Interpreter....

To understand “Interpreter of Maladies” by Lahiri we must first comprehend why this is a post modern piece of work and what is the difference between modernism and post modernism that will tell us about human behavior. Since all writing is a product of it’s time there are very distinct ways “interpreter of maladies” is written, the immediate give away that I caught onto was the human behavior of the characters. One of the most notable differences between modernism and post modernism is the way people think and react or better yet lack of reaction. In a writing from the modern period Mr. Das would not have fallen into a fantasy state but instead he would have moved on very quickly and acted like nothing happened. This is proof that we are dealing with a writing from the post modern period because we are see people believe whatever they wish to believe and fantasize about their wants. This kind of thinking automatically changes they way he sees the tour and allows his imagination to grow, the type of thought processes that fall into the post modern period.
Another example of human behavior and why it reflect post modernism is when Mrs. Das cheats on her husband, now during earlier things like this are never heard of, that a married woman goes out and cheats. Also the idea that she cheats with her husband’s friend show that this is somewhat acceptable. Showing us that this is definitely a product of post modernism because of the lack of amazing reaction this kind of action should have received. The actions taken by the characters and the thought process of the characters give us a clear view that “Interpreter of Maladies” is a post modern writing.

Harsh Reality, Reality vs Illusion

During life we face many problems and obstacles, some that we bring on ourselves and other that are brought onto us by other members in our lives. It is rare in life that we are faced with a challenge and are overjoyed about it, a lot of the time we are happy how we handled it or happy that we learned something that may change the way we view other situations in life. Life is a tricky journey that isn't always filled with flowers and magical rainbows, from time-to-time people leave the reality they are in and create an illusion. An illusion where they are in charge and life is perfect, this illusion becomes so good that some have trouble snapping back to reality. Two characters that were faced with this challenge were Sammy from “A&P” and Jig from “Hills Like White Elephants”; they both faced the challenge of coming back from an illusion that they created because reality wasn't good enough for them. Both characters came to a realization that the illusion cannot be carried on and life does go on.

            Sammy, the main character of the short story “A&P” by John Updike, finds out how harsh the world is when he finally comes back into reality. The story is of a teenage boy working in a supermarket as a checkout clerk, he falls in love with one of the three girls that walked in only wearing bikinis. He starts to analyze everything they do and wear. “She had on a kind of dirty-pink-beige maybe, I don't know-bathing suit...”  (Updike). This was the way he was examining the girls at the beginning, just saying what they were doing and pointing their physical appearance. He tried to piece together what the girls are like and this is where his illusions start. Sammy starts to create false stories of what the rest of girl’s lives are like. I feel like this happens because he wants to talk to the girls. Being too timid to actually approach the girls, the illusions were his only way of “communicating” with them. This problems Sammy faces is very obvious because he even discussed the situation with his parents, meaning that the girls mean a lot more to him than he thinks. He starts to create the illusion that he knows more about them because he is too scared to talk to them, especially since the supermarket is empty and he has no other work to do.

            The short story of “Jig in Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway is a sad story of a young girl traveling with an American in Spain in order to receive an abortion. From the beginning you can tell she isn't too interested and happy about this plan while the American keeps bugging her if she is okay with it. At first she tries to see if he will still love her and if everything will go back like it was, “But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’ll like it?” (Hemingway). Deep down inside she knows that the truth is, love is gone and once the operation is over she will be on her own. By asking the American all these question she is trying to reassure her illusion that he still loves her. Once figuring out that the operation was an abortion, I knew that there was no love, no man that loves a women, would pressure her into destroying what he and her could make.

            Both Sammy and Jig are forced out of their illusion at the end of the stories, they are forced to face reality that they wish wasn't true. Sammy has to face reality that the girls did not see him stand up for them and quit his job, leaving him with the decision to either go back into the store and apologize for his actions, or move on and get another job. “I look around for my girls, but they’re gone, of course.” (Updike). This is the very moment that reality strikes Sammy and he realizes that he really was in an illusion, he thought that quitting for the girls would make one of them fall in love with him. Jig realizes that her future with the American is over when she said, “No, we can’t”  (Hemingway) that they can’t have everything. She is basically telling the American that their future won’t consist of them being together, she learns that her future is hers and not theirs. Both situations are sad because both characters are hoping that their illusion will turn into their reality but most situations its Reality vs. Illusion and not illusion into reality.

            The biggest example that I can find in modern society of Reality vs. Illusion would be the people that buy the “newest and quickest” way to loose weight. I’m referring to either the pill or exercise machine commercials that everyone knows they are unlikely to work and it’s all just a big scam. Do you think business companies that found a pill that will make you lose weight by not exercising charge people $30 for the bottle? That’s not possible but people still believe in it and buy it. After several weeks of trying this product they haven't lost any weight and just lost $30 on nothing. People have this illusion that it is possible to sit on their butt and lose weight just like some think that they can sit on their butt and eventually become billionaires.

