When I began reading this, I hadn't expected the turn it took. I wound the story of Akakiy to be touching and I felt sorry for him. I understood his desire to remain in his normal routine, and didn't want to branch out. Yet, when he did, his life began to get better. But then, as life does tend to do, his happiness was ripped away again, and thus his life ended in a sad and sorry state. Yet, that wasn't the end. Akakiy was then a ghost, searching for a cloak to replace the one that had been stolen from him, and he terrorized the city until he gained the cloak of the official that wouldn't help him find his cloak. This wasn't a terrible surprise. I, in fact, enjoyed this story and its ending. While the death of Akakiy is sad, we can feel assured that he is no longer cold in the Russian winter, and the official he gained the new cloak from experienced a change of character as well. That is, at least, a comforting thought.
I commented on Hannah Senteney's post.
Basically, I completely agree with this post. The story didn't do at all what I thought it was going to do. I really like the direction that it did take however. I think it teaches the reader about greed and charity and looking at people for who they really are.
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