Fog is a cloudlike mass that limits visibility. In Sadburg’s “Fog”, Sandburg uses personification to give the lingering mass of humidity and blurriness the ability to crawl on “little cat feet” and sit, lingering, and then move on. The human qualities that encompass it give fog the importance of anything human. In other words, fog is of vital importance.
The way Sandburg describes it as coming, lingering, and eventually moving on, it becomes a metaphor for whatever happens to cloud our minds, making us stumble and rendering us disoriented, in the same way everyday problems and obstacles seem to affect as.
The structure of the poem goes along with its overall meaning, a couplet correctly interpreting the “little cat feet” as well as the quickness with which it comes, and the other stanza, a quatrain, signaling the staggering lethargic pace with which humans let their problems engulf the, and the time it takes them to overcome them, or deal with them, to the point where they eventually fade away.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
A Very Short Story
Hemingway’s “A Very Short Story” is a piece that incorporates irony, symbolism, and hyperbole to create a satirical and thought-inducing work.
The overall meaning of this story is a tad baffling, seeing as it starts out well and drives on to become absurd and negatively surprising. The beginning begins with the “He” we never know the name of, and Luz in their escapades and shared moments of love. The word ‘luz’ in itself is Spanish for light, light being a symbol of brightness, guidance, and assurance. So taking into account the way the male protagonist seems daydream and think of Luz, she is his only hope in a dreary hospital, which usually stands for hopelessness and death. Luz is his hope in a place where there is anything but.
Just from that simple detail, the reader can already tell that the relationship between the two is less having to with actual love, and more drenched in the basic search for fulfilling one’s needs, in this case, the search for hope, and in Luz’s case, an attempt at doing some good-willed acts driven on pity. This is why their so-called ‘love’ is a hyperbole in itself. It is not the long-lasting entity they like to believe it is. And this is seen when the piece states that even though they felt like were married, “they wanted everyone to know about it.” It is childish and in a way shows the opposite of what they are trying to demonstrate. If they really loved each other, they would marry each other for their own benefit, not to assuage their peer’s second thoughts or doubts.
It is at the very end that the reader finds Luz ditching the male character for a an Italian, after which she tells the former that theirs was only a “boy and girl” love, and proceeds to expect a wedding proposal from the latter. She knew it was for the best.
But that is not the case, as seen when the major fails to marry her and contracts “gonorrhea from a sales girl in a loop department store while riding in a taxicab through Lincoln Park.”
That ending was like meshing a love story and then placing a paragraph from a satirical, cynical and caustic version of happily-ever-after short essays. You just don’t expect it. The gag-inducing term “gonorrhea”, the unpredictable affair of a major with a mere “sales girl” and all of that occurring in a very public, very slutty venue of a taxi cab is just absurd. The fact that this is how this formerly positive and bright story comes to an end is both bizarre and sad.
It blends to make an ironic tale of how sometimes when people choose to let go of their morals or let others go because of one’s unprecedented rise to the top of whatever it may be, life just might leave them with everything but.
The overall meaning of this story is a tad baffling, seeing as it starts out well and drives on to become absurd and negatively surprising. The beginning begins with the “He” we never know the name of, and Luz in their escapades and shared moments of love. The word ‘luz’ in itself is Spanish for light, light being a symbol of brightness, guidance, and assurance. So taking into account the way the male protagonist seems daydream and think of Luz, she is his only hope in a dreary hospital, which usually stands for hopelessness and death. Luz is his hope in a place where there is anything but.
Just from that simple detail, the reader can already tell that the relationship between the two is less having to with actual love, and more drenched in the basic search for fulfilling one’s needs, in this case, the search for hope, and in Luz’s case, an attempt at doing some good-willed acts driven on pity. This is why their so-called ‘love’ is a hyperbole in itself. It is not the long-lasting entity they like to believe it is. And this is seen when the piece states that even though they felt like were married, “they wanted everyone to know about it.” It is childish and in a way shows the opposite of what they are trying to demonstrate. If they really loved each other, they would marry each other for their own benefit, not to assuage their peer’s second thoughts or doubts.
It is at the very end that the reader finds Luz ditching the male character for a an Italian, after which she tells the former that theirs was only a “boy and girl” love, and proceeds to expect a wedding proposal from the latter. She knew it was for the best.
