1. Puritan literature and culture (17 th century): American literature begins in 1620 with settling of the Plymouth Plantation and ends with the American Revolution and the treaty of Paris of 1783, which confirmed the independence of the United States. Puritan culture: combined pure, absolute faith with rationality, intellect with emotions, joy of life with rigorous moral conduct, independent study of the Bible with strict communal control. The main body of Puritan writing is only semi-literary (histories, diaries and sermons). The Puritans were English Protestants, who followed the teaching of Martin Luther, but who were influenced by ideas of John Calvin. They believe in the doctrine of predestination, that at the beginning of time God had chosen some people for salvation, while others were headed for eternal damnation. Puritans were proud of being elected. Doctrines of predestination (everything is planed we can not change it): Dogma of evil human nature: everybody has to be baptized, human is nothing and cannot be responsible for himself. Dogma of the elect: some people are chose to go to heaven, it happens at the moment we start our lives, nobody knows why. Dogma of limited salvation: Christ died only for the chosen ones. Dogma of God’s mercy. Dogma of Saints: God blessed them to leave evil life and change into walking examples. a) William Bradford Of Plymouth Plantation - as a providential view of history: Puritans see themselves as being chosen by God for salvation. There were only few elects and they were among them. They were proud of that. They have special roles on the earth. In future they will be successful in all areas and can not be wrong. We interpret everything as if it was the will of God (providences of Gad). Examples: Indians’ arrows didn’t hit the Pilgrims; if the God hadn’t hale them they wouldn’t have harvested; they knew nothing about land, savage people, climate when they came, but they believed they could do nothing without God’s help. They see themselves as chose people because: hardship (weather), the idea of a journey, there are God deliverances, America as a Promised land, many references to the Bible, God ‘opened’ the Red sea (as an analogy to Moses). - as a introduction of themes developed later in course of American literature o Religion: God protects everybody and everything that happens is his will, they wanted to prove that they are then chosen ones, so they are religious (more above in the point – as a providential view of history). o Relations with Indians: rather bad relationship, Pilgrims believed that Indians are savage people; they treated them firstly as devils (then after seeing them and meeting them they sow that Indians were people). They fought each other in bloody battles, they were enemies. 1 Example: Indians sent arrows to hit the Pilgrims (they didn’t reached them as a God’s providential). o Language: wonderful ‘plain style’ which the Puritans admired. In order to present the ‘clear light of truth’ Puritans writers avoided elegant language. The examples were drawn from the Bible or from the everyday life of farmers and fisherman. Bradford’s history is deeply influenced by the belief that God directs everything that happens. Each event he writes about begins with, ‘It pleased God to…’. o Realism: in this story there are authentic people (John Smith, King Henry VI); authentic places (America-Indians, Holland); authentic dates (Holland – 1607/08); quotations from historical books; some of the fragments are explained by historians now-so they really happened; logical text – as a historical book. o Testing the ideal against the real: b)Anne Bradstreet’s poems: - Upon the Burning of our House: This poem is less lyrical and more narrative. Everything belong to God I blest His name that gave and took. When she sow the fire she said I, starting up, the light did spy. - God was the fire she turned to (Puritan ideas). But she also lamented, as there were two sides in her: her heart cries and her soul tries to convince her not to worry. There is a significant metaphor God as an Architect. - To my Dear and Loving Husband: It was a revolutionary poem as she wrote about love to the husband not to God (previously love was associated with God). Here love is biblical, God likes this love because it is pure and perfect, for example I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold. She uses the original imagery, love theme, and idea of comparison popular in Europe at the time, but gives theses a pious meaning ate the poem’s conclusion (if you are interested…. enjoy the poem): If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee; If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold. Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench. Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense. Thy love is such I can no way repay. 2 The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then while we live, in love let’s so preserve. That when we live no more, we may live ever. - The Author to her Book: Extended metaphor – Book as a child. The author as the mother speaks to the book – her child. She warns her child who is leaving home – book in critic’s hand. She says that her child is not perfect (as well as she). She was poor and wanted to publish her book. Each time she wanted to correct her work she was finding more and more mistakes, but she still loves it and cares about it (like a real mother loved her child even if he is not perfect). On the one hand she wanted to publish the book (because she needed money) but on the other she complained that it is still imperfect. Simply, she didn’t have enough abilities to write good poems. 2. The 18 th century: The Great Awakening began about 1730. It was one of many sudden explosions of religious emotions. Preachers toured the country, telling people to repent and be saved by the New Light. There was Halfway Covenant – such rules to membership of the Church, when your grandparents were members of the church it was also possible for you. a) Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - as a propaganda literature (stylistic devices): like a sermon (so delivered orally). Many repetitions (to keep attention of the audience). But here text images are not simply repeated, but they are presented with increasing intensity, and the preacher consciously evoked the hysterical reaction of the audience. This text strikes us as a powerful expression of deep religious convictions coming from a man driven by the urge to transmit the sense of God’s anger to the hesitant audience. His sermons were very powerful and frightening and had enormous impact, sending whole congregations into hysterical fits of weeping. Edwards uses the traditional structure of the Puritan sermon: text (the biblical passage that is the subject of the sermon- there were quotations from the Bible which were explain how it works in our life), doctrine (the lesson or moral to be learned from the text), reasons (or proofs of the truth of the doctrine) and uses (or application of the doctrine for the audience). Unconverted people should wake up and convert. There are hyperboles (collection of images from weakest to the strongest). They are memorable because of all different images and repetitions (only two things: powerful God – weak man); they work on imagination and scary people. Attention is kept by exclamations Sinners!!!, modulation voice, rhetorical questions and gestures. - as an illustration of man – God relations: the image of a man who is like spider held by God over the pit of hell, and the immediacy of eternal damnation for which God need only to let go of that insect. God is not only able to cast wicked man into hell, but He can most easily do it. We all are in God’s power. Edwards scared people. People are weak, loathsome, awful, disgusting because of sins. God is powerful, decides about our life (if he will let us go we have no power to change a thing). He 3 is angry – His wrath like great water which rises higher and higher – flood; black clouds, storm, bow of God’s wrath. His kingdom is opposition to the miserable condition of men. b) Benjamin Franklin Autobiography God was seen by Deists as rationalistic himself ad a creator of a logical universe which man, through thinking and experimenting, could fully understand and explain. B. Franklin didn’t create Deism but was among first proponents of pragmatism. He was an inventor of lightening rod, pavements, and lamps. He was the embodiment of American culture, politics and practical inventions first but some room is saved for artistic imagination as well. His own life became the epitome of the most essential of American myth, that of the person advancing ‘from rags to riches’. Short description of a plot: Franklin was born in Boston; he decided to leave home because he had problems with his brother, and they were fighting. His father used to say that his brother was always better. His brother was a publisher and Franklin a writer, so his brother wanted to published his books. He went to Philadelphia, seen as a new world. - puritan vs. enlightened: He is a representative of the Age of Reason, which brought about not only a rational approach to the world, but first of all the beliefs in progress. The 18 th century American Enlightenment was a moment marked by an emphasis on rationality rather than traditions (Puritan), scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma. Enlightenment belief was that human intelligence (or reason) could understand both nature and man. Unlike the Puritan who saw man as a sinful failure. Enlightenment thinkers were sure that man could improve himself and wanted to create a happy society based on justice and freedom. There is no belief in providence because the world is a mechanism and people have just rules to follow. - self – made man idea: Franklin was the first great self – made man in America, a poor democrat born in an aristocratic age that his fine example helped to liberalize. His life illustrates the impact of the Enlightenment on a gifted individual. Franklin learned from other writers to apply reason to his own life and to brake with traditions (Puritan tradition). He tried to help other ordinary people become successful by sharing his insights and initiating a characteristically American gender – the self – help book (Autobiography). The most famous section describes his scientific scheme of selfimprovement. He had 13 virtues (listed below) and elaborated on each with a maxim, for example the temperance maxim was Eat not to Dullness, Drink not to Elevation. He failed with accomplishing the third virtue, he did it because he believed that people wouldn’t like him if he was so perfect and it wouldn’t look so realistic. The project of self – improvement blend the Enlightenment belief in perfectibility with the Puritan habit of moral self – scrutiny. - as a prototypical American success story: Franklin presents his early life in a way that became an American model, if not in details, then at least in principles. As a young man he had his whole day rigorously planned from 5 in the morning till 10 in the evening. He also made a list of 13 cardinal 4 virtues (temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, humility) and prepared weekly reviews of his behavior on all days of the week, marking sins against these virtues with a black spot What good shall I do this day? What good have I done today? Most certainly a very unexciting model, yet this is what the myth of ‘from rags to riches’ is all about – though Franklin was probably unique among people of success with his concern about goodness. In his idea success is possible only if one does not waste one’s life away. In Franklin’s world there was no predestination, and man alone was responsible for what he would do with his own life: when we reject the Puritan’s view of the world as depriving man of the ultimate control of his life, are we aware that being left with all responsibility may in fact be an even greater burden? After all, for every man who has gone from rags to riches, there must be several who have gone from riches to rags… You should have a plan to follow in order to become a successful man. - as a demonstration of pragmatism: pragmatism: the truth is measured by practical experiences: what worked was true because it could be traced back to law of nature. The success should be in harmony with the overall pattern of the universe. To be a successful person everything has to be checked and experienced. 