Painting: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BykCOSUow5ZyRW9MUVIzNXJ5UEU/view?usp=sharing

Rene Magritte’s painting titled “The False Mirror” depicts a surrealistic way of thinking. Surrealism, which was a cultural movement that originated in the early 1920s, challenged rational thinking. This movement encouraged individuals to discover their creative potential by exploring the unconscious part of their mind. Magritte’s painting challenges the way we perceive the world. The focal point of this painting is the iris of the eye, which has been replaced with an image of a cloudy blue sky. Apart from the missing eyelashes, every other aspect of this painting seems to align with our existing knowledge of the naked eye. The part of the eye that has been altered seems to suggest that our vision is limited. As written in the note located next the painting, “the eye is selective and subjective.” We have complete control over what we choose to see and how we process those images. The pupil found at the center of the cloud-filled sky further reiterates this idea because Magritte’s use of a solid black color for this part of the eye indicates that it is quite difficult to remain objective when making an observation. The eye can also be said to have a dual purpose; “the viewer both looks through it, as through a window, and is looked at by it, thus seeing and being seen simultaneously.” Given this dual purpose, we can infer that when we make an observation that is most likely subjective, another individual is making a similar observation about us.

I decided to group the characters found in Mrs. Dalloway based on their characteristics. Through the creation of this map, I was able to better understand how the characters relate to each other in terms of the way they think and perceive the world.

Malwina rushed out of work in a frenzy and was immediately hit with a blast of cold air; she was running 15 minutes behind schedule. “Will I make it to class on time?” she thought to herself as she walked onto Broadway Street to catch the 2 train. On her walk to the 72^nd Street train stop, Malwina passed by Starbucks. She was extremely tempted to go in to order a tall iced coffee, but she decided against it; she didn’t want to risk being late to her English class. Instead she continued walking and finally made it to the train stop. She was digging through her purse for her Metro Card when she heard an announcement regarding the arrival of her train; “the next downtown 2 express train will arrive in one minute.” Malwina started to panic. “I can’t miss this train,” she thought to herself. Suddenly she felt the sharpness of her Metro Card underneath her fingers. She pulled it out, swiped herself in, and proceeded to run down the stairs while managing to hit everyone in her way with her purse. She made it just in time as the doors of the Subway cart began to close. Before she could catch her breath, she felt someone tap her on her right shoulder. She turned around and found herself starting at her high school friend, Ian Green. Malwina couldn’t believe her eyes. “How are you?” she managed to say as she continued to process this surprising yet pleasant encounter. “Good” replied Ian, “What about you? I haven’t seen you in almost three years. It’s crazy how fast time flies.” Malwina and Ian continued to catch up until their train pulled into the 42^nd Street train station. “I have to run,” said Malwina “but it was really great bumping into you.” In a manner of just a few seconds, Malwina said goodbye to her friend and stepped foot onto the busy platform. She had twenty minutes left before her class started, would she make it?

Our upbringing has a great influence on the development of our personalities as young children. As children we learn from experience and that experience derives from our parents’ behavior. Thus up until we reach the age of puberty, our individuality is questionable because it is not authentic. Our knowledge is based on that of our parents and to be able to fully discover who we are as individuals we need to step outside of their shadow and liberate ourselves from their influence. According to Freud, one way in which this liberation is achieved is through the comparison of parental figures. In this manner, a process of rediscovery can take place since the individual is exposed to new knowledge and behaviors. Apart from questioning the knowledge that an individual obtains from his parents, the individual may begin to question what Freud refers to as “the family romance.” By becoming familiar with “the difference in the parts played by fathers and mothers in their sexual relations,” an individual begins to perceive his father figure in a much higher regard despite the fact that he criticized his attributes earlier. The mother figure, on the other hand, is still under critique because she remains “the subject of the most intense sexual curiosity” and thus is perceived as being unfaithful. As the individual’s process of self-discovery continues, his understanding of the family romance contributes to the development of his own individuality and personality. The comprehension of this subject matter along with “intellectual growth,” enables a child to grow into as an independent and self-governing adult.

