In Maya Angelou’s Reunion, the tone of the story can be described as melancholic. There’s bitterness in the words of the main character as she reflects on her past shaped by the constant juxtaposition of her life against Beth’s. There is a feeling of catharsis that I experienced while reading the last page that was quickly overcome again by the somber ending.

The next story, Cathedral, was written in a stoic, dry manner. The sentences were rarely long, and the punctuation emphasized the matter-of-fact attitude of the main character. After reading this story, I felt contented with the conclusion. This story made me feel annoyed towards the main character in the beginning, but towards the end I felt hopeful that he was learning and growing to be less judgmental.

I inferred that these two stories were written in the past; perhaps the mid or early 1900s. Something I found surprising about these stories were how similar they were, while also being so different. Both main characters were struggling to overcome their past and their pre-conceived notions of people, but the protagonist of Reunion opted for apathy towards the woman she felt wronged her while the protagonist of Cathedral made attempts to overcome his petty feelings to connect with the blind man.