Daru is a schoolteacher whose teaching post is located on a plateau near the Algerian desert. The school, which is also Daru’s home, plays an important role for the people of the village. Even when students no longer come, due to winter and severe cold weather, Daru provides grain to those who come and ask for it. The reason for this is because the village had experienced a severe drought, leaving them poverty stricken. Living in an isolated region, Daru doesn’t complain about his conditions. Far away from city life, Daru is happy with little that he has: “In contrast with such poverty, he [Daru] who lived almost like a monk in his remote schoolhouse, nonetheless satisfied with the little he had.” (Camus 2575) I feel that by isolating himself in a school that is far away from the main village, he keeps himself far away from the political arena: deciding whether to side on the French or the Arabs.

But one day, Daru’s life is interrupted when Balducci, an old gendarme, comes riding on a horse with an Arab prisoner tied to a rope and informs Daru that he is to take the Arab to the jail in Tinguit. Upon this information, Daru is surprised and wishes not to get involved in the matter. However, Balducci has official papers indicating that Daru is to carry out such an act. At the end, Balducci leaves the Arab prisoner with Daru, leaving it to him to choose as to what to do with the Arab.

Even though the Arab is labeled as a prisoner, Daru doesn’t treat him like one. Instead, he unties the Arab’s hands and offers him mint tea and food. Daru treats him more like a guest instead of a criminal who has committed the crime of killing a cousin in a family dispute. The two of them, under the same roof have somehow made a bond with each other.

The Arab has all the opportunities to run away (i.e. when Daru seems to be sleeping), but he doesn’t do it. Even in the morning, Daru gives the Arab two choices:

(1) “the schoolmaster said as he pointed in the direction to the east, ‘there’s the way to Tinguit. You have a two-hour walk. At Tinguit you’ll find the administration and the police. They are expecting you’.”

(2) “toward the south….. ‘That’s the trail across the plateau. In a day’s walk from here you’ll find pasturelands and the first nomads. They’ll take you in and shelter you according to their law’.” (Camu 2582)

While Daru gives these two choices to the Arab, he doesn’t influence the Arab into picking one. Daru leaves it to the Arab to make his own decision regarding his life. At the end, it is noble of the Arab to choose the path of the jail. Even though the man is afraid, he still walks on the path that may lead to his death. While some readers may think that it was “stupid” of the Arab to risk his life instead of being free, I for think that he chose the honorable path. The Arab knew he committed a crime and thus he should be penalized for it. However, I feel that there is a deeper meaning to this than just being honorable. There is a conflict between the French and the Arabs, since the French have colonized and taken control of Algeria. By having the Arab go to jail and possibly be killed, the French are trying to instill fear within the Arabs so that they don’t go against the French. At the same time, with the Arab going to his deathbed, it might ager the Arab community, and might possibly be the catalyst that will have the Arabs rebel and fight against their oppressors. The Arab’s message on the blackboard: “You handed over our brother. You will pay for this” depicts the unhappiness of Arabs whose nation is under the French rule. The message is also pointing at people like Daru who aren’t doing anything to fight the French, but are instead teaching about France’s geography (the rivers drawn on the board). Id Daru was indeed a true Algerian, for he “had been born here” then he wouldn’t be teaching the ways of the French but instead should be instilling nationalism and pride of their nation to the children (the next generation).

So when i read this i was confused, when i finished it i was confused, and when i reread the introduction i was no longer confused.  its an interesting story of an arab who is given a choice to either runaway and have freedom or willingly go to prison.  It appears that in the end the arab chooses to tun himself in to the jail to take his punishment. however, i wonder if the arab actually went to the prison or just made it seem like he was and then ended up just running away. Also another part i found interesting was the message that the school teacher recieves in the end that he will pay for giving up “their” brother, refering to the other arabs. its a pretty cool story although i dont understand why it was such a big deal, it may be harsh to say that but i have read pieces that i feel are much more interesting. however, everyone has their own opinion correct?!

