Jewel is one of the most significant characters in the novel, even though he only has one narration throughout the story. Jewel is the only of Addie’s children who has a different father than the rest. Jewel has a deep and inexpressible love for his mother. Jewel seems to have the most violent nature of all the Bundrens. However, he is not a Bundren because he is Addie’s son who was born from an adulterous affair between her and Reverend Whitfield. Jewel is a person who feels violently and can only express himself through acts of violence. Because of this, he is unable to express his love, for his mother, in any way except violence. Also, because of his violent nature, we only observe Jewel in symbols of violence, and mostly from the narration of other characters.
Jewel is unable to face any type of reality where his mother is concerned. He refuses to believe that she is dying, and he refuses to say the word “coffin” because it is a symbol of his mother’s death. As far as Darl is concerned, Jewel is this way because Jewel doesn’t know how to express his love, and he speaks with harshness so that he can cover up the fact that he can’t say the word “coffin”. Jewel’s deep and inexpressible love for his mother is constantly the basis of Darl’s taunting. Darl finds a delight in taunting, teasing, and antagonizing Jewel, possible because he can sense the deep-founded love between Jewel and Addie. He is possible Jewel of this relationship that Jewel and his mother share. He could also be jealous of the fact that Addie is more partial to Jewel; she shows favoritism to Jewel, moreso than her other children. She does things for Jewel in secret, even though she has always felt that deceit was one of the worst sins that could ever be committed. Despite her hatred of deceit, she does things secretly for Jewel, maybe because she feels that Jewel will be her salvation, which she states. She says that Jewel will save her from the water and from the fire, which he did. Jewel saved his mother’s coffin/body form the river and from the burning barn. Also, Jewel sells his horse, the symbol of his love for his mother, so that the funeral procession can continue. This is what made Jewel be Addie’s salvation.
Jewel’s relationship with his horse is one of the central ideas in the novel. Jewel acts with violence toward his horse, but beneath the violence there is a sense of deep devotion to the animal. Because Jewel is unable to express his love for his mother, he substitutes all of his deep-rooted, violent, but inexpressible love for his mother in his horse. For this reason, Darl taunted Jewel by saying that Jewel’s mother is a horse, indicating that Jewel devotes all the love he possesses for his mother on the horse. The horse is violent and untamed, and Addie thought Jewel was conceived in violence, which could make the horse be a symbol of the circumstances under which Jewel was conceived. This could also be the reason that Jewel expresses his love for his mother in terms of violence.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
"Red Fox" Commentary
RED FOX
The red fox crosses the ice
intent on none of my business.
It's winter and slim pickings.
I stand in the bushy cemetary,
pretending to watch birds,
but really watching the fox
who could care less.
She pauses on the sheer glare
of the pond. She know's I'm there,
sniffs me in the wind at her shoulder.
If I had a gun or dog
or raw heart, she'd smell it.
She didn't get this smart for nothing.
She's a lean vixen. I can see
the ribs, the sly
trickster's eyes, filled with longing
and desperation, the skinny
feet, adept at lies.
Why encourage the notion
of virtuous poverty?
It's only an excuse
for zero charity.
Hunger corrupts, and absolute hunger
corrupts absolutely,
or almost. Of course there are mothers,
squeezing thier breasts
dry, pawning their bodies,
shedding teeth for their children,
or that's our fond belief.
But remember - Hansel
and Gretel were dumped in the forest
because their parents were starving.
Sauve qui peut. To survive we'd all turn thief
and rascal, or so says the fox,
with her coat or an elegant scoundrel,
her white knife of a smile,
who knows just where she's going:
to steal something
that doesn't belong to her -
some chicken, or one more chance,
or other life.
Commentary:
In Atwood's "Red Fox" she uses the conceit, compairing a hungry person to a fox, and imagery in order to demonstrate how poverty can cause people to make bad and desperate decisions.
