Faulkner created an interesting aspect to his novel in the way all of his characters reflect upon the past. The way his characters reflect on the past reveals much of their motivations for their actions in the novel. Without these varied reflections on the past, the reader would struggle even more to piece together the movement of the story. All of the character's struggles result from events or problems in the past, and the present day struggles are revealed through reflections on the past.
Benjy is caught in a "Groundhog Day" and Bill Murray type scenario in which he only knows the present, but events from the past bleed into everyday activities. He actually does not possess the mental capacity to reflect upon the past, yet his memories can still pentrate his present day life. His struggle with missing his only mother figure, Caddy, is constantly present through various memory triggers. Things like scents, sights, and sounds will remind Benjy that Caddy was once in his life. Faulkner introduced Caddy's importance in the novel through Benjy's struggles. Interestingly, Benjy's reflections, although mixed and jumbled, are very insightful to Caddy's roll in the family and it's downfall.
Quentin might have the most depressing reflections upon the past of any character. He lives only in the past, with a mind caught up in thought of how things could be different in the present. His need to uphold Southern traditions and his family's good name keeps him reflecting on what he could have done to prevent his family's downfall. He constantly day dreams about his past asipirations to commit incest with Caddy in order to save her from riddicule of promiscuity. Sadly, Quentin's reflections on the past eventually lead him to kill himself. He is so obsessed with how he could have changed the present in the past, and he eventually comes to the belief that the only way he can maintain his imagined honor is to kill himself.
Jason's mentallity is unlike any other's in that he rarely focuses on the past at all. He is simply obsessed with taking money from family members and figuring out ways to gain things for himself. The ironic thing is that Jason does not have the ability to see how great his family's patriarchs were in the past because he is so focused on the present and gaining selfish material things. If only he could see his family's great past, he might realize that he is the last viable member of a crumbling dynasty. Without knowing it Jason's passion for money leads to the family's lowest point and end.
The three children's varying interactions with their pasts helped Faulkner paint a very compelling novel for the reader. His illustration of their reflections on their respective pasts reveals much of the needed information about the past so the reader can vibe with and understand the intricate tale itself better.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
IS TIME REAL?
Ever since the concept was created, time has ruled men and women. You can be late to school, and you get detention. You are late to a job interview, you might not eat for a week. But is time really relevant? Does it really matter if it is seven or six o'clock?
Quite possibly, my favorite aspect of this novel is the way Faulkner toys with the concept of time. He uses Benjy to illustrate the uselessness of time. Benjy is perhaps the most pure and inherently good child of the Compson family, yet he has zero knowledge of time. He can still remember events from the past, and the feelings those events provoke. But he does not realize that they are in the past, he simply remembers them when something reminds him of them. Faulkner is pointing out that for Benjy, time is unimportant, and he still leads a normal life (other than his retardation). Benjy doesn't live by the clock, and he remains the most pure child.
Quentin, on the other hand, is ruled by the clock. He continually lives out things from his past, and avoids the present. He is obsessed with his childhood with Caddy, and the fantasy that he committed incest with her when they were younger. Quentin also breaks his watch, and symbolically, he is cut by the broken glass. This symbolizes Quentin's eventual downfall to time, blood is drawn from him because of time. When he goes into the clock store, he asks the watchmaker if the clocks are right, but he doesn't wish to know what time it is. He is so obsessed with falling into his past fantasies, that Quentin becomes unable to live in the present and future. Therefore, time becomes a constant reminder that Quentin is no longer living in his glorified past. And because he can no longer live in the past Quentin takes his own life because time will always exist to remind him that he is in the present.;
Faulkner, in the first two chapters has already shown the ways time can affect humanity. Benjy has no concept of time, and Quentin is ruled by time itself. These two opposing takes on time in the first two chapters challenge the idea of time itself. Benjy gets along just fine without time, and Quentin kills himself because of time, Faulkner is arguing if we even need time in society. Of course, the world would be very unorganized without time, but Faulkner's arguments remain very compelling especially since he argues his point through the development of characters in THE SOUND AND THE FURY.
