Summer Work: How to Read Like A Professor Notes
Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)
A great example of a trip turning out to be a quest is Stevens’ trip in “The Remains of the Day”
• A Quester – Stevens (does not know he is on a quest.)
• A Place to Go – Miss Keaton’s house
(Lord Darlington tells Stevens to take the car and see the countryside.)
• A Stated Reason To Go There – To take a vacation and hire Miss Keaton to work at Darlington Hall.
• Challenges and Trials en Route – Stevens car breaks down and runs out of gas twice. He gets stuck on a road in the middle of the night with a broken down car.
• A Real Reason to Go There – To discover that there is more to life than buttering.
However, Foster claims that “Forty-five-year-old men either have self-knowledge or they’re never going to get it…” Stevens is over forty-five. Does this mean Stevens is not a Quester, or is “The Remains of the Day” a unique case? Even the most simple of trips can be a quest if it is comprised of these components:
• A Quester – the person going on the trip
(A Quester may or may not s/he is going on a quest.)
• A Place to Go – the destination of the trip
(Someone tells the Quester to go somewhere…)
• A Stated Reason To Go There
(… and what to do there. The Quester often fails the stated quest.)
• Challenges and Trials en Route - obstacles
(Things that may keep the Quester away from the stated goal or endanger him.)
• A Real Reason to Go There
(The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason. The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge.)
Not all Trips are Quests. Sometimes plot requires that a writer get a character from home to work and back… that’s just movement, not Quest there.
Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
Sigmund Freud: “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
All books contain scenes of dinner, lunch, breakfast, etc.
In the “Life of Pi”, Pi Patel eats with a tiger on a small boat. At the end it is revealed that Pi is the tiger. Thus, the communion between the two shows a connection, a sort of bond. It reveals that the two are but one.
The book “Why Do All the Black Kids Sit Together at the Cafeteria” is a prime example of support for the claim that “we only eat with those we feel comfortable with.” As the author of the book explains, racial issues in the media and in society’s subconscious make it so the “Black Kids” only feel comfortable around other “Black Kids” and only eat with them. It is interesting that the title in itself is an act of communion.
It is said that today’s society does not have a “sit down dinner” anymore and that our family structures are endangering the family unit. To symbolize the collapse of the traditional family and family unity and love, people say that families do not “sit down to dinner” anymore. This holds the connotative meaning that, because people do not sit down to dinner, they do not feel comfortable anymore. Sometimes a meal is just a meal, and eating with others is simply eating with others.
More often than not, though, it’s not.
• Whenever people eat or drink together, it is communion.
• Almost all religions have stories or holidays involving people coming together and eating together.
• In real life, breaking bread together is an act of sharing and peace, since if you’re breaking bread you’re not breaking bread.
• Communion, eating tougher, can only happen under peaceful pretexts.
• All people eat… a communion scene shows a connection between the people in it.
• People are skeptical of those we eat with, and only eat with people that we like.
• Writing a communion scene is so difficult and uninteresting that it is almost always purposeful when an author takes the time and space to write one.
• If people commence in a communion and all goes well, it is a good sign.
• If something goes wrong during the communion then caries negative consequences.
Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
Many movies and novels portray vampirism in a very sexual way.
In “Queen of the Damned,” the vampires in the story (especially the main Character) prey on young women and suck their blood, either killing them or turning them into vampires. The way the act of sucking the blood is portrayed makes it very sexual. The main character is pursued due to his rock star status by many young girls naïve of the fact that he is a vampire. When the girls get with the main character, he attacks them.
Also, in the movie version of Vanhelsing, Dracula preys on the young women of the village and turns them into his minions. The women later prey on the young men of the village. Vanhelsing (a religious figure) attempts to stop the cycle by attacking the original temptation (Dracula). Because he is a man of religion, he attacks the temptation of the metaphorical sex. Consider the characteristics of a vampire (Dracula):
• “weird attractiveness… sometimes downright sexy.”
• dangerous
• mysterious
• goes after beautiful, unmarried (virginal) women
• grows stronger and more alive after each victim
• steals the “usability” of women
Vampires and vampirism symboliz:
• sex
• selfishness
• exploitation
• refusal to respect the autonomy of other people
Not just vampires:
• ghosts (such as in Hamlet, Christmas Carol)
• monsters (Dr. Jekylll)
• most scary and evil creatures
• regular people with evil traits/desires
Vampires were used to symbolize sex in the 19th century when it was inappropriate to explicitly mention the subject.
If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet
Structures of sonnets…
Petrarchan:
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
Shakespearean:
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
C c c c c c c c c c
C c c c c c c c c c
C c c c c c c c c c
C c c c c c c c c c
D d d d d d d d d d
D d d d d d d d d d
Last section (D’s) is called couplet, often holds its own meaning. The structure of a sonnet looks like a square when written out.
• Fourteen lines long and written almost always in iambic pentameter.
• Most lines will have ten syllables and the others will be very close to ten.
• Ten syllables of English are about as long as fourteen lines are high…. thus making it a square.
It is important to recognize a sonnet because when one realizes the form of the poem, he/she can appreciate the intricacies of it and the effort the poet put in.
Sonnets are complex even for their size…
• Sonnets can’t have an epic scope or intricate storyline.
• Has a shift taking place between two of its parts. (one part constitutes the first 8 lines, the other the last 6).
• In a Petrarchan sonnet uses one rhyme scheme for the first 8 lines and another for the last 6.
• Shakespearean sonnet divides the poem into four parts, each with a united meaning.
Form helps a reader better understand a story.
Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
Themes tend to become cliché after a while due to the repetitiveness of them in different contexts.
As musicians are inspired by other musicians, authors base their writings on those of other past authors.
Many stories are based on other past “stories” such as those in the Bible.
There is one great story and every work of literature that is created only adds to that story. The story becomes repetitive.
If we recognize texts, there truly exists an “aha!” moment. Personally, when I first connected “East of Eden” to the Bible (a connection not difficult to make) I felt the “aha!” moment. However, I also came to better understand and predict the events in the novel because I had made that connection.
All literature is inspired by other stories and is not truly “original.”
• A professor, or well rounded reader, can recognize familiar characters or “friends” in other works of literature that appear recurrently.
• Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato, borrows from the stories of Alice in Wonderland and Sacajawea.
Authors use this to add a richer characterization based on the knowledge and feelings readers already have of characters and events.
There is only one story.
• Stories grow out of other stories, poems out of other poems.
• When one story refers to another and we recognize it, we feel delight.
• We also are able to appreciate and understand the story to a much greater degree.
• However, just because a story might be based on a “great” or legendary story from the past, does not make it by default great.
When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare…
We read several Shakespearean plays, novels, sonnets and poems throughout our lives (practically one or more a year during our higher middle school and high school careers.)
Shakespeare is referenced in even the most unlikely pop-culture shows including Family Guy, Futurama and The Simpsons.
Shakespeare’s plays have been made into hit movies showing the universal popularity of his plays, even hundreds of years after their original showings.
“Spin-Offs” of Shakespeare’s plays include Rome Must Die, a film showing (as the original play did) how tensions between two families can lead to both being severely hurt. As previously stated, all works of literature work off of each other.
Shakespeare is often used as a reference for a work of literature because he is so well known and his story lines varied greatly.
Writers use Shakespeare for a reason:
• Not to sound smart, fancy or well educated.
• Writers quote what they remember, and that usually happens to be Shakespeare because he is so memorable.
• It lends an authority to the text because Shakespeare is so well known.
• Some authors “bounce ideas” of Shakespeare to see if theirs are credible.
• Others use Shakespeare as a sort of short-hand. If one can refer to the morals in Romeo and Juliet, s/he need not recreate them.
…Or the Bible
In East of Eden, the references to the bible are so apparent that many critics say Steinberg went overboard. Many say that because the references are not as subtle as they wish they should be, the novel as a whole loses its effectiveness.
The popularity of the Bible (even by those who do not practice Christianity) makes it a perfect reference for authors.