Comparing a human to fox connotes that the human is sly, coniving, and a trickster. Atwood uses this conceit to demonstrate that this is what people become when they are impoverished and starving. She says, "To survive we'd all turn thief and rascal, or so says the fox," which shows how people will do whatever it takes to survive such as food, to do so. She says, "Hunger corrupts" then goes on to say "to steal somethign that doesn't belong to her - some chicken." It seems as if she is justifying the fox-like actions that humans take to survive. Using the word "corrupts" implies that the hunger takes over and makes people lose control of their inhibitions and set aside their morals to survive. Another example of people setting aside their morals for survival is when she states, "mothers...pawning their bodies."
The imagery in the poem suggests starvation, and provides reasoning as to why people are becoming sly and coniving like foxes. She says, "She's a lean vixen. I can see the ribs, the sly trickster's eyes, ... the skinny feet." These images describe the body of a fox as well as the body of a starving person, which exemplifies Atwood's conceit throughout the poem. Also, Atwood says, "Of course there are mothers, squeezing their breasts dry, pawning their bodies, shedding teeth for their children," which demonstrates the desperate measures to which a mother would turn to for her survival and the suvival of her children.
The red fox crosses the ice
intent on none of my business.
It's winter and slim pickings.
I stand in the bushy cemetary,
pretending to watch birds,
but really watching the fox
who could care less.
She pauses on the sheer glare
of the pond. She know's I'm there,
sniffs me in the wind at her shoulder.
If I had a gun or dog
or raw heart, she'd smell it.
She didn't get this smart for nothing.
She's a lean vixen. I can see
the ribs, the sly
trickster's eyes, filled with longing
and desperation, the skinny
feet, adept at lies.
Why encourage the notion
of virtuous poverty?
It's only an excuse
for zero charity.
Hunger corrupts, and absolute hunger
corrupts absolutely,
or almost. Of course there are mothers,
squeezing thier breasts
dry, pawning their bodies,
shedding teeth for their children,
or that's our fond belief.
But remember - Hansel
and Gretel were dumped in the forest
because their parents were starving.
Sauve qui peut. To survive we'd all turn thief
and rascal, or so says the fox,
with her coat or an elegant scoundrel,
her white knife of a smile,
who knows just where she's going:
to steal something
that doesn't belong to her -
some chicken, or one more chance,
or other life.
Commentary:
In Atwood's "Red Fox" she uses the conceit, compairing a hungry person to a fox, and imagery in order to demonstrate how poverty can cause people to make bad and desperate decisions.
Comparing a human to fox connotes that the human is sly, coniving, and a trickster. Atwood uses this conceit to demonstrate that this is what people become when they are impoverished and starving. She says, "To survive we'd all turn thief and rascal, or so says the fox," which shows how people will do whatever it takes to survive such as food, to do so. She says, "Hunger corrupts" then goes on to say "to steal somethign that doesn't belong to her - some chicken." It seems as if she is justifying the fox-like actions that humans take to survive. Using the word "corrupts" implies that the hunger takes over and makes people lose control of their inhibitions and set aside their morals to survive. Another example of people setting aside their morals for survival is when she states, "mothers...pawning their bodies."
The imagery in the poem suggests starvation, and provides reasoning as to why people are becoming sly and coniving like foxes. She says, "She's a lean vixen. I can see the ribs, the sly trickster's eyes, ... the skinny feet." These images describe the body of a fox as well as the body of a starving person, which exemplifies Atwood's conceit throughout the poem. Also, Atwood says, "Of course there are mothers, squeezing their breasts dry, pawning their bodies, shedding teeth for their children," which demonstrates the desperate measures to which a mother would turn to for her survival and the suvival of her children.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
"From the Frontier of Writing" by Seamus Heaney
FROM THE FRONTIER OF WRITING
The tightness and the nilness round that space
when the car stops in the road, the troops inspect
its make and number and, as one bends his face
towards your window, you catch sight of more
on a hill beyond, eyeing with intent
down cradled guns that hold you under cover
and everything is pure interrogation
until a rifle motions and you move
with guarded unconcerned acceleration--
a little emptier, a little spent
as always by that quiver in the self,
subjugated, yes, and obedient.
