My movie for "You're Ugly Too"

Plot- If i were to make this into a movie the plot would pretty much follow the same structure. I mean that the narrative pace would ultimately remain the same. The only thing I would add to make it longer and would be to do flash backs of the scenes in which the students criticize her. For example during the book the there is excerpts from teacher evaluations in the text questioning Zoe's teaching skills. AlsoI would add in the beginning and when it is mentioned more in the middle of the book about the first love of her life whom she met in Grad school. I would focus on that because that is the root into which she is so bad with love and meeting new men in her life. The end would be the same but it would have the voice of Zoe thinking to herself about what her life had come too and if she looks alright.

Characterization- The characterization that was in the book mostly came from the experiences in which the reader found Zoe in. It also came from the little snippets of randomness that Zoe does that her students do not seem to enjoy. I would incorporate, for example, the part where she buys furniture but always sends it back because she is afraid it doesn't actually go with her house. It shows the vulnerability that is Zoe she is not all together comfortable with herself and that is seen through scenes when she is confronted with uncomfortable moments.

Setting- It would be in the little town outside of Paris, Illinois. It would be modern day in a small college camping. This would be where the scenes with Zoe and her students would take place. Also i would show the house she bought in the suburban community. But also majority of the movie would be in the hustle and bustle of New York when she visits her sister towards the end of the movie. The setting would add to the effect that all this is happening currently in a real life setting.

Point Of View- In the book there is a third person point of view that the narrator takes of Zoe's life and thoughts. But In the movie it will be an Omniscient point of view where we can also see into the lives of the other characters in the book. I thought this would truly make the movie more interesting if the viewers truly got to know the characters and the motivation behind their actions, most especially Zoe. This would also cause the viewers to be able to make an unbiased opinion on the thoughts of characters in the movie. Also with the omniscient view it would create an effect of someone looking down on the chaos of Zoe's life. It would make it like she is in a snow globe of her own crazy world and we have the opportunity to watch it.

Theme- The theme would be the vulnerabilities that all people must live with. In the movie the theme will be how Zoe's lack of comfort with herself seen through the scenes and interactions with people. Also the other theme is the hardship that love can cause. That is mostly seen through how Zoe acts towards potential partners and how she acts towards them. The end to her relationship to the love of her life, I think, really affected her and made her turn bitter.

Theme Movie

The theme of the movie is about a young girl trying to find herself and to feel right about herself. She needs affirmation of her beauty because she gets none of that at home and is seen as no good from her mother. So when the scenes would show Connie trying on scandalous outfits it was to make herself feel older and try something new and exciting. So she would go with these older crowds then would find out in the end that she was just too young and did actually need her mother. This is scene when she is hiding in the corner from Arnold Friend and whispering for her Mom. She is scared and realizes that she needs her family.

Setting Movie

The setting seemed to take place in an old small town where the young were extremely restless and hung out at a local spot. It also takes place during Summer vacation because Connie's dad talked of Connie having nothing to do all day because she didn't have school. The usual hangout for Connie and her friends were the mall and the diner where all the older people hung out. Also there are very important scenes that take place at Connie's house which is out in the country with a long driveway and many trees. The secluded setting made it isolated and Connie even more vulnerable to Arnold Friend when he came to take her. His threats were hidden under his soft lilting voice. He was good at coaxing Connie and make her come with him not only because of his threats with Elly staying to "watch the place for her family" but also the way her house was cut away from people to help her.

Characterization Movie

During the course of film I indirectly characterized Connie through her actions. Mostly I found her misunderstood by her mother because of the way her mother treated her. When Connie would act disrespectfully it was due to what her mother would say. Therefore I found Connie to be very emotionally scarred. When she danced to music I saw that she felt with her whole heart and loved to have fun. Also I saw that she was still a young girl trying to be grown up. For example, when she was in the car with another boy and this time things started to really escalate she had to leave because she said "I'm not used to feeling this excited." Such foreign feelings caused her to have literally remove herself from the situation. Thus it exemplified her vulnerability and how she was not ready for such a leap into womanhood.

Point of View MOvie

The point of view in the movie was from an omniscient view point. We didn't hear Connie's inner thoughts like we did in the short story but the the viewers mostly got an unbiased view of the events. I was mostly sympathetic towards Connie until she lashed out at her mom randomly. With this omniscient view where we the viewers are like onlookers to a accident or scene. The viewers are able to watch the turn of events and not be too easily swayed by one person's views or thoughts. Although this way the viewers could pick themselves who they wanted to be most sympathetic towards. It mostly followed Connie around since she is the heroine of the movie. Also at the end of the movie when Connie tries to tell her sister what happened but sees the reaction on her face she quickly acts as though it was in her head. The viewers not being able to see her thoughts and to be able to decipher her ambiguous comments their selves shows the omniscient view in the movie.

Where are you going Where have you been movie plot

The pace of the film seemed very slow to me. I think this was to show how little happens in the little town that they lived. So Connie and her friends found out that they could have fun with boys. Also during the progression of the film one sees the emotional strain between Connie and the rest of her family. This was seen through the course of the movie. They put the family arguments in after and before Connie made bad decisions about going to the diner. I feel like she just needed to get away from her Mom's disapproving eye. So when she left after these arguments she went to the comfort of other people's arms. The very end was different from the short story in that the reader didn't see Connie come back to her house. So the plot in the movie was mostly the same except the very end when Arnold brought Connie home.

You're Ugly, Too

I was in a way not shocked about Zoe's behavior with Earl. She did not really buy into the whole idea of love anymore from all her ill fated relationships with men. Therefore Earl and his quirks and talks about love were her last straw. I feel as though Zoe thought he would also never work with her. She is maybe to eccentric and too independent for all the men she's dated and therefore has not been able to find the right fit. I think what brought about her change in regards with her encounter towards Earl was the fact that she had a growth in her abdomen. She might have believed that she was going to die and there was no point in playing through these stupid games of flirting that one must go through the first date. So she decided to let everything loose in every sense of the word. She flew all of her quirky humor at him holding none of it back and thoroughly scared him.

Popular Mechanics

After I read the story I immediately wondered why the couple was splitting up. But i derived the conclusion that it does not matter. The point of the story is the power struggle that evolves when love is broken. One person must gain more then the other partner. That is why they fought so hard for their child. They did not fight for the baby because they loved it or were worried. They fought because they wanted to make the other person just have a little less then them. They wanted to make a statement without having to say words. Yet the fragility of the baby and such a helpless creature shows the lengths people will go to hurt one another.

The Drunkard

The source of humor derived from this story is from the young boy's drunkenness. It is so hilarious because one does not normally see a young boy drunk. Also his actions of cursing and yelling at people walking by also contributes to the humor in the story. The humor arises from the distortion of life because one would not expect someone so young to be inebriated. The funniest parts of the story is also the mothers reaction to the young boy. She thanks him. It was odd when I first read it but she thanked her son because she thought he had done it for the good of his father. She thought he had done it to stop his father from drinking forever. When in fact he was just curious about the taste of his father's most favorite drink and happened to become drunk.

