Blog Assignment 2

English 168

10/18/10

Kayla Beckwith

Shane McCauley

Ethan Frost

Blog Number 2

The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance agent promised to fly from Mercy to the other side of lake superiors at three o’clock. Two days before the event was to take place, he tacked a note on the door of his little yellow house.

“At 3:00 P.M. on Wednesday the 18^th of February, 1921 I will take off from Mercy and fly away on my own wings. Please forgive me. I loved you all.”

(Robert Smith. Ins Agent).

The first line of the novel mentions a specific insurance company. We were forced to ask: “Is this a real company?” How is this company important to the message Morrison is trying to convey? As it turns out, the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company is a real company that was started and owned by African Americans and did most of its business with African Americans. This is relevant to the novel because it poses the idea of black business owners/ professionals in a racist/segregated world, and the history of the company itself sheds light on the setting of and characters in the novel. Moreover, NC Mutual’s ideology and mission statement relates closely to the themes and overall message that Morrison is trying to convey.

In 1898, the nation’s largest black insurance company was formed. Its name was North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, and it opened in Durham, North Carolina in 1899.4 The founder, John Merrick, was born into slavery and served as the first president. He was known to mirror Booker T. Washington’s idea of the politics of no politics. Some other presidents include: Asa Spaulding and William J. Kennedy, Jr. and they were represented as Black nationalists.2 Most of the Mutual men within the power structure were upper class or had middle-class craftsman heritage. They were professional, educated, and an advocate of Black Capitalism. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, this company was strictly ran for the African American race and would not employ agents of white people.2 During the first couple of years the company struggled, but by 1921 North Carolina Mutual moved into a six-story office building and had major influences within the black community. It promoted the growth and development of many businesses, including real estate, banking, and publishing. It also influenced decisions within the churches, schools, and civic activities on the local, state, and national levels.1 North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance became the most successful example of a black capitalistic enterprise.4 Not only did the company succeed financially, but also it succeeded in the racial progress distinctive to all black institutions.4 The black people of the south were fighting to improve their economic conditions, but they were also fighting for social and political rights. The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company helped them achieve both.

From its creation, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance has been a symbol for combating oppression in the black community. By keeping business within the “black community”, NCMLI was thought of as a means for African-Americans to rise up. Flight as a means of escape is a main theme in Song of Solomon, so it is fitting that Morrison chose NCMLI. Their first motto of this company was “Merciful to All” 3 which is ironic since Robert Smith, the insurance agent, jumped off the roof of Mercy Hospital, or as the townspeople referred to it; No Mercy Hospital. Even though Mr. Smith is working for a predominantly black company and has black clients, they all dread his biweekly visits. Furthermore, the company represents the strength of the African American people when they are faced with oppression. NCMLI survived through the Great Depression, segregation, and all sorts of racism and prejudice and grew to be a great company. Likewise, Macon Dead Sr. lived through life as a slave and became a landowner and a successful farmer. Moreover, despite the loss of his parents and poor circumstances Macon Dead Jr. went on to be a successful business owner and contributing member of society, and concurrently works to instill his values and work ethic in his son Milkman.

All in all, Toni Morrison’s reference to NCMLI is an appropriate precursor for the story that she proceeds to tell. The story of the Dead family reflects closely to the history of the company. The setting of the book represents opportunity mixed with difficulty; an emancipated North with cultural tensions and remnants of racism, which is also the condition of NCMLI throughout much of it’s 100 year plus history. And lastly, the NCMLI pride of their history and roots provides an interesting contrast to Milkman’s nebulous family history.

---

1 Akin, Edward. "Black Business in the New South: A Social History of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company." Florida Historical Quarterly, 53.4 (1975): 482-483.

2 Bishop, David. "Black Business in the New South: A Social History of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company." Journal of Negro History, 59.4 (1974): 399-400.

3 North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. .

4 Strickland, Arvarh. "Black Business in the New South: A Social History of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company." Journal of American History, 61.3 (1974): 820-821.

