In his article,”Family Relationships,” Sigmund Freud, perhaps the most controversial and studied psychologist in the modern era, argues an interesting and unprecedented theory on families relationships, and their unique links. Freud argues that in the beginning, a child has extreme admiration for his parents, father and mother alike. He says that the child regards his father as an ideal person and wants to be like him. He then says that as the child grows older he  or she starts to gain a disdain for the father, arguing that a boy has more contempt  than a girl. He attributes this disdain to the child’s growing sexual desires for his mother while his father is in the way.

Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” is a directly related to Freud’s theories on relationship. It relates to Freud’s ideas in that it discusses the conflict of Sartoris, the boy has with his father, and whether or not to protect him. Initially Sartoris know’s his father burned down the barn of Mr. Harris, although he feels to protect his father because, as Freud would say, “For a small child his parents are at first the only authority and the source of all belief.” He thinks that the judge is the enemy without even knowing or seeing anything. His father actually tries to protect this authority by shielding him from the outside influences. Later on, when the boy learns that his fathers actions were wrong on all accounts, he rats him out. Although not because of sexual thoughts both readings describe the certain conflict.

In the novel Mrs Dalloway, the author, Virginia Wolf, intentionally places hidden patterns of connection create relationships which construct the text. One of these disguised relationships is the obscure bond between Clarissa and Septimus. The connection is the similar ideology of the different characters despite the contrast in their actions. Despite the fact that Septimus was insane, and that everyone knew it, Clarissa shares his ideology and his ultimate beliefs. The difference is that until he committed suicide, Septimus practices what he preaches, and in many ways Clarissa is envious of that. She only fully comprehends that they actually share the same ideals once Septimus commits suicide. From the reaction Clarissa learns that she must take a different approach to life, and the contrast between her thoughts and ideas must be amended.

Another deeper connection is that between Clarissa and Sally Sexton. Clarissa harbors   some unique feelings for her old friend and we constantly see her thinking about her. It seems as though Clarissa has sexual feelings for Sally, although she cant pursue them due to the social structure of the time.

In both these relationships we see Clarissa trying to escape the cotton wool unlike which all other characters seem wrapped up in. Characters such as her husband Richard Dalloway, the psychiatrist William Bradshaw, and Lucrezia Smith, Septimus’s wife, glorify life in the cotton wool. Each of them are enravled in the idea that there is nothing more to life than pursuing ones sentimental connections and emotions, rather live the way the times want you to .

“The Metamorphosis,” a novel written by Franz Kafka in the early 20th century is a bizarre story of a man, waking up and somehow bizarrely turning into an insect type creature. The story is so bizarre it is hard to even depict the message Kafka wants the audience to know. I trying to discern Kafka’s message I made the comparison to the novel “Frankenstein”. In both novels new creature were created – and in both novels we don’t know how they were created. I believe that there is significance to this fact, because just as we learned that Mary Shelly didn’t want the creation of Frankenstein to take away from the true meaning of the book, so too Kafka didn’t want the creation of Samsa to take away from the message. What Kafka is really trying to say in the novel is that change can happen to all of us, and how we, as well as our peers respond to that change may differ. We see this right from the start when Samsa boss, and parents are outside his house, looking to see if anything happened to him. Initially everyone responds differently, his boss runs away, his mother faints, and his father pushes him back into the house. He then finds out the next day that his sister as accepted the fact he has changed and begins to help him. The fictional aspect of this book is extraordinary and the multitude of holes in the plot allow it to be highly interpretable in different ways.

I found the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” Frederick Douglas’s autobiography of his life as a slave, extremely informative in that it was accurate account of the trials and tribulations of a slave. It was interesting to see the various subject matters Douglas focuses on. In retelling his story he spotlights some of the most serious problems during the time in everything from his craving for freedom and education to the mistreatment of women. Additionally, he shows the importance the slave owners put on the suppression of slave knowledge. His wanting for freedom is enabled by his education, and he partly attributes his eventual escape to his learnedness and background. One thing I noticed was the glaring connection between the way the slave owners kept the slaves contained and Douglas’s eventual escape to freedom. The slave owners contained the slaves by keeping them uneducated. They refused to let them learn to read or write so that they wouldn’t be able to become educated. We clearly see this when Sophia Auld started to teach Douglas to read and write until her husband vehemently opposed her. He explains that the reason the slaves are so docile is because they are uneducated. Later on in his life, Douglas realizes that the reason for his escape was his education, and determines the way to achieve eventual freedom is to educate. I feel Douglas wrote his autobiography for this reason, in order to educate America on the hardships of slaves. His works were highly influential and responsible for abolitionist movements across America.

