5. Frankenstein

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

Through a great deal of the novel, I have sided with the creature. It was after all, not by his doing that he became rejected by anyone who saw him, and he certainly made an effort to reach out with a compassionate hand to those he felt connected to. It is primarily by Victor's leaving him that he turned out so hateful to humanity. When the creature threatens Victor, saying "It is well, I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding night", that I don't have a particular side to sypmathize with. The creature's level of violence and cruelty, while intending that he would kill Elizabeth is the extent of which I would justify his hatred. Also, Victor makes it hard to identify with him because he is completely delirious! He assumes the creature wants to kill him, but he thinks nothing of Elizabeth. Also, why would he assume that the creature would kill him on his wedding night when he has had several chances to do so already? I think Victor is unintelligent at this point.

4. Frankenstein

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

I'm in a constant battle between deciding if I trust the creature or not. Even Victor is slightly swayed to feel pity and sympathy for the creature. "His words had a strange effect upon me. I compassionated him and sometimes felt a wish to consol him; but when I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked, my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred" (Shelley, 106). The creature seems to have an honest, and good-hearted request of having a companion, especially since he has lacked one his whole life thus far. It is what the creature has done is reponse to Victor's abandonment in the past, that would lead me to believe that his intentions are not all good. When the creature killed William, he had intense feelings of triumph, thinking that he destroyed a creation of Victor's. His joy and feelings of success intend that he is not all good, and that though some of his actions could be justified based on his upbringing, he lacks a huge amount of compassion and harvests violent revenge.

3. Frankenstein

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

I'm most fascniated the way Shelley creates a picture of such a monster, but at the same time highlighting its humanity. a page and a half after the creature murders William, the creature comes to the side of sleeping Justine, and says, "'Awake, fairest, thy lover is near- he who would give his life but to obtain one look of affection from thine eyes: my beloved, awake!'" (Shelley, 103). It is the speak of a human lover! His first action after the horrendous murder of Victor's brother was that of gentle kindness. It is only out of fear, that he departs and leaves her with William's locket. His monstrosity is juxtaposed continuously with his humanistic tendancies. His request of Victor is even that of wanting to have a companion. It surprises me that out of all of his violence, he just desperately longs for a friend, or a female companion.

2. Frankenstein

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

Frankenstein expects that he will be welcomed into the cottagers' home, only after of course explaining his condition. It is by his observations of the foreigner, Safie, that he grows to the assumption that the cottagers would welcome him as they welcomed the foreigner, Safie. "I soon percieved, that although the stranger uttered articulate sounds, and appeared to have a language of her own, she was neither understood by, nor herself understood, the cottagers" (Shelley, 82). She, although completely human, was in a similar state as the creature is. He, as is Safie, is a product of a foreign upbringing. "I contemplated the virtues of the cottagers, their amiable and benevolent dispositions, I persuaded myself that when they should become acquianted with my admiration of their virtures, they would compassionate me and overlook my personal deformity" (Shelley, 93). His personal deformity and foreign status ended up being too grand of a difference for the cottagers to look past.

1. Frankestein

Frankenstein 
Mary Shelley

"Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious, and base? [...] To be a great and virtuous man appeared the highest honour that can befall a sensitive being; to be base and vicious, as many on record have been, appeared the lowest degradation, a condition more abject than that of the blind mole or harmless worm" (Shelley, 84). Frankenstein provides an outside look into the many confusing aspects of humanity. He, as a functioning "human", is yet so alien, has a rather objective view of humanity at various point in his existence. Of course, his objectivity is made relative when he feels anger and frustration to humanity in the instances in which people have encountered him. Regardless of his emotional state, he has given insight into human behavior. He has many times pointed out the inconguences in human behavior, specifically when he saved a little girl from drowning, and in return, was shot. His understanding of both the malice and compassion of humanity is a valuable contribution admist his aggression.

Frankenstein (5/5)

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

It's all just one big terrible irony. Frankenstein created life! My God that should be something phenomenal and celebrated- but this creation is a "catastrophe". "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?" (Shelly, 35). He spent two years and his passion and energy on collecting parts from various sources (slaughterhouses nonetheless) and created an actual live being. Especially when this novel was written, that notion was presumably huge (today we can duplicate cells in pitri dishes all the time). What's even more painful, is that those he loves are being killed. "...William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts" (Shelley, 60). Obviously his creature killed the two, and possibly he will murder  more to come. It is terrible  that all of his study and work came to such unfortunate circumstances.

Frankenstein (4/5)

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

When I read this next section, I was thinking about what someone talked about in class the other day, that "this is what happens when people try to play God". I suppose I understand that statement. Especially when Frankenstein dedicated his passion and health for two years in the hopes of creating a beautiful life and it turned out to be a disaster/killing machine. Obviously this is tragic for Frankenstein and the family and Elizabeth, but I have a great sympathy for Frankestein because what he intended and fought for with all of the right intentions turned back on him. He's just a mad scientist with the right intentions and the wrong circumstances. This is probably going to sound absurd, but didn't God create humankind with the intention that they would be in God's image? All of the right intentions, and yet humans are still broken. I am by no means saying Frankenstein is God, but isn't he kind of similar in that he has such a love for creating and infusing love and right into the world that he worked like a madman for years to get to this beautiful creation? That is my weird thought of the day. 
"Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed" (Shelley, 69).

Frankenstein (3/5)

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

Reading on, it becomes clear Frankenstein's motivation for such a creation. The opening story he shares is of his mother and her experience as a young adult, being orphaned when her father died in her arms. Then, when Elizabeth gets the scarlette fever, Caroline Frankenstein falls ill to the same illness while taking care of her. Under these circumstances, it makes sense that Victor would have such a longing to create life and health where there is no hope for it otherwise. "Pursuing these reflections, I thought, that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption" (Shelley, 32). His passion and madness is directly stemmed from being traumatized from his experience of death. He longs to dive into the impossible.
"[...] And soon my mind was filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose. So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein,-- more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation" (Shelley, 28).

Frankenstein (2/5)

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

Something that struck me while reading was how Frankenstein his passions. First, when Walton was describing him in his letters, he articulated that Frankenstein seemed to "despise himself for being the slave of passion" (Shelley, 12). Again, after the creation of the monster, Frankenstein himself admitted that he had been "attacked by the fatal passion" (Shelley, 39). Usually, the word passion seems to have a rather positive connotation. One would say they are passionate, and that is something to be admired and celebrated. In this novel, however, passion has been described as a ruthless, fatal, controlling force that drives people mad. Frankenstein's best friend, Clerval certainly seemed to notice, and when he told Elizabeth of his state, she responded, "You have been ill, very ill" (Shelley, 40). Obviously his passion has been driving him to the point that he seems ill!
I also find it interesting that Frankenstein sees in Walton what he knows about himself. His warnings to Walton of the dangers of passion and of knowledge and wisdom are very clear, in that he hopes that Walton doesn't get "stung". "You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I arrdently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been" (Shelley, 13).

