How To Write A Short Story Irene Listen To A Magical Radio
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In this short story Irene listens to a magical radio that makes her feel better about herself. The radio broadcasts what other people in the Westcott’s apartment are doing and saying. This allows Irene to judge people because she is listening to other people’s everyday life. By listening to the radio Irene escapes the problems in her own life, and look at the problems in other people’s life. To begin with, Irene’s marriage is not healthy, which shows that Irene is looking at other people messing up to make her feel better. Jim, Iren’s husband yells at her for listening to the radio and judging other people because she did many bad things in her life. In the story, Jim says this to Irene trying to tell her she has messed up in life like the people she is listening to on the radio:
You stole your mother’s jewelry before they probated her will. You never gave your sister a cent of that money that was intended for her-not even when she needed it. You made Grace Howland’s life miserable, and where was all your piety and your virtue when you went to the abortionist?
.(Cheever 389)
Irene has obviously done some questionable things and is trying to escape her problems through the radio. Irene questions whether or not her and Jim have been good and decent for one another. “We’ve always been good and decent and loving for one another…show more content… A critique says: “He is deeply disturbed by hearing the actual lives of some of the neighbors in the apartment building…” (Meanor 190). Jim does not like for Irene to listen to the radio because he thinks it is judgmental and unethical. At first, Jim thought it was amusing but later he feels ashamed for listening and laughing at the radio. A critique says, “At first the Westcott’s find this amusing – in fact, their first evening with their new toy leaves them weak with laughter.” (Meanor 191). Later in the short story, Jim gets very upset with Irene being obsessed with the