In “The Brooch” Faulkner conveys the relationship between the mother and that of her son, Howard, as parasitical and inhibitory. Faulkner also shows the negative effects of Freudian infatuation.
The reader is first made aware of this parasitical relationship when the narrator tells of the mother not allowing Howard to associate with the other boys, “he probably cold not have long associated with other children even if his mother had let him.” Another example of Howard’s mother’s parasite-like actions comes when he goes to college in Charleston and she moves there while he goes there. The relationship between Howard and his mother at its earliest stages is not fully elaborated on, but the remainder of the story shows the inhibitory effects which this relationship has on Howard’s life. The first example the reader encounters in this story of these inhibitory effects comes when it is mentioned that Howard averts his gaze from girls as they pass, “who hurried with averted head, even when his mother was not with him, past the young girls on the streets…” The next example of these inhibitory effects is the whole relationship between Howard and his wife Amy. Immediately upon hearing of her son’s relationship with Amy, the mother tries to discourage Howard by saying (while referring to Amy), “Don’t confuse the house with the stable.” The inhibitory effects also play on the relationship between Howard and Amy. These inhibitory effects are symbolized through the brooch. When Amy and Howard marry, Howard’s mother gives Amy the brooch which Amy wears throughout the marriage. Amy wears the brooch throughout the whole marriage, and she is trapped inside of Howard’s mother’s house. Amy wishes to move on several occasions, but Howard adamantly refuses. The night that Amy loses the brooch is, ironically, the night which she moves out of Howard’s mother’s house. There are also hints at unfaithfulness in Amy’s character, because she goes out dancing every night, but Howard does not care about Amy’s unfaithfulness; he just cares that his mother does not find out. Howard’s whole outlook on his marriage represents the effects of his infatuation with his mother. He should want to go out and be on his own, but he doesn’t. He should also care about Amy being unfaithful to him, but he doesn’t care about this either. These examples only represent the negative effects which his parasitical and inhibitory relationship he has with his mother. The last, punctuating effect which this relationship has on Howard is when he takes his own life.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Helen: Innocent or Guilty?
In her poem “Helen,” Hilda Doolittle uses the images of whiteness to convey Helen’s innocence; however, Doolittle uses variance in the strength of the initial verbs in each stanza to portray the Greek’s dissenting sentiments towards Helen.
There are three stanzas in this poem, and each stanza includes a visual description of Helen. Each stanza repeats the color white to describe Helen’s flawless physical appearance; furthermore, Doolittle uses the color white to convey her belief that Helen should not be held responsible for the Trojan War.
There are varying views about whether or not Helen was really abducted or if she went with Prince Paris willingly to Troy; however, the footnote in the Heath Anthology suggests that Helen was kidnapped. In light of this translation, it is reasonable to assume that Helen did not go with Paris on her own accord; thus, we must assume that Doolittle wishes us to relieve Helen of the blame for the Trojan War or at least say that Helen did not intentionally cause the war. With this footnote in mind, we can further guess that Doolittle held the view that Helen was abducted which verifies Helen’s innocence.
Doolittle also uses variance in the strength of the verbs to convey the feelings of Greeks towards Helen and to also continue to reveal Helen’s innocence. The first stanza’s opening line is “All Greece hates.” The rest of the stanza describes Helen and her beauty. The second stanza’s opening line is “All Greece reviles,” and like the first stanza, the second stanza continues to describe Helen’s beauty. The two verbs in the opening lines of each of the first two stanzas are strongly negative towards Helen. It is obvious that through the eyes of the Greeks up to this point, Helen is definitely at fault and to blame for the countless Greek soldiers who have fought and died in Greece. Should the poem end after this point, one could make the claim that Doolittle was blaming Helen for the Trojan War and the deaths of the Greek soldiers. The meaning of the whiteness in the poem would also change should the poem end here, and Helen’s whiteness would not be representative of her purity but rather her coldness which would lead the Greek nation to war and death. However, the third stanza’s opening line contains a neutral verb, “Greece sees unmoved.” The verb sees is much less harsh than hate or reviles. This change in verb intensity represents the realization among the Greek people that Helen is indeed “white” and innocent; however, in the eyes of these Greeks, her innocence does not excuse her from the responsibility which she must claim by being the reason for the war. The only available option for Helen at this point is death, “could love indeed the maid, only if she were laid, white ash amid funereal cypresses.”