So you drive on to the frontier of writing
where it happens again. The guns on tripods;
the sergeant with his on-off mike repeating
data about you, waiting for the squawk
of clearance; the marksman training down
out of the sun upon you like a hawk.
And suddenly you're through, arraigned yet freed,
as if you'd passed from behind a waterfall
on the black current of a tarmac road
past armor-plated vehicles, out between
the posted soldiers flowing and receding
like tree shadows into the polished windscreen.
Commentary:
In Seamus Heaney's From the Frontier of Writing, Heaney uses images of war to develope the conceit of comparing the process of a writer getting his or her work read by someone else to the frontier of a war battlefield.
The first three stanzas of the poem express the speaker's feeling when his he gives his work to someone to be read and critiqued. He uses the image of someone driving through or past the frontier to represent how he feels when his work is being read. He says "when the car stops in the road, the troops inspect its make and number and, as one bends his face towards your window," which is a metaphor to how the reader reads the work. The reader gets the work and looks closely at it to pick it apart and finding literal and metaphoric meanings, as do the troops at the frontier of a battlefield when passersby come about. He also uses the image of hawks when he says, "the marksman training down out of the sun upon you like a hawk." This quotation compares critics to hawks, which implies that critics are feared creatures who swoop down and kill their prey, which are poems and writers.
This war imagery also makes it seem as if the speaker views critics as bad people because he says "eyeing with intent," meaning that the critics have an ulterior motive for reading the work because the word "eyeing" connotes suspicion and evilness, while the word "intent" means reason and motive. He also says "everything is pure interrogation." Interrogation is something viewed as annoying, menacing, and unwanted. He feels that critics interrogate a work as frontier troops interrogate those passing through.
The tightness and the nilness round that space
when the car stops in the road, the troops inspect
its make and number and, as one bends his face
towards your window, you catch sight of more
on a hill beyond, eyeing with intent
down cradled guns that hold you under cover
and everything is pure interrogation
until a rifle motions and you move
with guarded unconcerned acceleration--
a little emptier, a little spent
as always by that quiver in the self,
subjugated, yes, and obedient.
So you drive on to the frontier of writing
where it happens again. The guns on tripods;
the sergeant with his on-off mike repeating
data about you, waiting for the squawk
of clearance; the marksman training down
out of the sun upon you like a hawk.
And suddenly you're through, arraigned yet freed,
as if you'd passed from behind a waterfall
on the black current of a tarmac road
past armor-plated vehicles, out between
the posted soldiers flowing and receding
like tree shadows into the polished windscreen.
Commentary:
In Seamus Heaney's From the Frontier of Writing, Heaney uses images of war to develope the conceit of comparing the process of a writer getting his or her work read by someone else to the frontier of a war battlefield.
The first three stanzas of the poem express the speaker's feeling when his he gives his work to someone to be read and critiqued. He uses the image of someone driving through or past the frontier to represent how he feels when his work is being read. He says "when the car stops in the road, the troops inspect its make and number and, as one bends his face towards your window," which is a metaphor to how the reader reads the work. The reader gets the work and looks closely at it to pick it apart and finding literal and metaphoric meanings, as do the troops at the frontier of a battlefield when passersby come about. He also uses the image of hawks when he says, "the marksman training down out of the sun upon you like a hawk." This quotation compares critics to hawks, which implies that critics are feared creatures who swoop down and kill their prey, which are poems and writers.