The narrator has an illness for which the doctors have been unable to cure. The narrator then goes on a search for the great saint by the name of Sheikh Zaabalawi, who is known for having healing powers. On his journey, the narrator comes in contact with other people such as: layer, book seller, a calligrapher, and a musician. Unfortunately, every time he asks them for the location of Zaabalawi, he is unable to get a concrete answer. At some point he starts questioning the existence of Zaabalawi, stating: “my visit has been vain.” When the narrator is at the bar, he gets drunk and falls asleep. Upon sleeping, the narrator is in a peaceful trance. Imagining himself in a garden the narrator is “in a state of deep contentedness , of ecstatic serenity. There was an extraordinary sense of harmony between [the narrator] and [his] inner self, and between the two [of them] and the world, everything being in its rightful place, without discord or distortion.” When the narrator wakes up, he is informed that Zaalawabi was sitting right next to him for a while. Upset at losing the moment to meet with Zaalawabi, the narrator doesn’t give up; he continues his search for Zaalawabi. He knows for certain that Zaalawabi exists.

Throughout the story, the narrator is in search of a spiritual fulfillment. He looks in the nooks and corners of streets asking for the saint, so he may be cured of the illness. It is never stated what the narrator suffers from. I imagine, he is tired of living in a materialistic society and is therefore in search of inner/spiritual happiness. It is evident that he gets a sample of this happiness that he yearns in his dream when he is drunk and asleep at the bar. In hopes of meeting Zaalawabi, since he missed his chance for he was asleep, the narrator offers to give any amount of money in order to meet the saint. However, money can’t buy everything, especially happiness. This is quite obvious when Wanas answers to the narrator:

“The strange thing is that he is not open to such temptations, yet he will cure you if you meet him. Merely on sensing

that you love him.”

As we see, the power of love is surmountable to money.

The narrator’s search for the saint reminds me of how when I lose something I’m always searching for it with no luck. However, only when I don’t look for it that the object appears. This is similar to the narrator situation for he is hard at work looking for Zaalawabi but can’t find him. Only when he is in a sedative trance (asleep) and in a blissful and harmonious state that he indirectly meets Zaalawabi.

In addition I also think about how when one is faced with a severe problem, one tends to seek towards their spiritual side to get the solution. Why is it when we are faced with difficulties we reflect upon the spiritual (God) for help? Why don’t we think of Him when everything is going good?

you left your umbrella in class, its by the computer if you want to pick it up… hopefully you see this post soon.

THE PANTHER

A panther is a black cat that is associated with power, strength, and courage. In Rilke’s poem, the panther is caged behind bars. The animal sees the same thing day in and day out: “a thousand bars.” Being held captive, the panther feels hopeless there is “no world” inside the cage. His world is outside the cage, in the wilderness where he can roam freely. The human has been able to bring this beautiful creature with “powerful soft strides” under their control and in turn suppress his power. But, at moments hope springs up into the animal’s eyes: “the curtain of the pupils lifts, quietly.” The power within the panther is so strong that it “rushes down through the tensed arrested muscles,” but unfortunately it is overcome by the hopeless of being caged. Because the great power that resides within the panther is not released, but rather stays inside of him, it “plunges into the heart and is gone.” Can it be inferred that the animal symbolically dies due to it being caged and taken away from its natural element?

Although this poem is very short I actually liked it a lot. It packed a punch shall we shall? The imagery is instantaneous, a panther roaming in his cage reminds me of my visits to the zoo when I was a child.  This poem is talking about how the panther is caged in and cannot do anything about it and for one split second he feels the urge to free himself but ultimately cannot.  Such a powerful creature being so easily detained in his cage, reminds me of men in business suits, they don’t really want to be in a suit sitting behind a desk but because of society’s standards they must.

