Matt Keller

The Invisble Man

2005-04-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

"I am an invisible man."

This is the first line out of the Prologue and my favorite in the entire novel. At first, I was skeptical of the book because I thought it would have a science-fiction tone to it. I thought that the man was actually going to be invisible. The following paragraph goes on describe in what ways the narrator was invisible. The narrator states that he is not a ghost, like the ones that haunted Edgar Allen Poe, or those that are made in Hollywood. Instead, the narrator was invisible to the way people and society fail to see him as an individual. Whether he be a part of the black race, a Negro School, or the Brotherhood society fails to look at the invisible man as an individual.

This book deals with a lot of sterotypes for both blacks and whites. I feel that while the world has come a long way from Ellison's Invisible Man when it comes to equality between blacks and whites, there is still room for improvement. In my hometown, we have a lot of illegal immigrants who come from Mexico to work in the orchards so they can better support their families. I feel that there is a lot of racist tension, like in the novel, in my hometown. I feel that it takes time to change a town's identity as a "white town" but with some luck it will happen soon.

The House of the Spirits

2005-03-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

In The House of the Spirits identity plays a huge role throughout the novel. The character that I believe cared about his/her identity was clearly esteban Trueba. During the novel, Trueba becomes obsessed with his identity of power. He becomes the patron of Tres Marias and creates it into a prosperous estate. There he rapes and bears children to many women without feeling any remorse. Esteban felt as though he had that right to rape women as their patron.

In chapter 9, Esteban takes his granddaughter to visit Tres Marias. While he was showing her around, Alba begins to question his identity of absolute ruler at Tres Marias. She questions the way that he treats his workers. Esteban quickly becomes angry and raises his voice towards Alba. Although it seems Alba is the only one that Esteban would take such criticism from it does not change how he treats the workers.

After turning Tres Marias into a successful estate, Esteban is still power hungry and becomes a Senator. This further proves that Esteban is obsessed with power. In the end, it seems that Esteban's power allowed very few people close to him which leads to his solitude and the loss of several family members.

Duplessis

2005-03-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

There are several questions that I would like to ask Rachel Duplessis. First, I would ask her if she has a schedule when she writes. Does she have a set time that she just works on her writing? Or does she just write down ideas/feelings whenever they come to her? I feel that I come up with better ideas when I actually sit down in front of the computer and start writing. Also, I would ask her when she knew that she wanted to become a writer. Had she always been interested in writing at a young age or did those feelings come later in life? The last question that I would ask Duplessis is whether she could happy at any other job in life or is writing the only thing she was meant to do?

Antigone

2005-03-04T18:33:00.000-08:00

"But I am following the custom and burying my brother. And if I die for it? So what? I'll rest in peace among the peaceful. "

I enjoyed this passage from Antigone because it shows how much love she had for her brother. The entire city had condemmed her brother and even her own sister does not want to bury him, but Antigone is willing to do whatever it takes. Antigone will bury her brother no matter what even if it costs her life.

Tales like that of Antigone are still very interesting today. Brecht has slightly changed several ideas and concepts from the original to make it more contemporary. For instance, Brecht changed the Chorus, a voice of reason in Sophocles' version, into an actual character. I read Sophocles' version in the 12th grade and was confused on how I should treat the character of the Chorus, so I enjoyed this updated version.

Gregorio Cortez

2005-02-22T20:44:00.000-08:00

The Legend of Gregorio Cortez is a good example of subjectivity that was discussed in Toolbox. I feel that Gregorio Cortez became the ideal subject that many young Mexicans, especially those near the border wanted to be. Cortez is often referred to as a Mexican who is great with a weapon and fights against those evil Americans. Cortez was a family man who defended his right for self defense. In the end Cortez is made out to be a hero by giving himself up to save those who he was friends with. These are all qualities that any young Mexican would want to have when they grow up. Gregorio Cortez is a character similar to American folk heros that are passed down through story telling.

I was suprised at the amount of vaniances that this legend had in print. All the different variants told the basic story of Gregorio Cortez's legend but differed slighty in the facts. In one variant it told how three hundred greedy and scared Americans came after Cortez. In others it was only a few Americans that were chasing him. These facts were probably changed to make the Mexicans near the border hate the Americans even more. This fact does not suprise me since that it is oppisite in many Western movies and stories.

Lorca

2005-02-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

In Lorca's Blood Wedding I feel that we do not get the full sense of the meaning of the play because we are not from that time period. I think that those who read this play during Lorca's time period, and especially those from Spain, recieved a different meaning from the play. There are many customs and traditions that I do not fully understand. One of the main topics is that of the roles of females during that time period.

