Schaub Response

For some reason I can't figure out how to make a new blog post on the class blog, so I'm just going to post here and ask tomorrow. I agree with a lot of what Claire mentioned. I especially like the idea about the boy paralleling Jesus Christ, and I thought a lot about carrying the fire throughout the novel and Schaub's article.

Given the fact that I don't know much about religion, I wanted to discuss Schaub's argument about the spiritual aspect of The Road, not entirely inclusive to religion.

As I said before, I looked at the term "carry the fire" throughout the novel. In his essay, I believe Schaub's intent is to highlight the importance of the spiritual; without the belief that they could survive the post-apocalyptic terrors of the world, the man and his son would not have made it as long as they did. The man and his son "carry the fire" of the hope and faith of survival. The "quest for life's meaning" (Schaub 153) that Schaub discusses is just that: the ability to survive and attempt to discover this meaning. Had the father and his son committed suicide, as the man's wife suggested, they only would have taken an "easier" path to an afterlife. The struggle they face is what defines them as individuals; their love is what keeps them strong, and the fire they carry that helps them stay alive. Though fire is a Biblical allusion to the end of time (Schaub 154), it also represents the beginning. The world has ended, but a new life for the man and his son is beginning; their journey begins at the end.

Given this, I agree with Claire in that the boy parallels Jesus in that he is the one who continues to carry the fire, and therefore carry on life. When the family finds him at the end of the novel, the boy asks repeatedly, "Are you carrying the fire?" (McCarthy 283). Though his father is dead, the boy continues to live because he carries the fire "inside [him]" (McCarthy 279). His fire, or his spirituality and faith, is what keeps him burning; he is the light of innocence amongst a dark, hopeless world. The boy throughout the novel seems to be the only bit of hope left. He is young, and therefore able to carry on the message in later years, and without the anguishing memories of the old world, he can remain ignorant of how the world once was. We have faith of survival because the boy carries the fire with him, bringing the hope of survival to others. In this way, the boy is similar to Jesus; he carries a message to other people that gives them the hope of survival. Though Jesus was crucified, is ascent into heaven three days later gave people the reassurance that goodness still remained. Jesus spread the messages of goodness, and the Catholic religion thrives on his message; though the boy is clearly not a religious figure, he still carries on the goodness and innocence that the world lacks.

In his essay, Schaub emphasizes the necessity of spirituality in the hope of survival (Schaub 154). It is because of the faith that the boy and his father have that they continue to live as long as they do. They carry the fire that allows them to endure struggle, for hope of a greater end.

Reflection on The Time Traveler's Wife

I read The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger over the break. The novel, set between the 1970s and the early 2000s, is about Henry DeTamble, a man with Chrono-Displacement, a disease that sends one back and forward into time without warning. In his later life, Henry will travel back to the past and meet 6-year-old Clare Abshire, who in future years is Henry’s best friend and wife. These visits, along with Henry’s present life with his wife, become the basis of the story. Throughout the novel, we see Henry’s struggle to cope with his disorder, constantly leaving his wife for hours and days because of the time travel he cannot control. He faces isolation and loneliness, stuck in past or future years without knowledge of exactly where he is, and ultimately, time travel will be the thing that causes his death.

One of the more prominent ideas in the novel is isolation. In the beginning of the novel, Henry’s mother dies in a car accident that Henry should have been involved in, but fortunately escapes due to unintentional time travel. His dad blames Henry for the accident, unable to cope with the fact that Henry is still living. Though he understands Henry’s disorder, Henry still feels guilty and can no longer relate to his father. One Christmas Eve, the anniversary of his mother’s death, Henry walks alone on the streets of Chicago, finally making his way into a Lounge: “The abandoned ghost train track looms over the street in the sodium vapor glare and as I open the door someone starts to blow a trumpet and hot jazz smacks me in the chest. I walk into it like a drowning man, which is what I have come here to be” (Niffenegger 119). Henry, being the only one with his disorder, is unable to tell people why he constantly disappears for the simple reason that they won’t believe him. Until he meets Clare in the present, Henry constantly feels alone and empty, knowing that he cannot relate to anyone else. He is laughed at by numerous doctors, who all claim his “disorder” is merely psychotic.