Quite possibly, my favorite aspect of this novel is the way Faulkner toys with the concept of time. He uses Benjy to illustrate the uselessness of time. Benjy is perhaps the most pure and inherently good child of the Compson family, yet he has zero knowledge of time. He can still remember events from the past, and the feelings those events provoke. But he does not realize that they are in the past, he simply remembers them when something reminds him of them. Faulkner is pointing out that for Benjy, time is unimportant, and he still leads a normal life (other than his retardation). Benjy doesn't live by the clock, and he remains the most pure child.
Quentin, on the other hand, is ruled by the clock. He continually lives out things from his past, and avoids the present. He is obsessed with his childhood with Caddy, and the fantasy that he committed incest with her when they were younger. Quentin also breaks his watch, and symbolically, he is cut by the broken glass. This symbolizes Quentin's eventual downfall to time, blood is drawn from him because of time. When he goes into the clock store, he asks the watchmaker if the clocks are right, but he doesn't wish to know what time it is. He is so obsessed with falling into his past fantasies, that Quentin becomes unable to live in the present and future. Therefore, time becomes a constant reminder that Quentin is no longer living in his glorified past. And because he can no longer live in the past Quentin takes his own life because time will always exist to remind him that he is in the present.;
Faulkner, in the first two chapters has already shown the ways time can affect humanity. Benjy has no concept of time, and Quentin is ruled by time itself. These two opposing takes on time in the first two chapters challenge the idea of time itself. Benjy gets along just fine without time, and Quentin kills himself because of time, Faulkner is arguing if we even need time in society. Of course, the world would be very unorganized without time, but Faulkner's arguments remain very compelling especially since he argues his point through the development of characters in THE SOUND AND THE FURY.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Violence Now
Perhaps the closest similarity between A Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now" is the way acts of violence skew boundaries from the civilized to the uncivilized. Violence surrounds both of these works, and these acts of violence question the sheer meaning of being civilized. In the case of "Darkness," the Belgium Company claims to act civilized and many members believe they are somehow helping the natives by trading with them. Company members on the boat like the Pilgrims kill many members of the Kurtz's faction, but the natives referred to as "canibals" by the crew show no acts of violence. The irony of these seperate group's names versus the actual acts of violence they commit illustrates the questioning idea of what makes a group of people civilized. These Pilgrim's violence even made them numb to death, when Marlow's helmsman (a African) is killed, the pilgrim quickly walks away to change his blood soaked clothes. Surely no civilized people would turn their backs so quickly on freshly murdered human. Yet the company that claims to be civilized seems the exact opposite. In "Apocalypse," the setting of the vietnam war toys with the line between what is civilized and what is not. Americans believed they were helping a country from an evil, uncivilized communist government, when in reality many soldiers were the uncivilized ones. The movie displays the slaughter of the innocent by Marlow when he shoots a wounded girl in order to not have a set-back in his mission. His use of violence reflects his lack of civility, he is so uncivilized that he is willing to kill a little Vietnamese girl to get to Kurtz quicker so he can murder him. "Apocalypse" reflects how war can change someone into a violent, killing-machine. Marlow, a civilized man at home with a family, transforms into a killer because of the violent bloodshed of war. Violence skews the boundaries here because the viewer realizes that America is attempting to help people reach a peaceful civilization in Vietnam, but the only way to a civilized life is through violence. The soldiers are also civilized for the most part on the boat: listening to music, waterskiing, and doing drugs. But when the time comes to fight these seemingly civilized soldiers change into violent beings.
Both of these works illustrate that violence can seperate what is civilized and what is not. Violence blends the line between the civilized and uncivilized so much that in violence one cannot tell the difference between the two.
Both of these works illustrate that violence can seperate what is civilized and what is not. Violence blends the line between the civilized and uncivilized so much that in violence one cannot tell the difference between the two.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
If these stories are "art," what makes them a creative activity both for the reader and the writer? Choose a story and discuss its creative aspects and what is available for interpretation.
In my mind, the way Fanz Kafka crafted THE METAMORPHOSIS is almost like a transfomation for the reader as well as the main character Gregor. He transports us from the very first page into the body of a vermin, and then he gives us insight as to what life would be like to be a bug. For example, "He found himself transformed into an enormous insect. He lay on a back as hard as armor and saw, when he rasied he head slightly, a jutting brown underbelly dicided into arching segments." The beauty of this first paragraph is that the reader is immediately hooked, and this thought of becoming a bug provokes the reader to continue reading. At this point I was so intrigued with the thought of waking up a bug, I couldn't help but put myself in Gregor's place.