The Lottery

At first I didn't know what to think about this story. I thought it was unnerving and didn't understand the deeper meaning of the story (if there was one). So I ultimately felt that the author was trying to set the theme against having traditions. Not all traditions but the ones that one does just because thats the was its always been. The townspeople wouldn't get a new box which held all the slips deciding a family's fate because it was always the one used. therefore I feel like people resist change because they are afraid. They resist because they do not want to experience anything too foreign. It is too much and too different. Therefore people stick to their traditions even if they are useless or hurtful.

Where are you going where have you been Theme

I think the theme of this story is the fantasized world that Connie created with her excursions into town to meet up with boys. I feel like she was lost from reality and was acting older because it felt like fun. But her encounter with the dangerous Arnold friend revealed that behind her sexy clothes, big hair, and makeup is a scared little girl trying to find herself. Her portrayal as someone older and more sophisticated backfired on her tremendously in a very dangerous way. This fantasy that she lived in was a release from the criticizing voice of her mother and the shadow that her unattractive sister cast with her mother's approval of her and not Connie. Although Connie dealt with it by saying that she was very pretty. I think in the end this lack of confidence made her turn into someone she was not.

Where are you going Where have you been Setting

The setting in this story seems to be set in at least thirty years from now. I gathered this from the way narrator described Connie's 80's hair style. Also the narrator does not describe the landscape of the place in which Connie and her girl friends mostly hang out at. This place is the shopping plaza where they pick up boys. Mostly the setting is not very specifically revealed only through random snippets of landmarks like the restaurant shaped like a big bottle where they met the older kids. It is a suburban area because of the way the narrator tells of them going across highways to go to dumpy restaurants to meet people. Also her house is a small house with a long gravel driveway. The setting of the story gives more innocence to Connie and makes her seem more vulnerable when she tries to explore intimacy with older boys.

Where are you going. Where have you been Characterization

Connie was indirectly and directly characterized. She was directly Characterized when Connie spoke of how "she knew she was pretty and that was everything." That directly states of her features as being pretty. What is not there but indirectly characterizes her personality is that Connie is shallow. This is so because of how Connie thinks the way one looks is everything. THe narrator also describes Connie as having two separate personalities. One was for home and one was for going out to meet guys. Although the narrator does not differentiate between the two telling which one is real one can infer that the personality used for the random guys she meets is fake. It is fake because her laugh changes to "high-pitched nervous laugh". This illustrates her lack of confidence and yet she feeds off of boy's attention. Although she never recalls the faces of the boy she dates or is intimate with she puts them altogether into a category where she is excited about the idea of being wanted.

Where Are You Going. Where Have you Been? Point of View

The third person point of view delves into the mind of the heroin of this story, Connie. When described from an unknown source Connie is a sympathetic character. The narrator tells the audience of the many thoughts Connie has. These thoughts are usually immature. But the narrator does not put any judgement or harshness when talking about Connie's intimate feelings. Instead this point of view has no trace of judgements or biased that a first person narrative would contain. Even when her mother and sister are being discussed Connie's own voice is inserted like when she talks of her mother and says, "now her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie,". This shows the way the narrator effectively tells the story and shows Connie's thoughts and behavior.

Where Are You Going. Where Have you Been? Plot

During the course of this story the pace of the work is slower. It is slower in that it identifies and describes the personality of Connie and her older sister. The author does this to show the difference and how Connie is the "rebel". Also the structure of this work is divided into Connie's thoughts about her home life and the many experiences with boys the author writes of her having. But we the reader only hear of one in particular in which helps us see the creepy man at the end not so surprising. At the time the incident with the shaggy, black haired man in the convertible seemed insignificant until the end. The way the plot comes to the end surprises the reader in a way because of what seemed like an insignificant character became the ultimate enemy of Connie. The experiences in which she has with her family and her thoughts of boys helps us see her personality and therefore relate to her. The ending of the plot causes us also to see the mind of a girl going crazy because of a surprise altercation with one boy she never wanted to be with.

Miss Brill

Miss Brill is a developing character. This is so because of the great mood shift that takes place towards the end. We know she is sad because she passes by the bakery where she usually gets a slice of honey cake. It is tradition after her people watching at the park where a dance is being held. She justifies to herself that she is needed there but when the two snobby young people say mean things about her it gets to her. She begins to feel very sad although she seems to refer to herself in the third person. She is developing because she starts off happy and then realizes that she really is not wanted there. This realization makes her feel all the more alone.

Once Upon A time

I feel as thought this particular story seems to be satirizing children's story. I feel like he thinks this up to smite whoever said he "ought" to also write a children's story. So in retaliation he tells a horrifying story in which a young boy is malled from a fence in which he was trying to play on. But in the same way I think the narrator is telling this story to depict the psychology of people so immersed in their own world they are afraid to live. In this case the family lets outside sources control their fears. It is ironic that they tried so very hard to protect themselves from harm that in the end their fear hurt themselves. I also caught the quotations on the same "day" that the gardener and housemaid worked. I think the narrator was alluding to not so virgin clean happenings that was occurring between the gardener and housemaid.

A Worn Path-MInor characters

The minor characters in this story seem to tell of the Phoenix's world where she cannot remember all too well. It does not say she has any form of illness but I suspect she may have Alzheimer's or dementia. When the impatient woman badgers Phoenix so impolitely Phoenix remains silent. She does this because she says,"There I sat and forgot why I made my long trip." It almost made me think that her grandson really is dead but she makes the trip anyway in her grief stricken mind.That might be out of the cone of reasoning but it seems plausible based on her responses to simple questions. In the end though the minor characters help the reader see her pass when she talks of her education. She said she did not have much of one and that is partly why she forgets so easily.

Eveline

When Eveline weighs the option of staying versus leaving with her love. Leaving is more desirable because of the way her father treats her. He never has hit her like her brothers and mother but has alluded more and more to possibly beating her. But what really makes her desperate to leave is the last images of her crazed, sickened mother in the final phases of her life. Her mother's last phrases were gaelic sayings. She said, "Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!" Which means either "The end of pleasure is pain." or "The end of song is raving madness."This mirrors Eveline's crazed feeling of desperation to leave. That final image and the memories of her father's threats and shopkeepers annoying voice send her over the edge. She now depends on her new love to take her away from the worries and fear of her old life.

Bartleby the Scrivener

The changing attitude of the lawyer toward Bartleby is one of aggravation. He is mad at Bartleby becuase customers find it odd that Bartleby lives there. When it starts to scare the tenants away he thinks more about his livelihood then the well being of Bartleby. He tried to work with him and make him offers about other living arrangements but those would still not appease him. The changing attitude seemed to shift the story from the Lawyer trying to help Bartleby to seeing him as a burden. This burden kept being shoved onto other people. The people who had to deal with Bartleby dehumanized him in away when passing him onto other people like a problem. But in the end when he died their "problem" was solved and the meaning of his madness was explained and he found out about what drove him to lunacy.

Everyday Use--The Refusal

"I did somethine I never had done beofre: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on in to the room, snatched the quilts out of MIss Wangero's hands and dumped them into Maggie's lap." pg 181

The mother's refusal to Dee had never been done beofer. You think she would have been alot more mean to her elder daughter from the snobby way she acts but through the course of the story that does not happen. She is afraid of the intelligence and confidence her daughter, Dee posesses of the oustide world. But you already know the refusal will happen by the way she describes Dee before we, the readers, have even met her yet. The change in the mother is permanent because she hugged her youngest daughter and they sat with each other afterword. She describes Maggie as using a voice that "somebody used to never winning anyting, or having anything reserved for her." I knew she was going to refuse the quilts because Dee always seems to get what she wants and these certain objects were irreplaceable and therefore should be used the way the person who made them intended. Maggie also said the key words to the true meaning of the quilts. She said that she could remember "'Grandma Dee without the quilts.'"