This war imagery also makes it seem as if the speaker views critics as bad people because he says "eyeing with intent," meaning that the critics have an ulterior motive for reading the work because the word "eyeing" connotes suspicion and evilness, while the word "intent" means reason and motive. He also says "everything is pure interrogation." Interrogation is something viewed as annoying, menacing, and unwanted. He feels that critics interrogate a work as frontier troops interrogate those passing through.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
John Donne's "The Bait" Commentary
The Bait
Come live with me, and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,
With silken lines, and silver hooks.
There will the river whispering run
Warm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun;
And there the 'enamour'd fish will stay,
Begging themselves they may betray.
When thou wilt swim in that live bath,
Each fish, which every channel hath,
Will amorously to thee swim,
Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.
If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,
By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,
And if myself have leave to see,
I need not their light having thee.
Let others freeze with angling reeds,
And cut their legs with shells and weeds,
Or treacherously poor fish beset,
With strangling snare, or windowy net.
Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest
The bedded fish in banks out-wrest;
Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,
Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.
For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,
For thou thyself art thine own bait:
That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,
Alas, is wiser far than I.
Commentary:
In John Donne's "The Bait," Donne uses the metaphors of bait compared to women and fish compared to men to symbolize the relationship between man and woman, demonstrating the power women have over men and the weakness men have when it comes to women.
The comparioson of bait to women demonstrates women's power over men because bait is used by fishermen to lure, trip, trap, and catch the fish who are foolish enough to be pulled in by its glamour. In reference to the women in the poem, Donne says, "Each fish, which every channel hath, will amourously to thee swim, gladder to catch thee, than thou him." These three lines mean that men from all over are often lured by women's natural charm and beauty, even though the women don't want them. This shows the natural power that women have. He also states that women do not need anything to enhance their charm or glamour because just being a woman gives them natural charm, in the last stanzas.
Donne's comparing men to fish demonstrates men's weakness when it comes to women because fish are constantly tricked by bait all the time, over and over again, yet they never learn. This is exemplified in the second to last stanza when he says, "Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies, Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes." This means that pretty, glamourous women lure in men with wandering eyes and catch them in the women's natural charm trap.
Come live with me, and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,
With silken lines, and silver hooks.
There will the river whispering run
Warm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun;
And there the 'enamour'd fish will stay,
Begging themselves they may betray.
When thou wilt swim in that live bath,
Each fish, which every channel hath,
Will amorously to thee swim,
Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.
If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,
By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,
And if myself have leave to see,
I need not their light having thee.
Let others freeze with angling reeds,
And cut their legs with shells and weeds,
Or treacherously poor fish beset,
With strangling snare, or windowy net.
Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest
The bedded fish in banks out-wrest;
Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,
Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.
For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,
For thou thyself art thine own bait:
That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,
Alas, is wiser far than I.
Commentary:
In John Donne's "The Bait," Donne uses the metaphors of bait compared to women and fish compared to men to symbolize the relationship between man and woman, demonstrating the power women have over men and the weakness men have when it comes to women.
The comparioson of bait to women demonstrates women's power over men because bait is used by fishermen to lure, trip, trap, and catch the fish who are foolish enough to be pulled in by its glamour. In reference to the women in the poem, Donne says, "Each fish, which every channel hath, will amourously to thee swim, gladder to catch thee, than thou him." These three lines mean that men from all over are often lured by women's natural charm and beauty, even though the women don't want them. This shows the natural power that women have. He also states that women do not need anything to enhance their charm or glamour because just being a woman gives them natural charm, in the last stanzas.
Donne's comparing men to fish demonstrates men's weakness when it comes to women because fish are constantly tricked by bait all the time, over and over again, yet they never learn. This is exemplified in the second to last stanza when he says, "Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies, Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes." This means that pretty, glamourous women lure in men with wandering eyes and catch them in the women's natural charm trap.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Good Morrow
I wonder by my troth, what thou, and I
Did, till we lov'd? Were we not wean'd till then?
But suck'd on countrey pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the seaven sleepers den?