There are three stanzas in this poem, and each stanza includes a visual description of Helen. Each stanza repeats the color white to describe Helen’s flawless physical appearance; furthermore, Doolittle uses the color white to convey her belief that Helen should not be held responsible for the Trojan War.
There are varying views about whether or not Helen was really abducted or if she went with Prince Paris willingly to Troy; however, the footnote in the Heath Anthology suggests that Helen was kidnapped. In light of this translation, it is reasonable to assume that Helen did not go with Paris on her own accord; thus, we must assume that Doolittle wishes us to relieve Helen of the blame for the Trojan War or at least say that Helen did not intentionally cause the war. With this footnote in mind, we can further guess that Doolittle held the view that Helen was abducted which verifies Helen’s innocence.
Doolittle also uses variance in the strength of the verbs to convey the feelings of Greeks towards Helen and to also continue to reveal Helen’s innocence. The first stanza’s opening line is “All Greece hates.” The rest of the stanza describes Helen and her beauty. The second stanza’s opening line is “All Greece reviles,” and like the first stanza, the second stanza continues to describe Helen’s beauty. The two verbs in the opening lines of each of the first two stanzas are strongly negative towards Helen. It is obvious that through the eyes of the Greeks up to this point, Helen is definitely at fault and to blame for the countless Greek soldiers who have fought and died in Greece. Should the poem end after this point, one could make the claim that Doolittle was blaming Helen for the Trojan War and the deaths of the Greek soldiers. The meaning of the whiteness in the poem would also change should the poem end here, and Helen’s whiteness would not be representative of her purity but rather her coldness which would lead the Greek nation to war and death. However, the third stanza’s opening line contains a neutral verb, “Greece sees unmoved.” The verb sees is much less harsh than hate or reviles. This change in verb intensity represents the realization among the Greek people that Helen is indeed “white” and innocent; however, in the eyes of these Greeks, her innocence does not excuse her from the responsibility which she must claim by being the reason for the war. The only available option for Helen at this point is death, “could love indeed the maid, only if she were laid, white ash amid funereal cypresses.”
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
The Interaction between the young housewife and the narrator in "The Young Housewife."
In paragraph five of his literary criticism of William Carlos William’s “The Young Housewife,” Barry Ahearn makes the assertion that nothing happens between the narrator and the housewife: “Finally, the meeting of housewife and doctor is defused of sexual anxiety by the doctor’s slightly pompous and ridiculous final act: ‘I bow and pass smiling.’” In his criticism, Barry Ahearn correctly analyzes the sexual tension between the narrator and the housewife; however, Ahearn perceives that nothing happens between the narrator and the housewife, which is incorrect.
Throughout the entirety of the poem, Williams portrays a young housewife who is struggling behind the “wooden walls of her husband’s house “against the domination of her husband and social stigmatisms of that day. Unfortunately for her husband, the young housewife fights these gender stereotypes through negligence of her duties, “in negligee behind,” and adultery.
The fact that the young housewife comes “again” to call the ice-man and the fish-man, suggests that this is a common occurrence. This common occurrence would most likely not be a problem if the young housewife kept the boundaries between her and these possible adulterers; however, this does not seem to be the case. The fact that the young housewife comes to the curb at ten o’clock A.M. suggests that her husband is most likely at work, since many jobs are from eight A.M. to five P.M. The absence of her husband from this reoccurring scene dramatically increases the likelihood of an interaction between the young housewife and another man (the narrator in this case). In addition to the absence of her husband, the fact that the young housewife leaves the confines of the wooden walls and comes to the curb without her corset suggests that she is completely releasing the restraints of society and committing adultery without any self-control. This lack of restraint also increases the likelihood that something occurs between the narrator and the housewife.
When Williams uses figurative language, a metaphor specifically, to compare the housewife to a fallen leaf, the reader comprehends the young housewife to be one who has fallen away from society’s and her husband’s conventional standards. William’s confirms this decadence and the fact that an interaction indeed occurs between the narrator when the narrator’s “noiseless wheels…rush with a crackling sound over dried leaves.” Now, the housewife has not just fallen away from her husband and society, but she has completely denounced this conformity; thus, the fallen leaf becomes the dead dried leaf.