Kayla's "Song of Solomon" post for Oct. 14

“He walked there now-strutted is the better word, for he had a high behind and an athlete’s stride-thinking of names. Surely, he thought, he and his sister had some ancestor, some lithe young man with onyx skin legs as straight as cane stalks, who had a name that was real. A name given to him at birth with love and seriousness. A name that was not a joke, nor a disguise, nor a brand name. But who this lithe young man was, and where his cane-stalk legs carried him from or to, could never be known. No. Nor his name. His own parents in some mood of perverseness or resignation, had agreed to abide by a naming done to them by somebody who couldn’t have cared less. Agreed to take and pass on to all their issues this heavy name scrawled in perfect thoughtlessness by a drunken Yankee in the Union Army. A literal slip of the pen handed to his father on a piece of paper and which he handed on to his only son, and his son likewise handed on to his; Macon Dead who begat a second Macon Dead who married Ruth Foster (Dead) and begat Magdalene called Lena dead and First Corinthians Dead and (when he least expected it) another Macon Dead; now known to the part of the world that mattered as Milkman Dead.”

--Song of Solomon. Page 17-18.

In this passage, Macon Dead is reflecting the meaning behind names. He doesn’t believe that names should be jokes or disguises. Instead, he believes that every name has a deeper meaning behind it. He begins to reflect on how he received his name. He explains this history behind it, and how it has been passed down through multiple generations. He is not overly joyous about having the name “Dead”, but interestingly enough, he continues to pass down the name to his only son, now known as Milkman Dead.

As of right now, Macon Dead doesn’t understand the meaning behind the nickname Milkman. To himself, Macon thinks “Milkman” is a dirty name. Filthy. The interesting part is that Macon Dead did not want to know the details. It didn’t matter to him. He knew that his son would find a way to deal with an unfortunate name (like he had to do himself). Macon Dead is very successful, and made something of his name. He expects his son will do the same.

Questions:

1) What is the deeper meaning behind Macon Dead’s name? Why do you think Macon Dead keeps the name going if he doesn’t like it himself?

2) Do you think he was planning on passing down the name, or is he using it as some sort of punishment or test?

3) What do you think about the nickname Milkman? Do you think he will be teased about it forever? Do people think of him differently because of his name?

4) How much power does something as simple as “a name” give somebody?

Shane's Song for Solomon Post

Hurriedly then she began to set the table. As she unfolded the white linen and let it billow over the fine mahogany table, she would look once more at the large water mark she never set the table or passed through the dining room without looking at it. Like a lighthouse keeper drawn to his window to gaze once again at the sea, or a prisoner automatically searching out the sun as he steps into his yard for his hour of exercise, Ruth looked for the water mark several times during the day. She knew it was there, would always be there, but she needed to confirm its presence. Like the keeper of the lighthouse and the prisoner, she regarded it as a mooring, a checkpoint, some stable visual object that assured her that the world was still there; that this was life and not a dream. That she was alive somewhere, inside, which acknowledged to be true only because a thing she knew intimately was out there, outside herself. p11

In this passage Ruth is trying to cover up the water mark, the one blemish on the table. Although the lives of the Deads appear to be normal, and desirable, there are certain small details that make them not as attractive. At this point in her life Ruth is floating through life and is unhappy. She doesn't communicate with her husband Macon and is treated poorly, and they haven't been intimate in 20 years. The things that she once sought comfort in, her father and breast feeding her son, she now no longer can.

What is the significance of the lighthouse keeper and the prisoner? What do they have in common?

Why does Ruth need to connect with the water spot to keep a hold on reality?

Jake's Housekeeping Post for Oct. 7

They were like the people in old photographs - we did not see them through a veil of knowledge and habit, but simply and plainly, as the were lined or scarred, as they were startled or blank. Like the dead, we could consider their histories complete, and we wondered only what had brought the to transiency, to drifting, since their lives as drifters were like pacings and broodings and skirmishing among ghosts who cannot pay their way across the Styx. However long a postscript to however short a life, it was still no part of a story. (pg. 179)

It seems to me that this passage is Ruth looking into the future if she were to become one of the "transients". She is describing the people that come into Fingerbone. They are unknown and two-dimensional, "old photographs" with no back story. She describes their lives like the pacing, brooding and skirmishing of a ghost unable to cross the Styx, saying that they lived lives of random encounters and reflection, unable to get to where they want to be. If one of them died, their history was complete, and the only questions raised after their death was what had driven them to the life of wandering. But even then the question was irrelevant, Ruth says, "However long a postscript to however short a life, it was still no part of a story", implying that although people may wonder, they didn't really care.

