In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, the plight of women is illustrated though the relationships of Pilate and Ruth. Most women have an innate almost obligatory need to give love and protect those with whom they are emotionally connected. Women also have the need to not only give these feelings but also to receive them. They need to be needed and loved in order to feel fulfilled. In the case of Ruth and Pilate, this cycle of loving and being loved is broken. Ruth represents the side of women that craves love, tenderness, intimacy, and attention. Pilate represents the facet of women that is the strong protector. However, with both women the more that they try to fulfill their needs the more these needs go insatitiated.
Ruth craves attention and care from the men in her life. Growing up with her father providing her with her fulfillment of the love that she needed, she feels a void in her life that Macon will not fill. Grappling to satisfy her desires for tenderness and intimacy through the conception of a son, once again she is held close, touched, needed by Macon. Still her needs are not fulfilled. The more she tries to build these loving relationships, the more they are destroyed. A husband should have filled the void in her life where her father had once been, and Milkman could have filled the deepening void that both the previos men in her life had left. The more she attempts to create love the more it is destroyed.
Pilate want to protect what she loves. Unlike Ruth, Pilate is not craving the love and attention but rather she wants to give to those that "belong" to her. She protects Hagar and Reba, yet, again the more she tries the more she fails. Reba gets hurt and taken advantage of by others and Hagar, whom she has spoiled and given everything, pushes her away.
The plight of women trying to be everyones everything is illustrated. The more that women try to plan and make things right, the more they inevitably fail. Just as mother love their babies fully and unconditionally, but the child grows up and away from them, those who women try to love and protect the most or seek love from the most are often those that, in the end can not satisfy, their needs.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Caddy: An Erased Stain
#8. By the end of the novel, Mrs. Compson has forbidden the mention of Caddy’s name. What is significant about the fact that Caddy does not have her own chapter (and that she is nameless by the end of the novel)?
Although Caddy does not have a chapter of her own in which to convey her portion of the deterioration of the Compson family, she is present in all the other stories. In the eyes of her brothers, Caddy seems to be the root of evil so to speak. In each brothers’ telling of the story some wrong has been inflicted on their lives from something Caddy has done. In actuality, the brothers’ own insecurities and ignorance allow Caddy’s actions to affect them more than they in fact do. Each chapter told by a brother illustrates in what way Caddy has tormented their existence. Caddy does not need a chapter to tell how she tormented her own existence and can not tell how she ruins her brothers, for really it was not her that ruined them but themselves. Also, the chapters in The Sound and the Fury help to characterize each the person telling the story. Because Caddy becomes the central theme in each chapter, she is indirectly characterized by each brother. Each one offers one more piece to the puzzle that is Caddy to the extent that she becomes the character best described and known. She is not in need of a single chapter to characterize her for she has been characterized throughout the novel.
By forbidding Caddy’s name to be mentioned, Mrs. Compson is hoping to erase Caddy from the family history. Because she has been such a shame and disappointment as well as causing the family so much grief, Mrs. Compson hopes to forget that she ever existed. Also, Caddy is nameless by the end because she has in many ways disappeared. The ties to which she was connected to family have been severed. Her mother has disowned her, she has broken Benjy’s heart, Quentin has killed himself, Jason despises her, and Miss Quentin, Caddy’s last connection to her family has fled. Every person who holds some key to Caddy’s past or future has detached themselves from her in some way, so in a way the memory that she was alive is dead, therefore she is gone, nameless.
Although Caddy does not have a chapter of her own in which to convey her portion of the deterioration of the Compson family, she is present in all the other stories. In the eyes of her brothers, Caddy seems to be the root of evil so to speak. In each brothers’ telling of the story some wrong has been inflicted on their lives from something Caddy has done. In actuality, the brothers’ own insecurities and ignorance allow Caddy’s actions to affect them more than they in fact do. Each chapter told by a brother illustrates in what way Caddy has tormented their existence. Caddy does not need a chapter to tell how she tormented her own existence and can not tell how she ruins her brothers, for really it was not her that ruined them but themselves. Also, the chapters in The Sound and the Fury help to characterize each the person telling the story. Because Caddy becomes the central theme in each chapter, she is indirectly characterized by each brother. Each one offers one more piece to the puzzle that is Caddy to the extent that she becomes the character best described and known. She is not in need of a single chapter to characterize her for she has been characterized throughout the novel.
