In the example of dehumanization that I chose to discuss, a woman is beaten before being thrown onto a truck and having her child chucked at her feet. During this interaction, the Jews are undergoing a selection process. Trucks came to pick them up and transport them to gas chambers. Any Jew that didn’t make it onto a truck will be used for work. Noticing that those who are best fit to work will survive; the woman tries to ditch her child. However, Andrei notices and makes her pay for it, beating her and tossing the child to her feet.

This was particularly striking to me due to the harsh treatment of the child. A child is born innocent having no reason to cause or receive harm from anyone in the world. This particular child didn’t even exchange a single word with Andrei and still had to suffer.

This is significant in the context of the story because Andrei is not a Nazi member and was not instructed by anyone to harm this woman or her child. He acted upon her in order to impress the S.S soldiers that surrounded him. This is significant because the characters no longer make decisions for themselves, but for those around them.

This moment raises a question of ethics. Andrei wanted to punish the woman with good reason. She was about to abandon her child in the selfish hopes of survival. However, the fact that he threw the child at her and sent them both to be killed at the gas chamber, I am left asking, is Andrei any better than the Nazis themselves?

Prufrock, the speaker in the poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” by T.S Eliot, is extremely self conscious and emotionally distant from those around him. As made obvious by the poem, Prufrock must have been scrutinized for his appearance. He speaks of the bald spot he has on his head and describes his arms and legs to be small and thin. The scrutiny he receives due to his appearance is what I think caused him to have this strong need to escape from humanity. Throughout the poem, he feels distant from other people, and by the ending, even feels as though he belongs more with mermaids. He suggests this by using the pronoun, “We,” when talking about the mermaids. Prufrocks sensitivity and desire for distance is what led me to believe he is self conscious and emotionally distant from other humans.

“For I have known them all already, known them all-

The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,

And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,

When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,

Then how should I begin

To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?

And how should I presume? (Lines 55-61)

When first reading this quote, it was difficult for me to comprehend. However, after thinking about the main idea of the poem and the character, Prufrock, I realized what he was talking about and the quote became easy to understand.

In this quote, Prufrock is describing the scrutiny that he faces for his physical appearance. Throughout the story, the discouragement he derives from his appearances makes it difficult for him to have relationships with people, specifically women. When he says, “The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,” the eyes he is referring to are those of the women or people that view him. When he says,” He feels as though they are dissecting him and judging all the details of him.” Furthermore, when he says, ”And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall, Then how should I begin To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?” He feels as though he is forced to say the truth about himself because he is exposed and cannot do anything about it.

Questions

– How does Prufrock fulfill or rebut stereotypes of the modern intellectual?

– How does Eliot use the relationships between men and women to comment on society and culture?

– Identify the linguistic devices Eliot uses in his poems and give evidence showing how he used those devices.

After reading, “In the Wine Shop,” by Lu Xun, and thinking about what other texts we read it resembles, I instantly thought of the reading we most recently finished, “Hedda Gabler.” Because this reading was also done very recently, it was the first text that came to mind when I saw Xun’s use of realism. Both texts display realistic approaches to scenarios and stay away from romantic views. Furthermore, the similarities the two texts share became even more evident when they both spoke about the casket.

In Hedda Gabler, Tesman asks his maid to sprinkle hay to get rid of the smell caused by the casket. Although this portion of the text seemed insignificant and like it had little to do with the plot, it was actually purposely put in place to show how the author is using realism as opposed to a romantic view. Instead of using words like a beautiful death and talking about how peaceful the person in the casket looks, they instead make note of how much it smells and how it is rotting right here in their living room. This shows a realistic view because it is not glorified, this is the way things are in real life.

Similarly, in the text by Xun, realism is used to describe the casket that is encountered. The realism is seen in his description of the casket when he says it is rotting away, deteriorated, and there was nothing left inside. For example, “When they reached the enclosure I had a look, and indeed the wood of the coffin had rotted almost completely away, leaving only a heap of splinters and small fragments of wood.” It is evident that this is realism because the text here is a direct contrast to romanticism. Instead of Xun describing the coffin to be filled with someone inside looking restful and enjoying his or her afterlife, Xun takes a scientific approach and describes exactly what would happen in real life. Therefore, the texts share similarities that are evident when evaluating the realism they both used.

When comparing the text of Hedda Gabler to the film, the most noticeable differences were seen through character development. I read the textual version first in order to develop my own, uninfluenced visuals of the text. The written version dives in depth to describe Hedda and the type of character that she is. Any situation that happens during the opening scene of this text shows how Hedda feels and how the scenarios relate to her. The text gave me a strong sense that Hedda is a stuck up and rather disrespectful person. One example of her personality was given to us by the introduction of her old friend, Mrs. Elvsted. She shares of how Hedda used to tease her by pulling her hair and things alike. Hedda however completely disregarded her friend and changes the topic. Another example of Hedda being outright disinterested and disrespectful is when Tesman wants to present Jurgen’s old slippers to her. As made obvious by the text, Hedda is an upper class woman that Tesman is eager to please. He tries to use the slippers to entice her, however, he fails miserablh when she pays no mind to the slippers. She even interrupts him to inform Aunt Julie that the hat she is wearing is ugly. She continues to insult her by saying she thought the hat belonged to the maid. Furthermore, the text painted a very vivid image of Hedda and her relationship with the rest of the characters.