1. What is the importance of the reference to death and the River Styx to the town of Fingerbone?

2. What does this passage reveal about Ruth's feelings towards being a transient?

Paul's Housekeeping Post for Oct. 5

"Lucille would tell this story differently. She would say that I fell asleep, but I did not. I simply let the darkness in the sky become coextensive with the darkness in my skull and bowels and bones. Everything that falls upon the eye is apparition, a sheet dropped over the world's true workings. The nerves and the brain are tricked, and one is left with dreams that these specters loose their hands from ours and walk away, the curve of the back and the swing of the coat so familiar as to imply that they should be permanent fixtures of the world, when in fact nothing is more perishable. Say that my mother was astall as a man, and the she sometimes set me on her shoulders, so that I could splash my hands in the cold leaves above our heads. Say that my grandmother sang in her throat while she sat on her bed and we laced up her big black shoes. Such details are merely accidental. Who could know but us? And since their thoughts are bent upon other ghosts than ours, other darknesses than we had seen, why must we be left, the survivors picking among flotsam, among the small, unnoticed, unvalued clutter that was all that remained when they vanished, that only catastrophe made notable? Darkness is the only solvent. While it was dark, despite Lucille's pacing and whistling, and despite what must have been dreams (since even Sylvie came to haunt me), it seemed to me that there need not be relic, remnant, residue, memento, bequest, memory, thought, track, or trace, if only the darkness could be made perfect and permanent."





--Housekeeping, pg. 116



I read this passage as implying that darkness is a state of being or acceptance that is natural and in tune with the way the world works (as opposed to light, which is a sheet 'dropped over the world's true workings'). We see that darkness is a state of passive, peaceful acceptance by the way Ruth 'simply lets' the darkness outside to join with the natural darkness inside of her body. The fact that darkness is an acceptance of the world's transience is reinforced by way light is described as a trick, that it fools us into believing that everything we see is permanent when, as Ruth has learned (especially with her family) everything changes or fades away. This idea is carried out in several other places in the book, from the way Sylvie (a transient person) continously sits in darkness to the way houses (a symbol of humans trying to create order and permanence) are lit up at night in the darkness. What our author is trying to suggest is that this representation for light is not reality; she presents us with two images of people that have died and ultimately faded from Ruth's life to express this idea. Although Ruth remembers images from her mother and grandmother, ultimately those small details the light revealed to her are not meaningful, much as when Sylvie tried to describe Helen to Ruth using small details she failed to convey any sense of Helen's essence to Ruth. We then hear that "their thoughts were bent upon other ghosts than ours, other darknesses than we had seen", suggesting that loss is universal (Helen lost her father to the lake and Ruth's grandmother lost her husand and her daughter). Ruth asks, if such terrible loss destroyed her mother and grandmother, why should she continuously search through her sorrow, through the 'flotsam' that was all catastrophe left Ruth of Helen and her grandmother. She then suggests that only darkness can act as a 'solvent', something to dissolve away the wreckage, this new state of being that she has entered. While Ruth is in this dark solvent, all of her ghosts, the essences of people she knew or knows (even Sylvie, who hasn't died or left her), visit her, suggesting that she is able to remember the essences of her loved ones without the pain and sorrow of loss.

Questions:

1.) What religious connotations do light and dark invoke? How might these religious ideas relate to the idea of darkness as described in the above passage?

2.) This scene takes place on the edge of the lake near Fingerbone. What does the lake represent in this story, and is its meaning similar or different from the meaning given to darkness?

3.) How is this passage significant to the character of Lucille? Why might it be important that she would tell this story differently than Ruth? What does her reaction to their situation say about the differences between them?

In Our Time (Masculinity) -Andrew

P.105 "When he started to kill it was all in the same rush. The bull looking at him straight in front, hating. He drew out the sword from the folds of the muleta and sighted with the same movement and called to the bull, Toro! Toro! and the bull charged and Villalta charged and just for a moment they became one. Villalta became one with the bull and then it was over.Vilallta standing straight and the red hilt of the sword sticking out dully between the bull's shoulders. Vilallta, his hand up at the crowd and the bull roaring blood, looking straight at Villalta and his legs caving."


