Monthly Archives: April 2016

Is morality sexist? – “Two Sisters”

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In the short story “Two Sister,” Ama Ata Aidoo introduces two sisters with completely different views on relationships, marriage and sexual behavior. We first meet the younger sister, Mercy, who engages in contradictory thoughts and behaviors. For example, she states that she wants a husband of her own and children while at the same has thought about participating in a behavior that would label her a home-wrecker (996). She has been tempted to go after her boss who owns a car but is afraid that his wife would “tear her hair out” (995). She later starts seeing a man name Mensar-Arthur, a member of Parliament, with multiple wives and girlfriends. Mercy is trapped in a tough stage in her life where she wants the traditional fairytale of falling in love, marrying a good man and then having his children but is also attracted to men owning cars (symbol of wealth) and men with prestigious power and control. Aidoo sheds light on the false reality that women are expected to marry a good man, who is single and have money. This is not always the case. Aidoo also points out the difficulties women have in positioning themselves in society. Women, in this story, are expected to be in the search for a husband that could provide for her and take care of her but if he showers her with gifts as criticized by Connie (big sister), she is seen as weak, spoiled and easily controlled. I believe Mercy is constantly contradicting herself because the expectations of women is just as contradicting and confusing to understand. There is no clear guidance of what a woman should or should not do because regardless of the case, she will be criticized one way or another. If Mercy finds a husband that is the right age for her and have the right kind of money to please her, she will be subject to being his subordinate, under his control. If Mercy continues to date/have sex with these older, powerful men who have wives, girlfriends and grandchildren, she will be seen as just a foolish girl who is degrading herself for pleasure while she wastes her youth away. It seems as if Connie’s marriage seems to be the ideal marriage every women should aspire for but even that marriage has roughs like infidelity, trust issues and explosive arguments.

Although this was written in 1970, you can still see specs of sexist remarks that seem to not have changed for over centuries. There seems to be a double standard when Aidoo describes temperament between the sexes. On page 100, James (Connie’s cheating husband) “hates tears, for like so many men, he knows it is one of the most potent weapons in women’s bitchy and inexhaustible arsenal.” When describing James, Aidoo just states, “James is cruel. He is terrible and mean” (1002). Notice the shift in description which goes more in depth in calling a woman’s demeanor “bitchy” and “inexhaustible” than if you compare the description of a man who is, just simply put, mean.

There is also a double standard between the sexes when it comes to behaving morally correct in romantic relationships. Connie has been aware of James’ many affairs with other women but still remains with him. Once Mercy reveals that she is with a man with many wives and girlfriends, Connie rebukes her for “ruining herself prosperously” (1001). It seems like a woman’s livelihood is determined by her choice in men meanwhile these men are not punished by their inability to be monogamous. Mensaur- Arthur continues to shower his many lovers with gifts and James continues to come home very late at night to his wife and children. James says, “Every morning her friends who don’t earn any more than she (Mercy) does wear new dresses, shoes, wigs and what-have-you to work” (1002). He is implying that Mercy should not be ashamed of who she is with because she must compete with other woman and her peers in ‘who has the nicest things.’ There is a moral issue to Mercy’s situation. On the one hand, Mercy is fond of Mensaur-Arthur and his ability to buy her all that she desires. On the other hand, once word gets out about the affair, news will “spread and brand her” (1002). Because Mercy is not taking the traditional route towards romance, her actions would be criticized by both men and women and her so-called value would diminish. There is an obvious sexist side to morality or what society dictates as morals. Women often criticize other women for their rebellious behavior that do not fit the social norm. Rebellious behavior include, fornicating with a man who has wives and children, sleeping with a man as old as their father, and letting him buy her love and affection. In the end, Mercy continues to meet an older gentleman with wives and children due to Connie’s failure to intervene or justify why Mercy should hold herself up to respectable standards.

 

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

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Modern poets worked with precision and clarity. They compressed their lyrics and attempted to use language in new, shocking ways. Rising from the symbolists’ usage of striking imagery, modernists aimed to create complex visuals in their readers’ minds that would require active interpretation.

