I Ain't Sayin' He's a Gold Digger...

I honestly could not believe it when Milkman decided that he would steal from Pilate.  She practically raised him as a baby, and was his escape from the brutal world as a teenager.  Along with that, she is just a caring old woman that he cares about and looks up to, so it upset me when he set his mind to attempting to steal from her, and taking his father's side.  The whole moonlit scene with Guitar and Milkman attempting to rob "gold" was quite amusing, especially at the very end where we inadvertently see Pilate muttering to herself, but only fully realize it's Pilate because we are told she is chewing on a wooden splinter.

After Pilate so graciously bails Milkman and Guitar out of trouble, Milkman can't get the idea of godld and opportunity out of his head.  This whole fiasco with the gold seemed to point Milkman in the "right" direction in terms of finding out who he is and going forward in life on his own.  As Lena accuses him of never having lifted more than his own shoes, shortly after we see him climbing up steep rocks and tearing his precious clothes, feeling hunger, and helping a man lift a very heavy object, thereby exerting himself.  For the first time in his sheltered life, he is forced to make decisions on his own and take care of himself alone, with no one else to clean up after himself.

Though I'm truly not sure how the book will end, I have this feeling that Milkman will find his aunt's relatives in Virginia and find his true calling and feel like he belongs there.  However, I want him to have to "suffer" a bit more on his own so he really understands what living is like for the majority of people in his life. 

Dead or Alive?

Song of Solomon is a book that is as interesting as it is provocative.  Toni Morrison writes on many touchy subjects, and is very realistic in her presentation of the black community of the early-mid 20th century.  Not only do the names chosen for her characters suit them well, but there are many themes apparent in their meanings throughout.  

The most prevalent name that appears frequently is Dead, the last name Macon Dead I received because of an error a "drunk Yankee" (53) made.  Macon Dead II was named after his father, and in an effort to become more than his father, became an uptight, disliked (for the most part) man.  The word 'dead' can be used to describe the dynamic between the members of the nuclear Dead family.  There does not seem to be any warmth or liveliness between them, and they therefore seem to be dead in their interactions with one another.  Similarly, the tie between Macon Dead II and his sister Pilate Dead is severed and dead.

The surrounding community picks up on the name dead as symbolism and uses it to make an analogy for the car the Dead family travels in -- naming it Macon Dead's hearse.  The car gets its nickname because the family acts so strict and formal when riding in it, and because it has supposedly not lived --"no rope ever held the door to its frame...there was never a sudden braking...no beer bottles or ice cream cones poked from the open windows..." (32) and because Macon had never "taken a woman into the back seat" (32).  This formality that is prevalent between members of the Dead family during their car ride is also symbolic of the deadness of the family's relations and Macon Dead II's exerted control over his family.  

The word 'dead' also gives off a sentiment of fear as death is, well, death.  The name carries power because Macon II has achieved a great deal in his life and his quite wealthy, but he is feared (and not entirely respected), just as his name suggests.

There are many, many more names and nicknames that have meaning throughout the novel (Pilate's name was chosen because the P looks protective -- like she is -- and it is a male name but still sounds soft -- like her simultaneously patriarchal yet maternal role in the three-generation family -- and also the connotation of the name "Pilate" as being the fierce "Christ-killing Pilate" (19) -- as she stands up for her daughter with a knife) so my next blog post might be on the symbolism/meaning of names as well.

The Man Wasn't Where?

As I was talking with a friend today about the perplexities and futility of life, I began to give a brief description of The Stranger, primarily focusing on the ending with the trial and Meursault's detached personality and view of life.  Getting more emotional and more confused as I attempted to depict this to my friend, he suggested I read The Myth of Sisyphus at which I chuckled and said how that was one of Camus' main points and we had already discussed its relevance to the novel.  I thought it was really amusing how my point of view seemed to blend enough with Camus' that it was suggested I read about Sisyphus.

Anyways, last week we watched The Man Who Wasn't There.  Aside from being an interesting movie in the general sense, I really did feel that Camus' "philosophy" was being projected in it.  I enjoyed the black-and-white old style film noir quality, as well as recognizing several loved actors such as Tony Shalhoub, Richard Jenkins, Christopher McDonald, and Jack McGee.

The title forces the question of which man wasn't where?  I find this to be answered by: Ed Crane was the man that no one really believed was at the scene of the death of Big Dave.  Though he tried telling the truth to help his wife, his story was just not "exciting" enough.  The darkness of the movie was evident not only in the plot, but in the cinematics such as the dark room where Big Dave tells Ed about his affair and a cigar cutter catches the light, or when the jail bars cast shadows across the face of the lawyer and around him, the dark against his light grey suit.

This brings me to something else I enjoyed -- Ed's lawyer Freddy Reiedenschneider.  Perhaps I am biased as I love Tony Shalhoub, but his enthusiasm and spirit in trying to find a logical explanation for the murder was almost contagious.  Then again, I get really into criminal investigation shows at times, and the scenes where the lawyer tried to get behind what happened were really engaging.  The first main scene with him where Ed tries to tell the truth about him committing the murder was really tense as Freddy rambles on and on about his hypotheses while Ed's wife slowly turns her head to stare at her husband when she realizes that he really did commit the murder and she is unfairly locked up, and Ed's face has a mixed look of terror and calmness.