However, the novel also expresses the idea of escaping isolation. One of Henry’s greatest fears in the novel is time traveling to the library (where he works), into the metal “Cage” that lies in the middle of the staircase. The Cage has no entrance (and therefore no exit), and should Henry get stuck in the Cage, he would never be able to get out (Niffenegger 305). However, later in the story, Henry does time travel to the Cage. He is separated from the outside world by metal bars, left alone to suffer until he returns to the present time. At this point, the idea of isolation is most prominent in the novel; Henry is truly alone, the only time traveler in a world where nobody understands his disorder. When the security guards, Kevin and Ron, find him, Henry is forced to explain to his bosses what his condition is. His bosses believe him once they see the present Henry show up to work, all while the situation in the Cage continues. At this time, Henry can finally tell someone besides his wife and family what his disorder is, and they believe him. This point is a turning point in the novel; not only do Henry’s bosses know about his disorder, but we also meet Dr. Kendrick, the doctor who will ultimately find a cure to Chrono-Displacement.

One of the passages I found interesting takes place when Henry goes running, a daily activity that he deems necessary. As he runs, Henry says, “I’m flying now, that golden feeling, as if I could run right into the air, and I’m invincible, nothing can stop me, nothing can stop me, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing –” (Niffenegger 154). This passage mirrors the end of The Great Gatsby, and the idea of chasing a dream but not being able to fully reach it. Henry is running towards a dream, but just as he is able to reach it, it disappears. Just as Gatsby attempts to return to his past, to the time when Daisy loved him unconditionally, Henry attempts to return to the time before he time traveled, to escape to a “normal”, present life. However, both are impossible. Henry and Gatsby are therefore similar in that their desires are unachievable. Though Henry’s life becomes better, and he and Clare have their daughter Alba, these years of enjoyment are short lived. Henry becomes too old for Dr. Kendrick to experiment on him, and Henry is left to count down the days of his life.

The Great Gatsby Chapter 6

"It stands out in my memory from Gatsby's other parties that summer. There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion, but I felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn't been there before. Or perhaps I had merely grown used to it, grown to accept West Egg as a world complete in itself, with its own standards and its own great figures, second to nothing because it had no consciousness of being so, and now I was looking at it again, through Daisy's eyes. It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment" (Fitzgerald 110-111).

This passage reflects upon the ideas of isolation and blindness. West Egg is described as "a world within itself", which expresses society's separateness from the surrounding world. However, this isolation was something that Nick had "grown used to". In the beginning of the novel, Nick states that he is free from judgment, proving himself to be an outsider that looks in upon society. By accepting its isolation and "growing used to" society's ways, Nick is slowly becoming a member of society instead of a resting on the outskirts. He is becoming blind, like the other people in society; he only sees what he wants to see, and is therefore saddened when he sees Daisy's perspective. Like the others, Nick had established his "own powers of adjustment" and his own ways to transform the unfavorable aspects of society into something he approves of. At this point, Daisy is more realistic than Nick, though she has lived amongst society for much longer than he has. If Nick is saddened by her perspective, he clearly saw an unfavorable view on the society that he is now a part of. Daisy sees and is disgusted by society's isolation and its superficiality, while Nick is now accustomed to and accepting of it.

Fitzgerald also uses repetition and commas to describe Nick's thought process and reveal a change in Nick. The sentences in the passage are overly drawn out, and run into each other as a result of excessive comma usage. Perhaps this shows a state of drunkenness and Nick's inability to think coherently. Fitzgerald also repeats "the same", "many", and "grown" throughout the passage, which shows Nick's inability to stand out from society. Though he makes these observations, these thoughts repeat themselves the sentence structure within the passage is very similar. The way he narrates is "the same", mirroring his observation of society's members. By drawing out his thoughts with commas, Fitzgerald shows Nick's uncertainty with what he is saying and his inability to think clearly and coherently. He is not an individual who does not judge and therefore is unique from society, but he is becoming another one of its members.