T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” fits right in with the modernist movement. An extremely carefully constructed poem, “Prufrock” is simultaneously complex and simple. Littered throughout the poem are allusions to other literary works. In his introductory stanza, Eliot quotes Dante’s “Inferno.” A couple of stanzas later, he references Michelangelo. Shortly after, Eliot references a love poem by Andrew Marvell, then he alludes to Hesiod. Further on, there are multiple Biblical and Shakespearean references. All of these allusions are very important, because Eliot is making assumptions that his readers are educated, critical thinkers. If one didn’t understand the importance of Eliot’s literary allusions, they would interpret his work on a lower level than others. This is representative of modernist poetry in that it addresses the alienation experienced by the members of modern Western civilization due to a dying sense of culture specific to Western society. Perhaps Eliot is working ironically, speaking in a lofty tone, commenting on what it feels like to lack a sense of societal belonging.

As a whole, I found this poem very interesting and almost excruciatingly thought-provoking. Every image Eliot provides us with is packed with various layers of interpretation. The first three lines of the poem, for example, leave the reader with a few questions. “Let us go then, you and I, / When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table; (Eliot 541: 1-3). Who is this person that wants me to go with him? Is the speaker Eliot or is it Prufrock? Who is J. Alfred Prufrock? Is the speaker comparing twilight to an etherized patient because the night is just about to wake up? Or is he comparing twilight to an etherized patient because he wants us to feel nervous about nightfall in the way that we would feel nervous watching a person who is undergoing surgery? The reader must then pause, think, recollect, and continue reading. Thus the poem takes a very long time to digest. In fact, it is hard to say if the poem ever can be fully digested by means of reaching a sense of completion.

Overall, I think “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is about a man who is at odds with himself as well as with the society he is a part of. He wants to make all of the right decisions, to plan his life, to organize it, and to feel like he’s in control. “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” (Eliot 542: 56-59). These lines express discomfort and regret after having engaged in a well-thought out sentence.

I believe it is important to notice the speaker’s half-veiled remarks to having been sexually manipulated by women in his life. “And I have known the arms already, known them all — / Arms that are braceleted and white and bare” (Eliot 543: 62-63). Here we learn that the speaker has dated all kinds of women. Three stanzas later… “Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in / upon a platter,” (Eliot 543: 82-83). The speaker is referencing the Biblical betrayal of Salome unto John the Baptist. Salome infamously used her sexuality and feminine mystique in order to have John the Baptist murdered.

In a confusing juxtaposition, referring to the mermaid-like sirens in “The Odyssey,” at line 125, Eliot says, “I do not think that they will sing to me.” After learning earlier in the poem that the speaker had been betrayed by a woman or women, it is very surprising that he doesn’t believe the sirens would attempt to lure him to his death by their beautiful voices.

While I still have many questions regarding this poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” seems to be primarily about the constant confusion a man in Western society faces when reaching the point of settling down into a career and possibly pursuing marriage.

Sadness and Pablo Neruda

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When I was reading Pablo Neruda I couldn’t help but feel that he was not a happy man. All three of the poems I read by him tend to have negative and sad feelings. In “Walking Around” he talks about how he is tired of being a man and everything that comes with living. He wants so much to be wild and alive and not be a regular man and maybe he feels he has to do this by being crazy and out of his mind, “It would be beautiful / to go through the streets with a green knife / shouting until I died of cold” (lines 14-16). He further states that he does not want to be a “root in the dark” kind of person, “I do not want to go on being a root in the dark, / hesitating, stretched out, shivering with dreams, / downwards, in the wet tripe of the earth, / soaking it up and thinking, eating everyday”(lines 18-21). These lines show how he doesn’t even want to go on living life regularly, with dreams that wont come to life, and overthinking as regular humans do. He wants to be free and stretched out and not just be a root that stays in one place and is stuck there helplessly till someone rips him out.

I thought his poem “Tonight I Can Write…” was also very interesting. He chooses to write “…the saddest lines”(line 1). He can choose to write about anything he does not need to write about sadness, however he chooses to which I found odd. He mourns a relationship he lost with a woman who simply couldn’t love him as he loved her. He repeats the line, “Tonight I can write the saddest lines”, I think to remind the reader constantly that he is sad and to ensure the reader that this poem is not to be read lightly, that it should give off a sad feeling. When you lose a love it is so hard to explain how you feel to anyone, I think this was his way of trying to explain. He also uses the word “saddest”, not just sad, as though there is absolutely nothing sadder than what he went through when losing his loved one. Perhaps he had to put this all down as a form of therapy to finally let go of this pain. “Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer / and these the last verses that I write for her” (lines 11-12). He notes that this will be the last time he writes of her, almost like he is giving himself this last moment to remember her and that after this, she will be gone to him forever, both physically and mentally. Not in a bad way but in a healthy way, that he needs to move on from her.

