“Yours” by Mary Robison is a short story about a couple, Clark and Allison. Clark, seventy eight, and his wife Allison, thirty five, were a very close couple despite their significant age difference. They were both tall and looked similar to each other, but it seemed as though the area that they differed most was in their life’s experience. Throughout the story, the couple was fascinated with pumpkin carving. Clark’s pumpkins always looked much better than Allison’s less intricate, less precise carvings. The story referred to each of the characters in different ways: Clark was portrayed as wise and humble, whereas Allison often made adolescent decisions in her life. Each of them, although very different, gave greatly to their relationship. Toward the end of the story, Allison was dying and the reader was left with the image of Clark staring at the jack o’lanterns as they stared back at him. Clark’s gaze could have had many connotations in this story but, in this instance, I believe it represents Clark seeing a reflection of himself and Allison in their carvings.
Britt: Try to move past merely summarizing what happens to focus on the craft of the story. How did the writer use point of view or character development or symbolism to make the story more resonant? What description seems particularly evocative? What ideas does the story seem to be exploring?