an incredibly impersonal wedding

The wedding scene in Mao II was effectively disturbing. DeLillo took a wedding and made it impersonal. Weddings are supposed to be intimate and personal, a celebration of two people joining their lives together in the presence of friends and family. The mass wedding was the exact opposite. The men wore the same suit and the women wore the same dress in the same design. The couples didn't even know each other and were married in the presence of family...and thousands of strangers. Family members had nothing to do with the planning of the wedding, found out about the wedding last-minute, and even needed binoculars to find their sons or daughters. The couples were married in the Yankee Stadium, which isn't exactly the most romantic place in the world. The wedding definitely presented the tension between crowds and the individual. Within the setting of the wedding, the individual was essentially non-existant; the event was taken over by the crowd. In class, we compared the wedding to an American sporting event. I agree that DeLillo was probably going for this comparison by placing the wedding in the Yankee Stadium. It makes sense: everyone is gathered in one place, for one reason, wearing essentially the same thing, and viewing the event through binoculars. Sounds like a sporting event to me.

American History

For being so short, "American History" is pretty powerful. I learned about the bombings in Alabama in my history class. I didn't learn anything about slaves being hidden under water from the British. Especially with the title "American History," realizing that hit me pretty hard. Obviously, this is part of American history, but it's not something we talk about. The word "redcoats" refers to the British during the American Revolution. A person would have to know American History to know this. Americans were supressing the freedom of a people group while fighting for their own freedom; this is particularly tragic. The last line reads like a slap in the face. "Can't find what you can't see can you?" I think this refers not only to the Africans under the ships but also to parts of American history that aren't discussed. Leaving the poem off with that line is really effective; it's unnerving and makes the reader stop and ponder.

Entropy

"Entropy" was super weird but i kind of liked it. I thought the contrast between the two apartments in the building was interesting. The people in the upper apartment are obsessed with control and calm while anything goes in the lower apartment. I personally preferred the lower apartment; it was more humerous. Just reading about the upper apartment made me feel tense. In the lower apartment, people are yelling in multiple languages, almost drowning in the shower, passing out everywhere, and climbing in windows. Random groups of people keep bursting into the party. I appreciated Pynchon's humor. My favorite lines were: " 'Somebody is trying to come in the windows. A burglar, I think. A second-story man.' 'What are you worried about,' Meatball said. 'We're on the third floor.' "

So, I really liked Adrienne Rich

I know I've already blogged about Rich once, but I'm really loving her poetry. My roommate says i'm on a "feminist kick" lately, so that may have something to do with it. "Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law" intrigued me, and I read through it a couple times. I wanted to do my analysis paper on it, but there's so much going on in the poem that I didn't even know where to start.I think i would have a better grasp on the poem if i better understood the references to other literary works within the poem.  Rich takes "snapshots" of traditional/ socially acceptable womanhood and kind of mocks them. In the first two stanzas, Rich uses molding wedding cake as a comparison to the more old-fashioned expectations of women to be musically talented, beautiful, and non-thinking, more entertainment than human. The first two stanzas (is that the right term?) made me think of a scene in the move Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Darcy, Miss Bingley, and Elizabeth Bennet are discussing the skills a well-rounded young lady should have. The list was something along the lines of drawing, singing, playing piano, painting, speaking multiple languages, and sewing. Elizabeth makes some remark suggesting that such a young lady probably doesn't even exist. I don't think any of those things are bad; i think having such talents are great, but insufficient in themselves. Lines 40-49 present the struggle to integrate brain-stimulating activities into mediocrity of everyday life, full of cleaning and other "womanly duties" like canning. I thought lines 51-52 were wonderful and a little unnerving, as they compared the constant upkeep of outward beauty to something dead. Lines 60-61 present the fear to break out of the mold and make waves. I think the attitude presented in lines 70-76 is pretty accurate at times. For example, Dannika and I discussed the way the word "feminist" is almost tossed around like a swear word or, at least, an insult. I could keep going, but i feel like i'm rambling now. Those are just some of my thoughts.