Everyday Use

My first reaction to the story was overall non appropriate comment at the eldest daughter'sbehavior toward her family. Also the first person point of view from the mother gives a bias view of the eldest daughter. If one thinks about it the elder daughter never had a chance to be seen as good by the way her mother describes her. She may not be a nice person anyway based on the evidence given from the text. But one could also look at her accomplishments and say she should be proud of getting out of the poverty. At the same time this is a look at how she treats her family. Dee thinks she is better and even goes as far to say that her own mother does not appreciate or understand her own heritage. But her mother understands her heritage more so from having been able to remember and know and love her ancestors by having met and grown up with them. Dee wants to hang these pieces of the heritage up to save and really "show off" but that is not the way of their family. They use what is being made because they appreciate their hard work.

HUnters in the snow-Tub

"'What do you know about fat,' Tub said. 'What do you know about glands.' As he spoke he kept shaking Frank. 'What do you know about me.'" pg. 195

Tub, in the beggining is seen as a stock character. The butt of the jokes that everyone makes fun of because it's just too easy to do. So Tub takes it. But in this quote that Tub is not some dumb, obese man. He has feelings and feels betrayed by his so called friend who does not stand up for him. Kenny is the person who starts the jokes that end up going to far and therefore Frank follows his lead. Tub used to be Frank's confidant but now the reader comes to find tha Kenny has filled that place. Tub may be fat but he knows when enough is enough when being made fun of. We see him finally stand up for himself after making shy remarks about it earlier.

Symbolism in Interpreter of Maladies

"...the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi's address on it fluttered away in the wind. No one but Mr. Kapasi noticed... Mr. Kapasi observed it too, knowing that this was the picture of the Das family he would preserve forever in his mind."

The Symbolism of the paper being lost by Mrs. Das symbolizes Mr. Kapasi's wild dreams being blown away. He began to over think the meanings of Mrs. Das' every movement towards him. In the end he was just a person she wished to have counsel from. The paper helps to end the story because we see an unsatisfied man just want to feel appreciated. He wants this even if it is from a dysfunctional family like the Das's. Although his dreams of being with the Das' are gone the picture of this family mooning of over their distraught son is one that will stay with him. This means that they are a real family and maybe he is begining to realize what would happen if he broke that up by having an affair with the very complicated Mrs. Das.

Foil Characters

Chris Waters and Carmichael are foil characters in this story. Edie falls for Chris because he is the suave, cool man who Edie, naive herself, cannot help but want. She is inexperienced and therefore being told she was beautiful was such a overwhelmingly beautiful compliment to her. While Carmichael is the good, reliable guy that most women pass over. He is the "shy, but good humored" man that "anybody could ask him anything."And yet women see to fall for the handsome naturally confident man like Chris. This foil between the two characters shows the development of Edie. She grows up and sees that Chris will never write to her and by giving Carmichael a chance she found a good solid man to marry. These foil characters furthered the plot which was about the road to which Edie would find her would be husband. We the readers were just surprised as to how that happened.

Emily is nuts???

I did not anticipate the ending. I forgot about Homer Barron. So at the end when they started to describe a body of a man I did not immediately think of Emily killing him. But when I read the ending it began to make sense. There were signs of Emily's madness after her father died and she kept telling everyone that he wasn't dead. She stated it as clearly as a fact. But people knew for a fact her father was dead so this time they forced Emily to bury her father. Also there signs of her disillusionment from the way she shut herself off from the rest of the world. She also bought arsenic and didn't bother to tell the sales person what it was for. It seemed a tad shady to me but the sales person was so intimidated he gave it to her anyway...weird woman Emily was!

CLARIFICATION!!!!

The last paragraph seemed to sum up for me who Miss Emily really was all these years. We read about her actions through the scrutinizing eyes of the public where everybody's business needed to be public. So at the end when we see the dead body untouched after all these years. I realized that Emily had either lost her mind or was a deep romantic. She could have lost her mind because she was keeping a dead man's body in her house and that is what the neighbor's had been smelling in the beginning of the story. Or she is a deep romantic because she loved Homer Barron and wanted him to stay with her also till the day she died...literally. But i also wondered that the poison she bought was meant for Homer Barron and that Miss Emily killed him and in her own twisted way that made him stay with her forever and she would lay by him to be close to her love.

Delight in Disorder

The oxymorons used in this poem about the disorder of dress being very appealing is seen by the diction. Oxymoron's such as "wild civility" show how such fine ornaments of clothing, while refined when in order, are very beautiful when in disarray. It is a sensual poem about how not being perfect is very attractive. I also feel though that it applies to art when the speaker talks that "bewitch me than when art Is too precise in every part." This means that being to perfect takes away the simple beauty of a work art. Therefore the poem's use of oxymorons helps the reader understand the power of disorder to make things beautiful.

Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead

The speaker in this poem is a son speaking about his father being ready to die, excited even. And yet one can see the unhappiness over the speaker's father being ready to let go. The speaker alludes that if his father were to die he would be ready and see it as an adventure. But the speaker would not. I feel as though this poem shows the different view points about death from someone older and wiser to someone younger and maybe even more naive. For the father is ready because he has seen all he wants to see and now is ready to visit "fresh worlds". But the speakers says "I can't just say good-bye as cheerfully as if here were embarking on a trip". He talks that letting go of his dad is not as easy for him as his dad thinks. His dad may be ready but the son is not ready to see his dad go.

Lonely Hearts

I cannot tell if this is a satirical piece or if it is a serious poem about the sadness of dating. This poem is almost a collection of internet profile dating networks where people meet each other online and get matched up based upon the same likes and dislikes. The setting is in Northern London and I find it no coincidence that all of the daters ask if their potential match lives in Northern London. The repetition of the question at the end of each stanza produces an effect of desperation for having something these people have wanted for awhile to come true. Such desperation is seen through the repetition of questions at the end of stanzas. Also I see that it incorporates a variety of people with one common goal. I feel like the author did that on purpose to show that although people may have different personalities and upbringings they can all have the common goal of wanting to be loved. Such a "simple wish" that they all want to be true.

Do Not Go Gentle into THat Good Night

The use of repeating in this poem had a profound affect on the tone of desperation in the speaker's voice. For at the end of every other stanza the speaker would use one of these lines "Rage, rage agains the dying of the light" or "Do not go gently into that good night." Both describe death as being good thing when describing it as a "good night" or light. And yet there is a contrast in the "night" and "light". The tone of desperation is felt through the use of pleading by asking the object of the speaker's affection to pleas not go away. It also describes the different type of people before they die and yet nevertheless the speaker still says not to go to death. And finally I thought the tone of desperation was solidified when the speaker directs the last stanza towards his father. He uses both repetitive lines for his most beloved father which speaks of the love the speaker has for his father and not wanting to lose him.

