F Bell- Ethan Frome Part II

Ethan Frome's tragic love story is a fairy tale gone wrong. Use specific quotes and examples to show how Ethan and Mattie's relationship does not end up as a happily ever after scenario.


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B Bell- due 12/18

Throughout the story, winter plays a key role. It is said to be a "stifiling force." Many say that the characters have come to represent to the winter. Use specific examples and/or quotes from the book that back up this statement

F Bell Ethan Frome

"The inexorable facts closed in on him like prison-warders handcuffing a convict. There was no way out--none. He was a prisoner for life..." (66).

Throughout Ethan Frome Ethan is continually manipulated by other characters. Provide an example of this recurring theme. Do you feel that Ethan has resigned himself to the fact that he is not in control, or do you feel that he is struggling to assert himself?

B - David, Martin, Due Dec 11

Zenobia Frome (Zeena) is originally protrayed as an old hag. She natters, she nags, and she alienates Ethan by removing the last thing that made his life worth living: Mattie.

And yet, when Ethan and Mattie attempt to kill themselves, Zeena is the one that takes care of them. She nurtures them back to health, just as Ethan had nursed her, and even kept Mattie. This seems a radical change of character for Zeena! Is this actually a change, or was as she this kind the whole time? Find a situation from the novel to either illustrate her previous kindness, or to explain why she would change so completely.

Williams' Symbolism- Mary Cornell and Emily Stein- B Bell

In The Glass Menagerie, one of his characters is shy, passive Laura. She has very poor social skills and connects only with her "glass menagerie" of animals. Her favorite is the unicorn. Explain why and what this reveals about her character. Also explain the possible significance of its horn breaking.
due 11/21

Theatricality - F Bell

We have seen that Williams places a lot of emphasis upon theatricality in "The Glass Menagerie" - because this play focuses upon the importance of memories and how volatile they can be, various setting and speech descriptions are imperative in deciphering which scenes or actions of the play are the most important.

Using specific quotes from the play, explore how Williams' use of stage directions enhance our comprehension of the story.

(This is due 11/21.)

-- Meera and Andrea

The Glass Menagerie B Bell

Watch the attached clip of Williams' "The Glass Menagerie." Since we have spent the last few weeks exploring the world of plays, comment on the theatrics in the clip. Were the actors in character? Were they believable characters? Notice the relationship dynamics between Tom and Amanda. This is obviously not a normal adult to adult relationship. How does this relationship differ from what the reader expects? Use quotations from the clip or the play to help you formulate your answer.

The Glass Menagerie - Bell F

Watch this video from scene 7 of The Glass Menagerie. After watching the scene, analyze what you saw and discuss how you think this scene relates to a theme of the short story. You may use quotes, examples from the video, or pretty much anything relating to this scene that will help you describe the theme.

go to this address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKI49JfNPNc

This blog is being moderated by Channing and Kristen.

B Bell- A Doll's House (Grace and Emily)

A principle of Marxist theory is that "human consciousness is a product of social conditions and that human relationships are often subverted by and through economic considerations." In essence, how do the characters in "A Doll's House,"(i.e. Nora, Ms. Linde, Krogstad, Helmer, and Dr. Rank) display that their "consciousness" is a product of their economic conditions and relationships with each other? You may focus on just one character, and please don't hesitate to use quotes freely to support your answer.

A Doll House- October 30th

"When I lived at home with Papa, he told me all his opinions, so I had the same ones too; or if they were different I hid them, since he wouldn't have cared for that. He used to call me his doll-child, and he played with me the way I played with my dolls," (Nora, 1579).

This quotation blatantly makes the connection between Nora and a doll. Please further explore the symbol of the doll, either in relation to the story or to the time period in general.

This blog is being moderated by Kelsey and Anne Stuart.

Foiled Characters- F Bell

In A Doll House by Ibsen, Krogstad and Torvald are foiled characters.

While the tarantella is taking place, Mrs. Linde sends a note requesting Krogstad to come and see her. Readers learn of their past relationship and also of Krogstad's respective nature towards women. Mrs. Linde says, "I need to have someone to care for; and your children need a mother. We both need each other. Nils, I have faith that your good at heart- I'll risk everything together with you" (1749). In response, Krogstad says, "Kristine, thank you, thank you- Now I know I can win back a place in their eyes" (1749). By acknowledging and appreciating what Kristine is offering, Krogstad shows how he is uncommonly respectful towards women.

Provide a quote of Torvald's interactions with Nora that foils Krogstad's mentality towards women.

This blog is managed by Abby Maurno and Ashley Lauder

B Bell- A Doll's House (Diana and Yousra) due Oct. 30

"You never loved me. You've thought it fun to be in love with me, that's all."
-Nora, A Doll's House (p. 1301)

In A Doll's House, Nora wants more from her relationship with Torvald. She is unsatisfied with her marriage, but when Dr. Rank professes his love for her later on in the novel, she denies him, stating: "...there are some people that one loves most and other people that one would almost prefer being with."

Would she really prefer being with Dr. Rank, or is this an easy way of letting him down? Could Dr. Rank ever satisfy her?

Could any man during this age truly satisfy a woman like Nora?

Please use quotes liberally, and references to other novels are welcome.

~Juice-ra and Diagnus~

A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen

"Still it was tremendous fun sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man," (Ibsen).

