In Response to: The Beat Generation
Those who lived in poverty
tatters and hollow-eyed
sitting up high
Smoking in supernatural darkness
Nitroglycerine shrieks
Whole intellects disgorged
Totall recall
Seven days and seven nights with brilliant eyes
meat for the synagogue
cast on the pavements
Secret creatures lurking among the dancers
writers
readers
Humans
screaming lyrics like the flare of a furnace blast
rumbling and roaring
sung by a blind man
his hand a languid claw
tearing away the multicolored blossoms
into tatters
Monday, May 23, 2016
Laying a Soul to Rest
In Response to: The Things They Carried
What is the symbolism within Tim O'Brien's act of going back to Vietnam and placing Kiowas moccasins at the bottom of the river?
When O'Brien goes back to the field where Kiowa died and he wades into the water, his daughter mentions that he doesn't like being touched by water let alone swim in it so the fact that he waded out into the poop water just to place Kiowas moccasins in the mud where they found his rucksack I believe shows him accepting the fate and forcing himself to face one of his fears to be able to forgive himself. A lot of the people that night blamed themselves for Kiowas death and this was his way of releasing that guilt and symbolically laying Kiowa's soul to rest in a way. And then after doing that, the old farmer raises his shovel above his head while looking at O'Brien and I feel this is the old man and more of like Vietnam and just the whole war forgiving him and also apologizing and putting it in the past. His daughter also says something earlier in the chapter about thinking its weird that he hasn't forgotten the war and still wants to come back which could be O'Brien actually thinking that to himself.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong
In Response to: The Things They Carried
What happened to Mary Anne is a perfect example of war changing people. Back during WWII, sexism was prevalent in American culture. Women were expected to stay at home and take up factory jobs while simultaneously taking care of the house and kids. They were expected to stay innocent and oblivious to the real problems and dangers of the time. I think it was very important that Mary Anne was a girl because there was the expectation that once she arrived, she would stay the same innocent sweet girl that she was before. At first, she was merely curious as to what was what and how to do things but when she began learning how to shoot and assemble weapons and started getting serious with helping around the camp with wounds and such, the men were surprised. They expected her to stay a sweet innocent 17 year old. The war began to desensitize her, Rat Kiley claimed he could see her eyes growing duller and duller as the days went on. This eventually led her to pursue missions with the green berets. When Fossie found out, he freaked. He assumed his girlfriend would remain unchanged and continue to be the sweet high school girl he knew before but when people are put out into foreign places and don't know what to do, their ID comes out and primal instincts kick in. Fossie tries to tie her down with an engagement but not even that could keep her docile because once the war had gotten to her, she was changed. We see that there is no way Mary Anne is coming back to how she was before when Fossie and Kiley stumble in on a strange pagan ritual in the green berets tent and she is there chanting with a necklace of human tongues around her neck and the severed head of a black leopard stuck on a post at the end of the tent. If Rat Kileys story about Mary Anne doesn't prove the point that war changes people, i'm not sure what will.
Those Eyes
In response to: Faces of the Enemy
I wouldn't say necessarily that his eyes were dark gaping holes, because they weren't. They were small, thin, bright eyes still full of life. But I couldn't help but notice that the life in them was filled with fear as my "brother" raised his gun to the mans head. What was he saying? The foreign prayers still echo in my head at night and for some reason, in that moment, I found myself screaming the name of that foreigners god. He thinks the same that all men think with a gun to their head. He was raised to hate me. He was taught that his country is good and my country is evil. I was taught the same thing. I was raised to hate him and taught that his country is evil and my country is good. When I look into those eyes, I see my own staring back at me as the life escapes them.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Light and Dark
In response to: Sonny's Blues
The first thing that comes to one's mind when thinking of contrasting ideas is the contrast of light and dark. Throughout Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin paints a picture of stark contrast between light and dark in the story. He uses these motifs to show ideas in the story and how they interact with each other and with the plot and characters of the story.Add more here
Light and dark are most commonly known as good and evil or life and death. In this story, light and dark are used in this way at certain parts of the story to further the plot and place emphasis on things that take place in the story. During a flashback in the story, the narrator’s mom is talking to him about why he needs to look out for his brother, Sonny, and she tells him how his uncle died. She explains that he was a good man, always filled with happiness and goodness until the night he died, when he was hit by a car. “He says he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away.”(Baldwin10) In this quote, light and dark are almost used as opposites. The car that the light was coming from was the cause of his death and once those lights disappeared, the real situation emerged and the night was filled with the darkness of death. He claimed the road was the darkest thing he’d ever seen once the light was gone, lending the idea that light can have dark qualities to it but once that light is gone, there is only suffocating darkness.
