Response to Lydia Davis's "Television"

It seems that Davis is trying to show how t.v. has become such a big part of our daily lives and how we long for that connection with its shows and characters. It is so much apart of us that she describes "If dead people walked outside our windows we would be no more excited." This includes the news, game-shows, and regular day-time cop shows. We like to feel as if, what's happening in the world of television relates to us. Her use of imagery allows us to visualize and relate to, even if we aren't married yet, the husband who is glued to the television because of the beautiful female news anchor, or even the game show host that mother likes; we see that.

            She sections off her story in three parts which I think adds emphasis to each point she is trying to convey. In other words, the first section seems to focus on the effect the television has on us in general as a person, a family, etc. The second and third sections appear to almost chronicle her own personal television experience. Her sentences are short and to the point. They grab the readers attention and they work well with this topic. The sentences, paragraphs, and sections all appear to almost mock that of a television show or t.v. movie; they skip details, they're easy to understand, and they don't last long. Davis describes this by mentioning toward the end of her day she wants to watch a movie that will "skip over all the complications, knowing we will understand, so that major events will happen abruptly..."

          Davis shows how television is used to pass or waste time. She says "All this was compressed into the very end of a day in my life that, as the evening advanced had already moved away from me..." Within a television show or movie, which last for about an hour, maybe an hour and twenty minutes, so much has happened to the characters and within their lives, yet for the audience watching the show, nothing has happened. I think Davis is trying to show that by the time we've decided to spend the rest of the day or night watching television, the day has left us and we transform or pretend to be the so desired personalities that we see. We want what we see and we fall in love with and look forward to these people, whether they are game-show host or the weatherman. There is something in television that comforts us and I think Davis conveys this very well with her short sentences, descriptive language, and imagery.