A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen has powerful feminist undertones. Nora shows her independence by earning money and taking a more active role in the care of the family. She starts to enjoy being able to work for herself and take care of others. Nora's secret financial independence empowers her and gives her a sense of responsibility that fuels her sense of freedom. Show how this quote provides insight not only into Nora's personal mentality, but also into societal views concerning the role of women in this day. Discuss how Ibsen's play contains some examples of true feminism, while not giving the women too much credit.

Sigmund Freud's Psychic Apparatus

F Bell Ap Language

"He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore."

Freud's psychic apparatus(a component of Freud's structural model of the psyche), for which he used to practice psychoanalysis, is composed of the instinctual id, the realistic ego, and the moralistic super-ego. The id drives our instinctual pleasures while the ego seeks out ways to realistically satisfy the id. The super-ego restrains our id from acting out its pleasures and tries to obey the moral codes of society. All three of these components are exist in our unconscious minds, but they exist at different depths. The id is buried deep within the unconscious mind, the ego is somewhere in the middle, and the super-ego peers into our conscience.

The above quotation came from Freud himself. What kind of role do the id, ego, and super-ego play in the act of lying, as described by Freud?

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is based on the assumption of the subconscious or superego and that humans are driven by desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of which we are unaware.

Relate one of the common core issues (listed below) to yourself or a character in literature. If you're relating a core issue to yourself, explain a dream or event that either explains or causes these issues. If you're relating to a character from literature, regard an internal monologue or an event that shows the core issues the character has. Remember: It is quite possible for someone to have more than one core issue, or one core issue that causes another.

Common Core Issues	Definition	Common Dreams Associated
Fear of Intimacy	A feeling that emotion closeness will hurt us	Being found naked in public
Fear of Abandonment	A feeling that friends and loved ones will desert you or stop caring	Images of death
Fear of Betrayal	A feeling that friends and loved ones can't be trusted
Low Self-esteem	A feeling that one is less worthy than others	Dreaming of falling
Insecure or Unstable Sense of Self	A feeling that one lacks personal identity
Oedipal Fixation	A dysfuntional bond with a parent of opposite sex

Other dreams and the feelings associated with them include:
Storms and rain - Turbulence, Feeling Overwhelmed, Restlessness
Being Chased - Suppression, a need to forget
Missing a train - A missed opportunity

"Barn Burning" by William Faulkner - B Bell, Ray Pulver

I'm not certain as to what I'm supposed to post about, but I picked this:

"Barn Burning" follows the account of Colonel Sartoris Snopes and his family as they struggle with his father's pyromania and deep hatred for people. The decision Sartoris must make between lying for his father or being honest creates a powerful inner conflict within him. His internal monologue, italicized within the text, reveals much about the character as he struggles with this decision.

What are some examples of Sartoris' internal monologue and how do they relate to the story's theme?

This quote portrays both themes through the grandmother's use of religion to try to dissuade the misfit from killing her and the flaw in her character, which is believing she is among the best and doesn't deserve to be killed. The grandmother's use of religious morals conveys the common catholic theme in O'Connor's stories, but she also shows her obvious flaw. She begs the misfit not to kill her and she offers anything to save her life, however at this point her family is dead and she hasn't even shown the slightest bit of despair for their deaths, exposing her selfishness.

This quote shows how even as the old woman is about to be killed, she believes that there is still good in The Misfit's heart. The old woman believes that eveyone has good in them and that there is still hope for those who seem to be lost.

Alyssa Grigg and Elizabeth Edens

F Bell:
Two common themes in many of Flannery O’Conner’s short stories are morals derived from the Catholic religion along with over exaggerated flaws in her characters. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’Conner emphasizes both of these themes through the grandmother. When she is about to be killed by The Misfit, the grandmother says, “Jesus! You’ve got good blood! I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!” (454). Analyze this quote and how it captures the themes that O’Conner is trying to portray.

Flannery O'Connor - B Bell, David and Martin

Each of the three stories of Flannery O’Connor we have read have a distinct “villain”: the Misfit, Manley Pointer, and Mary Grace. Do these villains have any redeeming features? Do they have anything in common? Conversely, how do they differ?

Posts on Flannery O'Connor

If you are in the group in charge of starting this discussion, please be sure to see me to get your discussion idea approved.  It needs to be posted by midnight on Friday, 10/2.  You may email me your idea if you don't have time to come and see me.  Be sure you identify the bell in your post.  You are only to respond to the post created by the students in your bell.

R&G logic

" The scientific approach to the examination of phenomena is a defence against the pure emotion of fear. Keep tight hold and continue while there's time" (17).

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern show that education takes away fear and misunderstandings. By studying and observing things that one does not understand, one is able to learn about such things and therefore understands how they work. The newfound understanding turns what was once phenomena into something understandable.

"GUIL: Yes, I'm very fond of boats myself. I like the way they're - contained. You don't have to worry about which way to go, or whether to go at all - the question doesn't arise, because you're on a boat, aren't you? Boats are safe areas in the game of tag... the players will hold their positions until the music starts.... I think I'll spend most of my life on boats" (100-101)

T-Pain is obviously also fond of boats. Really, I chose this quote because it embodies the essence of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ... their stupidity. Throughout the novel, their pointless, drifting conversations address everything from theories on coin-flipping to Hamlet's behavior; and everything else from boats to death. However, they manage to take seemingly deep, philosophical thoughts, and drain them of any cognitive substance. Every colloquial exchange between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is utterly devoid of all substance and import. The best way to describe a vast majority of the exchanges in the play is sheer ignorant circumlocution. The pair runs around subjects over and again, managing, somehow, to escape any hint of rational thought. Tom Stoppard's play is a fun-filled, action-packed, profoundly inane, and thoughtfully thoughtless amalgam of dialogue. Reading Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead has given me a much deeper appreciation for plain logic.

