Comparing The End Of Firpo In The World And The Falls By Richard Saunders

Saunders’ style of writing exudes confidence. He, like many other great writers, has gone beyond having excellent and total control of prose. Through trial and error, Saunders has mastered the art of creating an entertaining story without ever losing control of it. One can see this via his purposeful use of literary/rhetorical devices, like point of view and repetition, within his stories. As one begins to find what Saunders has hidden through these devices, one receives a jolt of satisfaction that entices one to continue reading. His short stories, The End of Firpo In the World and The Falls, exemplify this perfectly. Saunders uses repetition fairly often, usually to highlight important aspects of the characters he creates. Take, for example,

Being overly certain, he was relatively sure, was what eventually made one a wacko.” (Saunders 1) This same repetition paints the other man completely differently, as someone with schizotypal tendencies, “... Cummings said he felt the possible rain made the fine bright day even finer and brighter because of the possibility of its loss. The possibility of its ephemeral loss. The ephemeral loss of the day to the fleeting passages of time. Preening time.” (Saunders 1) This minute connection between the two characters serves as a metaphorical gas station like the one mentioned in his essay, “Rise, Baby, Rise!”. It sparks interest and leads one to wonder, “Just how close are Cummings and Morse as characters?” This idea of having two people with the same thought processes, giving them different upbringings, and then putting them in similar situations to see how they’d act is undeniably interesting and pulls the active reader in. Saunders

Regarding The End of FIRPO in the World, this point of view was the best choice for the type of story Saunders was going for. The observer is able to see the events objectively, while also seeing how Cody is perceiving them. Allowing the reader to see what Cody thought would happen as a consequence of his being struck by a car, as well as letting them see Cody’s thoughts on the man that struck him were incredible uses of this limited perspective. One sees the permanent mental scars that his upbringing had already left on him at such a young age, and also his desperate final reach for control as he demeans the only person that has extended a helping hand thus far. As for The Falls, at least in the first half, perspective is used for more jovial purposes. When Cummings walked past Morse and did not think to collar him, Morse immediately wondered if he had done something wrong. The reader, at this point, may be thinking, “That’s silly, Morse worrying over nothing seems to be a pattern.” As Cummings is introduced, however, the reader finds out that he really was snubbing him. Saunders shows the reader the mind of both Morse and Cummings and uses their similarity to set up yet another comedic metaphorical gas station. Saunders continues to have fun while keeping his stories