Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Uncle Tom's Cabin 2
I must comment on John Bird. He is one of my favorite characters in the whole book and one of the most developed within such a short time. He is one of the major proponents of the Fugitive Law Act (at least in this book) and admittingly feels uncomfortable actually obeying the law. When brought face to face with his own morality, he can't follow what he has spouted in the Senete and just told everyone what they should be doing. But he does do what is right. And even suggests they give Harry their dead son's clothes. I can think of no sweeter offer. This chapter tells of the changes a person can go through to do the right thing when faced head on with a life or death situation.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Uncle Tom's Cabin 1
Uncle Tom's Cabin is one of my favorite books. I recommend it to everyone; it's so full of racism that our generation has no real experience with. Sure we've all seen the movies, but in South Dakota, even the biggest city of South Dakota, how often do we come face to face with it? Harriet Beecher Stowe puts it right in our faces right away. She does not tipy-toe around it. It is what it is.
Many people say that Stowe is racist throughout the book--and, honestly, I agree. Her descriptions of Uncle Tom and Aunt Cloe and the other slaves on Shelby's plantation is racist. She uses negative words to represent the slaves, i.e. crows. But, regardless of her word choice, Stowe was very much for emancipation; and I do believe that she influenced popular belief on the subject.
One observations: On the first page, Stowe remarks that she will not retell Haley's graphic profanity because it is so terrible, but she will (later) recount tales of brutal murders and beatings. I know these horrors must be told in order to be an affective book, but still it seems a little backwards to me.
Many people say that Stowe is racist throughout the book--and, honestly, I agree. Her descriptions of Uncle Tom and Aunt Cloe and the other slaves on Shelby's plantation is racist. She uses negative words to represent the slaves, i.e. crows. But, regardless of her word choice, Stowe was very much for emancipation; and I do believe that she influenced popular belief on the subject.
One observations: On the first page, Stowe remarks that she will not retell Haley's graphic profanity because it is so terrible, but she will (later) recount tales of brutal murders and beatings. I know these horrors must be told in order to be an affective book, but still it seems a little backwards to me.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Poe
I have read a lot of Poe; we actually had a whole chapter dedicated to him in high school. Thus, I've read The Raven and Annabel Lee more times than I've cared to. Not to say that there is not value in the poems; both exhibit an intense psychological component.
On the other hand, I had never read The Purloined Letter. I found it entertaining. It reminded me of old mysteries I read when younger, i.e. Agatha Christie's and Perot. It's interesting to see how Poe was/may have been the first mystery author. As far as the plot goes, I didn't foresee the ending-which is always a positive to me. I think I will try to get my hands on more of Poe's mysteries.
On the other hand, I had never read The Purloined Letter. I found it entertaining. It reminded me of old mysteries I read when younger, i.e. Agatha Christie's and Perot. It's interesting to see how Poe was/may have been the first mystery author. As far as the plot goes, I didn't foresee the ending-which is always a positive to me. I think I will try to get my hands on more of Poe's mysteries.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Scarlet Letter: The Ending
The last few chapters are my favorite part of The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne is at his best both in plot and writing. Since I've gone over his word choices before and how much I love them, and since I just got finished bashing Hawthorne for his spoiler tendencies, I'll focus on the good.
Hawthorne, while speaking of Reverend Dimmesdale refers to "the polluted priest" (125). I enjoy this metaphor because, 1) pollution is bad, 2) pollution expands and affects all those around it, and 3) the Reverend speaks to large populations, therefore, infecting all of them? Does the fact that Aurther Dimmsdale sinned and hid it, taint his whole parish?
In the forest, Pearl transforms from her unpredictable imp to a gentle child picking flowers and adorning herself with them. She "became a nymph-child, or an infant dryad" (131-2). The power of the forest is a major theme in The Scarlet Letter. It transforms Pearl into a good child; it turns Hester's and Aurther's lives around; it is where the Black Man resides to take souls.
A line that stands alone. "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true" (137).
Hawthorne uses color throughout the novel. Some follow, I'm sure there's more that I'm leaving out. But is there significance in the use of color? Does Hawthorne mean for us to associate certain things with different colors?
The scarlet letter. The red rose bush next to the prison door. Hester clads herself in gray all the time. Her hair is black. Pearl once takes seaweed and makes herself a green 'A' to place on her chest. When she takes off the scarlet letter and lets down her hair the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees" (130).