Bless Me Ultima

In Tony's already confused world of magic versus religion, the Golden Carp signifies yet one more source for his doubts about Christianity. Cico introduces Tony to the Golden Carp, a pagan god who is a symbol of forgiveness, unlike the Christian God who Tony believes is cruel and unforgiving. The carp is beautiful and huge, a true source of awe. At the realization that, contrary to Christian belief, there are other gods, Tony begins to question who his mother is truly praying to- who is Jesus, who is the Virgen de Guadalupe? Tony's doubts about Christianity further deepen when he makes his First Holy Communion, a religious rite of passage in Catholicism where children eat God's body in the form of a wafer. Antonio expects to hear the voice of God at the moment the takes the Eucharist into his body. He expects that this will be a monumental event and that everything will be clear to him after that. After nothing happens, Tony is utterly disappointed. He wonders why he can see the carp and not God. Tony begins to believe that God may not be real because he is intangible, whereas the carp is easily recognized because it is a physical item; "The orange of the golden carp appeared at the edge of the pond. As he came out of the darkness of the pond the sun caught his shiny scales and the light reflected orange and yellow and red. He swam very close to our feet. His body was round and smooth in the clear water. We watched in silence at the beauty and grandeur of the great fish" (p. 115).

poisonwood bible

Quote: "He noticed the children less and less. He was hardly a father except in the vocational sense, as a potter with clay to be molded. Their individual laughter he could not recognize, nor their anguish. He never saw how Adah chose her own exile; how rachel was dying for the normal life of slumber parties and record albums she was missing. And poor Leah. Leah followed him around like an underpaid waitress hoping for the tip. It broke my heart. I sent her away from him on everypretense I knew" (98).

One of the unique features of Kingsolver's novel is the way in which it brings a feminist perspective to a history that has largely been told from a white, male perspective.
The novel, which is told from the perspective of the four Price daughters and their mother, takes on themes of activism and feminism. Instead of treating women as subjected voices, the novel brings their voices to the forefront. Their perspective on the family's missionary activities highlight the violence often inherent in the process of colonization. Nathan Price's story might have been told as the story of a hero who heroically ventured into the African jungle and was martyred for his work. Instead, through the feminist perspective, we see a man that was both violent and ignorant to the cultural situations into which he brought his family.Nathan exploits his wife and daughters to further his own agenda and wrestle with his personal demons, and does not seem to care if he sacrifices their well-being in the process. As the strongest driving force for their presence in Africa, Nathan also has the least understanding of the people he's trying to convert of anyone in his family. To varying degrees, the Price women adapt to their surroundings. Their experiences in the Congo eventually prompt Orleanna and Leah to stand up to Nathan and determine their own destiny. After Leah observes her father's self-serving motives in his interaction with the Africans, she refuses to allow him to control her behavior and begins to adopt some of the villagers' customs.

This describes the major theme expressed in the novel, the women's movement towards free will. This theme extends throughout the novel and builds through each of the Price women. Because the Price women are their own authors we can see each of their developments and growths leading to the breaking of the social forms forced on them by their father, Nathan.

-Alyssa G.

Poisonwood Bible

"Do I ever think about the life I missed in the good old U.S.A.? Practically every day would be my answer. Oh, goodness, the parties, the cars, the music- the whole carefree American way of life. I've missed being a part of something you could really believe in. When we finally got TV here, for a long while they ran Dick Clark and the American Bandstand every afternoon at four o'clock. I'd lock up the bar, make myself a double Singapore Sling, settle down with a paper fan, and practically swoon with grief. I know how to do those hairstyles. I could have been something in America. Then why not go back? Well, now it's too late, of course" (Kingsolver 614).

Even now when Rachel owns a successful hotel with all the conveniences Africa could offer, she still misses living in the United States. Despite all her best efforts, including running away with a man she did not love, deserting her family, and trying to be apart of a more civilized community within Africa, Rachel is not able to duplicate the lifestyle she would have lived in America. Because of that she is miserable and lonely for her family or any sort of true companionship. When presented with the truly obvious solution of returning to America, she realizes it's too late; Africa has become so much a part of her persona that without it, she would no longer be the Rachel who survived everything set against her and is still thriving, but rather a woman who is too old to start over and trying to live in a time that has already past.

The Stranger - Albert Camus

"I'd passed my life in a certain way, and I might have passed it in a different way, if I'd felt like it. I'd acted thus, and I hadn't acted otherwise; I hadn't done x, whereas I had done y or z. And what did that mean? That, all the time, I'd been waiting for this present moment, for that dawn, tomorrow's or another day's, which was to justify me. Nothing, nothing had the least importance and I knew quite well why" (Camus 74-75).

The Stranger follows the account of Meursault, who proves to hold little value for life as the story's events unfold. Between caring little about the passing of his mother and murdering a man for no reason, everything Meursault does reflects his bitter indifference. It is at this point in the novel, as Meursault is faced with his mortality, that the book's underlying nihilistic themes truly present themselves.

Nihilism is the belief in nothing. It holds that life has no intrinsic value or purpose. We are godless, insignificant, and our coming into existence was just as pointless as our inevitable disappearance will be.

