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Thursday, September 19, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Blog Post 006 | September 18 2013 | "The Story of An Hour"
(My apologies for both the tardiness of this post, as well as its content :P
-Josh)
04/10/2013
Spring has sprung! Doing some cleaning. Enjoying watching the flowers begin to bud from the windows.
04/11/2013
Josephine keeps asking me what's got me so stirred up. Omg. I'm fine, I'm just tired of being cooped up -_-. Still too chilly to enjoy the weather.
04/14/2013
Brently late home from work again. Scolded me for asking too many questions. What's the deal with that?
04/20/2013
Spent a beautiful day out in the garden! Now this is what I had in mind for this year: new life, growth, and achieving my dreams!
Feeling: Hopeful
04/22/2013
Rain, rain, rain. I thought the weather was supposed to stay nice?
04/23/2013
Richards came by and spent time in the den with Brently. Those boys can get so into their little stories and games. Frankly I was a little relieved to have some time away from my husband's watchful eye. Not that I'm complaining, of course.
04/25/2013
Brently has left for business and is expected to be gone for a week or longer. I'll use this as a chance to continue spring cleaning and let the house air out.
If anyone wants to know, here's the guide I'm using to help me figure out the best way to spring clean: http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/cleaning101/a/springclnngguid.htm
04/26/2013
People are shuffling around downstairs and acting really weird. Not sure what to make of this. Feeling suspicious.
04/26/2013
OMG! Apparently there was some kind of train accident! Richards tells me that my husband was killed. Feeling...free, free, free!
04/26/2013
Brently just walked in the door. WTF. I don't even know what to thi-
-Josh)
04/10/2013
Spring has sprung! Doing some cleaning. Enjoying watching the flowers begin to bud from the windows.
04/11/2013
Josephine keeps asking me what's got me so stirred up. Omg. I'm fine, I'm just tired of being cooped up -_-. Still too chilly to enjoy the weather.
04/14/2013
Brently late home from work again. Scolded me for asking too many questions. What's the deal with that?
04/20/2013
Spent a beautiful day out in the garden! Now this is what I had in mind for this year: new life, growth, and achieving my dreams!
Feeling: Hopeful
04/22/2013
Rain, rain, rain. I thought the weather was supposed to stay nice?
04/23/2013
Richards came by and spent time in the den with Brently. Those boys can get so into their little stories and games. Frankly I was a little relieved to have some time away from my husband's watchful eye. Not that I'm complaining, of course.
04/25/2013
Brently has left for business and is expected to be gone for a week or longer. I'll use this as a chance to continue spring cleaning and let the house air out.
If anyone wants to know, here's the guide I'm using to help me figure out the best way to spring clean: http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/cleaning101/a/springclnngguid.htm
04/26/2013
People are shuffling around downstairs and acting really weird. Not sure what to make of this. Feeling suspicious.
OMG! Apparently there was some kind of train accident! Richards tells me that my husband was killed. Feeling...free, free, free!
04/26/2013
Brently just walked in the door. WTF. I don't even know what to thi-
Friday, September 13, 2013
Blog Post 005 - Sept 13 2013 | "Grotesque"
O'Connor's A Good
Man is Hard to Find reminded
me several different types of similar work, or at least work from other authors
and artists that seem to be linked in my mind (the "grotesque-esque",
if I may). This story reminded me of Chuck Palahniuck's Fight Club or Monsters not so much in
the narrative sense (as Palahniuck tends to be less descriptive than O'Connor
and relies more heavily on dialogue), but in the generally uneasy, disturbing
subtext of the situations presented in the story. From the start we get the
sense that something isn't quite right about this family and their journey to
Florida, but what that "something wrong" is is not specifically
addressed or obviously stated. It is up to the reader to determine, through
observation, why the story they're reading is grotesque.
It also reminded me of surrealist
paintings, like those done by Salvador Dali, the creator of the famous and
archetypal "melting clocks painting" (its name is The Persistence of Memory, if
you're inclined to learn more about him and his work; he really did have a
fascinating life).
When I think "grotesque", I
think of things that are disturbing not because they're outright scary, such as
in horror, but because they appear on the surface to be quite ordinary, but on
closer inspection are actually revolting or uncomfortable to consider.
Alternatively, it conjures up images of things that are based on ordinary
objects or situations but have been distorted in some way that is not
necessarily harmful or dangerous, but still disturbing to behold. For example,
the special effects used in the movie adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:
under the influence of psychotropic drugs, Hunter perceives the people around
him as having melting faces and other abnormal features. This is, in my
opinion, a way that we can convey this idea of "grotesque" to the
reader or viewer. It's a just-under-the-skin jolt of the unreal, infused with
reality in a way that makes it difficult to determine where the
"real" begins or ends.
So, let’s talk about why A
Good Man is Hard to Find, specifically, is grotesque. The story is set in a
rural area, which belies a sense of loneliness and an often creates mental
images of vast, empty landscapes, perhaps abandoned farms or ghost towns. We
are presented from the beginning with the knowledge that there is an escaped
convict on the loose who goes by the handle “the Misfit”. This foreshadowing
creates a sense of dread because we as the reader become aware that we are
likely going to have to deal with this Misfit character at some point, and
things may not end well for our story family.
