Hope you like metaphors
Throughout Part One in Song of Solomon, we see Milkman begin to chafe under his father's image. It makes him feel like he can't ever make a name for himself, because there is always a long and dark shadow cast by his father that makes it impossible for him to form many lasting friendships in his home town. Striking off on his own, Milkman steps out of this shadow, only to find himself in a larger one cast by his grandfather Macon I. While we start to see Milkman begin to embrace these shadows, I don't think he realizes just how important to his life they are.
Milkman has not only struggled under his father's shadow, he also lived under it. What this means is that he has - whether for good or for ill - inherited some of his father's mannerisms. Unlike his father, though, he did not work for them, and does not understand their limitations. This has never been a problem for Milkman, however, because he has always stood in his father's shadow, which makes anything he does seem small comparatively, and he hasn't been able to develop the proper boundaries necessary for human-to-human interaction.
One person that attempts to clear things up with Milkman is Lena, who lays it out, plain and simple, for Milkman to see. This shadow, however, covers the table, and he gets nothing out of it, except maybe the kick out the door.
His limitations become inherent whenever he strikes off on his own. Milkman feels he is stepping out from under his father's shadow, but doesn't realize he stepping out form his only protection from the Sun sitting just outside. The reason he doesn't have problems immediately when exploring is that there is another shadow waiting for him: Macon I's. This larger shadow "covers for him" while in Danville, as the whole populace only remembers Macon I as practically a legend. This makes them fairly helpful towards Milkman as he tries to find the gold, and confirms his thoughts on how people should treat him.
His main problems start when he hitches a ride with a stranger and acts as he always had. By this point, Milkman doesn't understand the difference between shadow and light, as stepping outside of his grandfather's shadow blinds him into darkness. He acts as he always had, and in return obtains a previously friendly man's hostility. This makes him blink, but it's not enough to make him regain his vision.
This persists into Virginia, where he promptly gets into a knife fight because of his overinflated sense of wealth. This angers the people who have always lived in the Sun, because certain things you just don't do, Milkman has done. This time around, though, Milkman realizes something is up. He begins to guess at the causes, but turns a blind eye towards the glaringly obvious one: the fact he was born into money. We finally see, though, that as Milkman learns more about his past, little by little, his eyes are opened to how he acts towards his family and (hopefully) other people as well. The table Lena laid in front of him is brightening, and he can see more of what he is doing wrong.
Hopefully, near the end, we see a near complete Milkman with the knowledge of how much his family means to him, not only in how he got where he is, but also how they could and did affect him throughout life.
Monday, December 17, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
Connection Lost. Please Reconnect
In Wide Sargasso Sea, we see that near the end of part two, the one thing that really tips the scale from potential love is the action of two forms of Obeah on each other. Antoinette poisons Rochester's drink with a potion to give him a lust for her, and Rochester works to change her name to be more "English." This has been mentioned in class already, but this occurred right after she and Rochester were about to start connecting.
This connection appears through the fact that they both have similar relations with other people. Rochester has been unloved by his father in favor of the other son, who also inherits all of the land. Rochester is given none of the estate, and so has to find power elsewhere, as well as make it look like he actually succeeded in gaining power, rather than just having it fall in his lap.
Antoinette also has not been given much love throughout her life. She grew up surrounded by people who hated her, a mother who cared more about her son than Antoinette, to the point of ministering to him rather than comforting her daughter. When Coulibri burns down, her only friend denies her with a rock to the face, and her mother dies, Antoinette is lost trying to find a physical connection with someone, and never finds it.
They also are both lost socially whilst in Jamaica. Antoinette has always been separated from the powerfully rich white landowners there, and is unable to connect socially with the black population either, due to the fact that they all used to be slaves under her father's plantation. Similarly, Rochester is plunked down in Jamaica with no connections to anyone, because he is an outsider. He looks and tries to act like a rich stereotypical white man, and so won't try to connect with the locals, and is too far detached from the elites to be much of anything to them. Furthermore, the fact that he is disconnected from the time stream they all have been living in, he always thinks he's missing something.