As the narrator continues through his flashback of his younger days and the memories of his mother, he recalls the one memory he remembers best of her. He talks about late sundays after dinner when all the church folks and relatives are sitting around in chairs in the living room with the light outside slowly fading and the night creeping in through the window. “And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness. He knows that every time this happens he’s moved just a little closer to that darkness outside.”(Baldwin9) The narrator recalls all the children sitting with the adults and how “something deep and watchful in the child knows this is bound to end, is already ending. In a moment someone will get up and turn on the light”(Baldwin9) He notices this as he recalls the adults talking amongst themselves as they stroke the children’s heads mindlessly. The way he describes the scene makes it sound as if someone will physically turn on a light and that light will contrast the darkness outside but it is actually a metaphor for innocence and ignorance. As the adults speak of the cruel, dark realities of the world, the children are unaware of this but they soon start becoming aware and just before they get too close to realizing that dark reality, the adults will “turn on the light” and switch back to other things to keep the children from coming too close to the dark before it is their time to face it. The narrator claims that deep down, the watchful child knows this is his fate and every time that light is switched back on, he’s come one step closer to that darkness.
As the story goes on and the narrator continues down his path, he reaches the final scene of the story where he joins Sonny at a night-club to hear him play his music and meet some of Sonny’s friends. The narrator describes the whole scene in great detail and as Sonny joins his friends on stage to talk to them before the show, the narrator stays back and describes how the characters interact with each other while simultaneously interacting with light and dark. “The light from the bandstand spilled just a little short of them and watching them laughing and gesturing and moving about, I had the feeling that they, nevertheless, were being most careful not to step into that circle of light too suddenly; that if they moved into the light too suddenly without thinking, they would perish in flame. Then, while I watched, one of them, the small black man, moved into the light and crossed the bandstand and started fooling around with his drums.”(Baldwin23) This use of light in the story is used to aid in character development and how they interact with the light. The characters of the story are in a darkly lit bar and the way the narrator describes Sonny’s friends before this is that they’re odd and slightly sinister. As Sonny talks to them up on stage, they all seem to avoid the beam of light shining down near them, as if they are evil and the light would burn away that evil. Another thought is that the light may be so bright that it is evil and could burn the good qualities in their darkness.
Sonny’s Blues is a classic story that at first glance, may seem like a harmless story but after closer examination, ideas begin to appear that were not there before. This story is told to show the perspective of the African-American growing up and living in Harlem in the 40’s and 50’s. The contrast of light and dark is a major motif in this story. It is used in many different ways and situations throughout the story and is proved that light and dark or good and evil roles can be switched in some circumstances. The good of light may be found in the dark and same with the evil of darkness. In the end, all of these examples of light and dark come together to further the reader’s understanding of the story and leave lasting ideas. “For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.”(Baldwin24)
The first thing that comes to one's mind when thinking of contrasting ideas is the contrast of light and dark. Throughout Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin paints a picture of stark contrast between light and dark in the story. He uses these motifs to show ideas in the story and how they interact with each other and with the plot and characters of the story.Add more here
Light and dark are most commonly known as good and evil or life and death. In this story, light and dark are used in this way at certain parts of the story to further the plot and place emphasis on things that take place in the story. During a flashback in the story, the narrator’s mom is talking to him about why he needs to look out for his brother, Sonny, and she tells him how his uncle died. She explains that he was a good man, always filled with happiness and goodness until the night he died, when he was hit by a car. “He says he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away.”(Baldwin10) In this quote, light and dark are almost used as opposites. The car that the light was coming from was the cause of his death and once those lights disappeared, the real situation emerged and the night was filled with the darkness of death. He claimed the road was the darkest thing he’d ever seen once the light was gone, lending the idea that light can have dark qualities to it but once that light is gone, there is only suffocating darkness.