There are also racial elements at work in this story. It was written
in 1955, which was roughly the beginning of the Civil Rights era, when
Americans were beginning to push back against the injustices of racism. I think
that O’Connor used racist terms in her story both to create a more realistic
and immersive environment, as well as to illustrate the grotesque-ness of
racism and racial mindsets.
There are some specific passages that are fairly grotesque, too:
the grandmother insists on wearing her Sunday best during the drive so that “If
I die, I’ll look like a lady”. During the car crash toward the end of the story,
it is mentioned that the mother is ejected from the vehicle while holding her
baby, which is a fairly disturbing and almost obscene notion (especially since
we never learn whether they actually survive). Or, what about the fact that
this family in dire straits happens to be found by the Misfit, creating an
unlikely “worst possible case” scenario.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Blog Post 004* - September 12 2013 | "Orientation"
*4th blog post chronologically; 5th assigned writing
This is where you'll be standing for most of the day. Don't worry, there's a rubber mat here, so your feet won't get tired. Your feet will get tired anyway, especially if you're not used to standing for a long time. Don't feel ashamed if that happens, even when Kevin makes fun of you because Kevin loves to exercise. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll meet him later. He likes to come size up the new guy. Don't worry, he's nice. We're all nice here. This is the perfect place to work.
You aren't allowed to leave this area. Sometimes a customer will ask you to help them in a different area of the store. You need to go help them, when that happens, but don't forget that you're not allowed to leave this area. When you get back, there will be other customers waiting for your help. They will be angry that you weren't immediately available. Don't worry, this is their way of being nice. We're all nice here.
Every customer is going to talk about the weather. Every customer is going to ask you how your day is going. Every customer is going to complain that the credit card machine is too complicated. Don't worry, this is just their way of being nice. All of our customers are very nice. You aren't allowed to think our customers are not nice. If you do, you may be let go. That's our way of being nice about following the rules here.
You aren't allowed to know anything fancy. Don't let any of the customers catch you using fancy words. You are allowed to know how to count money. You aren't allowed to know the standard form of a complex number. You are allowed to agree that the weather has been nice lately. You aren't allowed to know the melting point of tungsten. We don't pay you to be smart, we pay you to be nice. Nice like the rest of us. When you use big words, it scares the customers. The customers don't like to be scared. It doesn't feel very nice to them. Customers like to know that they're getting the best deals. They like to know that they're smarter than you. It feels nice to them. That's why we pay you.
This is your uniform. You have to wear it every day. We don't have casual Friday here. If you feel sick, you need to come to work anyway. If you're very, very sick, you may stay home, but only when you have a doctor's note. We may let you go when you come back to work. We want you to relax and get better, and how can you do that when you're working?
You will do the same things every day, in the same order, every time. Don't worry about why. People much smarter than you were paid more than you will make in ten years to come up with the ideal way to maximize our profit. Am I going too fast for you? Max-i-mize. That means "make more big". Don't worry, you'll catch on. It's nice to catch on. When you understand the job, we know that we are respecting you the right way. We like to respect our employees here.
This is your store manager. He usually sits up in his office. You may see him at the Christmas party. We don't know what he does, but we know it's way more important than what you do. Don't you dare question it. It's not nice to question things. Especially authority. Oh, auth-or-i-ty? That means "the people who are better than you". Don't worry, you'll catch on. It's nice to catch on.
You are allowed to be happy about your job. You aren't allowed to have a future. Futures are for fancy people with big brains. You don't need to concern yourself with that sort of thing. Just stand here and put the things in the bags. Put the things in the bags. Put the things in the bags. Put the things in the bags. There's a good boy. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Just smile. Smile. Smile.
Smile and don't think.
It's nicer that way.
We like to be nice here.
This is where you'll be standing for most of the day. Don't worry, there's a rubber mat here, so your feet won't get tired. Your feet will get tired anyway, especially if you're not used to standing for a long time. Don't feel ashamed if that happens, even when Kevin makes fun of you because Kevin loves to exercise. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll meet him later. He likes to come size up the new guy. Don't worry, he's nice. We're all nice here. This is the perfect place to work.
You aren't allowed to leave this area. Sometimes a customer will ask you to help them in a different area of the store. You need to go help them, when that happens, but don't forget that you're not allowed to leave this area. When you get back, there will be other customers waiting for your help. They will be angry that you weren't immediately available. Don't worry, this is their way of being nice. We're all nice here.
Every customer is going to talk about the weather. Every customer is going to ask you how your day is going. Every customer is going to complain that the credit card machine is too complicated. Don't worry, this is just their way of being nice. All of our customers are very nice. You aren't allowed to think our customers are not nice. If you do, you may be let go. That's our way of being nice about following the rules here.
