great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

1. Carlos Fuentes’ use of second person in Aura allows the reader to feel like he/she is a part of the dream-like environment in which they are able to engage in Cunsuello’s search for eternal youth.

2. In Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”, Gregor’s symbolic transformation into an insect is quite paradoxical, since his internal struggles of isolation from his family remain the same.

3. Carlos Fuentes’ use of second person in Aura allows the reader to feel as though he/she is escaping reality alongside of Consuello and Felipe, by creating this dream-like environment.

Erika, Milyza

-Samuel Beckett’s play, Endgame, can be interpreted to depict either Nihilism or Absurdism. I personally believe the play depicts Aburdism, demonstrated by the quote, “It’s we are obliged to each other,” (794). Hamm says this right after a short exchange about who is obliged to who, and right before Clov is about to make his exit. This line demonstrates the mutual relationship between the two, which is not superficial, but deep and important, as demonstrated by the word “obliged.” It feels like a moment of genuine care for one another that is revealed as they are about to part ways. I believe this depicts Absurdism as opposed to Nihilism because the care these two feel for one another demonstrates that they are carrying on as if life had meaning. If it did not, they would not see the point in constructing and nurturing meaningful relationships. Although in their eyes, there is a strong possibility that life is meaningless, they are not sure, so they continue to live and build rapport with one another. The relationship between them would not exist if this was a Nihilistic play, as there would be no relationship in the first place.

-It is very difficult to see these two philosophies as simply black and white, but after going back and forth, I would have to agree that this play depicts Absurdism. Nihilism is the belief that not only is there no intrinsic meaning in the universe, but that it’s pointless to try to construct our own as a substitute. Absurdism represents a conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the inability to find any. The following quote exemplifies absurdism, as well. ”We’re not beginning to to mean something?” Hamm, who ridicules Clov for his naïveté, poses this question. What prevents Clov from making meaning is that is world is built on cycles. Just the syntax of this quote demonstrates absurdism; any ending can also be seen as a new beginning. This repetitiveness doesn’t seem to leave room for any definitive meaning or finality. I interpreted this quote, along with the rest of the play, to have more elements of absurdism rather than nihilism because of Clov’s attempts at finding meaning in life out of human tendency, yet his inability to find a way out of the repetitiveness. Also, as you pointed out above, if this was a Nihilistic play, there would be no relationship between the two characters.

Erika, Kelly, Milyza

Carlos Fuentes wrote “Aura” using the second person point of view, which is not very common for fiction writing. The second person point of view makes the reader feel like he/she is a part of the dream-like environment Fuentes creates. In first and third person, the reader is more of an observer, but in a dream, there can not be an observer. Fuentes makes the reader feel as if they are experiencing the dream as it unfolds.

Throughout the story, Aura, by Carlos Fuentes, it is obvious that the character, Felipe Montero, is disconnected from the world and is easily distracted. Although this sense of disconnect is seen constantly throughout the story, the reader see’s it in the very beginning when it’s stated, “It seems to be addressed to you and nobody else. You didn’t even notice when the ash from your cigarette falls into the cup of tea you ordered in this cheap, dirty, café” (832). Felipe is mesmerized by the advertisement because it seems that this job was created only for him, and that it was somewhat speaking to him. He was so glued to the advertisement that he blocks out everything around him. It is like nothing else exists besides the advertisement. This specific example of his disconnection from the world is proven through his blindness to the cigarette ash falling into his tea that he ordered at a dirty café. The use of the second person enhances the theme of disconnection because it makes it more personal to the reader. In other words, everyone, at some point in his or her lives, gets distracted or focuses so much on one thing that everything else around them is no longer there. Therefore, use of the second person makes the theme of disconnect more relatable to the reader.

Later on in the story, the use of second person enhances the narrative even further when Fuentes writes “You don’t look at your watch again, that useless object tediously measuring time in accordance with human vanity,” (851). This scene depicts Felipe’s reaction after he finds himself in the old photographs that were supposed to depict the General and Consuelo. His anger and frustration can be seen through how he senselessly berates a watch by calling it “useless” and “[tedious].” As a watch is an inanimate object that has not actually done anything, it has not warranted any sort of passionate reaction through its being, but Felipe is angry at the world in this moment and expresses it onto anything and everything. In particular, his reaction to the events that have just played out can be seen by how he says the watch measures “human vanity,” which connects back to the blur between the lines of then and now he just witnessed through the photographs. This almost sounds cynical, as he disregards the idea of being able to measure time, as for him, there is no past nor future; the two which are supposed to be separate have indefinitely become mixed. The experiences felt by Felipe that are expressed in this sentence are very strong intrinsically, but his anger is intensified by the use of the word “you.” Usually, there is a disconnect between the reader and the characters in the story, with the reader on the outside looking in. But through Fuentes’ use of the second person, this disconnect is removed, which puts the reader into Felipe’s shoes and makes them empathize with him, amplifying the strong feelings they are reading about.

As the story progresses, Felipe makes discoveries about Consuelo through the General’s writings. He cant seem to get the image of Aura out of his head and begins to fantasize about her. “You stop kissing those flesh less lips, those toothless gums: the ray of moonlight shows you the naked body of the old lady, of Senora Consuelo, limp, spent, tiny, ancient, trembling because you touch her. You love her, you too have come back” (Fuentes 852). Fuentes is very descriptive in his writing; that factor along with the second person point of view allows the reader to almost be a apart of the fantasies. These are the dreamlike and surreal elements employed in magical realist writing. It is here that the audience and Montero simultaneously see the connection between the old widow and Aura.