Though now-a-days not as well read or known as it has been for the past 2000 years, the Bible is referenced by many great texts.
Parts of the Bible that get referenced:
• The Four Horsemen: to show that the end, or judgment, is coming or near.
• The Garden of Eden: (Adam and Eve) to show the loss of innocence, or “Fall”
• Cain and Abel: to show the existence of sibling rivalry.
Authors often refer titles themsvles to the Bible:
• East of Eden
• The Sun Also Rises
• Tongues of Flame
• Absalom, Absalom!
Many writers are themselves very religious or use religion to:
• Create a holy or final tone.
• Facilitate characterization or setting if an author uses a Biblical name in a story.
• Create a timeless and universal tone.
• To show that the struggles portrayed in a novel are ancient.
Hanseldee and Greteldum
It is interesting to see that children’s literature is held to such a high degree by modern critics. Though it does make sense that the stories are used because we hear them so many times as children. The stories are well known and often have very credible life lessons within them.
One would not be well advised if they were to chose to reference “Ghost Busters” or other currently well known works of fiction. These works may be popular now but will most likely become outdated, making the story lose its effectiveness in the future. Though many forms of great literature become outdated or overused, one great source of references is “kiddie lit.”
Some examples of ever popular children’s literature:
• Alice in Wonderland
• Treasure Island
• Chronicles of Narnia
• The Wind in the Willows
• The Cat in the Hat
• Goodnight Moon
• Sam I am
• Snow White
• Sleeping Beauty
• Hansel and Gretel: Children lost and far away from home. Currently very popular.
Today due to media (Disney) these stories are known throughout the world.
Author does not (and should not) have to rewrite the story of the fairy tale and can just borrow one element from it to make the reference valid and effective.
It’s Greek to Me
We have read several of the Greek myths throughout school. Personally I have seen the messages a bit cliché, but I suppose that is because it is so prominent in our other readings as well.
I also consider Albanian folk tales as myths. My parents tell stories that (though seemed very unlikely and occasionally impossible) had a relative moral in them.
It is interesting to note different ethnic appeals and feels of different myths. An island culture in one part of the world may have stories about the dangers of going out into the beach at night that has the message of not disobeying one’s parents while another could have the same message but told through a completely different context.
Myths (or the Albanian, Greek and some Costa Rican ones I am familiar with) seem to stress the importance of doing the right thing through showing the consequences of doing otherwise. It is like scaring people into submission. Myth is a body of story that matters.
• Societies have their own myths that matter and are stressed.
• Myths often hold morals and themes that are recurrent in the lives of humans.
• Since there is only one story in the history of mankind, myths tend to repeat.
Greek myths are such a large part of our current culture today that they are often referred to in Literature. (Cities, Universities and High Schools are named after these myths.)
• In literature that references myths one finds Underworlds.
• Metamorphoses from Greek myths are recurrent in literature.
Some Greek Myth Themes:
• Search for treasures such as Indian Jones.
• There is no form of dysfunctional family for which there isn’t a Greek or Roman Myth predecessor.
It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow
Though often appearing in the setting of novels and poems, weather is more easily recognizable in movies. Whenever everything is going wrong for a character in any motion-picture, it begins to rain and thunder. As soon as things turn around for him or her, the sun begins to shine and birds begin to sing.
The explicit nature of weather (especially rain and sunshine) in film is more easily recognizable but at the same time less effective. The subtleties of weather in novels (where the reader cannot actually see the rain or snow or sun) create a sense that everything is coincidental and that the world is actually rejoicing with the characters. However, in film, one is more conscious that the rain was prompted by a director and planned to fall at a certain angle. Many stories set the setting by using weather
• Thunder storms
• Snow storms
• Droughts/Floods
While most readers do not consciously realize this, weather in literature creates atmosphere and mood. It’s never just rain.
What Rain symbolizes:
• Drowning is one of Humans’ greatest fears.
• Speaks to our primal instincts.
• Refers to Noah’s ark and God’s promise to man.
Author’s Use Weather Because:
• Rain/Weather are plot devices.
• Brings all humans together. As the snow rained on everyone in the previous story.
• Provides obstacles for Characters. (“With a little rain and a bit of wind, you can die of hypothermia on the Fourth of July.”)
• Rain is clean. (paradox: rain is clean, but comes down and creates mud.)
• However, if person falls down in the rain, he will be covered in mud and dirtier than before.
• Rain is Restorative. (Associated with Spring and Noah. “April showers bring May flowers”)
• Rain creates rainbows when mixed with Sun. (Rainbows symbolize divine promise. - Noah)
• However, rain can be used to create a sense of confusion when used as ‘fog’ such as is used by Dickens.
Snow:
• Snow is clean, stark, severe, warm, inhospitable, inviting, playful, suffocating, filthy.
• Snow can be used to create any mood/tone.
…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Violence in literature and films is nothing new. However, what are new are age ratings on violence. It seems as if today children are being overly-protected by the government when it comes to violence.
It had never occurred to me before that all the pain and sorrow one feels over reading about the deaths of fictional characters is all created by the author. It is a great power to be able to control the emotions of a public simply by using one’s imagination.
I find it interesting that the author does not set a general meaning to violence in literature as he has done with the other chapters. However, it is understandable that because violence is so widespread and committed for so many reasons, it would be difficult (and apparently impossible) to pigeonholed it into a set meaning.
Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings… but it can also be cultural and societal in implications.
Violence can be:
• symbolic (can be a metaphor for something else)
• thematic
• biblical
• Shakespearean
• Romantic
• allegorical
• transcendent
Violence is everywhere in literature.
Two forms of violence:
• “Specific injury that authors cause characters to visit on one another or on themselves”
-Such as: shootings, stabbings, garroting, drowning, poisonings, bludgeoning, bombings, hit-and-run accident, starvations…
• The narrative violence that causes characters harm in general.
-Used to add interst and depth. Authors create this suffering, not other characters in the novel.
Authors include death and violence in Literature to:
• make action happen
• cause plot complications
• end plot complications
• put other characters under stress
Accidents happen in real life, but when they happen in literature, they’re not really accidents.
It is difficult to generalize a meaning of
deaths/violence in literature.
Is That a Symbol?
It is imensley interesting and liberating to read that all interpretations one makes are correct (if there is enough evidence to base them upon).
It is rare that I ever agree with another person’s interpretations of a novel or poem spot on. As a result I find myself on the opposite sides of an issue with another student more often than not. It is comforting to read that all interpretations and symbolisms one finds of and in a text can be correct… to him or herself.
“Animal Farm” written about the Russian Revolution by George Orwell is a mastery of an allegory. It is well written and mirrors the actual event very cleverly.
Question:
Are some interpretations of a symbol more accurate than others? If so, how would on measure that?
Sure, why not.
The meaning of a symbol is personal and subjective.
Each person has to decide for him or herself whether something is or is not a symbol… all parts of literature can be symbols, if it is a symbol for you.
It is impossible to pinpoint the meaning of a symbol because many people can interpret one aspect in many different ways.
Allegory:
• “Things stand for other things on a one-for –one basis.”
• Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution.
All works of literature have “a limitless range of possible interpretations.”
People will interpret texts different because
• Each person emphasizes different elements to differing degrees.
• We bring different histories to the text.
• Different writers use the same symbols for different meanings.
“Listen to your instincts. Pay attention to what you feel about the text. It probably means something.”
It’s All Political
Political writing from the explicit words of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense to more unlikely ones of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol serve one purpose: to bring about change in a society.
Using literature (such as Dickens, not so much Paine) is a clever and more interesting way of expressing one’s beliefs. First off, a work of literature is more long-lasting because it holds other contextual gems that serve other purposes besides their political one.
Some works of political writing address problems so universal and timeless that they are still referenced to today. Many of Charles Dickens’ novels hold meanings that can be interpreted and learned from even today.
Works of literature often hold political meaning.
• Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” uses a story to criticize a popular belief that charity to the poor would have negative consequences.
• However, overly political writing can be one-dimensional, simplistic, reductionist, preachy and dull.
“Good” political writing:
• Engages the realities of its world.
• Thinks about human problems including those in the social and political realm.
• Address the rights of persons and the wrongs of those in power.
Politics is everywhere in writing and characters often reflect the political views of their creator.
Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too
In a very Christian influenced society, it is important for an educated person to understand the teachings of Christ to better understand literature.
As an independent reading project for East of Eden by John Steinbeck, I read Genesis. After reading the two, I performed a comparative study of the two and found great similarities between several characters and Adam and Eve. I was also able to identify a Christ figure (Sam) in the novel after conducting more research into the Bible.
Question:
How common are Christ figures in works of literature? I have not identified many (in fact I have only identified one) in my high school career. We Live in a Christian culture.
To get the most out of European and American literature, one must know something about the Old and New Testaments.
Christ is at the center of Christianity and thus at the center of many texts written in Christian societies.
Qualities of Christ (that also appear in Literature):
• crucified, wounds in the hands, feet, side and head
• in agony
• self-sacrificing
• good with children
• good with loaves, fishes, water, wine
• thirty-three years of age when last seen
• employed as a carpenter
• known to use humble modes of transportation, feet or donkeys preferred
• believed to have walked on water
• often portrayed with arms outstretched
• known to have spent time alone in the wilderness
• believed to have had a confrontation with the devil, possibly tempted
• last seen in the company of thieves
• creator of many aphorisms and parables
• buried, but arose on the third day
• had disciples, twelve at first, although not all equally devoted
• very forgiving
• came to redeem an unworthy world
• (Story incorporating all of these: The Old Man and the Sea by Hemmingway)
To fully understand and appreciate a text (to truly read literature like a professor) one must not let his or her own beliefs get in the way.
However, Christ figures:
• don’t have to be male
• don’t have to be Christian
• don’t have to be good
Christ figures need only fit some of the requirements of being a Christ figure (even those can be metaphoric.)
Why Christ figures:
• Parallel deepens our sense of character’s sacrifice, redemption, hope, etc.
• Maybe it is ironic, poking fun at the character, making him seem smaller rather than greater.
Flights of Fancy
People have dreamt of flight since we evolved eyes to see the birds and envy them. Human flight, however, is physically impossible. When a human flies in a work of literate, it is clearly something special and worth keeping an eye out for.
Skydiving is the closest people will ever get to flying (and even that is a stretch since it is all freefalling).
People say they feel like they are “flying down the highway” when they go fast. This holds a positive connotation with a feeling of freedom and escapism.
It is not possible for humans to literally fly on their own.
When we see a person in the sky, even briefly, it means he or she is:
• a superhero
• a ski jumper
• crazy
• fictional
• a circus act, departing a cannon
• suspended on wires
• an angel
• heavily symbolic
Daedalus and Icarus
• father tries to save himself and sons from a tyrant with his own invention…
• leads to: fall from a great height, fathers terrible grief and guilt
Flight is freedom, escape, spiritual, care-free.
Having a flight interrupted is a “bad thing.” Symbolizes falling from great heights.
Freeing of a spirit is seen in terms of flight. Soul is also in terms of wings.
It’s All About Sex…
According to Freud everything is a metaphor for sex. Sex is one of the basic human needs, it is what our brains are programmed to do, to ensure that our genes are passed on to future generations. Thus it makes sense that everything in literature between two people can be seen as an intimate or sexual object or event.
Even nowadays, that censorship in movies has decreased and practically eliminated in novels, authors use subtler ways of depicting sex. They use ordinary objects and events (waves crashing on a beach) to symbolize something sexual.
Question:
If all objects/acts can be sexual, how does one determine when something is symbolic of sex? Or is that just another “Sure, Why not” interpretation?
Ever since Freud published The Interpretation of Dreams, people have come to see sex in all parts of literature.
Any object can stand for a sexual organ or a sexual act.
• The story of the night and the Holy Grail is one of sexuality. The young night carries his “lance” around, trying to prove his masculinity by finding the Holy Grail. Holy Grail is a sexual object waiting to be “filled” by the knight.
Due to censorship in writing and film up until the late 20th century sex has been hidden in metaphors.
Sometimes multiple levels of sex and metaphorical sex can be more intense than literal descriptions. This way, those that read the text but are innocent and unaware of sex won’t be corrupted or exposed to it by the text.
…Except Sex
So… everything is sex… except when it’s actually sex?
I like the way the other puts it when he says that if it really is sex it’s bound to be pornography.
It is true that sex itself can symbolize something very non-sexual in nature such as expressing one’s freedom, or desire to be free. This is apparent among teenagers that rebel against authority by having sex, drinking or using drugs.
“Describing two human beings engaging in the most intimate of shared acts is very nearly the least rewarding enterprise a writer can undertake.”
When most writers deal with sex, they avoid writing about the act explicitly because it doesn’t hold much meaning or intricacy.
When an author writes about sex, they are writing about something else.
When a writer writes a sex scene, he can use it to symbolize:
• freedom, rebellion and the desire for a forbidden fruit
• personal sacrifice, psychological neediness, desire for power over someone else
The way a character has sex, and his or her reasons for it also serve to characterize the character.
If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism
Baptism is a spiritual rebirth. It is a forgiveness of all sins and a new start for the individual. In literature, the same rule applies. If a character encounters a large body of water and is submerged in it, he or she is cleansed of all past sins and characteristics and most likely will come out new.
Question:
If a character is submerged in water and comes up again but does not show any signs of change, does that mean the author purposely left the character the same or did not consider it a baptism?
When one falls into water and comes up again, he or she has been baptized.
• Baptism symbolizes the purification of a character, a death and rebirth of sorts.
• When a character survives a drowning by him/herself (not by fortune or the aid of others) s/he dies but is reborn after the drowning is over.
When a character elects to go into water, he or she grabs onto his or her own fate and sends the self into the next world. This is another form of baptism, a literal death in this world but a birth in another.
When a character is baptized he or she undergoes a change of belief and action.
• Though rain is “clean” and “cleansing” it does not hold the same meaning as a full submersion baptism.
• Crossing of rivers or other bodies of water can also imply a baptism… though it is never “always” a baptism.
Geography Matters…
In East of Eden (the title of which implies location) the West is seen as a new start. The image of the west as a new frontier and new beginning is prominent in many American masterpieces. However, what is the frontier now? Though Americans continue to refer to the west as being a frontier, is there really much left to be discovered out there?
By nature, if one moves west, s/he is moving either: away from the sun (as it rises in the East) or back in time (due to the sun as well).
I have always viewed the cold as inhospitable and less like it is described in this chapter (“purity, clear…”)
Every story or poem is a vacation and the writer has to ask: where is this one taking place.
Everything in a text is deliberate, and thus, where an author chooses to enact the story holds meaning:
• set up expectations for what happens at the location
• Define and develop character (a character‘s past in a location makes them who they are; southern farm worker, northern factory supervisor.)
When writers send characters south, it’s so they can run amok. (having direct, raw encounters with the subconscious)
Low landscapes (swamps, crowds, fog, darkness, fields, heat, unpleasantness, people, life, death.)
High landscapes (snow, ice, purity, thin air, clear views, isolation, life, death.)
…So Does Season
Different seasons bring different temperatures and also different feelings. Metaphorically seasons also bring different levels of warmth to a text. Winter can be seen as cold and cruel, while summer can be interpreted as warm and inviting.
I had never paid attention to names in novels before, but when I read the example in the chapter, it instantly reminded me of Daisy from The Great Gatsby and instantly I tried to make a connection between her and spring/summer.
Daisy always wore summer dresses with summer colors and enjoyed the weather during the hot days. However, it is the coming of the fall and cold weather that brings an end to Gatsby’s life (when he tries to use his pool before the summer ends).