Meursault exhibits this nihilist outlook throughout the book. The choice that he makes in murdering the Arab who had cut his friend Raymond leads him to his demise. When confronted by a chaplain in prison, he begins to reflect the impact of this decision. Consistent with nihilist thinking, he reasons that his impending doom is no different from the death we are all destined to face. He followed the path that he did, and the end was no different from the end he would have met if he had followed any other path.

This quote is one of the most important in the novel because it lays out the basis of Meursault's thinking. He believes that no one is any more important than anyone else because no one is important. No matter what path we take, we will not escape the nothingness of death.

The nihilist theme of life's intrinsic insignificance is also present in the above picture of a boot about to crush a flower. The flower is an immensely complex organism which has spent its entire life growing to the point at which it is pictured, but it is also about to be erased from existence, destroyed without anyone's knowledge or consent, regardless of all its success in growing to a fully flowered plant. However, the foot that is about to crush the flower is in no way a more significant entity, for eventually it will become equally as dead and meaningless as the flower it is crushing.

Poisonwood Bible- Rachel

"I kept thinking, everyone is in such a festive mood, and Leah is just not that far away, in miles. Mother and Adah keep saying they might come over to visit, and if they could cross an entire ocean, you would think Leah would stoop to taking a bus. Plus, supposedly Father is still over here wandering about in the jungle, and honestly, what else does he have to do? He could get all cleaned up and pay a visit to his eldest daughter. Oh, I dreamed of a true class reunion of our family. Just imagine all their faces, if they saw this place. Which, I might add, none of them came" (Kingsolver 463).

This quote is particularly memorable because Rachel wants her family to visit her. She wants a family reunion, and not to be alone by herself, forgotten. She may be selfish in imagining "their faces, if they saw this place," because it seems like she only wants her family to see her accomplishments and not her. The fact that "none of them came" made Rachel want to give up on her family, but she could never forget about what it might be like if they came to visit her. Rachel may have been the materialistic outcast of the family, but she did miss them. She wanted them to be proud of her and the life she made for herself, but this wish never seemed to become a reality for Rachel.

What is the What by Dave Eggers

“Death took boys every day, and in a familiar way: quickly and decisively, without much warning or fanfare. These boys were faces to me, boys I had sat next to for a meal, or who I had seen fishing in a river. I began to wonder if they were all the same, if there was any reason one of them would be taken by death while another would not. I began to expect it at any moment” (198). It was possible that it was not random, that God was taking the weak from the group. Perhaps only the strongest were meant to make it to Ethiopia; there was only enough Ethiopia for the best of the boys” (198).

Achak Deng grows accustomed to death because it is an atrocity that surrounds him every day. He travels with a group of young boys, much like himself, that are forced to flee southern Sudan due to the civil war. The journey to the safe territory of Ethiopia is brutal, but necessary in order to evade certain death. During their travel, the boys encounter numerous ways of dying. Most perished due to disease, exhaustion, or animal attacks. Achak observes members of his group dying from these causes on a daily basis. When a boy became sick from exhaustion or disease, he would find a tree to sit up against. He would then rest his head against the tree and “…the life in him would fall away and his flesh would return to the earth” (198). He notices the number of boys in the group drastically dwindling during the last stretch before Ethiopia. This is when he realizes that “…only the strongest were meant to make it to Ethiopia…” (198).

Tree roots depict the setting of numerous deaths. A sickly child spends its final moments resting against the bottom of a tree until its soul is absorbed by the roots of the earth. The mangled tree roots also symbolize Achak’s tumultuous journey. His past is painful and complex.

What is the What

"You were there, Tabitha. You were there with me then and I believe you are with me now. Just as I once pictured my mother walking to me in her dress the color of a pregnant sun, I now take solace in imagining you descending an escalator in your pink shirt, you heart-shaped face overtaken by a magnificent smile as everything around you ceases moving. "( 363 Eggers).

Eggers portrays the acceptance stage of grief as calm and soothing, much like the settling of snow. Throughout the novel What is the What, Valentino Deng experiences the observance of violent death reapeatedly as he travels across Sudan in the midst of genocide. Yet, Tabitha's death receives more attention and more sentiment than any of the previous tumult that Valentino has encountered, understandably because of their love for each other. The realness of their relationship, which grows out of their admiration for the seemingly insignificant characteristics of each other, is made even more powerful by the circumstances of the world around them. There is proof of freudian psychology in Valentino's thoughts as well, as he is reminded of Tabitha's memory in a similar way to his mother's. Thus, the grief of Tabitha's death is imprinted in Valentino's mind with a warm and vivid type of rememberance.

Eggers authored the autobiographical novel What is the What. The book is about the life of Sudanese Lost Boy, Valentino Achak Deng.

The Stranger

"Every stone here sweats with suffering, I know that. I have never looked at them without a feeling of anguish. But deep in my heart I know that the most wretched among you have seen a divine face emerge from their darkness. That is the face you are asked to see" (Camus 118).
The chaplain is finally able to come through to Meursault when he shows him this. This brings him the closest to happiness that he has felt in a long time. Throughout the novel he had been very alone and disconnected from his life. In the walls he searches for the face of Marie - his greatest desire. Meursault shows real emotions following this statement from the chaplain. The emotions fade as they always do after he soon decides that searching for a face in the stones is pointless.
The image represents the jail cell Meursault had been in, surrounded by the same stones from summer to summer, unable to have any changes in scenery.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

"Dying is not romantic, and death is not a fame which will soon be over.. Death is not anything...death is not...It's the absense of presence, nothing more...the endless time of never coming back...a gap you can't see, and when the wind blows through it, it makes no sound..." (Stoppard 124).

