Revision #4

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.

Conflicts between parents and their children are a common occurrence. However, a conflict that spans many years and continuously deepens is more unusual and significant. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, such a conflict arises between Willy and his son, Biff. Their conflict begins with Biff catching his father having an extramarital affair, and deepens as the play continues. This conflict contributes greatly to the overall theme of illusions versus reality present in Death of a Salesman.

The conflict between Biff and Willy begins when Biff catches Willy having an affair with another woman in Boston. This event is when Biff loses his innocence and is forced to open his eyes to who his father really is. Before, he looked up to and worshipped Willy. After this event, however, Biff never again looks up to his father in the same way. Willy is also drastically changed by this event. He is terrified that he has lost his son’s love and respect. This change in their once almost lover-esque relationship is what begins the conflict.

                  Their conflict deepens as Willy tries to live his own dreams through Biff, and Biff refuses. Throughout Death of a Salesman, Biff expresses his desire to move out west and live on a farm. He does not want to stay in the city and become a salesman like his father. However, for Willy, living out west isn’t good enough. In his mind, Biff needs to go into business and become wealthy and respected. This dream that Willy has for Biff stems from his own shortcomings. Biff represents this savior for Willy, his last hope for true success. Biff tries to appease his father for a short time, but then decides to live the life he wants instead. Biff’s decision to refuse his father’s wishes stems back to when he caught Willy having the affair in Boston. Before that event, had Willy told Biff to go into business, Biff probably would have gone along. Perhaps that might be the biggest reason for their conflict: Willy wants to control Biff, but he no longer can.

                  Willy and Biff’s conflict contributes to the meaning of Death of a Salesmanbecause it contributes to the overall theme of illusions versus reality. When Biff sees his father having an affair, Biff suddenly stops believing all of his father’s lies. His eyes are opened to the reality that his father is not perfect, and that he’s not an amazing salesman. As Biff and Willy’s conflict later deepens, Willy continuously tries to pull Biff back under this illusion that Biff was great in business and has these connections. Biff, on the other hand, tries to pull his father out of the illusion that he could still be this great businessman. He tries to open his father’s eyes to the reality of their situation.

                  Overall, the fracture in Willy and Biff’s relationship is extremely deep. What begins as a fight between Biff and Willy when Biff catches his father cheating turns into a bitter, irreconcilable conflict between the two of them. Biff’s refusal to appease Willy’s illusions contributes to a theme of illusions versus reality that is very much present in the play. 

Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Author Leslie Marmon Silko
Setting the Laguna Rez, land beyond the Rez that's owned by whites/government, jungles and cities from during the war, Gallup
Main Characters
-Tayo: Half white, half Laguna. WWII vet. Protagonist.
-Robert: Auntie's husband. Doesn't play huge role in Tayo's life until Josiah dies.
-Josiah: Father figure for Tayo. Auntie's brother. Dies during the war. Loves his cattle.
-Rocky: Tayo's cousin. Loves white culture. Dies during the war, despite Tayo's promise to bring him back safely.
-Auntie: Rocky's mom, Tayo's Aunt. Devout Christian. Very concerned with what people think of their family.
-Emo: Laguna war veteran. Thinks white culture/whites in general are better. Practices witchery.
-Night Swan: Old Mexican Cantina dancer. Josiah's boyfriend. Hooks up with Tayo.
-Ts'eh: Yellow woman. Tayo's lover. Helps heal Tayo.
-Betonie: Healer that lives in Gallup. Begins Tayo's ceremony to heal him.
-Harley: Tayo's "friend." War vet. Alcoholic. Betrays Tayo in the end by conspiring with Emo.
Plot
Tayo, a World War II veteran, is suffering from some sort of sickness. He has been treated by a white doctor, and by Laguna medicine, but nothing has worked. On top of this sickness, Tayo is struggling with a lot of guilt. He blames himself for Rocky's death during the war, and the feeling that he let Josiah down by going to war, when he promised Josiah that he'd take care of his cattle. Tayo also thinks he caused the draught that's plaguing his reservation by praying away the rain when he was in the jungle during the war. Meanwhile, his "friends" such as Harley and Leroy are enjoying getting drunk at bars and reliving war memories when they felt accepted by white culture. Finally, Tayo visits a Navajo healer, Betonie, at Gallup. Betonie performs a ceremony on Tayo, but warns him that the ceremony isn't complete. Later, Tayo skeptically follows Betonie's instructions, and end up meeting Ts'eh, finding Josiah's cattle, and having a significant encounter with a lion. After this, Tayo ends up going into the wilderness to live with Ts'eh and care for the cattle. He lives peacefully for awhile, until he finds out that Emo has been telling everyone he's crazy and now the government (and Emo) are coming to get him! Because of this, Tayo leaves Ts'eh and goes into the mountains. He eventually gets a ride with Harley and Leroy, and passes out in their car from exhaustion. When he wakes up, Harley and Leroy are gone and Tayo realizes that they are working with Emo. Tayo flees to the mines. That night, he watches Emo, Leroy, and Pinky brutally murder Harley in an attempt to lure Tayo from hiding. However, Tayo resists the urge to kill Emo and, in doing this, finally discovers true balance and banishes the witchery.
Style
-Narrative voice is third person, generally limited to Tayo. There are also extra war stories and Laguna stories that are told through some unknown/unspecified person.
-Lots of importance in the landscape/details/descriptions.
-A ton of symbolism.
Quotes
"Here they were, trying to bring back that old feeling, that feeling they belonged to America the way they felt during the war. They blamed themselves for losing the new feeling; they never talked about it, but they blamed themselves just like they blamed themselves for losing the land the white people took."
This really shows the problem that Laguna war veterans such as Emo and Harley struggled with in the book. They wanted so badly to feel like they belonged to white culture again, and they blamed themselves for not being able to achieve the feeling of belonging again. They never thought to blame whites for not being accepting of native americans.
"You don't have anything if you don't have the stories."
This reiterated the importance of stories, a theme prevalent in Ceremony.
Theme
It's imperative to achieve some sort of balance/harmony in the world.
This is something that comes up in the Laguna story being told throughout the book, as well as in Tayo's own story. For example, when the people in the Laguna story begin to ignore Mother corn, the harmony is thrown off and Mother corn leaves. To restore balance, the people and animals have to perform all of these tasks to bring her back. The theme is even more clear in Tayo's own story. Tayo has to work through this whole ceremony to reconcile the differences between white culture and Laguna culture, and how rapidly the world is changing, in order to find peace and balance in his world.