Question:
Does the above symbolize Gatsby’s need for Daisy (need for summer) to survive and without her, he dies?
Seasons hold a meaning personal to the human body.
• In Spring, the body is young and loud.
• In Summer, it is “lovely” and “temperate”
• In Fall, it is nearing old age (losing hair as leaves would fall of trees)
• In Winter, it is in old age nearing a certain death.
Seasons also hold emotions:
• summer: passion and love
• winter: anger and hatred
Seasons can be telling of character. If a character is named “Daisy Miller” and another “Frederic Winterbourne” and the two are trying to have a relationship, one can infer that it will end badly since Daisies cannot flourish in Winter.
Spring: childhood and youth
Summer: adulthood, romance, fulfillment, passion
Autumn: decline, middle age, tiredness, but also harvest
Winter: old age, resentment and death
(These meanings are very symbolical. See example on pages 179-180)
Both Christmas and Easter are near the Spring equinox, symbolizing the beginning of longer days and the coming of Spring itself (childhood and youth).
Marked For Greatness
A mark of greatness may vary from character to character and it s often ironic the names we assign to people. (A blind man may be called a Seer or prophet.)
This again got me thinking about the names in the novels I have read and tried to connect any with ironies or disabilities but to no prevail.
Question:
Though they are not marked by a physical irregularity, are the 17 Aurelianos from 100 Years of Solitude “Marked for Greatness” by the ash cross on their foreheads? This marking later comes back to haunt them as they are killed off one by one.
The shape and images (disfigurements or unique qualities) of a character tells us about them.
• Richard III in Shakespeare has a twisted back (scoliosis) and thus is twisted morally and spiritually.
In general, the disfigurements one has on their physical body reflect the character’s morals, emotions and beliefs.
• Also, land can be disfigured and that reflects negatively in literature. The Puritans believed that if God dislike a person or his actions, he would bring bad fortune to his land. The same goes with literature (God being the author).
• When disfiguration occurs among a larger group of people, the author is critiquing the society in general.
If a character is missing a certain body part, it symbolizes a lack of potential, as the character cannot utilize that body part in its regular task. (No hand, no writing; no foot, no walking; no reproductive organs, no sex/babies.)
He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know
I read the story of Oedipus in English class Sophomore year and noticed this irony as well. (Oedipus is blind to his own misdoings and then becomes literally blind.)
What I found most interesting about this chapter was the sentence stating: “If you want your audience to know something important about your character (or the work at large) introduce it early, before you need it.” I had never realized that authors did this until I read it. This is the reason why authors introduce seemingly useless or irrelevant topics at the beginning of a story only to come back to them later on. It is a clever technique.
Question:
Does the same apply to characters that is deaf or mute? What other impairments are more than just the literal level?
Often characters in literature are blind to one aspect of their lives but not physically.
However, those who are physically blind and cannot see physical light can be more apt at seeing other parts of human life (spiritual, emotional, etc.)
• In “Oedipus Rex.” Tiresias cannot see but is the only one that can see that King Oedipus has murdered his father and married his mother.
• When Oedipus realizes that he has been blind to this part of his life, he physically blinds himself.
• At this point, his physical blindness becomes a metaphor for his previously insightful blindness.
Because it is difficult to accommodate for a blind character in Literature, when an author introduces one to the plot, it is always for a purpose.
• The purpose being that the author wants to emphasize other levels of blindness or sight other than the physical.
If you want your audience to know something important about your character (or the work at large) introduce it early, before you need it.
• Authors will usually introduce a blind character early in the story.
It’s Never Just Heart Disease…
Though I had never come across a heart disease in any texts that I have read, I have come across it in movies and TV shows I’ve seen.
Ironically enough, it seems that heart disease is more prevalent in Soap Operas today on TV. This is interesting because it is also in Soap Operas where a lot of the “metaphorical heart ailments” are also stressed.
I find it strange that the author finds so much pleasure in the tragic irony of the example in this chapter of the couple faking a heart disease when they actually had a metaphorical one.
Authors utilize Heart Disease as a metaphor for hurt feelings and negative emotions.
• The heart is the repository of emotion.
• We all sense love in our hearts, along with heartbreak there.
Writer uses heart ailments as a kind of shorthand for the character or as a social metaphor.
Metaphorical heart ailments include:
• bad love
• loneliness
• cruelty
• pederasty
• disloyalty
• cowardice
• lack of determination
Social heart ailments include:
• “something seriously amiss at the heart of things”
• a grander scale of the above heart ailments
It is often ironic when a literal heart disease in a work of literature meets its metaphoric counterpart.
…And Rarely Just Illness
Never before have I considered the diseases in a story as symbolic. It is apparent now however that if an author is willing to put the time and effort to give a character a disease in a work of literature, he or she better have an intention behind it.
What also took me by surprise is the fact that “not all diseases are created equal.” This is interesting as I had never considered that one would think of one disease as more “appealing” than another. However, the different styles and effects of a disease have different symbolical meaning.
This also reminds me of Soap Operas as many characters in them suffer from one illness or another.
Literary diseases in literature are used to add interest and richness to a storyline.
In the past illness were frightening and mysterious due to lack of knowledge. This added a whole new factor to writing about illness.
Principals that govern the use of disease in literature:
• Not all diseases are created equal. Diseases like cholera and syphilis (though just as frequent during the 19th century) were not as often written about as tuberculoses due to their ugly nature.
• It should be picturesque. Diseases like tuberculoses cause light skin and dark eyes.
• It should be mysterious in origin. People did not know how one received tuberculoses.
• It should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities. Again tuberculoses is a winner; it symbolizes wasting away.
Often when one receives a physical injury, the person also receives a metaphoric one. (Loss of an eye leads to physical blindness but also either metaphoric sight or blindness.)
Plagues instill a fear of God in humans and thus hold divine metaphoric importance.
Don’t Read with Your Eyes
Though the title originally struck me as off, the meaning of it became clear shortly. Naturally, as human beings, we bring with us different beliefs and experiences to the table. When it comes to reading, it may be difficult for a poor farm worker to relate to the troubles of dealing with paparazzi in Hollywood. However, if one is willing to place him or herself in someone else’s shoes (someone who can connect) a lesson or two may be learned.
“If you’re going to understand… the story, you have to read through eyes that are not your own, eyes that… can take in the meaning...”
Though it is fine to have “blind spots” for certain literature, try not reading with your own eyes. This way, one reaches a better understanding and appreciation for literature.
If we dislike the way an author tries to approach a subject (like alcohol addiction) we must simply understand that there is a greater purpose.
Enter the world that the author has created and the time period that the author is writing from. It is not necessary to agree with everything a novel or poem suggests, but it can be enlightening read it regardless.
• If you do not enjoy or do not think you have learned anything from the book, that is fine, simply do not read the author again.
• However, you should not avoid reading a text simply because of the views it purposes.
Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
The irony in this chapter lies in the fact that it, itself, is ironic. One does not expect to learn at the end of this book that all the chapters before can simply and easily be contradicted if an author chooses to be ironic.
Personally, I enjoy irony and plot twists in novels and movies. I find humorous irony o be more rewarding than the “aha!” moment one feels when he/she makes a prediction that is sure to come true.
Irony trumps everything.
• Writers (such as Samuel Beckett) will introduce symbols and characters (such a road and two tramps) but not utilize them. (The tramps never take the road and the road brings nothing interesting their way.)
Many feel hostile towards irony, however it is everywhere.
• Authors will break the rules set up in this book and create Irony.
• Spring comes and the world is still a wasteland.
• The protagonist is murdered at a dinner in her honor.
• The Christ figure leads to the destruction of others but survives nicely himself.
“What irony chiefly involves, then, is a deflection from expectation.”
• ex. “for goodness to mean anything, not only must evil exist, but so must the option of choosing evil.”
Not everyone gets irony, but for those that do, it adds richness to the literature.
“Every chapter in this book goes out the window when irony comes in the door.”
