As I Lay Dying follows a rural family (it seems most of the characters are members of the Burden family anyway; I believe we hear from the perspective of the Tulls) immediately before and in the wake of the death of the mother, Addie Burden. I'm a little bit confused about some of the characters;
I think that Cora is Ms. Tull and that her and her husband are family friends. I think Cora acts as an interesting narrator because she seems to be a very morally righteous but also kind person. I believe that Vardaman, the little boy, is also Vernon. I would also like to see more about the past of the family which I'm a bit afraid may not be delved into as much if the story sticks to just narrating the events after Addie's death; I believe Cora talked about Anse (Addie's husband) being morally degenerate in some way (she described Vernon's appearance as revealing the hand of God on Anse) and I would like to see where this conflict comes from.
I would also like to see more to differentiate Darl and the other brothers. Cora describes him as being more soft, loving, tender, etc... but I feel as if what I have read hasn't really made him seem terribly different from the others. I believe she also described Cash as having been the child who got spoiled and turned out badly because of it (I feel like it was Cash who she described this as...), and would like to see more evidence of this too. The problem is that Faulkner's writing seems to primarily be made up of dialogue or unbiased imagery of the scenes; despite the fact that the chapters are from the first person perspective for different characters, the result is that we get very little intent or emotional feeling from what is going on. Other than dialogue either saying bad things about people or dialogue that is obviously emotionally charge, we get little context by which we can judge individuals. I would say the exception to this is Cora, who seems more likely to think judgmentally in her chapters.
I also don't really know who Jewel, Dewey, or Peabody are and I don't know where to fit them in the greater context of the story...
I also keep seeing the fish motif coming back, and am curious if this fits in with any religious themes the book will deal with (death is often a religious topic, Cora seems religious, and I believe Jesus created extra food out of fish to feed the hungry; I feel as though Addie's character wills steadily take on more Jesus-y tones as the story progresses, but we'll have to see. I think Vardaman's one sentence chapter "My mother is a fish" might be influencing my opinions a little more than it should).
Saturday, September 26, 2015
As I Lay Dying Faulkner Writing Style
The writing style of As I Lay Dying is still a bit convoluted and difficult to understand, though not nearly as difficult as The Sound and the Fury. At least in As I Lay Dying, everything seems to be happening more or less chronologically and no characters have a non-linear perception of time (we're looking at you Benjy). The root of this difficulty in reading is not based on plot confusion or time, but in the way in which the characters speak (both to other people and to themselves via thoughts). They all sound very rural and at times a bit uneducated (not necessarily unintelligent, but many of the characters often don't abide by grammar rules that they would have been taught in school). This is obviously intentional and Faulkner's part and is meant to inform the characterization and setting. Despite the difficulty in reading the text at times (it never is unreadable, but one can't skim AILD and still know what's going on), it often has a poetic feel to it; this poetry comes more from imagery than from excessively flowery language.
One thing I find especially interesting about Faulkner's writing style is that, while all the characters retain some of the flawed grammar and rural language, there are modifications made to individual chapters to further inform characters as unique people. For instance, Darl seems to have by far the most poetic and least flawed way of speaking and thinking of all the character's whose perspectives we see from; this adds to the description other characters make of him that he is kind, loving, and more tender than most men are while not explicitly saying it. This modification of individual character voices works at times more subtly but often more effectively than anything else.
One thing I find especially interesting about Faulkner's writing style is that, while all the characters retain some of the flawed grammar and rural language, there are modifications made to individual chapters to further inform characters as unique people. For instance, Darl seems to have by far the most poetic and least flawed way of speaking and thinking of all the character's whose perspectives we see from; this adds to the description other characters make of him that he is kind, loving, and more tender than most men are while not explicitly saying it. This modification of individual character voices works at times more subtly but often more effectively than anything else.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
The Things They Carried Star in His Eye
One of my favorite scenes/stories in the book is "The Man I Killed". I like it especially because O'Brien masterfully uses repetition. He keeps in reiterating the wounds he inflicted and, thus, the manner he killed the many. More specifically, he mentions many times the star shaped hole in his eye and the fact that his throat is in his neck (though the throat in the neck is mentioned a little bit less; the focus is on the eye). His continuous use of this statement combined with Kiowa's questions/comments that are met only with silence gives off the impression that O'Brien is broken. It's heartbreaking and I would say probably one of the saddest parts of the book, with the exception of the baby water buffalo which was completely massacred. I think the choice of the phrase "star-shaped" is especially interesting because it, in and of itself, is not threatening or dark. It's almost whimsical, and O'Brien's use of the phrase adds to the feeling that he is in some sort of trance-like state, and that he is lost in himself. The mention of the star-shaped hole in other stories also functions to connect everything a little bit better. Perhaps the connotations stars have as being heavenly bodies and connected to some sort of afterlife also provides some deeper symbolic meanings as well.