This looks like a match made in Heaven, with two people who have been denied by their families and are disconnected by the situation they find themselves in suddenly getting married to each other, but there is a problem: neither is willing to admit their feelings to the other. Antoinette never has had a person in her life to talk to about important things, really, and so doesn't feel comfortable doing so with Rochester, who she hardly knows. Rochester is playing the part of the rich white man, and so won't share his past experiences with someone so low on his spectrum (technically), and so they are both silent.
That is, until someone else provides the information Rochester was lacking, which gives a weighted view that puts stress on their relationship. This leads to Rochester making Antoinette worried about their relationship, the thing she prizes above all others. Instead of talking and making up, the limited information they both have keeps them separate, which eventually leads to the end of this book.
With the idealized views they had constructed of this relationship (Rochester of an estate that he has power over, and Antoinette of a loving relationship), to watch it crumble away is distressing, and so they both turn to forms of "Obeah" to reassert their view: Antoinette obtains a drug to make Rochester love her, and Rochester changes her name, asserting his dominance over her. Through this, they inadvertently create a permanent break between them, which could have been easily avoided if they just talked it out, like Christophene had said from the very beginning.
This connection appears through the fact that they both have similar relations with other people. Rochester has been unloved by his father in favor of the other son, who also inherits all of the land. Rochester is given none of the estate, and so has to find power elsewhere, as well as make it look like he actually succeeded in gaining power, rather than just having it fall in his lap.
Antoinette also has not been given much love throughout her life. She grew up surrounded by people who hated her, a mother who cared more about her son than Antoinette, to the point of ministering to him rather than comforting her daughter. When Coulibri burns down, her only friend denies her with a rock to the face, and her mother dies, Antoinette is lost trying to find a physical connection with someone, and never finds it.
They also are both lost socially whilst in Jamaica. Antoinette has always been separated from the powerfully rich white landowners there, and is unable to connect socially with the black population either, due to the fact that they all used to be slaves under her father's plantation. Similarly, Rochester is plunked down in Jamaica with no connections to anyone, because he is an outsider. He looks and tries to act like a rich stereotypical white man, and so won't try to connect with the locals, and is too far detached from the elites to be much of anything to them. Furthermore, the fact that he is disconnected from the time stream they all have been living in, he always thinks he's missing something.
This looks like a match made in Heaven, with two people who have been denied by their families and are disconnected by the situation they find themselves in suddenly getting married to each other, but there is a problem: neither is willing to admit their feelings to the other. Antoinette never has had a person in her life to talk to about important things, really, and so doesn't feel comfortable doing so with Rochester, who she hardly knows. Rochester is playing the part of the rich white man, and so won't share his past experiences with someone so low on his spectrum (technically), and so they are both silent.
That is, until someone else provides the information Rochester was lacking, which gives a weighted view that puts stress on their relationship. This leads to Rochester making Antoinette worried about their relationship, the thing she prizes above all others. Instead of talking and making up, the limited information they both have keeps them separate, which eventually leads to the end of this book.
With the idealized views they had constructed of this relationship (Rochester of an estate that he has power over, and Antoinette of a loving relationship), to watch it crumble away is distressing, and so they both turn to forms of "Obeah" to reassert their view: Antoinette obtains a drug to make Rochester love her, and Rochester changes her name, asserting his dominance over her. Through this, they inadvertently create a permanent break between them, which could have been easily avoided if they just talked it out, like Christophene had said from the very beginning.
Friday, November 2, 2018
The Sun is a Deadly Laser
Throughout the whole of The Stranger, we see various instances of heat and the Sun appearing wherever Meursault goes. One way to look at the way the Sun plays a role in Meursault's telling is that it represents inward stress and feelings that are boiling up to critical.
