Great Works II

From the very start of the book where Clarissa heads off to buy flowers for her part in the evening, we can see that the mood of the story changes quickly. Through her walk, she stumbles upon shops and her observations that bring back memories of her past and much criticism and self-reflection of herself. She reminisces about the time she rejected Peter Walsh for marriage and it seems like she still has feelings for him despite Peter making her cry with his judgments on Clarissa wanting to marry a rich guy and throw parties. This holds somewhat true, since Clarissa married Richard is who rich and it brings to her the notion that everyone she knows, and she knows a lot of people, will just know her as Richard’s wife. She feels a sense of a low identity in which she lives in the shadow of her successful husband. She puts herself down which brings up the idea of agency to the extent where Clarissa doesn’t really exercise this to remove herself from this shadow. She also mentions that her affection isn’t there for him but for a female friend, Sally Seton.
Clarissa holds a conflicted mindset that enables thoughts within her to be unhappy with who she really is. She projects these thoughts through memories of her youth, significant moments in her life and current events. This novel seems to take the sequence style of Frankenstein in a way that the story is taught through other stories but Mrs. Dalloway, is a story within stories by the views of Clarissa and then Peter. Clarissa seems to be out of place and question’s her role in life. In addition, she wonders what would happen if she were to have married Peter Walsh instead of Richard. The denial of marriage from Clarissa is a recurring theme in the novel as both Clarissa and Peter think about their past regarding them heavily. Although Peter is critical of Clarissa and still bears the pain of rejection after many years and on the other hand, we have Clarissa who is not engaged in her marriage and has wonders about how things would’ve turned out if she married Peter. Self-reflection is an obvious in this novel and a big contributor to opening up the emotions of characters within this book.

“Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf is not a typical novel, it is not eventful. The events of a good classic novel do not exist in this novel. Walks around London, lunches, tea parties, receptions are these sufficient events for the novel? Narration (if this word conveys what happens in the novel) exists on two levels. First level of the narration, even though it may not seem clearly, represents the events of external and material character: buying flowers, sewing a dress, walking in the park, discussing politics, waiting for guests. Moreover, readers can observe an abundance of colors, smells, sensations of London. London arises with remarkable topographical accuracy at different times of the day, in different lighting conditions.
Readers are able to live with heroes the long June day in 1923 – but not in real time. Readers are not only witness the characters’ actions, readers primarily “spies” who entered in ” the holy of holies” – the memory of their dreams. It is just seems that in the novel is much talk. For the most part the novel full of silence and all of these conversations, dialogues, monologues, and disputes occur in the silence – in memory and imagination.
And while Big Ben strikes constantly remind us that time is moving, not astronomical time that reigns in this novel, but time internal. The internal time and internal events are the second level of narration of the novel. By “framework” story (Clarissa went to the flower shop, Rezia went for a walk in the park, Richard Dalloway bought a bouquet of roses to Clarissa) seems to be completely mixed with extraneous events occurring in another place – in Bourton, where Clarissa spent her childhood and youth, in Milan where Rezia lived during her girlhood, in India, where Peter Walsh left the woman he loves. But these are minor events; they do not have a formal relationship to events of the plot, they serve as a breeding ground for the internal motions occurring in the consciousness.

If you guys remember, in the beginning of the semester we got a handout where we read “The Heart Sutra.” I decided to look it up on youtube since Buddhism is quite intriguing. I was surprised to find out that it is a chant that is very popular! It’s pretty relaxing too, so if midterms are stressing you out, you should definitely listen to it!

Here is the link:

Outwardly, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot seemed like a straightforward poem by the use of simple ‘everyday’ words. While reading Eliot’s poem, I felt as if I was looking through J. Alfred Prufrock’s eyes; I was very engaged. Reading “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” I felt at ease, and I related to some of the daily occurrences described in Eliot’s poem.By the end of the first stanza, I was hooked on “Love Song.” I loved how the romantic tone of the line “Let us go then, you and I” is contrasted with the grimy imagery of a “patient etherized upon a table” (pg 541). From my observation, Prufrock is an individual that is in touch with his interiority. He knows that is a romantic, yet he dampens his wishes with reality—he conforms to society, molding himself to what society has to offer, such as “one-night cheap hotels” and “sawdust restaurants.” The ironic conflict between the romantic and the grimy tones seems surreal; it represents the fragmentation of the inferior and exterior of the protagonist in Eliot’s poem. Prufrock’s ideology clashes with the way things actually are in the world around him. What I related to the most in “Love Song” is Prufrock’s realization and perspective. From my understanding of the poem, he is stuck in a mundane routine that, I assume, everyone else in the society faces. I imagine Prufrock as an ‘Average Joe’ that has a mediocre job that pays just enough for him to get by—essentially, I see him as a rat stuck in a labyrinth that is tired of running around the same maze, but he keeps doing it anyways because that environment is what he has and knows. The sentence “There will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” screams of Prufrock’s resentment of his routine (not essentially the people that he meets). In addition to the previous sentence, “And time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions” represents the maze of routine that he’s in.Prufrock’s stream of consciousness starts out from his awareness of the world around him, and this then turns into self-consciousness. The seventh stanza clearly spells out his self-consciousness: he is critical about the “bald spot” in his hair, the way his clothes hang on him, and even the way people criticize him (“They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!””). On page 452, his questions of “Do I dare disturb the universe?” and “How should I presume?” marks his feelings of doubt on his desire to change, to not go through “a hundred indecisions,” “visions,” and “revisions” anymore. His self-consciousness is, in my opinion, his fall. Prufrock’s doubt leaves him in an idle state of wondering; instead of taking the leap, he just continues on questioning himself.Prufrock’s feelings of doubt and anxiousness are what I relate to the most. Putting myself in his shoes, I honestly would have walked the exact same path of his, in an idle state of wondering. My criticism of Prufrock’s idle state apparently applies to myself too. The first time I read “Love Song,” I could see Prufrock as the figure in Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” However, after further reflection, I could also see myself as the same figure…

As I read “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, I was interested in seeing what would happen next. The first stanza has the lines “Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets / The muttering retreats / Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels / And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells”, which made me think that J. Alfred Prufrock wanted to escape from something with his loved one, as if their love was forbidden, like in Romeo and Juliet. Cheap hotels and sawdust restaurants are not exactly high-class place. Those lines, along with the following lines “Streets that follow like a tedious argument / Of insidious intent” make me think of a gloomy area, a place that people usually stay away from. The next lines “To lead you to a overwhelming question… / Oh, do not ask, “What is it? / Let us go and make our visit” leaves the reader wondering “What is this question, and who are they going to visit?” The lines “In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo” are repeated several times in the poem, suggesting that Prufock is at a place where people are having chats. Next, Eliot mentions a yellow fog/yellow smoke, which reminded me of the topic of our previous class, modernism and industrialization. The yellow fog/smoke are reminiscent of an area with lots of factories. He also says “There will be time to murder and create / And time for all the works and days of hands”, showing that things are destroyed and remade, like turning over a new leaf. Since the “In the room…/…Michelangelo” are repeated, it makes me think that Prufrock is just having visions while the women he’s with are just going on with their conversations. Prufock mentions “Time to turn back and descend the stair / With a bald spot in the middle of my hair / (They will say “How his hair is growing thin!”) / My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, / My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin / (They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)” It shows that he believes that he doesn’t belong at this place where everyone is more focused on their other conversations to notice him, so he thinks he should turn back. He says that it doesn’t matter that he’s dressed elegantly, since he’s worried about what people think of him. The next two stanzas that start with “For I have known them all already, known them all-” and “And I have known the eyes already, known them all-” shows that he’s familiar with this behavior and is getting tired of this routine. He then mentions that he’s observing the women at his party, saying “And how should I then presume? / And how should I begin?” He’s nervous about approaching one of these women and talking to them, as if it can go horribly wrong. He mentions “And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! / Smoothed by long fingers, / Asleep…tired…or it malingers”. Malingering, as I learned in my psychology class, is when people pretend to have an illness or disease for personal gain. It shows that he isn’t feeling very positive. Then, I realized that the poem is about him being too nervous to approach any of these women, immediately thinking of worst-case scenarios. I tend to be like that as well, and I realized that I’m very similar to Prufrock in how I behave. I tend to think of worst-case scenarios when I have worries, just like him.

Hi guys, there is a video of animated ‘The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock’, and it is read by its author – T.S Eliot. I find it very useful in helping me understand this poem. Hope you like it!

Living in a society where the drastic evolution of industry and urbanization endangered culture and people’s spiritual life,  Prufrock, a sensitive and emotional man wandering in the yellow frog, is suffering from the existential crisis.  How can someone with such a imaginative and neurotic mind find a place in this world?  The evening is spreading like a etherised patient lying upon a table,women are having tedious talks about Michelangelo. People lost their interiorities, they mask their emotions and put on different faces when meeting different people.

Prufrock walked through the tedious streets, he has already seen enough mornings, afternoons, evenings, eyes and people, and the rest of of life can already be anticipated and measured by coffee spoons ; things seem so meaningless and endless. He wants to make some change, but does he dare disturb the universe? He’s not confident enough to do so,just as how he keeps hesitating to ask the girl that “overwhelming question”. So “how should I persume”?  He keeps asking himself.  Should he persume that the girl has the same feeling for him? But what if he interpreted all the signs wrong and the girl tells him “that is not what I meant at all”.  He dares not ask, he dares not disturb, because he is so frightened about the possible changes that can be brought about by the answer. It may not worth it.

