Relationships with Oneself

Our readings for this week dealt with the relationship that a person has with themselves.  We read Walt Whitman’s [I celebrate myself, and sing myself], Emily Dickinson’s [My Life had stood-a Loaded Gun-], and Jorge Luis Borges’s “The Garden of Forking Paths.”  These readings all had a lot to do with how a person sees and feels about themselves.  In Whitman’s [I celebrate myself, and sing myself], the narrator of the poem is telling the reader how he or she feels about his or her impact on the world and how this can be related to everyone else on the planet.  In Dickinson’s [My Life had stood-a loaded gun-], the narrator compares the emotions that control his or her life to a loaded gun.  This metaphor helps the reader to better understand and relate to the emotions that the narrator is experiencing.  In Borges’s “The Garden of Forking Paths,” the narrator must decide between his own goals and those of his ancestors.  This requires the narrator to have an understanding of himself and what he is willing to sacrifice to reach his goal.  In the end, the narrator sacrifices himself as well as the memory of his ancestors in order to achieve his goal.  

Relationships with Places

Many authors have a strong connection with the place that they grew up in or the place where they lived most of their lives.  This is especially true of the authors and poems that we read for class this week.  Phyllis Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Maya Angelou’s “Africa,” Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa,” and Basho’s haikus are all about a place that is important to the author. 

In Phyllis Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Wheatley is pleased that she was taken from Africa and brought to America.  She has formed a closer connection to the United States and its culture than that of Africa.  In “Africa,” Maya Angelou feels very differently from Phyllis Wheatley.  Angelou has written about terrible things that happened in Africa, the effect that they had on the people, and finally being able to recover from them.  Similarly, Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa” deals with the author’s connection to Africa and some of the terrible things that have happened there. 

Unlike the other poems we read this week, Basho’s haikus are about a connection to Japan.  Readers can visualize the frog and the pond that he has written about from just a few words.  

The Role of Women in Trifles

In Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles, women are looked down on and treated poorly by men.  The men in this play frequently suggest that certain things are a woman’s job and blame her if these jobs are not done to their satisfaction.  The county attorney says “... It’s not cheerful.  I shouldn’t say [Mrs. Wright] had the home-making instinct” (1128) when he observes that the Wrights’ home is not a very cheerful place.  He does not think about the fact that this could have been Mr. Wright’s fault as well. 

The men in this play also think that women worry about unimportant things and that the work they do is not very useful or difficult.  They believe that women are unable to focus on what is important in their lives.  When Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are worried about Mrs. Wright’s preserves Mr. Hale says that “…women are used to worrying over trifles” (1128).  He does not take into account all of the time and hard work that Mrs. Wright put into making those preserves for them just to be destroyed.  The county attorney even begins to make fun of the women for thinking about Mrs. Wright’s sewing and what she was planning to do with it.  At the end of the play he says “…at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it…” (1135).  

Judging the Relationships of Others

Our topic for this week’s blog is judging the relationships of others.  This idea is very important in Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles.  The characters in this play come to many of their conclusions based mainly off of their perceptions of the relationships between other characters. 

The play opens on the county attorney, the sheriff, and Hale discussing the relationship between John and Minnie Wright.  Hale says that “I guess you know about how much he talked himself; but I thought maybe if I went to the house and talked about it before his wife, though I said to Harry that I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John” (1126).  Hale had already formed his own opinion on what John and Minnie Wright’s relationship was like and what they thought of each other. 

Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale also make judgements about the relationship between John and Minnie Wright.  They quickly decide that the Wrights’ marriage was not a happy one.  These women have no way of knowing what exactly the Wrights’ relationship was like; however, they determine that John Wright treated Minnie Wright poorly and crushed the lively spirit that she had when she was a young woman.  

What I Learned This Week

The most interesting thing that I learned this week was the different types of literary criticism.  I had not previously known that there were so many different ways to look at and think critically about the same work of literature.  I thought it was very interesting to learn about all of these and how they can be applied to Frankenstein.  I also enjoyed reading the article about biographical criticism and hearing about what everyone else read.  I was very interested to learn that there were so many different viewpoints and how they could be used to expand upon what we have learned in class. 

I also enjoyed watching Young Frankenstein in class this week.  I thought it was very interesting to see how both Frankenstein and the creature are portrayed in film and pop culture and how these differ from their characteristics in the book.  I think it is interesting how the creature is portrayed as slow and unintelligent in movies when he is actually very fast and intelligent in the book.  Frankenstein also treated the creature very differently in this movie.  He did not run away when the creature was brought to life and instead stayed with him and tried to help him stand and walk.

