Obliging By Lorrie Moore Summary

The short story “Obliging” by Lorrie Moore is a very well written story about a girl named Patty. Patty has a mother named Joyce and a father named Ray. She also has three other siblings whose names remain unknown throughout the story. Patty is the oldest and the tallest of the three, but she isn't the most clever. Patty is very competitive and seems to enjoy her life through sports, which the family thinks is odd because the rest of the siblings find an interest in art. School sports is what Patty has used in order to raise her low self-esteem. Basketball and softball shapes Patty into who she is now, as well as how her parents raise her. Patty's parents are very judgmental about everything. Her mother, Joyce, is a well-known politician and …show more content…
She is distant from them due to her different interests. Later in the story Patty shares a memory from her junior year. When she was 17, Patty chose to skip meeting up with her team to go to a party. This poor decision led to her getting raped by a boy named Ethan Post. Patty never tells anyone what had happens to her that night until a couple days later when Coach Nagel asks her where she got all the marks on her arm. As soon as Coach Nagel asks, Patty she starts to bawl her eyes out, so Coach Nagel immediately calls Patty’s mother. Patty's coach insisted that she go to the hospital to make sure she is okay and then to file a report on Ethan Post. After discussing the possible choices to handle what Ethan did, Patty’s parents attempt to convince her to do otherwise. They even ask her to accept an apology from him and then move on, but Patty thinks that isn’t enough. Patty's parents know that if she goes to the police that the whole town will hear about it and they do not want that to happen. Ray, Patty's father, knows that if they were to go to court Ethans parents would hire very good lawyers that Patty and her family couldn’t win …show more content…
The reader is only given details about one character’s thoughts and feelings, Patty’s. We are never let into what her parents are feeling, or any other character stated in the story. The authors uses words such as “she” ‘he” “them” and other third person pronouns. Sometimes I ask myself, “What if the story was written in another point of view?” For example, first person would give me even more details about Patty’s thoughts and feelings because it would be told from her perspective. Third person omniscient would give the reader details about every single character. We would know what Patty’s parents think, as well as Ethan’s. I would like to know what Ethan has to say about raping Patty, and being let into his thoughts and feelings would help me understand. The point of view helps identify the central idea. “As a senior, instead of being publicly humiliated Patty became a real player, not just a talent.” It is clear that Patty moved on from what happened between Ethan and her. She made sure it didn’t define who she was because she remained to stay involved in sports and improve on the