The first time that we see any occurrence of this amount of intense heat is at his mother's funeral. He mentions that as they walk to the cemetery, the old man that is with them faints, and there are tears of sweat streaming down his face. These things are obviously present in the world - the man wouldn't faint otherwise - but they also have a symbolic meaning for Meursault. He is trying to suppress the emotions of loss and sadness through various means, but that merely stresses out other feelings in his body, such as his heat sense and sight.
The second time we see this idea appear is whenever he, Raymond and Masson go to confront the Arabs and fight them. Once again, we see the Sun play a role in the events. He first remarks how the Sun is just unnaturally bright as they walk up to the Arabs. It isn't incredibly intense, just there. This represents the fact that Meursault's overall calmness hasn't been overly violated as he doesn't even participate. When he and Raymond return, however, Meursault has made the conscious decision to return, threatening his overall neutrality. The Sun is shatteringly bright, demonstrating Meursault's crumbling wall of neutrality. As they stand, confronting the Arabs, Meursault offers to take the gun, and the Sun glints off of it. This action and its subsequent glint show that he is starting to take sides.
Finally, he confronts the main Arab head-on going completely against his impassive nature, and as he walks the whole beach seems to be on fire with the Sun being blindingly bright. When he finally meets up with the Arab, who is relaxing in the shade (away from the Sun, the exact place Meursault mentions he wants to be), the Arab eventually pulls out the knife which glints in the Sun, representing the fact that if he follows through with anything other than walking away, it means the end of his neutrality. Meursault makes the decision to stay, and with that comes an explosion of heat and blinding sunlight, during which he pulls out the gun and fires, sealing it.
The final times we see the heat appearing is during his trial and at the very end. During the entire time Meursault is in the courtroom he mentions the enormous amount of heat, especially after the break and being confronted by the prosecutor. This represents the fact that he has many emotions, just like at his mother's funeral that he is keeping down, as he even says that there are times when he wants to cry or jump up and say something, but stops himself. At the end of the book, he goes off on the Champlain and he is taken from him. In this moment, he has this revelation of the way the world works that embodies his feelings, and the cell suddenly feels cool, as he has burned off all of the bottled up emotions, as he says has happened, and he is totally psychologically calm.
The Sun, sunlight and heat are things that have symbolic meaning for Meursault. They represent repressed feelings and ideas that threaten his overall neutrality and calmness. Only in times where those feelings have been vented can he feel the coolness of the area around him.
The first time that we see any occurrence of this amount of intense heat is at his mother's funeral. He mentions that as they walk to the cemetery, the old man that is with them faints, and there are tears of sweat streaming down his face. These things are obviously present in the world - the man wouldn't faint otherwise - but they also have a symbolic meaning for Meursault. He is trying to suppress the emotions of loss and sadness through various means, but that merely stresses out other feelings in his body, such as his heat sense and sight.
The second time we see this idea appear is whenever he, Raymond and Masson go to confront the Arabs and fight them. Once again, we see the Sun play a role in the events. He first remarks how the Sun is just unnaturally bright as they walk up to the Arabs. It isn't incredibly intense, just there. This represents the fact that Meursault's overall calmness hasn't been overly violated as he doesn't even participate. When he and Raymond return, however, Meursault has made the conscious decision to return, threatening his overall neutrality. The Sun is shatteringly bright, demonstrating Meursault's crumbling wall of neutrality. As they stand, confronting the Arabs, Meursault offers to take the gun, and the Sun glints off of it. This action and its subsequent glint show that he is starting to take sides.
Finally, he confronts the main Arab head-on going completely against his impassive nature, and as he walks the whole beach seems to be on fire with the Sun being blindingly bright. When he finally meets up with the Arab, who is relaxing in the shade (away from the Sun, the exact place Meursault mentions he wants to be), the Arab eventually pulls out the knife which glints in the Sun, representing the fact that if he follows through with anything other than walking away, it means the end of his neutrality. Meursault makes the decision to stay, and with that comes an explosion of heat and blinding sunlight, during which he pulls out the gun and fires, sealing it.
