Slaughterhouse-Five by Kilgore Trout
At first glance, Billy's hospital stay with Rumfoord may appear to be another depiction of Billy acting crazy and contemplating aliens, but it is much more than that. In Rumfoord, for the first time externally, Billy finds solace. Having his wife recount all of the details about the Dresden bombings and World War II, Rumfoord makes these events real to Billy. They are no longer mere points to which he travels in time occasionally, but actual events experienced by many people other than himself. This realization becomes therapeutic for Billy, allowing him to slowly begin to recover and straighten his mind out. Eventually, once Billy has regained enough consciousness and sanity, he says to Rumfoord, "I was there," speaking about the Dresden bombings (Vonnegut 191). Living in imaginary worlds can no longer comfort Billy; he needs sympathy from another human that lived through the same hell he did. Rumfoord provides that. Following Billy's first utterance to another person about his time in Dresden, he does not make a complete recovery. He still utilizes time travel as a coping mechanism as explained in a previous blog, but at least now he knows that what his own personal horrors are not unique. He is not a suffering anomaly, but rather one of many people victimized by the nasty business that is war. Ultimately, that knowledge is what Billy needed to truly begin to recover from his time as a soldier.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
The Influence of Kilgore Trout
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Throughout the novel, I struggled with the idea of Billy Pilgrim time traveling. Aside from that detail, and the Tralfamadorians it brought with it, the rest of the novel was quite realistic and grounded. This led me to believe that time travel represented something else for Billy. After reading about the plot lines of Kilgore Trout's novels, my suspicions were confirmed. One of Trout's novels, The Big Board, revolved around "an Earthling man and woman who were kidnapped by extra-terrestrials" and "put on display in a zoo on a [foreign] planet" (Vonnegut 201). Remarkably, Billy claimed he lived out the same scenario with Montana Wildhack. Another of Trout's novels involved a character in possession of a time machine, which explains Billy believing he can actually travel through time. The similarities between these science fiction novels and Billy's personal accounts of time traveling and alien encounters point to an interesting conclusion. Billy utilized the works of Kilgore Trout as an escape from the cruelty he had so often encountered in the world. Immersing himself in Trout's worlds served as a form of escapism for him. Accepting that he could time travel allowed him to deal with his traumatic memories without actually reliving them. In this manner, namely choosing a fictitious reality over his own life, Billy Pilgrim lost part of his sanity. The point Vonnegut aims to make is that without his traumatic memories, without his experiences with war, Billy Pilgrim would have lived a normal, happy life.
Throughout the novel, I struggled with the idea of Billy Pilgrim time traveling. Aside from that detail, and the Tralfamadorians it brought with it, the rest of the novel was quite realistic and grounded. This led me to believe that time travel represented something else for Billy. After reading about the plot lines of Kilgore Trout's novels, my suspicions were confirmed. One of Trout's novels, The Big Board, revolved around "an Earthling man and woman who were kidnapped by extra-terrestrials" and "put on display in a zoo on a [foreign] planet" (Vonnegut 201). Remarkably, Billy claimed he lived out the same scenario with Montana Wildhack. Another of Trout's novels involved a character in possession of a time machine, which explains Billy believing he can actually travel through time. The similarities between these science fiction novels and Billy's personal accounts of time traveling and alien encounters point to an interesting conclusion. Billy utilized the works of Kilgore Trout as an escape from the cruelty he had so often encountered in the world. Immersing himself in Trout's worlds served as a form of escapism for him. Accepting that he could time travel allowed him to deal with his traumatic memories without actually reliving them. In this manner, namely choosing a fictitious reality over his own life, Billy Pilgrim lost part of his sanity. The point Vonnegut aims to make is that without his traumatic memories, without his experiences with war, Billy Pilgrim would have lived a normal, happy life.
Throwing Chronology out the Window
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
In a conventional novel, significant events occur in a linear fashion, one after the other, with the occasional flashback to provide exposition or expound on why a particular event holds meaning. However, Slaughterhouse-Five is not a conventional novel. After laying the basic sequence of events in Billy's life toward the beginning of the novel, Vonnegut takes his reader on a temporal roller-coaster ride, describing Billy's sporadic time travels to important moments in his life. This unconventional chronology helps to support Vonnegut's overall purpose of opposing war in the modern world. The chronology emphasizes the disorderly state of Billy's mind and the psychological scarring he endured from his time in the army. His time travels reflect the scattered thoughts of man broken by atrocities. Frequently, Billy time travels back to the war to experience a scene relevant to his current situation. For example, after attempting to open up to Rumfoord in the hospital, "Billy closed his eyes, [and] traveled in time to a May afternoon, two days after the end of the Second World War" to experience the aftermath of Dresden once more (Vonnegut 193). He finds comfort in observing the events again, rationalizing them as significant to his present life rather than being meaningless scenes of horror and death. Furthermore, by traveling through time, Billy is better able to cope with the mass amount of death he faces. Rather than mourning each death and allowing the culmination of it all to crush him, Billy must acclimate himself to the idea. He does so by adopting the Tralfamadorian perspective on death so that when a person dies, he does not see them as lost, but merely existing in a different state. The person is still alive to Billy, but at a different moment in time, a moment which he can visit as often as he likes through the mentally fabricated gift of time travel.