Frankenstein (1/5)

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

It's obvious in the first few letters from Robert Walton to his sister that the author utilizes the literary technique of foreshadowing to engage the audience. Robert Walton, in his letters, addresses the stranger, and writes down some of the words of the stranger, such as "I have suffered great and unparalleled misfortunes", and "prepare to hear of occurrences which are usually deemed marvellous" (Shelley, 13). The
stranger introduces events unrevealed until in the fifth chapter. As the stranger begins to narrate his story, it becomes known that his name is Victor Frankenstein, and he recounts his family history and background in education, adding pieces of cliff-hangers that don't reveal anything other than the mere fact that his has suffered greatly from his fate. "Rather let me say such the words of the fate, enounced to destroy me... I felt as if my sould were grappling with a palpable enemy; one by one the various keys were touched which formed the mechanism of my being" (Shelley, 27). Shelley takes advantage of cliff-hangers to keep the audience interested and wondering what is going to appear next.

5. Miss Brill

Miss Brill
Katherine Mansfield

"Odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they'd just come from little dark rooms or even - even cupboards,"(Mansfield. 183). It is obvious that Miss Brill does not fit into her routine setting at the park every Sunday. As a young couple peers in at Miss Brill in her usual spot, they seem to be taken back by her unusual clothing, and her unique look. She sits at the park every Sunday, listening to conversations and trying to feel included in the worlds of others around her. Miss Brill is a smudge on the frame of these stranger's worlds. She distracts those wandering in the park, it's as if she becomes a spectacle. Listening to the band seems to be so important to Miss Brill that she doesn't quite realize all the others are not the same as she. In this puzzled state of mind, after the couple's stares, she breaks down. Miss Brill returns home, to the sound of crying, because it seems all she did was go to the park in her same routine. It turns out that she realized that the one crying was her. 

4. Bartleby , the Scrivener

Bartelby, the Scrivener
Herman Melville

I just feel awkward. Bartleby's whole being is several steps away from "normal" social interaction. He is so interesting, he resists passively and he denies the very basic requests that fall into routine. I couldn't help but wonder what is the big deal about performing such a minuscule task? It becomes more apparent, however, that there is something seriously wrong when the audience learns of his past. He had been a employee at a dead letter company. He would burn letters that cannot be received since the person the letter was sent to is now deceased for his daily work. Such a sad job could leave someone traumatized, or at least change someone so much so that they become distant, almost resistant to reality, or to routine tasks. " I might give alms to his body, but his body did not pain him; it was his soul that suffered, and his soul I could not reach,"(Melville, 658). It was obvious he was very much intrinsically troubled. 

3. Much Madness is Divinest Sense

Much Madness is Divinest Sense
Emily Dickinson

I really like this poem. First, it is apparent that the major paradox in the poem differentiates "a discerning eye" and "the majority". The speaker first makes it known that they are the individual, surrounded by a mass of people in the same routine. "Madness is divine" (Dickinson, 820). Oftentimes people are respected for having good sense. It sounds logical that having sense about a person would be a good quality to have, but this poem dismantles the notion that madness is bad, and it gives those with "sense" the poison of conformity. Madness is redefined as the few nonconformists, a few with independent thought. It also calls out society as corrupt, claiming that it sets us up to think of the people who conform to the majority are "sane", and those that go against the grain, "dangerous". In fact society often feels compelled to put those with independent thought in chains- they should be locked up! Individuals uniqueness is somehow dangerous to the workings of society. What the speaker elicits is the idea that being true to oneself is not something of criminals- but it is the divinest sense. It is divine to be mad.

2. I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain

I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain
Emily Dickinson

At first glance, the poem is just a funeral. "The mourners to and fro" with a service, the "lift of a box", and the "heavens were a bell", and finally [the casket] "dropped down" (Dickinson, 776). It is not until I realized that the speaker was in the box that the poem became interesting. The speaker implies that they are the one in the casket by using clues like "they" were seated, or "I heard them lift the box"- the speaker distanced themself from the group of people attending the funeral. When the speaker says, "I dropped down", I immediately thought that they were being buried alive. It is more apparent, however, that the funeral is actually for someone- something that is dying- that they are not actually alive. Their brain is "dying", the "Plank of Reason broke". The speaker's "mind was going numb". It is apparent the detachment that the speaker feels from a normal existence, and it is powerful to exemplify this disconnect through a funeral. Their brain is going mad to the point of envisioning its existence as a funeral.

1. APO 96225

APO 96225
Larry Rottmann
 
This makes complete sense. The minute people get bluntly what they asked for, they react as if they haven't been asking for it, and they're offended. It is a situational irony in the sense that the exact opposite of what the soldier's parents asked for was what they wanted: to be sheltered from the harsh realities of war. It is simply easier for loved ones back at home to cling to ignorance than to feel exploited to the cruelty of war.
The understatements made by the soldier writing home also reveal a truth about how soldiers are hardened to war. They say, "Dear mom, it sure rains a lot here," again at the end of the poem, giving readers the hint that ll of their descriptions about war are blatant understatements. When the soldier gives their parents a peek at the truth, soldier's lack of gravity is displayed. The soldier says with no emotion, "today I killed a man. Yesterday, I helped drop napalm on women and children" (846).
It most displays the irony of the situation when the parents respond offended, there is obviously a huge disconnect created here between the soldiers and the public- they only want to hear about the "beautiful sunsets".

Death, Be Not Proud (5/5)

Death, Be Not Proud
John Donne p. 972

The speaker in the poem seems to have a mindset that death is not the end, and that death does not win. Though death thinks it has the last say, the last word in a person's life, it is not the end. The speaker addresses death directly, saying, "death, thou shalt die", because death is only a short sleep before arising in eternity (Donne, 972). I find it both fascinating and a relief that death is described only as a vessel to eternity, rather than the means by why the soul is going there. It is "fate, kings, desperate men... poison, war and sickness" that kills, and death is merely a slave, stricken with the responsibility of transporting souls to presumably heaven. I also find that the speaker mocks death. Instead of "mighty and dreadful", death is a "poppy or charm", a lighthearted interpretation of it's seemingly important job. 

