So, due to YIG and my own school work (but mostly my procrastination) I have been behind on my Independent Reading book. I just kept pushing it away again and again, but that's on me. However, the parts of The Namesake that I have read have been very interesting and intriguing.
Really, my favorite thing from the book so far has been Gogol's rejection of his original name and then decides that he is going to reject both his parents and his pet name and be "independent" in a way. It makes him appear almost as a hypocrite and creates depth to his character. He was originally for having his name be Gogol, going as far as to come home with a note from school stating it. However, he then begins to rebel against his parents and his name which is what he associates with his parents. This is very typical with teens, especially when they decide to go all rebellious and not care.
Anyway, that's all I can really say as its been while since I last read the book. Hopefully I can get caught up over spring break and give a more insightful blog post. Sorry for the lack of depth everyone.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
For Namesake (IR)
So, I have returned to the writing of Jhumpa Lahiri with her novel The Namesake. This book takes a took at a family called the Ganguli's who try to fit in with American Society and culture.
One of the first things that I noticed while I read this book is that it was a change of pace from Interpreter of Maladies. This is one continuous story and it doesn't skip around to other stories. That was a complaint that I had with Interpreter of Maladies where I would get interested in a story and its characters and then they would be completely forgotten and never mentioned with mysteries still revolving around them. One thing that would have been really interesting (If not extremely difficult) would be if she could connect the stories together through small cameos. But, I digress.
So far the story is interesting, long, but interesting. Like I said it mainly centers around the Ganguli's and the first chapter definetly leaves a mark with a rather descriptive part about Ashima when her water breaks. It then vears off into her husband who has a random flashback to when he was in a train accident and in a hospital afterward. So yeah, that was some first impression.
So far, I have enjoyed this novel. It was really interesting to have the comparison with the father waiting in the hospital to his time in the hospital, showing his anxiety and desire for his child. The writing has also been very interesting, but it does give a lot of details and the chapters are really long, so I don't appreciate the massive amount I have to read at a time. I really can't give an honest review of it yet, but I'll see where it takes me.
One of the first things that I noticed while I read this book is that it was a change of pace from Interpreter of Maladies. This is one continuous story and it doesn't skip around to other stories. That was a complaint that I had with Interpreter of Maladies where I would get interested in a story and its characters and then they would be completely forgotten and never mentioned with mysteries still revolving around them. One thing that would have been really interesting (If not extremely difficult) would be if she could connect the stories together through small cameos. But, I digress.
So far the story is interesting, long, but interesting. Like I said it mainly centers around the Ganguli's and the first chapter definetly leaves a mark with a rather descriptive part about Ashima when her water breaks. It then vears off into her husband who has a random flashback to when he was in a train accident and in a hospital afterward. So yeah, that was some first impression.
So far, I have enjoyed this novel. It was really interesting to have the comparison with the father waiting in the hospital to his time in the hospital, showing his anxiety and desire for his child. The writing has also been very interesting, but it does give a lot of details and the chapters are really long, so I don't appreciate the massive amount I have to read at a time. I really can't give an honest review of it yet, but I'll see where it takes me.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
The Guilt (PR)
So for my poetry response post, I decided to look at some poems that might relate to imperialism as that's all we are doing in Lit and it makes sense to do so. I then came across a poem that I believed I encountered two years ago in AP US called "The White Man's Burden" by Rudyard Kipling.
Take up the White Man’s burden—Send forth the best ye breed—Go send your sons to exileTo serve your captives' needTo wait in heavy harnessOn fluttered folk and wild—Your new-caught, sullen peoples,Half devil and half childTake up the White Man’s burdenIn patience to abideTo veil the threat of terrorAnd check the show of pride;By open speech and simpleAn hundred times made plainTo seek another’s profitAnd work another’s gainTake up the White Man’s burden—And reap his old reward:The blame of those ye betterThe hate of those ye guard—The cry of hosts ye humour(Ah slowly) to the light:"Why brought ye us from bondage,“Our loved Egyptian night?”Take up the White Man’s burden-Have done with childish days-The lightly proffered laurel,The easy, ungrudged praise.Comes now, to search your manhoodThrough all the thankless years,Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,The judgment of your peers!
Said poem is basically written to America as a way to convince them into heading into the Philippines and take up the ideas of Imperialism and having an Empire as the other European countries have done with Africa and Indonesia. The poem itself is a way of to guilt the US into joining the idea of following along with imperialism using the idea of the "White Man's Burden" to modernize the world. It also blends well into the United States' own idea of bringing civilization to the Native Americans and (to quote Mr. Morse) "Cultivate that Land."