Allusions in Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein contains many allusions to other well-known stories.  These allusions help to enhance the story and to add to its overall effect on the reader through their connections to other works.  One allusion in this story is that of God’s creation of Adam and Eve in the Bible.  In Frankenstein, the creature wants to be treated in the same way that Adam was when he was first created by God.  Frankenstein, however, is disgusted by his creation and wants nothing to do with him.  The creature says “Oh Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel (121-122).”  After Adam’s creation, God was kind to him and made him happy and comfortable, but Frankenstein has no such wish for his creation. The creature pleads to Frankenstein that “…no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone.  I remembered Adam's supplication to his Creator.  But where was mine?" (159-160).   The creature wishes for his creator to give him a female companion just as Adam did in the Bible.

 The story of Frankenstein also alludes to the Greek myth of Prometheus.  Frankenstein was interested by the secret of life while Prometheus was intrigued by fire.  Both were fascinated by something that they should never have known.  In the end, both Frankenstein and Prometheus were tormented.  The creature vowed revenge on Frankenstein and killed everyone that he loved while Prometheus had to endure eternal torment through an eagle eating his liver after it grew back each night.

Creating New Relationships

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, many new relationships are created.  The creature, however, usually only manages to create bad ones with the people around him.  When the creature meets the blind father of the DeLacy family, he is initially treated kindly.  Once he meets Felix, Safie, and Agatha, however, this new relationship is quickly ruined.  The creature says that Felix “…darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father… in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground, and struck me violently with a stick (94).”  All of the creature’s opportunities to create new relationships are ruined by his frightening appearance. 

                The creature’s relationship with Victor Frankenstein was also ruined by his appearance.  Victor described the creature as having “…yellow skin [that] scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath...” and luxuriously beautiful teeth and hair that “…only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion, and straight black lips (35).”  When Victor saw the creature that he created he said that “…breathless horror and disgust filled my heart (36).”  Frankenstein was horrified at the creature he had created solely because of his appearance.  He was unable to see past this in order to truly understand the creature.  Due to this reaction, the relationship that was created between Victor Frankenstein and the creature also turned out to be a very bad one.  

Relationships with Strangers

Our theme for this week was relationships with strangers.  We read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and David Sedaris’ “Jesus Shaves.”  The narrators of these two stories both treat the strangers they meet very differently.  In Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” the people living in the town treat the winged man very badly.  They throw old food scraps and fruit peels at him and someone even pokes him with a hot brand.  The people in this story do not seem to care very much that this man may be an angel or a person that they should respect.  Instead, they treat him like an animal or a piece of property.  In Sedaris’ “Jesus Shaves,” however, the narrator interacts peacefully with the strangers he meets in his French class.  The students in the class have many different ideas and traditions from one another, but they are not cruel to each other about it.  Instead, they just disagree civilly and must accept that their traditions and culture may seem very strange to some people from other backgrounds.  Despite how different these stories are, I really enjoyed reading both of them and learning more about how and why some people act the way they do around strangers.  

Familial Relationships in Literature

Our readings in class this week all shared the theme of familial relationships.  We read Jimmy Santiago Baca’s “Green Chile,” Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies,” and Seamus Heaney’s “Digging.”  All three of these works focused on the relationships between family members.  In “Green Chile” we read about the narrator’s relationship with his grandmother and how they use green chile to uphold cultural and familial traditions, in “Interpreter of Maladies” we read about how secrets can tear a family apart, and in “Digging” we read about how a person can still be a part of family traditions and values even if they choose a different way of life.  The families in each of these stories are all very different.  In “Green Chile,” the narrator cares deeply for his family’s traditions and even sacrifices his own preference for red chile to be a part of his grandmother’s love of green chile.  The narrator of “Digging” still follows his family’s tradition of digging, but chooses to dig with a pen instead of a shovel.  The Das family from “Interpreter of Maladies” completely leaves behind their Indian heritage and traditions in order to talk, act, and dress like typical American tourists.  In their own way, the families in each of these works have to decide for themselves if and how they will participate in the traditions of their parents and grandparents.

