Dalloway Reflections

While Virginia Woolf's novel is considered a classic and groundbreaking work of literature, I personally didn't enjoy it that much.  I found the writing style to be similar to Faulkner's stream of conciousness style, which I also disliked.  Woolf's writing style can be pleasant and its magnificence was only bearable to me in the reading of a short passage.  I found it very difficult to sit down and read forty or more pages as the writing was so dense with imagery and descriptions of everything that crossed each characters mind.  I can certainly appreciate why Virginia Woolf is considered to have an incredible mastery of writing, but for a novel, the density of the writing made it simply unenjoyable and distracted me from the messages she was trying to convey.  At points, I found it to be even more difficult to read than Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.  In Faulkner's work, some of the character's education levels and other differences made their sentences less wordy and easier to get through.  Faulkner was better able to distinguish through his writing style his different characters while Woolf's characters would occasionally blur in my mind.  I think this is in part due to Woolf's writing style and in part due to Woolf's characters not being as distinct as Faulkner's.  The one character that was immediately recognizable to me was Septimus and not so coincidentally, Septimus was my favorite character in the novel.

Another unenjoyable aspect of Dalloway was all the extra sentences and thoughts that didn't contribute at all.  These sentences were simply there and that's it.  They didn't exhibit any of Woolf's ideas or advance the plot.  They simply took up space on the page and it was quite annoying.  I didn't find the plot of Mrs. Dalloway to be all that exciting or entertaining, so when the extra sentences rolled around, I became even more disengaged with the novel.  If the plot was at least entertaining the extra sentences would be bearable, but having both a disinteresting plot and the additions made the novel unreadable at times.

Another thing that struck me about Mrs. Dalloway was the lack of Woolf getting her point across and stating her ideas.  I anticipated the book to be an in your face feminist novel, expecting Woolf to constantly display her discontent.  Upon reading the novel, this couldn't be further from the case.  The novel certainly had feminist undertones and through much discussion, close reading and analysis, Woolf's message is relatively clear.  However, it wasn't what as expected in terms of Woolf driving her point home.  I think modern perceptions on what feminism and feminist ideas are, have significantly shifted over the years.  In today's world, most people with a cause come out and directly state their ideas, principles and agendas.  In Woolf's time, I'm guessing that would be considered rude or at least not well accepted by society.  I don't think Virginia Woolf wanted the novel to be up in your face with her message, choosing instead to let the more meticulous readers dig out her ideas.  Woolf obviously knew she was exploring a topic that would anger many people, regardless of sex, and she chose to tread carefully.  I think she knew that if she directly and aggressively stated her radical new ideas, the book would have been shunned by the masses and wouldn't have had the same effect it ended up having.  I can appreciate Woolf's work, but my opinion on Mrs. Dalloway will have to remain a respectful appreciation and not a predilection.

Free Rein on a Blog Post! What to Write About? How About Music.

     Music is something that holds importance in almost every human being's life.  Every country, culture, region, era and person has its or their own music.  Music is something that transcends time and language.  In the modern and uber techonoligcal times that we live in, music is more accessible than ever.  A simple tap of a finger or a mouse can send wonderful sounds through speakers or headphones to entertain us whenever we desire.  While music is commonly used for entertainment, it can be used for so many more things.  It can be used to relax, reset and focus.  It can be used to help oneself fall asleep or wake up.  It can be used socially and it can be used for private moments.  It can trigger a wave of emotions and actions in a person.  It can make a person dance and sing and be happy.  In the realm of students, music is commonly used as a backdrop to studying.  Depending on the level of difficulty of the assignment or material, the music can be adjusted to fit the needs of the listener.  Depending on the student, their deep studying music and and light homework assignment music can be incredibly varied.  That is the great thing about music, it can help define us as a person.  There are so many artists and genres of music to explore that everyone has their own set or playlist.  While everyone's playlist is unique, there is often overlap between playlists helping to start and strengthen friendships and spur conversation.  Music has been around since almost the dawn of human kind.  There is something about a rythm, notes, instruments and vocals that appeals to the human ear and mind.  Music is a defining characteristic of humanity and it will continue to be as such so as long as humans journey through life on this earth.

The Train Wreck of Pilkings and Jane

     Oh, what to say about Pilkings and Jane.  Well, there isn't much redeeming about them.  They are careless, insensitive, racist and are generally bumbling idiots.  Pilkings is often rude to his wife and she is either submissive or she fires right back at him with more rudeness.  They certainly don't understand African culture and they don't seem to respect it either.  They look down upon Amusa, Joesph and Olunde and Pilkings is attempting to disrupt an important cultural event just because he thinks finds issue with it and because it is illegal in the government that his people have imposed in a country that isn't really theirs.  Pilkings describes the tradition as barbaric and unsettling, which is a fair assessment of the tradition.  Killing oneself is certainly an unsettling thing and Pilkings is certainly allowed and is probably expected to have this view of the ritual.  However, that certainly doesn't give him the authority to intervene.  He can have whatever opinion he wants about the tradition, but he should absolutely leave it be.  He is being insensitive to the culture of the people who he is trying to oppress and he isn't seeing the ritual from their angle.  To the Yoruba people, this event holds incredible significance. To them, this event determines the future success of the tribe and they are well within their right to be unhappy with Pilkings attempts to intervene.  It is equivalent to people from another country and religion going to Pilkings town to mess with Christmas or Easter or some other day that holds incredible significance to Pilkings and his people.  Pilkings wouldn't be okay with that and the people attempting to harass during Christmas or Easter would be out of line. Unfortunetly, Pilkings doesn't realize this and believes that he is doing something that is morally right and that he is just doing his job for Her Majesty's Government.