As the narrator continues through his flashback of his younger days and the memories of his mother, he recalls the one memory he remembers best of her. He talks about late sundays after dinner when all the church folks and relatives are sitting around in chairs in the living room with the light outside slowly fading and the night creeping in through the window. “And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness. He knows that every time this happens he’s moved just a little closer to that darkness outside.”(Baldwin9) The narrator recalls all the children sitting with the adults and how “something deep and watchful in the child knows this is bound to end, is already ending. In a moment someone will get up and turn on the light”(Baldwin9) He notices this as he recalls the adults talking amongst themselves as they stroke the children’s heads mindlessly. The way he describes the scene makes it sound as if someone will physically turn on a light and that light will contrast the darkness outside but it is actually a metaphor for innocence and ignorance. As the adults speak of the cruel, dark realities of the world, the children are unaware of this but they soon start becoming aware and just before they get too close to realizing that dark reality, the adults will “turn on the light” and switch back to other things to keep the children from coming too close to the dark before it is their time to face it. The narrator claims that deep down, the watchful child knows this is his fate and every time that light is switched back on, he’s come one step closer to that darkness.
As the story goes on and the narrator continues down his path, he reaches the final scene of the story where he joins Sonny at a night-club to hear him play his music and meet some of Sonny’s friends. The narrator describes the whole scene in great detail and as Sonny joins his friends on stage to talk to them before the show, the narrator stays back and describes how the characters interact with each other while simultaneously interacting with light and dark. “The light from the bandstand spilled just a little short of them and watching them laughing and gesturing and moving about, I had the feeling that they, nevertheless, were being most careful not to step into that circle of light too suddenly; that if they moved into the light too suddenly without thinking, they would perish in flame. Then, while I watched, one of them, the small black man, moved into the light and crossed the bandstand and started fooling around with his drums.”(Baldwin23) This use of light in the story is used to aid in character development and how they interact with the light. The characters of the story are in a darkly lit bar and the way the narrator describes Sonny’s friends before this is that they’re odd and slightly sinister. As Sonny talks to them up on stage, they all seem to avoid the beam of light shining down near them, as if they are evil and the light would burn away that evil. Another thought is that the light may be so bright that it is evil and could burn the good qualities in their darkness.
Sonny’s Blues is a classic story that at first glance, may seem like a harmless story but after closer examination, ideas begin to appear that were not there before. This story is told to show the perspective of the African-American growing up and living in Harlem in the 40’s and 50’s. The contrast of light and dark is a major motif in this story. It is used in many different ways and situations throughout the story and is proved that light and dark or good and evil roles can be switched in some circumstances. The good of light may be found in the dark and same with the evil of darkness. In the end, all of these examples of light and dark come together to further the reader’s understanding of the story and leave lasting ideas. “For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.”(Baldwin24)
Monday, February 29, 2016
Smoke
In Response to: Harlem Renaissance Music and Culture
Cloudy embankments of fog climb among the feet of souls.
Smoke entwining itself around limbs and glasses of faces and tables. The bang
of the pale faced drum hums to innocents
Who strut along fifth avenue
like they have a date with satan.
It lures passerby on the somber expanses of streets like flickers of ash off the butt
of a cigarette
That releases its smoke to tempt again.
The embers are fire in the veins of dancers.
Lights dim and flicker
Across faces among the tangle of dark limbs bouncing with the light and smoke
to a dance only they can hear.
Thick notes infect the listeners with a syncopated tune.
Muffled by dresses on bodies
slung low on branches
Scattering the smoke and sound.
Pale dull bruises on the broken wings of mortals as they maneuver through obstacles.
Shooting out from metal limbs like a siren clutching its fingers to the last breath of mourning
Emitted from its victims in the night lit room pulsing to the tune.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)