In the third section of reading Heart of Darkness, the Manager comes into the story.
The Manager is on the ship that is going to take Marlow to the Inner Station. He gets on the ship and shakes his hand and the Manager gives him a smile. This smile wasn’t even a smile, Marlow remembers. It was a look or a grimace, but not really a smile. His smile like face made Marlow aware that this man had almost zero emotions. The emotionless of the Manager made Marlow uneasy, and he didn’t know why, which is what scares him.
The uneasiness that he feels and the emotionless ness of the Manager are supposed to be like a warning that this is what happens to you when you are in the Darkness for too long. You either cant handle it and have to leave or die, or to be able to handle it you have to let yourself be unaffected by any of your surroundings. Marlow becomes uneasy because he knows he will be affected by what is around him.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Internal Struggggggle
In this section of reading of Heart of Darkness, a lot has happened. Marlow has gone through all of the motions to be able to go to the Congo, and has now arrived in Africa, waiting to get onto another steamer to get to the Inner Station. He has now walked and traveled across the land, to see the natives and how they are ‘natural.’ He knows that they are supposed to be there and he, as a white man, isn’t.
He notices that the reason he is there is not because he thinks that he should be reforming everything that these natives were doing. He wasn’t for the cause, he was in it for the adventure. He knows that what he is doing there is wrong, but at the same time he doesn’t feel that these natives are equal by any means. He thinks of them as animals or creatures, only free when they have died. This is his main internal struggle.
He notices that the reason he is there is not because he thinks that he should be reforming everything that these natives were doing. He wasn’t for the cause, he was in it for the adventure. He knows that what he is doing there is wrong, but at the same time he doesn’t feel that these natives are equal by any means. He thinks of them as animals or creatures, only free when they have died. This is his main internal struggle.
Lost Brother- Poetry Response
Lost Brother
I knew that tree was my lost brother
when I heard he was cut down
at four thousand eight hundred sixty-two years;
I know we had the same mother.
His death pained me. I made up a story.
I realized, when I saw his photograph,
he was an evergreen, a bristlecone like me,
who had lived from an early age
with a certain amount of dieback,
at impossible locations, at elevations
over ten thousand feet in extreme weather.
His company: other conifers,
the rosy finch, the rock wren, the raven and clouds,
blue and silver insects that fed mostly off each other.
Some years bighorn sheep visited in summer—
he was entertained by red bats, black-tailed jackrabbits,
horned lizards, the creatures old and young he sheltered.
Beside him in the shade, pink mountain pennyroyal—
to his south, white angelica.
I am prepared to live as long as he did
(it would please our mother),
live with clouds and those I love
suffering with God.
Sooner or later, some bag of wind will cut me down.
—Stanley Moss
On the surface this poem is about a tree that knows that it is just a tree that will never surmount to anything because it will eventually be cut down or die and fall.
The author is using a tree as his character and point of view because when people think of trees they think tall and stable. He is using the tree as his metaphor for people in society. We all compare ourselves with others and want to be as good as someone else. We want to make our parents or anyone else who’s approval matters to us, proud.
The point I think that the author is trying to get to is, that we as humans have faults and we all will compare ourselves to others, and will always try to be better, but the important thing is not to be as good as someone else, but to be as good as you can be because life is too short not to live it to your fullest potential. Sooner or later some bag of wind, or something, will be your downfall, or your end, and you want to have your past be the best it could have been.
I knew that tree was my lost brother
when I heard he was cut down
at four thousand eight hundred sixty-two years;
I know we had the same mother.
His death pained me. I made up a story.
I realized, when I saw his photograph,
he was an evergreen, a bristlecone like me,
who had lived from an early age
with a certain amount of dieback,
at impossible locations, at elevations
over ten thousand feet in extreme weather.
His company: other conifers,
the rosy finch, the rock wren, the raven and clouds,
blue and silver insects that fed mostly off each other.
Some years bighorn sheep visited in summer—
he was entertained by red bats, black-tailed jackrabbits,
horned lizards, the creatures old and young he sheltered.
Beside him in the shade, pink mountain pennyroyal—
to his south, white angelica.
I am prepared to live as long as he did
(it would please our mother),
live with clouds and those I love
suffering with God.
Sooner or later, some bag of wind will cut me down.
—Stanley Moss
On the surface this poem is about a tree that knows that it is just a tree that will never surmount to anything because it will eventually be cut down or die and fall.
The author is using a tree as his character and point of view because when people think of trees they think tall and stable. He is using the tree as his metaphor for people in society. We all compare ourselves with others and want to be as good as someone else. We want to make our parents or anyone else who’s approval matters to us, proud.