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night (4/5)

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
Dylan Thomas

This poem seems a great deal like the phrase, "go out with a bang". At first glance, I thought the poem was encouraging men to not accept the inevitable, that they should not accept death as a natural consequence with growing old. Instead, I see the poem not as encouragement to pursue longevity, but rather to disown the sadness of death. Death should not guide man's hand into the inevitable, but man should live with confidence up until the last day. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light", is a epithet that encourages the denial of dying while still alive. Man should not accept death, but instead, rage against the dying of the light, and refuse to allow it to consume him before death takes his body. To me, the poem alludes to the importance of going out with a bang, and not feeling defeated when it comes time that night will close in and the light will be over.

Crossing the Bar (3/5)

Crossing the Bar
Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This poem to me doesn't seem to carry the typical aura that writings of the topic of death usually hold. It seems to reveal imagery symbolizing freedom: "one clear call for me!", and "may there be no sadness of farewell when I embark". I really enjoyed this poem actually, it illuminates the peace in death rather than pain or turmoil or disclosure. Oftentimes I think many faiths emphasize the pain in dying, and the immorality of allowing someone to die without a fight. I understand that all life is precious, and certainly valued, but through my experience with cancer and disease and dying, I have learned to understand death in terms of peace, rather than evil. There comes some point that death should become a vessel that "turns again home (Tennyson, 886)".

A Rose for Emily (2/5)

A Rose for Emily
William Faulkner

It's safe to say that Miss Emily is mentally ill. She suffers from the delusion that she is not "alone", that she has a boyfriend to snuggle up to each night. In fact, her fragile state of mind tricks her into believing that the actual corpse decomposing on her bed is in fact alive and real, laying beside her breathing as she does. The story is presented in fragments of a whole, dispersed with no chronological structure. The audience gains knowledge of Miss Emily's background as the pages turn, and one crucial occurrence that led to Emily's mental instability was likely the death of her father. In fact, when her father died, she kept his body in her house for three days before someone intervened to arrange a proper burial. Also, through progressing onward through the story, it is revealed that a man Emily once thought she was going to marry left her, likely contributing to her addiction to constant companionship. It is fascinating, yet troubling to think of the corruption abandonment has elicited in Emily, and I can't help but refer back to my Psychology class from last year and the depth of the pain she had to have felt in her previous experiences with men to have the need to sleep with a decomposing corpse to keep her company.

The Lottery (1/5)

The Lottery
Shirley Jackson

The work begins on a warm summer day, in fact, "the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green (Jackson, 263)." The perfect day for a lucky winner to receive their lottery prize. Following the story however, the audience grows to understand the miserable irony that this "lucky" day signifies. An initial trigger that this community's lottery is unlike a traditional lottery is the pile of stones laying around in a pile. Why such the emphasis on the pile of stones? Something is obviously askew. Also, by all means, "Mr. Graves" seems like an awfully lucid name for a character with a job as a lottery official, supposedly bringing "luck" to the town. What makes the story interesting and terribly confusing at the same time is the juxtaposition of dark and light imagery. The warm summer day, the feeling of newness the children feel just being released from school for summer break, the joy of Mrs. Hutchinson in her arrival to the drawing of lottery tickets all seem to reveal some kind of jubilant occasion in which one lucky winner will be chosen to receive a great prize. On the opposite end, the character "Mr. Graves", and what his name signifies, and the praise of a young man for his bravery in entering for his family in the lottery, don't seem to match up to the setting. It all makes (horrible) sense in the end when the audience learns of the great "prize" of winning, death by stoning, executed for tradition's sake.

5. The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams

Amanda is selfish. She elicits many times this image of a caring, worrisome, mother, but in fact, all of her concerns for her children reveal her inner need to control their lives in order to make herself feel adequate. Tom, for instance, longs for intellectual stimulation, which in turn could also provide financial stability, but Amanda, in her constant worrying about money, can't seem to process that maybe it's worth Tom's happiness to make a change in their current lifestyle. It also seems to be obvious that Amanda wants desperately for her daughter to have a gentlemen caller. On the outside, the audience certainly sees a concerned mother, wanting her daughter to be well taken care of. When looking into Amanda's past, it is certainly obvious that she had an array of gentlemen callers to choose from, and she wishes that fortune upon her daughter. Amanda, however, doesn't simply want the best for her daughter, but she refuses to accept the handicaps of her daughter, and wants that she is identical to her, a rather selfish reason to want her daughter to find a husband.

4. The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams

I find Laura an interesting character. While she does nothing financially to support the family, she seems to be the glue that holds the three together emotionally. She doesn't take part in an petty arguments between Tom and Amanda, which is a piece in creating her role as the one in need in the family. She is like a child. Tom is told by his mother that Laura needs him there, as a financial provider, and as someone to look after her and find her a gentleman caller. Without Laura, the family would likely drift apart. She serves to the “slow and implacable fires” by standing in as a mediator. I find it very ironic that she trips over the fire escape when leaving the apartment. She mends the fires, and has no choice but to stay there. Her handicap has created her to be somewhat passive, but her character keeps the two aggressive personalities stuck together. 

3. The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams

I addressed the leaving of Mr. Wingfield in the previous post briefly, but what I wanted to point out is the importance of the absent father in the play. The mere fact that a picture of the father is hung over everything that occurs on stage is a sure indicator that he still has great influence over everything that occurs in the Wingfield home. Tom, when his father left, took on the role of the provider in the home, a tiresome position, especially while working at the warehouse, where he is miserable. He acknowledges his need to free himself from the situation, and recognizes that he may turn out like his father, "'You know it don't take much intelligence to get yourself into a nailed-up coffin, Laura. But who in hell ever got himself out of one without removing the nail?' (As if in answer, the father's grinning photograph lights up)" (Williams, 1249). He undeniably identifies with his father, even after the pain he caused his mother.

2. The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams

Nearing the end of Scene 3, it is apparent the internal conflicts of each of the main characters. Each is struggling with their own inner demons, and for Amanda, it appears to be nostalgia, and a yearning for the betterment of her family. For Laura, her physical and social handicaps are the primary causes for her stuggles, and Tom, who seemingly is the most conflicted, struggles with the nagging of his mother about working a job that he hates, but also he fights his urge to leave and grasp the fringes of adventure. Amanda struggles with controlling his desires, and seems to wound both of her children when trying to push them to be what she expects of them. Tom rebels, and says to her,  "Man is by instinct a lover, a hunter, a fighter, and none of those instincts are given much play at the warehouse!"(Williams, 1253). His rebellion reveals no sort of relief for the two children, and they continue their bickering with their demanding mother. Even though Amanda is unbearingly pushy, and oftentimes suffocates her children with her endless requests, I still feel a pang of sympathy for her, a single mother, wanting what's best for her children with an absent father. I don't know if I blame her, her husband leaving is stress enough to cause her to go crazy with worries and demands. 