The Things They Carried Question Post
Why does he mention Linda, and is she real?
I don't think Linda is, per se, a real person. I think it's possible that Tim O'Brien dated a girl in elementary school who died, though it isn't necessarily true. I think she is more meant to be a device to tie back the idea of story telling to something more personal and tangible; the notion that stories can bring back the dead creates a universality to the act. Few of us have been to war, have lost people, friends, in battle. Few of us need to tell stories about lost comrades in arms to bring them back. But most of us have lost people at some point, and many of us do tell stories about them. We don't necessarily tell stories for the purpose of resurrecting them momentarily, but it is an unintended effect none the less. The notion that someone isn't truly dead until they are forgotten is quite popular (or at least, I have heard the thought often and ten to agree).
I also think Linda is useful as a plot device because, not only is she dead and his story telling brings her back to life for him, but her connection to his childhood also calls forth the notion of innocence once again. The entire book seems quite focused on the idea of innocence and the loss of it; Linda's story is a bit of a happy contrast. Perhaps Timmy, the innocent, is dead; but by recalling him, by writing and telling stories about him, O'Brien brings him back to life. He resurrects his own innocents in a manner that helps him recover from the horrors he saw and was forced to see and do in the war.
I don't think Linda is, per se, a real person. I think it's possible that Tim O'Brien dated a girl in elementary school who died, though it isn't necessarily true. I think she is more meant to be a device to tie back the idea of story telling to something more personal and tangible; the notion that stories can bring back the dead creates a universality to the act. Few of us have been to war, have lost people, friends, in battle. Few of us need to tell stories about lost comrades in arms to bring them back. But most of us have lost people at some point, and many of us do tell stories about them. We don't necessarily tell stories for the purpose of resurrecting them momentarily, but it is an unintended effect none the less. The notion that someone isn't truly dead until they are forgotten is quite popular (or at least, I have heard the thought often and ten to agree).
I also think Linda is useful as a plot device because, not only is she dead and his story telling brings her back to life for him, but her connection to his childhood also calls forth the notion of innocence once again. The entire book seems quite focused on the idea of innocence and the loss of it; Linda's story is a bit of a happy contrast. Perhaps Timmy, the innocent, is dead; but by recalling him, by writing and telling stories about him, O'Brien brings him back to life. He resurrects his own innocents in a manner that helps him recover from the horrors he saw and was forced to see and do in the war.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Mary Anne Bell and the Loss of Innocence
Before I start, I will say that I'm not sure if this fell within the section of the book we were supposed to read for this post or if it was later; personally this is my favorite story and I have been itching to write about it since reading it, and I can't wait any longer. So, here we go.
Is Mary Anne Bell a symbol, and if so, what does she represent? What was the point of her story?
Her story is probably the most concrete symbol in regards to the loss of innocence, which is a topic that has repeatedly come up probably more than anything else in our discussion of the novel.
She comes in as a green girl, young, with now idea about what things are like (eventually, she goes from being a green, naïve girl to a member of the green berets, a "greenie"). She sees the village, she learns how to help with the saving of troops rushed in, she goes from being soft to being more of a soldier than arguably any of the other medics. This, of course, represents an obvious example of the transformation. However, there are other facets of her that reveal the loss or the twisting of her humanity. The loss is most obvious in the fact that she altogether disappears; she becomes one with the land, a ghost, more like an animal than a human being. But the twisting is rather more interesting. She sings to the "greenies" in their hooch, to songs in a foreign language in a haunting, ghostly atmosphere, a twist in the normal trope of the bright eyed and bushy-tailed performer/starlet. She wears a necklace made of human tongues (whereas jewelry normally represents a wealth, a refined, cultured status, it is the obvious here that is not the case); I find the fact that they are tongues to be important because it is the opposite of Jimmy Cross' love interest. She is a poet, who uses words to create art. Mary Anne takes the anatomical bits that create poetry and turns them into a war trophy.
Lastly, the period when she first goes away for a few days and comes back and her fiancé tries to make everything normal again. Everything looks perfect but there is something tense and fractured about it, and nothing is alright below the surface. It is like when someone first comes home from war, trying to assimilate with normal humanity, but the feat is impossible.