3. Literature of the early republic: 1. Rip Van Winkle by WASHINGTON IRVING - a few words about it Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving tells the tale of the title character, Rip Van Winkle. Rip Van Winkle is characterized as lovable and good-natured and equally lazy and irresponsible. He is quite popular in his small town in the Catskill Mountains (which are romanticized by Irving, who describes Rip’s town in details and with huge doze of affection) Rip's popularity in his community is in part due to his altruistic nature. He was said to do any favor for his fellow neighbor without question. Though, at home, it seemed impossible for him to fulfill any duties, especially that of a father and husband. His wife, Dame criticized him very often for that. To escape the problems that plagued him in his home life, Rip, along with his dog, Wolf, often set off to the Catskills. One day, on one of the usual trips, Rip found himself on one of the highest peaks of the mountains as nightfall rapidly approached. He found himself torn, as he knew it would be very difficult to trek home at night, and still yet he feared more the wrath of his wife's tongue. Before he was able to start the long walk home, he heard his name being called out. As he finally came face-to-face with this stranger, he couldn't help but notice his strange appearance, of an '"'antique Dutch fashion.'"' Though they never spoke, Rip was entranced and awed, and followed him. They finally reached the amphitheatre of the mountain and Rip saw that there were other men who looked like the stranger he had just met. He was strangely attracted to the '"'flagon,'"' or alcoholic beverage, which occupied the center of the room. After many servings, he became increasingly tired, and ultimately went to sleep. When Rip finally awoke, he noticed that his dog was no where to be seen, and that his gun had rusted. He made his way back into town to encounter people who he had never seen before. It was becoming obvious that there was something strange happening. He made his way to the village inn. He noticed that the beloved statue of King George 5 III had been replaced by the statue of a man named '"'General Washington.'"' When he finally asked around, it was painfully clear that he had slept for nearly two decades. The world around him was different and new. Everything he knew, was there no more. Today, the term '"'Rip Van Winkle,'"' describes a diehard, or a traditionalist. In this story, Irving discusses the changes that went underway after the Revolutionary War. People in the United States had long stopped talking about the British and their affairs. They had now created their own stories, and their own history. Of course, no matter how much Rip could have possibly hated the changes, he had to adjust, and he did. Rip once again became popular in his town, as he learned to relate to the younger generation. Much like the new stories of war, and war heroes were the creation of a new history for the characters in Rip Van Winkle, the story in itself, was intended by Irving to help enhance, enrich, and create our history. 2. myth-creating story / legend description of the setting – like in a typical romantic tale mountain description – they’re mysterious (“fairy mountains”) narration in introduction – statement from the narrator who says that this was a real story (narrator is self-reliable) many unrealistic elements there are some “not natural” people who look in a strange way (e.g. they have different colors of beards). They looked like Dutch settlers. Descriptions of the men from the mountains – they’re no longer alive, they’re ghosts, people from the past. Rip drank liquid which made him fall asleep for 20 years Creatures that he met There are many descriptions of the weather, village etc. Some descriptions are very mysterious (e.g. mountains which are like barometers – they’re sensitive to changes) Many adjectives creating mood are used Distant setting, distant time. 3. History in the Rip Van Wrinkle (and realism) creation of the country there was a picture of the king signed as George Washington American Revolution There is a change in the people’s mentality and characters There is a change in the clothes and the way people are dressed Realism before and after the revolution (living in the village) People hardly knew what was going on (even the newspapers were delivered 3 days later) They weren’t interested in politics 4. Rip as the prototype of an American hero Rip Van Winkle is simply taken from an old German folk-tale “Peter Klaus”. Yet, by transplanting it to the American soil, Irving made it the first American short story to be widely read and creates in Rip Van Winkle the prototype of the carefree American male, who forever remains an adolescent – a character frequently appearing in American fiction. He: Stands out in the society (freedom) Is a volunteer – helps others in some unimportant jobs Is an individual (no boundaries) Likes solitude (doesn’t want to be limited by his wife) 6 Friendship with nature : going to the woods , he has a dog Has a gun as a protection Is hard-working Is indifferent towards politics Is sociable Is kind of a victim of his tyrannous wife Doesn’t care for his children Wanted to be an individualist (no orders) 4. American Transcendentalism Intellectual movement that directly or indirectly affected most of the writers in the New England renaissance. The trans. led by Emerson who believed human senses can know only physical reality. the fundamental truths of being and universe lie outside the reach of the senses and can be grasped only through intuition. focus on human spirit interested in natural world n relationship to human reality away from scientific reason. want to know universal truths better. they concluded all forms of being- god, nature, n humanity- are spiritually united through a shared universal soul or over-soul .They believed there was one being, god, no father son or spirit! TRANCENDENTALISM: -intuition allows us to "know" the existence of our own soul -use the "highest power of the soul” to find their inspiration and insight -nature confirms their deepest intuition -heart of their writings- the spiritual unity of all forms of being, with god, humanity and nature sharing a universal soul -Embraces the romantics belief that nature contains all of the knowledge -Transcendentalist writers went deep into the mysteries of human personality, especially its' irrational elements -natural, human, and spiritual meanings are interwoven -the main goal is to relate all individuals to both the natural world and their own inner worlds In general, transcendentalism is ‘going beyond’ what is material (from Latin ‘over passing’) It urged people to break free of the customs and traditions, listen to the spirit, go outside in order to comprehend God, nature, and universe. a. NATURE Emerson calls for a new philosophy and religion by revelation (individual experience). Everything was new (land, thoughts) so they wanted to create new works. a. NATURE refers to something unchanged by men b. Man creates out of nature – it’s just superficial seeing c. Children are innocent – we may perceive nature if we become like children d. We will perceive nature when we are alone, in solitude – contemplation e. We should go to the woods, and leave the world and civilization behind f. Nature doesn’t destruct us, there is a connection between nature and our mood – the nature adjusts our mood (when I’m happy the sun is shining (so he influences nature) but when he is in the woods it is he who is influenced. 7 g. h. i. j. k. l. m. n. o. p. In the woods we return to the reason and faith He feels that he is a part of something bigger – a part of universe He refuses egoism in order to ‘see all’ Man influences nature and vice versa Nature is “a vehicle of thought” (it is our thought) The feelings while being in the woods are : peace, calmness, emptiness, purity, transparent, quiet, no needs, harmony with the surrounding We feel younger while being with nature We’re closer to God Nature’s beauty can be found everywhere (example with the corpse) God created nature so it must be good q. Nature is useful -all the things a man creates are a reproduction of the things he saw in the nature -nature is a chain of beings (grass-animal-man) used to feed him --food -man imitates the nature to use it for his own good (wind blows so may be used to move ships etc) --energy -civilization -pattern to follow -pleasure Functions of nature: - daylight – he’s happy to be a part of something so beautiful - beauty and virtue – virtue is usually accompanied by beautiful surrounding (good queen = pretty queen) - taste – the love of beauty is Taste, the creation of beauty is Art, Nature serves as a model for Art. Oversoul – it is our inner power which is beyond Christianity, beyond religions, creeds and dogmas. It doesn’t cause a clash; it causes unity of a man and nature, God. UNITY OF NATURE: - it’s a part of our Oversoul, it’s divine and serves people - we see God in trees, birds ,etc - we should try to find our own way to God, not to rely on traditions –we should rely on our OWN EXPERIENCE - we have to be directly related with nature, be practical about life - nature gives us safety, asylum - nature reflects our moods, and wears colors of the spirit - Talking about Oversoul – we have two levels of knowledge: The one we obtain from our senses (through reason) The spiritual level – intuition, which is always right (and we should follow it) AMERICAN SCHOLAR In "The American Scholar," Ralph Waldo Emerson characterizes the nature of the American scholar in three categories: nature, books, and action. The scholar is one who nature mystifies, because one must be engrossed with nature before he can appreciate it. In nature, man learns to tie things together; trees sprout from roots, leaves grow on trees, and so on. Man learns how to classify the things in nature, which simplifies things in his mind (section I). Books, to the scholar, should only be used as a link to gathering information about the past. For these books do not give a definite factual account of the past; they provide information for man to form his own 8 opinions. These books were written by men who already had formulated ideas in their heads spawned by other books. Man must look to these books for inspiration in creating his own thoughts. He must use all the possible resources available to get every side and every opinion out there. When man creates his own thoughts, using every source to aid him in his thinking, only then will the scholar be learned, be man thinking (section II). Although not as important, the scholar must also take action. He must fill each and every moment of the day. The scholar should work different jobs and learn new professions. Then he will learn new languages in which to illustrate his thoughts. The scholar should teach his knowledge to men, teach them facts versus appearances. To do this, the scholar must trust himself, never willing to give in to popular opinion. He should never seek money or power, or let either sway his judgment. His actions are a reflection of his character, and "character is higher than intellect" (Section III). Furthermore, the nature of the scholar is the gender of man. Emerson makes a division of the "man thinking" and the woman. He writes, "I have heard it said that the clergy . . . the scholars of their day--are addressed as women" (Section III). In the context of this quote, Emerson is saying that clergymen were the scholars of the past, and that society degraded them. Emerson chooses to use women as the degraded image. Therefore, women cannot be scholars since he uses them as this negative image. Multiplied by the fact that throughout this piece, Emerson constantly uses the terms "the man," "man thinking," and the pronouns "his," and "himself." Herein lies the hypocrisy of Emerson, which by his own words displays how he is not a scholar, a man thinking. Emerson says that the scholar should take all the information from society available and use this to make up his own mind (Section II). During this time, society equated women as not being equal in intellect to men. Yet women writers like Mary Rowlandson, Elizabeth Ashbridge, and Sarah Kemble Knight, were writing narratives just as good as men. They displayed how indeed, they equaled the intellect of men. However, Emerson does not give women the credit or equality that is due to them. "In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking" (Before Section I). In regard to the equality he gives women, Emerson has become the parrot he describe In ‘The American Scholar’ ii. Nature is a web of God – boundless, entire iii. Nature is the opposite of soul. It is the measure of man’s attainments (osiągnięcia). If a man is ignorant of nature, he will not possess his own mind (nature – mind) iv. We should experience nature individually v. BUT be self-thinker – be individual! vi. Learn from studying nature! But be independent CIVIL DIOBEDIENCE Thoreau's Civil Disobedience espouses the need to prioritize one's conscience over the dictates of laws. It criticizes American social institutions and policies, most prominently slavery and the Mexican-American War. Thoreau begins his essay by arguing that government rarely proves itself useful and that it derives its power from the majority because they are the strongest group, not because they hold the most legitimate viewpoint. He contends that people's first obligation is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law dictated by the majority. When a government is unjust, people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from the government in general. A person is not obligated to devote his life to eliminating evils from the world, but he is obligated not to participate in such evils. This includes not being a member of an unjust institution (like the government). Thoreau further argues that the United States fits his criteria for an unjust government, given its support of slavery and its practice of aggressive war. 9 Thoreau doubts the effectiveness of reform within the government, and he argues that voting and petitioning for change achieves little. He presents his own experiences as a model for how to relate to an unjust government: In protest of slavery, Thoreau refused to pay taxes and spent a night in jail. But, more generally, he ideologically dissociated himself from the government, "washing his hands" of it and refusing to participate in his institutions. According to Thoreau, this form of protest was preferable to advocating for reform from within government; he asserts that one cannot see government for what it is when one is working within it. Civil Disobedience covers several topics, and Thoreau intersperses poetry and social commentary throughout. For purposes of clarity and readability, the essay has been divided into three sections here, though Thoreau himself made no such divisions SELF-RELIANCE Walden opens with a simple announcement that Thoreau spent two years in Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, living a simple life