1. The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams

What strikes me as interesting, is the way Tom addresses the audience directly. I was surprised with his brutal honesty. By addressing the stage direction, the violinist backstage, and his appearance playing the role of Tom, and the narrator, it is obvious that he has nothing to hide. "I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion" (Williams, 1236). Tom, and the author seemingly have nothing to hide. This structure and insight into Tom makes me feel like I know him, like we're good pals, and like I know something that Amanda and Laura don't. Also, I find it pleasantly truthful that he addresses his bias, as he informs the audience that they are his memories that are being replayed. Another observation I made within the first pages, was his "weakness for symbols", he outlines the symbols in the play from the beginning, specifically the symbolism of the gentleman caller. This is an interesting way to open a play.

The Joy of Cooking (5/5)

The Joy of Cooking
Elaine Margarrell

At first glace this poem seems to be cannibalistic, but with a deeper look, the poem could be interpreted into a very vivid metaphor addressing relationships amongst siblings. By addressing her "sister's tongue" and her "brother's heart", she is actually applying their body parts to their vices. It seems as if her sister's tongue is more so a sign of her gossiping, or rough vernacular than a tongue. Despite the speaker's energies to silence this rude language, it is "economical- it will probably grow back". Her brother's heart is addressed  as dry, dull, and small. It needs " an apple-onion stuffing" to even be considered interesting. Nonetheless, it barely feeds two- it's small! She addresses their faulty attributes in such literal terms, that it seemed to the speaker that these might actually make a good meal. This poem reminded me a great deal of A Modest Proposal by Jonathon Swift, and like The Joy of Cooking, it is a satire that points out the indecencies of humanity through grotesque diction, surrounded by an overtone of cannibalism.

The Drunkard (4/5)

The Drunkard
Frank O'Connor

I've heard from a fair amount of people that hey find humor in this short story. The book we've been reading from actually prompts us to see the humor in the story! I, however, can't get past the horror of a child drinking alcohol like his alcoholic father. I felt that this story was a testament to the influence of our parents on who we become and what we do. Good or bad, parents' characters reflect on their children's faces. It also seems tragic to me that the boy saved his father from another plummet into depression by taking his father's drink at the funeral. What sacrifice! The boy may not have known what he was doing to such an extent, by realistically he could have saved his father from weeks of depression.  It's also incredible to me that people who witnessed this young boy's intoxication react with laughter. My God call social services! Take this poor boy away from this responsibility to keep his father from his own misery!

Once Upon a Time (3/5)

Once Upon a Time
Nadine Gordimer

The author of Once Upon a Time, Nadine Gordimer, when asked to write a children's story, not only declined the request, but developed a completely juxtaposed version of a fairytale, complete with traditional motifs and all. The "wise witch", or the husband's mother gave a particular piece of advice- that they not allow anyone from outside, in. Instead of a mere acceptance of this advice, the family that was seemingly cool-and-collected were eaten up with paranoia on the inside, as all of their neighbors were. A chain reaction influence the entire suburb to buy security systems, fences, and bars for their windows. This fairytale of a life is now chained up and put behind bars as the streets fill with the scent of unemployment, poverty, and the worst of all- common people. The most ironic and painful of all, is when the boy gets caught up in the spikes atop of the brick barriers while he was trying desperately to climb through "the thorns" like the prince of a fairytale who also climbed through to reach a princess. He was reaching for a fairytale- but instead, he was stabbed by his own family's fear of reality.

A Worn Path (2/5)

A Worn Path
By Eudora Wetty
 

“No, missy, he not dead, he just the same (279).” It’s unfortunate to say that her grandson actually is the same; the same as say, a little while ago when he died. It seems as though this whole journey along the worn path is centered around the central motive of trying to help her grandson. It’s ironic though, because she preservers through such threats- a gun being pointed in her face, hiking all day in her old fragile state, and she struggles with a seemingly psychological abnormality. In all actuality, her grandson could be alive, but this question of his current existence ends up being irrelevant to the story of Phoenix. Her love for her grandson still exists and needs to exist for her to remain an stable as she is. It is interesting, however, when Phoenix is asked about her grandson, she reveals that she draws a blank at the question. A nurse asks her, "'he isn't dead is he?' At last there came a flicker and then a flame of comprehension across her face" (229). Regardless of his state, it seems important that she makes this journey regularly (because it seems as if the office knows her). It may be some sort of therapy- adjusting to her mental capabilities to reset her strained eyes to reality.

Those Winter Sundays (1/5)

Those Winter Sundays 
by Robert Hayden

Ouch- he was left out in the cold, hung out to dry, thrown under the bus, and any other cliches possible that reach the meaning that this poor father worked hard to please his children but was not seemingly ever verbally thanked. I find it interesting actually that even after all of the preparation the father does to heat the home and to make them feel comfortable before stepping out of bed, they still think of the house in terms of its supposed, "chronic anger" (Hayden, 781). It seems to be that the father has put a great deal of work into making his children feel like the first step they're going to take that day is one of comfort, that the first thing they wake up to is the crackling of a warm fire, and it seems awfully crude that they fear this house that he has woken up early (and on a Sunday, nonetheless) to break the cruel entrance back into the cold world from their warm dreamstate. Also, at the end of the poem, the author point out a greater reality. "Love's austere and lonely offices" are rather accurate statements of what love really is (Hayden, 782). Loving someone, most of the time, implies that one would care for the other to the extent that they themselves would wake up on a cold early morning, all alone, to bear the worst for the other. It's actually quite sad though, that sometimes loneliness comes out of even our best intentions.

5. A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry

I feel terrible for Walter, I think he feels the most alone throughout the play. In the beginning, Ruth hushes up his desire to dream and have ambitions, but she simply tells him, "eat your eggs". It seems as if she's saying that's all he's good for, being another mouth at the table and a man of a low-paying simple job. He longs for so much more. He reveals eventually that he wants to be the CEO of a company, but first, he starts smaller, by trying to start a liquor store. He pays his friend Willy his dues, who is supposedly going to be a co-owner of the place. I think it is when Willy betrays him and runs away with the money (including the money for Beneatha's schooling) that all hope seems to be lost for Walter. His amitions are literally just stolen away and he is left with the same old painful situation. His stolen dreams are dried up, like a raisin in the sun.