A recurring theme we see in Hemingway's In Our Time is the idea of masculinity. Being a novel centered around World War !, this isn't surprising. What is surprising is the way that Hemingway presents masculinity through the characters in the book. Bullfighting was an excellent way for Hemingway to portray the connection between two masculine enemies, just as it was in WWI on a larger scale. What is significant in this quote is the part which describes the matador and the bull, just prior to the bull's demise, as being one. I think this is Hemingway's way of conveying the strange bond between all men, a silent interconnectedness if you will, even as they stare down the barrel of a gun at each-other. 


This quote precludes a chapter regarding Nick and George skiing in the Alps. The same idea of an "unspoken" bond between the two is quickly noticed as they enter a bar, in stark contrast to Hemingway's portrayal of women as bonding through lots of spoken word, and even through crying in some parts. This masculine way of relating to each-other could probably be best described as a silent enjoyment of things, and a quote from the chapter Cross-Country Snow portrays this perfectly. 


P.109 "There's nothing really can touch skiing, is there?" Nick said. "The way it feels when you drop off on a long run."  "Huh," said Geroge, "It's too swell to talk about."

Katrina's In Our Time Post

"While the bombardment was knocking the trench to pieces at Fossalta, he lay very flat and sweated and prayed oh jesus christ get me out of here. Dear jesus please get me out. Christ please please please christ. If you'll only keep me from getting killed I'll do anything you say. I believe in you and I'll tell everyone in the world you are the only one that matters. Please please dear jesus. The shelling moved farther up the line. We went to work on the trench and in the morning the sun came up and the day was hot and muggy and cheerful and quiet. The next night back at Mestre he did not tell the girl he went upstairs with at the Villa Rossa with about Jesus. And he never told anybody."¹

This is the interchapter before "Soldier's Home in Chapter VII. This passage is interesting because it provides the reader with a vivid emotional picture of a soldier fighting in a trench during WWI. It is interesting because in this soldier's time of need he desperately turns to religion when he feels devoid of hope. It seems implied in this passage that the soldier is not otherwise a religious man, but now that he finds himself in the most hopeless and frightening moments of his life, he turns to Christ. While considering these things, here is an exerpt from "Soldier's Home" that follows:

" 'Would you kneel and pray with me, Harold?' his mother asked. They knelt down beside the dining-room table and Krebs's mother prayed. 'Now, you pray, Harold,' she said. 'I can't,' Krebs said. 'Try, Harold.' 'I can't.' 'Do you want me to pray for you?' 'Yes.' So his mother prayed for him and then they stood up and Krebs kissed his mother and went out of the house. He had tried so to keep his life from being complicated."¹

This passage shows a different soldier's sentiments about religion that strongly contrast with the first passage. In this case, Krebs finds it difficult to pray with his mother because, perhaps, he feels strongly he should not lie when he evidently does not believe in praying.

This raises several questions:

First, why did Hemingway choose to juxtapose these two stories. What relationship do these two stories have, if any?

Second, in the first passage, why do you think the soldier pleaded to Christ so adamantly when he apparently feels no connection to Him? Do you believe that in the soldier's moment of need he truly felt some connection to Jesus? How do you explain his feelings at the end, when he is safe again?

Third, how do you explain Krebs's reaction to his mother's request of prayer? Why do you think Krebs chooses not to pray with his mother, rather than to give in and pray with her? Additionally, what do you think Krebs is implying when he says "He had tried so to keep his life from being complicated"?

Finally, what do these two passages together say about the role of religion in a soldier's life?

1. Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time (New York: Scribner, 2003), 67-77).

Heather's In Our Time Post

“They were all black. They were not the big grasshoppers with yellow and black or red and black wings whirring out from their black wing sheathing as they fly up. They were just ordinary hoppers, but all a sooty black in color. Nick had wondered about them as he walked, without really thinking about them. Now, as he watched the black hopper that was nibbling at the wool of his sock with its fourway lip, he realized that they had all turned black from living in the burned-over land. He realized that the fire must have come the year before, but the grasshoppers were all black now. He wondered how long they would stay that way. … “Go on hopper,” Nick said, speaking out loud for the first time. “Fly away somewhere.””


