Edge

Sadie and Victor putting dazed and drunken Dirty Joe on the fair’s roller coaster is a wonderful display of tricksters at work. To only seek personal amusement and not consider, or forget to observe, the well being of others is where these types of characters usually tend to falter. There is no justified reason for doing this to him, Sadie and Victor think it’s just an amusing idea. Of course, the idea was funny, but turning it into an act was only dangerous. The typical result followed suit and trouble was had, and it fell unfortunately on Dirty Joe. He escaped physical harm but was embarrassed by his friends in front of all the other fair-goers, who were condescending towards his kind already. A scheme that allowed laughter at someone else’s expense was not as satisfying in the end for these tricksters.

The other effect of a trickster is a helpful result, be it intentional or somewhat indirect. These types of characters are not always human, at times they are animals. Often found in fables, they lead the character in a roundabout path that they do not necessarily know they are following. Victor’s aunt did not know a pant leg-traveling mouse would cause such a series of events. She became upset with her husband and son. Traveling down to the creek the aunt arrived upon the concept that her life needs a change. She wishes for recognition for her efforts for others, and perhaps receive once in a while. She cannot swim well and uses that to send a message by paying her husband and son no attention when they tell her to get herself out of the water. It is now her decision that she will not give into the two of them any longer. A small mouse helped the aunt recognize the need for change in their lifestyle to allow herself some happiness, and ultimately stand up for herself.

Within my psychology class this semester, a discussion was held about an experiment in which several individuals had submitted themselves into a mental hospital after displaying and describing fake symptoms that included hearing voices communicating dark and demonic things. Each patient was diagnosed with schizophrenia and they were all committed to different hospitals. As soon as they entered the ward they began to act as they normally would.

They all began taking notes and making journal entries of every day happenings. The staff did not recognize their new behavior as that of a normal person. They associated it with the disorder, saying that the patient was obsessively recording things. Interestingly enough it wasn’t the medically trained “professionals” who saw anything unusually normal within these individuals, it was the other patients in the ward who truly belonged there. Eventually they left they were discharged from the hospital labeled with ‘schizophrenia in remission’. This was changed later because it was truly only an experiment, but one that was very informative.

Perception is something that is extremely influential on the current psyche of an individual. McMurphy performed the same act as those conducting the discussed experiment, but for more selfish reasons. Though, he did receive a similar insight. Perhaps it was the position of authority that gave the physicians the motive to believe they could diagnose and understand the source of every bit of behavior, because surely the mentally diseased would not. Is this a driving force in Nurse Ratched? I believe that statement is entirely possible. Even the temporary and chronic patients in the novel recognized McMurphy’s difference.

Perception is influential, but can be influenced as well. If one wishes to see something one way, they can eventually convince themselves of its “truth”. As a reader who is without the same authority as Nurse Ratched, I was bothered by the electric shock given to anyone she saw fit. Compared to her, I’d like to think it’s what my morals and non-judgmental attitude would cause me to do for those men, or perhaps it’s just our difference in developed personality due to position and perception.

The characters in this tale represent pre-existing cultural norms. The most outstanding element being the role that love plays in marriage. Today that is generally unquestioned, because under most circumstances two individuals marry because they are in love and wish to keep caring for one another. In Blood Wedding, family financial and social status are the deciding factors. The characters are placed in a situation where their marriage hasn’t outwardly been arranged, but they are joining for their families and not themselves. Their relations will both benefit financially from the wedding and retain their status.

But, of course, to spice up the story, the bride would have a completely different ceremony had culture given her the right to a say in the matter. To make circumstances more difficult, her love is unable to wed because of he and his family’s status. Her decision to challenge the cultural norm in this fashion is outrageous to all others. They do not even respect her feelings of love, instead it is about the bride not respecting her family. This hasn’t necessarily disappeared along with the past, however.

The current existence of problems arising due to social status has not vanished either. It is less dominating though, as the idea of romance and love are now held higher in most eyes. But, to deny that dollar signs can be seen in some other eyes would be naïve. A world thought of as existing otherwise is almost inconceivable. If these norms were violated (and human tendencies were somehow altered), Anna Nicole wouldn’t have made off so well and my roommate could drag Justin Timberlake down the aisle just like she’s always wanted.

When I think about the comparison between our reading and reality it is sad that some thing never fully change; but on the other hand, that vision is just mad!

I read the entire passage from the “culture” link under October 12th’s post that was discussed in class, and I believe that this is a large theme of the book in that culture itself is being challenged. Interestingly, culture can be related to a previous topic, it’s a collection of norms, (or natural fact / accepted truths.) So what in “The House of The Spirits” is natural fact? A largely important, and quite obvious one, is class. The struggle for, and between, status is continuous in this novel. The two classes are the aristocracy and the peasants. However, the peasants can join the police force or the army and gain access to education and a higher-class status, which is the case of Esteban Garcia.