4. A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry

I suppose there are a large amount of differences in the hiatus between generation, but it was especially apparent in the play when Mama and Walter were talking about what is important in life. Walter is complaining to Mama about this and that, the job, feeling worthless. He mentions money- and Mama asks, "Son- how come you talk so much 'bout money?" He responds, "Because it is life, Mama!" (Hansberry, 475). Obviously at this point in time, caring for the family with an abundant (well, or sufficient) supply of money is the most important and can most impact the well-being of the family. Mama testifies that it isn't money that controls lives, but freedom! I like her comeback to Walter here, she really puts in perspective her concerns at the time she was growing up- fighting for freedom. Mama point out the obvious difference when she asserts, " You my children- buy how different we done become!" I can't help but think of the differences between my parents and me. Obviously there's an obnoxious amount of things alike between us, like our brutal stubbornness, but the way we have been raised and in the setting in which we've been raised is very different, and we have slightly different views on life because of it.

3. A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry

A significant decision Ruth is faced with making in the play reveals a great deal about what kind of pressure the household is suffering. When Ruth becomes pregnant, she reveals that she is contemplating getting an abortion. The kind of pressure someone must be under to be able to contemplate an abortion must be extreme. Walter made her feel like she didn't have any other choice. The pressure for a better lifestyle likely came from both Mama and Walter, and it made her feel trapped. It's especially surprising because early in the play the audience learns that Ruth already lost one child. It would be interesting if she chose to lose another. I think Ruth is the most troubled of the characters. Even in the beginning, Walter and she argue about his large and seemingly unattainable dreams and their future. I think it wears on Ruth because she's just trying to keep it together for the family.

2. A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun 
Lorraine Hansberry

The setting in an apartment in downtown Chicago as black Americans in the fifties and sixties is obviously going to arouse some sort of quest for a better life, just as black Americans are starting to attain more of their deserved rights. It's interesting that the two characters in A Raisin in the Sun that have the most similar mindset are Mama and Ruth, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. I feel as though this kind of bond doesn't happen often between the in-laws. Regardless, the two both seem to always be dreaming of a way out, either through searching for ways for the money left by Mama's husband to be used to get them into a new setting, or as far as Ruth wanting to have an abortion. Their desire for a better life impacts the whole family, and actually causes controversy between all of the adult members of the family over this large sum of money. One character that always seems to stand in contrast to Ruth is her husband Walter. Through their differences, they both have a common goal: to better their family's life. He feels this pang in his stomach for something better, something different. This pang is so evident that he gives all of his money and his trust to his friend Willy in hopes of starting a liquor store business for money to help that family. Walter also dreams of one day being the CEO of a large company with his own secretary. They're all dreamers.

1. A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry


I find Beneatha interesting. She's a feminist, and maybe that's what I like about her. But also, another thing that makes me like her is her sense of thinking at a different degree than her family, specifically Mama and Ruth. Mama and Ruth find it absurd that Beneatha has such a desire to "experiment with different forms of expression" (Hansberry, 454). Her desire to make something of herself also intrigues me. She, as a young black woman in the years after World War II, wants to be a doctor. Such ambition! The only problem seems to be that her intentions for her father's money wold be to pay for her medical school. Being such an individualist comes with costs for her family members. Ruth and Mama want to buy a new house for the family. Walter wants to start a business to help out the family- and Beneatha just longs to make something of herself. I understand, of course, and I personally would probably have the same mindset, but at the same time I think the money left by her father should go to the whole family (which doesn't seem to be something she is very concerned about).

Everyday Use

Everyday Use
Alice Walker

I thought it was very interesting how the author presented the short story through the eyes of a character speaking in first person. This point of view is not only interesting, but also the way she presents what she understands. She is very "matter-of-fact", and the passage I found initially very interesting was the presentation of her observation of a proud family. The narrator talks of a television show in which a child is brought to the stage with her parents so they can acknowledge the "risen star" of a child she is. The narrator dreams of herself being up on the stage with Dee, celebrating and loving each other and being proud of each other's successes. I think this admission gives real insight into the values and intent of the family. They want to be able to work hard and to appreciate accomplishments made by the whole family. Even when Dee claims to not want her own name, a "name of her oppressors", and the difference between Dee and her family is shown, there is still a family love for each other throughout the story, and a desire to make each other better, "You ought to try to make something of yourself too, Maggie."

Interpreter of Maladies

Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri

In Interpreter of Maladies, what I noticed most was what type of marriage American culture seems to cultivate. Mrs. and Mr. Das fell in and out of love far too early, but not too early to not have had children, who of course, they now ignore. The sad little family is taken on a tour by Mr. Kapasi, and Mr. Kapasi seems to take special notice of Mrs. Das. "He observed her." What is interesting though, is that he starts to think that Mrs. Das is interested in him! Her subtle actions lead his lonely mind to imagine a connection between them. In the end though, he learns that she only needs his advice, and that in fact he is seen as a father figure, and not a potential date. I think, through reading this short story that there is much to say about implications and about assumptions. The unhappiness of a family and the distance between Mrs. and Mr. Das is not by any means an invitation. Even if the alternative seems hold potential for happiness, Mr. Kapasi assumed with his little mind that she was a good idea.

Mr. Z

Mr.Z
M. Carl Holman


I see this poem as actually a testimony to the pressure to denounce one's ethnicity- if not white. Mr. Z seems to do everything he is capable of to become a traditional white man. He marries a white woman, who too has lost the roots to her heritage, he disowns the music of his culture, and he refuses the food of a traditional African Americans in the United States at the time. The fact that his own wife is trying to find relief from the harsh stereotypes yields that it is very common to be found under this pressure. So it only makes sense that he would make every move possible to become more accepted in the Anglo-Saxon barriers of the United States, and only seems to earn the title "one of the most distinguished members of his race" (as if the standard of "distinguished" is low in the first place). This could potentially be seen in a positive light, that he overcame the stereotypes and was true to the meaning of his heritage, but in fact, it is just the opposite. Rather than refusing to be a denizen of hope and promise, he manifests the standards of the racist white man and tries to become just like them. He becomes more and more a mold of what society has wanted him to be, living on the right streets, eating the "normal" food, and disowning everything he came from. 