For all of these reasons, I disagree with Barry Ahearn’s assessment of the interaction between the narrator and the young housewife, because according to my close reading of the poem, something did occur between them.
Throughout the entirety of the poem, Williams portrays a young housewife who is struggling behind the “wooden walls of her husband’s house “against the domination of her husband and social stigmatisms of that day. Unfortunately for her husband, the young housewife fights these gender stereotypes through negligence of her duties, “in negligee behind,” and adultery.
The fact that the young housewife comes “again” to call the ice-man and the fish-man, suggests that this is a common occurrence. This common occurrence would most likely not be a problem if the young housewife kept the boundaries between her and these possible adulterers; however, this does not seem to be the case. The fact that the young housewife comes to the curb at ten o’clock A.M. suggests that her husband is most likely at work, since many jobs are from eight A.M. to five P.M. The absence of her husband from this reoccurring scene dramatically increases the likelihood of an interaction between the young housewife and another man (the narrator in this case). In addition to the absence of her husband, the fact that the young housewife leaves the confines of the wooden walls and comes to the curb without her corset suggests that she is completely releasing the restraints of society and committing adultery without any self-control. This lack of restraint also increases the likelihood that something occurs between the narrator and the housewife.
When Williams uses figurative language, a metaphor specifically, to compare the housewife to a fallen leaf, the reader comprehends the young housewife to be one who has fallen away from society’s and her husband’s conventional standards. William’s confirms this decadence and the fact that an interaction indeed occurs between the narrator when the narrator’s “noiseless wheels…rush with a crackling sound over dried leaves.” Now, the housewife has not just fallen away from her husband and society, but she has completely denounced this conformity; thus, the fallen leaf becomes the dead dried leaf.
For all of these reasons, I disagree with Barry Ahearn’s assessment of the interaction between the narrator and the young housewife, because according to my close reading of the poem, something did occur between them.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Chopin's view on Racism
In “Desiree’s Child,” Kate Chopin makes her views about racism well known through a metaphor and diction. Chopin first conveys her message about racism and Armand through diction when she uses the metaphor that “the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves.” Chopin makes a loud and clear statement about the evilness of Armand and his racism by comparing him to Satan in a metaphor. Chopin conveys Armand and his racism as so terrible that he could be the devil himself.
Chopin also uses diction and word choice to convey her message about racism. On page 361, Desiree calls for Armand in a voice “which must have stabbed him, if he was human.” By questioning whether or not Armand is human, Chopin clearly states that she views racism as something that is far less than human almost bestial. Chopin uses diction to purport her disdainful view of racism once again when Armand is reading the letter from Valmonde, “in silence he ran his cold eyes over the written words.” By describing Armand’s eyes as cold, Chopin also portrays racism as cold and unfeeling. Chopin also uses the word white as a symbol for purity in order to portray the ridiculousness of Armand’s racism and views on blacks. Armand is so racist that when he finds out that he is descended from Negro blood, he says to Desiree, “‘the child is not white; it means that you are not white.’” Armand obviously knows that Desiree and his child are really white, but he says they are not white, because he is using the word white as a metaphor. Through Armand’s eyes white means pure, so through his point of view the child is not white, because the child has Negro blood. This definition also classifies Desiree as “not white” as well, because she has reproduced with someone with Negro descent; thus, making her impure as well. This definition of the word white confuses Desiree, and this confusion conveys Chopin’s view that racism is senseless and confusing; furthermore, the fact that Armand is said to have been in love with Desiree and then loses the love because of the fact that he is descended from a former slave, further purports the ridiculousness of racism.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Pa as a Symbol for Southerners, Ex-confederates, and Plantation Owners after the Emancipation Proclamation
In his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses Huck’s father, Pa, to represent some southerner’s sentiments towards reconstruction after the civil war.
