Happy Holidays!

The main purpose of this post is that I realized they might kick me off if I was inactive for too long. So... Happy Holidays!

Darkness in The Tale of Despereaux

As fantastical and whimsical as The Tale of Despereaux is with its fairytale references, characters, and notions, the characters are a mix of light and darkness (as the story would have it) in a dark story; the princess is spoiled, stubborn, and kind of snobby, Despereaux fights cowardice, repeatedly fainting, Chiaroscuro longs for light, deep inside of himself, and Mig is just stupid and easily taken advantage of. Even secondary characters such as the king, Despereaux’ family, the cook, and Mig’s father, are varying levels of crooked, selfish, and nonsensical. Another dark side of this seemingly children’s story is the lack of things being made completely right. Despite the topic of forgiveness being brought up, redemption, as I think of redemption, is not truly gained. Both Despereaux and the Pea forgive those that have wronged them merely to protect themselves from hurting, not for the true benefit of those seeking it. The ending is no fairytale: Mig is still deaf, deformed, stupid and fat. Roscuro never finds healing. Despereaux’ love for the princess will never result in marriage or fruition by children, as he has not been a prince under enchantment. Additionally, by lack of information, Pea could stay spoiled.

The Alchemist as Hero Myth more than Bildungsroman

The Alchemist can be considered as a bildungsroman for multiple reasons, it seems to contain even more elements of the “Hero Myth.” Santiago does undergo a great amount of growth as he achieves his Personal Legend, but the fact that he is still called “the boy,” even on the last page of the novel, leaves readers wondering if there is any other “legend” as there is such a neat conclusion despite him still being a “boy.” While this is a great achievement and the boy’s journey has been at least a year, he doesn’t seem to really “come of age,” despite great understands of God and the soul of the world. As for “Hero Myth” examples, Santiago steps out of the world that he knows (shepherding), is encouraged in that “crossing of the threshold” by a mentor figure (Melchizedek, king of Salem), faces great hardships (work, fear in desert, robbery, being held prisoner) and faces an ultimate challenge (to become the wind) after training with the alchemist that allows him to “return” with the “boon” of fulfilled self-exploration, a fulfilled Personal Legend, and a material treasure (as well as a sweetheart) to boot.

Theme of Learning in The Alchemist

An interesting theme to think on that is found throughout The Alchemist is man’s search for knowledge. While in most classic literature, the search for knowledge (forbidden or inaccessible) leads to the “fall” of man, chaos, and destruction. However, within this story, man is only fulfilled by being willing to strive for, sacrifice for and search for the knowledge of what his heart says, what his treasure is, and what his Personal Legend is, with each of these intricately linked. Each step, as random as it may seem, provides Santiago with the knowledge to complete one further step of his journey (including the thief’s ignorant disclosure of the true location of the treasure after beating and robbing him). Meanwhile, the alchemist is able to teach Santiago true alchemy because unlike the Englishman, Santiago is willing to learn anything to achieve his Personal Legend, not just wanting to learn for material gain. In addition, the dialogue about the secrets of alchemy only being found by those who are not wanting it for its own sake adds more interest to the theme.

THOMS...bildungsroman?

Although THMOS could be considered a bildungsroman because of the growth that Esperanza experiences, I hesitate to categorize it as a bildungsroman because of the lack of completion in Esperanza’s growth. There does not seem to be any real resolution of the issue of childhood vs. adulthood, and although Esperanza’s voice does age throughout the story and the ending describes her coming back to the house that she once scorned and left, she does not really address the issue of innocence vs. knowledge/sensuality that has been carried throughout the book and explored in greater depth towards the end. The reader does not have a very clear idea of what kind of adult Esperanza has actually become, even though the reader can tell that she has been intelligent and studious enough to leave the area and then come back with the ability to make it better. Because of this lack of closure, it is difficult to peg this novel strictly as a bildungsroman. However, the work is still strong, because the theme of innocence vs. knowledge is a classic theme, resounding with other famous works such as Milton’s Paradise Lost, Shelley’s Frankenstein, a great deal of Blake’s poetry and the Bible.

Kinship, Cumulatively

Of the different novels that we have read throughout the semester, I thought it would be interesting to explore the kinship between Esperanza and Huckleberry Finn as characters. Each is on the border of the large transition between childhood and adulthood, and each has choices to make regarding that transition, specifically, who they will be (Will Huck be a racist as his society demonstrates? Will Esperanza be a doormat as her society demonstrates? Will Huck use his money unwisely? Will Esperanza use her sexuality to gain power?) Additionally, though there is evidence of both Huck and Esperanza leaving their societies in search of something better, both of them eventually return to their societies and make them better, because they themselves have gained value and identity despite their separation (physically, emotionally and mentally) from their places of origin.

