The short story, "The Gift of Sweat," by Rebecca Brown is about two male gay lovers, Rick and Barry. Rick has lost his gay lover to AIDS and now has to cope with living alone. This loss not only affected Rick, but also caused Rick to greatly suffer throughout the story. Rick eventually becomes very sick one day to the point where he can't even open the door to let his "lady friend" in. By the end of the story, we learn that Rick is so sick he has to be taken to the hospital, and it can be inferred that he too dies from AIDS.
Throughout the story, there are many questions that arise and many things I find interesting. The title of the short story really caught my eye. Why did the author decide to name the story, "The Gift of Sweat?" Was Rick's sweat really a gift to his "lady friend?" Or does it go further than that? Does it resemble the relationship they had, or maybe they even had more than a relationship. For certain we don't know, but can infer and get clues throughout the text. Another thing I found interesting between Rick and his "lady friend" is that the two of them seem to have some kind of routine every Tuesday and Thursday. Every time before his "lady friend" would stop over at Rick's place, she would always go to Hostess to get two cinnamon rolls. One for her and one for him. Why did this routine only happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Did Ricks "lady friend" go to his house everyday, or only on those days when she would bring the cinnamon rolls? Another thing I found interesting was how we can infer from the story that Rick never used to go out of the house when Barry was still alive. Both of them always used to stay home and just enjoy each other's company. However, after Barry died, that changed. Rick started going out. "After Barry died Rick started going to the Hostess, especially on Sundays, because he had to get out of the apartment. He used to go to the Hostess all the time until it got to be too much for him." From this, maybe you can infer that Rick started going less because he realized he was sick. He couldn't go everyday anymore because his body just wasn't up to the running around, and was slowly breaking down. Maybe that was nature's way of telling him that he did infact contract AIDS from Barry, and his time to pass might be soon. As a reader, we will never know any of the answers to these questions, but can only guess at what we read and infer from the text.
Throughout the story, there are many questions that arise and many things I find interesting. The title of the short story really caught my eye. Why did the author decide to name the story, "The Gift of Sweat?" Was Rick's sweat really a gift to his "lady friend?" Or does it go further than that? Does it resemble the relationship they had, or maybe they even had more than a relationship. For certain we don't know, but can infer and get clues throughout the text. Another thing I found interesting between Rick and his "lady friend" is that the two of them seem to have some kind of routine every Tuesday and Thursday. Every time before his "lady friend" would stop over at Rick's place, she would always go to Hostess to get two cinnamon rolls. One for her and one for him. Why did this routine only happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Did Ricks "lady friend" go to his house everyday, or only on those days when she would bring the cinnamon rolls? Another thing I found interesting was how we can infer from the story that Rick never used to go out of the house when Barry was still alive. Both of them always used to stay home and just enjoy each other's company. However, after Barry died, that changed. Rick started going out. "After Barry died Rick started going to the Hostess, especially on Sundays, because he had to get out of the apartment. He used to go to the Hostess all the time until it got to be too much for him." From this, maybe you can infer that Rick started going less because he realized he was sick. He couldn't go everyday anymore because his body just wasn't up to the running around, and was slowly breaking down. Maybe that was nature's way of telling him that he did infact contract AIDS from Barry, and his time to pass might be soon. As a reader, we will never know any of the answers to these questions, but can only guess at what we read and infer from the text.
you pointed out the gift of sweat between rick and his lady friend, then u questioned whether or not there was something more between them.
ReplyDeleteI found that interesting because during the middle ending of the story the narrator creates a sexual scene. Brown says, " I pulled my body close to him so his butt was in my lap and my breasts and stomach were against his back. I pressed against him to warm him."
good blog :)
i thought you posed some really good questions and made some very interesting inferences.
ReplyDeletesome of these questions i never even thought of like "Why did this routine only happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Did Ricks "lady friend" go to his house everyday, or only on those days when she would bring the cinnamon rolls? " You really dug deep into the story and i think you did a fantastic job!
An excellent start to your blog. And I'm pleased to see that you focused particular attention to the title "The Gift of Sweat"—since it puts you in a good place for the assignment I've given.
ReplyDeleteI think, too, that your responses to and insights regarding the story as a whole. There are places, of course, where you pose questions and speculate ("Why did this routine happen only on Thursdays and Tuesdays?"), and it would be interesting to see you grapple with those questions, and come up with possible answers or theories. There's a lot left out of this story, a lot that can only be inferred, and much that--you're right--can never be known. The question then becomes: why so much ambiguity? What purpose is served, if anything, by the author's leaving so much out of her story?
I mean to say (above) that I think your responses to the whole story are thoughtful and accurate.
ReplyDeletei think that the fact that you put the questions that come up while reading the stories is really good. i was confused about the story too and asked basically the sam questions. i liked how you also then tried answering the questions you asked and you had good answers to them too
ReplyDeleteIf you read in the first part of chapter four of making arguments about literature we use in our English 112 class at Ivy tech it tells you that she writes short stories narraated by a woman who does housekeeping for people with AIDS. That is why she is there two times a week and since she sees him two times a week and cleans for him, I am sure they have gotten close. I clean houses and become friends with most of my "clients". Good Blog enjoyed reading it!
ReplyDelete