Sylvia Plath

I read through Sylvia Plath's poetry a second time today. I'm discovering that reading through poetry a couple times helps me process it more fully. "Lady Lazarus" and "Daddy" were really dark. It's evident that she was wrestling with some huge personal demons. She threw a lot of Nazi Germany references into her poetry, which I thought was really interesting. I'm curious as to what her reasoning was. Such references in "Daddy" make her father seem like an awful, evil man. It seems like Plath hated her father, but then she talks about wanting to die to get back to him. I stumbled upon a poem by Anne Sexton called "Sylvia's Death" that could almost be the sequal to "Lady Lazarus". "Sylvia's Death" helped me understand "Lady Lazarus" better because it referenced Plath's struggle with depression/suicide from the eyes of one of her friends. It sounds like Sexton and Plath talked about death a lot and "drank to" it. Sexton sounds really sad and angry and hurt and left behind, which are probably common of those close to a suicide victim. I thought the line "with two children, two meteors wandering loose in the tiny playroom" was really sad. It made me picture two little kids absolutely lost and confused in the wake of their mother's death.

Adrienne Rich

I really loved "Storm Warnings." We can predict a storm and prepare for a storm, but we can't stop it. We can measure time, but we can't control it, reverse it, or make it move faster. Rich compared storms to emotions a little bit in line 12-14, suggesting that even our own feelings are somewhat out of our control:

"...Weather abroad
And weather in the heart alike come on
Regardless of prediction."

Generally, the poem reminds us that life is always out of our complete control. Even now, as Rich's barometer has been taken over by all kinds of crazy weather predicting technology that normal people don't even understand and we prepare for weather through whole disaster kits instead of candles, we still can't control life. It's a scary thought. Personally, I like to know that things are under control and probably struggle with trying to make sure things go according to my plans. This poem reminds me that it's not possible to control life and plans won't always go as I want them to. For me, it's also a reminder that I have to trust God to take care of life and fall in line with His plans, not mine. Storms (literal and emotional) may come and do damage, but God is my rock and He always carries His children through the storms. The poem itself doesn't lead in that direction at all, but that's just where my thoughts took me.

Howl

I really didn't like Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" when I first read it. I actually gave up halfway through the poem because it reads like I imagine a written drug trip would read. I'm glad we read the poem in class though. I appreciated it a bit more, even if i still think it's pretty weird. The poem is kind of beautiful (in a really twisted way) but sad. It has such a searching, hopeless feel to it. Some parts made me really uncomfortable (I'm glad I didn't end up reading the R-rated sections), but I suppose Ginsberg wasn't necessarily aiming to make people comfortable. I found it interesting that he put together words that really don't seem to go together, such as "screamed with joy" and "shrieked with delight". The phrases made me cringe a little, but they were effective. i really loved phrasing he used like "the drunken taxicabs of Absolute Reality" and "protesting the narcotic tobacco haze of Capitalism."

Good Country People... or not.

I'm not really sure what to make of "Good Country People". It was almost like a cute country story gone really really bad. I thought parts of it were weird. From what I have gathered, the author is mocking American ideals/social customs, such as "good country folk", good Christian boys, ladies aide type gossip, etc. I didn't think any of the characters were really likeable. They were all pretty ridiculous. Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewall were kind of pathetic. Who on earth actually discusses vomit several times a day? Mrs. Freeman just liked to gossip excessively. Mrs. Hopewall tried to solve/settle everything with cliches. Joy/Hulga was sulky and tried too hard to be "deep and wise". She also seemed to think she was better than everyone else. The Bible salesman was just creepy. Who seduces awkward girls (or 30 year olds pretending to be 17) to steal their wooden legs and glass eyes?  Eww. Maybe I just missed the point completely.

Battle Royal

This story made me sick. The blood and stripper scene were gross, but they didn't sicken me as much as the concept behind the whole show. The concept of this gathering of prominent people was almost surreal to me. The prominant, upstanding citizens of the town are actually slimy creeps who use women and black teenagers for entertainment. It was also almost unbelievable that the narrator plays right into their hands, always trying to say and do the things they want him to say and do. The narrator uses their potential approval to place himself above the other African American boys and thinks that only these men, who are treating him worse than an animal, can judge his ability.The woman was being taken advantage of by the men and used for their own selfish pleasure. Her "impersonal eyes" and "fixed-smiling lips" that were a cover for the "terror and disgust in her eyes" suggest that she knew she was being used and went along with it. The entire idea of the Battle Royal sickened me, and I was upset that everyone just went along with it. These prominant citizens are gathering together teenage boys, blindfolding them, and pitting them against each other to fight. The boys go along with it and beat the crap out of each other to please the white people. It's almost like a dog fight with humans instead of dogs.  Once again, these kids are pitted against each other for entertainment. The scene with the electrified rug was totally dehumanizing. How do you justify electrifying a group of teenage boys like that? It really disgusted me. Everything that occured before the speech made the speech ridiculous. The events before the speech showed what kind of "path" the audience wants the narrator to lead "his people" in. I related the clowns in the narrator's dream to the fighting. It seems the narrator knows that he and his classmates were made into clowns for the selfish purposes of the businessmen and that his grandfather would have been angry with him for going along with it.

