Thoughts on Pilate

One of the most unique characters in Song of Solomon would have to be Pilate. She is Macon Dead's sister (Milkman's aunt), and serves as a moral guide to the characters in the story, which is admirable. She is first introduced in the first scene in the novel, when she predicts the birth of Milkman. Right away, we get an unusual impression of her. However, she just keeps getting more unusual as we later find out she is born without a bellybutton, makes little voodoo dolls, and has a bag of human bones.

One thing I find interesting is that her name is a homophone for "Pilot", which we can interpret as symbolizing her 'leading those who are in need of guidance'. Despite being named after the man who plotted the crucifixion of Jesus, Pilate proves to be anything but wicked. She is incapable of cruelty, and is willing to do anything for others to relieve them of their suffering. 

When Milkman and Guitar get in trouble by the police, she feigns bewilderment to get them out of their situation. When her daughter Reba is beat up by her boyfriend, Pilate steps in and threatens the man at knife point to never go near her daughter again. She shows that despite her old age, she has never lost her strength and fortitude. Pilate is a woman who loves others and is willing to do anything to protect her family. 

Symbolism in Wide Sargasso Sea

In class yesterday, we had a panel discussion about Wide Sargasso Sea. At the end of the presentation, there was a mention of the possibility of the ending of WSS symbolizing Jane Eyre. I wanted to elaborate on some other symbolic themes in the story and what they might mean.

                First, there is the garden. Antoinette both loves and fears this garden, and compares it to the garden of Eden. I think this symbolizes her relationship with those around her. Though there are some people Antoinette has liked (like Tia, for example), and has tried to get close to, it has always ended badly. As a result, Antoinette has never had a real friend and is very lonely throughout her childhood. She can never get close enough to the people she likes, and they somehow end up leaving her (the scene where Antoinette goes running to Tia and Tia’s mother for safety after the fire, but Tia throws a rock at her).

                There is also Antoinette’s repeated dreams about the forest. Unlike the colorful, lively brightness of Jamaica that Antoinette is so accustomed to, this nightmare is of a dark and sinister place she is unfamiliar with. In the dream she finds a closed off stone garden behind some tall trees. This unfamiliarity with the place and environment around her is perhaps symbolic of her nearing, inevitable captivity in England, a place she is initially unfamiliar with but will be trapped in forever,

just like the nightmare.

                Another creepy thing is that the name of the place “Granbois”, translates literally into “great forest”. Just like her dream, this name warns her of her future move to the forests of England. It is at Granbois that her husband gets lost in the woods and comes across the eerie, lonely ruins of a stone house. This encounter is a sign of the consequences of his future actions (mistreating Antoinette and holding her captive), which lead to the ultimate ruin of his own estate.  

                Lastly, at the end of Part 1 of the story – when the Mason home is burned down – there is mention of a parrot named Coco who belongs to Annette. Coco’s wings are clipped, which symbolizes Antoinette’s own flightless dependency. Throughout the novel she seems to have no freedom, constantly dependent on others. Antoinette states; “[Coco] made an effort to fly down but his clipped wings failed him and he fell screeching. He was all on fire.” This vivid imagery depicts Antoinette’s own fiery fall from the attic at the end of the book.

               

Examples of Existentialism in The Stranger

Existentialism refers to the idea that there is no higher meaning to the universe or to man’s existence, and no rational order to the events of the world (think Meursault’s casual attitude about his day to day life, how he just goes with the flow and seems to lack realistic, long-term goals for the future). According to this meaning of existentialism, some hold the belief that a person’s life does not have an asserting purpose—there is nothing beyond man’s physical being. It the idea of life being an individual’s independence to the extent that the person may abandon the “rules” and values society gives, and decide for themselves how to live in the world. In a sense, it is sort of an attitude of indifference to many worldly matters. While such a mindset can seem nice and liberating, in The Stranger, Meursault explores the darker side of this mindset through his questionable conduct.

In the novel, the philosophy of existentialism is subtly introduced from the start, when we analyze Meursault’s detached behavior towards his own mother's death. We might interpret this as his assertion of his existentialist thinking; a person’s life doesn’t have any purpose beyond their physical existence, which might’ve been why he had no emotional reaction at the end of hers. Meursault just sees death as something that happens to everyone, which is why it was easy to move on from his mother’s death. From the very first page of the story, he indicates little to no connection with her whatsoever: ''When we lived together, Mother was always watching me, but we hardly ever talked.'' This suggests he might’ve never bonded with her on a personal level – but there is more.