Growing Up is Hard to Do

A prevalent conflict throughout The House on Mango Street is the conflict of wanting to remain a child versus wanting to be an adult, and what kind of adult at that. An especially poignant moment of this is the moment in which Esperanza seeks to save Sally from the boys, but finds that Sally has no desire to be saved and instead shuns her. Esperanza is always comparing her own age to the age of other girls, many of whom are already married. Additionally, she compares her own feelings about the future to the different ways that society attempts to answer the question, “What is a woman?” whether that means someone who has nice legs with fancy yellow shoes, or someone with eye make-up like an Egyptian and gray hose with black shoes, or someone that gets up before everyone to make tortillas, some “smart cookie” who “could have been something,” someone locked at home because their husband doesn’t trust them, someone to rape and beat, or someone who leaves their plate at the table and doesn’t put their chair back (much like a man). It is easy to see why the idea of adulthood both intrigues and terrifies Esperanza.

Life of Pi and Bildungsroman

Life of Pi is not necessarily a bildungsroman, but more along the lines of the “journey novel” or travel genre. Although as in any good bildungsroman deep thoughts are considered and analyzed (for example, religion, faith, trust, cooperation, nature vs. knowledge, morals vs. traditions in the types of foods eaten or abstained from, etc.) and the protagonist Pi gains experience concerning survival on the ocean with a Bengal tiger, it can be argued that Life of Pi is not a bildungsroman because Pi really does not come to some great realization or paradigm shift; he merely examines, re-examines and goes deeper with thoughts that have already occurred to him. Because these are old thoughts and not new ones, Pi is not really “growing” or “coming of age” as much as is commonly done in bildungsroman literature. The closest experience to "coming of age" would probably be his realization that the only way to survive on the sea is to help Richard Parker to survive as well, and the loss and continued attachment that Pi feels after Richard Parker slinks off into the Mexican jungle without any sort of “goodbye” or acknowledgement of their relationship.

The Tiger or the Lady

The tie between this explanation of the deathbed reaction of an atheist versus an agnostic and the events at the end of the novel are evident in the phrases, “beholden to dry, yeastless factuality” and “lack imagination and miss the better story.” Essentially, these expressions capture the tension that the Japanese interviewers face when being forced to choose between the Pi’s narrative involving the tiger and other improbabilities or his narrative about the cook who murders Pi's mother, which is unfortunately, more probable in the eyes of society. Even so, the Japanese men’s choice to record the tiger story in their log as if it were fact redeems them from their time of doubt, just as the theoretical atheist is redeemed in his “deathbed leap of faith,” where he acknowledges what he sees as “L-L-Love” and God instead of “f-f-failing oxygenation of the b-b-brain.” Essentially, Pi challenges readers to seek truth instead of merely collecting and accepting facts.

The Problem With Cohabitation

It is interesting that despite all of the conflict concerning the danger of traveling with a tiger, Pi in convinced that he would not have survived without the company of Richard Parker. While readers can be sure that Richard Parker would not have survived without Pi to provide and plan ahead for him, what did Pi really gain from Richard Parker, other than companionship? If there had been no tiger in the boat, Pi could have drunken more than twice as much water, as well as eaten more than twice as much food. He could have focused more easily on the tasks at hand, protected himself with the tarp instead of sacrificing it as Richard Parker’s territory, and he could have had a greatly diminished feeling of stress, not worrying about both survival and a tiger, but merely focused on survival while sleeping comfortably in the boat. Perhaps Pi’s point is that without Richard Parker there would be nothing to hope or trust in (not that Richard Parker was really trustworthy). At any rate, it is interesting to think about why Pi felt he needed R.P.

Dr. O'Brien's Talk Time

Dr. O’Brien’s talk time today was my favorite class we have had so far. Not only did I greatly delight in his use of fun lingo such as “chug-a-lug” and “pocket-rocket,” I am a very story-oriented person and loved hearing tales from the war that did not include killing people with shoelaces, skinning and gutting people and displaying them, or eating dead horses (like my uncle’s stories). It was very encouraging to me personally to see someone that has gone through the military and come out for the better, because I really haven’t seen that before. My personal experience hasn’t been the best in that area, and I’m afraid I don’t have as much faith in the institution of the military as I probably should... anyway, it just did something good and healing for my heart to see someone that had endured the military and still seemed like a whole, loving person.