supported by no one. He says that he now resides among the civilized again; the episode was clearly both experimental and temporary. The first chapter, “Economy,” is a manifesto of social thought and meditations on domestic management, and in it Thoreau sketches out his ideals as he describes his pond project. He devotes attention to the skepticism and wonderment with which townspeople had greeted news of his project, and he defends himself from their views that society is the only place to live. He recounts the circumstances of his move to Walden Pond, along with a detailed account of the steps he took to construct his rustic habitation and the methods by which he supported himself in the course of his wilderness experiment. It is a chapter full of facts, figures, and practical advice, but also offers big ideas about the claims of individualism versus social existence, all interspersed with evidence of scholarship and a propensity for humor. Thoreau tells us that he completed his cabin in the spring of 1845 and moved in on July 4 of that year. Most of the materials and tools he used to build his home he borrowed or scrounged from previous sites. The land he squats on belongs to his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson; he details a cost-analysis of the entire construction project. In order to make a little money, Thoreau cultivates a modest bean-field, a job that tends to occupy his mornings. He reserves his afternoons and evenings for contemplation, reading, and walking about the countryside. Endorsing the values of austerity, simplicity, and solitude, Thoreau consistently emphasizes the minimalism of his lifestyle and the contentment to be derived from it. He repeatedly contrasts his own freedom with the imprisonment of others who devote their lives to material prosperity. Despite his isolation, Thoreau feels the presence of society surrounding him. The Fitchburg Railroad rushes past Walden Pond, interrupting his reveries and forcing him to contemplate the power of technology. Thoreau also finds occasion to converse with a wide range of other people, such as the occasional peasant farmer, railroad worker, or the odd visitor to Walden. He describes in some detail his association with a Canadian-born woodcutter, Alex Therien, who is grand and sincere in his character, though modest in intellectual attainments. Thoreau makes frequent trips into Concord to seek the society of his longtime friends and to conduct what scattered business the season demands. On one such trip, Thoreau spends a night in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax because, he says, the government supports slavery. Released the next day, Thoreau returns to Walden. Thoreau devotes great attention to nature, the passing of the seasons, and the creatures with which he shares the woods. He recounts the habits of a panoply of animals, from woodchucks to partridges. Some he endows with a larger meaning, often spiritual or psychological. The hooting loon that plays hide and seek with Thoreau, for instance, becomes a symbol of the playfulness of nature and its divine laughter at human endeavors. Another example of animal symbolism is the full-fledged ant war that Thoreau stumbles upon, prompting him to meditate on human warfare. Thoreau’s interest in animals is not exactly like the naturalist’s or zoologist’s. He does not observe and describe them neutrally and scientifically, but gives them a moral and philosophical significance, as if each has a distinctive lesson to teach him. As autumn turns to winter, Thoreau begins preparations for the arrival of the cold. He listens to the squirrel, the rabbit, and the fox as they scuttle about gathering food. He watches the migrating birds, and welcomes 10 the pests that infest his cabin as they escape the coming frosts. He prepares his walls with plaster to shut out the wind. By day he makes a study of the snow and ice, giving special attention to the mystic blue ice of Walden Pond, and by night he sits and listens to the wind as it whips and whistles outside his door. Thoreau occasionally sees ice-fishermen come to cut out huge blocks that are shipped off to cities, and contemplates how most of the ice will melt and flow back to Walden Pond. Occasionally Thoreau receives a visit from a friend like William Ellery Channing or Amos Bronson Alcott, but for the most part he is alone. In one chapter, he conjures up visions of earlier residents of Walden Pond long dead and largely forgotten, including poor tradesmen and former slaves. Thoreau prefers to see himself in their company, rather than amid the cultivated and wealthy classes. As he becomes acquainted with Walden Pond and neighboring ponds, Thoreau wants to map their layout and measure their depths. Thoreau finds that Walden Pond is no more than a hundred feet deep, thereby refuting common folk wisdom that it is bottomless. He meditates on the pond as a symbol of infinity that people need in their lives. Eventually winter gives way to spring, and with a huge crash and roar the ice of Walden Pond begins to melt and hit the shore. In lyric imagery echoing the onset of Judgment Day, Thoreau describes the coming of spring as a vast transformation of the face of the world, a time when all sins are forgiven. Thoreau announces that his project at the pond is over, and that he returned to civilized life on September 6, 1847. The revitalization of the landscape suggests the restoration of the full powers of the human soul, and Thoreau’s narrative observations give way, in the last chapter of Walden, to a more direct sermonizing about the untapped potential within humanity. In visionary language, Thoreau exhorts us to “meet” our lives and live fully. Man and society Nature is needed to isolate from society, civilization, society and yourself, your place in the world Nature can fill in the solitude A child I not so tied to the society and its perception of nature is pure, fresh, new and intensive (in the American Scholar) each man of a society performs a designed job. A man can become a victim of society and become a mere thinker, or even worse, the parrot of other man’s thinking (society – mere thinking) society is against mankind society restricts and kills individuality by rules (conformity – we should all be the same for a good of society) who wants to be a man must be a non-conformist society is civilized, Christianized, but forgot how to use its ‘feet’ – it undergoes continual changes but never advances society prefers names and customs, not creators and realities. The intellectual declaration of independence (Nature) We should discover our own way of perceiving the world We should ‘get’ to our religion, philosophy and our own concepts of history – but in order to achieve that a man should focus on what is now Tradition is connected with the past (The American Scholar) be Man Thinking! “American Scholar” focuses on education, describes what a student in America needs to become. It says that an American student must make himself into “Man Thinking”. His words constitute America’s intellectual (not political!) declaration of independence. The student learns from studying nature and the world around him. He should use books only as a GUIDE to improve, but not to 11 control or replace his own thought. A student should become an individual thinker and experience nature individually. We shouldn’t waste days on reading – apply intuition while reading (use books wisely) We shouldn’t base on something previously created WALDEN by HENY DAVID THOREAU Walden opens with a simple announcement that Thoreau spent two years in Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, living a simple life supported by no one.. The first chapter, “Economy,” is a manifesto of social thought and meditations on domestic management, and in it Thoreau sketches out his ideals as he describes his pond project. He devotes attention to the skepticism and wonderment with which townspeople had greeted news of his project, and he defends himself from their views that society is the only place to live. He recounts the circumstances of his move to Walden Pond, along with a detailed account of the steps he took to construct his rustic habitation and the methods by which he supported himself in the course of his wilderness experiment. It is a chapter full of facts, figures, and practical advice, but also offers big ideas about the claims of individualism versus social existence, all interspersed with evidence of scholarship and a propensity for humor. Thoreau tells us that he completed his cabin in the spring of 1845 and moved in on July 4 of that year. Most of the materials and tools he used to build his home he borrowed. The land he squats on belongs to his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson; he details a cost-analysis of the entire construction project. In order to make a little money, Thoreau cultivates a modest bean-field, a job that tends to occupy his mornings. He reserves his afternoons and evenings for contemplation, reading, and walking about the countryside. Endorsing the values of austerity, simplicity, and solitude, Thoreau consistently emphasizes the minimalism of his lifestyle and the contentment to be derived from it. He repeatedly contrasts his own freedom with the imprisonment of others who devote their lives to material prosperity. Despite his isolation, Thoreau feels the presence of society surrounding him. The Fitchburg Railroad rushes past Walden Pond, interrupting his reveries and forcing him to contemplate the power of technology. Thoreau also finds occasion to converse with a wide range of other people, such as the occasional peasant farmer, railroad worker, or the odd visitor to Walden. He describes in some detail his association with a Canadian-born woodcutter, Alex Therien, who is grand and sincere in his character, though modest in intellectual attainments. Thoreau makes frequent trips into Concord to seek the society of his longtime friends and to conduct what scattered business the season demands. On one such trip, Thoreau spends a night in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax because, he says, the government supports slavery. Released the next day, Thoreau returns to Walden. Thoreau devotes great attention to nature, the passing of the seasons, and the creatures with which he shares the woods. He recounts the habits of a panoply of animals, from woodchucks to partridges. Some he endows with a larger meaning, often spiritual or psychological. The hooting loon that plays hide and seek with Thoreau, for instance, becomes a symbol of the playfulness of nature and its divine laughter at human endeavors. Another example of animal symbolism is the full-fledged ant war that Thoreau stumbles upon, prompting him to meditate on human warfare. Thoreau’s interest in animals is not exactly like the naturalist’s or zoologist’s. He does not observe and describe them neutrally and scientifically, but gives them a moral and philosophical significance, as if each has a distinctive lesson to teach him. As autumn turns to winter, Thoreau begins preparations for the arrival of the cold. He listens to the squirrel, the rabbit, and the fox as they scuttle about gathering food. He watches the migrating birds, and welcomes the pests that infest his cabin as they escape the coming frosts. He prepares his walls with plaster to shut out the wind. By day he makes a study of the snow and ice, giving special attention to the mystic blue ice of Walden Pond, and by night he sits and listens to the wind as it whips and whistles outside his door. Thoreau occasionally sees ice-fishermen come to cut out huge blocks that are shipped off to cities, and contemplates how most of the ice will melt and flow back to Walden Pond. Occasionally Thoreau receives a visit from a friend like William Ellery Channing or Amos Bronson Alcott, but for the most part he is alone. In one 12 chapter, he conjures up visions of earlier residents of Walden Pond long dead and largely forgotten, including poor tradesmen and former slaves. Thoreau prefers to see himself in their company, rather than amid the cultivated and wealthy classes. As he becomes acquainted with Walden Pond and neighboring ponds, Thoreau wants to map their layout and measure their depths. Thoreau finds that Walden Pond is no more than a hundred feet deep, thereby refuting common folk wisdom that it is bottomless. He meditates on the pond as a symbol of infinity that people need in their lives. Eventually winter gives way to spring, and with a huge crash and roar the ice of Walden Pond begins to melt and hit the shore. In lyric imagery echoing the onset of Judgment Day, Thoreau describes the coming of spring as a vast transformation of the face of the world, a time when all sins are forgiven. Thoreau announces that his project at the pond is over, and that he returned to civilized life on September 6, 1847. The revitalization of the landscape suggests the restoration of the full powers of the human soul, and Thoreau’s narrative observations give way, in the last chapter of Walden, to a more direct sermonizing about the untapped potential within humanity. In visionary language, Thoreau exhorts us to “meet” our lives and live fully. Transcendentalist ideas put into practice The transcendentalists separated morality from Christianity and placed it in nature. For two centuries American Christians had been taught that the source of morality is in God. The transcendentalists changed all of that, which is best described by Thoreau’s “Walden” Thorough lived in the woods, on the shore of a pond called Walden. He wanted to live deliberately and deep. ‘Walden’ describes details of his life in the woods, where every moment matters to him. What old people say, you cannot do – you must try and find out what you can (simplicity) It is within our power to shape and renew our lives Present moment is very important We are trapped in our own traps – furniture and luxury, we live too fast, and people fall into routines too easily. - Simplicity – we need to renew our lives. It is our duty to shape our own being and living (so he goes to the woods) he urges us to find our turning point, to do the same but in our own way He wants us to accept our own lives (Emerson – American scholar) – mind is influenced by nature which has laws that we have to classify – to find connections between them (Thorough –Walden) Walden went to the woods and noticed changes in nature (spring, summer, autumn, winter) by observing nature, a man learns something about himself and starts to be aware of the present moment (Oversoul) Walden learnt that the man is prone to follow the same path (route). He leaves the woods to find something new. Thoreau’s idea of government and individual freedom He presents a disagreement between the government’s policy and the individual’s will The government does not respect an individual as the most powerful It’s also an outrage over social injustice It’s a protest against social wrongs – a war in Mexico! He can see the moral error in an unjust war, which the government cannot see. What is moral or right must be found in the heart of each individual person. It is to reestablish his connection with his own heart and moral truth. He is seeking reinforcement, renewal and rebirth in nature. 