He is also totally unconcerned about his relationship with Marie, which is really weird. Their relationship seems to mean so little to him, and it seems like it wouldn’t matter to him whether or not he lost that relationship. His response to her mention of marriage: ''I explained that it had no importance really, but, if it would give her pleasure, we could get married right away.'' This attitude of indifference might seem strange to us readers at first, but it definitely depicts the mindset of existentialism. The idea that this world has no rational order of events is probably why Meursault just kind of goes with the flow about everything and never gives definite answers to anything, including the serious stuff like marriage.

Meursault takes this nonchalant attitude towards loss to the extreme when tried for the murder of Raymond’s girlfriend’s brother and becoming passive in his own legal defense. This makes it easy for the prosecution to show him as a coldhearted, heartless criminal. When asked about his belief in God, he denies having one: ''I said I saw no point in troubling my head about the matter; whether I believed or didn't was, to my mind, a question of so little importance.'' Once again, Meursault’s reaction here – well as his rejection of belief in God – depicts existentialism.

Kafkaesque elements in 'The Metamorphosis'

A recent concept we've learned in class is a literary component called "Kafkaesque" ; something that is reminiscent of themes and components similar to those found in the works of Franz Kafka. "Kafkaesque" describes -- as the Oxford Dictionary & Merriam-Webster suggest -- "oppressive or nightmarish qualities", or "having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality".

Here's the hitch, though: Any time a famous writer's distinct literary traits and characteristics -- things that make their works clearly distinguishable from many other authors -- becomes its own basis as an adjective to describe those traits (ex. Emily Dickenson: "Dickensian", George Orwell: "Orwellian"), the meaning of that adjective depends completely on individual interpretations of the original work.
No matter what the dictionaries state about the definition of "Kafkaesque", the true meaning has nothing to do with these "official" dictionary definitions and more about what critics' opinions are on Kafka himself.

People have many different views on what defines Kafkaesque for them. I personally interpret it as surreal, abnormal, and somewhat frightening. These are very clear themes from the very beginning of 'The Metamorphosis". Beginning with its first sentence, the story deals with wildly absurd circumstances; our protagonist wakes up one morning having turned into a monstrous insect. This first sentence in the book already tells us that the story operates in some otherworldly, random chaotic universe. Not only is the main character's random, spontaneous transformation a weird circumstance, it is way beyond the boundaries of natural phenomena and therefore physically impossible. From the start, Gregor's metamorphosis takes on supernatural significance.

Something else I found bizarre, or perfectly fitting with my personal opinion of what makes something Kafkaesque, was the prevalent idea throughout the book of Disconnect between Mind and Body. Yes, Gregor Samsa now physically resembles a giant insect, but inside, he's still the old gregor. Despite the drastic and shocking transformation, his mind is still left the same, which causes a total lack of harmony in his day-to-day functions. For instance, there was that part in the beginning of the book where he was so used to sleeping on his side but couldn't turn over because his new insect body wouldn't allow him to move as freely as he used to. He also tried to turn a doorknob but could not because he could no longer physically function like he used to.
This confusing disconnect between his mind and body was clearly uncontrollable for Gregor, and we could see his desperation to function and live as the normal person he was before , but not being able to. His vivid distress is off-putting and very scary for the reader; definitely what I would call Kafkaesque.

Lady Brett Ashley

Lady Brett Ashley is a resilient and independent woman, and Jake Barnes’ love interest in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Being the extraordinarily attractive girl she is, she has much more power over the men around her than they do over her. It seems like wherever she goes, she gets some sort of attention from those around her because of her appearance. Brett uses this to her advantage, manipulating the men in her life emotionally. 

Furthermore, she lacks maturity and can’t seem to commit to one man, frequently bouncing from relationship to relationship on the daily. Of course, this unrestrained lifestyle makes her feel not very content with her life. She noticeably seems unfulfilled with her life. She constantly tells Jake about how “miserable” she is—her life is clearly aimless and lacks purpose, leaving her submerged in feelings of sadness and dissatisfaction. 

Brett’s persona is definitely complex and can be difficult to analyze, because she superficially wants independence from others & from committed relationships, but yet is clearly uncomfortable during moments of solitude. (Perhaps she is so accustomed to the idea of crowds, parties, and multiple people chasing after her wherever she goes). As Jake himself remarks, 

“She can’t go anywhere alone.”

That being said, maybe Brett is not the egocentric, manipulative, unattached person we think she is. Perhaps Lady Brett Ashley’s lack of emotional commitment reveals her intuitive (but as of now, rather futile) search for real, true love. If we look at it from that perspective, it makes us realize that none of the men currently in her life are who she can truly spend the rest of her life with. As most of us know, it is alluded in the book that because of what happened to Jake in the war, he can't be with her. Robert Cohn -- though he likes her -- is frequently referred to as just plain boring by both Brett and others. Lastly, we have yet to find out more about Michael. 