GAC as a Bildungsroman...or not

Honestly, I do not see how this is considered a bildungsroman. Neither the main character, Paul Berlin, nor his friends, nor Cacciato, has “come of age” or stepped from childhood into maturity. Cacciato stays the same silly guy throughout the book, with his most dramatic change being the change of living to dead. Oscar becomes more violent and psychotic as the story progresses. Paul Berlin doesn’t really change that much either, except that he gains exposure to the war, gains a better realization of how awful it is, breaks down multiple times in multiple ways, and failing to overcome his fear complex, machine-guns his friend Cacciato to death out of spastic anxiety. Yes, Paul does a lot of thinking and analysis throughout the book, but these segments of the book almost seem forced to me, not like successfully placed drama. For example, the segment of the chapter made up like an imaginary radio show in which Sarkin and Paul discuss indecision, or the segment where Paul asks about fifteen (or more) questions in a row as he thinks of a young Vietnamese girl whom they have administered iodine to, are two of such false-feeling “thought-provoking” parts. There isn’t substantial transformation.

Problem in Going After Cacciato

A problem that is prevalent all throughout Going After Cacciato is the idea of hopelessness, purposelessness, and especially confusion, all contributing to the war that is so horrible, it is unbelievable. Not only are these issues exhibited through the choppy structuring of the novel and much of the characters’ actions and descriptions (specifically, descriptions in which it is difficult to distinguish reality from imagination, drug-induced hallucination or mental illness), these issues are especially evident in Paul Berlin’s internal processing, which includes entire sections of chapters composed wholly of questions. Indeed, the book does a good job at sharing the emotional chaos tied to the war, as readers surely feel the lack of hope and the confusion very strongly, as well as the disillusionment and thoughts on the war’s lack of purpose.

TVBIA- a bildungsroman

If a bildungsroman is technically a “Coming of Age” story, then it can be argued that The Violent Bear It Away is a coming of age story, despite the repulsive nature of Frank’s developments. Although the level of “maturity” to which Frank ascends is disturbing to readers, it still is a “coming into one’s own” in the context of Old Tarwater’s aspirations for Frank, his raising Frank as a to-be prophet, and his putting the responsibility of Bishop’s baptism on Frank’s shoulders. Frank struggles against each of these throughout the novel, but in the end, accepts them, including the duty and message that he believes God has chosen and asked him to share. In addition, Frank certainly passes from childhood innocence and confusion into full-fledged dementia and degradation as he murders Bishop with the approval of Rayber, and is homosexually assaulted by “the lilac traveler.” He also acquires the insatiable hunger that Old Tarwater had before him (perhaps it is linked to the mental illness), and manages to fight off his spiritual doubts. Even though readers would hope that he might somehow escape, Frank “successfully” grows into his destiny as an insane, self-proclaimed prophet.

Motifs in TVBIA

There are repeating motifs of fire and the color violet within The Violent Bear It Away. Not only does the beginning of the book mention that Frank has longed for a “burning bush” experience to establish him as a prophet (a desire which he struggles with throughout the book), his attempts to clean himself and his mind first after his great-uncle’s death by burning the house and then after his rape by burning the pine and other trees lead to his final “revelation” of the burning bush and God’s mandate for him at the end of the story. Fire is an interesting choice because while it is traditionally a symbol of purification, it is also associated with Hell fire, and is the elemental the opposite of the water that draws Frank and Rayber to baptism and murder. As for violet, in memories, old Tarwater warns that Satan will seek Frank out, offering him cigarettes and liquor...exactly as the “violet” rapist does later. Additionally, it is revealed near the end, in the boat, that the voice of the “friend” that Frank has been conversing with throughout the book has violet eyes, making readers wonder whether it was Satan all along.

The Bear as Bildungsroman

In The Bear, “the boy” as Ike McCaslin is called, grows not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally, making The Bear fit the definition of a bildungsroman. In addition, Ike McCaslin goes on a journey to the woods in order to find his identity as a McCaslin, as a man, as a woodsman, and as an American southerner. Additionally, the end of the piece explains the changes that have taken place. The countryside in which the characters once enjoyed hunting is replaced by locomotives and logging companies, and Isaac’s growth is portrayed in direct contrast with Boon Beauchamp’s deterioration; the story closes with a demented Boon sitting under a tree beating his gun and threatening Isaac, claiming that all of the squirrels belong to him. Growth takes place in Isaac not only on account of the besting of old Ben, the instruction of Sam Fathers, the loss of Sam Fathers and the progression of years, but also on account of the courage that it takes Isaac to read through the ledgers of his predecessors, face his past, and reject the injustice of his inheritance. Each of these elements make The Bear able to be characterized as a bildungsroman.

