Blog Post #8 - Song of Solemn Women (Haha! Take that, Sam!)

The fifth chapter of Song of Solomon concludes with a long narrative of Pilate's life. While Pilate is telling of her own struggle to find a home, this passage characterizes both Pilate and Ruth, her sister-in-law.

Both Pilate and Ruth have struggled to find love throughout their lives. Pilate left home, searching for relatives in Virginia and joining a group of migrant workers. Ruth only found love in her father, who died while she was young. But why do these women have such difficulty finding love? Both come from relatively wealthy families in the African-American community. Their parents have come the closest to realizing the American dream from among that community. Ironically, this quality isolates them. Ruth's position of privilege distances her from her neighbors. Pilate exemplifies the African-American values of strength and love, but she is as isolated as Ruth (having no belly button doesn't really help).

However, it is this isolation that brings the women of the Dead family together. At the time when Ruth was pregnant with Milkman, only Pilate was there for her. Even Ruth's husband wasn't there for her; in fact, he was the problem. The Dead women's struggles to break away from this isolation ironically lead them away from their comfortable lives but bring them to each other.

The Dead women's struggles to find love are essential to the characterization of women in the story. Their struggles also creates irony.

Blog Post #7 - Topic 2

Benjy reflects on the past constantly. This is because there is no separation between the past and the present to him. His memories and his current observations blend into one existence. Various stimuli in Benjy's world conjure up memories that intermingle with the present.

Quentin, however, seems stuck entirely in the past. In fact, he is completely focused on the moment when he comes to face Caddy's loss of virginity. Quentin's day-to-day actions reflect his infatuation with this specific moment. Eventually, the burden of this moment accumulates to the point where Quentin has no option but to end his life.

Jason reflects on the past far less than the previous characters. However, he is bound to the past in that he focuses on his loss of a job at the bank due to Caddy's divorce. This action of the past occupies a space in the back of Jason's mind, creating resentment and bitterness within him.

As the fourth and final chapter is written from a third person point of view (though it surrounds Dilsey), it does not reflect upon the past explicitly. However, many of the events taking place in the present time of the chapter are affected by and sometimes even allude to events of the past.

Blog Post #5 - Apocalypse Then and Now

Apocalypse Now was a film adaptation of the novella Heart of Darkness, moving the setting from colonial Africa to the Vietnam War. Apart from the obvious parallels, (i.e. Kurtz and "the horror"), the two share many similarities. Most notable is the journey into the unknown. In both the novella and the film, this journey travels up a river from a known outpost at the shore to the unknown in the jungle. In both stories, once the narrator finds Kurtz, he finds a strange outpost where Kurtz rules as a revered deity among the natives, Congolese in Heart of Darkness and Cambodians in Apocalypse Now.
Heart of Darkness is told through a frame story in which the narrator, Marlow, tells of his adventures into the heart of Africa to an audience of travelers aboard his ship. Likewise, in Apocalypse Now, the central character, Captain Willard, narrates his story to the audience framing his story and adding a personal touch to it, like Marlow does in Heart of Darkness.

To be continued...

Blog Post #4 - Short yet not so Sweet

To me, "Cathedral" is perhaps the most complex of the short stories we have read so far. In that it has a plot which seems so normal that it might have occurred, "Cathedral" forces readers to move away from what seems to be reality to search for the author's purpose. The narrator's pessimistic, cantankerous attitude is hard to interpret, as readers aren't given much background information on him so that they can discover what made him so cranky. To me, little in this story is deceptively simple. However, why the narrator had a sudden change in heart and decided to talk to the blind man still seems unanswerable. While he initially hated the thought of even having the blind man in his house, the narrator seems to be enlightened and uplifted by him in the end. The title of this story, "Cathedral," relates to the subject on which the narrator first inquires about blindness. However, as a cathedral is a place of worship, the title suggests that a spiritual change occurred within the narrator.

Blog Post #3 - Iago's Fire Fetish

As Iago develops his plot against those he feels did him wrong, his views of war shift from that waged against the army of an enemy nation to that fought against personal enemies. In his mind, war changes from a religion of valor and glory to a game of manipulation. Iago transforms his war from a battle with faceless soldiers to a vendetta of personal devastation. However, Iago doesn't hurt only his target; he ruins the lives of many, setting the lives of countless characters ablaze in his attempt to bring down Othello (and Cassio). He even goes so far as to stab his wife. Intentionally destroyed lives or just part of the tragic vision, the deaths and ruinations of these characters shows Iago's lack of moral limitations. Like a pyromaniac, he chars the lives of everyone around him.

Blog post #2 - Oedipus Wrecks

Initially after reading Oedipus Rex, I was puzzled by the many layers that made up the play. I found it hard to balance the constant dramatic irony and the many metaphors with a basic understanding of the plot. However, once I came closer to grasping the meaning of the play, I came to understand Oedipus's dilemma regarding the revelation of his incest with his mother. Is it better to learn of a wrongdoing in order to stop it but be horrified by this revelation, or should one stay in the dark (there go the metaphors again) but not resolve the problem? Though this is a bit of an extreme example, this reflects tough decisions with no ideal outcome that all people must make.

Blog post #1 - On travel

In The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain wrote, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, all foes to true understanding. Likewise tolerance, or broad, wholesome charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in our little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." This passage reflects humankind's need to be more open-minded, a quality that I particularly admire in people. A lack of understanding has been a factor in a great deal of the world's conflicts, from massive wars to minor quarrels between two individuals. Open-mindedness would counter these problems and allow for a more peaceful world.
Additionally, this quotation reflects my interest in travel, one of my greatest passions. I enjoy spending time abroad and find traveling a way to experience various cultures from around the world. Because of its promotion of travel as a way to eliminate bigotry, this passage epitomizes my ideals.