Love Song or Parody?

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The Love Song of J. Alfred Purfrock by T. S. Elliot is a paradoxical poem that addresses both the elements of Romanticism and Modernism. According to, “Modern Poetry,” modern poets, such as Elliot, believed that, “Romantic reveries about natural beauty or the soul had become… poetic clichés (507). In order to steer away from such clichés, modernists, “sought…precision and clarity…and emphasized the construction of the literary work” (507). However, Elliot constructs a modernistic poem by using romanticism-like qualities as a basis, turning the The Love Song of J. Alfred Purfrock into a parody that mocks the previous literary era and introduces the new modern era.

Elliot’s mockery of Romantic ideals is emphasized in his use of an unpredictable thyme scheme. For example, the narrator’s, J. Alfred Purfrock, monologue begins as, “Let us go then, you and I,/ When the evening is spread out against the sky/ Like a patient etherized upon a table” (Elliot 1-3). This abrupt shift in rhythm brings the reader to a halt, giving them time to process what was just said. In the first two lines, Purfrock addresses his beloved and provides that person with an idealistic imagery scene of a beautiful landscape. This is indicative of, “Romantic reveries about natural beauty or the soul.” These two lines are coupled with an end rhyme, but the thought is continued into the third line. The third line gives a disturbing image and further stirs a sense of unsettlement within the reader when surrealism is added by Elliot’s choice to break the rhyme pattern. Elliot’s tendency to fail to follow through on rhyme patterns is a reoccurring happening throughout the poem. This demonstrates the modernistic element of using, “…language in a shocking or an unfamiliar way” (507). Elliot’s decision to juxtapose romantic and modern elements of poetry exhibits a sense of mockery that criticizes Romantic’s utilization of language.

Elliot’s references to older works of literature within this poem also create a jocular tone. He incorporates numerous texts ranging from the bible to works written during the 17th century. These allusions create a humorous tone because they are followed by a rhetorical question posed by Purfrock. For example, when Purfrock says, “And indeed there will be time” he is referencing Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress (Elliot 23). Purfrock later elaborates on that concept when he says “And indeed there will be time/ To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”/…Do I dare/ Disturb the universe?” (Elliot 37-38, 45-46). This sequence of a reference and then a question happens again when Elliot references Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night when Purfrock says, “I know the voices dying with a dying fall” (Elliot 52). Purfrock continues his monologue after that and says, “Beneath the music from a farther room./ So how should I presume” (Elliot 53-54)? The questions that Purfrock poses after alluding to past literature either seek instruction or permission to do something. By doing this, Elliot creates a mocking undertone when Purfrock is unable to move forward in his pursuit because he needs validation or help from what he has learned from the past. This represents modernism’s’ relationship to the past.

A Truth Told by A Madman

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This work is very similar to Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. Both of them used satire, through their whole text, to reveal the ugly truth of the social reality. As in A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan mocks the British cruel policy toward Ireland; Lu Xun uses a madman’s diary to expose the unacceptable truth: “eating people”. Lu Xun created this work to against the feudalism and the feudal ethics in China. And he claimed that the feudal thinking is “eating” people.

In this work, “eating people” culture is referring the Chinese traditional feudal thinking and the madman is a symbol of all the people who against it. The title of this text is so interesting: Diary of a madman. the reader will initially realize that this diary is written by a madman. Which means that all the content is unreliable or unbelievable. Even though this work is in a diary format, which we will observe the world through a crazy guy’s eyes, there will also be a voice in the reader’s mind: “I am a normal person and I am not a madman.” So, of course, when the madman starts talking about the “eating people” stuff, the audience won’t believe. But If we go through the madman’s “mad” descriptions of the people and the history, we can find that every other character’s actions in this fiction are normal and logical. Brother’s cold smile (250,10), the people’s whisper (244,2), and the doctor’s reaction, even the dirty look from the Zhao family’s dog (244,1). All of these are logical responses when people saw a madman or heard his crazy speech. In reality, it is also normal to “eat people”: “since I couldn’t get to sleep anyway, I read that history very carefully for most of the night, and finally, I began to make out what was written between the lines; the whole volume was filled with a single phrase: EAT PEOPLE!” (246) And all the other eating people stories, from Yi Ya to Xu Xilin, are also true events happened in China history (250). Now, the audiences will realize that the madman is talking about the truth.