The final times we see the heat appearing is during his trial and at the very end. During the entire time Meursault is in the courtroom he mentions the enormous amount of heat, especially after the break and being confronted by the prosecutor. This represents the fact that he has many emotions, just like at his mother's funeral that he is keeping down, as he even says that there are times when he wants to cry or jump up and say something, but stops himself. At the end of the book, he goes off on the Champlain and he is taken from him. In this moment, he has this revelation of the way the world works that embodies his feelings, and the cell suddenly feels cool, as he has burned off all of the bottled up emotions, as he says has happened, and he is totally psychologically calm.
The Sun, sunlight and heat are things that have symbolic meaning for Meursault. They represent repressed feelings and ideas that threaten his overall neutrality and calmness. Only in times where those feelings have been vented can he feel the coolness of the area around him.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Not Helpful
One way to look at Gregor's transformation into an insect is that it is symbolic of an event in his life that keeps him from being able to work to support the family. He suddenly goes from being the main breadwinner to being someone that they have to pay for. In the book, Gregor becomes the epitome of uselessness by turning into a large insect, one thing that we have almost never found a use for. His inability to work is just further worsened by his family's obvious repulsion to him, even though he can't see it. This is symbolic of the family being in some way disappointed in him that he failed to continue working to support the family.
As the family gets more used to Gregor not being able to work, if he thinks he's at fault and his family doesn't disagree, Gregor might distance himself and close himself up in his room, where he will work more at his desk, which we see mentioned in the book several times. Also, the rest of the family might carry in family affairs without him. This is all symbolized in the book with the fact that Gregor listens to their conversations about finances through the door of his room.
However, this starts to break apart whenever Gregor is beginning to be put off to the side and actually dies. The removing of the furniture could be symbolizing his leaving their house, but coming back occasionally, which throws off the game of the rest of the family. His death and what happens afterward symbolizes Gregor being ultimately cast out entirely by the family, and they just continue their lives as if he had never been there.
As the family gets more used to Gregor not being able to work, if he thinks he's at fault and his family doesn't disagree, Gregor might distance himself and close himself up in his room, where he will work more at his desk, which we see mentioned in the book several times. Also, the rest of the family might carry in family affairs without him. This is all symbolized in the book with the fact that Gregor listens to their conversations about finances through the door of his room.
However, this starts to break apart whenever Gregor is beginning to be put off to the side and actually dies. The removing of the furniture could be symbolizing his leaving their house, but coming back occasionally, which throws off the game of the rest of the family. His death and what happens afterward symbolizes Gregor being ultimately cast out entirely by the family, and they just continue their lives as if he had never been there.
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Jake Without Brett
Earlier in the book, we saw Jake and Bill leave behind their outward appearances and disappear in to the mountain to fish and relax while they waited for Brett and Mike to work their way to Spain through their slow trek. While they are there, we get to see Jake without the constant shadow of Brett looming over him. He mentions that he gets a good nights sleep, saying that he only once woke up (implying he was previously asleep) and remarked how it felt good to be in bed, while in Paris Jake knows the route of the midnight train from hearing it every night.
It seems that the lack of Brett on his mind is what allows him to be able to relax and sleep. While I think is true, I think also that it stems from what Brett stands for in Jake's life. Brett represents something that he can never have to himself, as has been mentioned in the past. Because of his accident we learn of at the beginning of the book, neither Brett nor Jake see him as an available lasting partner for her. He has to live with this idea and is reminded of it every time he is around her.
Brett also is not making it easier for him. In my period, it was never really decided whether Brett was more playing Jake for a fool or if she is just blindly making him feel bad. She shows up randomly at his home while he tries to ignore her, secretly goes to San Sebastian with his "friend" and even asks him to hook her up with a bullfighter, which is not only like salt in a wound, it would also potentially ruin his reputation as an aficionado of bullfighting.