"Ahm seventeen. Almost a man."

I thought the total contradiction between Dave's words and his actions was interesting. He kept insisting he was almost a man, but clearly acted like a child. He felt the need to prove to everyone that he was an adult instead of  being content with what he knew about himself. I feel like that's a huge sign of immaturity. He continues to show immaturity throughout the rest of the story. He can't see the necessity of saving money for winter clothes over his want for a gun. He manipulates his mother to get the gun in the first place and then lies about it and sneaks off with it. When he actually shoots it, he does it with his eyes closed. Even I know a person shouldn't shoot a gun with closed eyes. When he realizes he shot the mule, he tries to stop the bleeding with clumps of dirt. This boy is not destined for the medical field. I think he would have gone to get help if he really was "almost a man". Instead of admitting to his mistake, he makes up a wild story. When he gets caught in his lies, he won't take responsibility for his actions and tries to shift the blame to everyone else. The ending is similiar to the end of Huck Finn or Barn Barning in the sense that he decides to take off on his own. Unlike the characters in the other two novels, who were actually much younger, Dave shows no signs of maturing. When trying to decide whether to run or not, he thinks to himself "Ah betcha Bill wouldn't do it!" and decides he's going to go "somewhere where he can be a man". Neither thoughts are good reasons for a boy to try to make a life on his own. If he can't learn to be a man in the middle of the mess he made for himself, he probably won't be one anywhere else either.

A Weird Comparison

I was reading through some other blogs and came across one about The Snows of Kilimanjaro and it kind of got me to thinking about the relationship between Harry and his wife(were they married?) compared to the relationship between Tea Cake and Janie. They have some surface similarities. In both relationships, there is a lot of physical attraction. Both men take their wives to new places and both couples shoot as a hobby. Both men die of preventable diseases that cause them to say harsh things to their wives. However, Harry says what he actually feels about his wife and Tea Cake seems to just be out of his mind. Comparing the two made me appreciate Tea Cake a lot more. He has his bad moments, but he really does sincerely love Janie and does his best to take care of her. The women have some similarities as well. They both seem to be strong women. Helen hunts, ride, and hangs out in the mountains of Africa. Janie also shoots, runs a business at one point, works beside Tea Cake in the field, and picks up the pieces of her life after the hurricane and Tea Cake's death. However, Janie possesses an inner strength that Helen doesn't. Helen clings to alcohol and to her husband because she is not a strong person alone. Janie can obviously be strong by herself, although I do think she tends to cling to the men in her life a little too much. Altogether, I appreciated the characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God quite a bit more than the characters in The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

I spy... a Booker T. Washington reference!

"He didn't do nothin' but hold us back- talkin' 'bout work when de race ain't never done nothin' else."
Janie and Mrs. Turner have a conversation about Booker T. Washington on page 142. I was pretty excited that I had a background knowledge of the controversy over Washington's methods and ideas and could understand their comments. I thought it was a little bit ironic that Mrs. Turner was so critical of Washington and considered him to be an enemy when she basically wants to be white. She prides herself on her "white folks' features" and worships Janie because of her "Caucasian characteristics". In the mind of Mrs. Turner, there is a class system among African Americans: the more white you look, the higher you are ranked. I think there is something very wrong with this woman's brain.
I'm not sure how I feel about Tea Cake. He's better than any of Janie's other husbands and seems to really love her and care for her, but I think he slides into thinking of her as an object sometimes as well. It was sketchy that he disappeared right after they were married and took it upon himself to spend a little of "their money". The story he told didn't seem to be very legitimate either. He seems to encourage Janie to be a person and enjoy life, but also seems to make all the decisions for the two of them. I found it very hard to like him at all as a character when he slaps Janie around in chapter 17 so he could be "reassured" in his "possession" of her, especially after he was chasing some other girl around and flirting excessively in chapter 15.