By forbidding Caddy’s name to be mentioned, Mrs. Compson is hoping to erase Caddy from the family history. Because she has been such a shame and disappointment as well as causing the family so much grief, Mrs. Compson hopes to forget that she ever existed. Also, Caddy is nameless by the end because she has in many ways disappeared. The ties to which she was connected to family have been severed. Her mother has disowned her, she has broken Benjy’s heart, Quentin has killed himself, Jason despises her, and Miss Quentin, Caddy’s last connection to her family has fled. Every person who holds some key to Caddy’s past or future has detached themselves from her in some way, so in a way the memory that she was alive is dead, therefore she is gone, nameless.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
It Don't Mean a Thing if it ain't got that Swing
In The Sound and the Fury, the swing underneath the tree seems to be a metaphor for the actual acts that take place in it. Cady has her rendevouss in that swing, and so does her daughter Miss Quentin. Both engage in acts of promiscuity in the swing. Caddy, and perhaps Miss Quentin, seem to be looking for an outlet of freedom or independece, yet their actions harbor just the opposite. By engaing in acts with these men, they have attached themselves, as well as they now have a need for the man for validation of some sort. They feel thay are being independant by making their own choice on the matter, yet they are only furthering thier dependence on others.
The girls' actions are like the swing. A swing moves back and forth, and may go higher and higher, but it never really goes anywhere at all. For a brief moment on a swing, one can feel as if they are soaring to the heights of elation, but the swing always comes to a stop. That flying feeling is fleeting. When the swing stops, you are in the same place you started, you have gone no where, and all you are left with is the memory.
Caddy and Miss Quentin, looking for an ecscape in the arms of men, feel as if they just might be rescued from the miserable morals of Southern society on the swing, but they are not. Just as the swing, moves but makes no progression, Caddy and Miss Quentin want to get away, but their actions only extend their roots further into the society from which they were trying to escape. They are stuck, feeling as though they are moving toward their goal, but never going anywhere.
The girls' actions are like the swing. A swing moves back and forth, and may go higher and higher, but it never really goes anywhere at all. For a brief moment on a swing, one can feel as if they are soaring to the heights of elation, but the swing always comes to a stop. That flying feeling is fleeting. When the swing stops, you are in the same place you started, you have gone no where, and all you are left with is the memory.
Caddy and Miss Quentin, looking for an ecscape in the arms of men, feel as if they just might be rescued from the miserable morals of Southern society on the swing, but they are not. Just as the swing, moves but makes no progression, Caddy and Miss Quentin want to get away, but their actions only extend their roots further into the society from which they were trying to escape. They are stuck, feeling as though they are moving toward their goal, but never going anywhere.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Blog #5- Blinded by the Sight
In both Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now," as the main character approaches his ultimate goal, he gets farther away from his grasp on the logic and reasoning of reality. In the midst of attempting to satiate his desire to see Kurtz or to see through the impenetrable "whiteness of the fog" the characters become blind to reasonable practices of humanity. In both the film and the novella, extenuating circumstances of war (Vietnam) or cultural differences/ domination (Africa) breed a blindness from which develops anxiety and paranoia.
In "Apocalypse Now," one of the most disturbing scenes for me was the incident with the puppy. Blind to the fact that they were far more threatening than the natives aboard the boat, the crew could only respond in a paranoid manner. Thinking that among the ducks and veggies, this woman was armed, they took her life. They ended her existence, all because she was reaching to protect an innocent puppy.
Not only blinded by circumstance but also blinded by social practice, in both Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now," social stigmas leave the characters blind to the fact that these natives/ savages are people, are human just as they are.
"Yes; I looked at them as you would on any human being, with a curiosity of their impulses, motives, capacities, weaknesses, when brought to the test of an inexorable physical necessity. Restraint! What possible restraint? Was it superstition, disgust, patience, fear--or some kind of primitive honour? No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wear it out, disgust simply does not exist where hunger is; and as to superstition, beliefs, and what you may call principles, they are less than chaff in a breeze. Don't you know the devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment, its black thoughts, its sombre and brooding ferocity?"
In Heart of Darkness, even though some small part accepts the natives as human, they still fear the that their savage instincts will overcome their humanity, and the natives will devour them at any point.
Both the novella and the film, though in different settings and under somewhat different circumstances, succeed in exhibiting how people can be blinded by their sights. When they have set a goal and wish to reach it at any cost, a sort of madness sets in that manifests and festers itself in the brain controlling every thought. This sickness results in a blindness that blocks out all other emotions or reasoning. The body becomes numb, a machine and can only function to practice what has been programmed.
In "Apocalypse Now," one of the most disturbing scenes for me was the incident with the puppy. Blind to the fact that they were far more threatening than the natives aboard the boat, the crew could only respond in a paranoid manner. Thinking that among the ducks and veggies, this woman was armed, they took her life. They ended her existence, all because she was reaching to protect an innocent puppy.