            When people or characters think about how their lives should be and start to play them out they create this illusion and start to stray away from reality. They do not realize that just because they aren't paying attention to life that it won’t crumble their illusion. Both Sammy and Jig witnessed this first hand that reality doesn't care what they want, their hopes and dreams aren't important unless they make them important. The theme Reality vs. Illusion will always be a sad one because it usually ends with someone having his or her dreams crushed by the cruel world. Just like when you realize that little sign on the commercial that says “result will vary” really means this product probably won’t work and if you haven't figured it out, this is me tell you the product won’t work.     

Brady's Class

This is a post about my English 102 class that was lead by Professor Brady, I am supposed to discuss and review how my time at 102 was and what I felt about it. This doesn't seem fair and right mainly because there is nothing special about me and I am not a fan of literature or writing myself. I had a fun and educational time at Professor Brady's 102 class mainly because of Professor Brady, yes all the student were cool but it's the Professor that deserves most of the credit. 

During my time at Farmingdale State College I've had some good classes and one that the professor put all the students to sleep, gladly it was not Professor Brady. Actually Professor Brady is the total opposite, she has so much passion for literature that at first it was scary to be in her class. From the times when she stairs at you while she asks the class a question to the times when she gets so deep into her lectures that she starts singing. Now by all means I am not saying these are negative things because as the end of the semester is a day away and I look back I realize that these are the things that made her different and for that I would like to thanks Professor Brady. Being different in modern sociality is not an easy thing especially when it has to be in front of 30 or so college students that are falling asleep, texting, won't respond to anything unless their grade depends on it but the way Professor Brady upheld the class were forced at first to speak. Then we started to cut each other off and that was when we all became a class, for those who participated. 

I really enjoyed the topics Professor Brady covered and the stories that were chosen for us to read, I'm not a fan of read but after reading and giving some thought I found out that these stories relate to my life in a way. When I started to think about what Professor Brady was speaking about and how authors are just trying to display their emotions I realized that I'm not just reading a story but seeing the emotions of the author. I actually started to read the New York Times other than what I was reading no the computer already and I enjoy it. It’s relaxing and peaceful. This is important and stunning to me because the last time I read a whole book was in 7 or 8th grade, which come to think of it is stupid. Mainly because I like information and know and books are one of the best ways to obtain these things. As the last day of the semester comes and Professor Brady will ask us about what did we learn from her class, I could say that I learned to enjoy literature but not writing yet. Thank You Professor Brady again. 

Power or Family, life decisions that lay the path to our lives.

Reading the Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, I came to realize how family bonds and ones lust for power intertwines. As I read through the play I took notes on how Antigone was the tragic hero of the play, until I realized I was looking at this play the wrong way. The play contain two different sets of heroes, I didn’t notice the other character’s story because the two characters were in a conflict. The other tragic hero in this play is Creon.  Sophocles stated, “The greatest grief’s are those we cause ourselves”, this was made more clear after learning what Creon was doing and looking at the play from his perspective. Creon became king after the war over the city-state by the two brothers Etecles and Polynices; upon the death of both brothers, Creon only recognizes Etecles as the honorable brother for his efforts to protect the city-state. While giving Etecles a proper burial Creon leaves Polynices unburied to the dogs of the street. The dilemma of the play emerged when the protagonist, Creon’s headstrong niece decides to give her brother a proper burial, thus giving Creon no choice but to uphold the law of the city and his edict. From there the play goes through the basic structure of what a Greek tragedy consists of.

            Since this is a Greek tragedy it has to have a tragic hero, someone of noble stature. A person with good morals, but certain imperfections which contribute to his demise, usually an act of injustice. His arrogance takes over and shows the audience the excessive pride, which blinds him from the situations actual importance. Leading to a punishment that exceeds the severity of the crime that was committed, these turn of events leads the protagonist to learn from his mistakes and comes to his senses right before death plays its part. This leaves the tragic hero as an example to look at and to learn from. Those are the characteristics demonstrated by the tragic heroes as explained by Aristotle. All of these characteristics emerge from Creon throughout the tragic play. According to the Greek tragedy the play has the pull of the audience’s emotions and most of all teaches them a lesson or tries to send a message to the reader. These messages mostly focus on topics like love, loss, pride, or abuse of power; all of these morals presented are clearly displayed in the tragic play Antigone.

            Unexpectedly becoming king was something Creon was not expecting. When he became king, he made sure to show the people what kind of ruler he would be by laying only one of the brothers to rest. Although both of the brothers were royalty, Creon expressed his supremacy and power by this controversial act. The first clue that told me that Creon is a tragic hero in the play is that his edict came into play when he enforced the death penalty upon the headstrong young women that was actually his niece.  As the play continues and Creon becomes more stubborn and refuses to listen to others advice, a display of extreme pride that can be see also as arrogance emerges. Was Creon arrogant? Yes, he was the new king, he had to show his power and pride so other nations along with his people notice that he was not a push over. Creon realizes his mistake when Teiresias comes to him, but Teiresias doesn’t come to convince him to change his mind. When Creon listens to Teiresias’s words, it was too late for him to do anything; once he arrives to Antigone’s prison she already hung herself. His son falls and stabs himself when trying to kill his father and later Creon’s wife was found dead.