Hemingway includes this description of the grasshopper because it is a metaphor suggesting that the grasshopper and Nick are similar. The hoppers are not the same as they were before the land was burned over, as Nick is not the same as he was before the war. However, the effects on the grasshopper of the land being burnt are physical, while the effects of the war on Nick are psychological/ emotional. His wondering how long the grasshoppers will remain that way is reflective of his frustration of dealing with the effects of the war.


Both Nick and The Narrator in Surfacing struggle because of events from their past. How is it that their situations differ?

How does the last sentence ““Go on hopper,” Nick said, speaking out loud for the first time. “Fly away somewhere,”” relate to Nick?

Becky's In Our Time Post

p. 63 "Nick sat against the wall of the church where they had dragged him to be clear of machine-gun fire in the street. Both legs stuck out awkwardly. He had been hit in the spine. His face was sweaty and dirty. The sun shone on his face. The day was very hot. Rinaldi, big backed, his equipment sprawling, lay face downward against the wall. Nick looked straight ahead brilliantly. The pink wall of the house opposite had fallen out from the roof, and an iron bedstead hung twisted toward the street. Two Austrian dead lay in the rubble in the shade of the house. Up the street were other dead. Things were getting forward in the town. It was going well. Stretcher bearers would be along any time now. Nick turned his head carfully and looked at Rinaldi. 'Senta Rinaldi. Senta. You and me we've made a separate peace.' Rinaldi lay still in the sun breathing with difficulty. 'Not patriots.' Nick turned his head carefully away smiling sweatily. Rinaldi was a disappointing audience."

Despite the situation being described in this passage Hemingway uses direct, emotionless prose and very few vivid descriptions to create this scene. Instead of dark or shadowy language one would expect to detail the scene of two injured soldies there is a motif of sunlight rather than darkness. Hemingway discusses the sun shining on Nick's face yet chooses to note that Rinaldi's face was "downward against the wall." This shows how Nick seems to be indifferent to the pain and trauma he has just been through. Intead of being slumped against the wall like Rinaldi he is upright, facing the street with the sun shining on his face. His description of his injuries is equally as detached as he merely states, "He had been hit in the spine." There is no discussion of pain or trauma, just the simple fact of his injury.

Hemingway also includes that "Nick looked straight ahead brilliantly," showing that he doesn't feel the need to hide his face from the death or destruction around him. In this situation of destruction, pain, and loss Nick looks straight ahead brilliantly. He seems to take in what he sees without actually processing what it means. He only seems focused on the fact that the stretcher bearers would be coming by soon.

The observance that, "It was going well," is juxtaposed with the previous sentence's discussion of the loss of human life Nick is observing. He describes the dead Austrian's around him as being "in the shade of the house" that has been destroyed by the battle. The house is the only object that is described in detail showing that it has significance to this scene. The house could perhaps represent a war torn Europe with dead soldiers lying in the shade of it's destruction. The image of this house could also represent a fellow soldier. By describing the "pink" insides of the house Hemingway could be connecting this symbol to one of death. The inside of the house is twisted and parts of it have fallen out. The house is the reader's only physical description of the surroundings, besides the fact that Nick is leaning up against the wall of a church which has not been destroyed. This could also relate to the idea of a church's significance to the mindset of a warrior. In a time of stress he is propped up against a church for stability.

Nick does not focus on the events that lead to his injuries but only seems concerned with the next step, his life had become fragmented into clips that exclude the actual cause of the violence that has disturbed him and left him broken. He seems oddly optimistic about his situation and tries to engage Renaldi in a conversation about how they have now made their peace. "Senta" could be referring to a city in Serbia where they were fighting in the war (yes, I did Google it). The war effort has reached this city and is moving forward through it. Despite the effects of this Nick still proclaims that things were going well. This strange optimism despite the death that surrounded him reminded me of a passage in an earlier chapter titled 'Indian Camp' in which Nick went along with his father as he performed a C-section on an Indian woman who was having trouble with her child birth. At the end of this gruesome story Nick asserts that, "...he felt quite sure that he would never die." (p 19) Nick seems to have an irrational view of his own mortality and therefore can't access feelings of fear, pain, or loss in his life.

The fact that Nick doesn't relate emotions to what he visually sees anymore would gives an explanation as to why he can remain sitting upright with his face in the sun. He is disconnected from what occurs around him. He becomes measured and calculated in his movements and only moves his head "carefully" which is the only way he shows caution or prudence in the whole seen. He doesn't even fear for Rinaldi or his injuries, but instead he remarks how they no longer have to be patriots. His duty is paid in his mind, releasing him from the horror he finds himself in.