Females were suppose to be virgins and to be with only one man for her entire life. The Bridegroom's mother is very concerned about her son's marriage because of the fact that she had a previous lover. The Mother tells her son "one woman with one man, and thats all." The Mother also reveals that once her husband had been killed she never thought about getting with another man. Divorce in their society was also somthing that was never done. I think that the Bride was afraid of that fact and is one of the reasons she ran away.

Women and the amount of power they have in society is another topic I felt that Lorca was trying to show us. Women did not have the power to divorce or the power to kill somebody. This is why the Mother wishes her son had been a daughter. I also believe that the lack of power is the reason that the Mother did not kill the Bride when she had the chance. Socitey during the time of this play was mostly a male dominated one and I feel that Lorca did a good job conveying that theme in his play.

Chopin

2005-02-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

Edna Pontellier was a woman that I think was way ahead of her time. She challanges how women of the time period were looked at. Edna questions the ideals of marriage and motherhood. She becomes a very independent person with feelings and ideas that are her own.

Edna and her husband have a very rocky relationship that can be found from the very beginning of the book. Edna spends quite a bit of time with Robert and eventually becomes attached. Her husband, Leonce, spends a lot of time out of the house dealing with his business and making money. He often sends Edna expensive things while he is gone, but it doesn't seem to be quite what Edna is looking for. I feel that from the moment that Edna swam in the ocean by herself is when the change or "awakening" begins to happen. After the swim she seems to become more independent in her way of life. She begins to paint and have her own thoughts and desires seperate from those of her husband. Edna also breaks her normal routine of having people over to the house on Tuesdays. She eventually ends up moving out of the house and having an affair with a young man named Alcee Arobin.

Throughout the book Edna admits that she is not the mother type and spends little time with her children. Her two children are very independent and rarely go to their mother for help. This is in contrast to Madame Ratignolle who seems to be the perfect wife and mother figure. Madame Ratignolle is always pregnant and seems to love spending time with her children as well as her husband. This is another example of how Edna challaged the way people thought a mother and wife should act during that time period.

I feel that the author did a very good job at writing this story especially for being a woman of the same time period. Kate Chopin seems throughout the book not to bash or glorify Edna's actions no matter what she did. It seemed that she wanted the reader to decide for themselves on how Enda Pontellier should be looked upon.

"The Yellow Wallpaper"

2005-01-24T21:20:00.000-08:00

After reading The Yellow Wallpaper I got a better sense of what life might have been like in the 19th century for a mental patient and for a husband and wife. John the husband had so much control over his wife's life not only as a husband but also as a doctor. Their living arrangements were also something I learned about such as separate beds and how she acted towards John.

The narrator of the story never questions John as to what he does all those nights he is in town and tries very hard never to upset or inconvenience him. She tries to tell him that she wants another room to stay in but thinks better of it as not to upset him. She also wants to leave early but when John says no she doesn's ask anymore questions. I feel in some ways this is very different from our society today.

John as a doctor, is very controlling of her and feels that she should get plenty of rest and that she is not to be writing at all. He feels that he knows what is best for her even though sometimes she says she is feeling worse. She writes in spite of her husband's order not to write feeling that maybe that is why she is sick. Her going crazy in the end is probably the direct cause of her husband's poor decesion making as her physician.

When I found out that the author actually had been in the same situation and that led her to writing this short story I think gives her even more power. Although she admits that her story is filled with embellishments and additions I feel that she still has a lot of power as an author. I can kind of relate her to Frederick Douglass in that he was a slave and that is what he wrote about. She suffered from a mental illness and she also wrote a story about some of her personal condition.

Douglass and His "Pathway"

2005-01-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

"I now understand what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty--to wit, the whaite man's power to enslave the black man. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom."

I found this passage to be one of the most powerful passages of the entire reading. Frederick Douglass had been a slave for his entire life at this point in his Narrative and never knew any of the freedoms that I have so far enjoyed in life. His "pathway to freedom" was in his ability to read. Reading not only helped Douglass in gaining his physical freedom he also broke the mental slavery that his masters had held for so long. I believe Douglass realized this and it only fueled his desire to learn.

In some ways we can compare this passage with society today. Many people in the U.S. and all over the world are uneducated and are stuck in low paying jobs or have no jobs at all. If those people had half of the determination that Frederick Douglass had, they could also improve their lives.