In a conventional novel, significant events occur in a linear fashion, one after the other, with the occasional flashback to provide exposition or expound on why a particular event holds meaning. However, Slaughterhouse-Five is not a conventional novel. After laying the basic sequence of events in Billy's life toward the beginning of the novel, Vonnegut takes his reader on a temporal roller-coaster ride, describing Billy's sporadic time travels to important moments in his life. This unconventional chronology helps to support Vonnegut's overall purpose of opposing war in the modern world. The chronology emphasizes the disorderly state of Billy's mind and the psychological scarring he endured from his time in the army. His time travels reflect the scattered thoughts of man broken by atrocities. Frequently, Billy time travels back to the war to experience a scene relevant to his current situation. For example, after attempting to open up to Rumfoord in the hospital, "Billy closed his eyes, [and] traveled in time to a May afternoon, two days after the end of the Second World War" to experience the aftermath of Dresden once more (Vonnegut 193). He finds comfort in observing the events again, rationalizing them as significant to his present life rather than being meaningless scenes of horror and death. Furthermore, by traveling through time, Billy is better able to cope with the mass amount of death he faces. Rather than mourning each death and allowing the culmination of it all to crush him, Billy must acclimate himself to the idea. He does so by adopting the Tralfamadorian perspective on death so that when a person dies, he does not see them as lost, but merely existing in a different state. The person is still alive to Billy, but at a different moment in time, a moment which he can visit as often as he likes through the mentally fabricated gift of time travel.
No More War
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Concluding Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut makes his literary intentions clear: to denounce war and its horrible consequences. In narrating Billy Pilgrim's descent into madness and partial recovery when recounting his tale of the Dresden bombings, Vonnegut personifies these consequences. War traumatized Billy, leaving him in a state of mental disarray. It desensitized him and the world he lived in to the idea of death as a necessary means to an end. This desensitization manifests glaringly in the Tralfamadorian saying, "So it goes" (Vonnegut 210). Instead of feeling pity and sorrow for the deceased, Billy explains early on that Tralfamadorians meet death the simple phrase "So it goes" to show how death is meaningless because all moments in time are essentially the same moment (Vonnegut 210). There is one singular state of existence through which time does not pass, but simply is. The narrator, which I believe champions Vonnegut's personal political views, displays aversion to this phrase. He states, "If what Billy Pilgrim learned from the Tralfamadorians is true, that we will all live forever, no matter how dead we may sometimes seem to be, I am not overjoyed," (Vonnegut 211). He dislikes the idea of life being meaningless and there being no greater purpose than to exist and have existed. Therefore, Vonnegut, through the narrator, condemns war for eliciting this perspective on life.
Concluding Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut makes his literary intentions clear: to denounce war and its horrible consequences. In narrating Billy Pilgrim's descent into madness and partial recovery when recounting his tale of the Dresden bombings, Vonnegut personifies these consequences. War traumatized Billy, leaving him in a state of mental disarray. It desensitized him and the world he lived in to the idea of death as a necessary means to an end. This desensitization manifests glaringly in the Tralfamadorian saying, "So it goes" (Vonnegut 210). Instead of feeling pity and sorrow for the deceased, Billy explains early on that Tralfamadorians meet death the simple phrase "So it goes" to show how death is meaningless because all moments in time are essentially the same moment (Vonnegut 210). There is one singular state of existence through which time does not pass, but simply is. The narrator, which I believe champions Vonnegut's personal political views, displays aversion to this phrase. He states, "If what Billy Pilgrim learned from the Tralfamadorians is true, that we will all live forever, no matter how dead we may sometimes seem to be, I am not overjoyed," (Vonnegut 211). He dislikes the idea of life being meaningless and there being no greater purpose than to exist and have existed. Therefore, Vonnegut, through the narrator, condemns war for eliciting this perspective on life.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Time Travel or Active Memory?
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
From early on, Billy's time travelling did not appear legitimate, or at least as legitimate as time travel can be at this point. He would travel abruptly to seeming unrelated points in time, experience the anecdote that moment had to offer, and then return to the period from which he traveled. Sometimes, Billy would make multiple detours before returning to his original time period. Also, he did all this traveling without providing any explanation of how it was possible. Billy simply became unstuck in time and gained the ability to time travel. Rather than accepting Billy's ability to warp spacetime, one may entertain a more logical explanation: Billy has adopted the Tralfamadorian concept of time. A Tralfamadorian explains this concept when he says, "All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is," (Vonnegut 86). Viewing time as such, Billy would see all moments in time as the same moment. To time travel, then, all Billy would have to do, in essence, would be to remember a different aspect of this one moment, this single existence. In that way, Billy's memories, traumatic and joyful alike, give him the ability to time travel. This would also explain Billy's questionable sanity because in order to truly time travel through this method, Billy would have to view the past and future as the present just as much as he experiences the actual present as such. Living without any sense of now, or perhaps with a ubiquitous sense of the present, Billy would appear crazy to others, yet sane to himself. Hopefully Vonnegut will explain Billy's time traveling later in the novel.