So he wants to escape, just as how the man in the painting Scream departs from the society. He wants to become a crab, “scuttling across the floors of silent seas”.  He may grow old in the same state, with the same pessimism.  And the mermaids will never sing for him.  He will be drown deep in the see, with other human beings. And human soles will only be enlightened again “till human voices wake us” – until human beings find their cultures and subjectivities back in this modern world.

The fragmentation of allusions and situations, and the streams of consciousness constructs Prufrock’s sensitive and emotional interior world, which stands in stark contrast to the empty exterior society.  The repetitive questioning of “do I dare” and “how should I persume” demonstrated his struggling and hesitation.  lacking of courage and confidence, he eventually lives and dies in pessimism.

“Do we dare disturb the universe?  For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”

When reading “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock,” I was very engaged and felt as if I, as the reader, happened to somehow jump into the story and stand there along with J. Alfred, accompanying him on an adventure. When he says, “To lead you to an overwhelming question.. oh, do not ask, “What is it?” I was very curious to find out what it is that is on his mind. He had so many thoughts and ideas at once such as exploring the restaurants, the one-night cheap hotels and the half- deserted streets. Yet, it was evident that there was something of great value and concern to him that he refuses to explain until later. According to my understanding, I believe that he has feelings for a woman and desires to express them to her but is afraid of what the outcome may be. Throughout the “love song,” Alfred mentions the talking of Michelangelo and yellow fog, which didn’t seem to have much meaning. He also described different people and many faces he encountered, none of which really mattered since they weren’t the person whom he desires. On page 542 he states, “And indeed there will be time to wonder, “Do I dare?” He keeps postponing when he would confess his love to her as he assumes there is plenty of time for him to have the chance to in the future. I feel that he is just using that as an excuse and it is in fact a defense mechanism to keep him away from confronting his fears. Essentially, he is very worried and nervous that his love for the woman will not be returned and that he will possibly be rejected. Taking all of that into account, he doesn’t know if  it is worth getting his feelings off his chest only to experience the pain that MAY result afterwards. That is what ultimately causes him to turn to self- preservation. It seems that his choice would rather be to live being unaware whether or not his feelings would be returned and not experience a confrontation. In his eyes, that is a better option as he constantly seems to question if it is worth having to risk his love being unrequited. I perceived him as a bit insecure and lacking confidence. His self esteem isn’t very high and that is shown when he becomes very self conscious about his appearance, his bald spot and his skinny arms and legs in particular. What is unfortunate is that one side of him has a strong urge to express his feelings and get them off his chest however, his sub-conscious is stopping him from presuming, due to the consequences that can occur. This is of great importance to him and in order to finally have the confrontation, he would need to battle his fears, insecurities, and stop being so afraid. He admits to living a safe life in which every morning, afternoon and evening are daily routines where nothing interesting happens. Being aware of this, he is completely lost and doesn’t know where to start. How can he suddenly gain the strength needed to face such a moment in his life? As describes what is going through his mind he states, “Do I dare disturb the universe? In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” In my opinion, J Alfred was very anxious and confused. All the thoughts spinning through his head and the multiple possibilities of certain actions put him in a moment of crisis. He was obsessing over everything that he was deliberating on doing and constantly overthinking. Many of his worries and fears would all potentially disappear if he would come face to face with his fears. However, just like for any human, that is much easier said than done. After I finished reading and reflected upon what I have read,  I noticed that many of my patterns of thinking mirror his and I was able to relate very much to him. I also constantly overthink and imagine possible scenarios to certain situations before ever acting upon them. I realized that by doing this, I happen to create problems that weren’t even present to begin with. This is also my way of self-preservation in order to not get hurt. In the end, similar to J. Alfred, I would also choose the easy way out and avoid any possible confrontations that are of great value and importance to me which can also potentially change my life for the better or worse. By being so imaginative and intuitive, it can certainly help one not get hurt and be mindful of all the various paths that can be taken upon, as well as the different possible outcomes. But the biggest question is: Would it be better to live a safe life, yet more boring, where one never takes chances? Or… live a little bit on the edge, be more care-free, in order to live a more fulfilling and thrilling life?

Hong Kong pro-democracy protests

Hong Kong pro-democracy protests 2014

I don’t why I can’t upload photos. Here is some images I want to share with you guys.

In this recent month, Hong Kong protest has become a hot topic around the world. It is very touching and emotional for me when seeing this photos. We just fight for democracy, but the Hong Kong police treat the citizens with fire teargas and pepper spray. I just want my peaceful Hong Kong come back.

I thought this video reminded me of the life of Gregor.

This video is a short movie directed by Santiago Bou Grasso that won many awards 🙂