The point I think that the author is trying to get to is, that we as humans have faults and we all will compare ourselves to others, and will always try to be better, but the important thing is not to be as good as someone else, but to be as good as you can be because life is too short not to live it to your fullest potential. Sooner or later some bag of wind, or something, will be your downfall, or your end, and you want to have your past be the best it could have been.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
stupid selfish girl
Eveline is about a girl who is getting ready to leave her home and bad childhood to be happy with someone who loves her, but then can’t do it.
Who are her brothers?
Why can’t she leave?
If you had such awful memories associated with a place, and had the chance to leave, why wouldn’t you?
Eveline is one of the most selfish characters I have ever read. Usually when you think of a selfish character all they want are material things or wealth or power for themselves. One could argue that if she were to leave her father and everything behind for her own happiness, she would be selfish. She is selfish because she will not leave everything. I think that by staying and letting Frank go, she is selfish. She is not scared or attached to her family. She is selfish and wants to keep her life how she knows it. She doesn’t want to leave the house she grows up in or her daily routine because she would have to start over and establish her own way, instead of following her father.
If I had such a horrible childhood, with an abusive father, and I had the chance to leave I would do it. She thinks that she is helping Frank because she doesn’t know if she loves him. She thinks it would be bad to leave and marry someone she doesn’t love. I think she did love him, and didn’t know it. I think because she had such a bad relationship with her father as a child and grew up for the most part without a mother, she doesn’t know what love is anymore, and cannot connect with Frank because of this. If she would realize that she was doing this, then she could see that leaving with him is the best thing for her. Bottom line. I don’t like her, yet I pity her.
Who are her brothers?
Why can’t she leave?
If you had such awful memories associated with a place, and had the chance to leave, why wouldn’t you?
Eveline is one of the most selfish characters I have ever read. Usually when you think of a selfish character all they want are material things or wealth or power for themselves. One could argue that if she were to leave her father and everything behind for her own happiness, she would be selfish. She is selfish because she will not leave everything. I think that by staying and letting Frank go, she is selfish. She is not scared or attached to her family. She is selfish and wants to keep her life how she knows it. She doesn’t want to leave the house she grows up in or her daily routine because she would have to start over and establish her own way, instead of following her father.
If I had such a horrible childhood, with an abusive father, and I had the chance to leave I would do it. She thinks that she is helping Frank because she doesn’t know if she loves him. She thinks it would be bad to leave and marry someone she doesn’t love. I think she did love him, and didn’t know it. I think because she had such a bad relationship with her father as a child and grew up for the most part without a mother, she doesn’t know what love is anymore, and cannot connect with Frank because of this. If she would realize that she was doing this, then she could see that leaving with him is the best thing for her. Bottom line. I don’t like her, yet I pity her.
over my head and around the corner
Araby is a story about an unnamed boy who is in love with his friend’s sister and wants to buy her a present at the bazaar.
Where does the boy live?
Why does a priest live in the house previous to him living there?
Do all children realize that their life is no longer great at some point?
When I first read this story, I barely got the main idea and plot line out of it. Apparently the plot line does not matter. The boy is in love with a girl and he wants to buy her something to show her his love, but when he gets to the bazaar, nothing is as grand as he had imagined it to be. I figured that this was a metaphor to say that children dream about what their lives should be, and then are crushed when they come to the realization that none of their dreams matter. Basically, this story went over my head and around the corner, as stated in class, because I didn’t get any of the religious symbols or society references when I read it.
Where does the boy live?
Why does a priest live in the house previous to him living there?
Do all children realize that their life is no longer great at some point?
When I first read this story, I barely got the main idea and plot line out of it. Apparently the plot line does not matter. The boy is in love with a girl and he wants to buy her something to show her his love, but when he gets to the bazaar, nothing is as grand as he had imagined it to be. I figured that this was a metaphor to say that children dream about what their lives should be, and then are crushed when they come to the realization that none of their dreams matter. Basically, this story went over my head and around the corner, as stated in class, because I didn’t get any of the religious symbols or society references when I read it.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
all i wanna do is *bang bang bang* and a *cha ching* and take your money
A Good Man Is Hard To Find is about a family that takes a trip and gets lost on an accidental side trip where they HAVE AN ACCIDENT and run into some creeper people who stop to ‘help’ them.
Who is The Misfit?
Why is it so important to the grandma that they go to see this house?
Are people inherently good?
The theme of this story, although it is not crystal clear, is regret. To me I felt that every character was regretting something. The father was regretting bringing his mother along on the trip. The mother is regretting the way she raised her kids because of their manners. The grandmother is regretting telling them the house was in Georgia. The Misfit is regretting his passed life that he can’t seem to remember, and is even regretting that he can’t remember.