Is Mary Anne Bell a symbol, and if so, what does she represent? What was the point of her story?
Her story is probably the most concrete symbol in regards to the loss of innocence, which is a topic that has repeatedly come up probably more than anything else in our discussion of the novel.
She comes in as a green girl, young, with now idea about what things are like (eventually, she goes from being a green, naïve girl to a member of the green berets, a "greenie"). She sees the village, she learns how to help with the saving of troops rushed in, she goes from being soft to being more of a soldier than arguably any of the other medics. This, of course, represents an obvious example of the transformation. However, there are other facets of her that reveal the loss or the twisting of her humanity. The loss is most obvious in the fact that she altogether disappears; she becomes one with the land, a ghost, more like an animal than a human being. But the twisting is rather more interesting. She sings to the "greenies" in their hooch, to songs in a foreign language in a haunting, ghostly atmosphere, a twist in the normal trope of the bright eyed and bushy-tailed performer/starlet. She wears a necklace made of human tongues (whereas jewelry normally represents a wealth, a refined, cultured status, it is the obvious here that is not the case); I find the fact that they are tongues to be important because it is the opposite of Jimmy Cross' love interest. She is a poet, who uses words to create art. Mary Anne takes the anatomical bits that create poetry and turns them into a war trophy.
Lastly, the period when she first goes away for a few days and comes back and her fiancé tries to make everything normal again. Everything looks perfect but there is something tense and fractured about it, and nothing is alright below the surface. It is like when someone first comes home from war, trying to assimilate with normal humanity, but the feat is impossible.
Monday, September 14, 2015
The Things They Carried Blogpost on the First Four Stories
What is the significance of the way in which the third short story, Spin, is written?
Spin is interesting because, unlike the rest of the short stories in the novel, it is pretty much completely cut into chunks that only measure into paragraphs (some small, some large) that contain little anecdotes on the war that would themselves probably not warrant a greater story attached to them (this is except for the end story, which is about when O'Brien first killed a man, and a story later expands upon this). I think one reason why this was done this way because it's like a second beginning to the story. The Things They Carried has a duel focus on both all the men in Alpha Company and more specifically on Jimmy Cross; love, the second story, is focused on Jimmy Cross. Spin, the third story, begins the part of the book that focuses moderately evenly on all the other members of Alpha Company (at least to a point). It works by creating a web of events and happenings which the reader can then use for context when reading about other characters in later stories. It also gives off a disjointed feel as if you're jumping back and forth through time (which in a sense you are), which might help the leader start to loose themselves in the story, combining with the numbness that the first story provokes to create a more accurate feeling of what war was.
Spin is interesting because, unlike the rest of the short stories in the novel, it is pretty much completely cut into chunks that only measure into paragraphs (some small, some large) that contain little anecdotes on the war that would themselves probably not warrant a greater story attached to them (this is except for the end story, which is about when O'Brien first killed a man, and a story later expands upon this). I think one reason why this was done this way because it's like a second beginning to the story. The Things They Carried has a duel focus on both all the men in Alpha Company and more specifically on Jimmy Cross; love, the second story, is focused on Jimmy Cross. Spin, the third story, begins the part of the book that focuses moderately evenly on all the other members of Alpha Company (at least to a point). It works by creating a web of events and happenings which the reader can then use for context when reading about other characters in later stories. It also gives off a disjointed feel as if you're jumping back and forth through time (which in a sense you are), which might help the leader start to loose themselves in the story, combining with the numbness that the first story provokes to create a more accurate feeling of what war was.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
The Symbolic Significance of the Golden Slipper Ashtray in Unaccustumed Earth
The ashtray in question belonged to Ruma's father while he smoked. He had kept the habit up for a number of years despite Ruma's fears and protests. Eventually, he did stop smoking, and in doing so, got rid of all his ashtrays. Ruma, however, kept the Golden Slipper ashtray for herself, using it as a toy.
The ashtray is significant because it acts as a symbol for her father himself. Ruma's relationship with her father wasn't particularly close, and she often felt as if she could never achieve enough to suit him, and before he takes care of Akash she fears he might be a burden. Both of these facts are evidence that her father's existence was, among other things, distressing to her (like the his habit of smoking was distressing to her as a child). However, when he arrives and is revealed to be a kind, helpful, comforting presence (alternatively, when he stops smoking and is perceived as young Ruma as no longer threatened by his habit), she takes to him and wants him around, to love with them (she starts playing with the golden ashtray and considers it a prized possession).