From early on, Billy's time travelling did not appear legitimate, or at least as legitimate as time travel can be at this point. He would travel abruptly to seeming unrelated points in time, experience the anecdote that moment had to offer, and then return to the period from which he traveled. Sometimes, Billy would make multiple detours before returning to his original time period. Also, he did all this traveling without providing any explanation of how it was possible. Billy simply became unstuck in time and gained the ability to time travel. Rather than accepting Billy's ability to warp spacetime, one may entertain a more logical explanation: Billy has adopted the Tralfamadorian concept of time. A Tralfamadorian explains this concept when he says, "All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is," (Vonnegut 86). Viewing time as such, Billy would see all moments in time as the same moment. To time travel, then, all Billy would have to do, in essence, would be to remember a different aspect of this one moment, this single existence. In that way, Billy's memories, traumatic and joyful alike, give him the ability to time travel. This would also explain Billy's questionable sanity because in order to truly time travel through this method, Billy would have to view the past and future as the present just as much as he experiences the actual present as such. Living without any sense of now, or perhaps with a ubiquitous sense of the present, Billy would appear crazy to others, yet sane to himself. Hopefully Vonnegut will explain Billy's time traveling later in the novel.
Questioning Sanity
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
In the first fourth of the novel, Billy Pilgrim comes off as a man of questionable sanity. His own daughter believes he is senile and rambles on for hours about aliens from Tralfamadore. Perhaps within the confines of the novel, these aliens actually exist, but further evidence in chapter five would suggest otherwise. While with the English officers, who were also German prisoners of war, Billy enjoyed a rendition of Cinderella put on by the Englishmen. He enjoyed it so much that he laughed hysterically, ultimately sending himself into a state of mania. After this episode, "Billy was put to bed and tied down, and given a shot of morphine," (Vonnegut 98). Obviously, his fellow prisoners of war and the Germans thought Billy insane. Furthermore, while sedated, Billy experienced a flashback which further supports the argument for his lack of sanity. The flashback was actually an instance of time travelling, but that is another discussion entirely. Anyway, the flashback brought Billy to the period of time when he "had committed himself in the middle of his final year at the Ilium School of Optometry," (Vonnegut 100). At that point, Billy thought he was going insane. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Billy, "The doctors agreed: he was going crazy," (Vonnegut 100). While Barbara intimated it earlier, that sentence confirms it: Billy is crazy, at least from another human's perspective.
In the first fourth of the novel, Billy Pilgrim comes off as a man of questionable sanity. His own daughter believes he is senile and rambles on for hours about aliens from Tralfamadore. Perhaps within the confines of the novel, these aliens actually exist, but further evidence in chapter five would suggest otherwise. While with the English officers, who were also German prisoners of war, Billy enjoyed a rendition of Cinderella put on by the Englishmen. He enjoyed it so much that he laughed hysterically, ultimately sending himself into a state of mania. After this episode, "Billy was put to bed and tied down, and given a shot of morphine," (Vonnegut 98). Obviously, his fellow prisoners of war and the Germans thought Billy insane. Furthermore, while sedated, Billy experienced a flashback which further supports the argument for his lack of sanity. The flashback was actually an instance of time travelling, but that is another discussion entirely. Anyway, the flashback brought Billy to the period of time when he "had committed himself in the middle of his final year at the Ilium School of Optometry," (Vonnegut 100). At that point, Billy thought he was going insane. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Billy, "The doctors agreed: he was going crazy," (Vonnegut 100). While Barbara intimated it earlier, that sentence confirms it: Billy is crazy, at least from another human's perspective.
Hilarity in Vulgarity
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
At times, Vonnegut's novel becomes somewhat difficult to follow, what with Billy's constant time traveling and discourses with aliens. It can also become fairly serious, as Vonnegut focuses in to convey his message about humanity. In order to entertain his audience, provide comic relief, and ensure his message is received as slap on the cheek rather than a violent castigation, Vonnegut incorporates vulgar, yet humorous, scenes. He also handles well how he writes these scenes. For example, after Roland Weary proclaims to all that Billy Pilgrim killed him, Billy felt understandably on edge. Billy became anxious to the point of "shitting thin gruel" when someone entered his boxcar, an act which Vonnegut comically relates to Newton's Third Law of Motion and rocketry (Vonnegut 80). This vulgar image elicits humor, lightening the overall mood of the novel, while not digressing too far from Vonnegut's purpose. Later in the novel, Vonnegut utilizes a similar image to describe the hell that is war. He describes a moment where a captive Billy, having eaten a large welcoming feast from other prisoners of war, comes upon the latrine the prisoners are to use. He witnesses men expelling "everything but [their] brains" and retreats in disgust (Vonnegut 125). Vonnegut writes specifically that after coming upon the men, "Billy reeled away from his vision of Hell" (Vonnegut 126). As such, he paints war out to be a disgusting, nasty business but also allows for laughter a such a ridiculously unfortunate scene.
