Monday, October 26, 2009
The cut that hurts the most…
If you gotten one before, then you already know what I am talking about. You might think that being stabbed or even a bad break-up would be the thing that would give the most painful cut. In fact, it is neither of these. The cut that hurts the most is beyond a shadow of doubt…paper cuts. Why do they suck much? They look like nothing, but just getting them sends a shockwave of discomfort through your body so bad that it will make you cringe. If that is not enough, the cuts seem like they last for weeks and are always burning! How can something so small be such an inconvenience?
The Great Mystery
This is a mystery that has plagued mankind for many years. No one quite knows why it is. It just is. Ever since they came into being, they were placed into a situation that just does not make sense, and no matter what we seem to do, nobody can answer the ongoing question: if hot dogs come in packs of ten, then why do hot dog buns come in packs of eight? As you can all clearly see, this is a very good point and the fact of it being so is just absolute insanity.
“Reflection of Flannery O’Connor’s Works”
Flanner O’Connor was a famous Southern writer who lived from 1925-1964. O’Connor was also a devout Catholic. She used these aspects of her being in her works. Her Southern roots had influence in a lot of her works. Not only are most of her characters portrayed to have a Southern accent, but the settings of most of her stories are based in the South. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the grandmother is thought of by some people to be evil. Other people, particularly the Southerners, believe that the grandmother just cannot comprehend the modern world, but has good intentions.
O’Connor’s Catholicism also plays a part in her writing. Many of her stories have some kind of religious background. In “Parker’s Back,” the wife is very religious. In an attempt to finally please her, Parker gets a tattoo of “Christ” on his back. Many critics also argue that her works are a reflection of how the South was slowly losing its religious reputation back then and turning into a violent South.
O’Connor’s Catholicism also plays a part in her writing. Many of her stories have some kind of religious background. In “Parker’s Back,” the wife is very religious. In an attempt to finally please her, Parker gets a tattoo of “Christ” on his back. Many critics also argue that her works are a reflection of how the South was slowly losing its religious reputation back then and turning into a violent South.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Reflection on “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
While reading Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the elements of writing that stood out most to me were foreshadowing and irony. The grandmother reading about the Misfit in the newspaper foreshadowed the fate of the family. The grandmother and Red Sam talking about how you cannot trust anyone anymore and then again mentioning the Misfit foreshadowed yet again that this family would run into trouble. The irony of the grandmother warning against running into the Misfit and then her mistake of leading them right to him was almost laughable.
Questions for 10/21/09
“A Good Man is Hard to Find”
1. Near the beginning O’Connor says that “in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady”, describing the grandmother. Red Sammy seems to emphasize that the Misfit would come this way.
2. The grandmother is an old-fashioned lady whose remarks reveal that she is somewhat “stuck in her ways”. She remains static as she seems to believe that there is good in everybody.
3. She realizes that the Misfit is just like her grandchildren in the way that their generation just does not agree with the older generation.
4. That the Misfit was an average guy who believes that world is ultimately going to be judged for what they do no matter how simple it is. This reflects O’Connor’s view that the South’s religious views are coming to a violent end.
“Revelation”
6. The vision that Mrs. Turpin gets afterwards reveals the answer to that question.
7. That piety actually puts a person below everyone else instead of above as a pious person may believe. She is left with the new view that maybe she is not better than everyone else and that she should stop putting people in “classes” as she usually does.
“Parker’s Back”
5. It shows that his views on life are shallow and that he does not like to look at the big picture
6. He did it so Sarah Ruth would finally accept him. He expected her to finally look at him other than just some bum that does not know what he is doing
7. It shows that he did not believe his own feelings.
8. That he does not really care about anyone but himself and he does not deserve his own sympathy by his standards.
9. She feels like he is hiding who he really is and by whispering his name he finally admits to himself who he really is.
1. Near the beginning O’Connor says that “in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady”, describing the grandmother. Red Sammy seems to emphasize that the Misfit would come this way.
2. The grandmother is an old-fashioned lady whose remarks reveal that she is somewhat “stuck in her ways”. She remains static as she seems to believe that there is good in everybody.
3. She realizes that the Misfit is just like her grandchildren in the way that their generation just does not agree with the older generation.