3 aspects of government Thoreau writes about are: - standing army (and militia failures) – men like objects without any conscience. 13 - Legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers – serve the state mainly with their heads, rarely make any moral distinctions “they are as likely to serve Devil” “wooden gun” – a metaphor of the insufficiency of the government’s policy: to threaten people with its power , but in feet being not powerful unjust laws government doesn’t educate (keep the country free and settle the west) There will never be a really free and enlightened state until the state comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power. “If the injustice is part of necessary fiction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say - break the law!, let your life be a counter fiction to stop the machine” ** the author disobeyed the law by not paying poll tax for 6 yeas as an expression of his disapproval of the Mexican War. He was imprisoned for that (later treated as a criminal by neighbors and friends) (Civil Disobedience) – government is best when it governs least (not at all) government is a machine that can be used to abuse rights EDGAR ALLAN POE RAVEN - loneliness and sorrow after the death of beloved - raven: symbol of death (black + eating dead flesh) - it is bleak December, midnight and he was almost asleep – he war reading some forgotten lore (wiedza tajemna) - he hears tapping, he feels terror but he’s trying to convince himself that there are some visitors - he expects that it might be the ghost of Lenore - he whispers her name, but only the echo calls back - he opens the window, but there is only wind and….another tapping - his heart expects Lenore but he tries to calm himself – it’s only the wind - raven comes – he treats the bird as a prophet - the bird can say only one word: ‘NEVERMORE’ SUMMARY (from net) A lonely man tries to ease his "sorrow for the lost Lenore," by distracting his mind with old books of "forgotten lore." He is interrupted while he is "nearly napping," by a "tapping on [his] chamber door." As he opens up the door, he finds "darkness there and nothing more." Into the darkness he whispers, "Lenore," hoping his lost love had come back, but all that could be heard was "an echo [that] murmured back the word 'Lenore!'" With a burning soul, the man returns to his chamber, and this time he can hear a tapping at the window lattice. As he "flung [open] the shutter," "in [there] stepped a stately Raven," the bird of ill-omen (Poe, 1850). The raven perched on the bust of Pallas, the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology, above his chamber door. The man asks the Raven for his name, and surprisingly it answers, and croaks "Nevermore." The man knows that the bird does not speak from wisdom, but has been taught by "some unhappy master," and that the word "nevermore" is it’s only "stock and store." The man welcomes the raven, and is afraid that the raven will be gone in the morning, "as [his] Hopes have flown before"; however, the raven answers, "Nevermore." The man smiled, and pulled up a chair, interested in what the raven "meant in croaking, Nevermore." The chair, where Lenore once sat, brought back painful memories. The man, 14 who knows the irrational nature in the raven’s speech, still cannot help but ask the raven questions. Since the narrator is aware that the raven only knows one word, he can anticipate the bird's responses. "Is there balm in Gilead?" "Nevermore." Can Lenore be found in paradise? - "Nevermore." "Take thy form from off my door!" - "Nevermore." Finally the man concedes, realizing that to continue this dialogue would be pointless. And his "soul from out that shadow" that the raven throws on the floor, "Shall be lifted -- Nevermore!" PHILOSOPHY OF COMPOSITION - gothic writing - specific mood - when author wants to scare the reader, author needs to be original and keep the effect (s/he wants to achieve) in mind while writing a story - important: composition - there has to be novelty, originality, interesting plot (surprising and scary events), and specific tone (creating mood) - the poem cannot be too long – the reader has to read it by one sitting, if not – the effect is lost - choice of impression – topic should be universally appreciable (example: beauty) - mood – sadness/melancholy (it is not possible to get over the death of somebody beloved, beauty) - refrain – repeated (one word! not good if it’s too long) letter -r- in it impossible to overlook - situation – who and why should say the refrain? (creature able to speak → raven: black, omen, death) - variation of application – each time the word ‘NEVERMORE’ means something else - climax – stanza where is the answer: if Lenore is in heaven and if I will meet her after death? answer: NEVERMORE (→all hope is lost, there is nothing) - verification – rhythm, rhymes (at the end and in the middle of lines = internal rhyme), alliteration, long verses - monotony (mood of melancholy) →effect: we stop paying attention, what we remember is the word: ‘NEVERMORE’, we listen to the rhythm - location – room of lover - introduction of a bird – by the window - where the bird sits – Athena (=wisdom) - element of sublime – supernatural, we cannot really explain - denouement (?) = resolving the action: raven changes into his shadow; soul is in that shadow and will never leave → raven=soul says he will never meet Lenore again, raven stays forever to remind him about it - romantic poem? → sublime → mood → lost love → melancholy - not romantic poem? → it was not written by inspiration → he thought about what he was going to write - more universal setting – not American, it is separated from reality - in a short story every sentence must suggest ending (creating mood) - foreshadowing – suggesting that something strange will happen in a moment (keeps you read!) 15 SUMMARY (from net) Edgar Allan Poe wrote an essay on the creation of "The Raven” entitled "The Philosophy of Composition." In that essay Poe describes the work of composing the poem as if it were a mathematical problem, and derides the poets that claim that they compose "by a species of fine frenzy - an ecstatic intuition - and would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes." Whether Poe was as calculating as he claims when he wrote "The Raven" or not is a question that cannot be answered; it is, however, unlikely that he created it exactly like he described in his essay. The thoughts occurring in the essay might well have occurred to Poe while he was composing it. In "The Philosophy of Composition," Poe stresses the need to express a single effect when the literary work is to be read in one sitting. A poem should always be written short enough to be read in one sitting, and should, therefore, strive to achieve this single, unique effect. Consequently, Poe figured that the length of a poem should stay around one hundred lines, and "The Raven" is 108 lines. The most important thing to consider in "Philosophy" is the fact that "The Raven," as well as many of Poe's tales, is written backwards. The effect is determined first, and the whole plot is set; then the web grows backwards from that single effect. Poe's "tales of ratiocination," e.g. the Dupin tales, are written in the same manner. "Nothing is more clear than that every plot, worth the name, must be elaborated to its denouement before anything be attempted with the pen" (Poe, 1850). It was important to Poe to make "The Raven" "universally appreciable." It should be appreciated by the public, as well as the critics. Poe chose Beauty to be the theme of the poem, since "Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem" (Poe, 1850). After choosing Beauty as the province, Poe considered sadness to be the highest manifestation of beauty. "Beauty of whatever kind in its supreme development invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones" (Poe, 1850). Of all melancholy topics, Poe wanted to use the one that was universally understood, and therefore, he chose Death as his topic. Poe (along with other writers) believed that the death of a beautiful woman was the most poetical use of death, because it closely allies itself with Beauty. After establishing subjects and tones of the poem, Poe started by writing the stanza that brought the narrator's "interrogation" of the raven to a climax, the third verse from the end, and he made sure that no preceeding stanza would "surpass this in rhythmical effect." Poe then worked backwards from this stanza and used the word "Nevermore" in many different ways, so that even with the repetition of this word, it would not prove to be monotonous. Poe builds the tension in this poem up, stanza by stanza, but after the climaxing stanza he tears the whole thing down, and lets the narrator know that there is no meaning in searching for a moral in the raven's "nevermore". The Raven is established as a symbol for the narrator's "Mournful and never-ending remembrance." "And my soul from out that shadow, that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted - nevermore!" THE FALL OF HOUSE OF USHER - gloomy mood: autumn, oppressively low clouds, alliteration (assonance – the same consonants, different vowels in words) (?) , adjectives (vacant, eye-like, bleak, soundless, low sinking) - house: antiquity, pond (reflection → the house upside down) - cracks on the walls – one big from top to down - Roderick Usher: ‘prisoner’ of the house, after the death of his twin sister (Madeline) he started to become more and more mad, pale, started to hear voices - Madeline: doctor didn’t know her disease – she had some moments when she looked like dead (that’s why they were mistaken and buried her); she appears and disappears (sleepwalker, ghost); she resembles her brother; she becomes a vampire – takes the rest of life and blood from Roderick - they are both sole remaining members of the long, time-honored Usher race 16 - why they were sick: because of the house, stones, water, fungus - ending: Madeline comes to Roderick (they were twins = empathy, connected with each other) SUMMARY (from net) The story begins with the narrator receiving a letter from his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, begging that he come to him. Usher wrote in the letter that he was suffering from a terrible mental and bodily illness, and had longed for the companionship of "his only personal friend". The request seemed so heartfelt that the narrator immediately set out for Usher's ancestral home. Approaching the house, he saw an ivy-covered, old house that was overwhelmed with gloom and depression. When he reached the house, Usher looked equally shut in, pallid skin like that of a corpse, lustrous eyes, and long hair that seemed to float about his head. Usher wasn't in the house alone because the narrator caught a glimpse of his friend's twin sister, Madeline, who bore a resemblance to Roderick. It then became evident that Roderick and Madeline shared an almost supernatural bond. That very night after Madeline went to bed it was the last night the narrator saw her alive. For weeks the narrator tried to distract his depressed friend. They talked, painted, and read together. Then one day Usher announced that Madeline was dead and that he was going to entomb her body in the house's dungeon instead of burying her. During the week that followed Madeline's death, a change came over Usher. Then one late night when the narrator was unable to sleep, Usher dashed into his room with an evil look in his eyes. His friend tried to calm him down by reading a medieval romance book. While reading he thought he heard the same noises that was being portrayed in the novel. Usher then made an announcement that he buried his sister alive. He said that all week he had listen to her stirring in her coffin. At that moment, the door swung open and there stood Madeline with blood all over her. At that moment, he ran out of the house with great speed and glanced back. What he saw was unbelievable, the house was ripping up into pieces and was disappearing into the dark lake that was surrounding it. Relationship: THE HOUSE – TWINS: Poe next sets up a sense of the "double" or the ironic reversal when he has the narrator first see the House of Usher as it is reflected in the "black and lurid tarn" (a dark and