At times, Vonnegut's novel becomes somewhat difficult to follow, what with Billy's constant time traveling and discourses with aliens. It can also become fairly serious, as Vonnegut focuses in to convey his message about humanity. In order to entertain his audience, provide comic relief, and ensure his message is received as slap on the cheek rather than a violent castigation, Vonnegut incorporates vulgar, yet humorous, scenes. He also handles well how he writes these scenes. For example, after Roland Weary proclaims to all that Billy Pilgrim killed him, Billy felt understandably on edge. Billy became anxious to the point of "shitting thin gruel" when someone entered his boxcar, an act which Vonnegut comically relates to Newton's Third Law of Motion and rocketry (Vonnegut 80). This vulgar image elicits humor, lightening the overall mood of the novel, while not digressing too far from Vonnegut's purpose. Later in the novel, Vonnegut utilizes a similar image to describe the hell that is war. He describes a moment where a captive Billy, having eaten a large welcoming feast from other prisoners of war, comes upon the latrine the prisoners are to use. He witnesses men expelling "everything but [their] brains" and retreats in disgust (Vonnegut 125). Vonnegut writes specifically that after coming upon the men, "Billy reeled away from his vision of Hell" (Vonnegut 126). As such, he paints war out to be a disgusting, nasty business but also allows for laughter a such a ridiculously unfortunate scene.
Making a Statement
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
In his own unique, roundabout way, Vonnegut utilizes this novel to criticize the human tendency toward conflict and denounce mankind's arrogance in its ability to comprehend the universe around it. The most glaring assault on human conflict comes at the beginning of the fourth chapter when Billy "came slightly unstuck in time" and "saw the late movie backwards, then forwards again," (Vonnegut 73). This film Billy watched was about "American bombers in the Second World War", describing the consequences of their actions both in reverse and in normal chronological order. Going in reverse, the planes seemed to be miraculous machines of healing to the environments around them: they repaired bullet holes, sucked in shrapnel, and absorbed explosions of metal into small metallic canisters. However, going forward, the planes destroyed everything around them, becoming beacons of death, destruction, and terror. This shows symbolically how mankind's petty conflicts can cause so much pain in the world and how humanity must change its violent ways. Insight into the way humans view the world comes from Billy's time on Tralfamadore. The Tralfamadorians supposedly can see in the fourth dimension, observing how all things are interconnected in the past, present, and future. They see all life as existing in a pure state of being rather than gauging it with terms relative to the passage of time. This perspective, obviously, humans are incapable of, which is why the Tralfamadorians label them "the great explainers", always trying to explain why things happen the way they do rather than marveling at the beauty of how all things are, have, and will always be intertwined (Vonnegut 85). Billy appears to accept and want to fix this conclusion about his race.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
A Vicious Cycle
"Acquainted with the Night" by Robert Frost
As a huge Frost fan, this poem interested me the most out of the six we studied this week. It appeals, in a sympathetic way, to those people feeling depressed, forgotten, and unloved. Frost's speaker expresses extraordinary sorrow in the poem, setting a melancholy mood immediately. He repeats the phrase "I have" before listing a series of gloomy, saddening acts from walking alone in the rain to peering down an ominous city street (Frost 976). He express shame, or possibly apathy toward the world, as he describes walking past a policeman with his head hung low, "unwilling to explain" his sorrow (Frost 976). The only glimmer of hope in the poem comes when the speaker stops because he thinks he is being called. Sadly, he only heard an "interrupted cry" completely unintended for him and destroying any hope for happiness he may have had (Frost 976). Thus, the whole poem reinforces the speaker's depression, and the second to last line amplifies it by adding confusion. The line reads, "[The clock] proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right," which emphasizes a world without moral judgment, confusing the speaker and leaving him lost as to how he should break his depression (Frost 976). He can't escape his sadness. Therefore, Frost ends the poem with the same depressing line he began it with, "I have been acquainted with the night", to reinforce the speaker's entrapment in his melancholy (Frost 976).
As a huge Frost fan, this poem interested me the most out of the six we studied this week. It appeals, in a sympathetic way, to those people feeling depressed, forgotten, and unloved. Frost's speaker expresses extraordinary sorrow in the poem, setting a melancholy mood immediately. He repeats the phrase "I have" before listing a series of gloomy, saddening acts from walking alone in the rain to peering down an ominous city street (Frost 976). He express shame, or possibly apathy toward the world, as he describes walking past a policeman with his head hung low, "unwilling to explain" his sorrow (Frost 976). The only glimmer of hope in the poem comes when the speaker stops because he thinks he is being called. Sadly, he only heard an "interrupted cry" completely unintended for him and destroying any hope for happiness he may have had (Frost 976). Thus, the whole poem reinforces the speaker's depression, and the second to last line amplifies it by adding confusion. The line reads, "[The clock] proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right," which emphasizes a world without moral judgment, confusing the speaker and leaving him lost as to how he should break his depression (Frost 976). He can't escape his sadness. Therefore, Frost ends the poem with the same depressing line he began it with, "I have been acquainted with the night", to reinforce the speaker's entrapment in his melancholy (Frost 976).
