Analysis of Pool Short Story

The "excellent life" is what most of humankind wanted. Even though it seemingly rules as the primary goal today, people have actually developed a more modern-day point of view. Increasingly more people have begun to counter pregnancy in basic which is absolutely new. "It all modifications with a kid."(l. 168) Children bring a substantial commitment into the lives of us all which's why there are so numerous that prevent the so called "great" life. This is the primary theme of the short story Pool.

The story centers on the contrast of Darla's life and the typical life of marriage. Darla is a woman that's assumingly in her mid-twenties/start-thirties.

We do not get an exact variety of her years, but this is what we ´ d typically assume. This is the age, where many people decide to settle with a spouse and have kids. Darla is however not like the majority of people. It's as if, she doesn't possess the stress and anxiety of her biological clock going out, like most ladies do.

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This is a really essential element to Darla's character.

Throughout the text she continuously hints that, she does not desire a child. "I 'd be terrible at it. I 'd most likely start drinking. I understand I would."(l. 80) This is among often times that she speaks her mind easily about the subject. Darla has actually combined herself up with Jon, and the story states that the 2 have been together simply under a year. The interesting part is however, what Darla prefers about their relationship: "What she liked best about him, Darla had actually simply realized earlier in the cars and truck, was that it wasn't going to last, so she really didn't need to care that much truly.

"(l.11-13) The quotation from the story shows that Darla is a more modern and casual person.

The reader is told early on that a conflict in their relationship has stirred up. Darla and Jon had sexual intercourse the night prior to the pool party, and their condom had split. It’s important for Darla not to become a mother, and it seems like it’s her highest priority to avoid things that might counter the effect, of the morning after pill she swallowed. Once in the story Jon offers her a sip of beer, but she immediately turns it down even though the pill was a guarantee 99 percent success. “She put her hand on his wrist…”Just stop,” she said. Her throat dried up,” (l.51, 53) Here we get a sense of Darla’s anxiety.

An interesting detail surrounding the relationship between Darla and Jon is that we don’t hear that much about Jon’s opinion on being a parent. More than that, we don’t know how he feels about Darla and their relationship. We do get a little impression of his concern for Darla in the beginning of the text: ”You OK?”(l.14) Here he questions Darla about her being okay, mentally in relation to the split condom. Other than that he pushes her to strap on her bathing suit multiple times, but that is a problem for Darla due to her insecurities.

Darla responds negatively: “Darla Gave Jon a look and he shrugged. She thought of quicksand – if she were being dragged under, Jon would probably just stay there and give the same shrug. Whenever she got very sad, which happened sometimes, Jon acted as if leaving her alone was the best thing,” (l.138-141) This short lines give us a very good glimpse of Darla’s personal torment and their relationship. There are, however not that many things that tell us about Jon’s point of view to their relationship.

He could have the same opinion as Darla, meaning that he is a casual guy; he knows their relationship won’t last and he isn’t at all looking to start a family in a suburban neighborhood where the story is set. We actually don’t know that much about Jon at all. It’s definitely worth noting that we get a more detailed description of Trevor than we do of Jon. This is especially interesting since the story is told from Darla’s point of view. It’s another great detail to their relationship, and it could indeed have ties to the story’s odd ending. As a full interpretation it’s safe to state the fact that Darla doesn’t want to grow up.

The story is set in the typical suburban neighborhood; Houses put up like boxes, probably surrounded by white-picked fences, infested with needy children and this is what Darla is the opposition of. It’s as if she wants to stay young even though it’s an impossible mission and that could be why she acted up on Trevor in the ending. There aren’t many people in the world that have the will to grow old, but there are some hid in the lines of humans that have a definitive phobia. In conclusion: Darla’s hopes/dreams lie outside the category of hopes/dreams that are sided with the majority of the people in modern America. Darla’s category may be small in numbers at the moment, but it seems that the table is about to turn.