Response to Lydia Davis's "Television

“Television” seems to be a reflection of sorts by the narrator about the effect television has on the lives of people. In the first part, the narrator explains how every person has a favorite show that pulls them to the television every evening. Her consensus seems to be that everyone is so sucked in by what’s on the screen that “if dead people walked outside our window we would be no more excited.” The second part is made up of smaller paragraphs that switch between the narrator’s perspective and what is playing on the television. The narrator then (in the third and final section) expresses a wish to get away from her life in a fashion akin to changing the channel on the television. This moves into a discussion of how she likes how “simple and easy to understand” a movie that is made for TV is. By the time she returns to herself, the day has come to an end and has slipped away from her. Throughout the story, the narrator uses a fair amount a imagery. This helps convey the emotions that she and most people feel while watching their favorite television show.  She describes one’s heart as beating slow then speeding up in response to either the moderate pace for the former speed to the more suspenseful pace for the latter. The way she crafts and describes how she feels connects very well with the reader. Emotions described throughout the work are very much like emotions anyone might feel when watching a certain program. The way she moves from paragraph to paragraph in part two I find particularly interesting. Though they may seem random, they are connected by subject matter. She moves from what is on the TV to what she thinks of it. This could also be used in a story to go between scenes that are happening simultaneously. It could help keep the story moving and prevent one scene from feeling monotonous.