One thing I didn't enjoy very much was the forced humor.  Yes, sometimes it was funny and fit in, but other times, the absurdity (oddness, not Camus' absurd) stuck out too much.  This included things like the whole UFO idea and most of the scenes with Birdy.  Oppositely, the ending scene where the camera pans across expressionless faces watching Ed die was very moving and enhanced the movie after the stupid UFO thing.

However, having watched countless movies with my father and brother when they always pointed out logic flaws, difficult scenes, mistakes, and the overall quality of a film, I have "inherited" a very critical point of view towards movies.  Overall, I enjoyed the movie and was also made to think about the ideas presented, though it didn't speak to me as much as the novel The Stranger itself did.

Beauty in the Caribbean

Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea is a deceptively beautiful and saddening novel.  For now, I want to focus on the beauty that is described throughout.

Beauty in this novel takes on various forms, and has different effects when narrated by Antoinette or Rochester.  It is used as a description for people on the island as well as the natural surroundings.  Antoinette's infrequent comments on beauty are usually focused around her mother when she was younger, while Rochester's images of beauty come primarily from the unfamiliar surroundings as well as Antoinette when she's older.  However, Rochester perceives both these beauties as intimidating and deceptive.

"We pulled up and looked at the hills, the mountains and the blue-green sea.  There was a soft warm wind blowing but I understood why the porter had called it a wild place.  Not only wild but menacing.  Those hills would close in on you...Everything is too much, I felt as I rode wearily after her.  Too much blue, too much purple, too much green.  the flowers too red, the mountains too high, the hills too near.  And the woman is a stranger" (63).

Just as Rochester is describing the unfamiliarity of his surroundings, he switches to thinking about Antoinette, in the passage above and below, showing how closely intertwined he has the beautiful yet intimidating nature with Antoinette.

"It was all very brightly coloured, very strange, but it meant nothing to me.  Nor did she, the girl I was to marry" (69), shortly followed by:  "She [Antoinette] was sitting on the sofa and I wondered why I had never realized how beautiful she was" (72).  After he describes nature's beauty and Antoinette's beauty, a few pages later he describes how intrigued and almost disturbed he is by her crying at night and her close relations with some blacks such as Christophine.

As I have not read Jane Eyre (just gotten a brief summary from a friend), I am curious to see what this relationship will amount to.  Will Antoinette go crazy herself?

The Meaning of Life (Is That Even Real?)

Albert Camus' The Stranger was ultimately a very thought-provoking and emotional novel.  The deep thoughts it stirs primarily in the end while Meursault prepares for his death were very dark, but were composed of very legitimate ideas and Meursault's point of view really hit home with me.

Meursault is seen to be in the same situation as Sisyphus from "The Myth of Sisyphus," where there seems to be no point to the depressing, repetitive thing known as life.  For, if there is nothing after the current life we live, what is the point of feeling, caring, getting upset, and being happy?  Ultimately, they mean nothing whatsoever.  Ten years after a day you at-the-time called the best day of your life, you won't even remember the strength of feelings you felt, and ten years after you made someone happy for a long time, they might not even give a second thought about you.

Life is absurd.  Any meaning we see in life is imposed on it by ourselves.  People choose to be happy when they see someone they like or eat their favorite kind of ice cream; they choose to allow themselves to feel sad when losing someone they cared about or something as trivial as getting a stain on their favorite shirt.  Whether a stronger "reason" such as someone dying, or as simple as being taller than they wanted, a person allows for these things to affect them, and therefore is the sole reason for allowing themselves to feel.

And then there's the question of who decides that losing a person should be more emotional than losing a pet cat?  Or that crying over a bad grade isn't as bad as having a break up?  First of all, to different people, different events have different weights -- the death of a father that was never around might not be as significant as the death of a dog that stuck with its master through thick and thin; or vice versa.  Society has imposed these sort of ideas on our lives, but they're not even uniform throughout the world.  In one country, the death of a close person might be a devastating event while in another it's just a quotidian occurrence that really means nothing anymore.  Hell, even around the same country these "ideals" aren't the same.  (It really is a bizarre thought how there can be so many wealthy, well-off, people in the same country, while there are so many people around them that struggle to feed their children.)

Meursault doesn't get very upset about the death of his mother or his imminent death because he realizes that everyone will die eventually.  Who can say that a 20 year old's death is untimely just because they didn't die from old age?  If everyone is going to die eventually and life has no overall meaning to it, why do we look for simple pleasures in life, why do we hope for things to happen in the future, especially if the majority of our hopes and dreams are never realized?  Why does society condemn a man to death essentially because he doesn't cry at his mother's funeral?  Seriously, why do other people care about the emotions of others, why do they try to impose their beliefs on others?  Why are people who are different considered "strangers" like Meursault, and a threat to society?

