Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Death, be not proud

"Death, be not proud" by John Donne
"And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die" (Donne, page 972).

Death is mentioned to not be proud. Death is described to not be something to be proud of as it could come from "poison, war, and sickness" (Donne, page 971). The poem mentions that some find it to be mighty and dreadful yet no one should. The speaker continues to describe why death is not a proud moment. Death is described to be a poor death as a whole. Furthermore, death is mentioned to take some of the best men which is also why it is not proud. The speakers reasons for death to not be proud are logical. Many die well before they have time to even begin to live their life. Many people dying before their time could have made a lot out of their lives yet did not have the chance to live it. Furthermore, the speaker says that the poison, war, and sickness take away people unnecessarily. In our society today, people die from war everyday. The wars could potentially be avoided so the deaths were unnecessary  Lastly, people die of sickness everyday including malnutrition in less fortunate countries. These deaths could potentially be prevented so a life is wasted.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (Thomas, page 968).

The poem has an opposite feeling towards death than "Crossing the Bar". While "Crossing the Bar" had a content and almost joyous feeling toward moving forward past death, "Do Not Go Gentle into The Good Night" uses the diction to display a dismay towards death. The repetition of "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (Thomas, page 968) is mentioned four times in the length of the poem. The repetition in such a short piece puts emphasis on the line. Life is compared to a day. As the light lessens, the end of the life or day is nearing. Furthermore, saying that the light is dying is comparing the livelihood of someone to the light. As the light dims, life is coming nearer and nearer to its end. Words such as burn, rave, and blaze allow for a feeling of angst against death. The title of the poem sums up the opinion of the poem about death. The message is to not be at peace with leaving earth for the afterlife. Although the afterlife is characterized as That Good Night, the time leading up involves resent towards death. As many people resent death, the poem is describing that there should be more peaceful and calm attitude toward death as it is good in the end.

Crossing the Bar

"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
"I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar" (Tennyson, page 886).

The entirety of the poem acts as a comparison to someone passing from life to death. The bar seems to be the transition from life to death. The passing is described to be like sleep that when pulled out of the "boundless deep" (Tennyson, page 886). Being pulled out of the sleep would lead home to the afterlife. The Pilot mentioned at the end of the poem is seemingly God as it is capitalized and goes along with the comparison to the afterlife. Also, the author hopes for no sadness in leaving earth for the afterlife. Furthermore, the author describes moving into afterlife as embarking from life on earth. This poem seems to find joy and content with dying and moving into the after life. Embarking leads to an understanding of leaving for a journey and not going somewhere negative. Lastly, the embarking for the journey is backed up by the mention of going home from earth meaning the place after death is seen as a good place to be going and not a dread of leaving earth.

A Rose for Emily

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner
"As we had expected all along, within three days Homer Barron was back in town. A neighbor saw the Negro man admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening. And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron" (Faulkner, page 287).

The motive behind the death in the short story takes up the entirety of the story. The one dead seems to be Homer. Emily had a past of not wanting to let go. Mostly with her father, Emily seemed to struggle to let go of him after he passed. Keeping him in the house after his death for a few days showed Emily not wanting to let him go and move out of her past. Clues such as Homer entering the home and never leaving and Emily's purchases lead to believe that Homer is dead at the end of the story. Emily also bought arsenic which is poisonous and did not want to confess what the arsenic would be used for. All of these motives lead to believe that Emily killed Homer. The motive behind the murder seemed to be his openness about his homosexuality. It is mentioned that he spent time with men out at bars. Along with Emily's struggle to let go, she probably did not want Homer to leave her even though there was no chance of them ever getting married so she killed him so he could not leave her. Emily also cannot let go of the past as she believes that she still does not need to pay any taxes.

The Lottery

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
"Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box" (Jackson, page 265).

The symbol and purpose of the black box along with the tradition behind the lottery captivates the main theme of the short story. The theme of the people following the tradition blindly only because it is tradition and not because they know the true meaning of the lottery. Even though the people of the town are unenthusiastic about the lottery, no one wants to break the tradition even in the slightest by making a new box. Furthermore, the human sacrifice was initially to allow for healthy crops but the tradition was outdated and the townspeople did not understand it so there was no reason for the tradition. When mentioned to rid of the lottery, Old Man Warner said that was dumb and the young people were taking away from the tradition. In society today, people can be caught following traditions that could be cruel or unnecessary in current culture. Furthermore, people can find themselves following a ritual or tradition that is outdated and the meaning is not understood anymore. The scapegoat of the lottery was Tessie Hutchinson. Tessie was pick at random from the town. She acts as the sacrifice for the crops to flourish. In this way, Tessie became the scapegoat of the lottery for the townspeople.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Tom Leaves

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
"Go on, I trust you with him! There now - you're holding him gently! Hold him over the light, he loves the light! You see how the light shines through him?" (Williams, page 1281).

