Category Archives: DG13E
Alymer vs Robert
I chose to compare and contrast Alymer from “The Birth-mark” and Robert, the blind man from “Cathedral,” because I believe that they are significantly different and have drastically different definitions and interpretations of “happiness.” Keeping this in mind, I thought it would be an interesting task to juxtapose their contrasting theories of happiness and see if they at any point overlap.
From the beginning of “The birth-mark,” Alymer urges his bride, Georgianna, to get rid of the red hand-shaped birth-mark that he believes deprives her from being genuinely beautiful. It seems that Alymer believes that by ridding them both(I say both not because the mark stains them both, but rather because he considers it a burden of his own as well as Georgianna’s) of the birth-mark that they will finally be able to live live happily, and Georgianna will finally be “flawlessly beautiful.” Interestingly enough, it doesn’t seem as if Georgianna ever considered having the birth-mark removed, after seeing just how much it bothered her husband, after seeing how unhappy it made him, she was quick to try and appease him. Her happiness was in seeing her husband happy.
Now Robert, the blind man in “Cathedral,” seems to find happiness in less superficial things. Whether it be because he’s blind, therefore he’s learned not to take the small things for granted, or whether or not this was his natural personality, is unknown to the reader. However, it is extremely undeniable that in comparison to Alymer, Robert is accustomed to accepting things as they come to him. For example, when the husband attempted to describe the structure of a cathedral to the blind man, although his explanation was choppy and clearly impossible for a blind man to picture, Robert didn’t get discouraged or even angry; he calmly helped the husband into participating in a description method that the blind man could understand. By doing this, not only was the blind man able to better understand the structure of cathedrals, but he was able to see the husband find joy out of participating in this drawing method and that also seemed to make Robert happy; he found happiness in the husband’s happiness.
Alymer, a man who believed in superficial happiness, and Robert, a man who found happiness in more simplistic things, both showed signs of finding happiness in another’s joy. However different their ideas of happiness are, this one fact is undeniable. Why do you think Robert found it much easier than Alymer to embrace the happiness found in simple happenings?
The Black Book of Colors
The other day in class when we each drew a cathedral I couldn’t help to think of a project that had been going on in my family for quite a while. “The Black Book of Colors” is a children’s book dedicated to blind people that describes how the different colors “look like” in terms of how they smell or feel like; it also has illustrations that blind children can touch, understand and appreciate.
I remember when it first started. Author Menena Cottin asked my aunt to illustrate a book that was made for those who couldn’t see, and since she is an illustrator, the only thing she could do was to draw anyways. The illustrations for this book had to be as figurative and simple as they can be, very related to the text. But how to make someone understand a drawing with their hands? That’s when the tests started, and so the house was filled with prints and examples of different textures that would make the dream possible.
The final result was this beautiful black book, in which the only thing to see are the grey letters on top of every page. The rest is left for us to touch: below the letters there are both the text in braille alphabet, and the illustrations made in this sort of black resin. Actually, the only way to see the drawings without touching is to cheat and discover them with a very bright light. I must say that it absolutely incredible, I remember how I cried when I saw the first complete version.
This book won the Bologna Ragazzi Award, which as far as I know is a price given in a very important book fair in Bologna. I hope I was able to describe it well for you, it was very hard to describe the images, their purpose and their meaning. In case I didn’t I am also posting a video made by the editor. Hope you enjoy it! And by the way, the soundtrack is played by my father 🙂
Response Paper 4
The Hills like White Elephants and The Birthmark
After reading both short stories, “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, both the women in the stories had superior men in their lives. The men they care most about in their lives seem to be the source of if they are happy or not. By making their husbands happy with their appearance, Jig and Georgiana are happy. Both Jig and Georgiana were happy listening to what their husbands were saying and telling them to do.
Georgiana and Jig seem to go to the extreme to satisfy their husbands regardless of the opinions of others. It seems that whatever their husband tells them to do, is what makes them happiest. In Hills like White Elephants, Jig agrees to get an abortion. She doesn’t want a baby to interfere with her life with her husband as is. She constantly says, Will you still love me? Assuring herself that they will both be happy. Georgiana despite everyone else’s opinion of how beautiful she is, she removes her one flaw, her birthmark. This one flaw was pointed out by her husband, which in others eyes, that birthmark was beautiful.
There are many people in this world, which will try to make others happy. Doctors for example, are happy when they are able to cure a person from and illness. Teachers and tutors feel a sense of accomplishment and happiness when they are able to successfully teach a person something. Both Hawthorne and Hemingway seem to make a point that happiness comes from the result of making others happy. It seems that for Jig and Georgiana they become happy when their husbands are satisfied. However, for their husbands to be satisfied, it requires them to go to drastic measures.
It makes sense that the women want to make the men they care most about happy. It happens everyday in our lives even today. But I have to disagree with both authors in the fact that they take a risk in their lives to make them happy. If a person is happy with their own selves and lives, they shouldn’t have to change. You can make a person happy without taking any risks. Jig and Georgiana should have been happy with their own image instead of making themselves beautiful in their husbands’ eyes.