It is clear that there are many reasons why Jake should just pull up stakes and escape Brett once and for all, but I think that there still is some actual connection between them. In the last chapter, when Jake meets up with Brett at the very end, there is not really a sense of malice or underlying heartbrokeness (?) in Jake's tone, just actual concern. This is also the only time that we see Brett not in the company of some other guy than Jake. It is not that he wants to be away from Brett, its that when she is surrounded by other things that serve as a constant reminder that she is unavailable to him, is when he can no longer stand being around her.
It seems that the lack of Brett on his mind is what allows him to be able to relax and sleep. While I think is true, I think also that it stems from what Brett stands for in Jake's life. Brett represents something that he can never have to himself, as has been mentioned in the past. Because of his accident we learn of at the beginning of the book, neither Brett nor Jake see him as an available lasting partner for her. He has to live with this idea and is reminded of it every time he is around her.
Brett also is not making it easier for him. In my period, it was never really decided whether Brett was more playing Jake for a fool or if she is just blindly making him feel bad. She shows up randomly at his home while he tries to ignore her, secretly goes to San Sebastian with his "friend" and even asks him to hook her up with a bullfighter, which is not only like salt in a wound, it would also potentially ruin his reputation as an aficionado of bullfighting.
It is clear that there are many reasons why Jake should just pull up stakes and escape Brett once and for all, but I think that there still is some actual connection between them. In the last chapter, when Jake meets up with Brett at the very end, there is not really a sense of malice or underlying heartbrokeness (?) in Jake's tone, just actual concern. This is also the only time that we see Brett not in the company of some other guy than Jake. It is not that he wants to be away from Brett, its that when she is surrounded by other things that serve as a constant reminder that she is unavailable to him, is when he can no longer stand being around her.
Friday, September 14, 2018
Connection, Identity, and Septimus
The question that we were asked in class considering how Septimus and Clarissa Dalloway's paths cross is interesting, because it takes two different worlds and puts them on the same wavelength. The idea that Septimus Smith, who has PTSD, and Clarissa, who is a high-class woman, is strange. However, one way that they connect, but also that several other characters connect as well is through purpose.
This purpose is what they either see themselves as having or in some way struggling to find. In several different places, we see people who have a fairly well-conceived notion of what they are meant to do, while in other places, we see people struggling over what they are meant to be doing with their lives.
Septimus' purpose is very self-defined, as the narrator mentions within the book. He creates this sense of purpose himself, through suggestions to him by hallucinations he gets while he is in the park. His purpose is to transfer certain ideals of reality to the Prime Minister. While this is very focused around his disability and may not be considered a valid source of information, one's purpose is not told to them, but is conceived by them. In this way, it is still valid.
For Clarissa, she mainly develops this sense of purpose throughout the novel. We see near the end that she comes to the conclusion that she is there to collect people, bring people together through her parties which Peter sees as frivolous.
Speaking of Peter, he seems to struggle with coming back from India. He thinks as he walks how society has moved on while he has been away in India, marrying and then unmarrying, doing whatever else he did while there, while in London, all people have settled into a routine that he hasn't been a part of, making him detached from all that goes on there. One example of this is his going to the party, and immediately regretting it, because he didn't know anyone. His purpose now from leaving India is up in the air.
Finally, there is Elizabeth. She is different from the others that I have mentioned in that she has not had the life yet to choose and create a path for herself to follow. She is only turning 18, and she is being confronted with the future, and more specifically with the changes that have taken place over the time her mother has been alive. Mrs. Kilman frustrates this further, by bringing to the forefront all the things she could be.
All of these different scenarios depict the same theme: purpose and finding that purpose. At the forefront is Clarissa, with her fairly clear idea of what it is she must do in life. Next is Peter, whose life has been backtracked in a place he now has no connection to, and at the bottom is Elizabeth, who is beginning her trek through adulthood and is only at the moment gathering together ideas. Another player that rocks this boat is Septimus, who also has these feelings, despite being mentally challenged. He provides a sort of view from both sides of the spectrum, while not really being part of it. This is how Septimus, Clarissa, as well as many other's thoughts resonate in sync.