From then on the reader is caught in the downward spiral of Gregor's pathetic life because of the images Kafka paints for us. He literally tells the story from the perspective of an insignifcant insect, and puts us in the body of something so vile that not even it's own family could love it. His father pelts him with apples after frightening his mother after being hit Gregor, "felt as if he were nailed to the spot and lay sprawled upon the ground, in complete distraction of all of his senses." Here his father gives him the treatment any other person would a bug in their home, by throwing some blunt object at the varmit. But the difference here is the fact that Gregor was once the human son of the man throwing the apple. With images of a father trying to hurt a son Kafka illustrates the sheer repulsiveness of Gregor's appearance to the family.
In the end, Gregor ends up realizing that his family is better off without him, and he loses the will to live. The maid then proceeds to refer to him in this way, "Look everyone, it's kicked the bucket; it's lying there dead as a doornail." Even in death his once human form is disgraced, leaving the reader to ulimately reflect on the only real interpretation I drew from this novel. If I were to one day suddenly transform into a Cockroach, would my family still be able to love such a disgusting thing? Truthfully, I don't know if I could love my mother if she suddenly became a common household pest, could you?
In my mind, the way Fanz Kafka crafted THE METAMORPHOSIS is almost like a transfomation for the reader as well as the main character Gregor. He transports us from the very first page into the body of a vermin, and then he gives us insight as to what life would be like to be a bug. For example, "He found himself transformed into an enormous insect. He lay on a back as hard as armor and saw, when he rasied he head slightly, a jutting brown underbelly dicided into arching segments." The beauty of this first paragraph is that the reader is immediately hooked, and this thought of becoming a bug provokes the reader to continue reading. At this point I was so intrigued with the thought of waking up a bug, I couldn't help but put myself in Gregor's place.
From then on the reader is caught in the downward spiral of Gregor's pathetic life because of the images Kafka paints for us. He literally tells the story from the perspective of an insignifcant insect, and puts us in the body of something so vile that not even it's own family could love it. His father pelts him with apples after frightening his mother after being hit Gregor, "felt as if he were nailed to the spot and lay sprawled upon the ground, in complete distraction of all of his senses." Here his father gives him the treatment any other person would a bug in their home, by throwing some blunt object at the varmit. But the difference here is the fact that Gregor was once the human son of the man throwing the apple. With images of a father trying to hurt a son Kafka illustrates the sheer repulsiveness of Gregor's appearance to the family.
In the end, Gregor ends up realizing that his family is better off without him, and he loses the will to live. The maid then proceeds to refer to him in this way, "Look everyone, it's kicked the bucket; it's lying there dead as a doornail." Even in death his once human form is disgraced, leaving the reader to ulimately reflect on the only real interpretation I drew from this novel. If I were to one day suddenly transform into a Cockroach, would my family still be able to love such a disgusting thing? Truthfully, I don't know if I could love my mother if she suddenly became a common household pest, could you?
Friday, January 25, 2008
Iago-Moral Pyromaniac
"Iago, as Harold Goddard finely remarked, is always at war; he is a moral pyromaniac setting fire to all of reality.......In Iago, what was the religion of war, when he worshiped Othello as its god, has now become the game of war, to be played everywhere except upon the battlefield."
--Harold Bloom
To respond to this passage, one should mostly focus on the shift from a religion to a game. How would you prove that this insightful comment is true? Of course, in order to prove this idea is true, do not fail to incorporate the excellent idea of "a moral pyromaniac" in this shift.
In my opinion, Iago's ability to manipulate those around him so well reminds me of the card game bullshit. In this game, players attempt to lay down all their cards in sucessive order, yet one must lie and lay down unsucessive cards because they often lack the abililty to play the ones that should come after the previous card. When Iago figures out that Othello has overlooked his creditials for the job Cassio recieved, he loses all sense of reality. He creates a world where he is control of everyone's thoughts and feelings through manipulation. And, in a sense, he becomes "a moral pyromaniac setting fire to all of reality," because he burns away (much like a devil) the reality of peoples own feelings on the island of Cyprus. I feel like Harold Bloom got the idea on point becuase he incorporated Iago's blurring of reality and feelings while still refering to the ever-present motif of Iago embodying Satan himself in the play. Iago literally loses all sense of religon because of the game he wishes to play with everyone's heads in order to get back at Othello for self-motivated reasons.
