Caught Up in Different Worlds

The short story Caught Up in Different Worlds is a fascinating piece that takes the readers through different jaunts of experiences of a woman called Sylvania, a good pretender who can imply to be happy even if sad, and can also appear to be sad when really happy. She is caught in different escapades that force her to fake what she does not feel.
When wedding Horace, she pretends to be happy, yet in a real sense, she hates what she goes through. Later, when Horace dies, she pretends to be at a great loss, yet feeling relieved at last. This study examines the story alongside different stylistic devices used by the author. The devices include anaphora, asyndeton, polysyndeton, and kenning. Sylvania’s parents arrange her marriage with Horace in accordance with their culture where parents decide whom to marry their sons and daughters.
That is done to ensure they marry the right person. Even if they do not agree, children are obliged to accept their parents’ verdicts. As a result, Sylvania pretends to be happy to meet Horace as her husband, but inside her is a heart of pain and despair that is forced to accept something she does not feel for. The story is a captivating piece about the experiences of a woman living in a world controlled by her parents who choose to express what she does not feel, just to conform to their expectations.

She appears to be happy from outside, yet suffering from inside.AnaphoraAnaphora is one of the stylistic devices used in the story. It is the repetition of common or similar words at the start of consecutive phrases in conjunction with the pinnacle of the story. The author uses anaphora to express Sylvania’s feelings on the last day of the wedding. While in her room, he engages in a monologue repeating the words ‘How I wish they understood’.
The speaker uses the statement to explicate her inner feelings about what she is yet to face. The reader is able to see a jovial woman from outside but is in pain from inside. At one time, she opted to run away not to wed Horace, but on the other hand, she is strongly held by the love and respect she has for her parents. Horace, on the other hand, is comfortable and promises to be a good husband. The readers follow the story keenly to see how Sylvania would survive in the arms of a man she does not have any feeling for.
At the end of the story, Horace involves in a road accident that claims his life. In that too, Sylvania pretends to be grieved and saddened by the death of her husband, but from inside, she is happy that she is free at last and makes her own decision. The culture allows a widow to remarry any man of her choice without being dictated by her parents.
Therefore, the story is about a character that lives by pretense to please the people around her.AsyndetonAsyndeton is an act of omitting conjunctions between clauses, words, and phrases. In the story, Sylvania eulogizes her husband as loving and caring by the statement, “Horace, is loving, caring.” the people who listen to her are carried by her expressions to realize that they have not stayed for long in the marriage and feel that it is a great loss to her.
She makes them think so by appearing so, but on the other hand, she feels relieved and happy at last. She falsely narrates how she was happy to have him as her husband, yet by the time of a wedding, she had thought of running only to be kept by the love and respect she has for her parents. In fact, the readers usually have an extended advantage over the characters since they can see the holistic story of what takes place. Among the people attending the two events, wedding and burial go home with a different image of Sylvania.
They think that she is happy when she is very sad. On the other occasion, they think of her to be sad, yet she is the happiest. Therefore, any written piece has a lot for the readers compared to the characters involved.PolysyndetonPolysyndeton is structurally opposite to asyndeton. It involves the use of a conjunction between each phrase, word or clause.
The use of polysyndeton is apparent at the beginning of the story where Sylvania is informed about the impending wedding. According to his father, though not named in the story, Horace is a good man with standard discipline and qualities of a husband. When given the news, Sylvania appreciates and accepts to marry as a demand of the custom, while inside her heart she does not have any feeling for him.
Similarly, when the message of his death is delivered to her, she appears to be shocked and wails bitterly, yet feeling better to finally live a life that is uncensored by her parents. The other uses complete sentences that are well conjunct to express Sylvania’s inner world. The story is so electrifying to see the way Sylvania is able to pretend and get away with it.
In fact, Horace also lived with Sylvania for their short time in marriage imagining that she loved him, but not really. From this plinth, Sylvania represents many people in the society who live in particular ways just to impress the people around them, yet they do not like what they are. Therefore, it is an educating piece for the readers and the society to avoid putting more pressure on people to an extent that they live to express what they are really not.KenningKenning is used to creatively describe something in a more creative and skillful way.
Chopin uses the same in her story on the first page, paragraph four and five. The story gives the readers an outlook of what Sylvania looks like while inside her room, during the wedding and when eulogizing her husband. As depicted in the story, she narrates her experience with Horace right from the time they had their first encounter. She also refers to him as a loving, caring and responsible husband. The readers can imagine a woman who enjoyed her marriage.
They see someone at a great loss, more so because the marriage did not last long. Two things they are not aware of is that Sylvania did not enjoy the marriage, did not support her parents’ choice and is very happy to have the news about the death of her husband. Life is a journey where two people can walk together facing the same direction, but not having a common destiny. Horace and the people around him thought that his wife loved her.
When he died, people thought that it was a blow to his wife. However, the truth of the matter is that no assumptions were consistent with whatever Sylvania was.ConclusionThe story gives the readers an outlook of Sylvania, more so whatever she feels about the wedding and the death of her husband. People living around her are very unclear about what she really is. The story is a captivating piece about the experiences of a woman living in a world controlled by her parents.
They choose a husband for her and she pretends to like it, yet not. When the husband dies, she pretends to be in a great pain of loss yet happy inside. It represents the people in the society who can smile to please people, but from inside, they suffer. Therefore, it has a lot for the readers to desire.
Study Outline
Attention Getter: The short story Caught up in Different Worlds is a fascinating piece that takes the readers through different jaunts of experiences of a woman called Sylvania, a good pretender who can imply to be happy even if sad, and can also appear to be sad when really happy.
Thesis Statement: The story is a captivating piece about the experiences of a woman living in a world controlled by her parents who choose to express what she does not feel, just to conform to their expectations. She appears to be happy from outside, yet suffering from inside.
Main PointsPoint#1: Anaphoraa) Explanation of anaphorab) How it used in the storyc) It’s relevance to the storyPoint#2: Asyndetona) Explanation of asyndetonb) How it used in the storyc) It’s relevancePoint#3: Asyndetona) Meaning of asyndetonb) How it is used in the storyc) It’s relevancePoint#4: Polysyndetona) Meaning of polysyndetonb) How the author used it in the storyc) It’s significance in the storyPoint#5: Kenninga) Meaning of Kenningb) How it is used in the storyc) It’s relevance.
The readers learn a lot from the story, more so the inner world of Sylvania. It tells more about living in a bigoted society. It paints the picture of the pressure that the society places on people to live according to certain expectations. The story is an electrifying piece with much for the readers to desire.