It is clear from both the film “The Birth of a Nation,” as well as Frederick Douglas’ autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” that the abuse and mistreatment of women of color during those times was overshadowed by the accomplishments and acts of  the men. In the film, although the primary motive behind Nat Turners rebellion was the mistreatment of women, Salamisha Tillet explains that, “the women themselves are doubly marginalized.” The film is focused much more on Turners brave rebellion than the victimization and abuse on the women. They play a minuscule role in the main storyline and are depicted as helpless victims silenced by the abuse. Similar to the film, the novel also portrays women of color as powerless sufferers unable to respond to their continuous abuses. Douglas rarely talks about the abuse, and when he does, it is not completely noteworthy. He describes his aunts traumatic abuse by her owner, however she is not a complete character in the story. Her, as well Henrietta, Mary, and Henny, are really only used to highlight the fact of abuse of white slave owners rather than play an actual role in the story. From the criticism of the film we can see that this is a common portrayal of colored women in the south. They should not only be looked upon as figures of mistreatment, but also as characters with expressions, roles, and influences. Unequivocally, women of color are not being recognized enough for the important roles they’ve played in history – not just as victims of abuse.

The modern idea of the creature created by Victor Frankenstein is just a monster, without feelings or senses. This is apparent in the clips of the creation of the monster — they portray the creation as a huge life changing event in which Frankenstein is obsessed with the process, and the monster was extremely desired by him. Unlike the clips, Shelly’s version only briefly even focuses on the creation and once it is finally created is rejected by Frankenstein who even runs away from it. In both the monster is thought to be a hideous and scary thing, although it seems as though the films focused more on the idea of a hideous monster rather than a living creature. In the book, the creature starts off as just a hideous monster but Victor learns to discover that although it doesn’t have the best intentions, the monster is able think articulately and speak eloquently. The greatest difference between the two is the general focus of characters. The films are trying to show Frankensteins role in creating the creature, showing his excitement and mad rage when he is created. The book is really trying to show the creatures effects on the thoughts and emotions of Frankenstein. The book doesn’t even focus on the creation, but rather the monsters influence over the course of the book.

“Abbey in the Oak Forest” is a somber paintaing by Caspar David Friedrich. The painting depicts a desolate church centered in the middle of a cemetery. Around the church there are tall oak trees without leaves to portray the deadness of the scene. There are also people walking into the destroyed Abbey holding a coffin illustrating the dreariness and sense of emptiness of the image. Friedrich makes it clear that the Abbey was once beautiful and well kept, by showing the detail of it, such as the windows, being shattered and broken. Its interesting that the people entering the abbey are just walking deeper into devastation by doing their rituals of burial in the ruins of the abbey. The image is obviously toned to dampen the viewers spirits. The first time  I looked at the emptiness it made me feel some kind of emptiness. I find it interesting that he is trying to show that mans ideas can never last. He shows this by painting landscaping letting each part represent mans ideas. The most obvious instance is the desolate church. Friedrich lived at the heart of the enlightenment – a time when people began to reject the church and think independently. He is trying to stress the point that it is nature that dictates how the world is ran and it is nature that is eternal. The once great church is now reduced to ruble shadowed by dead oak trees  to show the death of ideas. Whatever he was trying to depict, this picture shows defines the term emptiness.

Humans search in acquiring knowledge begins with thinking. As Descartes explains, it is our ability to think which sets us apart as individuals and has led to advances in society’s advancements. Knowledge is based off our ability to think, and one way which we think creatively is by using our curiosity. Curiosity is one of the most important parts of an individuals critical thinking. To help us explore our curiosities we use our imagination. We create new ideas, images, and concepts using our imagination and fiction. Over the course of history it was imagination which was used to develop the innovative ideas used in the advancement of societies behaviors. Imagination is generated through many ways, one being through storytelling. By using stories and fiction we are able to see the different perspectives and deeper thoughts of certain people. Without fiction everyone would have the same objective opinions. Fiction is important to tell us that not everything is set in stone, you can dream, think and be creative.  Storytelling allows us to reflect on those perspectives, thoughts, and dreams and allow us to generate our own opinions on those ideas, adding to societies knowledge pool. This creates a growing cycle in which people build off the knowledge of others. Fiction and stories are responsible for almost every invention we have today. Without it we would not have dreamt of things like self driving cars, smart phones, even going to the moon. It allows us to follow Descartes path of asking what if, dreaming big, and most importantly thinking independently.

Imagine a world structured without the slightest iota of equality; one which people cant speak their minds for fear of being killed. This world existed until the early 18th century, until a group of independent thinkers changed the way we live, with their revolutionary ideologies and beliefs. They questioned societal norms which were previously around for centuries. The questioning of societal norms was actually extremely dangerous, and spreading heresy could actually mean death. Despite this, the philosophers continued to spread their ideas – educating the rest of society and breaking their obediant chains. The enlightenment thinkers stressed important ideas such as self-reliant thinking – one such thinker was Rene Descartes. Descartes had one great ability which made him one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived – he questioned everything to the point where one even started to doubt your own existence. His idea “I think therefore, I am” is the idea that the reason for our existence is to think. Descartes recognized that the only true difference between man and animal is mans ability to think. In a way, Descartes was able to uteach himself everything he was previously taught, by his parents, the church and so one. This made him able to reteach the world as he knew it through questions and observations. At the time, the idea of independent thinking was foreign to the world, and so Descartes’, as well as other philosophers and scientists of the enlightenment, ideas riffled through the world allowing us to live our lives with freedom and independence. Although we haven’t fully reached equality and independence, we must further ensure their ideas and beliefs fully come to fruition in order to reach full impartiality.