In chapter six of the novel, Pa purports southern sentiments when he rants about the government taking Huck away from him: “Call this a govment! Why, just look at it and see what it’s like. Here’s the law a-standing ready to take a man’s son away from him-a man’s own son, which he has had all the trouble and all the anxiety and all the expense of raising. Yes, just as that man has got that son raised at last, and ready to go to work and begin to do suthin’ for him and give him a rest, the law up and goes for him. And they call that govment! In this passage, Twain compares Pa to an angry slave master who has lost his slave (Huck) to emancipation. All the trouble and anxiety which Pa has had raising Huck, is much like the price that the plantation owner has paid for the services of the slave. Pa also represents the southern sentiment when he complains about Judge Thatcher taking his six thousand dollars and putting him up in a cabin. This is the same kind of argument which plantation owners made to the United States government. The southerners would have been void of their slaves, their source of free labor, and After the emancipation proclamation plantation owners probably felt like the government was leaving them high and dry, which is just like Pa without his son Huck. Twain conveys the southern attitude again when Pa complains about blacks voting during the Election Day. After the 15th amendment gave African-Americans the right to vote, there was a large amount of dissention towards the government from southerners and ex-confederates.
Viewing Pa as a symbol for southerners and ex-confederates also portrays Mark Twain’s attitude towards these ex-confederates. In the novel, Pa is an antagonistic character, the town drunk. Since Pa is a drunk who beats Huck, one could make the argument that Mark Twain did not think very highly of southerners and ex-slave owners.
In chapter six of the novel, Pa purports southern sentiments when he rants about the government taking Huck away from him: “Call this a govment! Why, just look at it and see what it’s like. Here’s the law a-standing ready to take a man’s son away from him-a man’s own son, which he has had all the trouble and all the anxiety and all the expense of raising. Yes, just as that man has got that son raised at last, and ready to go to work and begin to do suthin’ for him and give him a rest, the law up and goes for him. And they call that govment! In this passage, Twain compares Pa to an angry slave master who has lost his slave (Huck) to emancipation. All the trouble and anxiety which Pa has had raising Huck, is much like the price that the plantation owner has paid for the services of the slave. Pa also represents the southern sentiment when he complains about Judge Thatcher taking his six thousand dollars and putting him up in a cabin. This is the same kind of argument which plantation owners made to the United States government. The southerners would have been void of their slaves, their source of free labor, and After the emancipation proclamation plantation owners probably felt like the government was leaving them high and dry, which is just like Pa without his son Huck. Twain conveys the southern attitude again when Pa complains about blacks voting during the Election Day. After the 15th amendment gave African-Americans the right to vote, there was a large amount of dissention towards the government from southerners and ex-confederates.
Viewing Pa as a symbol for southerners and ex-confederates also portrays Mark Twain’s attitude towards these ex-confederates. In the novel, Pa is an antagonistic character, the town drunk. Since Pa is a drunk who beats Huck, one could make the argument that Mark Twain did not think very highly of southerners and ex-slave owners.
Pa as a Symbol for Southerners, Ex-confederates, and Plantation Owners after the Emancipation Proclamation
In his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses Huck’s father, Pa, to represent some southerner’s sentiments towards reconstruction after the civil war.
In chapter six of the novel, Pa purports southern sentiments when he rants about the government taking Huck away from him: “Call this a govment! Why, just look at it and see what it’s like. Here’s the law a-standing ready to take a man’s son away from him-a man’s own son, which he has had all the trouble and all the anxiety and all the expense of raising. Yes, just as that man has got that son raised at last, and ready to go to work and begin to do suthin’ for him and give him a rest, the law up and goes for him. And they call that govment! In this passage, Twain compares Pa to an angry slave master who has lost his slave (Huck) to emancipation. All the trouble and anxiety which Pa has had raising Huck, is much like the price that the plantation owner has paid for the services of the slave. Pa also represents the southern sentiment when he complains about Judge Thatcher taking his six thousand dollars and putting him up in a cabin. This is the same kind of argument which plantation owners made to the United States government. The southerners would have been void of their slaves, their source of free labor, and After the emancipation proclamation plantation owners probably felt like the government was leaving them high and dry, which is just like Pa without his son Huck. Twain conveys the southern attitude again when Pa complains about blacks voting during the Election Day. After the 15th amendment gave African-Americans the right to vote, there was a large amount of dissention towards the government from southerners and ex-confederates.
Viewing Pa as a symbol for southerners and ex-confederates also portrays Mark Twain’s attitude towards these ex-confederates. In the novel, Pa is an antagonistic character, the town drunk. Since Pa is a drunk who beats Huck, one could make the argument that Mark Twain did not think very highly of southerners and ex-slave owners.