“Eating people” is still remaining on a physical level in madman’s society. But in reality, “eating people” is happening on a psychological, spiritual level – the traditional feudal thinking. The madman seems to be the only person awake in the room, just like a revolutionist. He tried to wake up the rest of the people. But everybody in the society is ignorance and unconscious because they are deeply blinded or assimilated by the feudalism. As a result, they seeing the madman as a madman.

Medicine

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“Their necks are stretched out long, like ducks whose heads have been grabbed and pulled upward by an invisible hand” (Lu, 254). People show great curiosity when they watch the government kill the revolutionary cruelly. During this revolution, most people are just spectators who know nothing about the revolution and feel nothing about the death of revolutionaries. Both revolutionaries and people should feel grief about the ignorance.

Big-bolt is a representation of ignorant people whom revolutionaries fight for. He is poor, superstitious and numb. After he spent all of his family’s saving to buy the mantou with human blood, his son still dies in the end. He shows the main theme of Medicine, cannibalism. On the one hand, he is poor and is exploited by Qing government; on the other hand, he lets his son eat mantou with the revolutionary’s blood. “He takes it, packs it into his pocket with trembling hands, and then pats it a few time” (Lu, 253). By patting money again and again, Big-bolt tries to make sure the money is in his pocket, showing the price of mantou with blood costing almost all the savings of this poor family. He pins all his hope on the mantou to cure his son, but his son still dies because of people’s ignorance.

However, it is understandable that people are ignorant after the long-time decadent rule of feudalism and authoritarianism, so conscious revolutionaries are responsible for enlightening numb people. “But the Xia kid acts as though it’s just a regular conversation and starts tellin’ Redeye how the Great Manchu Empire belongs to all of us. Now stop and think for a second, does that sound like talk you’d expect out of a human being” (Lu, 257)? Xia, as a brave revolutionary, does not fear death and tries to persuade the prison guard against the government. Unfortunately, he does not mobilize the masses successfully. People do not understand anything about Xia’s belief, and they even think he is crazy. That’s the grief of revolutionaries at that time.

Ignorance is the main characteristic of people, but are they incorrigible? After people heard Xia kid said Ah-yi was pitiful, “the eye movements of all those who hear this suddenly freeze, and there is a general lull in the conversation” (Lu,257). During the short silence, people are touched deeply, but they fear to admit that they are pitiful and become numb again. People need medicine, not only the medicine to cure tuberculosis, but also the one that can develop people’s awareness of the conditions of their lives.

The Terror of Loneliness

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As his illness grew, Ivan Ilyich had a repeating cycle of fear and hope. He was terrified by the idea of death and what it could do to him. He would question himself if the illness was what death really is and that death would soon happen to everyone else. He wanted to feel better as he insisted that he was the first to die but he will soon be joined by the others in his family. With all these questions and thoughts that rosed to his head, lonliness came up.

“Then what does it mean? Why? It can’t be that life is so senseless and horrible. But if it really has been so horrible and senseless, why must I die and die in agony? There is something wrong!” (Tolstoy, 775). Here, Ivan questions death and himself as he’s alone after dismissing Gerasim. He cried alone and ask why death would come with pain and suffering. He couldn’t bear the fact that he was so helpless that his daily routines needed assistance from others.

As days went by, all Ivan could do was ask Gerasim to accompany him and help him around the house. Ivan could not bear the pain of being alone that it became a fear. Gerasim soon became his attachment or his essential need. From waking up to sleeping, Gerasim had to accompany him in order to make Ivan feel as if he wasn’t alone. Ivan dreaded loneliness and he could do nothing but ask for Gerasim.  How horrible is it that you’re not only suffering physically, but you’re also agonized mentally. His pain of being alone separated him from his family. His family didn’t understand the pain loneliness brought and could not help in any other way but to give him opium to ease  his pain.