Finally, we get to the moral of the story (according to Hawthorne). "Among many moral which press upon us from the minister's miserable experience, we put only this into a sentence:-'Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!" (163). Is Hawthorne saying that Dimmesdale's sin was not in adultery but in the lying of it?
Just a few thoughts.
Hawthorne, while speaking of Reverend Dimmesdale refers to "the polluted priest" (125). I enjoy this metaphor because, 1) pollution is bad, 2) pollution expands and affects all those around it, and 3) the Reverend speaks to large populations, therefore, infecting all of them? Does the fact that Aurther Dimmsdale sinned and hid it, taint his whole parish?
In the forest, Pearl transforms from her unpredictable imp to a gentle child picking flowers and adorning herself with them. She "became a nymph-child, or an infant dryad" (131-2). The power of the forest is a major theme in The Scarlet Letter. It transforms Pearl into a good child; it turns Hester's and Aurther's lives around; it is where the Black Man resides to take souls.
A line that stands alone. "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true" (137).
Hawthorne uses color throughout the novel. Some follow, I'm sure there's more that I'm leaving out. But is there significance in the use of color? Does Hawthorne mean for us to associate certain things with different colors?
The scarlet letter. The red rose bush next to the prison door. Hester clads herself in gray all the time. Her hair is black. Pearl once takes seaweed and makes herself a green 'A' to place on her chest. When she takes off the scarlet letter and lets down her hair the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees" (130).
Finally, we get to the moral of the story (according to Hawthorne). "Among many moral which press upon us from the minister's miserable experience, we put only this into a sentence:-'Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!" (163). Is Hawthorne saying that Dimmesdale's sin was not in adultery but in the lying of it?
Just a few thoughts.
Hawthorne as the Spoiler
Ok, Hawthorne is bothering me. He is too specific. He points everything out. In chapter 6, I was willing to let go the awfulness of pointing out that Pearl is the flesh and blood reincarnation of Hester's sin after giving so many hints that could have been just left out there for the reader to figure out. But pointing out how the Devil had snuck into Roger Chillingsworth's soul was too much. Is it not enough that you say, "Ever and anon, too, there came a glare of red light out of his eyes; as if the old man's soul were on fire, and kept on smouldering duskily within his breast, until, by some casual puff of passion, it was blown into a momentary flame." (110). Must you follow it with: "In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man's faculty of transforming himself into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a devil's office" (110)?
So much more enjoyment could be gotten from The Scarlet Letter if only Hawthorne did not spoil it for his readers!
So much more enjoyment could be gotten from The Scarlet Letter if only Hawthorne did not spoil it for his readers!
The Scarlet Letter Part 2
I can't help but gush about Hawthorne's writing. Don't get me wrong the story is good, but since I've read it before, it's difficult to get much more out of it. But reading it as an adult I am realizing how fantastic the writing is. Let me share a few tidbits I underlined. (The italicized parts are mine.)
"...as a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human existence..." (48).
"...The very law that condemned her--a giant of stern features, but with vigor to support, as well as to annihilate, in his iron arm--..." (55).
"...the spot [Salem] where some great and marked even has given the color to their lifetime..." (56).
"...sometimes through that alchemy of quiet malice, by which women can concoct a subtime poison from ordinary trifles..." (59). (I laughed so hard when I read this line!)
"That unsunned snow in the matron's bosom, and the buring shame on Hester Prynne's,--what had the two in common?" (60).
There are many other lines of course, but these were some of my favorites. Any that you'd like to share?
"...as a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human existence..." (48).
"...The very law that condemned her--a giant of stern features, but with vigor to support, as well as to annihilate, in his iron arm--..." (55).
"...the spot [Salem] where some great and marked even has given the color to their lifetime..." (56).
"...sometimes through that alchemy of quiet malice, by which women can concoct a subtime poison from ordinary trifles..." (59). (I laughed so hard when I read this line!)
"That unsunned snow in the matron's bosom, and the buring shame on Hester Prynne's,--what had the two in common?" (60).
There are many other lines of course, but these were some of my favorites. Any that you'd like to share?
The Scarlet Letter Intro
A 35 page introduction. Wow! To me this was the hardest pages to read in the novel. But it did have some interesting and fun parts hidden in it. Hawthorne's descriptions of the men in the Custom-House was great. For example, "...such an absolute nonentity..." when he mentions the Inspector on page 17.
Also the description of the General on page 19 is great. "... in imagination, and old fortress, like Ticonderoga, from a view of its gray and broken ruins. Here and there, perchance, the walls may remain almost complete; but elsewhere may be only a shapeless mound, cumbrous with its very strength, and overgrown, through long years of peace and neglect, with grass and alien weeds."