gruesome, revolting mountain lake) which surrounds it. The image of the house, you should note, is upside down. At the end of the story, the House of Usher will literally fall into this tarn and be swallowed up by it. And even though Poe said in his critical theories that he shunned symbolism, he was not above using it if such symbolism contributed to his effect. Here, the effect is electric with mystery; he says twice that the windows of the house are "eyelike" and that the inside of the house has become a living "body" while the outside has become covered with moss and is decaying rapidly. Furthermore, the ultimate Fall of the House is caused by an almost invisible crack in the structure, but a crack which the narrator notices; symbolically, this is a key image. Also central to this story is that fact that Roderick and the Lady Madeline are twins. This suggests that when he buries her, he will widen the crack, or fissure, between them. This crack, or division, between the living and the dead will be so critical that it will culminate ultimately in the Fall of the House of Usher. Poe uses the phrase "House of Usher" to refer to both the decaying physical structure and the last of the "all timehonored Usher race...." Roderick has developed a theory that the stones of the house have consciousness, and that they embody the fate of the Usher family. "He was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted, and whence for many years, he had never ventured forth...." Roderick also makes another connection between a house and a person in the poem, "The Haunted Palace." The crack in the Usher mansion which is at first barely discernible by the narrator, symbolically suggests a flaw or fundamental split in the twin personality of Roderick and Madeline, and fortells the final ruin of both family and mansion. ******************************************************************************************************* 17 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE ‘THE SCARLET LETTER’ Plot Summary (net) The Narrator tells us that he found some documents telling the story of a Scarlet Letter used by a woman named Hester Prynne from Boston, Massachusetts in the early seventeenth century. He goes on to write an embellished version of the story. The story begins with Hester Prynne, who has just given birth to an illegitimate daughter, leaving the prison to serve her sentence of standing in the town scaffolds for an hour with her three-month-old baby. She has also been required to wear a red letter "A," to stand for Adulteress, on her chest. Hester has embroidered the A with beautiful gold thread and amazing artistry. While Hester is standing on the scaffold, Roger Chillingworth, who appears to recognize her, appears out of the woods. Hester is also asked to name the man with whom she sins, but refuses. The years pass and Hester's daughter Pearl grows into an impetuous little girl. Hester has moved with Pearl into a small cottage on the outskirts of town and makes her living by embroidering and sewing clothing for the townspeople. Roger Chillingworth, who turns out to be Hester's long presumed-dead husband from Europe, befriends Hester's Pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale, and the two eventually move in together. Chillingworth has billed himself as a physician, and therefore able to care for Dimmesdale, who is in very poor health. In a rare moment when Dimmesdale lets his guard down, Chillingworth discovers an open, self-inflicted wound on Dimmesdale's chest. Dimmesdale's health continues to decline, and Chillingworth's character changes noticeably. He becomes a demonlike presence in Dimmesdale's life. Hester notices this change in Chillingworth and confronts him. It is suddenly clear that Chillingworth has determined that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father, and that Chillingworth intends to make Dimmesdale's life a living hell. Hester understands the gravity of the situation and decides to tell Dimmesdale who Chillingworth really is. At first, when Chillingworth first entered the settlement, he had sworn Hester to secrecy about his true identity. Hester decides that, for the sake of Dimmesdale's sanity, she must warn him about Chillingworth's character. In a surprise and secret meeting with Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester reveals her secret, and begs a defeated and angry Dimmesdale for forgiveness. He eventually grants forgiveness, and agrees to leave the colony with Hester and Pearl as soon as possible. Unfortunately, somehow Chillingworth manages to find out about their secret plan to leave, and books passage on the same boat bound for Europe. In the meantime, Dimmesdale prepares for his final sermon, the Election Sermon given on the day the local officials are sworn into office. He writes and re-writes a dramatic speech which proclaims his sinful nature, which none of his parishioners can understand or accept. Dimmesdale is known as a brilliant and inspirational preacher, and his congregation is convinced of his godliness. After the exhausting sermon is over, Dimmesdale leaves the church and approaches the town scaffold. As he climbs the steps, he comes upon Hester and Pearl standing in the shadows, and pulls them onto the scaffold with him. In that moment, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale bares his chest wound to the congregation, and takes Pearl's hand to confess his fatherhood. He then dies. After this dramatic admission and Dimmesdale's death, Chillingworth no longer has anything to live for. He dies shortly thereafter. Hester and Pearl go to Europe for many years, and Hester eventually returns without her daughter. No one knows where Pearl is, although Hester is seen sewing extravagant baby clothing that no one in the colony would ever use. In addition, Hester continues to receive letters from a man of great means throughout the rest of her life. She lives a long life, and serves as counselor to many troubled women, as well as a giver of charity. When she dies, Hester is buried next to Dimmesdale's sunken grave under a tombstone that says "On a Field, Sable, the Letter A, Gules." - adultery – taboo – sin (→ ’A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man) religion small society sinners exposure hypocritical narrator: 3rd person, omniscient, on Hester’s side 18 - the Custom House - the legal point of entry at Salem, Massachusetts for cargo ships. The scene of the Introductory chapter of the Scarlet Letter, where the narrator finds the scarlet letter itself wrapped in a paper detailing the story of Hester Prynne the writer talks to us origin of the story Hester – historical person; someone noble, who takes care of sick people clothes with A (able, angel…) end: angel (angel from the sin → FORTUNATE FALL –‘Robinson Crusoe’, ‘Adam&Eve’) – he wrote the beginning - reason for writing the book – Hawthorne’s uncle was one of the judges hunting for witches – he feels guilty and wants to make it up (he sympathize with Hester) - repentance – Hester’s side, punishment – society’s point of view - consequences of sin: baby (Pearl) loneliness, isolation Pearl refuses to recognize her mother if she’s not wearing A (→ without A Pearl wouldn’t exist) Pearl wears clothes in the same colors (red, golden) Hester sometimes think that Pearl is a devil (she was born from a sin, she is crazy wild, she is not shy with people) - forrest – the only place where they feel free, at home (+) but also – it is the place of sin, outside society, dark, out of control, to commune with devil (-) - Chillingworth – legally still a husband of Hester but he wasn’t very interested in her (he was a scholar – interested in books); he left her alone, sent her to America to test her fidelity, Hester didn’t know what love was – she respected him; the author hates Chillingworth – says he is leech, devil does devilish things and have no mercy – tortures Dimmesdale (becomes his personal doctor and stays the whole time by him) - Dimmesdale – also took part in the sin (letter A) but he confess his sin in public after few years (during ceremony) and dies; before he confessed it to God but only Hester, Pearl and Chillingworth hears that (afer that: stormy weather, meteor comes, people thought it was an angel); when he died Chillingworth (devil) said: ‘though he escaped me’ = he escaped from devil, end of his tortures, not in danger any more; A = adultery (he confessed) = Arthur (his name) = angel (he is forgiven) - Hester – people isolate her first because she was a sinner, than because she wore A (don’t understand why); it changed when she went to the sick person – she was able to come in because of the letter A (nobody was to stop her) - sin is beneficial for Hester and Dimmesdale Hester – had Pearl (the only joy in her life), she had ability to help others, she developed the ability to read people’s mind/heart, she recognized sin in others – when people looked at her she felt burning and relief – they were sinners as well Dimmesdale – was telling everyone about God’s forgiveness and understood sinners (he had empathy) = he became a better preacher - sin allows to develop – the author find out about Hester, a very positive person, and writes the beginning of her story = sin meanings of letter A adultery Pearl angel Arthur Adam (he knew he sinned as well) 19 PURITANISM IN THE NOVEL The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century New England town of Boston, a staunch Puritanical town. It is a moralistic and gloomy place where the citizens dress in drab colors and lack any liveliness. Even on the Election Day holiday, they cannot relax and enjoy themselves. The Puritans easily find fault in the weaknesses of others, as evidenced by the fact that they gather at the scaffold to witness Hester's public humiliation. They also feel that her sentence is much too lenient. They punish her further by making both Hester and Pearl social outcasts. They avoid interaction with either of them and often cast suspicious looks and insulting comments in their direction. Hester's sin, shame, and guilt are clearly heightened by the fact that she lives in a strict Puritanical society, which is unable and unwilling to forgive her sin. The irony of the novel lies in the fact that the most respected member of this Puritanical society, the Reverend Dimmesdale, is Hester's partner in sin. *********************************************************************************************************************** WALT WITHMAN ‘SONGS OF MYSELF’ 1 - self – centered lyrical his point of view we should take his point of view very positive attitude towards himself his identity: American, he was born here he takes his identity from family, the same as from earth, soil... (transcendental circle) he is an eye for us – yhe nature will speak through him he is not influenced by schools or faith (→American Scholar) inspiration from nature (also: form) he is not going to follow any rules - Emerson’s idea of the poet – art = creation made of mixture from nature and man’s will (man is a part of nature), a poet should be individual, self-reliant and self-trust, should see the power of nature, a poet has a gift, more sensitivity, has romantic views, a poet should be a ‘namer’ – he sees more and names those things, he should have a massage for the people 3 - here and now - he treats good and bed equally - variety oppositions 5 - body and soul -oppositions body doesn’t abase soul and other way around unity and contact physical contact transcendental contact with God physical contact = transcendental contact with God 2 lovers 16 - poets represents humanity 20 - America = variety - he lists people from America, from many nations, he lists: different lifestyles, different professions, different origin – shows variety - poet: sees, names 26 - he is also a listener - he celebrates: nature, people, city, death - he hears everything 51/52 - reader should confide in poet people are busy with their every-day life but he will wait for them when he dies he will stay in soil and than he will grow in grass (transcendental circle) there are a lot of things difficult to put into words equal opposites poet is contradiction, but America as well form - open road - go without goal - accepts other souls - contact with others - not salvation - live as for yourself - we can read it as a prose - it is unrestricted reader - independent person - you don’t have to read everything - not in order - you don’t have to follow line by line - he gives us freedom - choose whatever you want *********************************************************************************************************************** Herman Melville ‘MOBY DICKR’ Plot Summary (net) Moby Dick is told by Ishmael, a young man who wants to go to sea as a sailor to seek adventure and excitement. He signs on the whaling ship, Pequod, along with his newfound Indian friend, Queequeg, whom he has met one night at the Spouter Inn in New Bedford. Queequeg is a native of the Fiji islands and an expert harpooner. The captain of the ship, the dark brooding Ahab, is obsessed with hunting a giant white sperm whale, Moby Dick. Some years ago during an encounter at sea, Moby Dick had bitten off Ahab’s leg. Thirsting for revenge, the onelegged Ahab decides to hunt the whale down. Thus, Ishmael, along with the ship's crew, is caught under the spell of Ahab’s obsession for Moby Dick. 21 The Pequod leaves Nantucket on Christmas Day for the Pacific, and along its journey, the narrator introduces the reader to quite a few of the ship’s members. Starbuck is the chief mate, Stubb, the second mate, and Flask, the third. There are also three harpooners: Queequeg, Tashtego, and Daggoo. The narrator not only describes the crew but also provides a lot of information about sperm whales and how they are