"Yo' Nanny wouldn't harm a hair uh yo' head. She don't want nobody else to do it neither if she kin help it"

Wife-beating seems to be a hot topic in Their Eyes Were Watching God. It seems to be completely acceptable, if not expected, by the male characters. It seems that you are considered a weak man if you don't beat your wife. Logan Killicks threatens to beat Janie, Joe Starks smacks her around in chapter 6, and Tea Cake has a "brainstorm" and starts beating her in chapter 17. The men hanging out on the porch of the store in town have a couple of conversations about whether or not so-and-so beats his wife and why he should be beating his wife. At the beginning of chapter 17, Tea Cake and Sop-de-Bottom have an entire discussion about how fortunate Tea Cake is that Janie bruises when he hits her and never opposes him beating her.
The female characters either don't like it and physically/verbally fight it or just kind of accept it. When Janie complains to her grandmother about her first marriage in chapter 3, Nanny automatically assumes that Logan has "already" started beating Janie. Janie generally just accepts abuse from all of her husbands, whether physical, verbal, or emotional. The women who fight back are generally spoken about in a negative tone.

Robert Frost stuff

I read "The Road Not Taken" in a literature class in about 8th grade and hated it. I thought Robert Frost was a complete sap to focus an entire poem on an itty bitty decision changing the outcome of life and potentially regretting it. My thoughts were along the lines of "You can't change the past. Why bother focusing on one little decision so much?". Obviously, I didn't read the poem very closely in the first place and it certainly wasn't explained to us. Now that I have a better understanding of the poem, I no longer feel like it or Robert Frost should be held in contempt. It seems to me that Frost is really suggesting that some decisions really don't matter much either way, even though we will probably look back upon them and (perhaps erroneously) think they changed our lives. By no means do I think our decisions don't matter or don't have consequences, but, realistically, we have to make decisions and we can't make a big deal over every decision we have to make. I hope this all kind of makes sense.

Brrr!

I thought reading To Build A Fire and The Open Boat back-to-back was interesting. The Open Boat carried a slight hope and optimism that To Build A Fire did not. Growing up with South Dakota winters helped me to relate to Jack London's short story better than Stephan Crane's. I have no experience with the open sea, but I certainly understand sub-zero temperatures, although not the the extremes of To Build A Fire. I don't deal well with the cold and the thought of slowly freezing to death makes me want to put on another sweater and stay indoors. I kind of wanted to shake some sense into the main character. From the beginning, his decision to travel alone had "STUPID" written all over it. I cringed a little every time he took his gloves off; even I know to keep all body parts covered in cold weather. The end was a little sad but expected under the circumstances. I thought it was tragically ironic when the character says to himself, as he dies, that people back home have no concept of cold and he will be able to inform them of real cold after his experience. Although the story was a bit depressing, I now kind of want to pick up a book by London when I have a spare moment. I will definitely be reading it indoors with a blanket though.

Carnival Post

I'm trying my hand at this carnival post stuff. Technology isn't my strong point, so I'm not going to try to put the link thingys in. I'll just use people's names. Hopefully that's ok :)

Whitman and Dickinson

• Tanisha found Whitman "enchanting and moving" and appreciates his views on death. She found Dickinson easier to read and enjoyed the "to-the-point" nature of her poetry.
• Nate appreciates Whitman's writing but finds it somewhat confusing. He prefers Dickinson, with "I Heard a Fly Buzz-When I Died" being his favorite.
• Erin appreciates Whitman's writing, it's roots in American culture, and connection with nature.
• Dannika liked Whitman's radical ideas about life and religion and his honest self-evaluation. She went on to read section 20 of his Song of Myself and enjoyed it.
• Nikki related Whitman to biblical themes and related to the winter theme of Dickinson's poem #320/#258.

Huck Finn

• Brian thought reading the end of Huck Finn was somewhat a waste of his time and comments on the movie version of the book.
• Dannika related the feud to the Civil War and was disappointed by Tom and Huck's treatment of Jim, but enjoyed the end of the novel.
• Glenda relates Huck Finn to the problems children have in the world today.
• Kristi appreciates the novel now more than she did in 6th grade and brings knowledge from her history class into her reading of the novel.
• Naomi comments on the complicated relationship between Huck and Jim and expresses her annoyance about the ending of the novel.
• Nate vents his irritation about the con-artists in Huck Finn, confesses that he did not enjoy the novel, and expresses his desire to punch Tom.
• Nikki sums up her thoughts about the novel and expresses her strong dislike for Tom.
• Tanisha explores the relationship between Huck and Jim and says she enjoyed the novel.