Course Response #?

So, Ceremony is now done, and we're forging ahead to our final book. Finally!

Ceremony was decent. I liked it more before I had to annotate DURING MY SPRING BREAK, but whatever. The packet that Ms. Holmes gave us about the symbolism and stuff in Ceremony was actually really helpful. I didn't realize how important the different animals (like the bear and lion) that Tayo meets along his journey were.

And now, on to Fifth Business! The narrator is one interesting cookie so far. He doesn't really seem to care about much of anyone, except Mrs. Dempster. I guess you could argue that he cares about Mrs. Dempster's son, but I would say his actions are merely driven by guilt, not an actual love for the kid. The narrator actually really bothers me! He reminds me of the main character in l'Etranger (the foreigner) by Albert Camus, who doesn't even care about the woman he's about to be married to.

That aside, AP season is almost upon us, folks. Am I the only one who feels completely unprepared?

Revision #3

1996. The British novelist Fay Weldon offers this observation about happy endings. "The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from their readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events -- a marriage or a last minute rescue from death -- but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death." Choose a novel or play that has the kind of ending Weldon describes. In a well-written essay, identify the "spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation" evident in the ending and explain its significance in the work as a whole.

Most people would think of a man marrying a woman he does not love, and allowing the love of his life to leave, as a very sad ending. This is what occurs in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, a story that centers on a man named Newland Archer living in upper class New York society during the 1870s. While this might not be a classic fairytale ending, it can nonetheless be deemed happy. This is due to the moral growth that Newland goes through, and due to the fact that the event highlights the brighter aspects of New York society.

 During the story, Newland is not the most honest person. He has a conflict of interests—he’s married to a proper woman named Mary, yet he is not in love with her. On the other hand, he is extremely attracted to her cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska (who  also happens to be married). At one point he lies to Mary about having to go on a business trip, and instead goes to Boston to see Ellen. After a while, she agrees to begin an affair with Newland. However, she then decides that New York isn’t for her and makes plans to return to Europe. By this point, Newland has lost all interest in maintaining any form of a relationship with Mary, and informs Ellen that he too is leaving New York to come with her to Europe.

                  

Despite this intention, Newland ultimately decides to stay in New York and remain married to Mary. A huge factor in his decision is his discovery that Mary is pregnant. Obviously, him remaining in New York is not the desired ending. He does not love Mary, even hates her at times. Plus, he forces himself to let go of Ellen, the love of his life, for good. However, it shows a great amount of maturity and moral development. By remaining with Mary, Newland is finally acknowledging that his actions have consequences, and that he has a duty to support his wife and unborn child. After all, nobody forced him to marry Mary. In other words, he goes from a boy who blames the world for his circumstances, to a man who recognizes and takes responsibility for his own actions. It takes until the end of the book, but he finally achieves this moral reconciliation of what is right, and what is wrong.