Death is commonly portrayed as a dramatic and romantic event in most classical plays, however Tom Stoppard deviates from this standard in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The main characters in this play often analyze death in a simplistic fashion; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not sophisticated thinkers or intellectual in any sense, therefore they provide the common man's perspective on the subject. They view death merely as a stage of life that everyone experiences eventually. It is not something to be mourned, and little time should be spent thinking about it at all. This primitive train of thought is refreshing for readers and makes the play enjoyable, unlike most plays set in the 18th century. The majority of the play contains dialogue of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern satarizing other plays with heavy connotations of death. This quote adequatley represents the playful tone of the work and the character's unique personality and point of view. 

The Stranger

"I'd realized that the most important thing was to give the condemned man a chance. Even one in a thousand was good enough to set things right. So it seemed to me that you could come up with a mixture of chemicals that if ingested by the patient (that's the word I would use: 'patient') would kill him nine times out of ten. But he would know this--that would be the one condition. For by giving it some hard thought, by considering the whole thing calmly, i could see that the trouble with the guillotine was that you had no chance at all, absolutely none," (Camus 111).

During his time in prison, Mersault has an extraordinary amount of free time on his hands. If at all possible, he passes the time by sleeping. However, one cannot sleep all day every day. His waking hours are spent waiting. He waits for the daily walk in the court yard and for visits from the guard. After he is sentenced to death, Mersault waits for his execution. Although he was never a particularly joyful or engaged individual, he now is terrified by the prospect of having his life ended. It is ironic because he never seemed especially interested in any aspect of his life, other than satisfying his physical needs and desires. His relationships with the people around him were superficial and had little meaning to him. He is now faced with the certainty of being executed and suddenly expresses a great desire to live. However, he counters these hopeful fantasies with pessimistic and rational thoughts. He tells himself that everyone is going to die anyway, so the how and when really are of little consequence.
The image of the prison is a visual representation of the desperation and hopelessness that he feels. He is trapped not only by the bars on his cell, but also by the law, and by the sentence handed down by the judge. There is no escape from either.

Things Fall Apart

"He felt relief as the hymn poured down his parched soul. The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth."

Religion is commonly paired with rain. In the Bible,it caused Noah's flood but also provided libation for the Jewish crossing the Sinai Desert. For the early people, rain was seen as a miracle. There was no way to efficiently carry water over long distances; rain did that for them. Rain also purified the body because it easily washed away dirt.For Nwoye his whole life was "dry"; his father felt no love or compassion for him and treated him abrasively. But religion accepted him. It was a source of comfort and something soothing. He was no longer out in the "heat" of his father's wrath, but under the cool and calm of a spiritual place. And this naturally reminded him of rain because rain is a respite from the heat. It also is the sustenance for Nwoye's crops and cattle. But now religion is the "nourishment" of his life, like the rain for his farm.

The Stranger

"For if in the course of what has been a long career I have had the occasion to call for the death penalty,never as strongly as today have I felt this painful duty had easier, lighter, clearer by the certain knowledge of a sacred imperative and by the horror I feel when I look into a man's face and all I see is a monster" (102).


This passage spells the beginning of the end for the main character of The Stranger. He killed a man for no particular reason earlier in the novel and now faces trial. The prosecutor's final statements were memorable because he articulates the main character as this gruesome, fell, and terrible beast of a man in order to get a guilty verdict. However, the reader knows that there is really no method behind the madness, the main character is simply an uncaring person. He often blames things on fate, and feels no matter what he does it will do no good to the bigger picture. This irony foreshadows the eventual guilty verdict and subsequent death sentence beyond what the prosecutor says. The reader knows that the main character is rather hollow, and does not care to die. He is essentially already dead.

The picture not only shows someone who is literally dead, but it shows a subtle emptiness. There is no face, there is no humanity excepting the physical form of the skull, there is no feeling to it, which frightens people like the prosecutor. Black and white are the only two colors that comprise the face, which can represent the main character's lack of true depth. The emptiness and lack of caring and emotion makes the main character look like a bad guy, but he really believes he is caught up in circumstance. He is dead and there is nothing he can do about it.

Wuthering Heights

"My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff!" (80).

This quote from Catherine neatly and eloquently sums up her relationships with both Edgar Linton, the man she chose to marry, and Healthcliff, the man she truly loves. Catherine realizes that her "love" of Linton is superficial, as he provides her with a comfortable home and constantly dotes on her. Her relationship with Linton is beautiful and seemingly perfect on the outside, like the colorful "foliage in the woods", but truly, Catherine and Linton do not connect on the same spiritual level that she and Heathcliff do.

The love Catherine feels for Heathcliff is drastically different than her love for Linton. She and Heathcliff had been inseperable since their childhood, and her claim that "whatever our souls are made of, [Heathcliff's] and mine are the same" (79) shows how profoundly she loves and identifies with Heathcliff. To her, even though her relationship with Heathcliff is often stormy and "a source of little visible delight", her love of him is so necessary she cannot live without it. Catherine's passionate exclamation, "I am Heathcliff!", dramatically shows her love for him and reinforces her belief in the similarity of their natures.