Getting Out

I though this poem was about the struggles of leaving a love. We see that the husband tried for "weeks" to leave over his pile of things but could never quite really leave. This tone of acceptance comes at the very end when the speaker says, "We held on tight, and let go." I took this as that their relationship was not working and although they it was hard to part they needed to. So in the end the learned to let go of each other knowing it was for the best to have a happier life. It also speaks of the conflict that is involved in marraiges. Their unhappiness is compared to prisons in which inmates "beat the walls" from being trapped. I think that is what these characters were feeling, the feeling of being trapped.

the apparition

In this poem the speaker has issues! It is odd that he seems to say that if you cheat on me i will haunt you. But this woman has not done it and yet the speaker's "love is spent". Which i do not understand how one's love is able to spent when his love has not cheated on him yet. That is what made me think that this speaker was a stalker. He has unrequited love for a woman and vows to haunt her if she finds solace in another man. He speaks of haunting when he says she will wake up her lover who will think she wants something sexual and therefore returns to slumber. The speaker is almost making this scenario all up in his mind.

My Mistress' Eye

The tone in this poem is one mostly of satire. For the speaker satirizes all the poets of the past comparing their lovers to very impossibly beautiful things from nature. Therefore the speaker compares his own lover to realistic objects or comes off as denouncing the woman's physical attributes. Yet that is not the speakers point for he calls his love "as rare" which means that he does love his mistress and that she is beautiful. But she is not as beautiful as the things the poets of old compared their ladies too. The tone of satire comes from when the speaker says that his mistress' attributes are not like, for example, the sun. It makes the satire clear.

Crossing the Bar

The literary term used most predominantly in this poem is a metaphor that sums up the whole point of the poem. The metaphor compares a sandbar that that represents the point of death. The poem's sentence about "one clear call" is about the clear call of death that the speaker seems to know is coming for him. The resounding metaphor stays with the reader because of the repeating theme of death is throughout the poem. The speaker accepts the fate and yet only wants his loved ones to not be sad. This poem is almost a reassurance to the loved ones. it is as if he is saying he will be okay with the "pilot" or God. That is why he is little more accepting because the speaker believes in God.

Sorting Laundry

The imagery in this poem describes the many items that one must sort for the purpose of functioning in a household. The speaker talks normally about what she must launder and sort. It is the most normal part of any relationship but she speaks because her lover is gone. We know that from the "former love" at the end of the poem. Also with all the images of so many clothes we see the immense task of laundering and yet with all those examples it cannot fill "the empty side of the bed." The purpose of poem's imagery was to show the reader all that she folded for her lover. But when he is gone even the simplest task is not enough to cover up the profound effect he had in her life. She thinks of even the little things through clothes that are a huge part of any person's life.

Batter my heart, three-personed God

The literary term used in the first quatrain of this poem is a paradox. The paradox is "three-personed God". It is impossible for one thing to be three persons but I think it alludes to the divine trinity. The speaker is talking of all three parts of God and what God does with all three parts. He seeks to mend, make me new, and defends us. Those are the three lenses of God that the speaker talks of. His diction shows his love for God but the struggle endured because of the "enemy". THe enemy is the devil or sin which we, as humans, are so inclined to do. This poem is almost a begging prayer for help to be more involved with God.

APO 96225

The poem title is a vietnam mailing dress. Which makes sense with the rest of the poem which is in the context of a young man writing letters to his mother. In the poem the diction used is one of nonchalance from the young soldier. He does not want to tell his mother what is really happening. I found that when the mother insisted and he still responded with avoiding the question I thought it meant that he knew she was not prepared to realize what her son was really doing. I also know that propaganda during the war was very bad so I thought the mother may want to have her son an outlet for someone to talk to. But when the son finally tells her what he did in a very emotionless way we see that the mother did not want to hear it. I think it alludes to the hard truth that civilians cannot understand the hardships of war or truly grasp what must be done. I think the mother was a symbol for all mothers, families, and friends who have loved ones in war that their friend or family member has to commit violence that we cannot comprehend. So we do not deal with it well if they do tell us because we have only one view and perspective of our loved one.

Barbie Doll

The first thing that popped into my mind when reading this poem was "that is so true!" The author captures the truly sensitive of psyche in today and even in the 1900's perception of themselves. For someone to trash on another appearance in such a awkward stage in puberty (although the author refers to that time as "magic puberty") is to damage their fragile confidence that is already small at this stage in life. When people spoke of her "big nose" and "thick legs" she "cut" them off. I took this figuratively. That in reality it was symbolic for plastic surgery for people at her funeral only talked of how she "pretty" "with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on". When she changed herself she also lost herself. The reader sees this in the diction used by the author of how "her good nature wore out like a fan belt." She tried to become the "coy" and over excitable girl that society today only accepts from women.

TOADs...AHH EWW

The toad in this poem seems to symbolize his utter hatred for his job. He talks of how its a "sickening poison-just for a few bills." He does it only for the sake of survival and getting his bills paid. It is almost a poem comprised entirely of a person complaining over his job. Therefore it also is funny when he talks about it hinders him from getting a girl. It is an excuse for his life that is not the way he wants it. Also one can clearly see his total frustration with the italicized phrase of "stuff your pensions."

Pink Dog

At first I took this poem way too literally and assumed it was about a dog. But the as i really read it i realized that this dog is symbolic for a prostitute. This poem talks about this "pink dog's" exploits. It makes the reader grasp how passerbyers react to prostitution or even homeless people. The "drawback and stare." There is also satire used when the speaker talks callously of what the city does to beggars. I thought it was his way of bringing into focus all that is wrong with his city. But also that even these people will be in the city and are apart of it. Although then he randomly talks about hte carnival which is Rio de Janeiro. It is a big carnival and i think he talks of the this so the reader sees that these lowly people will make it not as prettty. Or he means they can also have fun.

Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

The imagery in this poem makes the dream into a live object. For the speakers asks what will happen to a dream left in the dark. All of the questions are rhetorical but the visual effect helps the reader see the effects when a goal is put aside. The imagery of a dream that "fester like a sore-and then run?" tells the reader that the dream will eat at you. It will become a regret because it went unfulfilled. Also the background of the author being an African American man in the 1930's and 1940's suggests that he is expressing to the African American people of what could happen if they do not reach for equality now. When the speaker asks his final question of "or does it explode?" My immediate picture was riots because of the built up anger against those who have oppressed African American people.

BRIGHT Star

In this poem the speaker talks to a Star. ALthough the reader never sees a response from the star the speaker has personified it with his persistence in speaking to it. He talks in a way that is of reverence for what the star is able to see but he would never want to be so alone. The readers then form an image of this star of being a wise old thing by how much it has been able to see. It sees "the moving waters at their priestlike task." Such sights with "eternal lids" suggests that the star will be up there forever. We read then that the speaker would rather be "pillowed upon my fair love's ripening breast". Suggesting that to be alone with out someone you love is unbearable and would rather "swoon to death."

February by Margaret Atwood

The first thing that passed through my mind as I read the word "bum hole" in this poem was, "is this lady nuts?" The entire poem is with a tone of total disgust for the human race. Firstly she compares humans to cats. Elusive and very unemotional animals only capable of sex and peeing on things. One can also deduce I am not a cat person. But that still does not lose the certain meaning of the poem. For she, this speaker, is in her bed not wanting to get out and her only companion that we know of is her cat. This cat , she speaks of, also does not care if she were dead. It creates an image of the speaker. It makes her appear lonely and grumpy.
We can also see that the time of which she is speaking is the month of love which she then proceeds to describe the month as the "month of despair with a skewered heart in the middle." AKA we need to get this lady a man or prozac. But then we see the light at the end when she personifies the cat by talking in positive but firm tones about seizing the day. Makes me think this Atwood lady isn't so crazy after all...well only slightly.

