This story by Ray Bradbury is called The Garbage Collector and it tells the simple story of a garbage man. At first, the story discusses the mundane aspects of his job and the little ways he and his friends keep it interesting, then it takes us right to him having a discussion with his wife about how he wants to quit his job. You're left startled and curious and as he proceeds, you're left to slowly gather information about what's going on; finally coming to the conclusion that there is a war going on and it will soon become the garbage men's job to clean up the dead bodies. The story itself is anticlamactic considering that nothing actually happens and no action is taken, but the images you're left with leave you shaken.
A shocking quote that the protagonist says to himself is: "Wondering if you put the bodies in the trucks... with the heads on the right, or the feet on the right. Men and women together, or separated? Children in one truck, or mixed with men and women? Dogs in special trucks, or just let them lay? Wondering how many bodies one garbage truck can hold. And wondering if you stack them on top of each other and finally knowing you must just have to."
This story is definitely interesting and is successful as a short story. Though nothing extraordinary physically happens, you're left to ponder and fill in the blanks, which almost makes the story more effective since one's imagination can supply more detail than any written story.
Wow, Sky great job explaining. I find it cool that the author wrote a story that doesnt have alot of action. It sounds like an interesting story because of the way he described the garbage mans job. Reading your blog post makes me want to read that story!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such an interesting story. I really like the quote that you choose to include because it is extremely chilling. I think that it is interesting how the author relies more on eeriness than action. I think that stories that leave a lot to the imagination are always extremely successful, and interesting to read. I would also love to read this story!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very imaginative and chilling story. Reading the quote made me shudder. Even just your description of the story leaves me with images that have left me shaken. I like how it starts out so simple and sweet, with garbage men trying to make their job fun, to them being forced to pack dead people into trucks. Thank you for sharing this seemingly great story as well as your opinion on it.
ReplyDelete- I don't know how to sign this with my name, but this is Melanie B.
I like the idea of writing an anticlimactic story. It sounds sort of difficult to accomplish, and I can't really pinpoint any book of that nature that i've read, but this leaves me curious to know more of how that works. I'd like to try different ways of writing to add variation. Maybe this could be the next challenge?
ReplyDeleteI read and then re-read the quote to make sure that I had gotten it right. It's definitely a different way to look at things, and probably produces even more impact within the context of the story.
The quote you shared is really haunting. The story seems really interesting and I like the idea of being able to kind of figure out what happens in the story yourself. You seemed to really enjoy this story. Although the title and basic plot make it seem like a simple story, it's clear from your description that there's a lot more going on than just a simple garbage man. I would love to read this story now!
ReplyDelete-Sarah
Sky, you present an insightful explanation of the story. It sounds haunting. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete....macaroni has lost its appeal....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gdhsenglish.com/thompson/assets/pdfs/ENG3U1%20pdf%27s/Short%20Stories/The%20Garbage%20Collector.pdf