Ms. Hempel Chronicles

Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum's Ms. Hempel Chronicles was able to show just how many layers a protagonist in a short story cycle can have. Each story in the cycle has a chapter-esque feel from a novel because each story builds on the one before it, revealing new aspects of Ms. Hempel's life previously unseen. While each story could be argued to have a "new" Ms. Hempel, they all have the same basic characteristics and we are given a better view of her complex personality. All people in the real world have many layers, just like an onion, and each short story peels this away. Ms. Hempels character does not stray too far away from each consecutive story, but shows us that people are very complicated and can change quickly. This makes Beatrice Hempel the most real and most relatable of any of the protagonists we have encountered. 

This collection feels as if it follows a Ms. Hempel's life in a normal order of time, save for the few stories that served as flash backs to her childhood. This also gives it that novel feel. There is a beginning, middle and an end. And, in the end, the reader is given some sense of closure not always seen in the previous cycles we have read. We know what Ms. Hempel's game plan is and presumabley how the rest of her life will wind up. If stories were added on after "Bump" there might be one about her retiring from teaching, one of her hopefully happy marriage to someone after the breakup with Amit and one with her giving birth to her child or even stories about them all living as a family together. We seen Ms. Hempel grow from a child into a grown woman and future mother/wife, 

What a writer such as myself can take from Ms. Hempel is definitely the layers of the character to make them seem more real. I'd want to reveal new information and backstory of a character in each story. Why just have on story do this? If one were to just read one story from this collection they would not have a complete knowledge of Ms. Hempel's character. You need to read every story in the cycle and have each trait build on itself to get the 100% accurate portrayal of Ms. Hempel. However, there were certain aspects of this that I didn't like too much. There was certain information about Ms. Hempel that was revealed way too casually. We don't learn off Ms Hempel's engagement until a few stories in and it is mentioned without much buildup, as if the reader has already known this. Also the fact that she is pregnant also comes as a surprise to the reader and is again not brought up in what would seem to be a life-changing event type of manner. Nevertheless, the realness of Ms. Hempel is what I want to use in my own cycle. I want a character people can not only relate to, but envision living and breathing in the real world with them. Ms. Hempel is definitely a character that pulls this off.