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

In my opinion, if anyone would be the hero of the story it would be the narrator. His curiosity made him a traditional hero. He saw Bartleby was going through something that was causing him to perform badly at work and saw him suffering from his depression more and more as the days passed. While everyone was trying to kick him out of the office, the narrator remained curious and even offered him a place to stay at his house. Even after Bartleby declining his offer, the narrator shows compassion by bringing Bartleby turkey to eat. To me, a true hero is someone that sees someone going through a rough situation and takes initiative to help. The narrator is kind and gentle to Bartleby as he speaks to him and tries to take him home with him for the good of Bartleby. ‘“Bartleby,” said I, in the kindest tone I could assume under such exciting circumstances, “will you go home with me now- not to my office, but my dwelling- and remain there till we can conclude upon some convenient arrangement for you at our leisure? Come, let us start now, right away.” (Page 318) This part alone says a lot about the true character of the narrator, it shows he truly cares about Bartleby. He had many other options as far as what to do with Bartleby but he chose to open up his own doors to him. This is a true hero to me.

Maria:

In Thailand there are three red light districts; Soi Cowboy ,Nana Plaza and PatPong, all filled with bright lights, neon signs, bars, restaurants and crowds of locals and tourists. There are “go-go’s”, “sex complex’s” and “ladyboy bars”; which attract anyone who is looking to hire a woman for pleasure. Prostitution is not officially illegal in Thailand however, they regulate and monitor solicitation of prostitution. Unlike the floating world discussed in Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman, people come to Thailand’s red light district for one night stands rather than looking for temporary wives. Women are sometimes forced to sell themselves in the red light district at a very young age, similar to the sensuous woman. Some women decide to engage and work in the red light district by choice and do not hide the fact that they are selling themselves for sex or pleasure but are standing outside bars and restaurants looking for business. Prostitution has impacted Thailand by attracting tourism. The benefits to the prostitutes include physical money however the liabilities can often exceed the money such as their safety and health.

Tara:
Thailand’s red district consists of young women and sometimes teenage girls performing sexual acts in exchange for money. The women often work in bars and provide entertainment for tourists, however some engage in relationships for extra compensation. Although many insist these women are well off because they make good money in this profession, there is also a significant amount of violence associated with prostitution in Thailand. Many women become involved with gangs which then leads to violence and sometimes death. Although prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand, government officials can be easily paid off in order to continue with business. Unlike the woman in Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman, these women have no intentions of falling in love with the men they engage with. Some women even end up marrying the men they meet at the bars, however they rarely develop feelings nor do they yearn to. The narrator in Sensuous Woman was always looking for love and confused many of her relationships with being in love.

Nicole:

Continuing what both Tara and Maria have sex. Thailand is known for their red light district in Bangkok. There is one specific red-light district that is in Patpong, Bangkok. This specific red light district is primarily targeted to foreigners in tourists. This is one thing I found interesting. Being that these types of places are looked down on in some other countries, Thailand saw this as an opportunity to bring business into their country. As Tara mentioned, Thailand’s red light districts include go-go dancers as well as nude women doing stunts. Customers are also able to pay a “ bar fine” to take dancers home with them. In patpong there is also a market where they offer souvenirs, gifts and clothes. The individuals working in these red light districts are usually early-late teens. Some are also forced into service and have very little authority in their services. There is also a movie called “Bakara” that shows some of these women.

Maria:

In Life of a Sensuous Woman, the narrator deals with her relationships with men in various ways. In the section, A Monk’s Wife in a Worldly Temple, the narrator experiences a very poor relationship with the head priest in which she begins to understand the horrors of reality and then rationalize the horrors.
The paragraph began with a priest falling in love with the narrator and her agreeing to be his wife in exchange for silver. This was unusual as she has never agreed to be committed to anyone for money before and being his wife meant she was bound to him and his ways. Although monks and priests were supposed to be respectful, holy beings and vowed to act like model monks, they still sinned and allowed themselves six nights a month to eat fish and poultry and have sex with women as well as visit restaurants where they can meet women. The narrator begins to feel confined and subject to the priests wishes, which causes her to be disgusted by having sex with him and even being around him. On page 601, the narrator says, “It was just a job, and there was no love in it.” This shows the realization of the narrator that although she was his “wife”, this did not mean he was in love with her. The narrator may have agreed to be the priest’s wife because it could have been an opportunity for her to be more than just a women used for sex but have actual meaning and an actual relationship, however this “marriage” was actually ended up killing her inside. In reality the agreement was not an offer of marriage but simply an agreement to fulfill the wishes of the priest. On page 601, the narrator says, “Later I got used to the situation, and I even came to enjoy it.” This quote is contradictory to the few sentences before as it, as the narrator explained the lack of attention and care that the priest had for her. This quote represents the narrator attempting to rationalize the priest’s actions and make it seem fine since she agreed to be his wife. The narrator deals with men in different ways through the story and had dealt with conflict and regret thought her relationship with the priest.

Tara:
Maria, I like how you tied in that the narrator understands the horrors but then she quickly accepts them. It makes me believe that the narrator is unaware of a true relationship, and is willing to turn even the worst situations into a better one. It almost seems as if she does this to feel better about being compensated in return for a marriage and sex.
The narrator in Life of a Sensuous Woman faces many challenges when it comes to relationships and self reflection. In the chapter Mistress of a Domain Lord the narrator goes through a series of acceptance and almost always ends up disappointed. On page 597 the narrator says “ When I got there, the old retainer thought I was even better than the woman in the painting, so the search was called off. Everything was decided on the spot, and I got to set the conditions myself.” In this moment the narrator had accepted that maybe this was the right relationship for her. She appeared to be the perfect fit for the official domain mistress without trying as hard as the other candidates. In the beginning the narrator enjoyed her life in the mansion and she enjoyed making love to the lord. Shortly into their marriage the narrator was accused of making the lord sick and weak by having too much sex with him. On page 599 the narrator says “Those old men didn’t know the first thing about love, but they made the decisions. I was suddenly dismissed and sent all the way back to my parents- again.” In this moment even though the narrator had grown to love her life with the Lord she had to accept the accusations against her. Although there was not much the narrator could have done at that point it seemed as if her disappointment was a familiar feeling, and she needed to just continue on her journey.

Nicole:

Great interpretation, Tara. I liked what you said about turning bad situations into better ones and making the best out of her actions that she now regrets. We know that the narrator has been participating in sex since the age of thirteen. I believe that losing her first love has steered her to have a different approach on sex. She described her sex with this one man as making love but then says her mind changes once he is killed for loving her. “ I completely forgot about that man. Its amazing how quickly a woman’s mind can change.” Page 595 I feel this is how she dealt with her pain. To forget and have everyone after him have no value. I feel that she was able to love once and once it was taken away from her she used sex as a bandage or a way to coming close to “making love” again. She goes on to defend her own heart through out the story when everyone constantly criticizes her about her provocative ways. Over and over attempts to question her morals as well as her ability to love especially the last line in the story where she describes her heart as a lotus. “The lotus flower in my heart opened for you, and before it closed it told everything, from beginning to end” Page 611

The poem I chose was the first poem listed called ( Twenty- five). The theme in this poem appears to be the presence of a higher being. The poem is written and first person where a person describes a being much more powerful and indescribable. This person says she doesn’t know what to call it so they call it “ TAO” which can also be interpreted as “ Great”

“I do not know its name
Call it Tao.
For lack of a better word, I call it great.”

In the second stanza it describes this higher being as being far away but returning.

“Being great, it flows
I flows far away.
Having gone far, it returns”

This can be interpreted as how we see god. He is in heaven (far away ) but when we need him and when we pray he returns to us.
The last stanza confirms that in fact this higher being is a being that we follow and that we look up to as humans. As humans we have earth, but earth has heaven and heaven has god. ( TAO )

“Man follows Earth.
Earth follows heaven.
Heaven follows the Tao.
Tao follows what is natural”