(Be)Wilderness

What wilderness is in The Bear, and its relationship to nature, is integral to the storyline. Wilderness is definitely tied to Old Ben; for example, once the hunters kill Old Ben, it seems to open up the future of the death of wilderness through progress' confining and cutting off areas of landscape by means of locomotives, train tracks and loggers. Essentially, in the same way that the hunting men have sought identity and validity through their capture and besting/taming Old Ben by means of killing him, mankind in general continually seeks gain and validity through 1)going back to the land from whence he came or reminiscing about it 2)selling and passing down land which really is not his to own or sell, and 3)traversing the land and taking from it for material benefit, regardless of consequences. Nature is more of the peaceful and beautiful side of the non-manmade world, while wilderness is more of the rugged and indominable side of the non-manmade world.

Extra: Why Faulkner Makes Me Crazy

and he doesnt use apostrophes when he should, but he is a fiend about writing conjoined words (she cant remember what theyre technically called) as if theyre one word within dialogue, even though they arent, not to mention his run-on sentences. Sentences are long and slow and labor intensive, containing all kinds of grandiose verbiage that makes it often difficult for them to fully understand what he
not a friendly writer to his readers. Although the historical richness and the ties made between this work and other works by him that contain the same family stories and legacies ought to be appreciated, they cant appreciate it very easily when they dont have much information presented in a clear way. They cant understand things like why
but without cheese or butter, crackers simply are dry and crusty, as lacking in flavor as dust rising up in a column from a well-worn summer-driven road. They do nothing to add to my quality of life in the hot, sultry South," he thought, but then he
want to write all blogs, disjointed, as if they were written specifically for him, as ambiguously as possible, and with a few made-up words thrown hither, thither and fronder, as well as imagery that makes them uncomfortable.
would have failed each and every class in which she is enrolled, if he had had the audacity to write them this way, and turn them in to Dr. Davis or Dr. Chinn. Rather, even creative writing with Dr. Garrett, as kind as he is, would have been

Identity Crises are Ugly Things

While Faulkner is skilled at making interesting characters by means of developmental quirks/strangeness, (e.g. Sam Father’s mystique and forest-knowledge and Boon’s repulsiveness coupled with his strange obsession with Lion), a major problem within The Bear is identity and confusion regarding identity. Not only is the main character, “the boy,” only rarely called by name, the story, especially the fourth chapter, reveals a history of racial confusion, moral confusion, and economic confusion, fraught with people using each other and buying and selling things that are not vendible, specifically, land. Meanwhile, Faulkner uses the whole idea of the hunt for Old Ben to give identity to Ike (the boy) and the others as huntsmen...ironic, since they gain their identity through the destruction of a life, much as the McCaslin line of pioneers and slave-owners gained identity from lording over Native Americans and black people. In addition, Faulkner adds to the confusion structurally; not only are chapters one through three and chapter five often ambiguous, but the entire extent of chapter four is comprised of broken paragraphs, interrupted conversations, and hopelessly entwined historical accounts, with Faulkner making no clear efforts to establish speakers or the characters about whom they are speaking.

"Their Eyes" as Bildungsroman

Although Janie experiences a great deal of growth throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, I am not one-hundred percent convinced that this novel is a bildungsroman. While this story has many of the characteristics, including the crossing of the bridge between single childhood and marriage, some physical growth, and growth mentally and emotionally by learning through experience what she does not like in marriage and what she does like, this story does not seem to have the neat conclusion that many other bildungsromans have. For example, Pip finds out the truth about his benefactor and issues come to a climax with Stella, or Huck chooses friendship with Jim over Hell, tries to set Jim free, and finds out that Jim has already been freed and they can all go home. With Their Eyes, Janie merely loses her only true lover, experiences a court trial that is mostly summarized, not told as a moment-by-moment sense experience, and which thereby denies the reader much experience of it. Despite the wisdom that Janie gains and shares in the end of her conversation with Pheoby, the lack of closure makes it difficult for me to accept this as a classic or typical bildungsroman.