Those Winter Sundays

I thought this poem was the relationship between a child and their father. Through diction we see that the realtionship is not close because of the "chronic angers of that house" suggesting that the father was the disciplinary one. But we see that he was also a hard worker because of the "cracked hands that ached". Through the long sentence describing the father we realize the gravity of his work. We see the long struggle he must do to provide for his family. Although his family never thanked him. I also read a tone of regret when the person talked of how the father made the house warm. Then the family "slowly..." rose and dressed. Also you saw the regret through the last line. It narrator questions his or her knowledge of the true boundaries of love and how there really isn't any. And so the reader sees the narraters remorse for grateful words left unspoken.

After Apple Picking

When I read this poem i was very confused to see if there was actually a deeper meaning to the poem. But all that came to my notice was that it was of a person who was tired of the same job and seeing apples wasted. I also thought maybe the apples that were to "surely to the cider-apple heap" was a symbol of one being fed up with what he was doing. He even thought of apples in his sleep. Maybe that was the sign of becoming unsatisfied. The narrator even says "I could tell what form my dreaming was about to take." He had a premonition of what was to come. He talks also of himself being "overtired" and I thought that was a sure sign of his unsatisfaction with his work. He lost his desire for it. But maybe he will regain it with "some human sleep."

London

The setting of this poem takes place in London and i though it took place at midnight. The reader can come to this conclusion when the narrator talks of walking "through midnight streets". It is in the slums of London also. We see this in the diction used to describe "the mark in every face i meet." Blake describes the sounds of the city and the "cry of every man..." and "the infant's cry of fear." When Blake begins to talk of the "soldier's sighs" i thought this might've taken place after a war and this was the after math of the war. The diction makes London appear gloomy and sorrowful.

I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain

I think the central theme of this poem is that the person who is hearing the funeral is really going insane. The readers sees that the person does not feel or see his or her own funeral but hears it. So we the reader automatically assume the person is inside the casket. When the person's "mind was going numb" I took that as a sign of the signs of one's sanity to also go. I thought this meant his or her sense of reason was starting to go. I also thought that the viewers were symbols of the sympathsizers who see the insane not really as people. But the "a Plank in Reason, broke" I took this as a realization that one was being insane. This realization is the "Finished knowing-then-". This poem's central theme was of the happenings of what will happen when one becomes insane and what the thoughts or feelings are to that person.

The Widow's Lament in Springtime

The Imagery in this poem is one of constriction. You feel it in the words when the widow talks of her yard "closes round me this year". The description of the white flowers are not ones of joy but of how she remembers her husband and so these flowers are almost a burden to her to see.The reader also encounters the imagery of white flowers on trees "in the distance". But the tone of the widow's thoughts is that of she will possibly go there but probably not. When she says that she would like to "sink into the marsh near them." It made me think she wanted to die. When I think of marsh I think of a sad and lonely place. That is what i think the author wants the reader to picture.

"The Nature of Proof in the Interpretation of Poetry"

I always assumed that in poetry the poet had a specific meaning that was going to be conveyed in a creative way through words. I though it was the readers job to try and find the meaning that the author wanted. But i also though that along the way one would be abel to find their own interpretation of the poem that had possibly struck a chord with the reader in a new way unexpected or anticipated by the author.Then comes a new theory that the reader's point of view on a work of poetry is correct. Perrine states that the reason poets give into this notion of all views on the their poem to be correct is because "no poet...likes to be caught in the predicament of having to explain his own poems." I understand the concept that, yes, an author is entitled to having a single explanation for his poem but isn't poetry a form of art? And if so does that not mean that it will affect the reader in a way that a painting would bring out an emotion or interpretation.
And yet What confuses me when Perrine says " If more that one interpretation satisfactorily accounts for all the details of the poem, the best is that which is most economical, i.e. which relies on the fewest assumptions not grounded in the poem itself." Does that mean in order to have a "correct" interpretation one must have something that includes all of the details? But if one does include all of the details does that make it what the author wanted? I just don't understand the concept that there has to be one correct interpretation. Although I would agree that if someone made something up about the poem and said that this is what the poem meant then i would have to disagree too. I guess my issue with Perrine's concept is that he is putting a limit on creativity and the different meanings one can take from it. Pretty soon we will be only relying on what the author means and where does the creativity come from , from then on? The authors only and the readers are merely the readers with no mind of their own or opinion.

the end?

That was an ambiguos ending if i ever read one. We see Jake and Brett become closer again and this time we think maybe they'll confess their love and stay with one another. But Brett cannot stay with one man and I think Jake begins to really accept it. I feel like before he said he was okay with it but really was not. Now, i think he fully accepts the fact that he will always love Brett but it cannot be. It even ends in a resigned fashion when Brett exclaims " we could have had sucha damned good time together."
and Jake replies, " Isn't it pretty to think so?" (pg. 251)

And then it ends with these characters never really accomplishing anything except being hurt by a fickle woman who seemed to be under her spell.

Graceful romero

Indirect characterization --"He took him (the bull) out softly and smoothly..." (pg.. 220)
We are seeing Romero indirectly characterized by his graceful movements. We, the readers, can tell much from him by the way he handles such stressful situations. He becomes nervous with a colorblind bull but continues to bullfight his best. he holds his composure and stays calm and beautiful in his movements. We see Brett worry about him but i think he finds Romero's bullfighting romantic and dangerous. I think this sense of danger makes her want him more and that is why she is drawn to him.

What does Brett live for?--motivation

What is Brett's motivation? I often wondered that for why she goes through men the way she does. She obviously is in love with Jake and yet she won't stay with him. What does she gain from this. I feel as though she is here for the ride of love. And when the ride begins to go towards something too serious she jumps out before the man even notices it. The men usually begin to show their love for her in some way. For instance, on page 220 Jake talks of "...he loved Brett. Everything of which he could control the locality he did in front of her all that afternoon." This is Jake speaking of Romero. But we know this cannot last. I think Brett is in love with the idea of love.

Mike is done for

"Tell me Robert. Why do you follow Brett around like a bloody steer? Don't you know you're not wanted?"

Oh mike has finally let the chips fall where they may. He has now crossed the line and compared Jake to a steer witha simile. He is a jealous man but could never have the composure of restraint that Jake possesses. He cannot seem to be able to deal with the crazy Brett. She is too much for any man. But at the same time he explains that Brett had an affair with Robert. It doesn't seem very pleasant to me to be sitting through this conversation. Even Brett herself is there. And yet she sits there all calm and quiet. I don't think she even cares. She just wants to have fun. The fun that her first evil husband took from her.

