Unnaming the Magi's Cold..

She Unnames Them
I had a hard time figuring out what this story was actually about. It seems to be about breaking a habit. It is habit to call animals by their names, but who gave the animals their names? And what authority does "she" have to unname them? The story was cute in that certain animals' characteristics were portrayed. The reader can relate to their experiences with household animals by how they would respond to being unnamed.

Journey of the Magi
The many descriptions in the story help the reader picture the magi's hard journey. People were unfriendly and not helpful. Their sleeping area was not consistent and unpleasant. I felt sympathy for the narrator. The situation was so bad that they decided it would be better to keep traveling instead of sleeping. There are many religious references. T. S. Elliot is known for his allusions to the Bible and Christianity, and his works were always interesting because of this. He is discussing the pagans when he talks about the alien people. The narrator seems fed up with people that have not accepted Jesus. When the narrator speaks of another death, I think he is referring to Jesus' death. I think that he cannot wait for them to be saved by His death because they are sinning by "clutching" their false gods.

A Cold Coming
This story is interesting to read, especially with the recent event of a wife getting her dead husband's body. She had to have a lawsuit so that she could freeze some of his sperm, which would most likely not impregnate her anyway. This story plays on the idea of life and death. The soldiers saved their sperm in hopes of a new life after they die. The narrator might be in Saddam's army. That would explain why he was asking for forgiveness and a pardon.