However, there is another reason that I chose to look at this poem as it relates to my thoughts on the final chapter of Things Fall Apart. For those of you who have to finish it, spoilers are below. You have been warned. So in the final chapter, Okonkwo decides to commit suicide rather than face judgement in court. The District Commissioner then has someone cut him down and thinks about writing a book about the good they had done in Africa. After reading this section, I then received a one-two slap of "White Guilt!!!!" (Quote by Josiah Rosin March 10th, 2015). It just made me feel so bad and so guilty of what happened to him and the shame for the actions the Europeans caused there. I associate this with White Man's Burden, as I, a white man, am now burdened with so much guilt about the atrocities committed in Africa and how sorry I am for everything that happened.
Take up the White Man’s burden—Send forth the best ye breed—Go send your sons to exileTo serve your captives' needTo wait in heavy harnessOn fluttered folk and wild—Your new-caught, sullen peoples,Half devil and half childTake up the White Man’s burdenIn patience to abideTo veil the threat of terrorAnd check the show of pride;By open speech and simpleAn hundred times made plainTo seek another’s profitAnd work another’s gainTake up the White Man’s burden—And reap his old reward:The blame of those ye betterThe hate of those ye guard—The cry of hosts ye humour(Ah slowly) to the light:"Why brought ye us from bondage,“Our loved Egyptian night?”Take up the White Man’s burden-Have done with childish days-The lightly proffered laurel,The easy, ungrudged praise.Comes now, to search your manhoodThrough all the thankless years,Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,The judgment of your peers!
Said poem is basically written to America as a way to convince them into heading into the Philippines and take up the ideas of Imperialism and having an Empire as the other European countries have done with Africa and Indonesia. The poem itself is a way of to guilt the US into joining the idea of following along with imperialism using the idea of the "White Man's Burden" to modernize the world. It also blends well into the United States' own idea of bringing civilization to the Native Americans and (to quote Mr. Morse) "Cultivate that Land."
However, there is another reason that I chose to look at this poem as it relates to my thoughts on the final chapter of Things Fall Apart. For those of you who have to finish it, spoilers are below. You have been warned. So in the final chapter, Okonkwo decides to commit suicide rather than face judgement in court. The District Commissioner then has someone cut him down and thinks about writing a book about the good they had done in Africa. After reading this section, I then received a one-two slap of "White Guilt!!!!" (Quote by Josiah Rosin March 10th, 2015). It just made me feel so bad and so guilty of what happened to him and the shame for the actions the Europeans caused there. I associate this with White Man's Burden, as I, a white man, am now burdened with so much guilt about the atrocities committed in Africa and how sorry I am for everything that happened.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
The Decision That is Hard to Make (CC)
So far reading Things Fall Apart has been interesting as the story is okay so far, I just keep getting distracted. Whenever there is nothing but pages talking about farming yams or tradition, I tend to zone out and not pay attention. I have nothing against it, I just don't want to read about farming. However, it was in Chapter 7 that something happened that really stuck with me. For those of you who are not caught up on the reading, spoilers.
So in Chapter 7, Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna is to be taken back to his village and killed and that he must come with them. Eventually during the execution, he is forced to kill him. This scene was very shocking and it also reminded me of something that happened in a video game. It was called Telltales The Walking Dead and its a point and click game set in The Walking Dead universe. In this chapter, you take control of this girl and in one decision, you have to decide whether to kill your best friend or not for the betterment of the community.
The reason I bring this up is because it made me think of the idea of killing or doing something horrible in order to help the community. It really makes you question what lengths people are willing to go for in order to keep their life and family the way it is. Yes, Okonkwo did kill him, but he didn't have to. He could have run with the boy or killed the other people on the way to his home, but instead he chose to do it to keep his old life. Human nature is a very weird thing as we are brought to the edge, we show our true character and whether we would do something we don't like in order to keep our normal life. That alone has kept me thinking for a while, but it might just be a random thought that has nothing to do with anything. Either way, it is something to consider; how far would you be willing to go if given this situation?
So in Chapter 7, Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna is to be taken back to his village and killed and that he must come with them. Eventually during the execution, he is forced to kill him. This scene was very shocking and it also reminded me of something that happened in a video game. It was called Telltales The Walking Dead and its a point and click game set in The Walking Dead universe. In this chapter, you take control of this girl and in one decision, you have to decide whether to kill your best friend or not for the betterment of the community.
The reason I bring this up is because it made me think of the idea of killing or doing something horrible in order to help the community. It really makes you question what lengths people are willing to go for in order to keep their life and family the way it is. Yes, Okonkwo did kill him, but he didn't have to. He could have run with the boy or killed the other people on the way to his home, but instead he chose to do it to keep his old life. Human nature is a very weird thing as we are brought to the edge, we show our true character and whether we would do something we don't like in order to keep our normal life. That alone has kept me thinking for a while, but it might just be a random thought that has nothing to do with anything. Either way, it is something to consider; how far would you be willing to go if given this situation?
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