But that is not the case, as seen when the major fails to marry her and contracts “gonorrhea from a sales girl in a loop department store while riding in a taxicab through Lincoln Park.”
That ending was like meshing a love story and then placing a paragraph from a satirical, cynical and caustic version of happily-ever-after short essays. You just don’t expect it. The gag-inducing term “gonorrhea”, the unpredictable affair of a major with a mere “sales girl” and all of that occurring in a very public, very slutty venue of a taxi cab is just absurd. The fact that this is how this formerly positive and bright story comes to an end is both bizarre and sad.
It blends to make an ironic tale of how sometimes when people choose to let go of their morals or let others go because of one’s unprecedented rise to the top of whatever it may be, life just might leave them with everything but.
Spunk
Zora Neale Hurston’s “Spunk” is a work that analyzes what courage really is. The title in itself represents the noun that signifies balls, courage and resolution; the character Spunk being a symbol of that bravery act itself. Hurston uses to highlight every word that comes out of each character’s mouth. Especially in the beginning when Elijah Mosley says, “But that’s one thing Ah likes about Spunk Barks—he ain’t skeered of nothing’ on God’s green footstool—nothing!” This embodies Spunk’s person and then renders him a FOIL to Joe Kanty’s measly, door-mat character that nurses a coffee while he’s conscious of the fact that his wife’s run off with the local monster. Spunk’s literary hugeness is so that it highlights Joe’s submissiveness and compliant persona. Their opposing personalities also mixes with the sardonic tone of some parts of the text ---most of which are ironic and questioning of women and their status as well as defects--- like when the narrator states that Spunk’s case was a “clear case of defense” when describing the court case. The obvious sarcasm masking the tone creates an overall hint of antagonism and dislike for the character Spunk, suggesting there must be more to him that suggests him to be the powerful and worship-worthy character that he is.
Hurston also makes allusions to Hamlet and Goliath. The Hamlet aspect might have been coincidental and not at all on purpose, but the perpetual insults towards women such as, “ A woman knows her boss and answers when he calls,” and “He done moved most of Lena’s things—and her along wid’em,” remind the reader of Hamlet’s contempt towards the female gender. When Joe’s wife marries Spunk just after Joe’s death, Walter says, “Joe ain’t even had time to git cold yit,” reminding one of Hamlet’s mother marrying Claudius so soon after her previous husband’s death. This allusion builds to create the revenge and justice theme that is Hamlet around this particular work. Another allusion, and probably the most important of all, is the allusion to Goliath. At the end of the piece, Elijah describes Joe’s father as “leering triumphantly down upon the fallen giant,” fallen giant resonating and portraying that Goliath we all know so well. This reference is made clearer when Walter explains his reasons for why he believes Joe is braver than Spunk. “Lookit whut he done; took a razor an’ went out tofight a man he knowed toed a gun an’ wuz a crack shot, too; ‘nother thing Joe wuz sakeered of Spunk, skeered plumb stiff! But he went jes’ the same. It took him a long time to giet his nerve up. Tain’t nothin’ for Spunk to fight whe he ain’t skeered of nothin.” And so we see Joe as David, a meer kid that pales against Goliath in both size and in accomplishments--- and Spunk as the Goliath that fears nothing and is eventually beaten by David. Joe ups Spunk after his death but the theme is still the same. What makes courage is the ability of one to confront one’s fears. Joe feared Spunk while Spunk never feared anyone and so whatever he did that people assumed was due to “bravery” was not bravery at all if just an idea of badly masked power. Even though Joe died, he dived head first into a battle with someone he feared so very much and that makes him braver than anything Spunk ever did. Courage is facing your fears. Not inspiring them in someone else.