Hazel Tells Laverne

Hazel Tells Laverne
Katharyn Machan Aal

The rough vernacular used in the poem actually contributes to the main understanding of the theme. "Me a princess", seems like ridiculous diction for that of formal poem, but it creates the picture of a woman, likely lesser on the totem pole of society, being addressed as a future princess.  As she is confronted by the absurd notion of this poor frog, the woman is drawn back by his offer, and rather than jumping for joy at her ability to pull herself out of her "lowly" position, she cries out that it is ridiculous. This seems to me like a more realistic angle of the story about the Frog Prince. Hazel Tells Laverne is in a way a form of a satire. Through the fairy tales we tell and read about, we are made to believe that a mere kiss or magic or some man is going to sweep girls off their feet and to a different world of luxury and comfort and of living happily ever after. This poem brings awareness to the realities of the pursuit of happiness, and by God, even the pursuit of comfort. The woman in the poem is actually a symbol of the harsh reality that keeps us denying a mystical existence that will sweep away our problems, and directs us to the notion that life is truly going to be hard, and that a frog is not going to change that.

Dream Deferred

Dream Deferred 

Langston Hughes

When reading Dream Deferred, I couldn't help but feel inspired. Even though the author confronts the act of deferring dreams as a bad thing, he also dictates that there is hope for dreams that have been put on the shelf for another time. Even when they seem to "dry up like a raisin in the sun", or to "fester like a sore", these dreams seemingly have minds of their own. And yet- if these dreams are significant, meaningful, or important enough, they have the ability to reach an action potential and arouse an inevitable confrontation, hence "or does it explode?" In the context of the author's own experiences however, I understand the context of the poem as during the Civil Rights Movement, or in the process there of. Hughes applies this great "dream" as a hope for freedom and equality. After years of letting the dream sit and weigh down the souls of African Americans, the dream started to become more and more apparent as many people together became more aware of its presence on the shelf and their ability to reach it. Hughes describes the tension of just barely becoming able to reach their desire as a potential for an explosion. 

Perrine Poetry Entry

I guess I knew coming into this reading that it would be controversial. It has such polars and such insults against authors that try to "keep themselves out of trouble" (as Perrine were to say). Regardless,  I agree with his logic on select terms. One of them being that fact that there are many factors that go into poems that have to even out, so in better words, the poem OR interpretation of a poem can't contradict itself. Also, Perrine asserts that the interpretation grounded most in the boundaries of the poem and not in mere assumptions. I can agree with that part of it, but when I read his analysis of the three poems that we read for class, I was actually insulted. In what way is it okay for him to denounce the value and the truth I find in some one's writing? It's not even his to say! For a purely academic sense I can understand the value of speaking on "like" terms, but for me, I like to understand works on my own terms, and at the same time, I'd like to be completely honest with the writer by trying to best represent and interpret their brilliance. 

To be perfectly honest, I may just be bitter that my analysis of the the poems did not get the approving nod from Perrine, but I really think my interpretation, as well as my peers, were intelligent, well thought out, and cared for in a way that for mere conversation, it shouldn't be put away as if there's one answer to the mystery of a poem. In a couple cases, I was surprised by the, well, "scenic" interpretation of the poems. I figured that Emily Dickinson was speaking of far more than a sunrise, or a garden, or whatever physical place it may be. I think more in terms of it's relativity to humanity, or an explanation of the way of humans. When reading poems, I think I get stuck in thinking in a certain dimension. I haven't found myself pulled to the physical explanation of diction and imagery, but rather an explanation of me, or you, or of people in general or of lovers or of society. Poetry is so personal. It describes the interpreter and how they see the world.

Gosh I am such a procrastinator. Sorry Mr. Costello.

Okay sorry one more (babysitting)

Oliver was helping too.

Babysitting

Anderson and I accomplished a lot of reading this summer.

15. Colors

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

I have discovered through the course of reading this book that color seems to be of high importance throughout the book- especially the green light seemed to arise often with the picture of Gatsby reaching out to it from across the water. In the end, Nick returns to Gatsby's home, staring out into the sky from the comfort of the beach. He describes the scene with the "moving gloss of a ferryboat across the Sound", and the "old island" that had appeared "flowered once for Dutch sailors" (Fitzgerald, 180). Colors and imagery in this last section seem to "commensurate a capacity for wonder" and represent a larger truth. The green light is again referenced, and is assigned a definition, "the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us" (Fitzgerald, 180). The problem with this metaphor to me is that it's far too depressing, that this light is never attained, not by Gatsby, and seemingly in this section the author seems to believe that it is never attained, and that we will continue to "run faster, stretch out our arms, farther", but we will not ever come to a definite close, a satisfactory ending because we are far too focused on the past to get anywhere. This is a terrible ending. It acknowledges that yes, we as humans are optimistic, but that that green light is never going to be within reach because the current will always be pushing us into the past. 

14. Self Improvement

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Rise from bed......................................................... 6.00            A.M.
  Dumbbell exercise and wall-scaling.................... 6.15-6.30      ''
  Study electricity, etc............................................. 7.15-8.15       ''
  Work........................................................................ 8.30-4.30   P.M.
  Baseball and sports................................................ 4.30-5.00     ''
  Practice elocution, poise, and how to attain it..... 5.00-6.00    ''
  Study needed inventions........................................ 7.00-9.00    ''" (Fitzgerald, 173)

This journal given to Nick by Gatsby's dad I think really showed some last pieces of insight into Gatsby's character. He was out to improve himself, even from a young age. He idolized certain qualities in people, for example, poise, and he made plans to practice it so he could embody a better version of himself. Eventually though, when he meets Daisy, and her obsession with her own wealth is prevalent, and his new mission develops into the desire to become good enough for Daisy- wealthy enough, poised enough, popular enough. I can actually identify with Gatsby in this sense, I am obsessed with the idea of making myself better and oftentimes externalize my hopes for myself through lists and writing like young Gatz did in his journal. I think this truly captivates the means of his motive for becoming wealthy, popular, and good enough for Daisy. It seems that he has been intrinsically motivated up until the point when he met Daisy, and when he transferred his motivation to external desires, which was unfortunate in the long run, he became obsessed with external proofs of success, because he was all so caught up with impressing Daisy. Young Gatsby really set the stage for himself and his future failure when he began self-improving for other reasons and for other people than just himself. 