Over-thinking Things
"Sorting Laundry" by Elisavietta Ritche
This poem displays how people can over-analyze a situation to the point of distorting something as pure as love into anxiety and insecurity. The speaker of the poem speaks to her absent lover, comparing doing their laundry to "folding you into my life" (Ritche 841). Her relationship with this man appears perfect and without worry. The two laugh at their tacky towels, do not mind each other's old clothes, and embrace each other's "wrinkles" or flaws (Ritche 841). However, after the seventh stanza, the speaker's insecurity starts to set in. She starts focusing on minute details in the laundry like unpaired socks and miscellaneous items she finds in pockets. This attention to minutia represents her thinking too much about her wonderful relationship and fabricating hypothetical scenarios in her head. Her anxiety peaks when she folds the shirt of one of her former lovers. The act elicits thoughts of abandonment and the speaker states, "If you were to leave me . . . a mountain of unsorted wash could not fill the empty side of the bed," (Ritche 842). She has worried to the point of transforming a wonderful relationship into one on the verge of collapse. The poem should have a wide audience as there are many people that have over-analyzed something good into a distortion of its true nature due to their insecurities.
This poem displays how people can over-analyze a situation to the point of distorting something as pure as love into anxiety and insecurity. The speaker of the poem speaks to her absent lover, comparing doing their laundry to "folding you into my life" (Ritche 841). Her relationship with this man appears perfect and without worry. The two laugh at their tacky towels, do not mind each other's old clothes, and embrace each other's "wrinkles" or flaws (Ritche 841). However, after the seventh stanza, the speaker's insecurity starts to set in. She starts focusing on minute details in the laundry like unpaired socks and miscellaneous items she finds in pockets. This attention to minutia represents her thinking too much about her wonderful relationship and fabricating hypothetical scenarios in her head. Her anxiety peaks when she folds the shirt of one of her former lovers. The act elicits thoughts of abandonment and the speaker states, "If you were to leave me . . . a mountain of unsorted wash could not fill the empty side of the bed," (Ritche 842). She has worried to the point of transforming a wonderful relationship into one on the verge of collapse. The poem should have a wide audience as there are many people that have over-analyzed something good into a distortion of its true nature due to their insecurities.
A Bold Social Attack
"The Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy
Hardy fully utilizes the Titanic tragedy to pen this poem decrying ostentation, luxury, and vanity. He writes as if displays of wealth and pretentiousness, angering God, led to the sinking of the Titanic. His speaker expresses an aversion to vanity by describing how a "sea-worm crawls - grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent" over luxuries on the ocean floor (Hardy 778). This image also serves to contrast luxurious items with something disgusting in an effort to mock the vanity they embody. Furthermore, at the beginning, middle, and end of the poem, Hardy refers to a divine "Pride of Life", "Immanent Will", and "Spinner of the Years" in relation to the boat and its superficiality (Hardy 778, 779). Specifically, he writes how this deity, God, "prepared a sinister mate . . . A Shape of Ice" for the boat, presumably due to the sinful greed on the boat (Hardy 778). He believes God set the Titanic in motion toward the iceberg so that the passengers would atone for their sins. This portrays God as vindictive and angry, but that portrayal is likely an expression of Hardy's own sentiments toward vanity. Regardless, the poem ends cleverly, lending resolution to the loneliness set out by the phrase, "In a solitude of the sea" at the start of the poem (Hardy 778). Hardy writes that once the ship and iceberg collide, "consummation comes" and ends the solitude experienced earlier (Hardy 778). Ironically however, this consummation leaves the ship in ultimate solitude at the bottom of the ocean.
Feelin' Drunk on Summertime
"I taste a liquor never brewed" by Emily Dickinson
In this poem, Dickinson incorporates one long extended metaphor to compare summer and everything related to it to alcohol. The speaker in the poem adores summer. For him, summertime is a "liquor never brewed", better than all the alcohol made in the "Vats upon the Rhine," (Dickinson 797). In order to clarify that the speaker is in fact comparing summer to the alcohol, Dickinson employs several clever titles. He writes and the speaker states that he is an "Inebriate of Air", a "Debauchee of Dew" (Dickinson 797). These titles show the speaker deriving his intoxication from aspects of summer and warm weather. Furthermore, the speaker reinforces his ecstasy over the season by expressing how even after bees and butterflies have stopped drinking in the weather, he'll continue to imbibe the essence of summer. The entire extended metaphor works perfectly except for the problem of the negative connotation associated with drunkenness and alcohol. Luckily, Dickinson rectifies this dilemma in the last stanza. By describing "Seraphs" and "Saints" enjoying and approving of a "Tippler's" intoxication with summer, Dickinson transforms inebriation's negativity into something positive (Dickinson 797). If angels and saints approve, being drunk on summer must be acceptable.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Unrealistic Standards
"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy
"Barbie Doll" calls to attention the astronomical expectations placed on young girls in contemporary society to be absolutely perfect physically and intellectually. The first stanza describes a young girl observing the characteristics of a doll she has been given. The doll wears "lipsticks the color of cherry candy" and keeps house with "miniature GE stoves and irons," (Piercy 835). It most likely also appears physically perfect, as the last line of the first stanza contrasts with the doll by pointing out the girl's imperfections: a big nose and fat legs. However, as the second stanza explains, the girl is absolutely wonderful; she is "healthy", "intelligent", "strong", and sexually driven. Regardless, she cannot stop thinking that whenever anyone looked at her, they only "saw a fat nose on thick legs," (Piercy 835). Despite all of her fantastic qualities, she cannot get over the insult about her physical drawbacks. Accordingly, she believes she does not fit the mold of the ideal woman. Thus, the girl struggles with relationships while people advise her to "play coy" or "come on hearty," (Piercy 836). Eventually, the girl commits suicide, symbolized in the poem by the moment she "cut off her nose and her legs," (Piercy 836). The appalling part of the poem occurs when, at the girl's funeral, all in attendance call her beautiful because of the undertaker's make-up she has on. They cannot recognize how such superficial considerations led to her death. Thus, the poem concludes bitingly that such a superficial, appearance-focused society gives "to every woman a happy ending" such as the fate this young girl suffered (Piercy 836).
