Reading response Chapter 9 and Willie

Chapter 9

This was a very difficult chapter for me to grasp.  Not so much the motif, but the manner and order in which it was written confused me.  Overall, I do understand the concept of telling a story through narration and no use of dialogue.  I liked the example she gave at the beginning of the chapter, referring to "an action can be something as little as a letter not being sent, or a thought that goes unspoken."    Providing information in narrative format is a very challenging way to write.  Once I attempted to do this, I enjoyed it. 

Willie

Hindsight is 20/20, so I feel pretty dumb not realizing the beginning of the story was about masturbation.  I feel even more dumb not realizing the response Professor Ellison wanted us to give as to why we thought the story ended so abruptly.  This was a very difficult piece of prose to stay focused on due to the wordiness in the narration, especially at the beginning.  There was some beautiful passages here, but in order to understand what was going on, I had to re-read several spots several times. That is not an enjoyable reading experience. And still, I did not totally get what was going on since it never occurred to me I was reading about Willie playing with his willy.  Once the action began, (mom having sex with the tutor,)  I became intrigued.  The ending surprised me, (the mom actually getting beat up/written through the sounds Willie heard.)  However, once the setting was established, it did correlate with the time period and culture.  I would like to go back and read this again so I can actually appreciate the effort put into the narration.  I need to wait though, so it can saturate in my subconscious for awhile.