A great example of a trip turning out to be a quest is Stevens’ trip in “The Remains of the Day”
• A Quester – Stevens (does not know he is on a quest.)
• A Place to Go – Miss Keaton’s house
(Lord Darlington tells Stevens to take the car and see the countryside.)
• A Stated Reason To Go There – To take a vacation and hire Miss Keaton to work at Darlington Hall.
• Challenges and Trials en Route – Stevens car breaks down and runs out of gas twice. He gets stuck on a road in the middle of the night with a broken down car.
• A Real Reason to Go There – To discover that there is more to life than buttering.
However, Foster claims that “Forty-five-year-old men either have self-knowledge or they’re never going to get it…” Stevens is over forty-five. Does this mean Stevens is not a Quester, or is “The Remains of the Day” a unique case? Even the most simple of trips can be a quest if it is comprised of these components:
• A Quester – the person going on the trip
(A Quester may or may not s/he is going on a quest.)
• A Place to Go – the destination of the trip
(Someone tells the Quester to go somewhere…)
• A Stated Reason To Go There
(… and what to do there. The Quester often fails the stated quest.)
• Challenges and Trials en Route - obstacles
(Things that may keep the Quester away from the stated goal or endanger him.)
• A Real Reason to Go There
(The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason. The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge.)
Not all Trips are Quests. Sometimes plot requires that a writer get a character from home to work and back… that’s just movement, not Quest there.
Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
Sigmund Freud: “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
All books contain scenes of dinner, lunch, breakfast, etc.
In the “Life of Pi”, Pi Patel eats with a tiger on a small boat. At the end it is revealed that Pi is the tiger. Thus, the communion between the two shows a connection, a sort of bond. It reveals that the two are but one.
The book “Why Do All the Black Kids Sit Together at the Cafeteria” is a prime example of support for the claim that “we only eat with those we feel comfortable with.” As the author of the book explains, racial issues in the media and in society’s subconscious make it so the “Black Kids” only feel comfortable around other “Black Kids” and only eat with them. It is interesting that the title in itself is an act of communion.
It is said that today’s society does not have a “sit down dinner” anymore and that our family structures are endangering the family unit. To symbolize the collapse of the traditional family and family unity and love, people say that families do not “sit down to dinner” anymore. This holds the connotative meaning that, because people do not sit down to dinner, they do not feel comfortable anymore. Sometimes a meal is just a meal, and eating with others is simply eating with others.
More often than not, though, it’s not.
• Whenever people eat or drink together, it is communion.
• Almost all religions have stories or holidays involving people coming together and eating together.
• In real life, breaking bread together is an act of sharing and peace, since if you’re breaking bread you’re not breaking bread.
• Communion, eating tougher, can only happen under peaceful pretexts.
• All people eat… a communion scene shows a connection between the people in it.
• People are skeptical of those we eat with, and only eat with people that we like.
• Writing a communion scene is so difficult and uninteresting that it is almost always purposeful when an author takes the time and space to write one.
• If people commence in a communion and all goes well, it is a good sign.
• If something goes wrong during the communion then caries negative consequences.
Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
Many movies and novels portray vampirism in a very sexual way.
In “Queen of the Damned,” the vampires in the story (especially the main Character) prey on young women and suck their blood, either killing them or turning them into vampires. The way the act of sucking the blood is portrayed makes it very sexual. The main character is pursued due to his rock star status by many young girls naïve of the fact that he is a vampire. When the girls get with the main character, he attacks them.
Also, in the movie version of Vanhelsing, Dracula preys on the young women of the village and turns them into his minions. The women later prey on the young men of the village. Vanhelsing (a religious figure) attempts to stop the cycle by attacking the original temptation (Dracula). Because he is a man of religion, he attacks the temptation of the metaphorical sex. Consider the characteristics of a vampire (Dracula):
• “weird attractiveness… sometimes downright sexy.”
• dangerous
• mysterious
• goes after beautiful, unmarried (virginal) women
• grows stronger and more alive after each victim
• steals the “usability” of women
Vampires and vampirism symboliz:
• sex
• selfishness
• exploitation
• refusal to respect the autonomy of other people
Not just vampires:
• ghosts (such as in Hamlet, Christmas Carol)
• monsters (Dr. Jekylll)
• most scary and evil creatures
• regular people with evil traits/desires
Vampires were used to symbolize sex in the 19th century when it was inappropriate to explicitly mention the subject.
If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet
Structures of sonnets…
Petrarchan:
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
Shakespearean:
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
A a a a a a a a a a
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
B b b b b b b b b b
C c c c c c c c c c
C c c c c c c c c c
C c c c c c c c c c
C c c c c c c c c c
D d d d d d d d d d
D d d d d d d d d d
Last section (D’s) is called couplet, often holds its own meaning. The structure of a sonnet looks like a square when written out.
• Fourteen lines long and written almost always in iambic pentameter.
• Most lines will have ten syllables and the others will be very close to ten.
• Ten syllables of English are about as long as fourteen lines are high…. thus making it a square.
It is important to recognize a sonnet because when one realizes the form of the poem, he/she can appreciate the intricacies of it and the effort the poet put in.
Sonnets are complex even for their size…
• Sonnets can’t have an epic scope or intricate storyline.
• Has a shift taking place between two of its parts. (one part constitutes the first 8 lines, the other the last 6).
• In a Petrarchan sonnet uses one rhyme scheme for the first 8 lines and another for the last 6.
• Shakespearean sonnet divides the poem into four parts, each with a united meaning.
Form helps a reader better understand a story.
Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
Themes tend to become cliché after a while due to the repetitiveness of them in different contexts.
As musicians are inspired by other musicians, authors base their writings on those of other past authors.
Many stories are based on other past “stories” such as those in the Bible.
There is one great story and every work of literature that is created only adds to that story. The story becomes repetitive.
If we recognize texts, there truly exists an “aha!” moment. Personally, when I first connected “East of Eden” to the Bible (a connection not difficult to make) I felt the “aha!” moment. However, I also came to better understand and predict the events in the novel because I had made that connection.
All literature is inspired by other stories and is not truly “original.”
• A professor, or well rounded reader, can recognize familiar characters or “friends” in other works of literature that appear recurrently.
• Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato, borrows from the stories of Alice in Wonderland and Sacajawea.
Authors use this to add a richer characterization based on the knowledge and feelings readers already have of characters and events.
There is only one story.
• Stories grow out of other stories, poems out of other poems.
• When one story refers to another and we recognize it, we feel delight.
• We also are able to appreciate and understand the story to a much greater degree.
• However, just because a story might be based on a “great” or legendary story from the past, does not make it by default great.
When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare…
We read several Shakespearean plays, novels, sonnets and poems throughout our lives (practically one or more a year during our higher middle school and high school careers.)
Shakespeare is referenced in even the most unlikely pop-culture shows including Family Guy, Futurama and The Simpsons.
Shakespeare’s plays have been made into hit movies showing the universal popularity of his plays, even hundreds of years after their original showings.
“Spin-Offs” of Shakespeare’s plays include Rome Must Die, a film showing (as the original play did) how tensions between two families can lead to both being severely hurt. As previously stated, all works of literature work off of each other.
Shakespeare is often used as a reference for a work of literature because he is so well known and his story lines varied greatly.
Writers use Shakespeare for a reason:
• Not to sound smart, fancy or well educated.
• Writers quote what they remember, and that usually happens to be Shakespeare because he is so memorable.
• It lends an authority to the text because Shakespeare is so well known.
• Some authors “bounce ideas” of Shakespeare to see if theirs are credible.
• Others use Shakespeare as a sort of short-hand. If one can refer to the morals in Romeo and Juliet, s/he need not recreate them.
…Or the Bible
In East of Eden, the references to the bible are so apparent that many critics say Steinberg went overboard. Many say that because the references are not as subtle as they wish they should be, the novel as a whole loses its effectiveness.