4. That the Misfit was an average guy who believes that world is ultimately going to be judged for what they do no matter how simple it is. This reflects O’Connor’s view that the South’s religious views are coming to a violent end.
“Revelation”
6. The vision that Mrs. Turpin gets afterwards reveals the answer to that question.
7. That piety actually puts a person below everyone else instead of above as a pious person may believe. She is left with the new view that maybe she is not better than everyone else and that she should stop putting people in “classes” as she usually does.
“Parker’s Back”
5. It shows that his views on life are shallow and that he does not like to look at the big picture
6. He did it so Sarah Ruth would finally accept him. He expected her to finally look at him other than just some bum that does not know what he is doing
7. It shows that he did not believe his own feelings.
8. That he does not really care about anyone but himself and he does not deserve his own sympathy by his standards.
9. She feels like he is hiding who he really is and by whispering his name he finally admits to himself who he really is.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Fleas Epidemic in America
Has anyone been watching the news lately about the flea epidemic? They have been saying on the news that there is an unusual infestation of fleas this year. Apparently, the past winter was not hard enough to kill all of them. Not only is there an infestation, but they are also a new breed that are insanely hard to get rid of. My friend’s dog has a flea collar, takes Frontline, uses flea shampoo and still has fleas. Hopefully, they do not take over.
A Streetcar Named Desire
My wife and I went to the play this past Thursday evening. The place was a little smaller than I was expecting, but the interior was gorgeous. The play was good and the acting was good as well. The play is about how Blanche comes to live with her sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley, because she lost the property in another city. She comes saying that she lost it, she did not sell it and there is no bill of sale. Stanley is very suspicious of her and goes through her things. It soon becomes obvious that there is something that Blanche is not telling them. Soon the truth comes out that Blanche was actually kicked out of town because she molested a seventeen year old boy. Throughout the play, this becomes apparent by her promiscuous attitude.
Contrasts within “The Glass Menagerie”
“The Glass Menagerie” is about an American home that strives for the American dream even though many conditions are set against them. Tom works at a warehouse in order to provide for his mother and sister because the father left them many years ago. Amanda is obsessed with her past and always has an inferiority complex because of it. Laura has pleurosis and is crippled because of it. This gives an inferiority complex as well and makes her a very shy girl. The play is set near The Great Depression so times are still hard. It is easy for the reader to see that the play is a big contrast representation. One critic listed many subjects that the play contrasted. Two of such examples were the dreamer and the doer, and fantasy and reality.
The play deals a lot with the concept of the dreamer and the doer. There were also all kinds of examples of both. In the play, the mother, Amanda, was stuck in a sort of dreamer state. It was like she wanted the world to be in a perfect state. She tried to make everyone else’s lives perfect by trying to manage them for them. The irony of this is that she was not making them perfect at all. Although Amanda may have thought that she was doing Tom and Laura a favor, she was actually making them worse. Tom had his own dreams while Laura had hers. It may have seemed like Amanda wanted certain things for her children, but in fact, she only did this because she regretted not having the things for herself. Amanda was obsessed with trying to find Laura a husband, but this obsession only existed because she was afraid that she would end up like herself-alone and depressed (an “old maid as she calls it”). She was also trying to force her will on her son as well. Tom worked at a factory making shoes all day. Obviously, this job would get old after a long period of time. Unfortunately, Tom did not have much of a choice since there was no one to take care of his mother and sister. So he often escaped his reality by going to the movies and watching how actors made their dreams come true. Tom also liked to drink. He did all these things just to get a break from life. Amanda thought that he was becoming more like his father which, once again, made her do silly things because she was obsessed with her past. Amanda was always just stuck on making things like they once were. Tom, on the other hand, was somewhat a combination of both a dreamer and a doer. He worked at a shoe factory to provide for his family. This is not exactly anybody’s idea of a dream. Tom was a dreamer in one sense; he always dreamed of joining the Union of Merchant Seamen. I believe that his way of living pushed him into not only dreaming of joining the Union, but also doing so. In the end, he somewhat ended up like his father and running away from his responsibilities.