--Harold Bloom
To respond to this passage, one should mostly focus on the shift from a religion to a game. How would you prove that this insightful comment is true? Of course, in order to prove this idea is true, do not fail to incorporate the excellent idea of "a moral pyromaniac" in this shift.
In my opinion, Iago's ability to manipulate those around him so well reminds me of the card game bullshit. In this game, players attempt to lay down all their cards in sucessive order, yet one must lie and lay down unsucessive cards because they often lack the abililty to play the ones that should come after the previous card. When Iago figures out that Othello has overlooked his creditials for the job Cassio recieved, he loses all sense of reality. He creates a world where he is control of everyone's thoughts and feelings through manipulation. And, in a sense, he becomes "a moral pyromaniac setting fire to all of reality," because he burns away (much like a devil) the reality of peoples own feelings on the island of Cyprus. I feel like Harold Bloom got the idea on point becuase he incorporated Iago's blurring of reality and feelings while still refering to the ever-present motif of Iago embodying Satan himself in the play. Iago literally loses all sense of religon because of the game he wishes to play with everyone's heads in order to get back at Othello for self-motivated reasons.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Assignment 0-n-e Meaningful Quotes
"'When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is the the dead person is in bad condition in that particular moment, but the the same person is just fin in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is "So it goes."'" -Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse 5
Wow. What a mind-blowing concept. To think that time is not a progression of events, but rather independent moments happening simultaneously, completely dismantles every human's mindset of death. This concept really spoke to me, and I like the way Vonnegut portrays it to us through a seemingly mentally instable person. Billy Pilgrim's story has now become one of my favorite novels, and this particular quote helps sum up one of the important messages of the book about how we humans think of life and death.
*NOTE: I DO NOT ENDORSE EVERYTHING THAT THIS QUOTE SAYS, NOR DO I VIEW WOMEN AS OBJECTS, OR ENCOURAGE THE USE OF THE "N" WORD. THANK YOU*
Yo, I got slugs for snitches
No love for bitches
Puttin thugs in ditches
When my trigger finger itches
I got a rep that make police jet
Known to get a priest wet
I never beg for pussy like Keith Sweat
Is Big L slow? Hell no
Bitches get fucked on the roof when I ain't got no hotel dough
I'm known for yoking jacks
And beatin them with smoking gats
Leavin token blacks with broken backs and open caps
So with that bullshit, step to the rear son
The last thing you want with Big L is a fair one
Cause in a street brawl, I strike men like lightning
You see what happened in my last fight friend?
Aight then
I beat kids with lead pipes
I leave a trail of dead mic's
Where I'm from, niggaz jewels get ran like red lights
Old folks get mugged and raided
Crimes are drug related
And we live by the street rules that thugs created
Clowns get smoked about a thousand volts
For selling pounds of coke
Front in this town and get a tech stuck down your throat
I'm tellin you shit is about to get drastic soon
I'm quick to blast a goon
And break a motherfucker like a plastic spoon
I got the looks that make your hotty stare
I keep a shotty near
It's the nigga with notty hair who Gotti fear
Tracks I'm know to roast
Until the microphone is ghost
Props I own the most
I'm leaving niggaz comatose
Front and get your brain pinched
Big L will have your whole gang lynched
I started smoking dust and been insane since
This rap shit was a great gift
The other night some snake riffed
And got a hot lead face lift
All through high school I had braids
I kept mad blades
Stabbing teachers to death that gave me bad grades
I cook the mic like a beef steak
Cause my techniques great
And I'm the nigga police hate in each state
Cause I'm the neighborhood lamper
Punk brother vamper
Fuck around you'll find my silk boxers in your mother's hamper
Cops drop when my glock makes a pow sound
I'm from a whyle town
You know my style clown, so bow down
-Big L aka Lamont Coleman Rest In Peace
This verse was just the first of a two part freestyle (meaning he came up with the majority of the above on the spot to a given beat) by my favorite rapper of all time. Big L's wordplay and ability to rhyme words 4 to 5 times in a row rivals the work of Shakespeare. I feel that his raw and edgy lyrics represent his childhood growing up in one of the roughest parts of Harlem. I am always amazed everytime I hear Big L on the microphone because his ability to freestyle is matched by few. Although his lyrics can be rough, in my humble opinion, he is one of the greatest poets of all time.