The ashtray is significant because it acts as a symbol for her father himself. Ruma's relationship with her father wasn't particularly close, and she often felt as if she could never achieve enough to suit him, and before he takes care of Akash she fears he might be a burden. Both of these facts are evidence that her father's existence was, among other things, distressing to her (like the his habit of smoking was distressing to her as a child). However, when he arrives and is revealed to be a kind, helpful, comforting presence (alternatively, when he stops smoking and is perceived as young Ruma as no longer threatened by his habit), she takes to him and wants him around, to love with them (she starts playing with the golden ashtray and considers it a prized possession).
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Family Conflict in Unaccustomed Earth
The nearly the entirety of Unaccustomed Earth centers around family conflict. This conflict is, in turn, centered around topics that are at points universal and at other times uniquely related to Bengali heritage. It is where these two paths intersect that the book becomes interesting and informative for an audience primarily made up of people that are not Bengali (understanding foreign customs, cultures, and family lives different from our own is often why we read). The diversity of family life Lahiri portrays and the importance she infuses even seemingly mundane events with makes it such a compelling work.
Personally, my favorite story is the one from the perspective of Sudha as she deals with her brother Rahul. Her care and worry for her brother, whom she feels personally responsible for and for whose alcoholism she partially feels responsible, is heartwarming and deeply haunting. Her feelings might be influenced by her Bengali parent's encouragement of her to watch out for her brother and for the two of them to succeed, but anyone with a sibling can relate, no matter their ethnicity. Her conflict with her brother grows and grows over the course of the story until they seemingly reconcile and he goes to England. It is then, however, that he falls of the wagon and puts Sudha and Adam's child in danger, permanently severing any chance Sudha and Rahul have of really becoming close again. I like this story so much because of it's distinctly unhappy ending; it seems often times family stories conclude with the "prodigal son returning", but in the real world this often doesn't happen.
The first section, between Ruma, her father, and Akash, was also interesting, but it felt as if Ruma was frustratingly passive in regards to her surroundings at time. I understand her relationship with her father was estranged and that she always was closer to her mother, but I still feel as if she could have fought harder for what she wanted. Part of loving your family is fighting for them, and Ruma didn't seem to do much fighting.
Overall, the family dynamics in all of the stories seem incredibly reserved. There is very little overt argument, yelling, screaming, etc... The family conflict is largely insidious and quiet. The relationships between siblings, spouses, children/parents (or stand ins for these relationships, especially in the story of Pranab) often sour at some point and the air of the pretty much all the stories are melancholy or nostalgic. I can relate to this type of conflict to an extent because arguments within my family aren't usually passionate, but this almost completely lack of open conflict is still a bit bizarre, and only feeds itself because, when emotions aren't aired out, there's no way to get over them, and frustration just builds up.
Personally, my favorite story is the one from the perspective of Sudha as she deals with her brother Rahul. Her care and worry for her brother, whom she feels personally responsible for and for whose alcoholism she partially feels responsible, is heartwarming and deeply haunting. Her feelings might be influenced by her Bengali parent's encouragement of her to watch out for her brother and for the two of them to succeed, but anyone with a sibling can relate, no matter their ethnicity. Her conflict with her brother grows and grows over the course of the story until they seemingly reconcile and he goes to England. It is then, however, that he falls of the wagon and puts Sudha and Adam's child in danger, permanently severing any chance Sudha and Rahul have of really becoming close again. I like this story so much because of it's distinctly unhappy ending; it seems often times family stories conclude with the "prodigal son returning", but in the real world this often doesn't happen.
The first section, between Ruma, her father, and Akash, was also interesting, but it felt as if Ruma was frustratingly passive in regards to her surroundings at time. I understand her relationship with her father was estranged and that she always was closer to her mother, but I still feel as if she could have fought harder for what she wanted. Part of loving your family is fighting for them, and Ruma didn't seem to do much fighting.
Overall, the family dynamics in all of the stories seem incredibly reserved. There is very little overt argument, yelling, screaming, etc... The family conflict is largely insidious and quiet. The relationships between siblings, spouses, children/parents (or stand ins for these relationships, especially in the story of Pranab) often sour at some point and the air of the pretty much all the stories are melancholy or nostalgic. I can relate to this type of conflict to an extent because arguments within my family aren't usually passionate, but this almost completely lack of open conflict is still a bit bizarre, and only feeds itself because, when emotions aren't aired out, there's no way to get over them, and frustration just builds up.
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