You aren't allowed to know anything fancy. Don't let any of the customers catch you using fancy words. You are allowed to know how to count money. You aren't allowed to know the standard form of a complex number. You are allowed to agree that the weather has been nice lately. You aren't allowed to know the melting point of tungsten. We don't pay you to be smart, we pay you to be nice. Nice like the rest of us. When you use big words, it scares the customers. The customers don't like to be scared. It doesn't feel very nice to them. Customers like to know that they're getting the best deals. They like to know that they're smarter than you. It feels nice to them. That's why we pay you.
This is your uniform. You have to wear it every day. We don't have casual Friday here. If you feel sick, you need to come to work anyway. If you're very, very sick, you may stay home, but only when you have a doctor's note. We may let you go when you come back to work. We want you to relax and get better, and how can you do that when you're working?
You will do the same things every day, in the same order, every time. Don't worry about why. People much smarter than you were paid more than you will make in ten years to come up with the ideal way to maximize our profit. Am I going too fast for you? Max-i-mize. That means "make more big". Don't worry, you'll catch on. It's nice to catch on. When you understand the job, we know that we are respecting you the right way. We like to respect our employees here.
This is your store manager. He usually sits up in his office. You may see him at the Christmas party. We don't know what he does, but we know it's way more important than what you do. Don't you dare question it. It's not nice to question things. Especially authority. Oh, auth-or-i-ty? That means "the people who are better than you". Don't worry, you'll catch on. It's nice to catch on.
You are allowed to be happy about your job. You aren't allowed to have a future. Futures are for fancy people with big brains. You don't need to concern yourself with that sort of thing. Just stand here and put the things in the bags. Put the things in the bags. Put the things in the bags. Put the things in the bags. There's a good boy. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Just smile. Smile. Smile.
Smile and don't think.
It's nicer that way.
We like to be nice here.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Blog Post 003 - September 02 2013 | "Lottery"
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" concerns itself with concepts of magic and superstition and their place in society. This is evident, really, from the entirety of the text itself. Here we have a small, rural village. A traditional patriarchy (well, traditional by Western Puritan standards) that is not technologically developed and seems to rely on a yearly ritual sacrifice to ensure the continuation of the village (as evidenced by the line, "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon").
Ritual sacrifice is not something that is common in our society, and certainly not on a formal basis.The closest approximation to the idea that I can make is the ritual-esque system we have whereby we all sacrifice a great deal of our time accomplishing tasks for society in exchange for the ability to live within that society. In other words, having a job, paying taxes, and living in a heated box called a "house" is not a strict requirement for life, but it certainly makes things a lot easier than hunting out on the plains for your own survival. So, I would say that there is some form of parallel between our day-to-day lives and what is represented in the story. It's a very loose connection, and I openly admit that I'm stretching here. Still, it's theoretically possible for a character in this short story to go off and live on their own. They would avoid "The Lottery" and thus would never have to suffer the possibility of being offered up as a sacrifice.
It's interesting to note that this isn't just one town doing this. The story makes numerous mentions to towns which are either so large as to require the Lottery to be conducted over a period of several days, or have abandoned the Lottery outright. The villagers are making the mistake of confusing correlation and causation. Corn will grow well in fertile soil with the right amounts of sunlight and water. It has no connection to whether or not somebody has been ritually sacrificed that year. However, the villagers are reluctant to accept this premise because they believe stopping the lottery is heretical and will result in poor crops and the possibility of starvation.
As a final note, this concept of ritual sacrifice as a plot device seems to be common throughout history. A recent example would be the very popular Hunger Games series, which is itself based off of older historical events such as the gladiatorial battles of ancient Rome.
Ritual sacrifice is not something that is common in our society, and certainly not on a formal basis.The closest approximation to the idea that I can make is the ritual-esque system we have whereby we all sacrifice a great deal of our time accomplishing tasks for society in exchange for the ability to live within that society. In other words, having a job, paying taxes, and living in a heated box called a "house" is not a strict requirement for life, but it certainly makes things a lot easier than hunting out on the plains for your own survival. So, I would say that there is some form of parallel between our day-to-day lives and what is represented in the story. It's a very loose connection, and I openly admit that I'm stretching here. Still, it's theoretically possible for a character in this short story to go off and live on their own. They would avoid "The Lottery" and thus would never have to suffer the possibility of being offered up as a sacrifice.
It's interesting to note that this isn't just one town doing this. The story makes numerous mentions to towns which are either so large as to require the Lottery to be conducted over a period of several days, or have abandoned the Lottery outright. The villagers are making the mistake of confusing correlation and causation. Corn will grow well in fertile soil with the right amounts of sunlight and water. It has no connection to whether or not somebody has been ritually sacrificed that year. However, the villagers are reluctant to accept this premise because they believe stopping the lottery is heretical and will result in poor crops and the possibility of starvation.
As a final note, this concept of ritual sacrifice as a plot device seems to be common throughout history. A recent example would be the very popular Hunger Games series, which is itself based off of older historical events such as the gladiatorial battles of ancient Rome.
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