Not only blinded by circumstance but also blinded by social practice, in both Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now," social stigmas leave the characters blind to the fact that these natives/ savages are people, are human just as they are.
"Yes; I looked at them as you would on any human being, with a curiosity of their impulses, motives, capacities, weaknesses, when brought to the test of an inexorable physical necessity. Restraint! What possible restraint? Was it superstition, disgust, patience, fear--or some kind of primitive honour? No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wear it out, disgust simply does not exist where hunger is; and as to superstition, beliefs, and what you may call principles, they are less than chaff in a breeze. Don't you know the devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment, its black thoughts, its sombre and brooding ferocity?"
In Heart of Darkness, even though some small part accepts the natives as human, they still fear the that their savage instincts will overcome their humanity, and the natives will devour them at any point.
Both the novella and the film, though in different settings and under somewhat different circumstances, succeed in exhibiting how people can be blinded by their sights. When they have set a goal and wish to reach it at any cost, a sort of madness sets in that manifests and festers itself in the brain controlling every thought. This sickness results in a blindness that blocks out all other emotions or reasoning. The body becomes numb, a machine and can only function to practice what has been programmed.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Blog #4: Artsy Fartsy Angel Wings
All writing could be viewed as art depending on how the author so chooses to write it. If the author is able to illustrate without pictures the literature is far more interesting. To illustrate without the aid of actual pictures, an author must paint scenes of the story using a paintbrush made of colorful language and metaphors, as well as imagery. The amount of paint that the author/ artist utilizes, makes it easier for the reader to experience the vivid imagery that the author intended. The imagery in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings attributes greatly to how the reader interprets the story. The way the wings are described in their deteriorating state with parasites crawling between each feather, allows the reader to erase from their mind the celestial beauty of what angels are expected to be and see the angel for what he actually is. Instead of assuming he is a beautiful angel with all the heavenly qualities associated with such, the reader is forced to see this "angel" in a different light along with all his imperfections. By changing what the picture of an angel looks like, the author makes the reader question aspects of the writing, which is the point behind the writing in the first place.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Blog #3- Iago's Inferno
Iago' s desires do shift from "religious" to playful. By religion of war, I would guess that Harold Bloom means that when war is religion it is practiced with viglilance, concern, purpose, and thought. When religion is a game, the opponents only want to win without particular reasoning but for the sake of winning and watching the opposition crumble. Iago's obsession with his war against Othello starts with simple contemplation of what could happen if only this or only that. I would not quite agree with Bloom as far as his claim that Iago worships Othello, but rather that he thinks him a worthy opponent, for he has everything Iago feels should rightfully be his. Both his religion and game stem from jealousy that grows and twists into other feelings such as lust and control.
While Iago practices the religion of war he plans and thinks of ways to bring down his opponent strategically so as to better himself. When Iago is given the opportunity to actually utilize his tactics is when war becomes his game as well as when he becomes the "moral pyromaniac". While Iago plays his twisted game of war using all the people around him as his pawns he loses all sense of what is right or wrong and what consequences may arise from his actions. As he witnesses casualties of the happy lives of others lapped by the flames, he seems to feel no remorse. He is so consumed by the game that he feels he is winning, he loses his grasp on the real world that is burning all around him as well as scorching him.
While Iago practices the religion of war he plans and thinks of ways to bring down his opponent strategically so as to better himself. When Iago is given the opportunity to actually utilize his tactics is when war becomes his game as well as when he becomes the "moral pyromaniac". While Iago plays his twisted game of war using all the people around him as his pawns he loses all sense of what is right or wrong and what consequences may arise from his actions. As he witnesses casualties of the happy lives of others lapped by the flames, he seems to feel no remorse. He is so consumed by the game that he feels he is winning, he loses his grasp on the real world that is burning all around him as well as scorching him.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Blog Post #2-"Swollen Foot" swollen thoughts
After reading Oedipus Rex I have walked away with new ideas and inquires. The thought of fate being so powerful and inescapable is facinating. No matter what he, or his mother for that matter did could have done would have allowed him to escape his fate. The more that Iocasta or Oedipus tried to change thier fate, the closer they became to fulfilling the oracle. Reading Oedipus Rex brought about the realiztion that no matter what I do, I cannot control what is going to happen. I have no control over my fate that has been pre-determined. This play affirmed my beleif that everything happens for a reason. Even at a time when something is going terribly wrong, or I don't understand why it would be neccessary, I remind myself that for some reason, this event has to happen and needs to happen. Oedipus was fated, so I suppose had to kill his father and sleep with his mother. It happened, and though it was awful, it happened for a reason.
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