I chose a picture of the Yorkshire moors, where the book is set, to represent Catherine and Heathcliff's love. While the landscape is stormy and barren and has an unnatural quality about it, it is also strangely beautiful, just like Catherine's and Heathcliff's love. The rocks in the picture represent Catherine's comment about her "eternal" love for Heathcliff as well.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

"What did other people's deaths or a mother's love matter to me; what did his God or the lives people choose or the fate they think they elect matter to me when we're all elected by the same fate, me and billions of privileged people like him who also called themselves my brother? Couldn't he see, couldn't he see that? Everybody was privileged. There were only privileged people. The others would all be condemned one day. And he would be condemned, too. What would it matter if he were accused of murder and then executed because he didn't cry at his mother's funeral? Salamano's dog was worth just as much as his wife. The little robot woman was just as guilty as the Parisian woman Masson married, or as Marie, who had wanted me to marry her. What did it matter that Raymond was as much my friend as Celeste, who was worth a lot more than him? What did it matter that Marie now offered her lips to a new Meursault? Couldn't he, couldn't this condemned man see... And that from somewhere deep in my future... All the shouting had me gasping for air. But they were already tearing the Chaplain from my grip" (121-122).

Throughout the majority of the novel, Meursault's most defining characteristic is his lack of any human emotions. He fails to show any concern for his neighbor's habits of abuse or Marie's adoration for him or for the fact that he shot a man in the middle of the day on an open beach. The only realistic worry he has is fear pertaining to his execution, but even that is not a natural human reaction. As opposed to being concerned about facing death, he is upset about the definitive aspect of his execution. At one point he remarks that he would rather be executed with an injection that more than likely will kill him, but will still have a slight chance of survival. So instead of being upset about dying, he is upset about having the rest of his life already written for him. The above passage is the only instance where he becomes emotional, and he narrates the passage as he is attacking the Chaplain. What set him off was the Chaplain promising Meursault that he is on his side and will pray for him. Meursault's internal rant that proceeds explains a lot of Camus' attitudes towards life as well. He explains that overall, the Chaplain's piety accomplishes just as much as his homicide, and that the only differences that existed between people are their different relationships. Raymond's existance is defined by his hostile relations with various women; Marie's existance is defined by her relationship with Meursault, and then eventually someone else. Salamano's existance is defined by his relationship with his dog, and the Chaplain's existance is defined by his relationship with God. So, in the Chaplain's case, even if his God does not exist, the relationship is there, so he just like anyone else. Yes, Meursault will most likely die before any of the other characters, BUT he existed just as they did because of his relationships, whether they be good, bad, close, or distant. The reason Meursault responded to the Chaplain the way he did was because he knew that despite their different relationships throughout life, they were both headed for the same fate, and for the Chaplain to insinuate otherwise suggests that Meursault will suffer immensely in the afterlife for his actions, a concept which Meursault didn't believe in and didn't want to consider a possibility.

Wuthering Heights

"heaven did not seem to be my home; the angels were so angry that they flung me out, into the middle of the heath on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy. I've no more buisness to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven" (80).

This quote holds particular significance not only because of the figurative language, but also because of Catherine's realization that Edgar Linton is not her true soul mate. By admitting to the fact that she should, most likely not marry Edgar, she is acknowledging the lack of love and lust between her and Edgar; areas which hold an abundance of feeling and emotion with her and Heathcliff. Ultimately from Catherine choosing Edgar over Heathcliff, she is exposing her pompous and conceited characteristics. She is primarily marring Edgar because of his social status and economic stability, assets which Heathcliff does not possess. Overall, it is the fact that Catherine knows that she has no business marring Edgar, but yet she still does, which makes Catherine an even more interesting and complex character.

In her dream it is clear that the place where she is passionate about living is Weathering Heights. From her waking "sobbing for joy," it is evident that everything that she holds close to her heart rests on the Mores of the Grange. Yet, in the end she abandons the place where she truly wishes to reside, and the life she dreamt of living all for materalistic desires; futhermore neglecting her passionate love for Heathcliff.

Life and The Stranger (Camus)

"For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a 'fiancé,' why she had played at beginning again. Even there, in that home where lives were fading out, evening was a kind of wistful respite. So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again. Nobody, nobody had the right to cry over her. And I felt ready to live it all again too" (116).

This quote is an excellent example of Meursault's existentialist views on life. When one is no longer concerned about death or the minor details of life, one has a chance to truly live and a chance at "beginning again" (116). Meursalt's mother had a chance to truly live in the time nearing her death, and she took that chance. She entered an engagement, lived as she wished to live, and took the chance to be entirely free.

Meursalt feels that worrying about death is a sort of death in itself. For how can one go about living when they are constantly preoccupied with dying?

Thus, Meursalt does not mourn death like others do. For him, death seems to be another sort of life- one with complete freedom. This quote ends with Meursalt stating that he is ready to live "...it all again too" (116). At this point in the novel, he, like his Maman, is "close to death" (116). He is not afraid of dying; or rather, he is not afraid of living.

The above image is of a piece of art created by James O. Clark and inspired by The Stranger. It is entitled "Muersalt". The white and black is meant to represent the twisted confusion and chaos of worrying about death and life, while the electric blue is meant to represent the freedom of true life that outshines all.

