Essay Questions

Explain the title, Building Stories?

Building Stories is narrated by a woman who articulately presents the events happening in her life, as well as the events happening in the lives of other characters in the apartment building where she stays. In a way, the writer, through the narrator's employment, strips open the lives of the people staying in the apartment building such that the reader is drawn in on their lives. Because the story depicts events of the people in that apartment building, the relevance of the work’s title is suggested—stories of the people who reside in the building at different times.

How is motherhood portrayed in this work?

Even though the woman protagonist and narrator of this story had at one point aborted a pregnancy, she later falls pregnant again and gives birth to a daughter. Motherhood for her becomes quite a challenge, and this coupled with her general bitterness, makes her life all the more miserable. Once they move from the apartment building where she had been used to staying, she becomes depressed. While the woman is bitter about her life, she truly loves her daughter like a true mother. In this way, Ware uses her as an emblem of motherhood and the challenges that come with it.

Why is the narrator a bitter character?

Having lost her leg in a dangerous boat accident, the narrator is incapable of handling her life like she used to. Even though she tries hard to make ends meet by selling her art pieces, she blames herself for how her life turned out. She aborted a pregnancy in her teenage years, and this event also haunts her. Even though she later meets a man she falls pregnant for, she never really enjoys motherhood as her bitterness overwhelms her. Her bitterness can be argued to be a result of the unfulfilling life that she has.