"Barbie Doll" calls to attention the astronomical expectations placed on young girls in contemporary society to be absolutely perfect physically and intellectually. The first stanza describes a young girl observing the characteristics of a doll she has been given. The doll wears "lipsticks the color of cherry candy" and keeps house with "miniature GE stoves and irons," (Piercy 835). It most likely also appears physically perfect, as the last line of the first stanza contrasts with the doll by pointing out the girl's imperfections: a big nose and fat legs. However, as the second stanza explains, the girl is absolutely wonderful; she is "healthy", "intelligent", "strong", and sexually driven. Regardless, she cannot stop thinking that whenever anyone looked at her, they only "saw a fat nose on thick legs," (Piercy 835). Despite all of her fantastic qualities, she cannot get over the insult about her physical drawbacks. Accordingly, she believes she does not fit the mold of the ideal woman. Thus, the girl struggles with relationships while people advise her to "play coy" or "come on hearty," (Piercy 836). Eventually, the girl commits suicide, symbolized in the poem by the moment she "cut off her nose and her legs," (Piercy 836). The appalling part of the poem occurs when, at the girl's funeral, all in attendance call her beautiful because of the undertaker's make-up she has on. They cannot recognize how such superficial considerations led to her death. Thus, the poem concludes bitingly that such a superficial, appearance-focused society gives "to every woman a happy ending" such as the fate this young girl suffered (Piercy 836).
Smooth Talking at its Finest
"To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell
In "To His Coy Mistress" the speaker addresses his sweetheart and attempts to talk her into making love with him. He begins, in the first section, by explaining that he does not mind waiting, that her "coyness, lady, were no crime" if they had "but world enough, and time," (Marvell 803). The speaker elaborates, describing how "an hundred years should go to praise thine eyes" and "an age at least to every [other] part," (Marvell 803). All of these statements he makes assuming that he and his lover have an infinite amount of time to love each other. Moving forward, in the second section, the speaker reveals that this is certainly not so. He speaks of "time's winged chariot hurrying near" while his lady's "quaint honor turn(s) to dust", referring to the fading of youthful beauty as time passes by (Marvell 804). The speaker aims to make his love aware of the quick passage of time and how limited the time they have together is. Making this point, the speaker moves toward his overall goal, sex, in the third section. Incorporating simile, he urges that he and his mistress must "love like amorous birds of prey" before they lose "the youthful hue" they now possess (Marvell 804). He argues that they should make love now before the passage of time steals the gift of youth away from them. He reinforces his argument for passion now by saying, "though we cannot make our sun stand still . . . we will make him run," (Marvell 804). In other words, the two cannot stop the passage of time, but they can acknowledge it and act accordingly, which, the speaker argues, involves making love now.
We Women Have to Stick Together, Right?
"A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell
Glaspell assails sexism with "A Jury of Her Peers", a story in which negative prejudices against women cause a group of men to overlook key evidence in a murder investigation. The story centers around the actions of Mrs. Wright, a lonely housewife found rocking calmly in her chair while her husband lay dead on the floor above. The local sheriff, his wife Mrs. Peters, a county attorney, and the Hales try to dig up information concerning Mr. Wright's untimely death by searching the scene of the crime. The men, befitting their sexist attitudes, leave the women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters alone, thinking them too stupid to be of any help to the investigation. Ironically, however, their perspective as fellow women and housekeepers allows them to slowly solve Mr. Wright's murder. First, Mrs. Hale notices that Mrs. Wright left some task half finished around her house and wondered, "Why had that work been left half done?" (Glaspell). The men saw this unfinished work and thought nothing of it, but Mrs. Hale knew it was a clue. Eventually, after noticing an unruly stove and some imperfect stitching, Mrs. Hale decided to search Mrs. Wright's sewing kit. Guided by her female instincts, Mrs. Hale found the critical piece of evidence needed to explain Mrs. Wright's motives: a precious canary, strangled in cold blood by Mr. Wright. Ultimately, in a fit of irony, Mrs. Hale's womanhood allowed her to solve the case. Realizing this, feeling a bond with Mrs. Wright as a fellow woman, and despising the sexism she had been subjected to, Mrs. Hale chose not to present her critical piece of evidence and allowed Mrs. Wright a chance at exoneration.