~Diana Heriford of Camus' The Stranger

Bless Me, Ultima

The image is of the Virgin of Guadalupe or Christianity's mother Mary, framed by two moons and a crown of thorns. It represents the beauty of the protagonist's search for faith and religious sanctity in his surroundings including his mother's unwavering faith in the church, his grandmother-figure's wisdom in the ways of the earth, and the terribly awesome power of mother nature. Placed in the lower left corner of the image is the main character, Antonio Marez, blending in with the color that binds the image and makes it whole. He is but a young boy searching for religious peace when the story begins and continues through his experiences with his surroundings and heritage. The explanations he seeks to remedy his pious, humble confusion are brought to him in dreams; his subconscious attempts to make sense of the beliefs surrounding him by conveying "The waters are one...You have been seeing only parts , she [the Virgin of Guadalupe] finished, and not looking beyond into the great cycle that binds us all" (Anaya 121). Antonio was at a loss to connect the beliefs and faiths that he was absorbing through his childhood. His mother believed in salvation through the church, his father through the blood of his ancestors within the river, his friends, a "Pagan" carp that created life, and his grand-mother figure Ultima, an herbal healer of sorts. The dream tells him that these beliefs are true, none of them are right, wrong, or superior to one another. This forces Antonio to pick his own independent path of religious faith without any influence, allowing him to finally grow into himself and become a man by his own standards and not society's, which seem so lost. It is the only way Antonio can find internal peace and not be "lost to the sin's of his people."

The Metamorphosis!

"When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, ... he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. "(1)

For an opening, this first sentence of the novella is pretty hard to beat for sheer absurdity. The idea of waking up as an insect is so extraordinary that you might find yourself re-reading the sentence, trying to figure out if there's anything in those "unsettling dreams" that precipitated the change. That's part of the game the story plays with you, it makes the reader wonder if people just change overnight and if there has to be a cause. Little does the reader know at the time, but this sentence pretty much sums up the entire story's structure. The whole novella follows the same type of questioning and confusing language. It makes the reader use their imagination as to whether Gregor's change is real or just in his dreams, and also to imagine what bug Gregor resembles. The picture resembles what I imagined Gregor to look like when waking up as a bug.

the stranger

"Mostly, I could tell, I made him feel uncomfortable. He didn't understand me, and he was sort of holding it against me. I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else. But really there wasn't much point, and I gave up the idea out of laziness" (Camus 66).

Throughout the story, we see that Meursault is completely apathetic about his position in life. He has given up on obtaining lofty, unrealistic dreams. It is not until the second part of the book that we are given a real glimpse into his character and his voice, which until then is mainly suppressed and does not provide us with his opinions or additional information. This was one of my favorite quotes because we finally see that he is not quite as oblivious to how others perceive him as we believed, yet it is admirable that he cares so little for what people think of him. Meursault views conformity as something that will not benefit him, perhaps because he realizes that he will never be "just like everybody else." The fact that he gives up this notion simply because he was too lazy to do so is something truly resonant which provides a lot of insight into his actions.

The Stranger

"Throughout the whole absurd life I'd lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was living" (Camus 121).

In this quote, Albert Camus exemplifies the school of absurdist thought through Meursault's views and emotions prior to his impending execution. Though The Stranger is riddled with existentialist notions and philosophy, this quote in particular demonstrates absurdism and Meursault's loss of hope and meaning. While existentialism champions the idea that one's decisions determine one's essense, absurdism asserts that the universe is indifferent to human life and that one's decisions are essentially useless. Meursault believes that the Arab's death was just another incident thrust upon him and that his decisions were pointless and that his destiny was predetermined. In the quote above, he explains that his fate cannot be altered because the "dark wind" has already "leveled whatever was offered to [him]" in that future state of being. In other words, any event in the future that Meursault could possibly experience was already destroyed and altered before he had a chance to witness its execution in present time.

This quote is absolutely fascinating as it delineates the uselessness of finding meaning in the universe and in one's future, both of which being essential to absurdism. For the most part, these assertions are valid because one's future occurs only once as it passes the threshold into present time. All the events leading up to present time cannot change the outcome of one's future because one's past, present, and future are inevitably determined on their own accord. It reminds me of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and when Harry goes back in time only to discover that he himself actually conjured the spell that would save his own life in the past. In other words, Harry had to save himself in the past because his present existence depended on itself.

The Poisionwood Bible

Adah muses that the "Congo sprawls on the middle of the world. Sun rises, sum sets, six o'clock exactly. Everything that comes of morning undoes itself before nightfall: rooster walks back into forest, fires die down, birds coo-coo-coo, sun sinks away, sky bleeds, passes out, goes dark, nothing exists. Ashes to ashes" (Kingsolver 30). This profound stream of consciousness sheds light on what lies behind her silence. Adah's pattern of thought reveals that she is an observer, unlike the other members of her family. Her father, the preacher in all senses of the word, often overshadows Adah's pensive nature with his sermons of hell-fire and damnnation. While these outward expressions are, indeed, attention grabbing, it is Adah that holds some of the most widsom in the family. She does not seem to trifle with senseless things, like her sisters, and what she lacks in speech, she makes up in thought. The constant juxtoposition (i.e. sun rises, sun sets), as well as the onomotopoeia (i.e. birds coo-coo-coo) in her thoughts really allow one to get inside of her mind. Adah's preferred method of "stream of consciousness" speech is very similar to that of Faulkner in As I Lay Dying. Adah's character is very much like Darl. She is introverted, misunderstood, and essentially brilliant. However brilliant she may be, she is overlooked by her family, and her Georgia society. In contrast to other characters, the Congo presents Adah with a sense of self-worth and comraderie. While the other members of her family are smited by the Congo personally, Adah is embraced.

