The Ninny

Conflict

Setting

The conflict for the story "The Ninny" is external (Man vs Man) because the man kept on deducting money from yulia's payment. The boss is a man who can afford to pay someone but does not understand how it feels when someone rips you off. Yulia let the man take money away from her and didn't do anything about it. It is also Man vs Self because Yulia doesn't stand up for her self and is too soft spoken. She was too scared to lose her only job.

‘The Ninny’ takes place somewhere in Russia during the 1800’s. The stories’ events occur in the home of what seems to be a wealthy family, where a man is most powerful. We inferred this with the names used for the characters in the story and the currency of rubles, which is the official currency used in Russia. This is significant to the story as the time and place tells us about how hard it was to earn money back then and how important it was to get paid.

Literary Devices

* Symbolism: “rubles.” Rubles are an important aspect of the story as it shows how the rich and poor are separated in society. Yulia became submissive all under the fear she may lose her job and not earn any rubles and decided to agree to what the employer was saying so she would not lose the few number of rubles she was being offered.

* Situational Irony: One would expect the narrator to turn out to be the antagonist of the story. Someone with an evil heart and would end up paying Yulia nothing judging by how he was behaving, but instead he was the one who got Yulia her full payment that she deserved and taught her a lesson.

Theme

* Personification: “On her face I read the words.” This displays personification as one cannot actually read words on someone’s face.

* Imagery: “ shining precipitation.” Gives the reader an insight on how Yulia must be feeling and looking at the moment, which can be assumed waNoses to be nervous and pressurized.

The Ninny

We believe that the theme of the short story “The Ninny is that one should have authority over what they say and what they are told to do. The narrator controls the governess, Yulia, who symbolizes submissiveness and nit witty. In our opinion, we believe that the short story talks about the power of wealthier people and believe they are higher than the poor. The poor, who become like Yulia, become submissive and do not stand up for t heir rights due to the fact that they may be fearful of loosing their job and they in the end do not complain. The narrator in this sense turned out to be a nice man who wanted the best for Yulia, which was to get her to stand up for herself. All in all, the overall message was that if one does not stand up for themselves, they will lose a lot more than they perhaps will if they do.

Introduction

The short story took place in Russia. When yulia worked hard for the 2 months her boss said 'I'm sure you need some money, but you keep standing in ceremony and never ask for it."

Characters

Rising Action

The boss made a list for reasons to deduct money from her salary.

Falling Action/Conclusion

Climax

The author conveys Yulia’s personality as a humble but timid person. An example of this would be the way Yulia accepted almost nothing when receiving her pay from the governer, and how she did not speak up for herself when she knew she was being manipulated.

The author conveys the Father or the governer in this story as a selfish and manipulative person. Examples of this are, when he took advantage of Yulia and gave her pay cuts so he would left with more money in the end.

"Is it possible for anyone to be such a nitwit? Why didn't you protest? Why did you keep your mouth shut? Is it possible for anyone in this world to be so spineless? Why are you such a ninny?

When Yulia takes her 11 rubles she says "merci" When Yulia is about to leave the man yells "Dammit, dont you realize i've been cheating you? i steal your money, and all you have to say is 'Merci," 11 rubles is not enough to live.