The Great Gatsby Chapters 1 and 2

In Chapter 1, Nick and Daisy are excused from the rest of the party as they sit in the "deep gloom" (Fitzgerald 21) of the front porch. They begin to discuss Daisy's relationship with her husband, and her daughter. Daisy tells Nick, "I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool'" (21).

This passage illuminates the fact that society creates untrue perceptions of its members; while the reader is led to believe that Daisy is strong, because of her wealth and social status, she truly lives in misery. Her "bright eyes and bright passionate mouth" (13-14) are merely a facade to cover her suffering. Her husband has a mistress in New York and Daisy does not love him, instead viewing him as a cruel man and talking to him with a cold tone. Her frustration and annoyance with society is shown when she tells Nick, "Sophisticated - God, I'm so sophisticated!" (22). Daisy laughs to Nick "with thrilling scorn" (22); she is exasperated with society and only wishes to leave. Though she is "sophisticated", following the proper etiquette dictated by society's expectations, her sophistication does not make her happy, and living in society solely makes her miserable. Daisy is a fool to her husband and a fool for thinking that she could ever be happy in such a fake world; her happiness is fake, her marriage is fake, and she has no other option but to continue to pretend that she is content with her life.

We also see a false perception of Mr. Gatsby; similar to Daisy, the reader is led to believe that because of his enormous wealth, Gatsby must be content with his life. Nick comments, "On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden shears, repairing the ravages of the night before" (43). Gatsby's life is seemingly perfect, full of parties and extravagant affairs and carefree nights spend in the city. However, when he is alone, Gatsby "stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as [Nick] was from him [he] could have sworn [Gatsby] was trembling" (25-26). Although we have yet to meet Gatsby, at this point he is comparable to Daisy: he only puts forth a facade to cover his misery and suffering. He trembles, which shows his weakness, and stands alone in the moonlight instead of being surrounded by society and the people he usually associates himself with. Like Daisy, Gatsby is only capable of showing his suffering when he is alone, for the fear of being perceived as weak in the public eye. Also similar to Daisy, Gatsby is a fool for thinking that being immersed in society can take away any pain and struggle; he too lives in a fake world and must pretend to be content in the eye of society.

"The Custom House" Pre-Discussion

In the beginning of "The Custom House", Hawthorne discusses the role of an author and the relationship he has with his writing. He says, "Some authors, indeed, do far more than this, and indulge themselves in such confidential depths of revelation ... as if the printed book, thrown at large on the wide world, were certain to find out the divided segment of the writer's own nature, and complete his circle of existence by bringing him into communion with it" (7). Hawthorne talks about how an author's work, whether intentional or not, is often "autobiographical" (7-8). An author becomes immersed in his writing, and adds aspects of himself and his thoughts into his works.

When commenting about how he found the original manuscript of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne says, "It should be borne carefully in mind, that the main facts of that story are authorized and authenticated by the document of Mr. Surveyor Pue ... I have allowed myself, as to such points, nearly or altogether as much license as if the facts had been entirely of my own invention. What I contend for is the authenticity of the outline" (27).

Given this, what is the significance of the fact that The Scarlet Letter was not a completely original idea of Hawthorne's? How does Hawthorne add aspects of his own original thought and create an "autobiographical" work, like the authors he describes in the beginning of "The Custom House"? More importantly, how does this relate to the idea of tradition, and the fact that The Scarlet Letter was written literally from something created previously by someone else?

