Sunday, January 27, 2008

Heart of Darkness - My opinion

I don’t like Heart of Darkness because I don’t have a full appreciation for its thick symbolism and dark imagery. Because I have a difficult time breaking it down, it just makes it that much more difficult for me to enjoy. Another reason I don’t like Heart of Darkness is for the style it was written in. The language barrier itself makes me cringe. I think I would like a contemporary version of Heart of Darkness, though, because I actually enjoyed reading Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong.

Heart of Darkness - Quote

“It was unearthly, and the men were – No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it – this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was jus the thought of their humanity – like yours – the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly.” (58).
This quote symbolizes Marlow’s and Kurtz’s descent to the heart of darkness. In this scene they are passing the natives by steamboat, and so are being praised by them. Marlow questions the natives’ inhumanity, but even more importantly, the kinship he and the men on the steamboat feel with this darkness.
This is another example of a quote Chinua Achebe may have had an issue with in regards to prejudice towards Africans. The natives are being described as dark forms and masses, as savages of the heart of darkness. It is in this scene where Marlow gets his first glimpse of the heart of darkness. He speaks of how the natives’ movements are frightening and ugly, yet he relates himself to that. This symbolizes how there is an ugliness within all people, and how Marlow is no exception. The suspicion of their not being inhuman brings fear to Marlow because he wants them to be inhuman. He does not want to be able to relate to them in any way, but in reality, he knows that they all share a common dark bond.

Heart of Darkness - The Treatment of the Natives

Throughout Heart of Darkness, the treatment of the natives is consistently demeaning. They are described as savages, animals even in various passages. These descriptions may just be simple observations by Conrad or, the way Chinua Achebe views this novel, a very racist perspective.
Conrad was a man of his time. He really did travel by ship for a good part of his life. During these journeys, chances are he witnessed the behavior and treatment of the natives. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad never gives his opinion on how the natives are abused, he just states it. With this, it is difficult to tell whether Conrad himself was prejudice towards African culture or whether he just felt the need to state the facts. In the book, however, there are many offensive passages that can be taken as prejudice towards African culture.
The natives are repetitively described as savages, but the real savages are Kurtz, Marlow, and the rest of the crew who will do anything just for ivory. Their greedy motives drive them to the ends of sanity, a sanity Kurtz winded up leaving behind. Kurtz himself can be seen as the worst savage of them all. He places heads on stakes in front of the house he was residing in to face him, all but one, which symbolizes an entrance to all those who want to join him in his savage life lived in darkness. Kurtz surrounded himself with walls of ivory – death. His final screams, “The horror! The horror!” shows the utter darkness he sees for living a life of savagery. His transformation, his fall to the primitive savage inside him, is the real heart of darkness, “[…] he had stepped over the edge”.

Invisible Man - My Thoughts

I enjoyed reading Invisible Man because it has so many great messages and numerous symbols. At first, I was a little lost as to what was going on, but once I caught on I never stopped appreciating Ellison’s masterpiece. At one point I was told about the Trueblood incident before I read it, but thought that Trueblood was the narrator. Because of that, I hated the book until I read that scene for myself to realize that Trueblood is an entirely different character. I am very happy I didn’t have to read about a pedophile for a few hundred pages. After getting over that mix up, though, I really like Invisible Man for the way it is composed, well written, and just a very meaningful read.

Invisible Man - Quote

“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”
This quote shows the narrator’s realization that he is invisible to society because they choose not to see him. It is almost ironic how this statement is in the Prologue, yet throughout the entire novel the narrator does not see this truth until nearly the end. The fact that the narrator does not see how he is being abused by white society from the very start shows how they are not only blind to him, but how he is also blind to their true intentions.
Blindness is a prevalent theme throughout Invisible Man. In this quote, the narrator speaks of the prejudice he is forced to endure everyday. While this is a very simple statement, it is one of the most significant ones throughout the entire novel because it sets the stage for what is to come. The narrator also mentions how “[…] you curse and swear to make them recognize you. And, alas, it’s seldom successful.” This quote shows the pain he feels from being unnoticed. So despite how he tries to cope with this dark reality by saying it is sometimes advantageous to be invisible, this small, voiced truth shows his angered and depressed emotions from knowing that no matter what a black person tries to do, he or she will remain invisible because they are not white.