Motif--DRINKING

"What are you drinking?" I asked Bill and Robert. "Sherry," Cohn said. (pg. 157)

What else would they drink? Water? That is too funny to picture. I do not think i've read anything so far that did not have the characters wanting a drink. And i mean the hard drinks. The motif to eat and drink and eat and drink seems to show the alcoholism of this time period. Or at least there should be a lot of alcoholism with the amount of alcohol these people consume.I have also observed that when one is flustered or nervous the offer of a drink seems to calm them down. It is a very weird offer but I think it is very normal in this society of people.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

"I hate him, too," she shiveered. " i have his damned suffering." (pg. 186)

In this chapter we see that Brett causes many fistfights with her many men she has exploited. She feels remorse but will not really own up to what she does. She hates Cohn because she feels guilty for having to see him suffer. And that feeling of uncomfortableness she cannot stand. Therefore, she claims she hates Cohn for making her feel bad. I like that because I feel happy that for once she feels uncomfortable. That for once, she feels the uncomfortable feeling of hurting someone or watch someone be hurt. It is almost like a lesson but she quickly brushes to the back of her mind with bourbon.

Circe allusion time

"He calls her Circe," Mike said. "he claims she turns men into swine." (pg.148)

Robert Cohn is at it again. He alludes to a mythological character. I feel that Robert is right. Brett does seem to have this affect on men. She can have them eating out of the palm of her hand like swine do. She also seems to intellectually capable so no men can really ever push her around. I also see that Robert is either sore with Brett for not being with him. That Robert is also so perceptive to what Brett does also makes me think he knows her better then the readers think. Although he still is in competition for the "man who knows Brett the best" with Jake.

Bill Gorton...Quite the talker

" All right, I'll go to sleep now,' he said. ' Don't keep me awake by talking so much.' " (pg.129)

O GOrton! How verbally ironic that you would warn the man of few words a.ka. Jake to not talk so much. Also we see that Gorton and Jake are becoming closer as friends. Jake seems to share and speak more with Bill then the other men he has talked with. I think Bill Gorton is also a person Jake can trust. He can sometimes become very bad tempered but i feel as though he is has a good sense of humor. I also believe he has a good view and perspective on life from all of his world traveling. His funy line to Jake also makes me think he just loves to crack jokes.

the web begins to tangle

" 'The funny thing is he's nice, too. I like him. But he's just so awful.' " (pg.107)

Now Jake and Bill don't like Cohn. I don't understand Jake likes him and then the mood this chapter becomes very angry. It all starts because Jake is just very jealous and hurt that Cohn didn't tell him about his date with Brett in San Sebastian. But at the same time Jake never mentioned in detail the the how deeply Jake and Brett had loved one another. But the yo yo of Bill and Jake's affection for Cohn goes back and forth. It finally seems to settle at the lowest opinion of him. But also saying his is a nice, wonderful man. It is paradox. Bill states that he is so nice but so awful too. It makes no sense. I think Gorton means that Cohn is fake nice but does such nice gestures to cover up this ingenues. Or he is genuinely nice but doesn't think about the consequences of his actions.

Brett...and more men

" Who did you think I went o San Sebastian with?" (pg.89)

Well she went with Robert Cohn thats who! She never ceases to amaze me with her many excursions that always involve a man. It seems to me she is incapable of being alone. How is Jake so civil with her? He is hurting inside but is still polite and nice to Brett's many suiters. Sometimes he even dines with them. He also is still friend's with Cohn although I don't believe he ever told COhn of Brett and his' history. Also she says that Cohn became " a little dull"(pg.89). Is that the real reason she cannot settle with Jake? She will begin to get bored and wander to another man with money to tickle her fancy.

Racism

We are introduced to a new character in Ch. 8 he is Bill Gorton a friend of Jake that has visited Vienne and how racist they were to this "nigger" fighter. Bill Gorton also used the word "nigger" so nonchalantly but at the same time he helped the fighter later on. He helped him because the crowd was mad that he had beat a white man. The injustice in this chapter shows the universality that makes it timeless and also shows what happens all around the world. Also it touches on THEME of inequality that can be seen in many books. Although Hemingway mentions it briefly with Gorton one also then knows that it is everywhere and will never be able to go away completely. It is apart of the way people think and will always think.

THrees a crowd

static character---The concierge in this chapter is a static character because she is only in the story for a short period of time and does not have much of a personality. She only lets us see that she is easily bought and is a brown noser!

And still in this chapter we witness Jake be ever so gracious with one of the many suiters that seems to always be by Brett's side. It's uncanny how many she seems to roll through. I cannot really believe that she loves Jake as much as she claims. It does not seem so real to me. If one claims to love another would they not be less selfish in their illustrations of their love to the other person. BUt i guess one can also argue that by denying herself Jake Brett is, indeed, acting unselfishly. Still her excuse is, "'That would be different. It's my fault, Jake. It's the way I'm made.'" ( pg. 62)

Oh The messes One Must Clean

"That's why he doesn't want to marry. He wants to have a big triumph this fall all by himself." (pg. 55)

Frances always was a handful now she is even more determined to make her point be heard. Even if she is the most passive aggressive woman I have ever heard speak. It was ironic that the entire time she berated Cohn she always had a smile on. She would jeer and snidely poke out insults about Cohn and his false and unworthy promises. But she would continue to smile "that terribly bright smile" ( pg.56). She never ceased to make the moments with Cohn and Jake very uncomfortable. It was palpable uncomfortableness and this is was all fictional and on paper. The irony of the moment helped make the reader see the true aggressiveness that Frances is capable of.

The war begins...

How do these men know their in love after one or two meetings with this Brett woman? I find her to be uninteresting and a huge heartbreaker. I guess that is what men want in a woman. Do they want something so unattainable that they must chase after it. That is what I believe Robert Cohn takes a sudden interest in Brett. He even begins to ponder the question of love when he says to Jack ,"...I shouldn't wonder if I were in love with her" (pg. 46). He has never really been out of the clutches of his crazy fiance and so maybe he feels the need to explore new possibilities..a.k.a: new women. Brett may be the perfect one with her curves and intellect. Also it seems to me that Brett will be the trouble maker of the story and won't be capable of changing her ways.

Ladies and Gentlemen.... The Harlot

Alright Earnest Hemingway...when does the plot begin?

At this point in the novel what i suppose is our heroin has now taken up company with a Harlot. We can conclude that he is really bored or very lonely. It is almost sad to see the conversation between the pair on page 23. They talk about being sick and Georgette ( or whatever her name is) responds with "Everybody's sick. I'm sick too" (pg. 23). It is almost symbolic language for her view of the entire world. That she would say that "everyone" was "sick" must mean that she thinks the world has a disease and we must live with it. Later we see that Georgette is , in fact, a harlot and is now being danced with as if she is some exotic person from another planet to enjoy an experience with. This whole chapter seems to have symbolic language about the mood of Jack also.

That Stubborn streak

" 'I want to go to South America.' He had a hard, Jewish, stubborn streak." (pg. 18)

The Stereotype in Jake's words is probably a long held stereotype of the Jewish culture still to this day. I often wondered where it originally came from. But I see that is was even used int this time period. But the main character seems to say it not in seriousness but almost in exasperation. He may not be prejudice against Jews but has observed or wrongly labeled this religion. In this chapter one sees another stereotype. We, the readers, see that Robert Cohn is very much well off. We come across this revelation more when the main character mentions that Robert has enough money and his reply is that he knows this and can even cover the main character's expenses. Is that not also a stereotype that since he is Jewish he is well off. Or maybe I am searching to hard and analyzing a bit to deep. Either way both points are stereotypes of the Jewish religion.