                  

This moral reconciliation is significant because it finally shows the better aspects of the New York society. Throughout The Age of Innocence, the reader becomes disillusioned with the society just as Newland does. It's boring, strict, and outdated. There are too many unnecessary rules, and it is this society that pressures Newland to marry Mary. However, this same society helps lead Newland to the right choice at the end of the book. In fact, it was Mary (the epitome of upper-class New York society) who got Ellen to return to Europe to remove the temptation. Most of the women in this society knew about these actions, and approved of them. Manipulative, yes, but Newland was manipulative too when he was trying to have an affair with Ellen. Removing this temptation helped lead Newland to his decision to end the affair once and for all. New York society helped lead him to this decision. While the values might be old and the crowd stuffy, the book finally revealed that not all their values need change.

                  

Over all, Newland is a dishonest man, unwilling to take responsibility for most of Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. While he chooses to let go of the woman he truly loves in the end, the moral growth and reconciliation he finally achieves makes the ending happier. This conclusion is significant to the work as a whole because it highlights the better side of New York Society, after the author has disillusioned readers from it from the very first page. So, the ending might not be a storybook, idealistic ending, but it is happy nonetheless.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Analysis

Author Tom Stoppard
Setting Some unknown wilderness, Elsinore, the pirate ship mentioned in Hamlet
(Main) Characters
-Rosencrantz: the stupid one of the friendship duo, easily confused but overall happier than Guil
-Guildenstern: the smarter one, worries about their situation, obsessed with fate versus free will
-The Player: witty, oversees a group of actors/prostitutes, seems to know all
Plot
At the beginning of the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are in some unknown location. Rosencrantz begins tossing a coin, and every time it lands on heads. Rosencrantz is content with this monotonous action, but Guildenstern is not. He struggles with the idea of chance and probability, with why those rules don't seem to work here. He then tries to figure out why him and Guil are travelling, but the only thing he can remember is that they were sent for by a messenger. This is around when the Tragedians appear. They offer sexual performances and sex. The Player and Guil start flipping a coin, and Guil wins the bet. Eventually the Tragedians begin to leave, and Ros reveals that the most recently-flipped one was actually tails (the first and only time!).

The scene changes, and Ros and Guil are now in Elsinore. Claudius explains why they were sent for, and Ros and Guil start trying to decide how to figure out what's wrong with Hamlet. Eventually, they decide that it's probably Hamlet's situation (the whole uncle-killing-father-and-marrying-mother mess), but even then they can't decide just how crazy he is. Hamlet announces that he'll be putting on a play, and the Tragedians enter. They parallel Claudius's murder and his marriage to Gertrude. Claudius leaves, but the play continues, paralleling events to come in Hamlet and even foreshadowing Ros and Guil's own deaths. Guildenstern and the Player start arguing over whether death can be represented effectively in acting. Guildenstern thinks that it can't be.

The following day, Ros and Guil are informed that Hamlet has killed Polonius. Hamlet is eventually caught and brought before Claudius, at which point Hamlet is forced to board a boat with Ros and Guil.

On the boat, Ros and Guil try to make sense of what's going on. They're confused as to whether they're alive or dead, where they're going, and what they'll do should they ever arrive. Ros and Guil read the letter that orders Hamlet's death, and they're unsure as to what to do. Later that night, Hamlet swaps their letter with the one he wrote, ordering the death of Ros and Guil. When Ros and Guil awake, they begin hearing music and suddenly the Tragedians appear. Then the pirates appear. Yay. There's a fiasco, and when everything is said and done Hamlet and the pirates are gone. Ros and Guil tell the Player about the letter. They show it to him, only for the Player to read that Ros and Guil are now the ones to be killed (gasp!). Guildenstern, in an attempt to be master of his own fate, takes a knife and stabs the Player. The Player pretends to die, and then pops up, revealing the "knife" was fake. Ros becomes scared of his looming death, and Guil laments on their inability to act.