This passage details a scene of war that is atypical. No fear or remorse is present in the description. This shows the affect of the trauma and the loss of continuity of thoughts and emotions brought about by war.

Question #1:
What do you think the church or house signify in this passage?

Question #2:
What does Nick's onesided conversation with Rinaldi signify? Why is this dialogue included?

Question #3:
The passage after this paragraph is titled "A Very Short Story" and discusses a romance between a nurse and a patient that was very short lived. Why do you think this paragraph preceeds that story?

Hemingway Interview from The Paris Review

INTERVIEWER

Finally, a fundamental question: as a creative writer what do you think is the function of your art? Why a representation of fact, rather than fact itself?

HEMINGWAY

Why be puzzled by that? From things that have happened and from things as they exist and from all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive, and you make it alive, and if you make it well enough, you give it immortality. That is why you write and for no other reason that you know of. But what about all the reasons that no one knows?

For more see: 

http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4825/the-art-of-fiction-no-21-ernest-hemingway

An' Surfacing Blog Post

“She must have heard the door opening and closing in the night; she produces a smile, warm conspiratorial, and I know what circuits are closing in her head: by screwing Joe she’s brought us back together.”

In the above sentences, I think Atwood has one more time emphasize the current problems of the Western civilizations. The idea of being others’ savior has been deeply implanted into everyone. She seems to even put it further and alludes that this heroic idea appears to be root from the sense of fairness that has been distorted by a misplaced sense of self-righteousness and physical tendency. In the stories, Anna after learning that the Narrator has refused Joe’s proposal has had sex with Joe and believe that she can save Joe and the Narrator’s relationship by doing so and judge that her course of action was a spot on by invoking the idea of retaliation/sense of fairness that she thought the Narrator also has a similar idea about that.

“Saving the world, everyone wants to; men think they can do it with guns, women with their bodies, love conquers all, conquerors love all, mirages raised by words.”

Professor Steele once remarked in a lecture that the thing that is most feared by western civilization is chaos. The ideas of conquering and being conquerors may serve the role to help establishing the systematic rules in society to restraint people. But would those ideas ultimately give rises to chaos? The Western civilization nurtured individuals from the early age to appreciate themselves and with that their self-belief in their judgments emerges.

Would the physical and violent tendencies of current civilization along with emerging sense of self-righteousness further distorted the sprit of fairness in civilization and lead to chaotic conditions, when people start to consider them above the laws and start acting beyond the social restraints?

If the idea of heroes is not correct, what could we possibly do to first protect ourselves and afterward help to fix the idea of conquerors that is at heart of current civilization?

Library Location Change

There's been a last minute change in our library-day location. I apologize for the suddenness of this, but please meet at: 

COLLEGE LIBRARY 

Classroom 1193D 

Today 

At the normally scheduled classtime (3:30 or 4:35pm)

To reach 1193D: enter the front doors of the college library, turn left, go through the Ethnic Studies collection, and you'll see the door. If you can't find it, ask a friendly librarian!

Because of the immediacy of this change, if you see your classmates today, please remind them of the change so that everyone gets to College Library on time. We'll do our historical society visit next Thursday.

Emma's Surfacing Blog Post

"The shape of the heron flying above us the first evening we fished, legs and neck stretched, wings outspread, a blue-gray cross, and the other heron or was it the same one, hanging wrecked from the tree. Whether it died willingly, consented, whether Christ died willingly, anything that suffers and dies instead of us is Christ; if they didn't kill birds and fish they would have killed us."
-- Ch 17 PG 141

At this point in the novel the main character is alone and searching the swamp for places her father may have visited. Being alone gives her time to reflect on her surroundings without having to put up a front for the people that she is continuously feeling a larger and larger disconnect with.

This passage is very interesting because not only does it revisit the concept of religion it also further illustrates her disconnect from civilization. She is continuing to see people as violent aggressors and it is apparent here that she is beginning to feel threatened by people invading her space. It seems like the more time she spends at her father's cabin the more distant she feels from other people and the closer she feels towards the land around her.