Gregor’s metamorphosis triggered two very different reactions from his father and the chief clerk. When Gregor finally manages to unlock and open the door with his mouth, to reveal himself to his family, they all seem horrified. Gregor’s father’s reaction was certainly more aggressive than the chief clerk’s reaction; he was angered by Gregor’s transformation. “His father clenched his fist with a pugnacious expression, as if ready to push Gregor back into his room, then look uncertainly round the living room, then covered his eyes with his hands, and cried, his mighty chest shaking with sobs” (217). Gregor’s father reacted in this irrationally combative way, as if ready to fight Gregor. Judging from the nature of their relationship, Gregor’s father’s sobs when seeing his son do not seem very sympathetic or genuine, but rather fueled with this rage that he feels toward his son. On the contrary, the chief clerk’s reaction was apathetic; it seemed so empty and dissmisive. “But the chief clerk has turned his back on Gregor the moment he had begun speaking, and only stared back at him with mouth agape, over his trembling shoulder” (218). He was horrified to such an extent that he could not bare to even look at Gregor.

Tagore’s, “Punishment” explores the detrimental consequences a woman faces in a time when society blatantly favored the opposite gender. The ethical issue that arises in the Tagore’s story is the huge gap between the equality of males and females. Tagore’s protagonist, Chidam, convinces his wife, Chandara, to take the blame for the murder of his sister-in-law in order to save his brother. “Chidam decided he would have to stick to the path he had chalked out for himself. The story he had given to Ramlochan Chakravarti had gone all round the village; who knew what would happen if another story was circulated? But he realized that if he kept to the story he would have to wrap it in five more stories if his wife was to be saved” (895). Chidam and his wife shared a very complex love, yet he was still willing to let her die to save his brother. It is imperative to take the setting of the story into consideration. The story is set in the Bengal countryside in the late nineteenth century, a time when men were superior to woman, no questions asked. Tagore’s story ultimately seeks to explore the ethical dilemmas having to do with “the Rashomon effect,” when a judge has to decide the fate of a case based soley on eyewitness accounts. In “Punishment”, the judge arrives at a decision that is blatantly bias based on gender, declaring Chandara guilty based on both dishonest and honest testimonies.

Kelly, Milyza, Erika V

Although pain can be suffered for many different reasons, the impact of a great pain influences each individual similarly. In the poem 341, writer Emily Dickinson speaks of nerves and heartache. After she confesses this feeling of loss, she states, “The Feet, mechanical, go round-/Of Ground, or Air, or Ought -/A Wooden way,” (484). These powerful words create an image of how sadness can affect the mind so greatly that it impacts physical activity. When she says, “A Wooden way” I pictured the movement of a doll or nutcracker — something that is very unnatural. I think this way of movement that Dickinson attributed to the person was caused by a daze from all of his or her suffering. Picturing this movement on a person made us think of someone deep in serious thought, just walking without realizing where he or she is. The person is so consumed in their thought that they’re operating on autopilot, walking in a “mechanical” way.

(1) In Feng Menglong’s narrative, “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger”, tension between those value systems such as money and power were the cause of Du Tenth’s demise.

(2) In Feng Menglong’s narrative, “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger”, Du Tenth and Li Jia’s conflicting beliefs regarding the importance that money holds in society proves that even love has a price as seen by Du Tenth’s demise.

In Henrik Ibsen’s play, Hedda Gabler, the protagonist, Hedda Tesman’s most dominant trait is her ability to manipulate people. She is conniving and calculated; and it is no secret that her greatest asset is her ability to extract information from the other characters in the play. “[Løvborg] Yes, Hedda- and when I made all of those confessions to you- telling you things about myself that no one else knew in those days. Sat there and told you how I’d lost whole days and nights in drunken frenzy, frenzy that would last for days on end. Ah, Hedda- what kind of power was in you that drew these confessions out of me?” (811-812). This is one of the many instances that exemplify Hedda’s manipulative ways. In this instance she uses the past relationship that she shared with Eilert Løvborg, who is revealed to have been her past love, to gain whatever information it is that she needs. Hedda wants the manuscript that Løvborg possesses and will stop at no means until she gets what it is she wants. Hedda is more concerned with aesthetics in life rather than practicality; for her it is absolutely necessary to eliminate the academic competition that her husband faces. Løvborg’s work is a threat to Hedda’s husband, George, and so she does everything in her power to manipulate the situation in her favor. Hedda’s yearning to be in control causes her to have no regard for other human beings; she will stop at nothing until she accomplishes her goal. Even though it seems as though Hedda manipulates Løvborg in order to help her husband, it is ultimately out of her own selfishness that she does so.

Although Du Tenth in Feng Menglong’s, “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger,” and the narrator in Saikaku’s, Life of a Sensuous Woman are both prostitutes, they are very different women. The narrator from Life of a Sensuous Woman, seems emotionally disconnected and unable to fall in love. From her life reflection to the the two younger men, she had been involved with hundreds of men and has not developed a deeper connection with any of them. On the contrary, Du Tenth falls in love with a young master, Li Jia. “Nonetheless, the two grew ever more devoted to one another, and happily spent both day and night in each other’s company, just like a married couple. They swore by the seas and vowed by mountains that they would never have thoughts of another” (501). Through the story, we see this sensitive side to Du Tenth through the way she values love and money. Even from the start of the story when Li Jia was unable to spend as much money to frequent Du Tenth, we can conclude that she places a higher value on love, which is contradictory to a stereotypical prostitute. “But that Du Tenth had a real affection for Master Li, and the more she saw the hard financial straits he was in, the warmer she grew toward him” (501). The above quote exemplifies her ability to be sympathetic towards men and develop a deeper connection beyond just the exchange of money for sexual services. Essentially, Du Denth lost her life in the name of love that she felt for Li Jia. These are qualities that do not seem feasible for Saikaku’s narrator to develop.