"She would have it, this baby. She grabbed the baby's other arm. She caught the baby around the wrist and leaned back.
But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard.
In this manner, the issue was decided" (page 345 [handout]).
The story's final lines hold symbolic meaning. Yes, I think that the author is leaving this up to interpretation whether who got the baby. However, I do think that maybe the baby was pulled so hard in both directions that the baby simply died. Neither parent deserved the child, so maybe that is how the issue was "decided." Perhaps the answer lies with the author of the piece, or maybe like the story that we read about last week (I think it was "Eveline"???), the author is leaving the answer up to the reader's imagination. The few details in the description of the story establish the tone. First off, the story is set in the end of the snowstorm. The snow is melting, and it is now "slush." In the winter, it is really dreary without the sun being out all the time. I simply think of winter as kind of a dark, dreary time. That's why we always put up lights and such to add light to this darkness. Or maybe that's just me, I don't know. However, the literary elements also add to the tone. When the mom and dad are yelling at each other, there is no quotation marks. Everything is just simply stated. It's almost as if the parents' words do not deserve true punctuation. The child, for one thing, does not deserve to be hearing these things. It's just kind of sad though because children are what generally hold a family together. One would think that these two parents would make their relationship work for the benefit of the child. However, even their this moment, greed comes out of the parents and neither can give it up. How could a parent do this to his child?! I don't like this. The words are harsh and the violence is worse. In this case, actions truly do speak louder than words.
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