics. One of those is that people prefer not to think of what awaits them until there is no choice or nothing left to be thinking of. Death as such has always been treated as a taboo topic by society, and people unwillingly engage in philosophical discussion of this matter. Through the thoughts of the husband in Morning News Stern demonstrates how emotional state of parting people transfers to their surrounding and what impact it makes (4). A similar effect is traced in Eclipsed: the son is imbued with his father’s feelings and wants something to dispel his worries (Shuster 19). The interpretation of the authors’ message is based on considering cause and effect: should humanity have changed its attitude towards death, no concerns related to dying would ever arise.

Facts Making Morning News and Eclipsed Comparable

After having read the stories, one can easily draw a parallel between the two, for there are stylistic features that make them have similarities. Aside from being concise, the narrations share the mood, which reflects the feeling of helplessness and total frustration. From the thoughts they express, one can tell that the characters are not ready to embrace the reality as it is. In the meantime, the authors utilize the literary techniques that make both stories unique: not only different perspectives (first- and third-person) are used, but the protagonists’ further actions vary as well.

Similarities

As was mentioned earlier, the two stories share the theme of death and dying. From the words and thoughts of the main characters, a reader discovers that these individuals are struggling with some form of terminal sickness, which leaves them little time to enjoy the lives they have. A common thing about the writers’ styles is that they do not go into detail about the types of diseases or their severity; they only state that these people are soon to fade away. By referring to this manner of writing, the authors emphasize the fact that once the inevitability of death is realized, all speculations about the reasons and oversights are left behind. The writers’ main idea is that one cannot change the state of affairs; what one can actually do is use the remaining time wisely.

In addition to the theme and mood, the narrations share the idea of unity and the need to stay closer to one’s family/relatives. In Morning News Stern describes what thoughts cross the husband’s mind when he starts worrying about his wife, the one he is soon to leave alone (184). Although the news forces him to sink deeper into himself, the man does not stop caring of the person he loves. The same idea is expressed by Shuster: despite being terminally ill, the father finds the strength to assemble viewers and watch the magnificent natural phenomenon with his son (19).

Differences

The major difference can be found in the way the theme is unveiled in the stories. Stern and Shuster have a different perception of how and when the drama should be uncovered. In Morning News, the first thing a reader is introduced to is not actually the character but rather the fact that someone has just received bad news (Stern 183). Those were the news that made the man lie down on tile and think about death and the words he had read on the tombstone many years ago. One gets familiar with the protagonist’s situation since practically the very first sentence.

In Eclipsed, however, the author starts with describing how the two people, father and son, are getting prepared to watch the natural phenomenon. At first, readers are not aware of any drama or moral torment. One understands the severity of their situation only after the father makes his regretting remark (Shuster 19). A reader starts to realize why the picture of the family relationship seemed so immaculate: the father wanted to do something special for the son, something he would always remember.

Spirituality is another subject that differentiates the discussed micro stories. Stern decides to bring up the theme of religion, while Shuster prefers to leave this topic behind. In Morning News the man wonders what makes his students believe in supreme forces and eternal life (Stern 184). By taking this approach, the writer delivers the message that at the brink of death a person must hurry to settle down his/her relationships with God and earn the right for salvation. In the meantime, the author remembers to depict the conflict of spiritual and material bonds: the man skips the occurring thoughts entirely and chooses to buy a 60-inch TV panel instead.

Conclusion

In the reviewed stories, the authors bring up the theme of death and dying as the major issue that every person on Earth will deal with once in a lifetime. The key message Stern and Shuster try to deliver is that people should not repine at their unhappy lot but use the time to restore relationships with family and leave good reasons to be missed. While the narrations have differences in the use of perspective and plot structure, they both share the idea that embracing the inevitable is the only way to deal with fears and concerns.

Works Cited

Shuster, Robert. “Eclipsed.” Writing Fiction Workbook, edited by Lisa Selvidge, 2006, pp. 18-19.

Stern, Jerome. “Morning News.” Micro Fiction: An Anthology of Really Short Stories, edited by David Stevens, 1998, pp. 182-184.

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