Violin By Anthony Robman

Analyzing this short story, I instantly imagined and assumed that is about a lady completely fed up with her male roommate who continues to bother her by constantly playing the violin. It’s the shock of the next sentence that stays with you long after reading the short story. Its only when you read this last sentence that you actually understand the true horror and disgust of what just happened. From what I gather, the woman who was getting very irritated by the man who wouldn’t stop playing the violin actually ended up shooting him. Its very much open to interpretation, but from what I know about the damage guns can cause I imagine she killed him or at least injured him to a great degree. I view this “story” as more of a statement or quotation

However, I’m soon left with mixed emotions of shock, horror and disgust as I carry on to read the second line and discover from my understanding of it, that she ended up actually killing the man who annoyed her with his violin playing. Thankfully this dreadful act of violence is not something I can relate to personally, although I do appreciate it bringing drama and intrigue to the short story. It makes us ask ourselves what could possibly be so bad about a man playing violin that it led her to carry out this awful crime. It even makes us question, was there something else going on in her life at the time that encouraged her to come this decision or had past experiences in her life maybe played a part in this heinous act. I wonder what must have been the last straw for this woman, her breaking point when she realized that she just couldn’t stick it any more. What must have been going on in her mind that told her the only way out was to kill him? What was she thinking at the time or was she even thinking at all? Maybe it was a spur of the moment act which she quickly regretted rather than a thought out cold blooded

There are so many things we don’t know as well as some information we do know which seems totally irrelevant once you’ve read the full piece. Things the author mentions like the fact it was a “studio apartment in San Jose” totally goes over our heads and seems almost non important once we get to the end of the story and discover the more important and major aspects of the story. The fact there are numerous things we don’t actually know for certain, for instance did the woman and the man live together in the same apartment or just the apartment near by? Were her and the man acquaintances or even have a relationship, maybe a couple or were they just two people who had never met before? I the continue to ask myself the deeper questions of whether she killed the man, or if he was even shot at all, did she even own the gun or use it or was it just something she found. Although I have my own assumptions as to what happened, I can’t help but question it, which brings all the more interest and intrigue to the story, exactly what I think the author