Hurston also makes allusions to Hamlet and Goliath. The Hamlet aspect might have been coincidental and not at all on purpose, but the perpetual insults towards women such as, “ A woman knows her boss and answers when he calls,” and “He done moved most of Lena’s things—and her along wid’em,” remind the reader of Hamlet’s contempt towards the female gender. When Joe’s wife marries Spunk just after Joe’s death, Walter says, “Joe ain’t even had time to git cold yit,” reminding one of Hamlet’s mother marrying Claudius so soon after her previous husband’s death. This allusion builds to create the revenge and justice theme that is Hamlet around this particular work. Another allusion, and probably the most important of all, is the allusion to Goliath. At the end of the piece, Elijah describes Joe’s father as “leering triumphantly down upon the fallen giant,” fallen giant resonating and portraying that Goliath we all know so well. This reference is made clearer when Walter explains his reasons for why he believes Joe is braver than Spunk. “Lookit whut he done; took a razor an’ went out tofight a man he knowed toed a gun an’ wuz a crack shot, too; ‘nother thing Joe wuz sakeered of Spunk, skeered plumb stiff! But he went jes’ the same. It took him a long time to giet his nerve up. Tain’t nothin’ for Spunk to fight whe he ain’t skeered of nothin.” And so we see Joe as David, a meer kid that pales against Goliath in both size and in accomplishments--- and Spunk as the Goliath that fears nothing and is eventually beaten by David. Joe ups Spunk after his death but the theme is still the same. What makes courage is the ability of one to confront one’s fears. Joe feared Spunk while Spunk never feared anyone and so whatever he did that people assumed was due to “bravery” was not bravery at all if just an idea of badly masked power. Even though Joe died, he dived head first into a battle with someone he feared so very much and that makes him braver than anything Spunk ever did. Courage is facing your fears. Not inspiring them in someone else.
Dis Poem
Mutabaruka’s “Dis Poem” is a work that brings up some controversial ideas. Its patronizing tone as well as the listing of African American leaders and conflicts in said country as well highlights the meaning of the work as one for justice. The repetition of the words “dis poem” mend to create an identity for the poem, and yet a very intricate one seeing as ‘dis poem’ “shall say nothing” and yet contradicts itself and “shall speak of time.” It will “not change things”, “it “has to be changed.” “Dis poem is still not written.” These then demonstrate that poem is a mixture of contradictions, it is a form of time—most likely the present and the future—and it is still not written because while it talks of the past, it begs for another way to bring about the future. A future that does not involve “knives…bombs…guns” like the past did, but that “has to be changed.” The poem is the rebirth of a people arising...awaking...overstanding."
It is sometimes self-mocking, patronizing, and subtly judgmental of the reader, which leads to infer that the reader has to do with most of the past atrocities. The particular rhyme only present when describing “time” accentuates the importance of time in the work. It describes it as “undefined”. And undefined is basically the gist of the entire poem. It is confusing and yet at the same time it’s trying to convey the message that “Dis Poem” is not really a poem. It hasn’t been written, and it “has no poet” and it shall be called, ‘boring’ and ‘stupid’ and ‘senseless’. The poem is “to continue in your mind.” It is urging the reader to write their own poem, to make their own future a better one, to act. The poem is whatever moral values and whatever conscience we hope to obtain in the future. “Dis Poem” is a plea to learn from previous mistakes in the past, and change the prospect of making the same mistakes in the future.
It is sometimes self-mocking, patronizing, and subtly judgmental of the reader, which leads to infer that the reader has to do with most of the past atrocities. The particular rhyme only present when describing “time” accentuates the importance of time in the work. It describes it as “undefined”. And undefined is basically the gist of the entire poem. It is confusing and yet at the same time it’s trying to convey the message that “Dis Poem” is not really a poem. It hasn’t been written, and it “has no poet” and it shall be called, ‘boring’ and ‘stupid’ and ‘senseless’. The poem is “to continue in your mind.” It is urging the reader to write their own poem, to make their own future a better one, to act. The poem is whatever moral values and whatever conscience we hope to obtain in the future. “Dis Poem” is a plea to learn from previous mistakes in the past, and change the prospect of making the same mistakes in the future.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Final Phase
Everything in excess is destructive.
A man once drank too much water, which inevitably ended up drowning his lungs and swirling down every part of his body, rendering him dead.
Watching so much television may act to brand you immobile and vapid and senseless.
And having some twisted view of freedom displaced onto loosing one’s self in the tide of the ocean is disparaging when you find yourself purposefully drowning in what you think is endless freedom.
“The shore was far beyond her, and her strength was gone.”
She ends up in the same place that started it all. But when the reader expects her to go on in life attempting to mold her new perspective and independence, she just swindles down, like a “bird with a broken wing beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water.”