This is probably the most creeper story ever. It starts out nice and pretty with a little family going on a car trip with their grandmother. They don’t really like their grandmother because she thinks she knows what is best for everyone, but really has no idea what is happening in reality. Then they go down a dirt road because grandma said too and they crash their car and then The Misfit shows up and kills them all. There is no reason for him to kill them all, but he does because he thinks that if he has done one bad thing he should just continue to be a bad person.
The grandmother tells him that he is a good person and he is capable of good things because he comes from a good family. I think this is what makes The Misfit so angry. He doesn’t associate being a good person with coming from a good family. He associates his family with being a bad person. I think because he came from a good family, when he did something bad in the first place, they weren’t too fond of him after that, so he dislikes families now, and decides to kills this sorry family. He is most frightened when she touches him. He is afraid of affection, and his reaction is to shoot her.
Who is The Misfit?
Why is it so important to the grandma that they go to see this house?
Are people inherently good?
The theme of this story, although it is not crystal clear, is regret. To me I felt that every character was regretting something. The father was regretting bringing his mother along on the trip. The mother is regretting the way she raised her kids because of their manners. The grandmother is regretting telling them the house was in Georgia. The Misfit is regretting his passed life that he can’t seem to remember, and is even regretting that he can’t remember.
This is probably the most creeper story ever. It starts out nice and pretty with a little family going on a car trip with their grandmother. They don’t really like their grandmother because she thinks she knows what is best for everyone, but really has no idea what is happening in reality. Then they go down a dirt road because grandma said too and they crash their car and then The Misfit shows up and kills them all. There is no reason for him to kill them all, but he does because he thinks that if he has done one bad thing he should just continue to be a bad person.
The grandmother tells him that he is a good person and he is capable of good things because he comes from a good family. I think this is what makes The Misfit so angry. He doesn’t associate being a good person with coming from a good family. He associates his family with being a bad person. I think because he came from a good family, when he did something bad in the first place, they weren’t too fond of him after that, so he dislikes families now, and decides to kills this sorry family. He is most frightened when she touches him. He is afraid of affection, and his reaction is to shoot her.
Monday, September 1, 2008
ride your horsie into town
The Rocking-Horse Winner is about a boy who bets his money on racehorses to help out his family’s financial situation.
What does the mother say decides if you have money?
Why does the boy think he has to ride the horse to find the winner?
Is money really that important if you are just going to use it for material possessions rather than get out of debt?
There are a lot of stories that are centered around an object that helps the main character through a tough time or helps them find themselves, but a story that’s main character rides a rocking horse to find a winner is something new. I think its sad that his mother is so bitter about money the boy thinks he has to be lucky to help her. I feel badly not only for the boy but for the mother that they are so hung up on luck to be the deciding factor of how much money they have.
I love the simple rocking horse/ racehorse metaphor. The fact that they boy just rides a rocking horse until he sees the winner or until he finds what he wants is so simple that it makes the story so much better. He tells his mom that all he has to do is go where he wants to go and he gets what he wants. His mother cant understand that all she needs to do is make herself ‘lucky.’ The more she dwells on her poorness and unluckiness, the unhappier she becomes. Her son has figured out that he can do whatever he wants as long as he himself makes it happen.
I feel badly and take pity on the mother that only thinks about the money. When she is able to access the five thousand pounds, she spends it on material possessions to make her life the luxury it once was. She could have just paid off the debts they had and been satisfied in what they had. Because she spent the money, it just makes her want more, and the ‘whispering ’ in the house continues.
What does the mother say decides if you have money?
Why does the boy think he has to ride the horse to find the winner?
Is money really that important if you are just going to use it for material possessions rather than get out of debt?
There are a lot of stories that are centered around an object that helps the main character through a tough time or helps them find themselves, but a story that’s main character rides a rocking horse to find a winner is something new. I think its sad that his mother is so bitter about money the boy thinks he has to be lucky to help her. I feel badly not only for the boy but for the mother that they are so hung up on luck to be the deciding factor of how much money they have.
I love the simple rocking horse/ racehorse metaphor. The fact that they boy just rides a rocking horse until he sees the winner or until he finds what he wants is so simple that it makes the story so much better. He tells his mom that all he has to do is go where he wants to go and he gets what he wants. His mother cant understand that all she needs to do is make herself ‘lucky.’ The more she dwells on her poorness and unluckiness, the unhappier she becomes. Her son has figured out that he can do whatever he wants as long as he himself makes it happen.
I feel badly and take pity on the mother that only thinks about the money. When she is able to access the five thousand pounds, she spends it on material possessions to make her life the luxury it once was. She could have just paid off the debts they had and been satisfied in what they had. Because she spent the money, it just makes her want more, and the ‘whispering ’ in the house continues.
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