Author: SHAO RU ZHANG

In the poem, “God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children”, Amichai tries to convey that as you grow older you will suffer more, thus bearing more burden. The title and the first sentence reveals that God has pity on the younger children who are ignorant of the world and the surroundings, possibly alluding to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. God, however, pities people less and less as they grow older, even to the point of abandoning them. As a result of the increasing difficulties people face as they grow older, and as the war progresses, people also begin to abandon God by losing faith in him. People begin to lose faith and hope, believing that God has failed to protect them, even when people, “crawl on all fours in the scorching sand to reach the dressing station, streaming with blood.” God is not there for them during the time of war and destruction, but is there to protect the innocence of the younger (Kindergarten) children. Amichai may have written this poem to demonstrate the loss of faith in religion as a result of a tragedy, especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which was based on religion.

In the poem, “Try to Remember Some Details”, Amichai expresses how to bear witness to tragedy. He urges the reader to try to remember some details about people so when they die, it makes it more bearable. When death arrives, people are often forgotten and the world moves on; in order to keep their spirits alive, it is the duty of the living to remember details about them, from how they dressed, looked, and acted. This was especially important in the time of war/conflict when countless people died and are forgotten on the battlefield. Death has no preferences, it will swallow everyone on the battlefield, so it is the job of the living to carry on their legacy.

Is McKay’s vision of urban life unremittingly bleak or is there some more optimistic or redeeming aspect to it? Does the speaker’s apparently melancholic or depressive state in some of the poems reflect McKay’s perspective or is he more at a distance from it? How do you know?

Mckay’s vision of urban life is relatively bleak, but there are some redeeming aspects of urban life. Some optimistic aspect of urban life is the life in Broadway. Broadway is full of hundreds of bright signs, crowds, playhouses, cabarets, and inns; it seems almost like a dream. The speaker’s apparent melancholic state in some of the poems reflects McKay’s perspective and I would even argue that the speaker is McKay. The speaker is believed to be Mckay because in “Harlem Shadows” and “On Broadway”, he’s using first-person pronouns such as “I” and “My”. Additionally, Mckay is recalling his experience and perspective of his time in Harlem and Broadway.

Although the poems were written in his perspective, he seems distant from the culture and life he describes in the poems. In the poem “Harlem Shadows”, he sees the secretive and dark life that goes on in Harlem, including illegal activities and prosecution, but he does not engage in any of it. He is merely an outsider and an observer who writes about how the other half lived in Harlem at night. In the poem “On Broadway”, despite Broadway being full of life, light and joy, the epitome of the American culture at the time, the speaker still feels lonely. The poems reveal that Mckay is the speaker in both the poems and recalls the life of Broadway and Harlem in his perspective, but he is merely a distant observer who writes about it. 

 

Consider Mary’s role as Rendle’s muse and its relation to this problem–a person who inspires another person’s work but may not benefit from himself/herself–more generally. What is Wharton’s commentary here? To put it another way: what exactly is the muse’s tragedy in this case? What is most tragic about this story?

The muse’s tragedy, in this case, is Mary Anerton’s one-sided love for Vincent Rendle. Mary Anerton is a critic of Rendle’s books and she offered advice on his work. They had been together for almost fifteen years. Rendle never saw Anerton as a potential lover, but only as a friend and a muse. He grew quite comfortable around her and will often hang out with her. This led people to think that they were lovers and that Rendle wrote his poems of love based on her. Anerton supposedly represents “Silvia” from his sonnet. She wished that the rumors were true, and that Rendle had loved her but she knew he never loved her. She described Rendle’s actions as only from a friend to another friend, “he treated me as one man treats another…He never made love to me… The sonnets to Silvia, you say? But what are they? A cosmic philosophy, not a love-poem; addressed to woman, not to a woman!”.  This shows that only Anerton understood the true meaning of the poem, and instead of revealing the truth, she went along with it.

Anerton lives a life with a false perception of herself and from others. She became famous and people worshipped her as a celebrity just because they assumed she was Silvia. Anerton also wished it was true and built her life on that lie. She purposefully published their letters in a way that reveals that they had secretly loved each other. Deep down, however, She know it was all lies and struggles with her inner self that knows the truth and her outer self that is hopeful of their love. The most tragic element of this story is unrequited love that she never received and the battle between appearance and reality.