The conflict in this area of culture arises in that the upper class owns the land that the lower peasant class works on. This also causes a struggle between families, the del Valle’s and Trueba’s (crillos), and the Garcia’s (peasants), which all contain characters that have stronger relationships than just ownership. Two of the characters bring this even further by stringing it in with politics. Esteban Trueba, who is conservative, believes that the status quo (* “normal”! *) should be maintainted and that there’s no need for the peasants to share in the wealth of the upper class. Pedro Tercero Garcia offers up the element of challenge within his culture, because not only is he a revolutionary as well as a peasant. He will work to make that resisted change happen. Interestingly, the Trueba women support the peasants, and this sets up an important union that is also yet another challenge to the culture.

There are many more challenges that are written about, such as the position or power of women, and the importance of genealogy. Perhaps those can be written about later as the novel moves further.

The biggest element that I receive from the online poetry is that there’s a holistic feeling. I find it hard to pick out the deeper elements or breadk down the message that is being conveyed. They are encouraging in that they invoke a desire to understand, however the path that is then followed is a circle because they also discourage when frustration sets in from being lost when searching for this meaning. The intention always seems hidden. Perhaps this is the author’s intent?

Some of these are to be taken in differently in terms of level of seriousness (like the “game” style version), though the distinction is not clear when the focus is not in sight. The interactivity encourages the idea that the reader is within their realm and the connection is reaching out to the reader, but then it is not close enough to fully grasp. Again, the mysterious element finds its way back in.

Another piece to this that makes it personally difficult to read or connect to is that it is not conventional poetry, so there are no “rules” how to read it. The always changing images make it hard to interpret, when the interpretation is loose enough already. An analysis varies from one person to the next, with all these different words that are seemingly random, it’s even harder to find a connection between what one individual sees as opposed to another. This technology element is a throw off, and it can’t help but feel as though it isn’t necessary, and newer isn’t always better.

Picture literature, I see a thick book filled with grand ideas tucked deep into a story. Though, a story is a story, why does it necessarily have to be written? The passing of a tale verbally is still a use of literature! But does that also mean it can be thrown into a relationship with the word “social”? Along with the “Ceremony” being read, this agrees with the idea of stories being passed on orally and affecting people’s lives as much, if not more, than anything written. In fact, for the better portion of history, stories being passed verbally was the biggest form of literature. Actually, while we’re at it, why not make it a song?

Story telling is a Native American tradition, and it is no surprise that it takes such an important role in this novel. The significance of these stories show how Tayo changes through his ceremony. The poems show, in a more indirect way, how heritage affects his struggle between what was and what is now. This is a consistent theme throughout “Ceremony”.

The stories always tie in with what is current in the writing. However, this can be associated with Tayo and how he may be separated from the past, but the stories will bring in that connection for him to see and finally acheive a relation to his heritage. It is interesting how the book is pieced together also, in that the stories or poems are not clearly defined as being such (even though that can be realized by the reader), and because of that they aren’t separated from the rest of the story. This falls back to the idea again that there is not supposed to be a separation, but rather a connection.

At the beginning of English 121, I remember discussing how to separate literature from other forms or writing, and I don’t remember anything alluding to fairy tales or lyrics. The relation I derive is that they may not be in the same category, however if you treat something with the same eye as you would to analyze literature, you seem to receive something different than say, you would were the piece read as something to just get an idea from and write about it.

Ideas of how to draw a deeper meaning from a piece can be taught in a way by encouraging thoughts of what the author might be trying to convey. Even outside of reading, this teaching can help an individual achieve better writing when they think about having a greater underlying meaning. I enjoy looking a little deeper into what an writer might be trying to say in their story, lyrics, poems, etc. However, I still don’t feel satisfied with my own or anyone else’s analysis. I believe an examination can be attempted, but it often feels like a frustrating, hopeless act in that it’s just a vicious cycle of ideas that no one is completely sure about.

What makes the difference between opinion and theory? The first is simply viewing a topic at a personal angle, but the latter is opinion that is justified with reasoning, (logic, facts, premise, etc.) Natural facts, or accepted truths, can be broken down by theory, where “the upsetting of the ‘natural fact’ is the beginning of being able to see things clearly.” Fairy tales are like these natural facts. When we begin to theorize about these stories, background is dug up and a deeper meaning is slowly uncovered.

Fairy tales are stories that have princes and princesses, characters at odds with the world to fall in love, triumphs over evil, a glittering storyline, and happy-ever-after endings. Or, is that the accepted truth? Let’s touch a small idea of theory. What if, after researching, the story you grew up with as Cinderella wasn’t at all what you remembered? Would you be hesitant to accept it? Even if the idea was unacceptable, there is something to be learned.

All things, fairy tales included, change according to what is considered acceptable or appropriate. Ideas, or opinions, are derived from morals of that time. What may have been used to convey a message to a child years ago is not the contemporary method, and is perhaps even looked down upon because it is not understood. As time changes, so does the tendency for certain personal opinions and larger accepted truths. It is therefore be understood that natural fact, is in fact… not fact!