The play ends with the final part of Hamlet, dead bodies and all.
Style
-no narrative voice (since it's a play) but very, VERY detailed stage directions
-lots of word play
-this play is extremely intertwined with Shakespeare's Hamlet
Quotes
"Words. Words. They're all we have to go on."
I obviously couldn't write this post without including this quote. As for importance, this statement comes across as extremely ironic and almost sad in a sense. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have so many problems communicating and getting their ideas across. Words and language constantly fails them. The fact that words are all they have to go on, and even then these words aren't reliable, is kind of sad.
"Audiences know what to expect, and that is all they are prepared to believe in."
First off, this quote is an example of how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern constantly played at breaking the fourth wall. This quote was also very thought-provoking for me. I think it's almost a comment on Shakespeare's Hamlet. While reading or watching the play, everyone knows it's a tragedy. Everyone knows there's a blood bath in the end, and that Hamlet does not survive. Everything is expected.
Theme
Fate versus free-will/chance. This theme comes up again and again throughout Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The most obvious example of this is the coin-tossing. It really bothers Guildenstern that the coin always lands on heads, because that means that the rules don't apply and that it is therefore fate determining events. The theme's also developed when the Player has his tragedians act out the events in Hamlet, and then the deaths of Ros and Guil that later occur. Since the Player clearly knows how the events will play out, this suggest that Ros and Guil's actions are not their own, and that therefore their deaths are brought on by fate.

Response to Course Material 3/10

First off, I feel like I got nowhere with R&G. I read it, I annotated it, and...I didn't figure out any of the "deeper meaning" crap that we're supposed to. Some of the word play was fun I guess, but that's about all I got out of it.

Anyway, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is now behind us, and we are now moving on to in-class essays and Ceremony. Ceremony so far has at least been interesting. Long, but interesting. I actually like how scattered the events are. I've never read a book structured in such an extreme way. So far, I've noticed a lot of jabs at the way white people treated Native Americans. They talk about how the Native Americans liked being soldiers during the war because they felt like the white people accepted them, but now that the war is over the white people revert to treating them like crap so they develop drinking problems in an attempt to relive the good 'ole days. Wow. That casts a lot of blame on white people. The other thing that I've noticed is how much of an emphasis there is on weather (like rain and the drought). That's definitely something to keep track of.

Prompt Revision #2

1980. A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.

            If you had the choice between a life of security and respectability, or a life of passion, which one would you choose? Or would you try to have it all? In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, this is the choice that Daisy Buchanan must make more than once, and it his her difficulties making this choice that helps display and highlight the frivolousness of the upper class.

Throughout the work, Daisy Buchanan must deal with her conflicting feelings between Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Tom is a good American, who attended college and has loads of money. In other words, he is the respectable man for Daisy to marry. He is the man her family expects her to pick. However, Daisy is passionately in love with another man, Jay Gatsby. The problem is that Gatsby does not have a respectable family name, a respectable job, or a respectable amount of money. This is the conflict that Daisy deals with before marrying Tom. The majority of the book explores this issue later in their lives, after Daisy has already been married to Tom and has a child. Jay Gatsby moves into the house across from the Buchanan’s, and him and Daisy end up meeting to have tea. From that point on, Daisy wrestles between her feelings and passion for Jay Gatsby, and her desire to remain wife to Tom Buchanan.

            Daisy’s conflicting feelings cause many problems for her. In fact, the night before her wedding to Tom, Daisy drinks herself into a stupor and almost calls the whole wedding off. Many years later, Daisy does not hold many moral dilemmas about starting an affair with Jay Gatsby. However, she refuses to leave or tell Tom about the affair (as Gatsby wants her to do). This causes problems as Tom begins to invite Jay to parties and dinners. Neither Daisy nor Gatsby can hide their love for each other, and Tom does not remain oblivious for long. The conflict comes to a head when Tom, Daisy, and Jay all find themselves in a private room during a sweltering day in New York City. Gatsby and Tom have a confrontation, and Daisy is forced to choose between the two of them. She realizes she cannot have the best of both worlds, and chooses respect and security over passion. Driving home, in her anger and sadness, she hits a woman and kills her.

            Daisy’s personal war between her passion and her responsibility helps contribute to this theme of the frivolousness and ridiculousness present in the upper class. Fitzgerald develops this theme throughout the book in many ways including through the extravagant, pointless parties Gatsby holds every week. Daisy's dilemma furthers this because, really, her situation couldn't be more ideal. She has a child, a husband, and a secure place in the upper class. To think that this book was put out in a country that had just finished with its first world war, with soldiers returning home and finding themselves jobless, with widows whose husbands never returned, her "dilemma" becomes anything but. In that light, Daisy's problems make the upper class seem even more out of touch with reality than ever.

            Over all, Daisy’s internal struggle between her love for Jay Gatsby and societal obligation to her husband, Tom Buchanan, causes problems for her in The Great Gatsby. She refuses to accept the fact that she will never be able to have everything that she wants. This struggle highlights Fitgerald's comment on the absolute ridiculousness of upper class society.