The Lady with the Dog- By Anton Chekhov

The significance of the two lovers meeting at Yalta, a resort town, is to show that they are both running away from their situation in their hometowns. Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov is running away from his problems at home in Moscow. He’s not close to his wife and views women as inferior human beings. He doesn’t love his wife nor the experiences he has with Moscow people. He thinks the society of men is boring so he would much rather spend his time with women. He feels at ease and more like his real self whenever he is with a woman because they’re interesting and they amuse him. Similarly, Anna Sergeyevna hates her current life with her husband. They both went to Yalta in order to seek temporary relief from their situations at home and to seek comfort in another person’s arms. 

Gurov had been with many women before, “from the past he preserved memories of careless, good-natured women, who loved cheerfully and were grateful to him for the happiness he gave them, however brief it might be.” This shows that Gurov enjoys flirting and being with another woman to make them feel special as a form of entertainment for himself, and it is what he lives for. Gurov’s intentions are clear from the very beginning, he approaches Anna because of her mysteriousness. He sees her as just another woman to fulfill his interests and lust. Anna, who is married, knows that Gurov is pursuing her because this is the first time where she is alone and being followed, looked at, and spoken to from strangers because they don’t know her identity here nor do they know that she is married. It is implied that if you come to this resort town then you are seeking a companion. Even though Anna waited for her husband to come pick her up, she eventually gives up and allows Gurov to get close with her even though she knows it’s wrong. It seems as though Yalta, a resort town, is where people come to commit adultery and to forget their miserable lives back home.  

 

“The Gilded Six-Bits” By Zora Neale Hurston

How and why does Hurston incorporate the process of giving great value to seemingly small things (e.g. gifts, personal foibles or tendencies, inside jokes, games) into the story?

Hurston incorporates the process of giving great value to seemingly small things into the story by describing in great detail and length, at the beginning of the story, of how Missie May and Joe interact as a married couple. In the beginning, Hurston’s “The Gilded Six-Bits”,  Missie May knows that Joe will be home every Saturday and will throw silver dollars in the door for her to pick up while he will hide behind bushes. She also knows that Joe will hide many surprises for her in his pocket including candy kisses, yet she and Joe still pretend like it’s their first time. Joe and Missie May will often role-play as a way of expressing their love. They don’t openly express their undying love for each other but show it in other ways. For example, during their lunch, there was, “very little talk during the meal but that little consisted of banter that pretended to deny affection but in reality flaunted it.“ Missie May and Joe’s relationship is based on small gestures which can be seen as unobtrusively flirting. It’s how they show love for each other while not flaunting about it.

I think Hurston incorporated these seemingly small things into the story to show that love does not always need to include big and extravagant things, nor does love need to be so apparent. The couple lives a simple life enjoying each other’s small gestures and companion. These small things signify their relationship and the love that exists; however, the simple gifts and gestures were not enough for Missie May. Her greed for more than just silver coins, causes her to commit adultery. Joe then stops getting gifts and flirtatious gestures. Small gestures build a relationship, but all that can be destroyed by one simple act of betrayal as shown by Missie May’s infidelity. Towards the end of the story when Missie May had given birth to a son, Joe bought candy kisses and threw silver coins again on the front porch to signify his forgiveness and the shift in their relationship again.

 

The role of memory and nostalgia in Wordsworth’s poems signifies growth and transition from his past self to an enlightened present self. In Wordsworth’s poem, “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798”, Wordsworth revisits the Banks of Wye and reminisces about the time when he was there five years ago. Wordsworth utilizes nature as a metaphor to his feelings when he first visited there, “ Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams, / Wherever nature led: more like a man / Flying from something that he dreads, than one who sought the thing he loved.” Wordsworth compares his past self to the isolated and untamed streams and rivers who have no clear distinct path. Similar to the uncontrollable nature, Wordsworth, in the past, seemed lost and out of control of his own life. He fled from his miserable situation, which caused him to seek isolation in nature, rather than going with the flow with what he loves. In the present moment, Wordsworth states that he is no longer lost and pessimistic; he finally feels at peace, in harmony, and in tranquility with nature and his life.

In “Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”, Wordsworth recalls the world through his eyes of his younger self. As a child, he sees nature as full of beauty, life, light, and almost dream-like. His view of nature represents the innocence and beauty of a worried-free and joyful childhood that can’t fathom the idea of morality. As he grew older, he realizes the frailty of human life and the grief that comes with it. He says, “What though the radiance which was once so bright / Be now for ever taken from my sight, / Though nothing can bring back the hour / of splendour in the grass… / Out of human suffering; / In the faith that looks through death, / In years that bring the philosophic mind.” Wordsworth grew to accept that death is inevitable just like the death of nature. This acceptance made him appreciate the beauty of life more in nature and to value every moment of his time.