The Mark on the Wall

“The Mark on the Wall” was written in a very interesting style. When reading this story it almost struck me as being written in a stream of consciousness sort of activity. Obviously one that had been looked over, edited, and revised, however it certainly did have that sort of feel to it. It was the constant changes of mind and loss of what was really happening that gave me that sort of impression of this piece. In the middle of discussing the possible causes of the hole he then get lost in tangent after tangent talking about the old owners of the house, Shakespeare, and a plethora of other distracting topics. Overall it really just gave off that sort of ‘I’m just going to write whatever pops into my head’ sort of feel. I thought this was especially evident when Woolf says “I want to catch wind of the first idea that passes… Shakespeare…” then continues onto a tangent. Woolf basically just comes right out and says ‘Hey readers, I’m going to write the first thing that comes to my head!’ Of course she was writing this from the perspective of some sort of narrator, but the story never really clarifies if Woolf actually is the narrator, or if there is some sort of other person Woolf is writing from the perspective of. Either way, it’s interesting that Woolf chose to write in such an informal stream of consciousness way.

Araby

Araby was a very entertaining story. Everyone has experienced that childhood crush that we become so infatuated with but purely on a physical level. However, once we get older and look back on our crush we realize how foolish and that it really was not love at all. That is exactly what happens in Araby. It is a flashback being told by the adult version of the nameless narrator. It is not until the young boy goes to the araby to buy something for his crush and has an encounter with an English shopkeeper flirting with two men that he realizes that the only thing he really cares about is his crush’s beauty. I think what really causes this reaction in the boy is when he realizes that he plans on spending all of his money on an object for a girl that he has “talked to” only once. He realized that this superficial act translates into his superficial love for the girl.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”

This story was a very enjoyable read. I really liked all the teenage drama in it. The whole turning someone popular thing reminded me of the Broadway show, Wicked when the good witch tries Turing the green witch popular. This story is not about witches but about cousins who are different in extreme ways. Marjorie is popular and lively but Bernice is boring and lifeless. Bernice comes to visit Marjorie during summer break and all of Marjorie’s friends do not like Bernice because she is so dead all the time. Marjorie thought it was time for a popularity make over. She tried her best to make her cousin Bernice just as popular as her. Marjorie must of done great job because it worked! Bernice even had Marjorie’s crush falling for her. This made Marjorie pop off and she told everyone that the rumor about Bernice getting a bob hair cut was a lie. This announcement made Bernice get her hair cut right there and then in front of all her friends but the hair cut turned out to be a total failure and ended up ruining her hair and embarrassing her self. Bernice decided that night that she would leave town, but before she did she went up to her cousin Marjorie and cut off her long braids while she was asleep. Hair is a huge deal for a lot of women. If someone cut off my hair like that I would go nuts! Long Hair is definitely a symbol for beauty and Marjorie’s beauty was cut right off.

Anais Rodriguez

The Mark on The Wall

With one of the most confusing premises this story was still actually pretty interesting and very well written. How one could create a whole story about something as simple as a mark on the wall is beyond me. There are different ways to interpret the confusion about the mark on the wall such as the meaning of life, why things happen and way more. The narrator has an inner battle as to what, why, and where this thing came from which inspires ideals of individualism and ones personal views on the world around them. This is one persons views on one specific act in life, what I think the writer is trying to get across is that everyone should look and think about things to develop their own ideas and opinions rather than fit the norm and conform to popular belief. This stories influence of modernism is very present. Even-though i found some aspects of realism modernism seemed to be more relevant and contribute more to the writer and her assertion of the plots specific details. When reality was being questioned thats when it really set in that modernism was the bigger influence. At first with never figuring out the true meaning and story of this mark it seems like the story has no point but, thats what the whole point was after further thought. Its purpsoe was not to answer but, to question and find perspective on the life around you.

The Prussian Officer

When reading this story it spiked a lot of different aspects as to what exactly it was trying to get across. After further discussion the theme of uncontrollable forces and how things will happen and one will subconsciously react to them in the manner that they; based of personality and life experiences see fit. With the ideals of power and rank playing a huge role with the captains homosexual implications on his lower ranking officer it seems as if this is relating to his want for dominance and insecurity of self. By this I mean he acts as if with his military background and actions wouldn’t allow him to acquire a normal relationship. The orderly is like a ticking time bomb in this whole story and you can very bluntly see it from just reading a small portion of the story. The series of events from the wine bottle all the way to the spot where they are alone in the woods show the mental strain that the captain has put on this younger and what he sees as a lower being. I found this to almost be a form of subconscious slavery. The captain being the master naturally along with his lower ranking officer being his slave. Based on what we know from history a human can only take so much until they revolt and that is exactly what happened in this story. I think I can say this is one of the weirder stories but, it definitely got my attention and made me want to know how exactly the plot was going to unfold.