In chapter six of the novel, Pa purports southern sentiments when he rants about the government taking Huck away from him: “Call this a govment! Why, just look at it and see what it’s like. Here’s the law a-standing ready to take a man’s son away from him-a man’s own son, which he has had all the trouble and all the anxiety and all the expense of raising. Yes, just as that man has got that son raised at last, and ready to go to work and begin to do suthin’ for him and give him a rest, the law up and goes for him. And they call that govment! In this passage, Twain compares Pa to an angry slave master who has lost his slave (Huck) to emancipation. All the trouble and anxiety which Pa has had raising Huck, is much like the price that the plantation owner has paid for the services of the slave. Pa also represents the southern sentiment when he complains about Judge Thatcher taking his six thousand dollars and putting him up in a cabin. This is the same kind of argument which plantation owners made to the United States government. The southerners would have been void of their slaves, their source of free labor, and After the emancipation proclamation plantation owners probably felt like the government was leaving them high and dry, which is just like Pa without his son Huck. Twain conveys the southern attitude again when Pa complains about blacks voting during the Election Day. After the 15th amendment gave African-Americans the right to vote, there was a large amount of dissention towards the government from southerners and ex-confederates.
Viewing Pa as a symbol for southerners and ex-confederates also portrays Mark Twain’s attitude towards these ex-confederates. In the novel, Pa is an antagonistic character, the town drunk. Since Pa is a drunk who beats Huck, one could make the argument that Mark Twain did not think very highly of southerners and ex-slave owners.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Dickinson's extended metaphor
“Revolution is the Pod” contains an extended metaphor represented directly by the title. Dickinson uses the image of a blooming flower/plant to represent the revolution of the Civil War. In the poem, the flower represents the revolution, the color of the flower represents the inspiration of the revolution, and the Winds of Will represents the initiation of the revolution. Dickinson represents the revolutionary south as enclosed inside the flower pod before the Civil War began, in bloom when the Civil War occurred, and dead and colorless after the Civil War ended.
In this poem, Dickinson uses color as a symbol of the drive behind the Confederacy. Through the emphasis she places on the color of the flower, Dickinson conveys the message that because of a lack of drive and passion (the presence of color in the flower), the revolution (flower) has died: “But except it’s Russet Base/ Every Summer be/ The Entomber of itself,/ So of Liberty.” In this stanza, the blooming of the flower is both its rise and demise, because eventually the color goes away; Dickinson uses this image of the flower blooming with color and dying colorless to convey the message that the Confederate revolution was destined to end eventually, because the confederacy’s passion was destined to die. In light of this analogy, it is prudent to suggest that the Union symbolizes time in this metaphor, because the flower died when the summer ended or when its time was up. Dickinson uses this metaphor to express her sentiments that she never believed the confederation had a chance even in the beginning, because time was eventually going to cause it to die.
The last stanza shows the confederacy as an inactive flower on the stalk. Dickinson uses color to represent the confederacy as dead and without hope: “All it’s Purple fled.” It is interesting that Dickinson uses purple as the absent color in the dead flower, because purple is traditionally known as a royal color, which conveys the message that any kind of foothold the Confederates had gained is now stripped away.
In this poem, Dickinson uses color as a symbol of the drive behind the Confederacy. Through the emphasis she places on the color of the flower, Dickinson conveys the message that because of a lack of drive and passion (the presence of color in the flower), the revolution (flower) has died: “But except it’s Russet Base/ Every Summer be/ The Entomber of itself,/ So of Liberty.” In this stanza, the blooming of the flower is both its rise and demise, because eventually the color goes away; Dickinson uses this image of the flower blooming with color and dying colorless to convey the message that the Confederate revolution was destined to end eventually, because the confederacy’s passion was destined to die. In light of this analogy, it is prudent to suggest that the Union symbolizes time in this metaphor, because the flower died when the summer ended or when its time was up. Dickinson uses this metaphor to express her sentiments that she never believed the confederation had a chance even in the beginning, because time was eventually going to cause it to die.
The last stanza shows the confederacy as an inactive flower on the stalk. Dickinson uses color to represent the confederacy as dead and without hope: “All it’s Purple fled.” It is interesting that Dickinson uses purple as the absent color in the dead flower, because purple is traditionally known as a royal color, which conveys the message that any kind of foothold the Confederates had gained is now stripped away.
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