War Stories

Our theme this week was stories about war.  We read Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” Wilfred Owen’s “Disabled” and “Dulce et Decorum Est,” Marjane Satrapi’s “The Shabbat,” and Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story.”  All of these stories were closely related to the theme of this week’s readings.  I thought it was very interesting how reading Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” changed my perspective on the other stories we had read earlier in the week.  “How to Tell a True War Story” talks about the realities of war.  It says that true war stories do not have a moral or lesson to learn.  True war stories have no real ending.  According to this idea of a true war story, I believe that all of the stories that we read in class this week would fit the description of a true war story.  These stories seemed to show the reader only a small piece of an event or a person’s life.   Even after one finishes reading the story, it is easy to imagine that event or existence continuing on for many years to come.  These stories also had no lesson for the reader to learn.  They simply showed the harsh realities of war and its aftermath.

"My Last Duchess"

During this week, we read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Raven,” Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess,” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.”  These stories and poems are all excellent examples of relationships that are plagued by insanity.  My favorite of these works, however, was probably Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess.”  I really enjoyed how Browning gave the reader little clues throughout the poem that eventually led to a shocking realization at the poem’s end.  This is seen as the narrator says that his last Duchess was “… painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive” and that he “… gave commands; then all smiles stopped together.”  Browning also uses these details to help the reader to understand the narrator’s character.  The narrator is a very controlling man.  He says that his wife “smiled, no doubt, whene’er I passed her; but who passed without much the same smile?” and that as his wife rode “round the terrace-all and each would draw from her alike the approving speech, or blush, at least.”  In the end, he killed his wife because she did not follow his commands.  He saw her as a possession and referred to her in the poem as a piece of art or some inconsequential object.  

"Daddy"

Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” was a very interesting poem to read.  Initially, I was confused by this poem and was unsure of what it meant.  After my first reading, I was also very unsure of what the narrator’s feelings toward his/her father were.  The narrator seemed to alternate between hating his/her father and fondly remembering him.  After multiple readings and listening to the author read the poem out loud, however, I was finally able to gain a better grasp on what the real meaning behind this poem is. 

Through this poem, the narrator describes his/her father as a very fearsome ruler over the narrator’s life.  The narrator’s father is described as an oppressive black shoe that seems to almost smother the foot (the narrator).  He is a Godlike statue that looms over the narrator.  He is a Nazi while the narrator is a Jew.  These metaphors work well to convey the narrator’s feelings of fear and oppression toward his/her father.  Despite all of this, however, the narrator also seems to care for his/her father, miss him, and almost idolize him.  The narrator even married someone in an effort to try and replace his/her father.  By the end of the poem, the narrator seems to finally be able to step away from the father’s oppressive influence in her life and escape his shadow once and for all.  

Shakespeare's Sonnet 130

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 has been one of my favorite poems of his for a very long time.  I really enjoy how he uses the poem to poke fun at the ideas and phrases commonly used in other works of poetry during this time.  In the first ten lines of the poem, the narrator seems to be almost insulting and looking down upon the woman that he is speaking about.  In the last two lines of the poem, however, we are able to understand what the true meaning of this poem actually is and that the speaker really does love this woman quite a bit.  He just does not like the ridiculous ideas of beauty that have been presented to and about women in many other poems during this time.  The ideas behind this poem are also very relevant in our society today.  The ideal of beauty that is presented in today’s movies, magazines, and other media is very similar to what is described in this poem.  These unrealistic ideas affect our perception of what is beautiful in today’s society in much the same way that the ideas used in these poems affected the perception of what was beautiful during Shakespeare’s time.

"The Prophet's Hair"

This story was written by Salman Rushdie.  It takes place in India in the early 1900s and mainly focuses on events surrounding one family after the father, Hashim, finds a hair from the prophet Muhammad at the bottom of a river.  Possession of this hair soon leads to a chain of disastrous events for Hashim and his family. 

I thought this story was very interesting.  I enjoyed how the story was set up so that we knew Huma was looking for a thief before we knew why she was doing this.  This technique helped to intrigue me at the beginning of the story so that I was more interested and excited to read the rest of it.  I also enjoyed reading about the different characters in the story and why they did the things that they did.  I was very interested in the fact that the thief broke the legs of all of his sons so that they would be able to make more money begging. 

After finishing this story, I believe that it had a good moral of honesty.  Hashim was not honest in keeping the prophet’s hair for himself and, therefore, brought destruction upon his family.  The thief was not honest in breaking the legs of his sons so that they would be able to make more money and brought about his own death as well as the healing of his sons. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story and talking about it in class.  I am looking forward to reading other similar works in the future.