While I was reading “Diary of a Madman” I got the feeling that it had an underlying tone to it. I remember reading in the information about Lu Xun that he was the pioneer for modern Chinese fiction and writing about the traditions set by the Chinese. It tells of Lu Xun seeing a slide depicting a execution and people standing around watching. He was surprised at how apathetic they were. He realizes that “it was their dulled spirits rather than their bodies that were in need of healing.” After reading the story I came to the conclusion that it was a metaphor for the Chinese following traditions without knowing anything other than following tradition. The Narrator of this diary writes about finding evidence of cannibalism throughout history and its acceptance. It occurred to me that even though the narrator was suffering from a mental illness he might be the only person who could see the truth. Tradition was ruining the people because of their unwillingness to change, in this case integrating western traditions with Chinese traditions. Cannibalism in this short story could represent the people’s unwillingness to change with the times and the stubbornness to follow tradition is eating them up keeping them from accepting these changes. The narrator sums it up with, “You can change, You can change from the bottom of your hearts!…You ought to know that in future they’re not goin to allow cannibalism in the world anymore. If you don’t change, you’re going to devour each other anyway…”

This is the slide that mad Lu Xun realize it was the dulled spirits rather than the bodies of the people that needed healing

Setting = Foreshadowing

After reading “Punishment,” many conclusions can be drawn as to the theme of the story. One can discuss the landlords exploitation of the peasants (higher class v. lower class); role of man and woman in Indian society; or the need for reform in Indian society. While all of them are important topics of discussion, I will be focusing on how Tagore uses the setting to foreshadow the tragedy that happens within the story.

So we have four characters: Dukhiram, Radha, Chidam, and Chandara. For starters, the sister-in-laws (Chandara and Radha) are continuously bickering on a regular basis as their husbands are off working the fields. The verbal fighting was so common that even the villagers “when they heard the shrill of the screams of the women, they would say ‘They’re at it again’… no one asks why… [and] no one was at all curious to investigate the cause.” (Tagore 1693) One day when the brothers return  from a hard day at work, they find that Radha (Dukhiram’s wife) hasn’t prepared the meal. Dukhiram in a fit of rage “like a furious tiger…without thinking, plunged his knife into [Radha’s] head.” (Tagore 1694)

The murder (tragedy) is clearly foreshadowed through the setting. As the brothers are on their way “wading through mud and water” to get home, Tagore gives a detailed description of the environment. Readers can feel a sense of uneasiness with the Padma looking “flat and sinister under the mounting clouds. It had flooded most of the grain-fields, and had come close to the houses.” (Tagore 1693) This clearly shows the doom lurking outside the brother’s houses.

Tagore’s usage of setting to foreshadow the events in his story is similar to Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants.” In the story Hemingway uses the setting to describe the current pregnant state of the girl and the state she would be in after having an abortion. It is never quite implied if the girl indeed goes through with the abortion, but the cloud that passes over the side of the mountain where there is fertility and vegetation can foreshadow the abortion.

Well for starters when i began reading Punishment i thought it was going to be something rather different, in that there was going to be something along the lines of enslavement punishment not punishment from the murder of a sister-in-law.  The more i read the more interesting it got, the scheme to blame all the problems on to Chandara and later attempting to save her from the false accusations of having killed Radha. I can sympathize for Dukhiram and how he puts up with a day full of work and stress to come up and get verbally abused  for not having anything to give to feed the family. Dukhiram goes to kill his wife with a simple but swift farm knife blow straight down into Radha’s head. I found that at the very end when Chandara goes to say “To hell with him,” was rather appropriate with the situation, given that she was framed for murder despite how much her husband loved her. From the looks of it love is not stronger then the bond of family, and love eventually becomes hate with betrayal. Maybe that is how life is that love can instantly become hatred with a small push it becomes something serious.

Much like with The Road to Salvation, Jhingur decides to mess up his life along with his family’s. Though it might seem like it does not fit in with Punishment I find that they are much very alike. Jhingur learns that he needs to accept what he has done to Buddhu. One major thing i noticed is the one section where he goes to the tanner’s and goes to say this one line that really stood out for me, “if a Brahman Pandit stumbles in the dark and falls then another Pandit, instead of giving him a hand, will give him a couple of kicks so he won’t be able to get up. But when a thief finds another thief in distress he helps him.” Rather interesting in that a man with less honor and moral compassion would go to help a fellow in trouble. This seems like to be willing to help one another we as humans have to be ruthless and nearly no morals.