Araby

The story Araby was one of the better stories we have read it my opionin. The story is very different from all the other stories we have discussed because the narrator is telling the story from a view of a little kid. In the story it is easy to distigunish when the child is speaking because of the vocabulary. This story does a really good job on portraying this idea of young love and first crushes. This child for a good portion of the story has this innocent & juvenille outlook on the world. As the story continues we see this outlook disappear. When he realizes this love is not real; his complete perspective on life is changed. Joyce tells this story as an adult looking back because if the whole story were told by a child it would not have the same effects. Joyce, throughout the whole story brings up colors. Colors are brought up to provide this idea of gloom. The time setting of this story is not the happiest of them all. Joyce does a really good job describing his young crush. This story is very sad, because it puts a negative spin on the world. Once the boy was heartbroken there was no turning back. Overall I really enjoyed this story, more than previous ones we have gone over in class.

 

 

Death of Ankou and Masque of Red Death

“Death of Ankou” is a story in which a man is personified as a death character. This character is considered a death god in which if one comes in contact with, that only have a certain amount of time to live. This is very similar to Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death. In Masque of Red Death, also a personified death character kills people. In Lewis, it is Ankou, the actual God of Death. While in Poe a mummified character looks dead. Both of these stories employ a death like character to add a fear element to the story. Fear of Death is specifically what they are adding. Fear of death is a common fear to play on because the overwhelming majority fears death. Its unknown, different, and a true test of their religion. No matter what religion you believe, death is still the end of your time here on earth as the same person you are. All the work you have done and all the fun is over. And, this scares most people. Some people do not fear death. Hemmingway seemed to be one of those people. But out of those who say they aren’t afraid, if in hospital they are told they are going to die, I’m sure most would start to beg for just a few more days, minutes ect…

The Prussian Officer

This short story results in uncontrollable forces that lead to the severe conflict between the two main characters: the aristocratic Captain and his simple orderly. Lawrence weaves these forces together throughout the story. The forces unfold in a logical progression of events. First, the class separation and military rank division provide the necessary conditions for the perverse conflict to develop between the Captain and his orderly. His position of military and social dominance makes possible the manifestation of the Captain’s homoerotic passion for his orderly. Finally, the orderly’s repressed feelings, which result from his continued and inevitable subjugation from the Captain, lead to the revolt and ultimate destruction of the being.

The first force to develop between the Captain and the orderly results from their separation in military and social rank. The forty year old Captain “was a Prussian aristocrat” and “a gentleman, with… fine hands and cultivated movements.” This contrasts to the orderly’s youth and the way he “received life direct through the senses, and acted straight from instinct.” Something undiscovered in the Captain’s subconscious makes him aware of his orderly as “free and self-contained”, and this “irritated the Prussian.” The captain allows this irritation to grow to the point of acting out his undiscovered feelings on the orderly. This manifestation is first seen when the orderly accidentally spills a bottle wine. The Captain “started up with an oath, and his eyes, bluey like fire… held those of the confused youth.” This event also triggers a landslide of subconscious mental events in the orderly as his natural being is challenged. One first perceives the nature of this struggle as the Captain trying to control and exercise his power over his free spirited orderly.

Morgan Strongosky

A Report to an Academy

Wounded and captured by an expedition, a formerly “free” ape found himself aboard a boat headed for Europe. Confined in a tight cage, he realized for the first time that escape was impossible. Thus he decided to opt for something less than animal freedom, in fact, he didn’t even require freedom. He simply wanted “a way out.” For him, a “way out” required taking on as much as possible of the human world around him. He succeeded in overcoming his animal existence to an astounding degree and, today, he is not really unhappy. Everything he learned he could not have achieved had he chosen to remain an ape, but: “One learns when one needs a way out.” The seamy side of this statement is that the memories of his former life are becoming increasingly vaguer as the ape becomes adjusted to the world of man. As be takes on more characteristics of his human environment, he has trouble even comprehending the freedom of his past. It eludes his comprehension and even his power of description: the “direction” from where he came is really all he can tell his learned audience. No matter how comfortable he may feel in the human world, the “gentle puff of air” tickling his heels reminds him, as it does every human being, of his lost freedom. The trouble is, that any regaining of this freedom could only come about at the expense of being a human being. To the narrator, the idea of being human and being free are mutually exclusive; maintaining a measure of each is therefore tantamount to being caught in the middle of two modes of existence.

Morgan Strongosky

Araby

The story Araby was different from any of the other stories that we have read because the narrator is telling the story from when he was little. Throughout the story you can tell that the narrator is not a young child because of the vocabulary he uses. You can tell not only by the vocabulary he uses but also by the way he knocks the boys first runin with “love”.  He shows how nieve first loves or crushes are and later on leads to our ultimate view of love.  Throughout the story we see see the way the child sees the world form an innocent point of view.  The lack money and poverty that the boy is living with but still sees live in a positive light. He is discriminated for being Irish and Catholic which is something he was born as and nothing he can control. By the end of the story the narrator realizes that the world is not a happy place and that it is basically out to get you. In the story Joyce emphasizes colors and repeats them throughout the story. The colors add to the gloomy feeling that is expressed throughout the story. Because the story is being told by an adult it allows you to see the discrimination and the unfairness of the world that you would not get to see if you were being told by a child. The story would not have the same impact that it has if it were to be told by a child.