September 3
The reason Emily Dickenson's poems were always of depressing issues, was because she was surrounded by death through her life. I also feel that her seclusion from the rest of society also contributed to her depressing writing style. Her father died of a morphine overdose and shortly afterwards her mother had a nearly life ending stroke and was bed ridden until her death in 1882. Her much adored nephew died in 1883 of typhoid fever. As the deaths in her family increased, her writing style began to revolve more and more around the idea of death and it's symbolism to her life (Norton Vol. C 92). For example, in her poem (titled 340 in the Norton Anthology of American Literature), her first line forces the reader to imagine the speaker taking part in a "mental funeral", "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain. (North Vol. C 99)" This whole line sets a macabre tone for the rest of the poem. Another example of this would be in the poem 479 (Norton Vol. C 102). The main theme of this poem is the conquering of life by death. The first two opening lines "Because I could not stop for Death- He kindly stopped for me." This theme of the speaker watching life pass and continue before her eyes is one representative of her melancholic outlook on life.
September 8
I think that Henry James main theme in Daisy Miller: A Study is the sadness and waste of a life mostly lived in safety, with no adventures having taken place. This is clearly seen in his character of Winterbourne who can be seen as living a very passive and boring life. Throughout this story, Winterbourne undertakes the studying of a girl named Daisy Miller, who can be seen as the complete opposite of Winterbourne in almost every way. Whereas Winterbourne is depicted as a boring character, Daisy Miller is adventurous, taking in every aspect of her trip in Europe. This is also in complete contrast to the rest of her family who are her travelling companions in addition to Winterbourne. Every time Miller's family is complaining about wanting to go back to the hotel, Daisy seems to be taking in whatever surrounding she's in. An example of this would be when Winterbourne first meets Daisy in the Swiss Garden. At the mention of Italy during their initial conversation, Randolph (her brother) seems adamant to return to the United States, while Daisy seems to look forward to her trip. Another example would be when Daisy asks to visit the castle Chateau de Chillon. Where Randolph would rather return to the hotel, Daisy is interested in visiting an old monument ("No; we haven't been there. I want to go there dreadfully.") (Norton Vol. C 427). Daisy takes in life wherever she goes. Where others decide to lock themselves in their hotel rooms, Daisy lives life to the fullest, even if the cost was her life.
September 15
Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour can be interpreted as showing the reader how marriage is an oppressive institution. The story itself is mainly about Mrs. Louise Mallard's realization of independence from her husband. Her heart condition means that important news must be told Mrs. Mallard in pieces and very slowly, or else she would have a life ending heart attack. Most of Mrs. Mallard's time spent in her room involves her crying. At first as a reaction to the learning of her husband's death, but then as a physical reflex. After fantasies of attending her husband's funeral have been finished, she slowly starts to realize that she is now independent of any man's (specifically her husband's) control over her. In The Story of an Hour marriage is seen as oppressive to women and possibly men. This is exhibited if the reader infers that as a result of her condition, her husband (Brently Mallard) tends to keep his wife confined to the walls of her house so as not to trigger her fatal heart condition. Even though Louise claims that Brently never oppressed her in a specific way, she thinks that (possibly) as a result of her heart condition, she oppressed Brently by making him feel obligated to take care of her. When Louise starts whispering the phrase "Free! Body and soul free!" the reader can assume that not only is Louise referring to herself as being free from the shackles of marriage, but that her husband(even though she now considers him deceased) is now free from having to constantly monitor her health condition (Norton Vol. C 557).
SEPTEMBER 24
In Jack London's To Build a Fire, I would argue that one of its main themes is it's want of readers to return to the natural world. In many of London's writings, they involve the natural world in some way. Novels such as White Fang, and The Call of the Wild both have the middle of untouched forests as their main setting for their stories. London could even be considered a transcendentalist (a follower of the philosophy of writers like Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson) because his writing focuses on such naturalistic values. Jack London himself could be considered a less popular Ernest Hemingway because they both wrote extensively, stories that took place in a natural, rustic setting.
As time progresses, I would also like to think of Jack London's works as a romantic vision of what America used to be. A time when people actively sought out the company of nature instead of having to be locked indoors. In To Build a Fire, the story starts off with an introduction of the main character (The Man) and his dog, preparing to embark on an adventure through the snowy wilderness that is Canada's Yukon Territory. While this seems like a simply horrendous idea, the man embarks on his journey to the mining camp because he wants to see his friends at the mining camp. This journey is one that is foreshadowed he won't make it to the mining village, but he takes the risk in attempting the trek. In my opinion, that sort risk taking is what's missing from American life today. Everyone has become too safe and comfortable in their droll lives within the confines of their homes and work places. As time progresses, this becomes more and more evident, and hopefully with books written by naturalists such as Jack London, then people will find their way back to the outdoors.