            The downfall of Creon started when he began insulting people and losing respect for the gods. His first insult was with Hades by dishonoring death, then disrespecting Aphrodite by breaking up the marriage of Haemon and Antigone. The next insult was to Earth by imprisoning Antigone alive and the last case was disrespecting Zeus by saying, “Let the eagles carry his carcass up to the throne of Zeus”.  Refusing to listen to Antigone’s cries and his son’s reasoning and mercy, lead to the gods taking the life of his son and wife. One life was taken as a result for him taking Antigone’s life and the other was for the dishonor he dealt to Polynices by leaving him laying without a proper burial.  Typically in all Greek plays whenever the gods have to show their power and wrath it means that they were greatly embarrassed and dishonored, they show their power by taking everything that truly is important to the offender.

            During the whole story Creon has the chance to put aside his edict and show his loving softer side to Antigone but time after time he is lead to the tragic side. This is what ultimately shows me that he is the main tragic hero, also because Antigone’s faith is always known. Like most Greek tragic plays Antigone tries to pull every emotion possible out of its audience, keeping you at the edge of your seat hoping Antigone lives. At the end it is Creon that is left with nothing but dead family member and a city-state to rule. Not the ending he was hoping to have but life goes on leaving him to live with the choices he made. 

Where'd you go, Favorite color, and Stop all the clocks.

Choosing two poem and a song that convey a similar mean was a hard process the main reason is because I rarely every read poetry so figuring out a poem is trying to tell me was a struggle on its own. After researching and looking for poem I found that two poem that I already analyzed and figured out. After comparing the two and finding out all the similarities they contained pairing a song to them was simple. These poems were both shown to me by a performance that’s why I believe they stayed in the back of my mind. The poems I chose were “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” by W.H. Auden from the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral and “Favorite Color” by Jay Davis that appeared on HBO Brave New Voices, the song that I believe has similarities in theme to both of these poems is Where’d You Go by Fort Minor. 
The poem “Favorite Color” by Jay Davis is one of the most moving and saddest pieces of literature I've heard and read, it tells the story of a girl crying out to her mother for love. All the daughter wants is to know her mom’s favorite color wants the mom to open up to her and acknowledge her existence. Watching the video you can hear pain, anger, sadness, and loneliness in her voice but at certain time their is hopefulness, when she said “Squeeze the life out of me so that you can see rainbows again, Don't see it as a homicide, But a sacrifice for the greater good...” She is putting her soul out for her mother even if it means destroying herself; she feels abandonment from her mother. This may seem crazy but it is her last resort, she is up against the wall and doesn't know what to do, she tells us this “I know that now you probably think I'm crazy, that this is just another one of my phases. But I'm not crazy, Mom. Humans just have crazy tendencies when we want someone to love us.” 
The poem by W.H. Auden “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” speaks about the passing of a loved one, showing the anger, pain and mourning that comes with this loss. This poem was displayed amazingly in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral, displaying the emotions towards the death and the rest of the world. His tone is very sad and depressing like most people would be at a funeral but also angry and mad at the rest of the world because he wishes for a moment for the loved one that has passed. When he says, “Stop all the clocks, and cut off the telephone...” he is wishing for the world to pause and recognize what has happened, that the person he loves the most has passed away. Also when he says, “Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves...” he wants the world to mourn the death just as he is. He now feels abandoned and alone, as if he his life has no more meaning shown when he says “The stars are not wanted now: put out every one...”

Fort Minor demonstrates the loneliness that comes when family members are shipped away to war, even though there is a chance that they are coming back. The setting is 3 families that had their loved one taken away to war either a son or spouse or brother and they all wish for them to come back, some don't make it back. It is a huge toll that takes on family to know that your loved one is half way across the world in battlefield. The song starts off with “Where'd you go? I miss you so, Seems like it's been forever, that you've been gone...” this tone is sadness, loneliness, desperate for the person to come back. This changes when he says “So, I want you to know it's a little fucked up, That I'm stuck here waitin', at times debatin', Tellin' you that I've had it with you and your career, Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?” he is angry and frustrated that the loved one has pick to serve his or her country rather than support the family. The ending shows that he is desperate for the person to come back when is says, “Please come back home...” 5 times to finish off the song. 
I believe that the proper theme for all of these poems and song is abandonment because each person has lost their loved one, one way or another. Whether it was dead or neglect they wish for them to come back and they will even loose their soul to be with them again. They are all different because these situations differ from one another but feeling is very similar of loneliness, anger, pain, mourning and tone is similar ranging from anger to sadness to need and love.