The popularity of the Bible (even by those who do not practice Christianity) makes it a perfect reference for authors.
Though now-a-days not as well read or known as it has been for the past 2000 years, the Bible is referenced by many great texts.
Parts of the Bible that get referenced:
• The Four Horsemen: to show that the end, or judgment, is coming or near.
• The Garden of Eden: (Adam and Eve) to show the loss of innocence, or “Fall”
• Cain and Abel: to show the existence of sibling rivalry.
Authors often refer titles themsvles to the Bible:
• East of Eden
• The Sun Also Rises
• Tongues of Flame
• Absalom, Absalom!
Many writers are themselves very religious or use religion to:
• Create a holy or final tone.
• Facilitate characterization or setting if an author uses a Biblical name in a story.
• Create a timeless and universal tone.
• To show that the struggles portrayed in a novel are ancient.
Hanseldee and Greteldum
It is interesting to see that children’s literature is held to such a high degree by modern critics. Though it does make sense that the stories are used because we hear them so many times as children. The stories are well known and often have very credible life lessons within them.
One would not be well advised if they were to chose to reference “Ghost Busters” or other currently well known works of fiction. These works may be popular now but will most likely become outdated, making the story lose its effectiveness in the future. Though many forms of great literature become outdated or overused, one great source of references is “kiddie lit.”
Some examples of ever popular children’s literature:
• Alice in Wonderland
• Treasure Island
• Chronicles of Narnia
• The Wind in the Willows
• The Cat in the Hat
• Goodnight Moon
• Sam I am
• Snow White
• Sleeping Beauty
• Hansel and Gretel: Children lost and far away from home. Currently very popular.
Today due to media (Disney) these stories are known throughout the world.
Author does not (and should not) have to rewrite the story of the fairy tale and can just borrow one element from it to make the reference valid and effective.
It’s Greek to Me
We have read several of the Greek myths throughout school. Personally I have seen the messages a bit cliché, but I suppose that is because it is so prominent in our other readings as well.
I also consider Albanian folk tales as myths. My parents tell stories that (though seemed very unlikely and occasionally impossible) had a relative moral in them.
It is interesting to note different ethnic appeals and feels of different myths. An island culture in one part of the world may have stories about the dangers of going out into the beach at night that has the message of not disobeying one’s parents while another could have the same message but told through a completely different context.
Myths (or the Albanian, Greek and some Costa Rican ones I am familiar with) seem to stress the importance of doing the right thing through showing the consequences of doing otherwise. It is like scaring people into submission. Myth is a body of story that matters.
• Societies have their own myths that matter and are stressed.
• Myths often hold morals and themes that are recurrent in the lives of humans.
• Since there is only one story in the history of mankind, myths tend to repeat.
Greek myths are such a large part of our current culture today that they are often referred to in Literature. (Cities, Universities and High Schools are named after these myths.)
• In literature that references myths one finds Underworlds.
• Metamorphoses from Greek myths are recurrent in literature.
Some Greek Myth Themes:
• Search for treasures such as Indian Jones.
• There is no form of dysfunctional family for which there isn’t a Greek or Roman Myth predecessor.
It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow
Though often appearing in the setting of novels and poems, weather is more easily recognizable in movies. Whenever everything is going wrong for a character in any motion-picture, it begins to rain and thunder. As soon as things turn around for him or her, the sun begins to shine and birds begin to sing.
The explicit nature of weather (especially rain and sunshine) in film is more easily recognizable but at the same time less effective. The subtleties of weather in novels (where the reader cannot actually see the rain or snow or sun) create a sense that everything is coincidental and that the world is actually rejoicing with the characters. However, in film, one is more conscious that the rain was prompted by a director and planned to fall at a certain angle. Many stories set the setting by using weather
• Thunder storms
• Snow storms
• Droughts/Floods
While most readers do not consciously realize this, weather in literature creates atmosphere and mood. It’s never just rain.
What Rain symbolizes:
• Drowning is one of Humans’ greatest fears.
• Speaks to our primal instincts.
• Refers to Noah’s ark and God’s promise to man.
Author’s Use Weather Because:
• Rain/Weather are plot devices.
• Brings all humans together. As the snow rained on everyone in the previous story.
• Provides obstacles for Characters. (“With a little rain and a bit of wind, you can die of hypothermia on the Fourth of July.”)
• Rain is clean. (paradox: rain is clean, but comes down and creates mud.)
• However, if person falls down in the rain, he will be covered in mud and dirtier than before.
• Rain is Restorative. (Associated with Spring and Noah. “April showers bring May flowers”)
• Rain creates rainbows when mixed with Sun. (Rainbows symbolize divine promise. - Noah)
• However, rain can be used to create a sense of confusion when used as ‘fog’ such as is used by Dickens.
Snow:
• Snow is clean, stark, severe, warm, inhospitable, inviting, playful, suffocating, filthy.
• Snow can be used to create any mood/tone.
…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Violence in literature and films is nothing new. However, what are new are age ratings on violence. It seems as if today children are being overly-protected by the government when it comes to violence.
It had never occurred to me before that all the pain and sorrow one feels over reading about the deaths of fictional characters is all created by the author. It is a great power to be able to control the emotions of a public simply by using one’s imagination.
I find it interesting that the author does not set a general meaning to violence in literature as he has done with the other chapters. However, it is understandable that because violence is so widespread and committed for so many reasons, it would be difficult (and apparently impossible) to pigeonholed it into a set meaning.
Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings… but it can also be cultural and societal in implications.
Violence can be:
• symbolic (can be a metaphor for something else)
• thematic
• biblical
• Shakespearean
• Romantic
• allegorical
• transcendent
Violence is everywhere in literature.
Two forms of violence:
• “Specific injury that authors cause characters to visit on one another or on themselves”
-Such as: shootings, stabbings, garroting, drowning, poisonings, bludgeoning, bombings, hit-and-run accident, starvations…
• The narrative violence that causes characters harm in general.
-Used to add interst and depth. Authors create this suffering, not other characters in the novel.
Authors include death and violence in Literature to:
• make action happen
• cause plot complications
• end plot complications
• put other characters under stress
Accidents happen in real life, but when they happen in literature, they’re not really accidents.
It is difficult to generalize a meaning of
deaths/violence in literature.
Is That a Symbol?
It is imensley interesting and liberating to read that all interpretations one makes are correct (if there is enough evidence to base them upon).
It is rare that I ever agree with another person’s interpretations of a novel or poem spot on. As a result I find myself on the opposite sides of an issue with another student more often than not. It is comforting to read that all interpretations and symbolisms one finds of and in a text can be correct… to him or herself.
“Animal Farm” written about the Russian Revolution by George Orwell is a mastery of an allegory. It is well written and mirrors the actual event very cleverly.
Question:
Are some interpretations of a symbol more accurate than others? If so, how would on measure that?
Sure, why not.
The meaning of a symbol is personal and subjective.
Each person has to decide for him or herself whether something is or is not a symbol… all parts of literature can be symbols, if it is a symbol for you.
It is impossible to pinpoint the meaning of a symbol because many people can interpret one aspect in many different ways.
Allegory:
• “Things stand for other things on a one-for –one basis.”
• Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution.
All works of literature have “a limitless range of possible interpretations.”
People will interpret texts different because
• Each person emphasizes different elements to differing degrees.
• We bring different histories to the text.
• Different writers use the same symbols for different meanings.
“Listen to your instincts. Pay attention to what you feel about the text. It probably means something.”
It’s All Political
Political writing from the explicit words of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense to more unlikely ones of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol serve one purpose: to bring about change in a society.
Using literature (such as Dickens, not so much Paine) is a clever and more interesting way of expressing one’s beliefs. First off, a work of literature is more long-lasting because it holds other contextual gems that serve other purposes besides their political one.
Some works of political writing address problems so universal and timeless that they are still referenced to today. Many of Charles Dickens’ novels hold meanings that can be interpreted and learned from even today.
Works of literature often hold political meaning.
• Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” uses a story to criticize a popular belief that charity to the poor would have negative consequences.
• However, overly political writing can be one-dimensional, simplistic, reductionist, preachy and dull.
“Good” political writing:
• Engages the realities of its world.
• Thinks about human problems including those in the social and political realm.
• Address the rights of persons and the wrongs of those in power.
Politics is everywhere in writing and characters often reflect the political views of their creator.
Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too
In a very Christian influenced society, it is important for an educated person to understand the teachings of Christ to better understand literature.
As an independent reading project for East of Eden by John Steinbeck, I read Genesis. After reading the two, I performed a comparative study of the two and found great similarities between several characters and Adam and Eve. I was also able to identify a Christ figure (Sam) in the novel after conducting more research into the Bible.
Question:
How common are Christ figures in works of literature? I have not identified many (in fact I have only identified one) in my high school career. We Live in a Christian culture.
To get the most out of European and American literature, one must know something about the Old and New Testaments.
Christ is at the center of Christianity and thus at the center of many texts written in Christian societies.
Qualities of Christ (that also appear in Literature):
• crucified, wounds in the hands, feet, side and head
• in agony
• self-sacrificing
• good with children
• good with loaves, fishes, water, wine
• thirty-three years of age when last seen
• employed as a carpenter
• known to use humble modes of transportation, feet or donkeys preferred
• believed to have walked on water
• often portrayed with arms outstretched
• known to have spent time alone in the wilderness
• believed to have had a confrontation with the devil, possibly tempted
• last seen in the company of thieves
• creator of many aphorisms and parables
• buried, but arose on the third day
• had disciples, twelve at first, although not all equally devoted
• very forgiving
• came to redeem an unworthy world
• (Story incorporating all of these: The Old Man and the Sea by Hemmingway)
To fully understand and appreciate a text (to truly read literature like a professor) one must not let his or her own beliefs get in the way.
However, Christ figures:
• don’t have to be male
• don’t have to be Christian
• don’t have to be good
Christ figures need only fit some of the requirements of being a Christ figure (even those can be metaphoric.)
Why Christ figures:
• Parallel deepens our sense of character’s sacrifice, redemption, hope, etc.
• Maybe it is ironic, poking fun at the character, making him seem smaller rather than greater.
Flights of Fancy
People have dreamt of flight since we evolved eyes to see the birds and envy them. Human flight, however, is physically impossible. When a human flies in a work of literate, it is clearly something special and worth keeping an eye out for.
Skydiving is the closest people will ever get to flying (and even that is a stretch since it is all freefalling).
People say they feel like they are “flying down the highway” when they go fast. This holds a positive connotation with a feeling of freedom and escapism.
It is not possible for humans to literally fly on their own.
When we see a person in the sky, even briefly, it means he or she is:
• a superhero
• a ski jumper
• crazy
• fictional
• a circus act, departing a cannon
• suspended on wires
• an angel
• heavily symbolic
Daedalus and Icarus
• father tries to save himself and sons from a tyrant with his own invention…
• leads to: fall from a great height, fathers terrible grief and guilt
Flight is freedom, escape, spiritual, care-free.
Having a flight interrupted is a “bad thing.” Symbolizes falling from great heights.
Freeing of a spirit is seen in terms of flight. Soul is also in terms of wings.
It’s All About Sex…
According to Freud everything is a metaphor for sex. Sex is one of the basic human needs, it is what our brains are programmed to do, to ensure that our genes are passed on to future generations. Thus it makes sense that everything in literature between two people can be seen as an intimate or sexual object or event.
Even nowadays, that censorship in movies has decreased and practically eliminated in novels, authors use subtler ways of depicting sex. They use ordinary objects and events (waves crashing on a beach) to symbolize something sexual.
Question:
If all objects/acts can be sexual, how does one determine when something is symbolic of sex? Or is that just another “Sure, Why not” interpretation?
Ever since Freud published The Interpretation of Dreams, people have come to see sex in all parts of literature.
Any object can stand for a sexual organ or a sexual act.
• The story of the night and the Holy Grail is one of sexuality. The young night carries his “lance” around, trying to prove his masculinity by finding the Holy Grail. Holy Grail is a sexual object waiting to be “filled” by the knight.
Due to censorship in writing and film up until the late 20th century sex has been hidden in metaphors.
Sometimes multiple levels of sex and metaphorical sex can be more intense than literal descriptions. This way, those that read the text but are innocent and unaware of sex won’t be corrupted or exposed to it by the text.
…Except Sex
So… everything is sex… except when it’s actually sex?
I like the way the other puts it when he says that if it really is sex it’s bound to be pornography.
It is true that sex itself can symbolize something very non-sexual in nature such as expressing one’s freedom, or desire to be free. This is apparent among teenagers that rebel against authority by having sex, drinking or using drugs.
“Describing two human beings engaging in the most intimate of shared acts is very nearly the least rewarding enterprise a writer can undertake.”
When most writers deal with sex, they avoid writing about the act explicitly because it doesn’t hold much meaning or intricacy.
When an author writes about sex, they are writing about something else.
When a writer writes a sex scene, he can use it to symbolize:
• freedom, rebellion and the desire for a forbidden fruit
• personal sacrifice, psychological neediness, desire for power over someone else
The way a character has sex, and his or her reasons for it also serve to characterize the character.
If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism
Baptism is a spiritual rebirth. It is a forgiveness of all sins and a new start for the individual. In literature, the same rule applies. If a character encounters a large body of water and is submerged in it, he or she is cleansed of all past sins and characteristics and most likely will come out new.
Question:
If a character is submerged in water and comes up again but does not show any signs of change, does that mean the author purposely left the character the same or did not consider it a baptism?
When one falls into water and comes up again, he or she has been baptized.
• Baptism symbolizes the purification of a character, a death and rebirth of sorts.
• When a character survives a drowning by him/herself (not by fortune or the aid of others) s/he dies but is reborn after the drowning is over.
When a character elects to go into water, he or she grabs onto his or her own fate and sends the self into the next world. This is another form of baptism, a literal death in this world but a birth in another.
When a character is baptized he or she undergoes a change of belief and action.
• Though rain is “clean” and “cleansing” it does not hold the same meaning as a full submersion baptism.
• Crossing of rivers or other bodies of water can also imply a baptism… though it is never “always” a baptism.
Geography Matters…
In East of Eden (the title of which implies location) the West is seen as a new start. The image of the west as a new frontier and new beginning is prominent in many American masterpieces. However, what is the frontier now? Though Americans continue to refer to the west as being a frontier, is there really much left to be discovered out there?
By nature, if one moves west, s/he is moving either: away from the sun (as it rises in the East) or back in time (due to the sun as well).
I have always viewed the cold as inhospitable and less like it is described in this chapter (“purity, clear…”)
Every story or poem is a vacation and the writer has to ask: where is this one taking place.
Everything in a text is deliberate, and thus, where an author chooses to enact the story holds meaning:
• set up expectations for what happens at the location
• Define and develop character (a character‘s past in a location makes them who they are; southern farm worker, northern factory supervisor.)
When writers send characters south, it’s so they can run amok. (having direct, raw encounters with the subconscious)
Low landscapes (swamps, crowds, fog, darkness, fields, heat, unpleasantness, people, life, death.)
High landscapes (snow, ice, purity, thin air, clear views, isolation, life, death.)
…So Does Season
Different seasons bring different temperatures and also different feelings. Metaphorically seasons also bring different levels of warmth to a text. Winter can be seen as cold and cruel, while summer can be interpreted as warm and inviting.
I had never paid attention to names in novels before, but when I read the example in the chapter, it instantly reminded me of Daisy from The Great Gatsby and instantly I tried to make a connection between her and spring/summer.
Daisy always wore summer dresses with summer colors and enjoyed the weather during the hot days. However, it is the coming of the fall and cold weather that brings an end to Gatsby’s life (when he tries to use his pool before the summer ends).