T'was so; But this, all pleasures fancies bee.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desir'd, and got, 'twas but a dreame of thee.
And now good morrow to our waking soules,
Which watch not one another out of feare;
For love, all love of other sights controules,
And makes one little roome, an every where.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let Maps to other, worlds on worlds have showne,
Let us possesse one world; each hath one, and is one.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appeares,
And true plaine hearts doe in the faces rest,
Where can we finde two better hemispheares
Without sharpe North, without declining West?
What ever dyes, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none doe slacken, none can die.
Commentary:
In John Donne's "The Good Morrow," Donne uses diction/structure and repetition to express his deep love and feelings for his lover.
Donne's use of the word "soul" demonstrates his deep love for his lover because when one speaks of souls, it shows that what they feel goes past mind and body. When one referrs to a soul connection, it means that they feel a deep, strong, everlasting bond to the other because a soul lives on forever. Donne also uses many commas within his sentences, which signify pauses or breaks in his speech/thinking. It is always hard for people to express their love and feelings for other people, which causes nervousness and shyness. His many breaks (structure) within his sentences show that it is hard for him to get his words out and fully express himself, which shows that he is in love.
Donne frequently repeats the word 'love" and different forms of the word "we," such as "our" and "us". The repetition of the word loves demonstrates how deep his love runs for her because it's almost like he can't say it enough. It seems as if, by repeating the word "love" he is trying to convince his lover of how deep his feelings are for her. His repetition of the words "we", "our", and "us" demonstrate that he feels that him and his lover are one. This ties in to his use of the words "love" and "soul" because it demonstrates that his love is so deep that he feels him and his lover have a soul connection that make them one person, one being, one life force. It shows that he would not be whole without his lover because without her he would only be half of a person and not "one."
Did, till we lov'd? Were we not wean'd till then?
But suck'd on countrey pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the seaven sleepers den?
T'was so; But this, all pleasures fancies bee.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desir'd, and got, 'twas but a dreame of thee.
And now good morrow to our waking soules,
Which watch not one another out of feare;
For love, all love of other sights controules,
And makes one little roome, an every where.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let Maps to other, worlds on worlds have showne,
Let us possesse one world; each hath one, and is one.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appeares,
And true plaine hearts doe in the faces rest,
Where can we finde two better hemispheares
Without sharpe North, without declining West?
What ever dyes, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none doe slacken, none can die.
Commentary:
In John Donne's "The Good Morrow," Donne uses diction/structure and repetition to express his deep love and feelings for his lover.
Donne's use of the word "soul" demonstrates his deep love for his lover because when one speaks of souls, it shows that what they feel goes past mind and body. When one referrs to a soul connection, it means that they feel a deep, strong, everlasting bond to the other because a soul lives on forever. Donne also uses many commas within his sentences, which signify pauses or breaks in his speech/thinking. It is always hard for people to express their love and feelings for other people, which causes nervousness and shyness. His many breaks (structure) within his sentences show that it is hard for him to get his words out and fully express himself, which shows that he is in love.
Donne frequently repeats the word 'love" and different forms of the word "we," such as "our" and "us". The repetition of the word loves demonstrates how deep his love runs for her because it's almost like he can't say it enough. It seems as if, by repeating the word "love" he is trying to convince his lover of how deep his feelings are for her. His repetition of the words "we", "our", and "us" demonstrate that he feels that him and his lover are one. This ties in to his use of the words "love" and "soul" because it demonstrates that his love is so deep that he feels him and his lover have a soul connection that make them one person, one being, one life force. It shows that he would not be whole without his lover because without her he would only be half of a person and not "one."