Both of these works emphasize the power of language in the context of slavery. Through Douglass’s narrative, we learn about the mistreatment of slavery. This mistreatment ranged from physical abuse to mental abuse. Apart from obeying their master’s orders, many slaves were robbed of the ability to formulate their own opinions. If a slave ever disrespected their master by talking back or refusing to perform a task, punishment awaited them. In order to avoid these kinds of acts of resistance, slave owners prohibited slaves from expanding their knowledge beyond to what they were exposed to on the plantation. It was deemed “unlawful” for slaves to learn how to read or write (20). According to Mr. Auld, who was one of Douglass’ masters, if a slave became knowledgeable he would then become “unmanageable” and “of no value to his master” (20). Many slave owners feared that once a slave got a taste of freedom, he or she would no longer be satisfied with their current condition. This idea of language and resistance is also addressed in M. NourbeSe Philip’s poem titled “Discourse on the Logic of Language.” Philip’s relates the power of language to anguish, in which the expansion of knowledge causes more suffering and unhappiness than solace. This can be seen in Douglass’s narrative once Ms. Auld was instructed by her husband to stop teaching Douglass how to read. Upon being deprived of Ms. Auld’s instruction, Douglass finally “understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (20). This halt in his journey to emancipation helped him realize the true power of knowledge and language.

As Frankenstein makes progress with his creation, he becomes obsessed with the idea of giving life to the “inanimate body” that happened to “lay at his feet” (35). His obsession turns into a craze, which causes him to disregard those around him up until the completion of his project. Apart from disregarding his father, he takes no notice of the change in seasons, which once brought him great pleasure, and his determination to complete his work negatively affects his health. The clip titled Frankenstein – The Creation most accurately depicts Shelley’s description of Frankenstein’s mental state. Although there are a few noticeable differences between the text and film adaptation, the viewer gets a glimpse of Frankenstein’s frenzied manner. We witness Frankenstein run around his laboratory as he prepares to “infuse” his creation with life. Up until the moment the Creature opens his eyes, the film beings to divert away from Shelley’s description of Frankenstein’s behavior. Just a few seconds before the Creature awakens, Frankenstein screams “live” at the top of his lungs. As if upon request, the Creature opens his eyes and we hear Frankenstein shout out a satisfactory “yes.” In contrast to the reaction depicted in this film, Shelley’s portray of this significant moment is quite different. As his creation lay before his eyes, Frankenstein couldn’t help but admire his work, “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful” (35). As satisfied as he was in seeing the final outcome, he fled the scene as soon as the Creature came to life. These opposing reactions left me wondering about how the novel would end if Frankenstein had a positive reaction to the Creature’s awakening.

Descartes posed a very interesting question in his work Discourse on Method; how can we validate our existence? According to Descartes, our ability to think confirms our presence in this world. He goes on to say that our “whole essence or nature” is independent of everything but our soul (Section 4). It is very difficult for me to imagine my soul as an independent unit. Growing up, I was taught to believe that every part of me coexisted and was in sync with each other. The idea of existing without a body is quite unsettling given my past understanding of this topic. In addition to exploring the idea of the body and the soul as two separate units, Descartes goes on to question the existence of elements like “…the heavens, the earth, light, heat” (Section 4). He claims that the existence of these elements solely depends on the existence of God. Without God, who Descartes describes as someone who has no imperfections, these elements would only exist through one’s imagination and senses. As Descartes so eloquently put, “trying-to-understand-through imagination is even more absurd than trying-to-hear-or-smell-with-the-eyes, because there is this difference: the sense of sight gives us much assurance of the reality of its objects as do the senses of smell and hearing, whereas our imagination and our senses could never assure us of anything without the aid of our understanding” (Section 4). According to Descartes’ philosophy, if we don’t believe in God then we can’t be 100 percent sure of the existence of everything around us. Even though I grew up in a very religious household where I was taught that God is the center of the universe, I do not necessarily agree with Descartes’ philosophy. I believe that everyone has imperfections and God is no exception to this rule. There isn’t a singular being that’s more perfect than another and to set that kind of expectation were one being is more powerful and perfect than another is almost inhumane.

One question that stood out to me while reading Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself was “To be in any form, what is that?” (Section 27). We see so many different faces on a daily basis but never stop to think about what those individuals may be going through or experiencing in their lives. Why is that the case? Many of us are afraid to step out of our comfort zones and experience something new, unfamiliar. Before attending Baruch College, I studied at Hunter College where I expressed no interest in developing any kind of relationships with my classmates. As soon as class was over, I left the building and did not look back. After transferring to Baruch College, my attitude in regards to meeting new people shifted completely. As a Business major, not only did I begin to understand the importance of social networking but also the importance of learning about people’s experiences. By sharing our past experiences, we are letting others gain a better understanding of who we are. In the same sense, it is important for us not to have a “callous shell” and not disregard those around us (Section 27). We need to make a bigger effort to “touch [our] person to some one else’s” and this will, without a doubt, strengthen our relationships with others (Section 27). Therefore from time to time, we should stop and acknowledge those around us because they can have a positive influence on our life.