This purpose is what they either see themselves as having or in some way struggling to find. In several different places, we see people who have a fairly well-conceived notion of what they are meant to do, while in other places, we see people struggling over what they are meant to be doing with their lives.
Septimus' purpose is very self-defined, as the narrator mentions within the book. He creates this sense of purpose himself, through suggestions to him by hallucinations he gets while he is in the park. His purpose is to transfer certain ideals of reality to the Prime Minister. While this is very focused around his disability and may not be considered a valid source of information, one's purpose is not told to them, but is conceived by them. In this way, it is still valid.
For Clarissa, she mainly develops this sense of purpose throughout the novel. We see near the end that she comes to the conclusion that she is there to collect people, bring people together through her parties which Peter sees as frivolous.
Speaking of Peter, he seems to struggle with coming back from India. He thinks as he walks how society has moved on while he has been away in India, marrying and then unmarrying, doing whatever else he did while there, while in London, all people have settled into a routine that he hasn't been a part of, making him detached from all that goes on there. One example of this is his going to the party, and immediately regretting it, because he didn't know anyone. His purpose now from leaving India is up in the air.
Finally, there is Elizabeth. She is different from the others that I have mentioned in that she has not had the life yet to choose and create a path for herself to follow. She is only turning 18, and she is being confronted with the future, and more specifically with the changes that have taken place over the time her mother has been alive. Mrs. Kilman frustrates this further, by bringing to the forefront all the things she could be.
All of these different scenarios depict the same theme: purpose and finding that purpose. At the forefront is Clarissa, with her fairly clear idea of what it is she must do in life. Next is Peter, whose life has been backtracked in a place he now has no connection to, and at the bottom is Elizabeth, who is beginning her trek through adulthood and is only at the moment gathering together ideas. Another player that rocks this boat is Septimus, who also has these feelings, despite being mentally challenged. He provides a sort of view from both sides of the spectrum, while not really being part of it. This is how Septimus, Clarissa, as well as many other's thoughts resonate in sync.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Howie and Mrs. Dalloway
Mr. Mitchell asked a little while back how Woolf would react to Howie's interpretations on his surroundings. Howie's life view looks at things that exist in this world and defamiliarizes them in the eyes of his audience. This idea seems to be the opposite of what Woolf has mentioned is what represents the 20th Century Novel. However, many of them are just rewritten slightly to accommodate for Baker's style. Character, for example, is not fleshed out in the traditional "Woolfish" form.
The idea of character is exposed through the fact that this is not in third person. We get direct access to Howie's mind, and in this way, Howie himself actually exposes his own character through his talking about his experiences. Through the way that Howie describes everything around him, it displays his natural tendency to see ordinary things in his environment seem interesting. This develops the character of the main character which is exactly what Woolf was looking for.
Another way that this book reflects how Woolf wanted books to look is that it records the "atoms as they fall" on the world. Howie does an incredible job of recording this, not in the traditional way, but also in new ways that most can't see. He very carefully goes over every insubstantial detail and makes it substantial. In this way, Baker through Howie actually does hit many points that Woolf made in her essays.
The idea of character is exposed through the fact that this is not in third person. We get direct access to Howie's mind, and in this way, Howie himself actually exposes his own character through his talking about his experiences. Through the way that Howie describes everything around him, it displays his natural tendency to see ordinary things in his environment seem interesting. This develops the character of the main character which is exactly what Woolf was looking for.
Another way that this book reflects how Woolf wanted books to look is that it records the "atoms as they fall" on the world. Howie does an incredible job of recording this, not in the traditional way, but also in new ways that most can't see. He very carefully goes over every insubstantial detail and makes it substantial. In this way, Baker through Howie actually does hit many points that Woolf made in her essays.
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