The Scarlet Letter is full of metaphors that are awe-inspiring to a writer. If you want to write fiction, I would suggest re-reading pages 28-35. It is full of suggestions, hints, and overall gems. Plus, even his writing on writing is full of imagery that I can only dream of imitating.
Also the description of the General on page 19 is great. "... in imagination, and old fortress, like Ticonderoga, from a view of its gray and broken ruins. Here and there, perchance, the walls may remain almost complete; but elsewhere may be only a shapeless mound, cumbrous with its very strength, and overgrown, through long years of peace and neglect, with grass and alien weeds."
The Scarlet Letter is full of metaphors that are awe-inspiring to a writer. If you want to write fiction, I would suggest re-reading pages 28-35. It is full of suggestions, hints, and overall gems. Plus, even his writing on writing is full of imagery that I can only dream of imitating.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Thoreau: Smiley Faces :)
Chapter two of Walden, "Where I Lived...", is fantastic to study with regards to language. Of course, the content of "Where I Lived..." was very interesting, but what stood out to me was his imagery and analogies. I underlined so many passages and put smiley faces next to them that I have to share a few.
"...like Atlas, to take the world on my shoulders,--I never heard what compensation he received for that--and do all..." (888) This one is great. Right in the middle of the sentence he has an aside to himself.
"...while the mists, like ghosts, were stealthily withdrawing in every direction into the woods, as at the breaking up of some nocturnal conventicle." (889) Great imagery: ghosts at a nocturnal conventicle.
"...those true-blue coins from heaven's own mint..." (890) Some of the mountains viewable on the distant horizon. I know what distant mountains look like. Never thought of coins from heaven though.
"Morning brings back the heroic ages." (891) Don't we all feel a little empowered in the morning. Today I will be a hero.
Isn't Thoreau just great? Even if one doesn't agree with what he says, he did say it in an interesting way!
"...like Atlas, to take the world on my shoulders,--I never heard what compensation he received for that--and do all..." (888) This one is great. Right in the middle of the sentence he has an aside to himself.
"...while the mists, like ghosts, were stealthily withdrawing in every direction into the woods, as at the breaking up of some nocturnal conventicle." (889) Great imagery: ghosts at a nocturnal conventicle.
"...those true-blue coins from heaven's own mint..." (890) Some of the mountains viewable on the distant horizon. I know what distant mountains look like. Never thought of coins from heaven though.
"Morning brings back the heroic ages." (891) Don't we all feel a little empowered in the morning. Today I will be a hero.
Isn't Thoreau just great? Even if one doesn't agree with what he says, he did say it in an interesting way!
Thoreau: An Experiment of life
"Here is life, an experiment to a great extent untried by me" (848).
I loved reading Thoreau; I hadn't previously, but now I think I understand him better. I especially love the part under "Economy" where he talks about living. Thoreau is saying how much we depend on other people's experiences to guide our own. Too often do we take the road most traveled because it is what we know. What our parents knew and our grandparents. How often do we truly strike out on our own to discover something new? Life--an experiment, a personal experiment--is too often dictated by others.
My life is like this. I do what I'm expected to do and what I'm told to do. I think many of us are this way. Why did I go to college? Why do I play sports? Why do I read the books I do? Is it truly because I want to or am I following a path that was laid out for me long before I realized it? Who am I trying to impress? Why do I care if I'm "successful"?
Everyone's answers to these questions will be different. Some people are doing exactly what they want to do. Kudos. Some people aren't. Perhaps not a personal fault--perhaps a cultural one.
"The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others?" (853).
I loved reading Thoreau; I hadn't previously, but now I think I understand him better. I especially love the part under "Economy" where he talks about living. Thoreau is saying how much we depend on other people's experiences to guide our own. Too often do we take the road most traveled because it is what we know. What our parents knew and our grandparents. How often do we truly strike out on our own to discover something new? Life--an experiment, a personal experiment--is too often dictated by others.
My life is like this. I do what I'm expected to do and what I'm told to do. I think many of us are this way. Why did I go to college? Why do I play sports? Why do I read the books I do? Is it truly because I want to or am I following a path that was laid out for me long before I realized it? Who am I trying to impress? Why do I care if I'm "successful"?
Everyone's answers to these questions will be different. Some people are doing exactly what they want to do. Kudos. Some people aren't. Perhaps not a personal fault--perhaps a cultural one.
"The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others?" (853).
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