Glaspell assails sexism with "A Jury of Her Peers", a story in which negative prejudices against women cause a group of men to overlook key evidence in a murder investigation. The story centers around the actions of Mrs. Wright, a lonely housewife found rocking calmly in her chair while her husband lay dead on the floor above. The local sheriff, his wife Mrs. Peters, a county attorney, and the Hales try to dig up information concerning Mr. Wright's untimely death by searching the scene of the crime. The men, befitting their sexist attitudes, leave the women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters alone, thinking them too stupid to be of any help to the investigation. Ironically, however, their perspective as fellow women and housekeepers allows them to slowly solve Mr. Wright's murder. First, Mrs. Hale notices that Mrs. Wright left some task half finished around her house and wondered, "Why had that work been left half done?" (Glaspell). The men saw this unfinished work and thought nothing of it, but Mrs. Hale knew it was a clue. Eventually, after noticing an unruly stove and some imperfect stitching, Mrs. Hale decided to search Mrs. Wright's sewing kit. Guided by her female instincts, Mrs. Hale found the critical piece of evidence needed to explain Mrs. Wright's motives: a precious canary, strangled in cold blood by Mr. Wright. Ultimately, in a fit of irony, Mrs. Hale's womanhood allowed her to solve the case. Realizing this, feeling a bond with Mrs. Wright as a fellow woman, and despising the sexism she had been subjected to, Mrs. Hale chose not to present her critical piece of evidence and allowed Mrs. Wright a chance at exoneration.
The Three Worst Friends that Anyone Could Have
"Hunters in the Snow" by Tobias Wolff
Kenny, Frank, and Tub have no need for enemies; they have each other. The three friends in "Hunters in the Snow" share an interesting dynamic to say the least, constantly stabbing at each others' weaknesses in the spirit of humor. Kenny, characterized by his biting remarks and commanding attitude, stands as the arrogant, self-absorbed leader of the three while Frank, throwing in a snide remark every now and then, plays the role of hopeless follower. Tub, in contrast, serves as the fool, enduring hurtful comments concerning his weight from Kenny and Frank for their amusement. As the plot develops, events like Tub shooting Kenny help to characterize the men further and even add role reversals into their relationships. After Kenny's accident, Tub assumes the leadership role Kenny held and Kenny becomes the last of the men's priorities as Tub had been. Frank even shifts his allegiance between the two, saying to Tub about Kenny's accident, "I just want you to know it wasn't you fault. He was asking for it," (Wolff 196). After this statement, in another interesting and characterizing plot twist, Tub and Frank open up to each other and bond over their iniquities. Frank begins by explaining to Tub his love (actually perverse lust) for a fifteen-year-old girl that babysits his children. Moved in a strange way, Tub confesses to Frank that he lives the life of a glutton and does not actually have gland problems. Brought closer to each other by their sins, the two ignore Kenny, still bleeding out from Tub's bullet. The story, seeming to do nothing more but describe the antics of three horrible human beings, left me curious as to its underlying message.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
A Great Villain Indeed
Othello by William Shakespeare
*SPOILER ALERT*
Thankfully, Othello ends with Iago leaving to endure a hefty amount of torture as consequence for his actions. Before this just conclusion, however, Iago reinforces himself as a wicked, heartless scoundrel with several detestable acts. First, and somewhat comically, Iago stabs Roderigo in the midst of his encounter with Cassio. Conscious of the irony in Iago's actions, Roderigo comically responds, "Oh, damned Iago! Oh, inhuman dog!" (Shakespeare 1447). Poor Roderigo never even had the chance to speak to Desdemona. Regardless, Iago continues to display his wickedness in maiming Cassio where Roderigo failed and attempting to stab Emilia when she unravels his web of lies. Furthermore, Iago's actions force the tragic deaths of Othello and Desdemona. At the end of Act V, Iago finds himself responsible for three deaths, a broken marriage, and a shattered friendship. All of these consequence of Iago's plotting would be evidence enough to label him villain, but what sets Iago apart from other antagonists is his response when confronted about his transgressions. Instead of offering some form of final repentance, Iago states, "Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word," (Shakespeare 1459). When given the chance, Iago offers no remorse, no regret for what he's done, but simply denies to explain his motives. In the face of great evil, Iago shows indifference; as a result, he transcends wickedness.
Loyalty and Honor
Othello by William Shakespeare
Act V brings with it a slew of interesting, plot-twisting character deaths, two of the most significant being the deaths of Desdemona and Othello. Not only do both of these characters' demises come shockingly and thus add excitement to the play, but the manner in which they die highlights their most significant character traits. In other words, both Desdemona and Othello die true to who they really are. After being strangled by Othello, Desdemona holds on dearly to the last shreds of her life. Emilia enters the scene and questions Desdemona, asking her frantically for the identity of her murderer. Ever loyal to her husband, Desdemona recognizes the danger posed toward Othello if she were to incriminate him and replies, "Nobody, I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord. Oh, farewell!" (Shakespeare 1453). Even in death, a death brought on by Othello himself, Desdemona conveys her incredible loyalty toward her husband. After fully realizing the error in his actions, Othello follows suit. In an effort to redeem his former honor and atone for his sins, Othello, after a lengthy speech explaining his murderous behavior, commits suicide. Thus, in his eyes, Othello redeems his honor and dies romantically with his true love, saying, "No way but this, killing myself, to die upon a kiss," (Shakespeare 1460). As such, the lovers' deaths characterize them fully as Loyal Desdemona and Honorable Othello.