The Old Man and the Sea Intrigues Me

     I've always been intrigued about Hemingway's writing.  I visited his house in Key West when my father and I took a trip there when I was younger.  I didn't know why the house was important when I visited all those years ago, but I do remember it having an air about it.  It definetly seemed important to my young brain, but I didn't know why.  Now I know he is known as one of the greatest writers in American Literature and is known for his incredibly concise writing.  I also know that he wrote a lot of things about the depressing nature of WWI as he served in the war.  Another thing that I know about Hemingway was that he was an avid fisherman.  Obviously, we would have gotten along well.  Of all of his work that I hear about, the name that is said the most is The Old Man and the Sea.  I know that it is about fishing at some capacity, so I would enjoy it in that respect, but I imagine it would offer much more.  Glancing through his Wikipedia page (Ooh Wikipedia!  How rebellious I am.), it appears that Hemingway had four spouses, lived in many places including Cuba, served in WWI, went on safari in Africa and eventually killed himself while living in Idaho.  He obviously had a troubled life and saw and thought about a lot of things allowing him to offer up a lot of wisdom.  I'm sure that there are many wonderful nuggets of insight into life, human nature and all those other things that we read literature to find, tucked away in The Old Man and the Sea.  So, of all the authors and books that I could think of off the top of my head, Hemingway and The Old Man and the Sea is certainly the book that I would like to read and will make sure I do at some point.

Shakespeare's Goodbye

          The one idea about the Tempest that was brought up in class that made me think the most was the idea that Shakepeare is saying goodbye through Prospero.  All people who become famous and liked in the public eye must say goodbye to their fans and put down the tools of their profession eventually.  Examples abound in actors, athletes and authors and Shakespeare is no different.  Shakespeare is certainly bidding his fans farewell during Prospero's ending epilogue.  The similarities between Prospero and Shakespeare are quite striking.  Each has a power that could be described as magical as Prospero bids Ariel to do as he pleases and Shakespeare has the power and magic to entertain and influence an audience through his marvelous play writing.  Both were getting up there in age and had acquired a lot of wisdom and had accomplished many things throughout their life.  Despite accomplishing many things, they both felt they needed to do something more.  Prospero felt that he needed to find a suitable mate for his beloved daughter and he felt the need to free his slaves and forgive those who had wronged him.  Shakespeare felt the need to write his final play and share more messages to the world about society and human nature.  At the end of the story, both Prospero and Shakespeare are able to be free as each laid their burdens behind them and hung responsiblity up on the coat rack for the last time.  They had both accomplished what they wanted to do with their lives and they said goodbye to those they had influenced and those they had touched over the years.  While the Tempest isn't Shakespeare's most famous or best work, his ability to say goodbye through his character Prospero is one of the greatest and sneakiest endings to a literary career in history.

Book vs. Movie

          The book versus movie debate is one that has abounded through English classes.  Which came first?  Which was better?  Did the one that came second stick to the original story or did it expand to be better or worse?  These are some of the questions that define this debate.  In the case of the Tempest, the book or play is certainly better than the movie.  While the movie has a few talented actors, the huge leap to make Prospero a woman and call her Prospera, is too much of a change and detracts from some of the things Shakespeare was originally commenting on.  Usually when a movie makes a change from the book, it doesn't work out well for the movie and the Tempest is no exception.
          Prospero being a male character is important as it makes it more believeable that he is super protective of his daughter and also treats his daughter as a possession that should be hard to get for suitors.  Also, Prospero's controlling and powerful nature makes more since if he is male as society at the time told women to be submissive and to go about their daily lives of child rearing.  I appreciate the movie's attempt at being progressive, but in this case, it detracts from Shakespeare painting a picture of what he saw in society and letting people decide for themselves what to think.  I think that was one of Shakespeare's large motivations in writing the Tempest.  He had an incredibly large audience, saw issues in society and wanted to expose these issues to his audience.  As we have discussed in class, he never really seems to take a certain side in issues as he acts more to display them.  In the case of the movie, its changes serve to change what Shakespeare was displaying about society, which is not a good thing.

Bullies Abound In The Tempest

          There are two main sets of bullies in The Tempest.  First, there is the crew that harasses Gonzalo including Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio.  They poke fun at the old man Gonzalo and his positive outlook on life and positive outlook on their situation on the island.  Gonzalo describes, "Here is everything beneficial to life" (29).  The others aren't having it, however.  They think that they are in a hopeless and dismal situation and reprimand Gonzalo for his ideas.  Antonio and Sebastian send a barrage of criticism about the island describing it as a dump and putting Gonzalo down for thinking the island a lush place.  Gonzalo continues his arguement for the island describing how he would rule over it with amazing righteousness.  The others write him off as a confused old fool.  While reading this section, one can't help but feeling sad for Gonzalo as he seems to have so much goodness in his heart that is simply beat down by the bullies that surround him.
          The second set of bullies is Stephano and Trinculo.  They focus their bullying efforts on Caliban.  They manipulate Caliban who is in a desperate situation into treating them as lords.  They then force Caliban to escort them to Prospero's lair so they can steal clothes and other items.  The issue is, Caliban was on his epic revenge trip to kill Prospero who made Caliban the way he was.  Caliban thought that Stephano and Trinculo were on his side, but he quickly realizes they fooled him.  Stephano and Trinculo selfishily try to make Caliban help them in their theft, which ultimately costs Caliban his opportunity to enact revenge upon Prospero as he is driven from the cave.
          In creating these bully characters, Shakespeare is commenting on some of the ugly aspects of human nature.  He is displaying some people's propensity to be selfish and controlling.  He is also commenting on the dog eat dog nature of the world and how those who are bullied struggle to get ahead.