In this passage she is falling back on religious teachings that she wasn't ever directly taught. Earlier in the book, the main character explains that her family didn't take her to Sunday school, which is why I find it intriguing that she is using very religious language here. So, my first question is why do you think that the character is using religious diction here? What compels her to fall back on religion when her family never preached its importance?

The last line, "if they didn't kill birds and fish they would have killed us," evokes very strong emotion in the narrator. What do you think the narrator means by this? Is she talking about literal killing? Or is she referring to the destruction of nature by the corruptive and invading disease called "civilization"?

Monday Notes

First

On the assignment sheet I handed out on thursday it said we were meeting monday/today for our library tour. I very much hope you recognized that as a bit of idiocy on my part (it happens oh-so-often). TOMORROW we will meet in the historical society (in the atrium on the ground floor) at the normal class time. 

Second

We are going to talk about Hemingway on Thursday, but we're also going to wrap up Atwood. In particular I want to reflect with you about the title of the book (Surfacing), so if you have thoughts about that, bring them in to share. 

Third

Keep the blog posts and comments coming. Keep them as involved/thoughtful as you can. We are already making great strides in our discussions, analyses, and reading so far and I am excited to see what we can do with these next couple of terrific texts. 

Finally

Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be around email all day today. 

-matt

John's Post (Surfacing)

"One of its eyes is bulging out and I feel a little sick, it's because I've killed something, made it dead; but I know that's irrational, killing certain things is all right, food and enemies, fish and mosquitoes; and wasps, when there are too many of them you pour boiling water down their tunnels" (Atwood 62).

So far throughout this whole book, the main character has yet to show really any feelings toward anybody. Her best friend as of now is Anna whom she has known for only two months, and the thing that she likes about Joe is that he is quiet and doesn't like to talk about his feelings. Then throughout the book so far her own father is missing and potentially dead, but she hardly shows any emotion of sadness towards this.

During this passage she kills a fish, and begins to feel a little sick about killing it. This sickness she feels is one of the only times throughout the book so far that she has any sort of feelings or emotions for anything. Then after realizing that it is ridiculous for her too feel this way, she starts to say that certain things are alright to kill. All of the things she names are animals, except for one. She mentions that it is also alright to kill enemies. This is just another hint that she has no feelings and that she may be a little crazy, if she thinks its ok to kill another person, even if it is an enemy.

1.) Why do you think she feels she is rationalized in saying that it is alright to kill an enemy?

2.) Why do you think it took her this long to actually have some feelings for an object or person?

Surfacing

“This is the fifth book I’ve done; the first was the Department of Manpower employment manual, young people with lobotomized grins, rapturous in their padded slots: Computer Programmer, Welder, Executive Secretary, Lab Technician.” (Atwood 50)

At this point in the novel the protagonist is describing to the reader her profession as a corporate artist, a profession whose pursuit she attributes to ex-husband’s advice. She reveals that she originally aspired to be what she calls a “real artist,” a distinction that suggests a compromise the protagonist was compelled to make.

What I find particularly interesting in this passage is the protagonist’s apparent discomfort with the labels, in this case referred to “padded slots,” of the young people she mentions. The concept of organization and labels is one we encountered in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and Atwood seems to similarly comment on society’s need to arbitrarily classify individuals. In the same way that Conrad described “the Manager” or “The Russian” as exclusive and definitive terms, Atwood presents the idea of labels as a means of confining the individual. The reader can easily identify the conspicuous reference to some sort of solitary confinement in the words “padded slots,” which implies the protagonist’s negative view of the classifications.

An equally interesting aspect of this passage is the hypocrisy that it reveals in the protagonist’s point of view. The use of the word lobotomy, for example, carries with it a negative connotation of an emotionally inert individual. However, the protagonist earlier in the novel describes how “To be deaf and dumb would be easier” (7), suggesting that the inability to fully interact with those around her would be a welcome change.

1. Can the inconsistent outlook of Atwood’s protagonist be paralleled to Marlow’s evolving outlook in Heart of Darkness?

2. In a statement directly prior to the passage provided the protagonist admits she find comfort in the job title of “corporate artist.” How do you think she can reconcile her view of labels as means of confinement with the mental security they seem to provide?

Margaret Atwood Interview

Interviews can be a great way to get (maybe just a little ways) into the head of a writer. A way of seeing there words in new ways. 