Monday, December 1, 2008
NO SAGGIN'
For my act of resistance, I decided to raise the awareness of the origins of saggin'. I have always been disturbed when I hear people say that saggin' came from men who got "taken" (if you don't what that means...ask somebody cuz it's too inappropriate to post on here) in jail. FYI saggin' originated during the times of slavery. Wearing your pants up over your butt was a sign of respect, prestige, and social class. Slaves were forced to sagg their pants because it kept in a lower class than whites, and it kept them from being able to run away. This was true for men, women, and children. Over time, slaves adapted to this and learned to use clothing lines as belts so that they could be comfortable and able to run away to gain freedom. If a slave was ever caught doing this, the punishment was brutal torture and death. Slaves would be lynched to death for wearing their pants above their butts. For a person, especially black, to sagg thier pants, they are giving off a sign of self-disrespect and lower status in my opinion. Why would you do something that people fought, struggled, and suffered to not have to do? Blacks went through so much to be able to wear their pants above their butts, and it seems like all of that struggle and suffering was for nothing because people, blacks, still sagg their pants.
For my act of resistance/awareness I made flyers and handed them out to people on the street and at Oak Creek Mall in Chicago, Illinois. I also told people at the mall and at King about the origins of saggin' (above). Most of my reactions were positive. I got alot of people who said, "Wow, I didn't know that," "Really," "Interesting," and "I wish more young men knew this, then maybe they would dress more appropriately and presentable," among other things. However, many of the young men I gave flyers to and spoke to about the issue said things like "And so," "Yeah whatever," "That was then, this is now," and "This isn't going to change anything," among other things. I noticed that the boys I talked to at King still sagg their pants except one boy. I don't know what grade he is in or his name because I just randomly stopped him in the hallway and told him about the issue. Everytime I see this boy, now, he is not sagging his pants.
I really wouldn't do anything differently with this project, overall. However, I might construct a solid speech about it and/or make a little more public than I did.
Just as a side note....saggin' spelled backwards.....How far have we, blacks/humans, really come?
SAGGIN
NIGGAS (sorry if this is too inappropriate or too much to handle for some)
THE END
For my act of resistance/awareness I made flyers and handed them out to people on the street and at Oak Creek Mall in Chicago, Illinois. I also told people at the mall and at King about the origins of saggin' (above). Most of my reactions were positive. I got alot of people who said, "Wow, I didn't know that," "Really," "Interesting," and "I wish more young men knew this, then maybe they would dress more appropriately and presentable," among other things. However, many of the young men I gave flyers to and spoke to about the issue said things like "And so," "Yeah whatever," "That was then, this is now," and "This isn't going to change anything," among other things. I noticed that the boys I talked to at King still sagg their pants except one boy. I don't know what grade he is in or his name because I just randomly stopped him in the hallway and told him about the issue. Everytime I see this boy, now, he is not sagging his pants.
I really wouldn't do anything differently with this project, overall. However, I might construct a solid speech about it and/or make a little more public than I did.
Just as a side note....saggin' spelled backwards.....How far have we, blacks/humans, really come?
SAGGIN
NIGGAS (sorry if this is too inappropriate or too much to handle for some)
THE END
Monday, November 17, 2008
Never Underestimate the Power of A Woman
The theme, never underestimate the power of a woman, is very evident in Lysistrata. I think the most prominent and humerous part of the play that exemplifies this theme is when the women come out to fight the men. The narration says, "A horde of women, armed with household articles, begins to pour from the Akropolis." Not only is the imagery of this statement very, very funny, but it is significant to the role and power of women as well. It's significance suggests that the role of women is thier power, in a way, because these women were able to use their role in society - housewives - as their manpower for the war. Their weapon in battle were the things that society used to classify them and their role. The women were help down by the men and by society as housewives, that cook, clean, and take care of the children. The women turned that role around and used the pots they cook with, the brooms they clean with, and baby rattles they care for the kids with, (among many other things I'm sure) to fight the men who put them in that position in the first place. This turning of power is a demonstration that the power of women is way beyond what men and society see it as because not only did the women lash out against the men, but they were strong, smart, and clever enough to use their stereotypic role to do the lashing.
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