Housekeeping Discussion Test Reflection

Before today's discussion, I hadn't thought much about the role of men in "Housekeeping". However, I really liked Connor's point about Ruth's grandfather in the novel, and the significance of the fact that he built the house that was ultimately burned to the ground. Like Connor said, it's as though in burning down the house, Sylvie and Ruth show that they are not dependent on men to live in a stable environment. They leave Fingerbone and create a living for themselves (though it is still unconventional), without the aid of a male figure. When they burn the house down, "One moment I had no idea where Sylvie was, and the next moment the parlor curtains were a sheet of flames and Sylvie was kneeling in front of them, dull rose in the light with a black shadow behind her. But the curtains were consumed in moments and fell to the floor and went out. 'Damn!' Sylvie said, and we laughed, but as little as we could, because we knew it was a solemn thing to burn a house down" (Robinson 208). Sylvie and Ruth almost find an enjoyment in burning the house down, aware of the closure it contains; they are leaving behind the unwanted aspect of female-dependency in Fingerbone to wither away in the remains of the household. The burning of the house represents a finality to housekeeping: there is no longer anything to take care of.

Ruth's relationship with her grandfather is also interesting to the story. Ruth seems to envy the fact that her grandfather "escaped this world years before [she] entered it" (Robinson 3). Based on this statement, it seems as though Ruth dreads the idea of living and wishes not to. Robinson uses the word "escaped" to show Ruth's feelings of uncertainty with the idea of life; she is a part of this world, but lacks an urge to be there. Ruth also has an undeniable respect for her grandfather, which is again shown within Robinson's language. Ruth regards her grandfather as a "dutiful and industrious worker, [who was] bound to rise" (Robinson 5). Robinson uses a good amount of description and elaborate language in order to create a respectable image of Ruth's grandfather, and show Ruth's reverence towards him. Based on this level of respect, it seems contradictory that Ruth would find such joy, even humor, in burning down the foundation he built; perhaps Ruth did so in a need to feel the closure of her past. She says, "Now truly we were cast out to wander, and there was an end to housekeeping" (209). Once the house was gone, Ruth and Sylvie truly had to make an existence of their own; they could no longer rely on the foundation they were given to provide them with a stable environment. By burning the house, Ruth leaves herself with only one option: to move on. Ruth and Sylvie ultimately burn the house in order to eliminate the alternative option to leaving Fingerbone behind; their past is in ashes, and they leave knowing that they cannot return.

The Raven Rhetorical Analysis

In his poem “The Raven”, Edgar Allen Poe uses a variety of rhetorical devices that enhance and help add interest to his writing. In the poem, Poe is relatively isolated from the rest of the world, choosing to live within darkness as a means to escape his fear of his surroundings. He sets a melancholy tone to relate his setting to his own feelings about the world. Poe addresses his loneliness with comfort, mirroring his own situation with “each separate dying ember [which] wrought its ghost upon the floor” (8). He lives alone in his home, choosing to keep not only himself, but any item he can place under his control, separate from the outside world. Poe continually discusses darkness and uses somber, depressing words to make his tone apparent: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, … The silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token” (25, 27). The raven, or “the bird of ill omen” (“The Philosophy of Composition” 5), further enhances this tone. Poe contrasts the raven’s movements with the rest of the poem, as it “flirts and flutters” (37) its way into his house. It is a metaphor for the part of Poe’s mind and soul that craves release into the outside world, away from the suffocating grasp of his home. The raven ends each of his statements with “Nevermore” (Poe uses this word as his refrain), which invokes Poe’s fear of change and of removal from isolation. Poe illuminates this fear in his lines, “Leave my loneliness unbroken! – quit the bust above my door! / Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!” (Poe 100-101). When interacting with the raven, Poe becomes paranoid, and the fear within him arises; he becomes defensive and emotional, and attempts to convince himself that his isolation is a satisfactory way of living. He uses pathos, or the use of emotions to support an argument, in his attempt to justify his choices. Poe’s use of rhetorical devices adds interest to his writing: he uses tone, metaphor, refrain, and other tools to support the ideas he chooses to convey.