Killing Her Softly With His Song
Othello by William Shakespeare
Until now, Iago, Othello, and Othello's rage have all foreshadowed a falling out between Othello and Desdemona. Eventually, the two lovers will part ways and be lovers no more. However, at the end of Act IV, Desdemona portends a much more tragic end for the couple: she foreshadows her own death. Speaking with Emilia, Desdemona recalls her mother's maid Barbary and how "she was in love, and he she loved proved mad and did forsake her," (Shakespeare 1443). Barbary felt so distraught at her lover's betrayal that she sang "a song of 'willow'", even to her death, which expressed her misfortune as a forlorn lover (Shakespeare 1443). Having explained the significance of the song, Desdemona breaks out into its opening verses, distraught, as Barbary, over being forsaken by her lover. Towards the end of the song, Desdemona sings, "Let nobody blame him, his scorn I approve . . . " implying that she will not seek to rectify Othello's opinion of her, but accept it as his own (Shakespeare 1443). Desdemona becomes Barbary. As such, Barbary's fate foreshadows what lay ahead for Desdemona. At the close, Othello and Desdemona will not merely part ways, but rather part realms. Desdemona shall die and enter the afterlife, singing the song of a forlorn lover, while Othello, ignorant of his misdeeds, shall remain in the earthly domain.
Until now, Iago, Othello, and Othello's rage have all foreshadowed a falling out between Othello and Desdemona. Eventually, the two lovers will part ways and be lovers no more. However, at the end of Act IV, Desdemona portends a much more tragic end for the couple: she foreshadows her own death. Speaking with Emilia, Desdemona recalls her mother's maid Barbary and how "she was in love, and he she loved proved mad and did forsake her," (Shakespeare 1443). Barbary felt so distraught at her lover's betrayal that she sang "a song of 'willow'", even to her death, which expressed her misfortune as a forlorn lover (Shakespeare 1443). Having explained the significance of the song, Desdemona breaks out into its opening verses, distraught, as Barbary, over being forsaken by her lover. Towards the end of the song, Desdemona sings, "Let nobody blame him, his scorn I approve . . . " implying that she will not seek to rectify Othello's opinion of her, but accept it as his own (Shakespeare 1443). Desdemona becomes Barbary. As such, Barbary's fate foreshadows what lay ahead for Desdemona. At the close, Othello and Desdemona will not merely part ways, but rather part realms. Desdemona shall die and enter the afterlife, singing the song of a forlorn lover, while Othello, ignorant of his misdeeds, shall remain in the earthly domain.
Emilia
Othello by William Shakespeare
In the beginning of Othello, Emilia shows herself to be a submissive, while somewhat resentful, housewife to Iago. In the face of his misogynistic behavior, she tolerates him as, in her opinion, a good wife should. However, Act V holds a dramatic shift in Emilia's demeanor and disposition toward her husband. When Emilia learns of Iago's deception and the horrible events it has made come to pass, she refuses to sit back and submit to his will. Rather, proving herself a dynamic character, Emilia shifts from her quiet, compliant housewife persona to an indignant, outraged woman bent on scolding her husband for his misdeeds until the day he dies. Inveighing against Iago, Emilia says, "You told a lie, an odious, damned lie, upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie! She false with Cassio! Did you say with Cassio?" (Shakespeare 1455). In her outrage, Emilia also reveals several important character traits she possesses. First, her incredulity at Iago's deception, emphasized by the repetition of the word lie in the previous quote, shows Emilia to have a certain virtuous standard. While she certainly does not epitomize saintly behavior, Emilia possesses decent morals. According to her reaction, Iago's behavior flies in the face of these expectations. Secondly, Emilia expresses extreme respect and loyalty toward Desdemona in her outburst. The concluding phrases, questioning whether Iago had actually accused such a pure woman of such foul behavior, display a certain admiration for Desdemona's character and disgust for those who defame it.
In the beginning of Othello, Emilia shows herself to be a submissive, while somewhat resentful, housewife to Iago. In the face of his misogynistic behavior, she tolerates him as, in her opinion, a good wife should. However, Act V holds a dramatic shift in Emilia's demeanor and disposition toward her husband. When Emilia learns of Iago's deception and the horrible events it has made come to pass, she refuses to sit back and submit to his will. Rather, proving herself a dynamic character, Emilia shifts from her quiet, compliant housewife persona to an indignant, outraged woman bent on scolding her husband for his misdeeds until the day he dies. Inveighing against Iago, Emilia says, "You told a lie, an odious, damned lie, upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie! She false with Cassio! Did you say with Cassio?" (Shakespeare 1455). In her outrage, Emilia also reveals several important character traits she possesses. First, her incredulity at Iago's deception, emphasized by the repetition of the word lie in the previous quote, shows Emilia to have a certain virtuous standard. While she certainly does not epitomize saintly behavior, Emilia possesses decent morals. According to her reaction, Iago's behavior flies in the face of these expectations. Secondly, Emilia expresses extreme respect and loyalty toward Desdemona in her outburst. The concluding phrases, questioning whether Iago had actually accused such a pure woman of such foul behavior, display a certain admiration for Desdemona's character and disgust for those who defame it.
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