spotted and hunted. One night Ahab gathers the crew around him and tells them of his quest: to catch the great white whale. The crew excitedly backs up his challenge to kill this deadly creature; the rest of the night is spent in revelry. Ishmael discovers that Moby Dick is a temperamental and wicked beast who is capable of sinking a whaling ship. While Moby Dick is being hunted, the crew catches several sperm whales. On the first sighting of a whale, Ishamael ends up falling into the ocean after his boat is capsized; the crew enjoys his misadventure. Another time Pip, the cabin boy, is thrown overboard and left for dead. Later he is rescued and declared mentally insane from the experience of being in the sea. Along the way, the Pequod meets several other ships; Ahab has only one question for each of them: "Hast seen the white whale, Moby Dick?" Some ships give Ahab news about the elusive white whale, but they report that all their attempts to catch him have ended in disaster. One of the captains has lost an arm to the whale. Ahab, excited by this news, goes back to the ship to make a new harpoon; in his excitement, he splinters his ivory leg. The Pequod enters the Pacific Ocean much to the dismay of Starbuck and Stubb, who now realize the danger they are in and would prefer to abandon their mission. Eventually, the Pequod enters the Japanese sea, where the white whale is often sighted. Then a typhoon hits the ship, battering it with heavy seas. Ahab then spies the Rachel, whose crew explains that the white whale has destroyed a whole boat of crewmen, including the captain’s son. Soon after meeting the Rachel, the Pequod sights the white whale. Two attempts on two consecutive days go in vain as Moby Dick escapes. On the third day, Ahab drives a harpoon into Moby Dick’s side. Furious, the wounded whale drives its massive head into the Pequod’s side, smashing its bow. Ahab still refuses to give up the chase. He throws another harpoon at the whale, as his entire ship is sinking. As he throws the second harpoon, the rope gets entwined around Ahab’s neck and drags him down into the water. The captain drowns, along with his crew. Only Ishmael survives, rescued by the Rachel. In this tragic story, the writer paints a brilliant portrait of life at sea and the American whaling industry during the 1800s. - Moby Dick – monster, myths&legends, legendary creature, king of nature; he is like an idol – royal, divine, demonic: present in many places in the same time, invisible, king of the sea, he sneers (personification), he is white (life, purity, death), awe (like God); we may say that he’s got supernatural power, defeating him = becoming a God, human cannot do it - Ahab – pioneer, sacrifice himself, Prometheus (tries to give something for people – by killing Moby Dick he wants to give them freedom at the sea) – thinks he can do it, thinks he can win the nature (Emersonic man); he is obsessed with Moby Dick, worships him, he is deaf to all arguments when it comes to Moby Dick; he’s got scar – crucifixion on face – he has suffered and maybe he’ll have to sacrifice himself; on the one hand he is led by faith, on the other – there is some fault in him, he is a tragic hero (wrong choice) – whatever tragic hero decides it will end up differently (he wants to kill Moby Dick but Moby Dick defeats him); his name from king Ahab – he was jealous and he killed his neighbour – was killed as a punishment, also great worrier - Ishmael – his name is important – Ishmael survived on a desert (miracle) = he will survive; he sees both aspects of Moby Dick, he realize that he has no chance; he doesn’t mind religion as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody - Queequeg – more important on ship than Ishmeal (more money), colored, son of a king (of an Island) but decided to travel, he worships Yoyp (wooden idol), he meditates a lot - nature – powerful, difficult to defeat - tragedy – Queequeg has to die – seed has to die to give fruit – biblical circle of life and death; tradic flaw – Ahab wants to have power over living creatures - faith – name of the ship, story of Jonash (Ishmeal) - epic – many different characters, life in America used to be like on ship = melting pot - fighting heroes 22 - want to subject nature – living in difficult conditions against hardships (frontier) characters are introduced as knights & squires solidarity – fighting against Moby Dick, saving the ones who fell from ship obedience – they had to be obedient to survive hierarchy on the ship (order of eating) – hierarchy in society - American tradition – looking for a sense behind the text - this book is not about hunting! - Bible of American Literature! Symbolism The Pequod- named after a Native American tribe in Massachusetts that did not long survive the arrival of white men and thus memorializing an extinction, the Pequod is a symbol of doom. It is painted a gloomy black and covered in whale teeth and bones, literally bristling with the mementos of violent death. It is, in fact, marked for death. Adorned like a primitive coffin, the Pequod becomes one. Queequeg’s coffin alternately symbolizes life and death. Queequeg has it built when he is seriously ill, but when he recovers, it becomes a chest to hold his belongings and an emblem of his will to live. He perpetuates the knowledge tattooed on his body by carving it onto the coffin’s lid. The coffin further comes to symbolize life, in a morbid way, when it replaces the Pequod’s life buoy. When the Pequod sinks, the coffin becomes Ishmael’s buoy, saving not only his life but the life of the narrative that he will pass on. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The meanings of Moby Dick Moby Dick possesses various symbolic meanings for various individuals. To the Pequod’s crew, the legendary White Whale is a concept onto which they can displace their anxieties about their dangerous and often very frightening jobs. Because they have no delusions about Moby Dick acting malevolently toward men or literally embodying evil, tales about the whale allow them to confront their fear, manage it, and continue to function. Ahab, on the other hand, believes that Moby Dick is a manifestation of all that is wrong with the world, and he feels that it is his destiny to eradicate this symbolic evil. Moby Dick also bears out interpretations not tied down to specific characters. In its inscrutable silence and mysterious habits, for example, the White Whale can be read as an allegorical representation of an unknowable God. As a profitable commodity, it fits into the scheme of white economic expansion and exploitation in the nineteenth century. As a part of the natural world, it represents the destruction of the environment by such hubristic expansion. The color white seems to have specific allegorical meanings: the white whale itself has been read as symbolically representative of good and evil, as has Ahab. The white whale has also been seen as a metaphor for the elements of life that are out of our control. “Cetology,” as Ishmael explains, is “the science of whales.” In this and subsequent science-centered chapters in the book, Ishmael attempts to classify whales scientifically. He includes quotations from various writings on the whale, adding that others might be able to revise this draft of a classification system. Rather than using the Linnaean classifications of family, genus, and species—which were already the standard in Melville’s time—Ishmael divides whales into different “chapters” of three distinct “books”: the Folio, Octavo, and Duodecimo. “Cetology” seems to be a grandiose digression, a way for Ishmael to show off his knowledge and his literary bent. The use of publishing terminology (the category names Folio, Octavo, and Duodecimo come 23 from the different sizes of books produced by nineteenth-century printers) suggests the arbitrariness of human attempts to understand and classify the natural world. For Ishmael, though, the meaning lies not in the final classification but in the act of classifying, which signifies hope and resistance to futility. The classification also suggests that humans, in their imperfection, need such aids to understanding, lest they be lost in a deep and fathomless sea of information and phenomena. Moby Dick as an American epic- A strong argument can be made for Moby-Dick’s being the first great American epic in its length, its elevated style, and its treatment of the trials and achievements of democratic heroes or epic anti-heroes of national and cultural significance. -> Moby-Dick's style was revolutionary for its time: descriptions in intricate, imaginative, and varied prose of the methods of whale-hunting, the adventure, and the narrator's reflections interweave the story's themes with a huge swath of Western literature, history, religion, mythology, philosophy, and science. Although its initial reception was unfavorable, Moby-Dick is now considered to be one of the canonical novels in the English language, and has secured Melville's reputation in the first rank of American writers. Emily Dickinson 1)” Success” It consists of stanzas and deals with the problem of becoming successful Two people compared, one (the winner) who tastes the success and the other (the loser)who reflects upon success, he’s defeated and comprehension comes to him The person who wins, who succeeded, did it in a battle The speaker says that "those who ne'er succeed" place the highest value on success. (They "count" it "sweetest".) You can appreciate the sweet taste of success only when you first failed This defeated character feels depressed, miserable, hopeless, he’s suffering As in most of Dickinson's poems, the stanzas here rhyme according to an ABCB scheme, so that the second and fourth lines in each stanza constitute the stanza's only rhyme. 2)” Because I could not stop for death” the speaker is a woman who has been dead for many centuries; she revives the whole story of her life, or to be more precise, the whole process of dying Mr. Death – he’s a gentleman, it’s like a date, she’s dressed up, they enjoy themselves, she finds him attractive They are driving this journey around the city; she realizes that it’s not going to end well, they pass children, schools(it means going through life) and they reach the grave 3) “ I heard a fly buzz” The speaker says that she heard a fly buzz as she lay on her deathbed. There is silence and stillness in the room, there were other people in the room who couldn’t cry anymore The atmosphere was very solemn and respectful The speaker made a will and died, she was prepared for it, ready to celebrate this parting she was dying and at that moment, she heard the fly which is between the light and life, its buzzing was sad, hesitating 24 an ABCB rhyme scheme the poem strikingly describes the mental distraction posed by irrelevant details at even the most crucial moments--even at the moment of death. The poem then becomes even weirder and more macabre by transforming the tiny, normally disregarded fly into the figure of death itself The poem is also remarkable for its detailed evocation of a deathbed scene--the dying person's loved ones steeling themselves for the end, the dying woman signing away in her will 4) “ I felt a funeral in my brain” Life, death, and reincarnation are portrayed She imagined her death The speaker is dead and lying in a coffin, she knows that because of sounds and senses The mourners tread to and from her saying goodbyes then they are seated in a chapel during the service On the one hand there are bells and on the other hand there’s silence They put her in the grave and from now on there’s nothing but emptiness The use of words associated with death gives the poem an ominous and dark karma At the beginning of this poem the feelings of grief and pain are evident. Throughout the rest of the poem, there is a strong sense that the speaker needs to make a choice between a world full of trouble and pain or a heaven that brings solitude and peace This is all part of a vicious cycle. Sometimes when life doesn't turn out for the best, you need to wait until your cycle is up. This is reflected clearly at the end of the poem. The speaker lives life, passes away, and is reborn again into this world all throughout this poems' entirety. The first two words of this poem reveal strong feelings. The words "I felt" show that the speaker is talking about themselves 6 A) Mark Twain „The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” 1) Huck as a typical American hero: He is nonconformist (proves to be right) An individual, independent Close to nature Infancy of heart Has a rebel nature Ready to break rules The spirit of a typical American in embodies in Huck He didn’t have a name but wanted to find an identity; he adapts different names He stands for a typical American because he is self-sufficient, generous with open heart (he’s prepared to accommodate everybody on the raft),he’s accepting everybody Smart, enterprise and innocent He travels along the frontier ( the spirit of pioneering, traveling, exploring the country) He learns from experience Defiance against society(running away to nature) 2) Huck as a child of nature 25 The primary theme of the novel is the conflict between civilization and natural life; Huck represents natural life through his freedom of spirit, his uncivilized ways and his desire to escape from civilization. He was brought up without rules and has strong resistance to anything that might “civilize” him. The social vs. the natural laws : social rules were very strict and they must be obeyed, they limited Huck very much, he felt as if he was in a cage This conflict is introduced in the 1 st chapter through the efforts of widow Douglas: she tries to force Huck to wear new clothes, give up smoking and to learn the Bible. Throughout the novel, Twain