October 10th
I think that Zora Neale Hurston's How It Feels to Be Colored Me, is about not letting race define you as a person, but no matter how strongly you hold onto that belief, there will be a defining factor which separates you from everyone else. This story centralizes around a speaker who identifies herself as, sometimes not feeling her race (Norton Vol. D 540). In fact, the speaker never really knows of the differences in treatment of whites and people of color until she leaves her hometown of Eatonville for school in Jacksonville (Norton Vol. D 538-540).
During the time this story was written (1927) slavery had ended sixty years before. As a result of this relatively short time span, there is still very much rampant racism and oppression of people of color in the United States, especially in the southern part of the country. However, the speaker (Zora) doesn't let the fact that she is colored detract from the way she feels as an American citizen, even though she is forced to constantly be reminded that she is the granddaughter of slaves (Norton Vol . D 539,541). The only time when Zora does "feel her race" is when she is placed in an environment of high racial contrast (i.e.: being the only colored person in the room or having one of her white friends with her in an area mostly dominated by blacks). When she does feel this contrast, she turns into a completely different person. For example at the nightclub, when there is jazz music playing, she is enthralled by the soul and emotion of the music. As a result of the music she feels as if "[Her] pulse is throbbing like a war drum." And that she has the "want to slaughter something" (Norton Vol. D 540). Her reaction is wholly different in comparison to her white friend who simply remarks "Good music they have here." Unlike Zora, her friend wasn't able to feel the pure emotion that was triggered by the jazz orchestra. As a result, this major difference is one of the only ways that Zora sees herself as different from the rest of her peers.
"He has only heard what I felt. He is far away and I see him but dimly across the ocean and the continent that have fallen between us. He is so pale with his whiteness then and I am so colored."
October 20th
A central theme in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is the will to succeed at an objective as well as hold together as a unit to complete the objective. In this instance, the main objective of the Bundren family is to bury the mother of the family (Addie). Though each member has an ulterior motive for travelling to bury their mother as well as visit town, they are able to hold together. Even though Darl and Jewel have their differences and conflicts (with Jewel being a man of action, doing sacrificial heroics, and Darl being more of an analytical philosopher) they are able to more or less hold together for the good of the family and not let their differences get in the way of their objective.
Under the leadership of their father (who also had a selfish motive) the Bundrens faced many adverse situations. One of the best examples of this would be when Cash broke his leg while trying to cross the river (Norton Vol. D 753). The family was able to pull together and make sure Cash was able to make the trip. Even going so far as to cement his leg together in a "redneck" splint (Norton Vol. D 773). This connection between family members is one of the oldest traditions that Southerners have, and this novel displays how far a family member is willing to go for another. Cash had a chance to opt out of continuing the trip and see a doctor as a result of his condition, but instead he remained with the family, even if this deed cost him his leg.
November 10th
Flannery O'Conner's main theme in The Life You Save May Be Your OwnThe Life You Save May Be Your Own is that while greed and selfishness may get people to accomplish a goal, there will always be a an innocent bystander harmed as a result of those greedy and selfish actions. The bystander that was harmed in this case would be Lucynell Crater, daughter of Lucynell Crater (For ease of reading, the daughter will be referred to as Lucynell, while her mother will be referred to as Mrs. Crater). Mrs. Crater so desperately wanted a son-in-law that she was willing to, basically sell off her own daughter to the first male that appeared on her doorstep, on the condition that there be a marriage established immediately. As a result of this mindset, one Tom T. Shiftlet was able to take advantage of Mrs. Crater and get a car along with $17.50 for a "honeymoon" (Norton Vol. D 442). However, Shiftlet isn't the only one who was taken advantage of. During his stay with the Craters, Shiftlet was utilized by Mrs. Crater to fix some things around her house and generally make sure it was kept up during his stay.
Greed powered both of them in the fact that Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater both used each other as a means to an end. However, Mrs. Crater can be seen as the slightly more immoral of the two. This is because she's the only character that uses another family member as a bargaining chip. She, in a way, forces Shiftlet to marry her daughter so that she can get a son-in-law and Shiftlet gets the car. Later on in the story however, Shiftlet does an equally if not more dastardly action, buy leaving Lucynell in a diner (Norton Vol. D 443). A way that this theme can be implemented into real life is by way of political parties in the government fighting for seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both political parties are only looking out for themselves and as a result of their pursuit of their self interests, constituents (the people who are actually affected by the constant political infighting in the government) are having to deal with negation or implementation of useless policies.