There is also a lot of fantasy and reality tied into the play. Amanda attempts to live a fantasy by pretending to live like she did when her husband was still around. She tried so hard to make things like her fantasy that she sometimes ended up doing more harm than good. By pushing Laura to find a guy, she might have influenced Laura’s feelings of inferiority and timidness. Also her desire to keep her son around so he did not end up like his father might also have played a role in why Tom left in the first place. Tom even said in the story that her constant nagging is what makes him do the exact opposite just so he could get away from her. Maybe this is why the father left in the first place? Even after her husband left over fifteen years earlier, Amanda still could not learn that you cannot force people to obey your fantasy-that is just reality, which she could not get a grip on. Laura also lived in a fantasy. She was a cripple which made her very shy and also gave her a complex. She escaped her reality by taking refuge in her glass menagerie collection. When the unicorn’s horn broke off, I think it represented Laura’s desire to become just like everyone else. I think it also symbolized that Laura finally felt like a normal person now that she talked to her high school crush, Jim. I think that the fact that she gave the broken unicorn to Jim was a representation that he was the one who made her feel normal, just like the broken unicorn.
“The Glass Menagerie” is about the American dream and how it contrasted with reality; nobody was, is, or ever will be perfect. The play shows how the typical 1930’s family lived and what their lives were actually like. It showed how people wanted to be just how they wanted and how they dealt with it. Laura just wanted to be normal, Amanda wanted her old life back, and Tom wanted a new one. It all shows what people do and how they act to achieve dreams.
The play deals a lot with the concept of the dreamer and the doer. There were also all kinds of examples of both. In the play, the mother, Amanda, was stuck in a sort of dreamer state. It was like she wanted the world to be in a perfect state. She tried to make everyone else’s lives perfect by trying to manage them for them. The irony of this is that she was not making them perfect at all. Although Amanda may have thought that she was doing Tom and Laura a favor, she was actually making them worse. Tom had his own dreams while Laura had hers. It may have seemed like Amanda wanted certain things for her children, but in fact, she only did this because she regretted not having the things for herself. Amanda was obsessed with trying to find Laura a husband, but this obsession only existed because she was afraid that she would end up like herself-alone and depressed (an “old maid as she calls it”). She was also trying to force her will on her son as well. Tom worked at a factory making shoes all day. Obviously, this job would get old after a long period of time. Unfortunately, Tom did not have much of a choice since there was no one to take care of his mother and sister. So he often escaped his reality by going to the movies and watching how actors made their dreams come true. Tom also liked to drink. He did all these things just to get a break from life. Amanda thought that he was becoming more like his father which, once again, made her do silly things because she was obsessed with her past. Amanda was always just stuck on making things like they once were. Tom, on the other hand, was somewhat a combination of both a dreamer and a doer. He worked at a shoe factory to provide for his family. This is not exactly anybody’s idea of a dream. Tom was a dreamer in one sense; he always dreamed of joining the Union of Merchant Seamen. I believe that his way of living pushed him into not only dreaming of joining the Union, but also doing so. In the end, he somewhat ended up like his father and running away from his responsibilities.
There is also a lot of fantasy and reality tied into the play. Amanda attempts to live a fantasy by pretending to live like she did when her husband was still around. She tried so hard to make things like her fantasy that she sometimes ended up doing more harm than good. By pushing Laura to find a guy, she might have influenced Laura’s feelings of inferiority and timidness. Also her desire to keep her son around so he did not end up like his father might also have played a role in why Tom left in the first place. Tom even said in the story that her constant nagging is what makes him do the exact opposite just so he could get away from her. Maybe this is why the father left in the first place? Even after her husband left over fifteen years earlier, Amanda still could not learn that you cannot force people to obey your fantasy-that is just reality, which she could not get a grip on. Laura also lived in a fantasy. She was a cripple which made her very shy and also gave her a complex. She escaped her reality by taking refuge in her glass menagerie collection. When the unicorn’s horn broke off, I think it represented Laura’s desire to become just like everyone else. I think it also symbolized that Laura finally felt like a normal person now that she talked to her high school crush, Jim. I think that the fact that she gave the broken unicorn to Jim was a representation that he was the one who made her feel normal, just like the broken unicorn.
“The Glass Menagerie” is about the American dream and how it contrasted with reality; nobody was, is, or ever will be perfect. The play shows how the typical 1930’s family lived and what their lives were actually like. It showed how people wanted to be just how they wanted and how they dealt with it. Laura just wanted to be normal, Amanda wanted her old life back, and Tom wanted a new one. It all shows what people do and how they act to achieve dreams.
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