Disabled. As if it had nothing to do in its current downfall. As if some outside force disabled it and the bird was helpless as to the oncoming events leading to its inexorable death.
As if it didn’t have a choice.
Maybe that’s how Edna would like to see this: something she had no say in. Her suicide being dependent on various causes that even the presence of her own children and the outcome of her absence don’t halt.
She laughs at the thought of what Mrs. Reisz said of an artist having a courageous and brave soul.
She laughs because she knows she has anything but that. Because what she’s about to do, no matter how much she may account it to the freedom of the sea and the escape of ocean, is giving up.
But her giving up is followed by a melodic description of the day in all its colorful and common glory:
“ She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her father’s voice and her sister Margaret’s. She heard the barking of an old dog that was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air. “
It’s almost as if her eventual giving up was expected, just like the hum of bees is expected, in the same way that the odor of pinks fill the air.
And it’s sad and beautiful. It’s disappointing that after everything she is just going to resort to the easiest way out: death. But the way she describes swimming out to the deep tide and recognizing that sense of fear from before but eventually having it sink, is poetic. Poetic not only because of the carefully mended words and imagery-inspiring description, but because of the understanding that the fearful, dependent, careful woman from the beginning of the book is gone. She has timelessly melded into this independent and carefree and fearless facet of her self and the greatest way she demonstrates that is by willingly and simplistically approaching death.
Without fear.
Without second thoughts.
Death being the most unapproachable and potent entity, her approaching it truly captures the theme of the book and the extent of her dynamic transformation.
That doesn’t mean I don’t think her committing suicide is a stupid act from an apparent lapse of judgment. Because I do. And her act is a mindless action that will affect a lot of people and cause their ultimate turmoil.
But even then, her willing death is the perfect way to enclose the premise. Death means letting go of every single social construct, judgment, and dependency. Death means freedom from being anyone but who you truly are.
Death is the final form of Awakening.
A man once drank too much water, which inevitably ended up drowning his lungs and swirling down every part of his body, rendering him dead.
Watching so much television may act to brand you immobile and vapid and senseless.
And having some twisted view of freedom displaced onto loosing one’s self in the tide of the ocean is disparaging when you find yourself purposefully drowning in what you think is endless freedom.
“The shore was far beyond her, and her strength was gone.”
She ends up in the same place that started it all. But when the reader expects her to go on in life attempting to mold her new perspective and independence, she just swindles down, like a “bird with a broken wing beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water.”
Disabled. As if it had nothing to do in its current downfall. As if some outside force disabled it and the bird was helpless as to the oncoming events leading to its inexorable death.
As if it didn’t have a choice.
Maybe that’s how Edna would like to see this: something she had no say in. Her suicide being dependent on various causes that even the presence of her own children and the outcome of her absence don’t halt.
She laughs at the thought of what Mrs. Reisz said of an artist having a courageous and brave soul.
She laughs because she knows she has anything but that. Because what she’s about to do, no matter how much she may account it to the freedom of the sea and the escape of ocean, is giving up.
But her giving up is followed by a melodic description of the day in all its colorful and common glory:
“ She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her father’s voice and her sister Margaret’s. She heard the barking of an old dog that was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air. “
It’s almost as if her eventual giving up was expected, just like the hum of bees is expected, in the same way that the odor of pinks fill the air.
And it’s sad and beautiful. It’s disappointing that after everything she is just going to resort to the easiest way out: death. But the way she describes swimming out to the deep tide and recognizing that sense of fear from before but eventually having it sink, is poetic. Poetic not only because of the carefully mended words and imagery-inspiring description, but because of the understanding that the fearful, dependent, careful woman from the beginning of the book is gone. She has timelessly melded into this independent and carefree and fearless facet of her self and the greatest way she demonstrates that is by willingly and simplistically approaching death.
Without fear.
Without second thoughts.
Death being the most unapproachable and potent entity, her approaching it truly captures the theme of the book and the extent of her dynamic transformation.
That doesn’t mean I don’t think her committing suicide is a stupid act from an apparent lapse of judgment. Because I do. And her act is a mindless action that will affect a lot of people and cause their ultimate turmoil.
But even then, her willing death is the perfect way to enclose the premise. Death means letting go of every single social construct, judgment, and dependency. Death means freedom from being anyone but who you truly are.
Death is the final form of Awakening.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
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