Literary Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Literary Research Paper - Essay Example ions of the Soviet Union, the chaos and violence that occur as a result have long-lasting, often life or death, consequences for those who have taken part (Stern, 1975). Although racial tensions between the Turks and the Cypriots have always proven difficult to manage, which is highlighted in the short story â€Å"Gregory† written by Panos Ioannides in 1963, the choices made by the individuals within the short story serve to indicate that these tensions might not have reached such violent proportions had a few different choices been made on either side. The short story itself is simple enough to summarize. A narrator soldier tells his thoughts and feelings as he follows his orders and performs his duty. The tension involved in this job is revealed from the beginning lines of the story, â€Å"My hand was sweating as I held the pistol. The curve of the trigger was biting against my finger† (648). Although he has obviously held a pistol before, the concept that his hand is sweating around it indicates that either he is in a very warm climate or the presence of the pistol is creating a strong conflict within the man holding it. That the latter interpretation is probably correct is immediately reinforced by the idea that the trigger was ‘biting’ against his finger, fighting against him, injuring him and making him decidedly uncomfortable. The task he faces is made difficult not only because his orders are to execute another man, difficult enough in itself, but also because the man he is ordered to execute is an innoc ent, a friend and a man who had saved the narrator’s life only a few days earlier. In trying to relate the difficulty of the task in front of him, the narrator illustrates the various aspects of both his own life as the unit’s designated executioner and what that has done to his own psyche, but also the aspects of Gregory’s life that make it so difficult for the narrator to squeeze the trigger. Most of these attributes were brought about