13. Sacrifice

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

"'Was Daisy driving?' 'Yes,' he said after a moment, 'but of course I'll say I was'" (Fitzgerald, 142).
He is a fool- a fool head over heels in love with a woman as shallow and heartless as Lily Bart. He would put a claim on the death sentence for a woman who blatantly refused his love even after confessing her own love for him hours earlier. I think I'm coming to understand that Daisy Buchanan is more like Tom than I thought. Her security in money and aristocracy is far more important than her safety and than her happiness, because she seems to understand happiness in terms of money, wealth, and by no means an association with new money. I think it would be interesting to see how Tom would respond if he knew it was by Daisy's hand (or reckless driving) that his mistress was murdered. What kind of new situation would this understanding of his wife present? I would think that it would be far more likely that Gatsby and Daisy would end up together, if Tom didn't wring his hands around her to kill her first. I just cannot comprehend such an unfathomable love for a careless reckless woman, who doesn't actually love Gatsby at all.

12. An Extended Metaphor (I think)

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

In Chapter 8, one (seemingly casual) topic that was talked about often was the weather. Interestingly though, the weather (as in many plots these days) positively correlate with the emotional feelings of the characters. For example, the day when all hell broke loose and Tom confronted Gatsby was on one of the hottest days of the year, symbolizing the hot-headed behavior of the two in their fight for Daisy. Then soon enough, the weather cools as autumn starts to turn the corner, and Gatsby is desperate to hold onto Daisy, so when Gatsby stands outside of Tom and Daisy's house in the cooling night, he starts to grasp the reality and the end of him and Daisy, Tom doesn't hurt her, and Daisy doesn't ever leave the house. "He put his hands in his coat pockets an turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil. So I walked away and left him standing therein the moonlight- watching over nothing" (Fitzgerald, 145). He realized by the cold of the moon that there was nothing he was watching over, and that his hopes of having Daisy were dying like the leaves on the trees and the temperature of the air. 

11. Confrontation

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

This chapter has been extremely shocking to say the least. First, Tom recognizes the passionate love that exists between Gatsby and Daisy, when he caught them mid-stare. He immediately gets hot and tempered and demands that the whole party goes to town. What's even more pivotal in this chapter is that Tom stops to get gas on the way into town, and Mr. Wilson, Mrytle's husband, admits that he is aware of his wife's infidelity, and is moving west. I'm sure at this point Tom feels incredibly betrayed and alone. His wife is with Gatsby, and the woman he's been having an affair with is being dragged across the country, leaving Thomas Buchanon all alone and tempered. Once he meets back up with Gastby and Daisy, he confronts Gatsby initially about "all this 'old sport' business", making fun of him, but eventually he tries to dig up the lies Tom thinks Gatsby is telling about being an Oxford man. Tom asks one more question, why he's been messing with his and Daisy's marriage. I am overall repulsed by Tom's reaction to this affair, he all of a sudden was made into the victim, and obviously is applying some sort of "double standard" because of course his own affair "doesn't matter any more" (Fitzgerald, 132). 
I also can't fathom why Daisy responds the way she does, she ultimately chooses Tom, and Tom sends them both away because he no longer feels threatened after Daisy denies Gatsby of their love. This is terrible, and this is certainly not going to end happily as I thought with the bad characters away and the good ones happily in love. 

10. Tom and Gatsby

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

The dynamic between Tom and Gatsby is really interesting. When Nick stops by the Gatsby mansion, he is surprised to find Tom Buchanon in the company of Gatsby as well as Mr. and Mrs. Sloane. It's interesting and quite strange to Nick that Gatsby is trying to find ways to spend more time with Tom. I think Gatsby is just trying to size Tom up, and he's trying to think of all the possible reasons Daisy would have fallen for Tom in his absence. I also think that it is unbelievably ironic when Tom once again questions why Daisy would have known Gatsby, he says, "I wonder where in the devil he met Daisy. By God, I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me. They meet all kinds of crazy fish" (Fitzgerald, 103). First of all- the "crazy fish" Tom is talking about is a man who is likely in love with Daisy, and she with him. Second, the notion of his "old-fashioned ideas" are a quite humorous if you ask me, from committing adultery, to being downright rude and violent, Tom is not the picture of purity and morality. Not to mention that Tom is one of the men "women run around with", so his argument is completely strewn right from under his feet. He is a dark man; I have no respect for Tom Buchanon.

9. The Son of God

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Well first off- St. Olaf College is referenced in Chapter 6, which is extremely exciting to me, as St. Olaf is the only college I will be applying to this fall. My mom, my fives aunts, two uncles, two grandparents, 3 great aunts, and 3 great uncles attended St. Olaf, so I basically am tied to St. Olaf by all means possible, and I have literally been obsessed with the idea of going there as long as I can remember. But anyway, back to the book!

"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end" (Fitzgerald, 98)

I find it extremely interesting that Gatsby is called "a son of God", as if he is Jesus Christ. This is a huge and risky comparison made by the author, and well, Nick. I am actually left confused by this allusion. What I have been thinking is that Gatsby was made out of the likeness of his own father, being virtuous in his own character, and Gatsby created himself based on the goodness of his father and continued the work through the character he created of himself to which he applied himself faithfully. I do not fully understand what "business" of "His Father" he is referring to, but I am very interested in how this comparison fits into his character that is increasingly being revealed.

8. Rekindled Romance

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

I really think the story has hit a pivotal point as far as it goes with Daisy and Gatsby. Their reunion is slightly awkward initially, but after hours of conversing and shedding tears of happiness, they are as they were, in love and obsessed with the happiness that comes with being together. Nick even fades out into the background, and eventually leaves unnoticed, but he struggles with thoughts of their future success as a couple. Obviously Gatsby had been dreaming of her for years, staring out across the water to a green light, thinking of her in every moment, working so hard for her, Nick worries that all of Gatsby's efforts- the parties, his move to the mansion, and trying with such dedication for her attention will seem extensive once he discovers she's not what she had once been. So many years of "hide-and-seek" may seem all a waste, but I can't imagine why they would if they truly loved each other as they had before.
I really like how Gatsby responds to Daisy, and how he glowed after his meeting with her, "But there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding. He literally glowed; without a word or gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him a filled the little room" (Fitzgerald, 89). He no longer is concerned about his supposed Oxford education, or of his medals, or of his wealthy relatives from the San Fransisco in the Midwest.