When I took a look at my 29 gallon planted aquarium today, I was reminded of my readings in class. In particular, I was reminded of The Birthmark. I always try to make my aquarium look absolutely perfect with the intention that an aesthetically pleasing aquarium will bring me happiness. Even though my aquarium might not be perfect, I am still somewhat with what I had. Prior, almost all of my aquarium plants died, so my present sucess more than makes up for my shortcomings in the past. However as I gained progress, I always found myself nitpicking for any possible imperfections: staghorn algae, green spot algae, brown algae, the plants are growing sideways, the midground plants do not offer a nice contrast to the background plants, unwanted aquarium snails, hydras, some plants are growing too fast, some plants are growing too slow, the equipment that runs the tank is clearly visible, etc. Despite the imperfections, I am adequately satisfied with what I do have. Ironically my aquarium plants grow best when I do not do anything except turn on the lights and add liquid carbon dioxide.
Response Paper #4, Option 1
Raymond Carver says, “I think a little menace is fine to have in a story.”. Based on his short story “Cathedral”, I think he firmly believes this. For one thing the main character (the narrator), plays a sort of antagonistic role at the beginning of the piece. He voices the thoughts that several people are afraid to say about the blind. His reaction to Robert coming to stay at his home is what some people think but would never say aloud. So i think the menace is definitely the narrator.
Carver also says “There has to be tension, a sense that something is imminent, that certain things are in relentless motion, or else, most often, there simply won’t be a story.” I completely agree with this statement. A story is not a great one if there is no climax of events occurring. In “Cathedral”, the moment of tension is when Robert makes the husband draw the cathedral while having his hand over the husband’s hand while he’s drawing. This very moment is the turning point. It’s the time when the husband stops being so closed-minded and actually steps outside his element to experience a sensation he has never felt before.
My First Non-Assignment Related Blog Post! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
APPLAUSE* Is it lame how excited I am to finally post something that isn’t a response paper? ANYWAY, I’m not even sure if anyone will read this so I might as well make it short. This song reminded me of the Dead Prez song we listened to during our first week of the semester. It seems like such a long time ago!
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/JMmlTG6FUD0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]*
Am I the only one who thinks that the sign language used in the video is so deliciously dope? Have a great (and warm) day!
Response 4
In both stories “Hills like White Elephants” and “The Birthmark”, I think it’s weird how stories about happiness can be so sad. Jig and Georgiana were portrayed as vulnerable females whose only chance at happiness is to make their significant others happy. In both cases, both females throw away their own happiness because then mens’ happiness is more important to them than anything else. I don’t think these two stories depict how everyone feels about happiness. I think it’s important to consider the happiness of those you love, but to the extent of Georgiana and Jig is a bit extreme. Happiness should come from YOU actually wanting to do it, not because someone else wants you to. You shouldn’t be forced to do something you don’t want to in order to make someone else happy, because that’s not how you gain happiness. In the story “Hills like White Elephants”, We can clearly tell through dialect and narration that Jig didn’t really want the abortion, because of how much she emphasizes on “being back to how we were”. She wanted the carefree relationship she had with the man she loved, because they were both happy. But with the baby in her tummy, it created unwanted problems and stress between the couple. Women these days are much more independent and can stand up for their own happiness, much unlike Jig. In “The Birthmark”, Georgiana was extremely unhappy because her husband was so disgusted by a tiny flaw on her cheek. In a situation like that today, most women would’ve just left him! If you have such a beautiful woman as your wife, tell me WHY you aren’t happy with her. I think everyone strives for happiness for themselves nowadays, and especially in cities like New York City.
Response Paper 4
The Story of an Hour and The Birthmark present subjective opinions about the concept of happiness. The first story presents happiness as the positive emotions associated with freedom. Although Louise Mallard grieves for her dead husband, she ultimately finds a sense of exhilaration knowing that she is “free” from her husband. The second story draws a relation between happiness and perfection. The second story relates happiness to perfection. Alymer’s goal in the story is to remove his wife’s unsightly birthmark, so that she can attain a state of “perfection.”
The ideas of happiness are not uniform in these two stories. The stories help illustrate that happiness is subjective to personal opinion. For example Louise Mallard’s feelings of happiness relate to her freedom from her husband. The Story of an Hour was written in 1894, when the movement for women’s suffrage was beginning in the United States. The story can be interpreted as a subliminal message in support of women’s suffrage. Alymer finds it in his interest to remove his wife’s unsightly birthmark despite the early protests from his wife. It is possible that his interpretation of happiness is different from Louise’s interpretation because of his occupation. Scientists usually strive to perfect their experiments in addition to their theories. The Birthmark can possibly be interpreted as a satire on the shortcomings of science. Scientists achieve their goals, but it is often at the expense of others. Alymer achieves his goal of removing his wife’s unsightly birthmark, but it came at the expense of his wife’s life.
