“Saving Sourdi,”

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After reading “Saving Sourdi,” discuss the following questions in 3–5 paragraphs:

The story begins with a strong revealing statement from Nea, the narrator. How do you think Nea feels about her sister Sourdi based on this information? How does what happens at the beginning of the story foreshadow what happens later?
This story is told from Nea’s point of view. How do you think the story would change if it were told from Sourdi’s point of view? Do you feel closer to the character than you would if this story were told in third person?
Nea briefly mentions an experience she and Sourdi had in a minefield when they were younger. What impact do you think this had on the relationship between the sisters?
Nea’s family is not originally from the United States. What are some clues the author gives to describe the origin of their ethnicity? Give 2 examples of characters who say things that are racially offensive, and discuss how this makes you feel about those characters. Can you relate to these experiences?
How does the author describe Duke and Mr. Chhay? Do you get a sense of who these characters are based on these descriptions?
As the story progresses, how does the relationship between Nea and Sourdi change? Why do you think it changes?
What does the mother value, based on how reaction to updates she receives from Sourdi? Why do you think she might feel this way?”

 

Sample Solution

“Saving Sourdi,”

Saving Sourdi is an intriguing short story detailing the challenges and strive that one of the characters, Nea, had to deal with in her interactions with the sister, Sourdi and the revellers in their family owned restaurant. Despite growing up together with her sister, the character of Nea is notably different from that of her sister. Notwithstanding the fall back of Nea in maturity compared to her sister, it is evident that she consistently demonstrated her desire to save her sister. The actions of Nea demonstrates her perseverance in several attempts and aggressiveness. She seemingly plays a role that should naturally be by the elder sister. The differences in maturity is further supported by her failure to comprehend the relationship of Sourdi with Mr. Chhay, her husband (Chai, 143). With all her naivety, Nea fights for closeness with her sister who she believes that her husband has taken away from the previous enjoyed sisterhood.

Stephen’s pride is also a cause of his isolation. From the beginning, pride — a mortal sin — keeps him away from others (Drew 276). He yearns for “order and elegance” in his life. He feels superior to his family and to his peers. He feels superior to his country, and consequently attempts to improve it (Hackett 203). In the end, pride drives him to lonely exile. Increasingly Stephen denies his actual family in Dublin so as to assume kinship with his eponymous family in Greece:

Began with a discussion with my mother. . . Said religion was not a lying-in hospital. Mother indulgent. Said I have a queer mind and have read too much. Not true. Have read little and understood less. The she said I would have to come back to faith because I had a restless mind. This means to leave church by backdoor of sin and re-enter through the skylight of repentance. Cannot repent.

(Joyce 243)

In essence, Stephen becomes less and less Dedalus, and more and more Daedalus (Ellman 16). Is Stephen’s pride justified by his talent? Is it merely selfish? Has pride driven him to a fall, as it did Icarus and Lucifer? Joyce uses uncertainties like these to involve his audience in the changing themes of the novel.

In Portrait of the Artist, a mature artist looks back over his youth, perceiving what was significant to his development, estimating what was vital and what was transitory in that evolvement (Peake 56). Using this to his advantage, Joyce extends and intensifies Stephen’s alienation, for the overpoweringly monotonous and constrictive society in which he resides provide him the best conditions under which he can best work (Beebe 163).

Thus, by observing and graphically depicting what confines man, how man overcomes this confinement, and how man lives once he is free, James Joyce discusses the motivations and the outlets for human expression. Like Daedalus and Icarus, Stephen Dedalus assumes the role of a persecuted hero, who must over

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