seems to suggest that the uncivilized way of life is better, he draws on the ideas of Jean Jacques Rousseau in his belief that civilization corrupts rather than improves human beings. Huck and Jim were given the privilege to experience the world Huck got synchronized with nature, realized that the world around(nature) was his home; nature was the place where he felt free, away from society, boundaries, rules Nature is freedom, individualism, ability to express and defend one’s opinions 3) Symbolism The motif of the river - For Huck and Jim, the Mississippi River is the ultimate symbol of freedom. It carries them toward freedom: for Jim, toward the free states; for Huck, away from his abusive father and the restrictive “civilizing” of St. Petersburg. The river is also wilderness, constant move. The river can also be compared to Huck who pursues freedom, is wild in his acts and is on a constant journey/adventure. Local color realism – the south, the frontier area, realism shows good and bad people, they are shown the way they are. Although Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn two decades after the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War, America—and especially the South—was still struggling with racism and the aftereffects of slavery. If we take the situation in the United States into consideration we can say that Twain’s view on racism can be seen as representation of the condition of blacks in the United States even after the abolition of slavery. In the book Twain exposed the hypocrisy of slavery, demonstrated how racism misrepresents the oppressors as much as it does those who are oppressed. As a result we see a world of moral confusion where “good” white people such as Miss Watson and Sally Phelps express no concern about the injustice of slavery or the cruelty of separating Jim from his family. Narration – it’s a child’s narration, the language of a 13 year old boy, features of the language- his attempts, words he has heard somewhere, grammatical mistakes, wrong tenses, very few abstract words, Society – something bad, something Huck wanted to escape from, separate from, from its rules and restrictions Attitude towards Europe – the King and the Duke speak with the British English, the attitude towards the British is quite awkward, Huck can’t repeat many words and therefore his attitude is negative, think it’s snobbish, artificial, not real life,; Duke and King also try to attract the audience with Shakespeare but it doesn’t work (country people, not interested) The quest for maturity and freedom - Huckleberry Finn fits into the tradition of the bildungsroman: a novel depicting an individual’s maturation and development. 6 B) Henry James „ Daisy Miller” 1) Psychological realism Feelings being described, not named We don’t know their thoughts The setting, environment is only a background 26 Focus on people, not on things Concern what happens in people’s mind, inside the character’s mind, not around them Description of Daisy, the author is fascinated by her, the way he sees and describes her Reality is filtered through somebody’s emotions 2) Point of view technique Present all events from the point of view of one character Narrator’s role is limited, subjective; narration is usually indirect, filtered through fictional consciousness placed between the reader and the events The author is not omniscient, doesn’t know what Winterbourne is going to do We are left with ambiguity 3) Symbolism Daisy and Randolph- Daisy is often seen as representing America: she is young, fresh, ingenuous, clueless, naive, innocent, well meaning, self-centered, untaught, scornful of convention, unaware of social distinctions, utterly lacking in any sense of propriety, and unwilling to adapt to the mores and standards of others. Randolph is a different matter. He is a finely obscure comment on the type of the “ugly American” tourist: rude, bigheaded, and stridently nationalistic. The Coliseum – symbolism of place, the place of Christian tragedy, Christian end, end of Daisy.The Coliseum is where Daisy’s final encounter with Winterbourne takes place and where she contracts the fever that will kill her (something that is not accepted is destroyed- scarified innocence). Daisy’s death – she dies as an individual, she in a way didn’t survive the critic of the society Rome and Geneva - Daisy Miller’s setting in the capitals of Italy and Switzerland is significant on a number of levels. For the purposes of Daisy Miller, the two countries represent opposing values embodied by their capital cities, Rome and Geneva. Geneva was the birthplace of Calvinism, the fanatical protestant sect that influenced so much of American culture, New England in particular. Geneva is referred to as “the dark old city at the other end of the lake.” It is also Winterbourne’s chosen place of residence. Rome had many associations for cultivated people like Winterbourne and Mrs. Costello. It was a city of contrasts. As a cradle of ancient civilization and the birthplace of the Renaissance, it represented both glory and corruption, a society whose greatness had brought about its own destruction. Rome is a city of ruins, which suggest death and decay. Rome is also a city of sophistication, the Machiavellian mind-set. In a sense, Rome represents the antithesis of everything Daisy stands for—freshness, youth, ingenuousness, candor, innocence, and naiveté. 4) A clash of two cultures- from innocence to experience Comparison of European and American lifestyle ( Daisy was fascinated with European way of life) It’s a novel of manner, solid rules, morality etc. Ignorance of rules- Daisy acts against rules, by Europeans she is seen as rude, vulgar, immoral Upper vs. lower class – free from ordinary pressures of life, intelligent, introspective Daisy’s character clashes with the European society The Modernist poets first broke the traditional principle of making poems, such as set versification, self-indulged emotionalism and harmonious subjects between man and nature. Instead, they made new rhythm, employed common speech and were absolutely free in choosing subjects. In short the Modernist poets employed discontinuity, fragmentation and collage to establish their new aesthetics and particularly they liked to employ images, mingling grand and commonplace images. 27 Modernist and Modern poetry In the second part of 19th century American life changed a lot: - industrial revolution - decrease in number of farms families’ children go to cities – immigration to the cities and their rapid development a huge wave of European immigrants lg and conditions of modern life were changing – need for a new lg – realistic, simple – understandable, Frost, Sandburg – urban lg There was a need for a new poetry: Has to be as well written as prose - artificial verse - derivative of Romantic and English models - full of classical allusions and lofty ideals - with little reference to the changing social and political realities A need of a poet to carry on the Adamic(?) tradition of earlier A. writers and translate that tradition into modern terms - independent poetry emerged between 1910 and 1920 1912 – Robert Frost went to England and published his first book, beginning of the magazine ‘POETRY’ set up by Harriet Monroe – they were the first poets that got money for publishing their poems. The magazine was promoting new writers. There was forum for discussion about poetry (English and American poets collaborated). Its function was to educate the audience. ERZA POUND = The Imagist IMAGISM – rejection of romanticism and its sophisticated poetry : - economy of lg - everyday lg - urban life, truly modern, industrialized reality - consciousness of expression - correctness of imagery - rhythm - clarity and intensity achieved by simplicity THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT - the poet is to be aware of his responsibility to alter his personal impulses, inspiration, imagination – they are to be strictly controlled The love song of J.Alfred Prufrock - a dramatic monologue - a modern technique of ‘fragmentation’ and film like montage - dislocated fragments of a city landscape (huge,lonely ppl, unfriendly) - interior monologue of a middle-aged bachelor, who faces the dilemma of how to propose to a lady at the party - his situation compared with mythical and literary heroes is a tragedy of the modern Everyman unable to love or live his life fully OBJECTIVE CORRELATIVE – a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion, so when the external facts are given, the emotions immediately evoke 28 MATURE POET’S MIND – the difference is not because of more interesting things to say, he’s more perfected medium, feelings save at liberty to enter into new combinations. + opracowania od Marleny ktore kserowaliscie R. Frost “Mending Wall” Romantic: Frost relates to romantic tradition, human feelings, nature. Winter – destroys the wall Nature has its order – after the winter comes the spring and the wall is against the nature Frost celebrates farm life, relationship between people and nature. Familiar with the English traditions and the classics The rural and the local people provide his characters Man and nature + romantic Rules and laws are walls; justice is the process of wall-mending. The ritual of wall maintenance highlights the dual and complementary nature of human society The poem presents the country and the use of nature Reszta na notatkach Marleny – man and nature, symbolic imagery E.A. ROBINSON ‘Richard Cory’ Carl Sandburg “Fog” , “Chicago” - speedy development of an American city – w Marleny notatkach Modernist themes: “Richard Cory” - human problem: failure to communicate, alcoholism, suicide, loss of love Development of a notion that each individual is responsible for him/herself, that everyone creates one’s own heaven or hell Most of his characters end up defeated by greed, sex, the struggle for social status, the growing depression of the society Direct style and often ironic treatment of subject matter - a man’s life story within 16 lines with a suicide episode of the man at the end ( result of his character that betrayed him) - dealing with the experience of going to the city from rural areas. People have to get use to the fact that in a city everyone cares only about themselves - solitude - shows the psychological effects of these events upon R.Cory - irony – Cory had everything but was unhappy Carl Sandburg “Chicago” - follows Whitman’s poetry Modernist themes: concentrated on urban life - Simple and concrete lg - attitude towards Chicago: loves the city (identical attitude to the city as Whitman) - focuses on labourers class and wants to show reality ‘Fog’ image of a cat which is a metaphore for the fog Modernist themes: place – city I think that fog is a really deep poem. It may be really short, but still the whole poem is a metaphor. It really captured the look of the harbor on a early morning, with the fog hanging right over the ocean. It also has a wonderful ending. Fog moves on, just like life does, i think that he was comparing the poem to life. 29 I think a strong part of this piece is the emphasis on the silence of fog. The imagery produced from a few simple words is enormously complex. Fog is shown here as noiseless, silent, and swift. From this display of Sandburg's brilliance, we can easily extrapolate a new meaning or new view of something as simple as fog. After all, that's a big part of poetry, right?--Looking at something from a new perspective... I also feel that the poet isn't referring to the fog when he writes "It sits looking over harbour and city on silent haunches and then moves on" I beleive that he is referring to the cat watching the city. It sits in the early morning, captures the moment and then moves on. I came to this conclusion because of the way the poem is seperated. The first 2 lines refer to the fog. Then, the poem is seperated because it is now about the cat. Thats just what i think, personlly. May be he tried to say that there is someone silent watching us. It also has a wonderful ending. “and then moves on”, like life is. E.E. cummings ‘anyone lived in a pretty how town’ -> notatki Marleny W.C. Williams “The Young Housewife” Speaker – observer, he knows the habits of a woman; he knows what she is going to do, he desires her Vision through sb’s eye He compares her to a fallen leaf – not alive any more, wasted, he thinks she is being wasted by her husband Behind wooden walls she is not available; the speaker feels alone. The title identifies a woman who is the object of attention of the poem’s narrator, indicating that she is young, recently married, and identified in relation to the house in which she and her husband live. The narrator knows her and is attracted to her. He apparently does not have access to the woman. “The Red Wheel Barrow” He did not approve of idea of intellectuality Object may convey meanings, images, no ideas but things – He uses images that are down to the ground This poem illustrates his attitude to poetry How come so much depends on a wheel barrow – no justification 9. Modernist fiction: F.S Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby” In the “Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald portrayts the 1920’s as an era of decayed social and moral values, cynism, greed, shows how far America has moved from its beginnings idealism -> materialism The mystery of Jay Gatsby The title character of The Great Gatsby is a young man, around thirty years old, who rose from an impoverished childhood in rural North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy. However, he achieved this lofty goal by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication—he dropped out of St. Olaf’s College after only two weeks because he could not bear the janitorial job with which he was paying his tuition. Though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his 30 love for Daisy Buchanan,who was very rich. lied to her about his own background in order to convince her that he was good enough for her. Fitzgerald delays the introduction of most of this information until fairly late in the novel. Gatsby’s reputation precedes him. He is the subject of a whirlwind of gossip throughout New York and is already a kind of legendary celebrity before he is ever introduced to the reader. He’s mysterious for us because Fitzgerald first proples the novel forewards hiding Gatsby’s background and the source of his wealth in mystery Self-made man – he pretends to be an honest and hardworking businessman, achieved his goals Gatsby as idealist / disillusionment with the American Dream o Gatsby reveals himself to be an innocent, hopeful young man who stakes everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. o Gatsby invests Daisy with an idealistic perfection that she cannot possibly attain in reality and pursues her with a passionate zeal that blinds him to her limitations. His dream of her disintegrates, revealing the corruption that wealth causes and the unworthiness of the goal, much in the way Fitzgerald sees the American dream crumbling in the 1920s, as America’s powerful optimism, vitality, and individualism become subordinated to the amoral pursuit of wealth. Symbolism and paradoxes The green light – represent’s Gatsby’s hopes for the future; Gatsby associates it with Daisy. It leads him to his goal. Because Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. Nick compares the green light to how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation. The Valley of Ashes - between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by the dumping of industrial ashes. It represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth, as the rich indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure. The valley of ashes also symbolizes the plight of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result. 