On the other hand, I felt that the text did not dive as deeply when describing the character Hedda. In the film version, a lot of the dialogue and textual evidence that tells the audience who Hedda is was missing. Instead, the actions the characters took told us about her personality instead of words. For example, you can see that aunt Julie was offended by Hedda’s comments not through what she says but by how she acts. In the film, she offers a minimal verbal response and scolds Hedda. We see through her appearance that the ladies are displeased with each other. Resultantly, in terms of character development the film and text both have a lot to offer, however they present it in different ways. While the texts shows a lot of examples to paint a picture, the film uses visuals to fill gaps in the dialogue.

Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass are both former slaves that wrote narratives to describe the hardships they faced. Although the two were both enslaved, they faced very different circumstances. While Douglass survived many beatings and tragic circumstances, he eventually found a way to escape from slavery and experience various freedoms. He learned to read and write and was able to share the experiences he faced. In, The Narrative of the Life of a Slave, by Frederick Douglass, he shares those many hardships that he and other slaves had to face while living with their owners. Jacobs on the other hand captures the experience from a women’s perspective. In her narratives, she mentioned having to sleep with various men for the sake of survival. After suffering from countless rapes and unbearable circumstances, Jacobs had made an escape. In her passage, “The Loophole of Retreat,” she had to hide in a small room for seven years. She describes the intense circumstances she faced such as having to sleep in the cold, suffering from insects, minimal exposure to light or air, and nothing to occupy her mind. She addressed the fact that critics may feel that she has no right to say sleeping in that small room was difficult when other females of her kind were suffering from far worse. Jacobs says that as bad as her circumstance was, it was far worse for women that have not escaped. She suggests that after all she had been through, it was worth it because there is nothing worse than the circumstances enslaved women faced.

Part 2

• Slavery as we read about it in textbooks no longer exists and it has transcended into human trafficking. In this practice, people are turned into possessions and are given a value.
• Slavery today has developed into six main forms. Domestic servitude, sex trafficking, forced labor, bonded labor, forced marriage and child labor. An estimated 20.9 million people are trapped in one of these forms.
• While there are no laws today that protect slave owners and people involved in this industry, there are only minimal forces employed to put an end to these acts.

When reading, “London,” by William Blake, the first image that came to my mind was that of a crowded New York City subway. William opens this poem by talking about the, “Marks of weakness” and “Marks of woe,” that he observes in people as he passes by them on a street. In the short stroll Blake took down the street, he was able to identify how each person he encountered was feeling. He paints a depressing picture because he described everybody to be discontent. This triggered the image of a crowded subway system to appear in my head. I take the subway on a daily basis and my experience is similar to the one that Blake has on the street. In a subway cart that can only hold so many people, it is easy to look around and see how miserable most people on the train are feeling.

As Blake proceeds, he never offers a resolution in his poem or an alternative for the negativity he experiences. Instead, he continues to talk about the depressing things he’s seeing. For example, “But most thro’ midnight streets I hear how the youthful Harlot’s curse. Blasts the new born infants tear, and blights with plague the marriage hearse.” This made it even easier to picture the image of a subway system. As the day progresses, nothing about the subway system becomes more enjoyable. What you experience during the daytime only becomes worse and more serious and William Blake experiences the same on his walk through the London Street.

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Although very familiar with this play and the story of Oedipus the King, I have never seen it represented in this manner. In fact, I’ve never seen it at all and have only read the story. Throughout the play, Oedipus is involved in a manhunt for the murderer of the king before him, Laius. Following oracles and prophecies, Oedipus partakes on a journey to find this man. However, at the conclusion of the play, we learn Oedipus has been searching for himself the entire time.

Hearing the play in the form of a reading made it a lot easier to keep track of the different characters. Furthermore, it was easy to understand how the characters were feeling. The actors putting on the performance did a good job at using their tone to project how the characters feel at a given time of the story. This was interesting for me because the first time I read the play, I envisioned it differently from the way it was portrayed in Mason Hall. I always thought of Oedipus as someone that was very aloof and out of touch with those around him. He never makes his own decisions and is always in a frenzy running around to seek help and guidance. In the staged reading however, Oedipus was portrayed as a more serious person. This same phenomenon extended to a lot of the other characters and I realized that the persona’s I had created for each character in the past was not exactly an accurate representation of how the characters were meant to be depicted in the play.