The Sun also Rises... the beginning

"I mistrust all frank and simple people, especially when their stories hold together, and I always had a suspicion that perhaps Robert Cohn had never been middleweight boxing champion, and that perhaps a horse had stepped on his face, or that maybe his mother had been frightened or seen something, or that he had, maybe, bumped into something as a young child, but I finally had somebody verify the story from Spider Kelly, Spider Kelly not only remembered Cohn. He had often wondered what had become of him." (pg. 12)

Already Hemingway begins the book in a very vague way. He describes the events of another character's life and then adds the main character's input. It makes me wonder if it FORESHADOWS that the main character will just be a bystander in the life of Robert Cohn. Cohn seems to be a man of noble morals but also seems like he could be easily corruptible. I see him as a not very confident man and being accosted by ladies like Frances to dominate him. ALso in the quote I was struck by the cynicism in what seems to be the main character's words. He has distrust for people who are frank and simple which will likely allude to a past event that made this mindset so. The main character also seems to be very flippant about Robert Cohn's problems and life. He describes it indifferently which makes me think that they are not really close buddies.

THE END

"I'm skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmy's life with a story." (pg. 246)

The end is almost a FLASH BACK to what he's done his entire life.He see's that he has not changed all that much from when he was a little boy. And with this realization he is freeing himself from the burdens of his actions through retelling what has happened. Or should I say re-"fibbing" what had happened. For not all of his stories are true but based on true events that happen to have incidents added in for flair and deeper meaning. And so with the last page we see what the point of the novel was. For O'Brien to tell stories to save himself. But to also inform the reader on his life and his time in the war. We see the author for what he truly is... a regular guy dealing with the events that happened to him long ago.

SCores to settle

"I was down there with him. I was part of the night. I was the land itself-everything, everywhere- the fireflies and paddies, the moon, the midnight rustlings, I was jungle fire, jungle drums- I was blind stare in the eyes of all those poor, dead, dumbfuck ex-pals of mine-all the pale young corpses, Lee Strunk and Kiowa and Curt Lemon- I was the beast on their lips-I was Nam- the horror, the war." (pg.209)

O'Brien has officially crossed over to the dark side. He has become, for a second, the man that feels nothing. He feels no pity for his "ex-pals" he is opaque and blank in emotions. All he wants is to even a score and in doing that O'Brien becomes the war which is a symbol for emptiness and horror. Nam is the symbol for death and war. The author wants us to see what it can make men become. What it makes them do.

Finished

"' That old man,' she said, "is he mad at you or something?'
'I hope not.'
'He looks mad.'
'No,' I said. 'All that's finished.'" (pg. 188)

This passage made me think of relationship between Japan and America. We are civil now. We don't fight with one another and we buy from them and the buy from us. I just don't understand how we ever got to this stage. The stage where the Vietnamese people are apparently with us too. "All that's finished." he said. How do people, after so much bloodshed and tears get to the place where they can see a person from the country that had burned down their villages and be civil and nice to them? I guess it comes down to being fed up with fighting and forgiveness. The forgiveness that sets one free and is able to move on with life and not dwell on the past. Although one should never forget.

Blame

"'Nobody's fault,' he said ' Everybody's." (pg. 176)

Tone
The tone O'Brien incorporates in this passage is one of hopelessness. One can hear it in the words being used. It was nobody's fault for Kiowa dying and yet to not have prevented it in the first place was everyone. The people at home, the President, it was not the "everybody" in the platoon but the whole world. The tone is one of all knowing too. Bowker expresses deep insight on the events taken place with these few words. He expresses the blame people feel and the tragedies of war that one must face. So who can people blame? Can they blame one person so they can feel better or blame the world and still not have a person to put with a death. It's scary but its true, not all deaths have somebody to blame.

Notes

"By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate if from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others." (pg. 158)

Why does O'Brien feel the need to make up truths in a story? That was the first question that popped in my head when I read this passage. And then it hit me, it is almost like therapy. "You separate" the story "from yourself." In a way it makes it seem as though it didn't not happen to you. You tell the story and add points in the story to make the reader understand what truly was going on in the minds of others by adding incidents that did not occur. The adding is what brings out the truth of the moment. Norman Bowker could not save Kiowa. But by adding the taste of poop and the feelings of Bowker ,O'Brien could not possibly have known, we see the emotion that was in the air. The reader begins to pick up on what that field truly did to the soldiers there present.

Drowning

" He would've talked about this, and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too. He could taste it. The shit was in his nose and eyes. There were flares and mortar rounds, and he stink was everywhere-it was inside him, in his lungs- and he could no longer tolerate it." (pg.149)

This point of view for Norman Bowker presents him in a light of vulnerability. He is in a position where he would like to save his comrade but must also save himself. I feel as though it wasn't really his fault. He blames himself but how can one truly save another when they, themselves are begging to drown. At that point there is not decision, for one cannot save another when they will too die also. It is a predicament that later eats at a person conscience. These stories are ones that stay with these men. They will never be able to run away from it. I think that is what O'Brien wants to show to his readers. He wants to show him the Norman Bowker's in wars and what really happens. It is not all glory and honor. It is survival.

Dancing it all away

"When we dragged them out, the girl kept dancing. She put the palms of her hands against her ears, which must've meant something, and she danced sideways for a short while, and then backwards. She did a graceful movement with her hips." (pg 136)

The girl's family is dead and yet she dances. It baffled me when I read it but Henry Dobbins and O'Brien seemed to understood. Azar didn't , of course, but thats because his character is flat and does not see the difference in cultures. I feel as though this was an example of the Vietnamese culture when grief is presented. Or it is the product after extreme shock and she must dance it all away. All of her grief, everything. She covers her ears, maybe to stop the world from going on without her loved ones. She is alone and for a moment she can find her family in her dancing. I am probably fishing too deep for an answer but it makes sense to me. To dance away your grief is much more expressive then to just stand there and watch your old home burn.

POINT OF VIEW

"I was terrified. There were no thoughts about killing. The grenade was to make him go away-just evaporate- and I leaned back and felt my mind go empty and then felt it fill up again. I had already thrown the grenade before telling myself to throw it." (pg.133)

This passage is the point of view from Tim O'Brien before he kills an enemy soldier. It is one of a frightened man who does the only thing he knows at this point, to kill. It's sad because he starts to analyze what he has done right after he delivers the fatal blow. But that is human nature to analyze what one has done after the action. This point of view gives the reader a look inside what O'Brien was thinking and makes us understand the pressures of war. He embodies every soldier that has had to make a difficult decision in order to survive. In the end the only judge he has to face is himself. But, of course, we are the judges of ourselves and our actions and more then never we are own worst critics.

What does it mean to kill?

DICTION

"He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye shut. The other was a star-shaped hole.
'Talk,' Kiowa said." (pg.130)

O'Brien seemed to shut down in this passage. He can't talk he is beside himself with guilt or horrid fascination at what he had done. The diction the author used to describe the man killed makes the dead man seem almost child like. He uses "slim" and "dainty". Such words to describe an enemy soldiers makes the reader feel such great pity for the dead man. O'Brien thinks this way to make himself seem more guilty. For who would want to kill someone who was described like a cherub child or innocent. The diction helps add to the guilt and O'Brien's persistence to stay silent and brooding is the result.