Unfortunately, I cannot answer these questions because I don't know my own answers to them, but also because everyone has different opinions and beliefs (and while I'm just speculating, I don't want to be offensive.)

Kafka and the Three Transformations

Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis gives the events from Gregor Samsa's mind, relating his experience, surroundings, and family all from his guilt-prone point of view.  Though the metamorphosis clearly refers to Gregor's transformation from human to cockroach/"monstrous vermin," a significant metamorphosis is also apparent throughout in the characters of his family - primarily his father and sister.

At the beginning of the novel, we are told (in a somewhat timidly respectful way from Gregor's point of view) that Gregor's father is a fat, lazy man that spends hours simply eating breakfast and reading the paper, depending on his son for income support.  Initially not wanting to take care of the situation with Gregor, he runs away and tries cowering behind his wife.  

[insert passage from beginning]

As Gregor's "condition" remains stagnant, the father realizes he must find a means of supporting his family, and decides to get a job as a banker -- taking his role so seriously, as to refuse to take off the uniform, even when sleeping. 

[insert passage about father's "dedication"]

Gregor comments on his father's shockingly different appearance when he sees him a few months after his own metamorphosis.  Rather than fat and old looking, he notes that his father looks stronger, younger, and sharper with his new assimilated role.

[insert]

Gregor's sister Grete starts out as a timid, young child that we only hear through the door of Gregor's room, separated from her brother as well as her parents, begging for her brother to let her in on his "dilemma."  Once her brother's transformation becomes known, she immediately takes it as her role to take care of him.  

[insert beginning, caring sister]

She does this quite diligently and seems the more sympathetic and caring out of Gregor's family, until the very end where she condemns him.  Suddenly she has had enough of Gregor and says things that eventually cause him to give up and die.  

[insert ending where she explodes]

After Gregor's death, her parents reflect on Grete's youthfulness and attractiveness, and, as Mr. Mitchell said, the essence of the ending is "Look at that fertile body, we gotta marry her off."  Grete transforms from a young, essentially useless member of the Samsa family, to a hardworking and caring sister, to an irritable and fed-up adolescent throughout the course of the novel. 

Gregor's father and sister transform over the course of the novel, alongside Gregor himself.  Though Gregor's transformation is physical, that of his family is mental and social, and, despite the lack of a son/brother at the end, they seem better off and hopeful for the future.

*note: [inserts] above are for the potential expansion of the blog post to an essay (as passages alluded to are most likely known at the moment*

Paris? Pamplona?

Cuando los amigos en El sol también se eleva están en España, hay algunas diferencias entre sus personalidades y el escenario en comparación con Paris (Español).
Quand les amis dans Le soleil se léve aussi sont à Paris, il y a beaucoup de différences entre leurs personnalités et sertissage de que est en Paris (Français).

Though the characters in the Sun Also Rises continue their habitual café drinking at all hours and argue amongst themselves in France as well as Spain, there are differences in their interactions, as well as the general feel of the book as the setting changes.  Though you can tell from reading the book that Hemingway clearly loved Paris and its nightlife and craziness after the war, his depictions of peaceful and "pre"-modern Pamplona hold an appreciation different from that associated with the insider descriptions of Paris.

Hemingway describes Paris and the pastimes of the characters enough to allow for the reader to feel like they're a part of the busy, drunken, nightlife, but his descriptions of the city's overall physical appearance are not like those found in the Spanish section, where many sentences, if not long paragraphs at first, are used for describing the nature and tradition of Spain.  Paris is seen as modern and busy as it was greatly affected by the war, while the countrysides of Spain are unaffected and ancient-feeling.

Most of the scenes in Paris take place during the night hours, in urban scenes, with a seemingly "moral vacancy" (as was suggested in class).  In contrast, Jake and Bill spend a lot of their time fishing in the wilderness, or when all the characters are together, watching bullfights in the daytime.  Because Paris is so urban and busy, it gives off a claustrophobic vibe that breeds anxiety in all the barhopping and partying the characters engage in.  Though a good deal of wine is consumed in Spain as well, the days seem to last longer and without as much stress as in Paris, possibly due to the openness of Pamplona and its surroundings.

The alcohol consumed and its "packaging" also differ as the setting switches.  In Paris, the characters indulge in expensive, modern drinks, bottled in glass with nice labels, and they primarily consume drinks out of glasses while sitting at bars or fancy dinner/café tables.  In Pamplona, the drinks of choice are almost entirely wine in leather/skin wine sacks, offered to them not by the hand of a suited-up waiter, but by friendly farmers and peasants.

As the setting switched from Paris, France to Pamplona, Spain (and surrounding countryside), Hemingway's depictions of surroundings switched to a more natural focus, as well as giving off a warmer, more traditional feeling.  The characters still maintained their general habits of arguing with one another (though more seriously in Spain) and drinking with one another, but the overall quality of their time in Spain seemed lighter and not as hectic as in France.