7. Ahh.. The Truth is Being Revealed!

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald seems to have an incredible grasp on the method of foreshadowing throughout the novel so far, so when  Meyer Wolfsheim describes Gatsby as "very careful about women. He would never so much as look at a friend's wife" (Fitzgerald, 72), it makes me wonder about Gatsby and his love for Daisy. I just read Jordan's account of Daisy and Jay Gatsby as younger adults, and how they had been separated by the war and eventually by Daisy's marriage to Tom. This move to West Egg, reaching out to Daisy through her friends, and these elaborate parties are all a cry out to Daisy, he wants her to notice him and to realize he's still there for her. When Jordan talks about Daisy waking her six weeks prior to ask about what Gatsby she was referring to when she had dined with Nick, Jordan, and Tom, I felt a rush of hope for the once-young lovers. Tom is miserable, Daisy is miserable, Myrtle is miserable, Mr. Wilson is miserable, and Jay Gatsby is desperate for his love. They might as well all switch to be with who they want to be with, or in the case of Tom, he should switch to the woman who he's been cheating with on Daisy. There are so many complications with relationships in this story- it's all exhausting, for the reader, and I'm sure the characters themselves.

6. Liar Liar Pants on Fire (Gatsby's Pants)

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

So Gatsby and Nick go out to lunch in New York City, and Gatsby seems to start revealing himself to Nick, his past, where he grew up, stories of Oxford- PLEASE, all lies. I am not convinced, mostly because of Gatsby's obvious slip about his hometown, "And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn't something sinister about him, after all. 'What part of the Middle West?' I inquired casually. 'San Francisco.' 'I see'" (Fitzgerald, 65). Either Gatsby was simply mistaken of the actual location of his hometown, San Francisco, or he just performed an ill-prepared lie. The problem is with Gatsby is that when I look with Nick into his face for any signs of deception, we are returned with a sincere flash of emotion. I think he's probably so accustomed to lying to cover over a deep pain that he has been able to transfer the sadness of whatever he has struggled through to the lies and supposed truths of his history he feels like he should share with Nick. I'm interested to see how all of his stories fit together, especially because he has very convincing evidence of the stories he's told Nick, a metal from Montenegro, a picture of his cricket team at Oxford, all seems too convincing and well planned out.

5. Jordan Baker

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

One character that really stood out to me in this next section was Jordan Baker. Fitzgerald applies the use of direct characterization to put words to this increasingly important character, "She was incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body" (Fitzgerald, 58). After the party, Nick and Jordan are left together, and up until this point she has merely been a body besides Nick, a safety net for Nick in this new environment, but he develops a "tender curiosity" for her and her strangely dishonest ways. I think together they  would have a weird dynamic. Nick seems to be such a moralistic person, that even though he doesn't make such personal judgements about people, I would think he would be wise enough to see that a relationship with this kind of a person would be difficult. I just see them as such different individuals, I'm interested to see how this relationship unfolds between the two. 

4. Who the Heck is Gatsby?

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

So far, Jay Gatsby is a familiar stranger to Nick. Over and over I've read Gatsby this Gatsby that, everyone seems to know him. The problem, everyone seems to know a different story to Gatsby. Some theories of his history include that he was a murderer, and some say just that much, but some say he killed someone in the context of being German spy in the war. One even backed up this theory with knowledge of a man who knew Gatsby supposedly very well and had grown up with him in Germany. Another disputes this claim by telling of Gatsby's being in the American army during the war. Gatsby "inspired romantic speculation" (Fitzgerald, 44). He was a mysterious charismatic, he made people all around at his own party whisper about him, the idea of him fascinated people. Once Nick and Gatsby finally met face to face, Nick wasn't even aware he was conversing with the host of the party initially. He was thrown for a loop when Gatsby announced who he was, and Nick was embarrassed he didn't the face of this great host. After their brief conversation, Nick was left in a rut of confusion. Gatsby leaves people desperate to know him, to hear his story, just as Nick turned to Jordan and demanded, "'Who is he? Do you know?' 'He's just a man named Gatsby.' 'Where is he from, I mean? And what does he do?' 'Now you're started on the subject,' she answered with a wan smile" (Fitzgerald, 48). I myself as the reader have been left with this same frustration, we finally see Gatsby's face, but we're left with an even deeper emptiness and curiosity, who is this great Gatsby?

3. A Look into Daisy

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

One thing Daisy said to Nick when he was at her house that first night with Tom and Ms. Baker, Daisy was talking about her baby girl, and recalling that at her birth, she had said that she was glad her baby was a girl, "I hope she'll be a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool" (Fitzgerald, 17).

I hate- HATE that she said this. It reinforces how I see her as weak, as hopeless, as lost. He husband is already with another woman, and she goes on to say that she hopes her daughter is just as much of a fool as she is, well not only that, she wants her to be beautiful, so she can be like prize money. She gives up hope in her daughter from her very birth, meaning that she assumes her daughter won't amount to anything intelligent, but just that she grows up to be a meaningless prize, an empty, beautiful statue. Soon after this admittance to Nick, she justifies it by telling him that she's cynical, that she's seen everything, and understands the world for what it is. She verifies that she knows where women stand at that point in society, and she is intelligent for realizing that that is not necessarily right, but she is too lazy and too much of a fool to care to defy the traditional standard of women. I do not like the insight I saw into Daisy with her talk with Nick, I'm unbelievably disappointed with her method of mothering her child.

2. Relationships Unfolding

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

I do not like Tom. His personality seems to represent very well the kind of man I would imagine to have an affair, "his speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward the people he liked- and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts" (Fitzgerald,7). He is obviously a man lacking gentle social skills, which is probably why he is so intimidating, and why he has such the ability to manipulate and convince women (like Mrytle) that she is actually of value to him and actually wants to marry her. Not to mention he cuts every one's sentences off way before they're seen to close. Tom also seems like the kind of person that would regurgitate someone else's opinions for the purpose of sounding passionate and intelligent himself. In this first chapter he references "The Rise of the Colored Empires" by some author Goddard. He is so utterly obsessed with his image that he forcibly spit out someone else's opinions onto the unprotesting Daisy, Nick, and Jordan. He seems like he could be dangerous, a narcissist who is desperate for control.

1. First Impressions

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

I like Nick Carraway. He's down to earth, humble. I would never usually give a character such a compliment as "down to earth", because generally, I don't find that very flattering. It's like by saying someone is "down to earth" you're calling them boring, simple, grounded in something so literal. There's not usually passion invested into these kind of people, but for some reason, I see Nick in a more positive light. He doesn't act entitled, like Lily Bart seemed to feel. He even puts a claim on his ignorance, especially in his "younger and more vulnerable years" when he admits to still having the advice his father gave him years ago turning in his head. His father said to him, "'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.' (Fitzgerald, 1). I like that he is reserved, nonjudgmental, and seemingly simple. He in a way seems more like Seldon in The House of Mirth, and obviously completely the opposite of shallow-minded Lily Bart, who used her judgements as a reality for most people. This is already a drastically different book than The House of Mirth, and my God, GOOD.