The thought of being lonely raised many question to Ivan throughout his sick days. Did the physical pain hurt more, or did my mental thoughts hurt more? As days went by, all he could think of was his pass and how it led to his illness. The more he thought about the pass, the more pain he would inflict upon himself. Loneliness brought pain and questions to Ivan as he comes more ill. The terror of being alone not only brought pain to Ivan, but it also changed how he view himself.

The Misunderstood

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“It’s not a question of appendix or kidney but of life and death. Yes, life was there and now it is going, going and I cannot stop it. Yes. Why deceive myself? Isn’t it obvious to everyone but me that I’m dying, and that it’s only a question of weeks, days” (762). I think this quote portrays a lot of the central themes in “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”; morality, suffering, and family are all represented in this one quote.

Before becoming sick Ivan ignored his own morality, just like his friends around him. He slept around, and did whatever he wanted; he thought that nothing could hurt him. However, death changes everything for him, and there is nothing he can do now. It makes him reevaluate his whole life, everything that mattered before, now doesn’t. After he realizes that he is dying he doesn’t care what people think of him. “Life was there and now it is going, going and I cannot stop it.” This shows how his past actions, are the reasons that he is going through this. His morality plays a big role in the story.

The theme of suffering is apparent as soon as Ivan figures out that he is dying. He suffers from fear, hopelessness and loss of dignity. Ivan is forced to suffer in the story because of the actions he committed while he was healthy. He never appreciated his life, he only cared about what others thought of him. “And that it’s only a question of weeks, days.” Ivan is terrified of dying, but he has to accept it. However, at the end of the story suffering is what ultimately leads Ivan realize that his whole life was false. He only thought that his life was good because others did. His career, his family, his marriage were all false; he only cared about showing off.

The idea of family is extremely dysfunctional throughout the story. No one seems to understand what Ivan is actually going though, and how he can die at any moment. “Isn’t obvious to everyone but me that I’m dying.” His relationship with his wife is extremely superficial, he seems to hate her more and more as he gets closer to dying. “While she was kissing him he hated her from the bottom of his soul” (763). However, we as the reader have to wonder how much of the alienation from his family is caused by them, and how much is caused by his own dislike of them. We can’t blame one person for the dysfunctional family. Earlier in the story we knew that Ivan didn’t really want to marry his wife, he just did it. Did Ivan ever really love his family? Or was it all a show for people around him to see? We also know that he hates his son who he regards as a “failure.” The concept of family is extremely important throughout the story, but who is to blame for the hatred?

Illness or Tragedy?

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Leo Tolstoy tells the sad story of a powerful man, Ivan Ilyich. Worked very hard to earn the salary he earned and the position he had. A wife and kids also, seemed like a good life. With all these successes can come hatred, jealousy and fake friendships. Ilyich seems to be dying all caused by an illness but I can’t help myself from not believing this. “So on receiving the news of Ivan Ilyich’s death the first thought of each of the gentlemen in that private room was of the changes and promotions it might occasion among themselves or their acquaintances”(Tolstoy 740). The death of Ilyich is beneficial to a couple people as it clearly says here the death of Ilyich may lead to promotions and overall more money for others around him. Fëdor Vasilievich already talking about “an extra eight hundred rubles a year for me” and Peter Ivanovich saying “now I must apply for my brother-in-law’s transfer from Kaluga” (Tolstoy 741) because that would make her wife happy. Tolstoy’s choice of word here, “acquaintances” also stood out because he had options instead of acquaintances. Acquaintances is often used when it is a person you may know or know of, but are not too close to. Acquaintance is more of a word of a person that you are just around like a business partner. Someone that can benefit from you.

The death of Ilyich is not the cause of an illness. Someone knows something and had something to do with it. Tolstoy also gives us an additional person that can benefit from the death of Ilyich and someone that is quite interested. He tells us Ilyich’s wife “knew how much could be got out of the government in consequence of her husband’s death, but wanted to find out whether she could possibly extract something more (Tolstoy 745). The day of the funeral which should be a very sad day for a widow, she is trying to find out what kind of money she will be getting because of her husband’s death. This death is not from an illness because too many people seem kind of glad or are excited about an opportunity.