Question:
Does the above symbolize Gatsby’s need for Daisy (need for summer) to survive and without her, he dies?
Seasons hold a meaning personal to the human body.
• In Spring, the body is young and loud.
• In Summer, it is “lovely” and “temperate”
• In Fall, it is nearing old age (losing hair as leaves would fall of trees)
• In Winter, it is in old age nearing a certain death.
Seasons also hold emotions:
• summer: passion and love
• winter: anger and hatred
Seasons can be telling of character. If a character is named “Daisy Miller” and another “Frederic Winterbourne” and the two are trying to have a relationship, one can infer that it will end badly since Daisies cannot flourish in Winter.
Spring: childhood and youth
Summer: adulthood, romance, fulfillment, passion
Autumn: decline, middle age, tiredness, but also harvest
Winter: old age, resentment and death
(These meanings are very symbolical. See example on pages 179-180)
Both Christmas and Easter are near the Spring equinox, symbolizing the beginning of longer days and the coming of Spring itself (childhood and youth).
Marked For Greatness
A mark of greatness may vary from character to character and it s often ironic the names we assign to people. (A blind man may be called a Seer or prophet.)
This again got me thinking about the names in the novels I have read and tried to connect any with ironies or disabilities but to no prevail.
Question:
Though they are not marked by a physical irregularity, are the 17 Aurelianos from 100 Years of Solitude “Marked for Greatness” by the ash cross on their foreheads? This marking later comes back to haunt them as they are killed off one by one.
The shape and images (disfigurements or unique qualities) of a character tells us about them.
• Richard III in Shakespeare has a twisted back (scoliosis) and thus is twisted morally and spiritually.
In general, the disfigurements one has on their physical body reflect the character’s morals, emotions and beliefs.
• Also, land can be disfigured and that reflects negatively in literature. The Puritans believed that if God dislike a person or his actions, he would bring bad fortune to his land. The same goes with literature (God being the author).
• When disfiguration occurs among a larger group of people, the author is critiquing the society in general.
If a character is missing a certain body part, it symbolizes a lack of potential, as the character cannot utilize that body part in its regular task. (No hand, no writing; no foot, no walking; no reproductive organs, no sex/babies.)
He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know
I read the story of Oedipus in English class Sophomore year and noticed this irony as well. (Oedipus is blind to his own misdoings and then becomes literally blind.)
What I found most interesting about this chapter was the sentence stating: “If you want your audience to know something important about your character (or the work at large) introduce it early, before you need it.” I had never realized that authors did this until I read it. This is the reason why authors introduce seemingly useless or irrelevant topics at the beginning of a story only to come back to them later on. It is a clever technique.
Question:
Does the same apply to characters that is deaf or mute? What other impairments are more than just the literal level?
Often characters in literature are blind to one aspect of their lives but not physically.
However, those who are physically blind and cannot see physical light can be more apt at seeing other parts of human life (spiritual, emotional, etc.)
• In “Oedipus Rex.” Tiresias cannot see but is the only one that can see that King Oedipus has murdered his father and married his mother.
• When Oedipus realizes that he has been blind to this part of his life, he physically blinds himself.
• At this point, his physical blindness becomes a metaphor for his previously insightful blindness.
Because it is difficult to accommodate for a blind character in Literature, when an author introduces one to the plot, it is always for a purpose.
• The purpose being that the author wants to emphasize other levels of blindness or sight other than the physical.
If you want your audience to know something important about your character (or the work at large) introduce it early, before you need it.
• Authors will usually introduce a blind character early in the story.
It’s Never Just Heart Disease…
Though I had never come across a heart disease in any texts that I have read, I have come across it in movies and TV shows I’ve seen.
Ironically enough, it seems that heart disease is more prevalent in Soap Operas today on TV. This is interesting because it is also in Soap Operas where a lot of the “metaphorical heart ailments” are also stressed.
I find it strange that the author finds so much pleasure in the tragic irony of the example in this chapter of the couple faking a heart disease when they actually had a metaphorical one.
Authors utilize Heart Disease as a metaphor for hurt feelings and negative emotions.
• The heart is the repository of emotion.
• We all sense love in our hearts, along with heartbreak there.
Writer uses heart ailments as a kind of shorthand for the character or as a social metaphor.
Metaphorical heart ailments include:
• bad love
• loneliness
• cruelty
• pederasty
• disloyalty
• cowardice
• lack of determination
Social heart ailments include:
• “something seriously amiss at the heart of things”
• a grander scale of the above heart ailments
It is often ironic when a literal heart disease in a work of literature meets its metaphoric counterpart.
…And Rarely Just Illness
Never before have I considered the diseases in a story as symbolic. It is apparent now however that if an author is willing to put the time and effort to give a character a disease in a work of literature, he or she better have an intention behind it.
What also took me by surprise is the fact that “not all diseases are created equal.” This is interesting as I had never considered that one would think of one disease as more “appealing” than another. However, the different styles and effects of a disease have different symbolical meaning.
This also reminds me of Soap Operas as many characters in them suffer from one illness or another.
Literary diseases in literature are used to add interest and richness to a storyline.
In the past illness were frightening and mysterious due to lack of knowledge. This added a whole new factor to writing about illness.
Principals that govern the use of disease in literature:
• Not all diseases are created equal. Diseases like cholera and syphilis (though just as frequent during the 19th century) were not as often written about as tuberculoses due to their ugly nature.
• It should be picturesque. Diseases like tuberculoses cause light skin and dark eyes.
• It should be mysterious in origin. People did not know how one received tuberculoses.
• It should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities. Again tuberculoses is a winner; it symbolizes wasting away.
Often when one receives a physical injury, the person also receives a metaphoric one. (Loss of an eye leads to physical blindness but also either metaphoric sight or blindness.)
Plagues instill a fear of God in humans and thus hold divine metaphoric importance.
Don’t Read with Your Eyes
Though the title originally struck me as off, the meaning of it became clear shortly. Naturally, as human beings, we bring with us different beliefs and experiences to the table. When it comes to reading, it may be difficult for a poor farm worker to relate to the troubles of dealing with paparazzi in Hollywood. However, if one is willing to place him or herself in someone else’s shoes (someone who can connect) a lesson or two may be learned.
“If you’re going to understand… the story, you have to read through eyes that are not your own, eyes that… can take in the meaning...”
Though it is fine to have “blind spots” for certain literature, try not reading with your own eyes. This way, one reaches a better understanding and appreciation for literature.
If we dislike the way an author tries to approach a subject (like alcohol addiction) we must simply understand that there is a greater purpose.
Enter the world that the author has created and the time period that the author is writing from. It is not necessary to agree with everything a novel or poem suggests, but it can be enlightening read it regardless.
• If you do not enjoy or do not think you have learned anything from the book, that is fine, simply do not read the author again.
• However, you should not avoid reading a text simply because of the views it purposes.
Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
The irony in this chapter lies in the fact that it, itself, is ironic. One does not expect to learn at the end of this book that all the chapters before can simply and easily be contradicted if an author chooses to be ironic.
Personally, I enjoy irony and plot twists in novels and movies. I find humorous irony o be more rewarding than the “aha!” moment one feels when he/she makes a prediction that is sure to come true.
Irony trumps everything.
• Writers (such as Samuel Beckett) will introduce symbols and characters (such a road and two tramps) but not utilize them. (The tramps never take the road and the road brings nothing interesting their way.)
Many feel hostile towards irony, however it is everywhere.
• Authors will break the rules set up in this book and create Irony.
• Spring comes and the world is still a wasteland.
• The protagonist is murdered at a dinner in her honor.
• The Christ figure leads to the destruction of others but survives nicely himself.
“What irony chiefly involves, then, is a deflection from expectation.”
• ex. “for goodness to mean anything, not only must evil exist, but so must the option of choosing evil.”
Not everyone gets irony, but for those that do, it adds richness to the literature.
“Every chapter in this book goes out the window when irony comes in the door.”
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