The use of the stage to help the audience picture the play was very minimal. Costumes weren’t used and the scripts were held in-hand, which still left a lot of the play up to imagination. There was also a minimal amount of movement on the stage. No parts of the play were acted out and at times I felt as though I was sitting in a classroom. I actually enjoyed closing my eyes at times and picturing how this play would look if it were actually a performance and not a reading.

The picture below corresponds to Akinari’s, “Bewitched” by depicting the constant leverage the devil had over Toyo-o. Taking on the form of a beautiful woman, the devil was able to deceive Toyo-o on numerous occasions. In one instance, she invited Toyo
-o into her marvelous, oversized home. However, upon returning, the house was broken down and no one had occupied it for many years. Looking at the house the second time was notably different. “The yard was overgrown with weeds. There were no signs of anyone living in the house. Toyo-o was amazed.” (639). This example in the text corresponds to the picture because of how the snake is in control of the little boy. In the picture, although the little boy is well aware he may be in danger, there is little to nothing he can do about it. Another example of this can be seen in the text when Toyo-o takes sole responsibility for the hardship the devil has caused to himself and others. He says, “I will not rely on the help of others anymore. I am prepared to die. So please be at ease.” (646). In this moment of the text, Toyo-o proceeds to try and defeat the devil knowing it is unlikely he will be successful. A similar style of thinking is depicted in the photograph below. The little boy admits to himself there is nowhere he can go. Resultantly, he sits in front of the snake at ease, prepared to die if that is what the snake wishes.

In the very beginning of the play, it is made clear that the relationship between Tartuffe and Orgon is piloted by underlying motivations. Tartuffe won Orgon over by simply bringing him holy water and blessing him. Orgon saw Tartuffe as a religious man that devoted himself to poverty and serving others. It seems Tartuffe filled a religious void that Orgon had and ever since then, Orgon always felt as though Tartuffe knew what was best for him. Orgon say’s “Then something happened I can’t quite explain. I rose to leave- he quickly went before to give me holy water at the door. He knew what I needed, so he blessed me.” Orgon invested a lot of trust into Tartuffe and viewed at him as a holy figure. He invited him into his home and blindly followed his advice as well as adopted all of his teachings. He says. “He’s taught me to love nothing and no one. Mother, father, wife, daughter, son- they could all die right now and I would feel nothing.” This drastic change in Orgon’s philosophy shows how willing he is to listen to Tartuffe. Tartuffe see’s how easy it is for him to manipulate Orgon and begins to use that to his advantage.

Tartuffe uses Orgon for his money and never ending generosity. Although Orgon feels that the relationship they’ve established is genuine, it is made clear by Orgon’s family members that Tartuffe is using him. For example, when talking about Tartuffe, Cleante says. “These men who take what’s sacred and most holy and use it as their trade, for money, solely. With downcast looks and great affected cries who suck in true believers with their lies.” Here, Cleante tries to convince Orgon that Tartuffe is only posing as the man that Orgon desperately wants him to be in order to gain his fortune. In a clever ploy to gain even more access to the family’s wealth, Tartuffe begins to convince Orgon in asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

The way Tartuffe deceives Orgon reminds me of a video I saw about a homeless man in Manhattan. A war veteran would tuck his legs into his pants to make it appear as though he is an amputee. The beggar would gain sympathy from bystanders and make a lot of money from them. Little did they know, the man’s legs worked perfectly fine, and he had never served in the army. This reminds me of the relationship between Tartuffe and Orgon because Tartuffe molds himself to be who Orgon wants in order to have access to his wealth.

Hello Everybody,

My name is Jacob Flikshteyn, but everyone either calls me Jake or Jay. My family and I are from Russia and we reside in Queens. Besides being a sophomore here at Baruch, I spend my mornings as a truck driver doing local deliveries, and my evenings as a real estate agent. I leave very little time for myself to rest or sleep, which I don’t mind as much as most would assume. It is very difficult for me to go through my day without having a task to attack. Not having an agenda always causes me to feel anxious, and as a result I keep myself very busy and always under pressure.

This neurotic trait of mine has always made buckling down on a book a challenge for me. I do most of my reading on subway rides between the city and queens, reading a few chapters a day. However, I prefer to read a book from start to finish. I hate leaving tasks undone and when I start something; I usually work until it is complete. As a result, reading a book at the pace of a few chapters a week has always bothered me.

Growing up, my favorite book was, “Where the Wild things Are.” It was about a boy that would go to his room at night and conjure up these dreams of him being king of the wild. Looking back, I think I liked the book so much because I was able to relate to the boy in the story. My imagination ran as wild as his and I was able to draw a parallel between the two of us. Now as an adult, I feel as though the books I enjoy most are still the ones I easily relate to. For example, I really enjoyed both texts, “Catcher in the Rye,” and “Into the Wild,” which both works about teenagers that try to pave a way for their future.