Maybe the truth is that Brett hasn’t yet found a person she truly loves and is willing to be committed to. 

The Suicide of Septimus Smith

I think one of the most heartbreaking parts of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" is when the beloved Septimus Smith commits suicide.

It was especially difficult on me to read because I saw myself in Septimus and was able to relate to him on a personal level. He was such a kind and gentle young man, full of potential (he had strong passion for poetry and the arts), but instead of being believed in he was basically made fun of for who he was and what he loved, which pressured him to act a certain way and do certain things in order to feel more accepted by society (i.e. In his case, becoming more "manly" by going to war). I think we all are able to empathize with Septimus being forced to endure this harsh judgement because sometimes we feel like we have to act like somebody else just to feel accepted by those around us.

Being able to relate to this character, I could sense that all Septimus really wanted was a friend, someone who understands him. Luckily, he found this companionship in Evans, a fellow soldier whom he became friends with. They spent long nights talking and quarrelling in their bunkers. Septimus looked up to Evans -- he was all Septimus really had. And then Evans is killed right in front of him.

Following the war, Septimus still blindly follows the advice previously given to him about toughening up and being more 'manly' (some parts of this book are just perfect examples of toxic masculinity), so he completely transforms into a different person than he was before. He becomes almost emotionless, no longer "feeling"; when Evans dies, he doesn't shed one tear, but thinks of this as something to be proud of because, hey, he's more of a real man now right?

Something scary that came to me while reading this book is the realization that the stigma of mental health that was depicted in this book which was set back in the 1900's, an era where we see alot of the things they viewed in their society as "backwards", are quite honestly still prevalent today. When Septimus is taken to Dr. Holmes by his caring wife and explains his situation to the doctor, he's told to just stop being so depressed and to just "be happy". Septimus was left wallowing even deeper in his agony and emptiness, and reasonably so -- instead of getting the help he needs for his mental illnesses, he was (once again!!) judged harshly and basically put down/made fun of for being too "emotional". I could empathize with him at this point in the book because even today, if you tell someone that you're feeling down or think you might actually be depressed, you're told to stop being too overly emotional and just suck it up. You might even be told that admitting your feelings of sadness and thoughts of suicide puts a burden on your loved ones. Dr. Holmes tells Septimus that he is burdening his wife by telling her he wants to kill himself. This is a very vivid image of what many people today going through what Septimus went through are told when they admit having these thoughts and feelings.

There are just so many things we can deduce from the tragedy of Septimus Smith in Mrs. Dalloway. It's both bitter and sweet because although his story really is sad and upsetting, it does bring a person some comfort that he at least made an effort to live his life to the fullest, finding a friend amidst the war and marrying an amazing person like Lucrezia. In the story, he has one last joyful moment full of laughter and happiness with his wife, before taking his life.

Thoughts on The Mezzanine

''The Mezzanine,'' an atypical short story by Nicholson Baker, is definitely not like any other story you’d read: it has no main themes, no standard plot, no conflict. When somebody who’s read the book describes it to you, it would probably sound ridiculous – (a man who tells us, in painstaking detail, his thought process while riding an escalator to his office??) – yet its 135 pages most likely contain more deep perceptions about our everyday life and the things we often overlook or take for granted compared to any other modern novel you’d come across.

It is a very deep (and humorous) book about the mind – in particular, the exhaustive, continuous thought processes we tend to have while coming across seemingly trivial things and daily events in our everyday lives.

One particular thing I liked about the main character, Howie – a very weird individual who is a little obsessed with over-analyzing every little thought he has and his inane daily encounters and brief social interactions – is his eloquence when describing these things. He makes something that at first seems so unimportant and kind of stupid at the surface, transform into something so mesmerizing and dumbfounding when he puts in his own words. He makes the reader take a second look at things and enjoy these small things in life we usually take for granted. Howie also attempts to re-analyze some of his childhood memories so that he can come to terms with the nostalgia he feels sometimes.

It is clear that Howie keeps learning new things every moment of his life, developing deeper understandings of things nonstop. Howie himself indicates this when he says “…but the truth was that it was only the latest in a fairly long sequence of partially forgotten, inarticulable experiences, finally now reaching a point that I had paid attention to it for the first time.”

In conclusion, I see Nicholson Baker’s exceptional novel as a very strongly voiced short story narrated by an inspiring protagonist.