#5 "Alive" and "Westbury Court"

"Alive"
I think the main point of this essay is that no matter what kind of training or sharp wit one possesses, even having been a former police officer, she, and everyone else in the world, is still susceptible to others, “simply because I am alive”. This goes through the whole frightening story of this woman’s experience with a suspected stalker to convey this idea. Despite the fact that she was a cop, despite the fact that she took precautions, despite the fact that she waited to lose the stalker, despite the fact that she left the state; still, she is vulnerable. There is nothing that can completely prepare anyone for all of life’s challenges and interactions with others. When at first it seemed like this story was going to be about the author’s interaction with the bald man, as it turns out, that main point has no real emphasis on this particular incident. Really, the main focus of the essay is this woman’s realization that no matter who prepared you may think you are, no matter how “alert, tolerant, compassionate, or suspicious”, life will always surprise you. There is no way around it; simply being alive is enough to make all of these characteristics meaningless when you get caught up in life.

"Westbury Court"
I found it to be a little more difficult to find the real focus of this essay, but I think what the author is trying to say is that the world around you moves pretty fast, and that it is impossible to control everything that happens. This essay seems, to me, to say that in an instant, things can change drastically - for the better, or for the worse ("I am vulnerable simply because I'm alive"). Also, I think this essay focuses on the fact that if you don't take the time to look around and keep your eyes and ears open, you lose the opportunity to get to know those around you. That perhaps, by being so focused on oneself and what is going on in that individual's life (General Hospital), we miss the bigger picture and the things that are going on around us. Similarly to "Alive", this story also takes us through the incident with the fire in the building, only as a vehicle to get to the main point of the essay. Although the fire takes up a large portion of the text, the true meaning behind it doesn't really have all that much to do with this incident. It could have come from talking about the murders, the burglary, or any other tragedy mentioned in the essay. The author simply chose one episode as a means of conveying a message and getting to the main idea she intended to write about, just like Laurie Lynn Drummond did in "Alive".

Both pieces used very descriptive language in their essays, and wrote in a matter-of-fact, stream-of-conscious type manner. I think writing in this way allowed both authors to tell their stories in an interesting and intimate way. The reader can visualize what is happening, as it is happening in the story. Also, both pieces go through the whole story and then reflect on the events, thus producing the main focus of the essay.