Summer Choice Book- The Stranger

"...I often thought that if I had had to live in the trunk of a dead tree, with nothing to do but look up at the sky flowering overhead, little by little I would have gotten used to it." (77) The Stranger, by Albert Camus

In this quote, Monseiur Meursault relates his time in jail to a saying his mother used to tell him. He looks up to the sky instead of believing in God and passes his time by focusing on his physical needs such as hunger and sleep. This quote is representative of Meursault's character throughout the entire novel. His thoughts slowly deteriorate into those of a prisoner and he loses all care for anything else. By saying that he could "have gotten used to it," he shows that he resigned all desires of freedom and let things happen as they came.

I enjoy this quote becuase of its beautiful imagery. It is one of the only flowery quotes in the entire book. This picture reminded me of what Monsieur Meursault was describing.

Poisonwood Bible - DAL

“Tata Jesus is bängala!” declares the Reverend every Sunday at the end of his
sermon. More and more, mistrusting his interpreters, he tries to speak in
Kikongo. He throws back his head and shouts these words to the sky, while his
lambs sit scratching themselves in wonder. Bangala means something precious and
dear. But the way he pronounces it, it means the poisonwood tree. Praise the
Lord, hallelujah my friends! for Jesus will make you itch like nobody’s
business. (276)

This quote portrays exactly why Nathaniel Price’s ill-fated mission to the Congo fails. Nathaniel was a wonderful, fiery preacher in America, where his profession was appreciated. That was his world. When he arrives in Kikongo, a completely different world, he is unable to assimilate. He is unwanted, unable to communicate to the people what he wants, and too stubborn to give up.
Nathaniel Price is unfit to preach to the people of Kikongo. To the villagers, he is preaching nonsense. After all, who would want to get baptized in a river full of crocodiles? To them, Nathaniel’s offer of baptism is a death-threat. When Nathaniel becomes paranoid and mistrusts his interpreters, the people are even more mystified. After all, who would worship a god that makes you “itch like nobody’s business”? The more Nathaniel preaches, the more his being an alien within the community antagonizes him.
This is a central theme in the novel, and is reinforced by his daughters. Nathaniel enjoyed his formative years in comfortable, understanding Georgia and cannot comprehend the Congo. Leah, who the most immersed in the African culture, is perfectly suited for the refugee life of the Congo, and feels uncomfortable upon returning to Georgia, where everything is easy and wasteful. Adah was formed in one instance: when her mother abandoned her to save Ruth May. This made her cynical and mistrusting in college. Rachel is perhaps the most entertaining of characters, and she too lives in a community suited to her: a hotel all about her beauty, an isolated island without thought of the world around her.

The Stranger

"Since we are all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter."
-pg. 114 Albert Camus The Stranger

This quote demonstrates the main character's, Meursault, indifference to life and even death. During his time spent in jail, he kept thinking that he would eventually get out and didn't even think of the possibility of being put to death. However, once he was condemned to be executed. He use to spend his time, wondering about how he could escape, if that was even possible, and dreading dawn because according to him, that's when the executions takes place. As time progressed, Meursault realized that worrying about his death was pointless. In this book, Camus demonstrates the absurdity of human life and even human death. Whether we die now or in thirty years, we will all die at one point in time. Some might die sooner than others while others might live longer. But in the end, worrying about the inevitable is pointless. As for our life on this Earth, it is of little consquence; it is but a blimp on the radar. When we die, thousands of other people continue on with their lives; without little consquence about our death. Meursault viewed life as having little consquence. He could never find joy out of life; only through physical acts could he feel alive. Unlike other novels, where the character feels the need to search for a meaning in life, Meursault feels completely content with his life and his indifference towards everything. It is absurd to believe that people have so little emotion over death. Even when it came to his own mother's death, he could not muster up the emotion to even feel sad. Camus's character portrays the absurdity of human life.

Memorable Quotes from Choice Multi-Cultural Books

Hi everyone!  This blogging will be a bit different.  You are going to post a memorable quote from your summer choice books (you decide what makes it memorable) and then analyze the quote to justify its memorability.  You should also include a photo (you would use the photo icon above) to provide a graphic for your quote.  This posting will be due a week from today (by midnight Friday, September 25th).  We will decide upon assignments for students taking over the blogging sometime next week.  I still have to figure out how all this will work.

Quote by Kafka

Kafka once said:

How pathetically scanty my self-knowledge is compared with, say, my knowledge of my room. There is no such thing as observation of the inner world, as there is of the outer world.

Relate this quote to Metamorphosis specifically and/or to the concepts underlying existentialism and surrealism.

Folktales, Fables, and The Metamorphosis

Many folktales and fables delve into the theme of transformations or have animals as central characters.  How does Kafka's modern story differ form these works?  Be sure to give give specific examples that transcend the obvious in your evaluation.

Metamorphosis by Kafka and Existentialism

Kierkgaard, one of the fathers of existentialism, once said:

I stick my fingers into existence - it smells nothing.  Where am I?  What is a thing called
the world?  Who it is that lured me into the thing and now leaves me here?  How did I come
into the world?  Why was I not consulted?"

Existentialism is a philosophical movement of the 19th century that portrays the stress on individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice.  What you are (your essence) is the result of your your choices (your existence) rather than the other way around.  

Using the quote as a springboard and your knowledge of existentialism, discuss how Kafka's Metamorphosis exemplifies the inherent concepts of existentialism.  Provide quotes and/or specific evidence from the novella to support your arguments.   

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Quote Analysis

Use details from the novel to explain what the quote reveals about Janie's search for fulfillment. "Nanny: "De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. Ah been prayin' fuh it tuh be different wid you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!"(29).

Once this quote has been "analyzed to death" suggest a new quote that addresses this same theme.