Popular Mechanics, 'The Cold Equations And This Year'

As children, short stories told the tales of malevolent beasts guarding mountains of gold or of a damsel locked away from society only to be freed by her one true love, however, as the clock turns hours to days and days to years, details begin to protrude, warping the facade of childhood stories to their true state, presenting anything but a happy ending. Such stories are presented as Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver, The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin, and This Year’s Class Picture by Dan Simmons, these three tales strive to entertain and warn about the choices and consequences of life and how it is not always what is desired. These three authors all portray characters as archetypal creations, both good and bad, and leave much up to the mind after the final line of their stories, allowing those who are willing to dive deep within the meanings within the words and find the truth behind the conflicts and decisions each character makes. …show more content…
In the short stories Popular Mechanics, The Cold Equations, and This Year’s Class Picture, each story’s central characters face difficult choices that cause question to their decisions, life morals, sanity and what they gain no matter the outcome of their