And the Paris Review does the best interviews. 

Here's one of M.A.

https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/hooley/10311454.pdf

Courtney's Blog Surfacing Ch. 1-5

"The lake is tricky, the water shifts, the wind swells up quickly; people drown every year, boats loaded topheavy or drunken fishermen running at high speed into deadheads, old pieces of tree waterlogged and partly decayed, floating under the surface, there are a lot of them left over from the logging and the time they raised the lake level. Because of the convolutions it's easy to lose the way if you haven't memorized the landmarks and I watch for them now, dome-shaped hill, point with dead pine, stubble of cut trunks poking up from a shallows, I don't trust Evans."

The narrator first mentions how the lake is dangerous. I feel like this is building up to when her brother's drowning was mentioned. She mentions how people drown every year and logs float under the surface of the water. This was then how she described how her brother was seen by her mother when he died. Irony is used when the narrator describes how easy it is to get lost on the lake. She states that she memorized the landmarks and knows what to look for now, but when it comes to her emotions and love she is very lost. She has a very hard time trusting anyone and this is shown through her statement that she doesn't trust Evans. She is still very upset about her divorce so she has a hard time letting anyone in too close and her best friend has only known her for two months.

Ryan W's Post (Heart of Darkness)

We were within thirty yards from the nearest fire. A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving long black arms, across the glow. It had horns-antelope horns, I think-on its head. Some sorcerer, some witch-man, no doubt: it looked fiend-like enough. ‘Do you know what you are doing?’ I whispered. ‘Perfectly,’ he answered, raising his voice for that single word: it sounded to me far off and yet loud, like a hail through a speaking-trumpet. If he makes a row we are lost, I thought to myself. This clearly was not a case for fisticuffs, even apart from the very natural aversion I had to beat that Shadow-this wandering and tormented thing. ‘You will be lost,’ I said-‘utterly lost.’ One gets sometimes such a flash of inspiration, you know. I did say the right thing, though indeed he could not have been more irretrievably lost than he was at this very moment, when the foundations of our intimacy were being laid-to endure-to endure-even to the end-even beyond.” (Conrad

, 79-80)

This selection takes place when Kurtz leaves the ship and attempts to crawl back to the natives. Marlow follows Kurtz’s trail and finds him within a short distance from a group of natives.

To me, the excerpt represents the darkness as described by the book. The native sorcerer, who was described using the word ‘black’ several times, represents the darkness that Kurtz had fallen to and yearned to return to. This is further demonstrated with the phrase “…I had to beat that Shadow”, describing the Shadow that has fallen over Kurtz’s soul. 

Marlow also called Kurtz “lost”, which could be taken as his soul is on the brink between the light of the civilized world, and the dark that was seen to be the natives. I also felt that the phrase “to endure”, though not literally meant as such, can be seen as Marlow himself trying to endure the darkness. 

1. Why would Kurtz want to return to the native tribesmen when there was so much to look forward to back home?

2. What could Kurtz’s battle with his inner darkness represent? 

Heart of Darkness Close Reading for September 9th

“Kurtz—Kurtz-- that means short in German—don’t it? Well, the name was as true as everything else in his life—and death. He looked at least seven feet long.” (Conrad, 74)

Seen here is almost a displeasure in Marlow’s “voice”. This short passage comes shortly after Marlow’s conversation with Kurtz’s admirer, and Marlow’s recognition of disbelief that Kurtz has ever conversed humble things with any man. Marlow says himself to the admire that “…Kurtz is no idol of [his],” (73) and that is reiterated here in the above passage. It also shows the irony/sarcasm that has frequented among Conrad’s writing. I say sarcasm because you can almost read the passage with an attitude that mocks the meaning of Kurtz’s name, like Marlow is actually scoffing at the thought that anything said about Kurtz by other men is considered real, or the truth.

1. In the first half of the book Marlow was so “excited” to meet Kurtz, or at least it seemed that way. This changes throughout the book. What events or thoughts contribute to this change of feeling towards Kurtz?

2. The whole passage that this part is taken from discusses Marlow’s genuine disgust of Kurtz and the way Marlow’s crew has been treated by Kurtz’s company. Do you think Marlow, deep down, still has admiration for Kurtz, perhaps hoping that Kurtz might “spare them”? (at this point in the story, not reading further)