Invisible Man - Black & White

Player Piano focuses on the prejudice towards African Americans during this time period. To emphasize on this discrimination, Ellison uses the colors black and white on nearly every page. This creates a world of two dimensions based on color.
One reference to black versus white is repeated several times as the white dividing line. This line represents how Whites prevent Blacks from crossing over to success; it is an endless boundary that cannot be broken. This line may also symbolize the narrator’s dilemma of indecision and blindness. Because it is a white dividing line on a road that means that it is bordered by two black sides. This could symbolize the different personalities within the Invisible Man and how white society is the dividing factor between the two. On the one side is the Invisible Man’s desire to become successful and his willingness to be treated as a servant. On the other side represents the Invisible Man’s rebirth and acceptance to his invisibility.
Ellison’s use of repetition engraves in the audience’s mind how there is a definite distinction between black and white. He wants us to see the world the way it was seen then, in only two colors.

Player Piano - My Opinion

I think Player Piano is an ok book. I like the story towards the end, but the first hundred pages or so are too slow paced in my opinion. I like all the different characters and scattered scenes of humor Vonnegut incorporates into the work, especially Haycox and the Shah of Bratpuhr. I also appreciate Vonnegut’s message of how our development of more and more advanced technology may betray us in the future. However, the overall story itself is not very exciting to me, it drags on a bit too long, and it does not really stand out in my mind, so that is why I think the book is ok rather than one I would consider worth reading again in my spare time.

Player Piano - Just a Quote

He tried again: “In order to get what we’ve got, Anita, we have, in effect, traded these people out of what was the most important thing on earth to them – the feeling of being needed and useful, the foundation of self-respect,” (175).
This quote sums up the basis of this dystopia. In this scene, Paul is trying to explain to Anita why he is showing her the Homesteaders. On the other side of the river, fellow Americans are not being malnourished or physically abused; however, they are being deprived of purpose to their lives.
Machiavelli once said that “The ends justify the means.” In Player Piano, the ends is a functional society with a thriving economy. The means are taking a test and whoever cannot do well on it is sentenced to the lower class full of empty promise. So in this case, Machiavelli’s words are not true because holding a position should be based on talent, skills, and an overall understanding of an occupation rather than just a number. Paul is telling Anita that the Homesteaders’ dignity is the cost for their prosperity and success, a cost too high to be worthwhile. Paul sees the Homesteaders as his fellow Americans, and therefore feels guilty for letting this happen to them, but Anita represents the rest of the high social class by seeing them as people who are where they belong. Paul knows that the Homesteaders need more than just food, shelter, and water to survive, but Anita cannot grasp this. She cannot comprehend how purpose is nonexistent in the life of a Homesteader. Anita believes she is being punished by Paul, but in reality all Paul wants to do is show her the truth to the Ilium Works along with the rest of America in this society, which is failure of providing everyone with equality, the foundation of America.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Player Piano - Mr. Haycox

Vonnegut creates an array of characters in his Player Piano. There are the intelligent (Proteus), the annoying (Anita), and then there are those who are brave enough to stand up against this intellectually dominant society. Among those in the last category is Mr. Haycox. While his opening scene to the story is quite comical, Mr. Haycox as a character is important because of what he symbolizes; a relic of the past.
Mr. Haycox represents the rustic, tough, and common man who is not willing to surrender to doctors of real-estate and mechanics. He is not blind to the transformation of America from the land of the free to the land of the high IQ scorers, yet he does not allow himself to fall victim like those in the Homestead. Instead, he pursuits the American dream through means of this time and of the past, by earning it. In order to continue his life as a simple farmer who loves his job, Mr. Haycox essentially outcasts himself from this new, unequal America. By doing as he desires without letting anyone else tell him what to do, Mr. Haycox can be seen as a strong character, a hidden hero even to the people who do not believe they stand a chance of overcoming this machine run society.
Mr. Haycox is not the typical valiant, good looking, committed to the people sort of hero, but actually almost the exact opposite. His traits resemble those of an elderly man from this time who is not willing to be ordered around by young people so that they can come and take from him all that he has ever known. Mr. Haycox understands what it means to be a farmer, and he knows all the hard work it takes to finish a day’s chores. He is a hero for what he exemplifies. By showing the world that he is boss of his own life by telling off “the most important, brilliant person in Ilium,” (35), he gives people like the Homesteaders hope that they do not have to be dictated by those in positions of power, that they stand a chance. Mr. Haycox is also a hero for the message he says to Proteus, which is to treat him with respect for his expertise in his field of work even though he does not have his PhD; he even tells Proteus that he is not a real doctor. This message is significant because it defies what this society is based upon, which is talent based on paper rather than actual skill.