Booker T. Washington/W.E.B. Du Bois

• Glenda is inspired by Booker T. Washington and is dismayed by lingering prejudice.
• Tanisha compares Washington and Du Bois and explains why she prefers Du Bois.

Sister Carrie

• Dannika blogs about a recent "Sister Carrie experience".
• Brian relates Carrie's job-hunting experience to the difficulties of finding jobs today.
• Tanisha loved Dreiser's writing and character development and enjoyed his description of the magic of a city at dusk.

Jack London and Stephan Crane

• Dannika compares and contrasts "To Build A Fire" and "The Open Boat".
• Tanisha enjoyed the brotherhood between the men in "The Open Boat".
• Nikki was able to relate to "To Build A Fire" more than "The Open Boat".

Huck Finn

Well, I just finished up The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I enjoyed the book, but I thought it was really far-fetched. To me, the book seems like it is almost a marriage of the adventures a 14 year old boy would daydream about to a cynical view of life. The daydreams aspect comes in because it is very unlikely that a little boy would get himself into and out of trouble in that many strange situations. The cynicism shows in the nasty kind of people Huck gets involved with, the tragic endings to the majority of the scraps he gets in, and the grim way humanity is painted (gullible, hypocritical, completely selfish ect.). I suppose the book isn't meant to be believable anyway.
I had a hard time reading the last few chapters. By that point, I was extremely annoyed with Tom and his complete disregard for anyone but himself. Tom obviously views Jim as less than a human being. He knows Jim has become a free man, but, for the sake of some personal fun, he doesn't tell anyone Jim is free and, instead, cooks up a ridiculous scheme to break Jim out of the cabin he is being held in. Huck fails to see Tom's selfishness and considers Tom a great guy and true friend for his willingness to help "steal" Jim. Tom proceeds to steal from innocent people, scare his family, almost get the slaves in danger, worry half the town, and put several lives in danger for a big game. On top of that, he puts Jim in a lot of unnecessary discomfort and considers it acceptable to simply pay him for his trouble. Ironically, all of Tom's fancy plotting looks very childish compared to everything Huck and Jim have faced while traveling on the river. Moreover, Tom's plans don't even work. Huck's "simple-minded" plans worked almost every time. Needless to say, Tom is not my favorite character.
The end of the book was a little off compared to the rest. From what I understand, Mark Twain really didn't know how to end Huck Finn, and, to me, it's obvious in the way the last chapter kind of just trails off. As the narrator, Huck even expresses some of Twain's frustration with the whole process of writing and ending the novel. I'd just like to say that Aunt Sally is a brave lady if she wants to adopt Huck Finn.
That's all for now. I more or less just wanted to vent about my dislike for Tom Sawyer.

here we go!

Obviously, I've been less than diligent with this blogging stuff so far. I don't think I really have anything deep literary comments to offer, but I'll try to recap my thoughts about the first couple of readings from Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Due to a high school American Lit class, I'm somewhat familiar with Dickinson. I don't remember covering much of Whitman though. As cheesy as it is, the extent of my exposure to Whitman was the parts in the movie The Notebook where Noah reads bits of Whitman's poetry. He has some interesting views on life and death and God. Some of his lines are quite beautiful; some of them bothered me a little. For example, the following lines jumped out to me because it reminded me of Romans 1:20, which says, "For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God." (New Living Translation).

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and rememberancer designedly dropt,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and
remark, and say Whose?

-Song of Myself, section 6

I particularly liked Emily Dickinson's #320 (or #258?), because it seemed to capture the gloominess that comes along with those long winter afternoons when dusk sets in early and a person nearly goes crazy from lack of sunlight. I read it on one of the days were the temperatures dropped into the negatives, and I had gotten to the point of wondering if spring even existed anymore. The poem gave me a mental picture of a person from long ago sighing sadly and staring out the window into the gray. My favorite lines were:

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons-
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes

and:

When it comes, the Landscape listens-
Shadows - hold their breath-
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death -