Wow. What a mind-blowing concept. To think that time is not a progression of events, but rather independent moments happening simultaneously, completely dismantles every human's mindset of death. This concept really spoke to me, and I like the way Vonnegut portrays it to us through a seemingly mentally instable person. Billy Pilgrim's story has now become one of my favorite novels, and this particular quote helps sum up one of the important messages of the book about how we humans think of life and death.
*NOTE: I DO NOT ENDORSE EVERYTHING THAT THIS QUOTE SAYS, NOR DO I VIEW WOMEN AS OBJECTS, OR ENCOURAGE THE USE OF THE "N" WORD. THANK YOU*
Yo, I got slugs for snitches
No love for bitches
Puttin thugs in ditches
When my trigger finger itches
I got a rep that make police jet
Known to get a priest wet
I never beg for pussy like Keith Sweat
Is Big L slow? Hell no
Bitches get fucked on the roof when I ain't got no hotel dough
I'm known for yoking jacks
And beatin them with smoking gats
Leavin token blacks with broken backs and open caps
So with that bullshit, step to the rear son
The last thing you want with Big L is a fair one
Cause in a street brawl, I strike men like lightning
You see what happened in my last fight friend?
Aight then
I beat kids with lead pipes
I leave a trail of dead mic's
Where I'm from, niggaz jewels get ran like red lights
Old folks get mugged and raided
Crimes are drug related
And we live by the street rules that thugs created
Clowns get smoked about a thousand volts
For selling pounds of coke
Front in this town and get a tech stuck down your throat
I'm tellin you shit is about to get drastic soon
I'm quick to blast a goon
And break a motherfucker like a plastic spoon
I got the looks that make your hotty stare
I keep a shotty near
It's the nigga with notty hair who Gotti fear
Tracks I'm know to roast
Until the microphone is ghost
Props I own the most
I'm leaving niggaz comatose
Front and get your brain pinched
Big L will have your whole gang lynched
I started smoking dust and been insane since
This rap shit was a great gift
The other night some snake riffed
And got a hot lead face lift
All through high school I had braids
I kept mad blades
Stabbing teachers to death that gave me bad grades
I cook the mic like a beef steak
Cause my techniques great
And I'm the nigga police hate in each state
Cause I'm the neighborhood lamper
Punk brother vamper
Fuck around you'll find my silk boxers in your mother's hamper
Cops drop when my glock makes a pow sound
I'm from a whyle town
You know my style clown, so bow down
-Big L aka Lamont Coleman Rest In Peace
This verse was just the first of a two part freestyle (meaning he came up with the majority of the above on the spot to a given beat) by my favorite rapper of all time. Big L's wordplay and ability to rhyme words 4 to 5 times in a row rivals the work of Shakespeare. I feel that his raw and edgy lyrics represent his childhood growing up in one of the roughest parts of Harlem. I am always amazed everytime I hear Big L on the microphone because his ability to freestyle is matched by few. Although his lyrics can be rough, in my humble opinion, he is one of the greatest poets of all time.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Blog #2: Oedipus Teachings
After spending the first three days of class scruntinizing the very meaning of Oedipus Rex, and how it still applies to today's world, I have come to the conclusion that Sophocles wrote this work to bring joy to its readers. When it comes down to it, there is truly no story more depressing and tragic than that of Oedipus, and I believe he wrote the story negatively for a reason. The readers of Oedipus Rex can pick up the play and realize that their lives, no matter how awful and meaningless they may seem, can never reach the level of Oedipus. I feel like his story, in the end, has a positive message because it provides hope for the hopeless, shelter for the homeless, etc. I have never read a story so depressing that acctaully gives hope by the end of it. I can honestly say that I feel better about myself after reading Oedipus Rex because I know that my life will never be as messed up as his was.
-Just keep listening to zone 6.
-Just keep listening to zone 6.
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