Washing Hands

"You're right," he said. "All you can do is be nice. Treat them decent, you know?" (pg. 123)

This is a big refreshing look on life. After the chapters that have made me doubt the goodness in mankind we find someone that has seen the light. AKA the light of goodness. Henry Dobbins has always been the good guy in this book. He may do bad things, but even so one reads about him and pegs him for the straight arrow guy. In this instance i think he fully understands what the monks are doing by saying this line. He makes a washing motion before that, mimicking the monks and i don't think he fully understands what that means. I think it means that I cleanse my hands after work respecting what I have accomplish. It is almost like a fulfilled experience one has made.

Good Luck Charm

"But then, near the end of October, his girlfriend dumped him. It was a hard blow. Dobbins went quiet for a while, staring down at her letter, then after a time he took out the stockings and tied them around his neck as a comforter.
'No sweat,' he said. 'The magic doesn't go away.'" (pg.118)

Dobbins always seems to have this positiveness around him it is also kind of a CLICHE since he is big that he is automatically good, honest, and a big cutie pie. That seems to happen in many books and movies today. But even so it never gets old to me. I enjoy Dobbins thorough zest for life and the way even after such a rough end to a relationship he manages to mask his true feelings or truly believe these panty hose will help him. It inspires me but also makes me think that maybe he is delusional. Maybe he believes this girl doens't really mean it. Either way he gets through or works through his grief.

Please Pull My Teeth OUT!!

Indirect Characterization

"The dentist couldn't find any problem, but Lemon kept insisting, so the man finally shrugged and shot in the Novocain and yanked out a perfectly good tooth. There was some pain, no doubt but in the morning Curt Lemon was all smiles." (pg. 88)

Lemon was a complex character. He wasn't in the story long but O'Brien needed a story to truly show the personality of this weird man. He was crazy loved to prove himself and when he was made a wuss out of, he would think of a way to prove he was tough. I arrived at this conclusion all from a story describing the actions of this man. He encompasses that "macho man" syndrome where one is constantly trying to prove his manhood. Or he just revels in the excitement of pain and near death experiences. Curt Lemon was a character all right.. although he's just a story now.

A True Story...NOT

"This is true." (pg.67)

That's enought O'Brien there is no need to lie to me... but wait did this really happen? Tim O'Brien dances around the truth this entire book using harsh words to describe the harsh "realities" of war. But is that the reality? He was in the war so I guess all of these stories are from experiences or at least based on experiences. But why lie or why "make another truth". And when the author states that " you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil." Is such words true? Can there be no good heart in war. I can not believe that. I choose to believe that some people can act or try to act courageous. It was discouraging but also enlightening. For it is human nauture to become a killer so that one can survive. Maybe that is what O'Brien is trying to describe without having the world really know for a fact all the uncourageous things he had done. One can never truly know i guess...what the "truth" is.

Friends?...kinda

"In late August they made a pact that if one of them should ever get totally fucked up-a wheelchair wound-the other guy would automatically find a way to end it. As far as I could tell they were serious." (pg. 65)

These men cannot seem to deal with a body that is less then perfect. Azar for example exclaimed that someone seemed to not have enough bullets to finish the "poor" one-legged kid off. It is as if to be alive is not enough. it like thinking, "Yes i am alive but i am disabled. I don't want to live." Such thoughts make me wonder if that is the type of people that sign up to be in the army or if war makes people think that way, maybe it's both. But even so it's saddening to think that people in this world think that way.

Where's My Jackknife??

External Conflict

"Lee Strunk and Dave Jenson got into a fistfight. It was about something stupid-a missing jackknife- but even so the fight was viscious." (pg. 62)

When I think of a soldier, I see men and women not smiling with total self-control and self-discipline. That was the stereotype that was always with me, even as a child. In this passage I was astonished to learn the total lack of trust and loss of self control that over took Jenson and Strunk. I guess that is what O'Brien is trying to show the readers. He is trying to show us what "real" war is. What really goes on and the conflicts that erupt between two soldiers that need to work together and trust each other. This external conflict sent Lee Strunk into a craze. To be unable to trust a person that is on your side would send anyone mad!

A River Runs Through It

Internal Conflict

"All those eyes on me-the town, the whole universe- and I couldn't risk the embarrassment. It was as if there were an audience to my life,that swirl of faces along the river, and in my head i could hear people screaming at me." (pg. 59)

In this passage the reader sees O'Brien at of his weaker points. This conflict takes place all inside his head. HE doesn't even talk to anyone about his feelings. I think internal conflicts are the worst sort of fights. They take place within a person's mind and there they battle with their toughest critic...themselves'. To face oneself and to see what is truly there is the most challenging of fights. O'Brien here torments himself and then makes a decision not for himself...not really...for it is not what he wants. He wants to be free of this burden and yet takes it anyway so he won't have to face the shame and embarrassment that will come afterwards. Such a decision tells the reader that this is a real human being because we are not all strong and always willing to fight. We are human. We make mistakes. The question is can we own up to them?

Comfort in Violence

"Finally one of his buddies asks what happened with then use, why so hot for combat, and the guys says,' All that peace, man, it felt so good it hurt. I want to hurt it back.'" (pg. 5)

This just stuck out at me because to get to the point where peace is just too good that one cannot become assimilated with it, to get to that point to me, would be hell. It makes me think these soldiers were so use to discomfort and pain that they began to find joy and comfort in these violence of war. They begin to think all the time in "war mode" and to be out of it is like being a foreign country without knowing the language. O'Brien had used an example that women will just can't understand because they haven't seen a war. Well, with the knowledge that this is what could happen then I guess I'm glad to know being a soldier is not for me, not because I am a woman, but because I know I could never become comfortable with war.

A REAL Soldier

"'Right,' I said. He got into his car and rolled down the window.
'Make me out to be a good guy, okay? Brave and handsome, all that stuff. Best platoon leader ever.' He hesitated a second. 'And do me a favor. Don't mention anything about-'
'No,' I said, 'I won't'" (pg. 30)

In this passage you realize that soldiers do not always make the right decision or even if they did the best they could there will always be that guilt. It will eat at you and then the reader realizes that there is an Antihero portrayed in this story. Jimmy Cross is not the strongest platoon leader and didn't always make good enough decisions. He is not always strong and brazen and ready for battle. He is the epitome of a real human being, flaws and all. And Lavender's death will always live with him.

The Things They Carried..COVERED IN ANECDOTES!

The first page you read and already one is reading a story within a story. You know this book is about war and yet you read a story of a man in his own world to keep his love alive with a woman that may not love him. Such anecdotes is what this Whole book is encompassed with.
Anecdote-Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual.

"First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New jersey They were not love letterss, but Lietenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack. In the late afternoon, after a day's march, he would dig his foxhole, wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap the letters, hold them with the tips of his hfingers, and spend th e last hour of light pretending. He would imagin romatic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire..." (pg 1)

Such an anecdote makes the reader more informed about where the heads of some of our great soldiers really, in fact are, some of them are not really "in the war" so to speak but live inside the world of fantasy to pass the time and make war more "bearable". But of course there will always be exceptions to this rule. Some men revel in the pains of war and that is just another type of person.