"Newborn Thrown in the Trash Dies"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how John Edgar Wideman's short story, "Newborn Thrown in the Trash and Dies", uses a very distinctive point of view for dramatic effect and irony. It looks at how the story uses the viewpoint of an unwanted baby, thrown into a trash shoot and how the baby's last moments make up the story, from the baby's own internal point of view.

From the Paper:

"This disturbing and graphic story opens with a first-person point of view that sounds rational and bitter at the same time. The first lines of the story indicate what is to come, just not to who, or why. Wideman writes, "They say you see your whole life pass in review the instant before you die. How would they know? If you die after the instant replay, you aren't around to tell anyone anything" (Wideman 1396). Thus, the reader is prepared for something unpleasant to occur, but it is not clear just how unpleasant that is going to be. In fact, the actually premise of the story does not come until much later, but already the viewpoint draws the reader in, and makes them want to know more about this intelligent and embittered character."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Wideman, John Edgar. newborn thrown in trash and dies. The American Short Story and Its Writer: An Anthology, ed. Ann Charters. New York: Bedford Books 1999. 1395-1401.

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