As Laura and Jim have a deeper conversation, Jim's purpose in the play is seen more clearly. Jim's purpose was to bring light to Tom's darkness. Tom has been trapped in a situation he wished to escape. Jim's convincing and timing of coming to the home gave light to the family. Just like the candle in the darkness of their home, Jim was the light in the darkness of the family. Jim perfectly showed up at the home when Tom had given up on living with his family and decided to move on  to follow his dreams. Likewise, Jim was the light Laura needed to shine through. Laura trusts Jim with her favorite glass unicorn that resembles Laura the closest out of her whole collection. Laura entrusts Jim with herself and then he breaks the unicorn and tells her he is engaged. By breaking the unicorn, he is breaking Laura to pieces like the horn of the unicorn that makes the unicorn a unicorn. Lastly, when Jim and Tom leave, Laura is left broken from opening herself up to Jim and Tom whom she trusted.

Jim Arrives

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
"Jim: You will regret it when they turn the lights off. Tom: I won't be here" (Williams, page 1269).

Scene Six of the play brought Jim to come to the home for dinner. Laura is described to be radiating like glass in sunlight. This temporary radiation seems to foreshadow that Laura will temporarily come out of her shell for Jim. The previous encounter with Jim in high school signifies that she will like him initially where she could open up to him. Although Laura is glowing, Amanda is still condescending toward Laura. Amanda directly neglects Laura by directly telling Laura she is sick of her nonsense. This intense confrontation could possibly break Laura down again where she will not want to be social. Furthermore, Jim seems to contrast Tom in a good way. Tom has not taken opportunity but has plenty of potential. Jim took opportunity but failed and is stuck where Tom is. Jim pushes Tom to go for his dreams even though his mother does not agree. Also for the first time, Amanda admits to Jim that she has spoken too much about her past and allows Jim to speak. This symbolizes Amanda letting Jim take a place in their family that is much needed for change from their downhill cycle of friction and unhappiness. 

Music of Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
"Alone she turns to look at her husband's picture. Dance music: "All the World Is Waiting for the Sunrise!"" (Williams, page 1255).

The music of the play adds to the events and emotions of the play. The music titled after the title of the play seems to occur and play when Laura's emotions and actions are the forefront of the play. With the correlation between Laura and the play in the entirety, the play most closely examines Laura and what happens to her as a result of her brother and mother. Furthermore, the playing of the theme music plays when someone begins to deeply discuss Laura. Other times it is played is when something around Laura disrupts her glass like qualities where she can break slowly from the pressure of her family. When Tom gets worked up and breaks some of her glass, the song is displayed showing that Tom's actions and words slowly break through and destroy parts of Laura. Another song, "All the World Is Waiting for the Sunrise!" also plays a role in describing Amanda. The song is played after Amanda looks at her husband's picture and then Tom describes the dancing of their time. Although I looked up the song and found it was playing a role of explaining the war situation in the story, Amanda seems to rely on the song as well. The lyrics of the song seem to resemble that Amanda has yet to give up her hope for the return of her husband and that drives her motives in the play.

Menagerie #2

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
"I've joined the Hogan gang, I'm a hired assassin, I carry a tommy-gun in a violin case! I run a string of cat-houses in the Valley! They call me Killer, Killer Wingfield, I'm leading a double-life, a simple, honest warehouse worker by day, by night a dynamic czar of the underworld" (Williams, page 1247).

Tom's exaggerating anecdote adds ironic elements to the play as well as give meaning to Tom's actions. When Tom goes on and on about the things he feels his mother believes he does when he stays out late, he is emphasizing that his mother over dramatizes his actions. Although Tom is willing to get away from his family like his father, he seems to actually care for his family.  Tom is expressing how he feels through his anecdote that he goes out for his own sanity. By Tom going out at night, he is refreshing himself for the next day where he will again feel suffocated. Furthermore, Tom's anecdote is ironic. His anecdote is about what harmful and crazy things his mother is doing to him yet his mother is doing nearly the same to him. He feels trapped in a crazy environment that he admits he wants to escape. What Amanda does not realize is that it is her pressure to not be like his father that is pushing him to be like his father and leave. The ironic part of the anecdote comes through when he says he is going to the movies yet she does not believe that he could simply just go to the movies. I believe that her pressure will shoot back irony when he actually does something more dramatic than going to the movies.

The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
"And I could have been Mrs. Duncan J. Fitzhugh, mind you! But - I picked your father!" (Williams, page 1239).

The forefront of the beginning of the play is placed into the internal conflict of Amanda. Amanda is fighting with coping that she is not in her prime anymore. The internal conflict of Amanda reliving her past and her disappointment that her children are not like her, has drawn the external conflicts between each of the family members to the forefront as well. The conflict between Amanda and Tom is prevalent through her wanting him to not be like his father. Tom conflicts with Amanda and persists to drink and see movies. All of Tom's actions are worrying Amanda into believing she will follow the path his father did and leave the family. Although the conflict is between Amanda and Tom, it is effecting Laura as well. Although all three of the family members are in conflict, Amanda seems to be the center of all the madness of the family. By keeping in her past and her attempts to relive her glory days, Amanda is putting immense pressure on her children to be exactly how she wants them to be. This pressure is leading to the conflicts between Amanda and Tom and conflicts between Amanda and Laura. These conflicts together allow for Tom and Laura to be conflicting on their ideas of how to deal with their mother's pressure.