31 The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg- eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes. They may represent God staring down upon and judging American society. The eyes also come to represent the essential meaninglessness of the world. 10. Sauthern Renaissance : Wiliam Faulkner “A Rose For Emily” The interpretation of Emily’s madness o William Faulkner uses symbolism to compare the Grierson house with Emily Grierson's physical deterioration, her shift in social standing, and her reluctance to accept change. o "In "A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner tells a story about a young women who is overwhelmingly influenced by her father. Her father controls her live and makes all of her decisions for her. Without him she could not do anything except stay at home. When her father dies, Emily has to confront a new life without her sponsor. Since she is not able to function without the presence of her father, it is hard for her to adapt and accept the truth. When Emily's father dies, women of the town call on her to offer their help, which is their custom when someone suffers a tragic loss. Emily denies that as she meets them in front of her house with no emotion in her face. She sends them away as she considers her father still alive instead of being death. Her father controls all over her life; therefore, she couldn't accept the death of her father. In her thought, her father still exists in her house and he is the only one source that she can support to. o It's time for her to make her decision herself. She spends majority of her time in the house where she feels comfortable and where her father still exists and protects her. She decides to live herself in the house regardless of changes outside in the world. She could not escape from her father' ghost shadow. Everything changes; nevertheless, she still lives with the pastMiss Emily refuses modern change into her desolate life; for example, she refuses to allow attaching numbers on her door and a mailbox for free mail service. All her attitude is a result of her father's over-control her when she was very young. On the other hand, Homer is " a Yankee- a big dark, ready man, with big voice and eyes lighter the his face." o o Miss Emily represents for someone who lives in the South and couldn't accept the real thing that the North takes over the South after Civil War. Emily's house with all old things represents the Old south, which has to face to a new modern generation. The plot of this story is mainly about Miss Emily's attitude. Miss Emily lives in the modern society but her attitude is about the past. She is dominated by her father. Because she is so influenced by her father, when he passes away and leaves her alone, she is so scared and cannot confront the truth. She meets Homer, she feels balance in her life. He could be the one she can count on; however, she is still scared that he will leave her one day. -> she poisons him and kills him. This is a way she can keep him with her forever. The meaning of the use of gothic o Gothic horror tale, a study in abnormal psychology, an allegory of the relations between Northand South, a mediation of the nature of time, and a tragedy with Emily as a sort of tragic heroine. o The term Gothic derives from 19th-century novels, mostly by British novelists, that are set in castles or huge houses in an atmosphere of menace and the supernatural. o The term grotesque derives from 19th-century French fiction such as Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame and from Sherwood Anderson’s characters in Winesburg, Ohio (1919). These settings and characters are often echoed in Southern fiction, with Civil War-era mansions and characters who are physically or mentally grotesque. 32 o Faulkner’s stories often fall under this category, as they probe the deep recesses of the human psyche while experimenting with fictional forms. o Gothic fiction tries to create terror and suspense and is usually set in isolated old houses, castles, or monasteries, populated by mysterious individuals. Typical Gothic devices include locked rooms, ancient servants, dusty chambers, and decayed mansions—all properties found in "A Rose for Emily." Usually taking place in interior spaces of sinister buildings, Gothic fiction also thrives on cultivating an oppressively claustrophobic atmosphere of disturbing mystery and implicit evil. This story provides a good introduction to the genre. no elaborate periodic sentences or stream-of-consciousness techniques. The simple and direct style reflects the particular speaker Faulkner chose to tell the story. The unnamed narrator is a townsman of Jefferson, Mississippi, who has for some years watched Emily Grierson with considerable interest but also respectful distance. He openly describes his perspective as average; he always uses we in the story, never I. His tone and manner are informed but detached, and surprisingly cool given the horrific conclusion. He mixes his own observations with town gossip to provide a seeming reliable view of Jefferson's opinion of Miss Emily. While the narrator notes and reports many things about Miss Emily's history and personality, he is not the man to analyze or ponder their significance. The careful reader, however, soon understands several important factors affecting her. Miss Emily's father has somehow kept her down—dominating her life and driving away suitors. She also has difficulty accepting loss or change. She will not, for example, initially admit that her father has died or let the doctors or minister dispose of the body. Miss Emily seems starved for affection and emotionally desperate enough to risk censure from the town when she took Homer Barron as her lover. At the end the reader also sees her determination in killing Barron, though her motives are open to question. Did she want to extract revenge for his apparent refusal to marry her? Or did she want to keep him with her forever? J.D. Salinger : “The Catcher in The Rye” “The Catcher In The Rye” as a contemporary Odyssey, the feeling of inadequacy and the fear of failure 33 The Catcher in the Rye was frequently read as a tale of an individual’s alienation within a heartless world. Holden seemed to stand for young people everywhere, who felt themselves beset on all sides by pressures to grow up and live their lives according to the rules, to disengage from meaningful human connection, and to restrict their own personalities and conform to a bland cultural norm. Many readers saw Holden Caulfield as a symbol of pure, unfettered individuality in the face of cultural oppression. PLOT OVERVIEW (bo nie przerabialismy tego, więc nie wszyscy czytali ) THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is set around the 1950s and is narrated by a young man named Holden Caulfield. Holden is not specific about his location while he’s telling the story, but he makes it clear that he is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital or sanatorium. The events he narrates take place in the few days between the end of the fall school term and Christmas, when Holden is sixteen years old. Holden’s story begins on the Saturday following the end of classes at the Pencey prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Pencey is Holden’s fourth school; he has already failed out of three others. At Pencey, he has failed four out of five of his classes and has received notice that he is being expelled, but he is not scheduled to return home to Manhattan until Wednesday. He visits his elderly history teacher, Spencer, to say goodbye, but when Spencer tries to reprimand him for his poor academic performance, Holden becomes annoyed. Back in the dormitory, Holden is further irritated by his unhygienic neighbor, Ackley, and by his own roommate, Stradlater. Stradlater spends the evening on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl whom Holden used to date and whom he still admires. During the course of the evening, Holden grows increasingly nervous about Stradlater’s taking Jane out, and when Stradlater returns, Holden questions him insistently about whether he tried to have sex with her. Stradlater teases Holden, who flies into a rage and attacks Stradlater. Stradlater pins Holden down and bloodies his nose. Holden decides that he’s had enough of Pencey and will go to Manhattan three days early, stay in a hotel, and not tell his parents that he is back. On the train to New York, Holden meets the mother of one of his fellow Pencey students. Though he thinks this student is a complete “bastard,” he tells the woman made-up stories about how shy her son is and how well respected he is at school. When he arrives at Penn Station, he goes into a phone booth and considers calling several people, but for various reasons he decides against it. He gets in a cab and asks the cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go when the lagoon freezes, but his question annoys the driver. Holden has the cab take him to the Edmont Hotel, where he checks himself in. From his room at the Edmont, Holden can see into the rooms of some of the guests in the opposite wing. He observes a man putting on silk stockings, high heels, a bra, a corset, and an evening gown. He also sees a man and a woman in another room taking turns spitting mouthfuls of their drinks into each other’s faces and laughing hysterically. He interprets the couple’s behavior as a form of sexual play and is both upset and aroused by it. After smoking a couple of cigarettes, he calls Faith Cavendish, a woman he has never met but whose number he got from an acquaintance at Princeton. Holden thinks he remembers hearing that she used to be a stripper, and he believes he can persuade her to have sex with him. He calls her, and though she is at first annoyed to be called at such a late hour by a complete stranger, she eventually suggests that they meet the next day. Holden doesn’t want to wait that long and winds up hanging up without arranging a meeting. Holden goes downstairs to the Lavender Room and sits at a table, but the waiter realizes he’s a minor and refuses to serve him. He flirts with three women in their thirties, who seem like they’re from out of town and are mostly interested in catching a glimpse of a celebrity. Nevertheless, Holden dances with them and feels that he is “half in love” with the blonde one after seeing how well she dances. After making some wisecracks about his age, they leave, letting him pay their entire tab. 34 As Holden goes out to the lobby, he starts to think about Jane Gallagher and, in a flashback, recounts how he got to know her. They met while spending a summer vacation in Maine, played golf and checkers, and held hands at the movies. One afternoon, during a game of checkers, her stepfather came onto the porch where they were playing, and when he left Jane began to cry. Holden had moved to sit beside her and kissed her all over her face, but she wouldn’t let him kiss her on the mouth. That was the closest they came to “necking”. Holden leaves the Edmont and takes a cab to Ernie’s jazz club in Greenwich Village. Again, he asks the cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go in the winter, and this cabbie is even more irritable than the first one. Holden sits alone at a table in Ernie’s and observes the other patrons with distaste. He runs into Lillian Simmons, one of his older brother’s former girlfriends, who invites him to sit with her and her date. Holden says he has to meet someone, leaves, and walks back to the Edmont. Maurice, the elevator operator at the Edmont, offers to send a prostitute to Holden’s room for five dollars, and Holden agrees. A young woman, identifying herself as “Sunny,” arrives at his door. She pulls off her dress, but Holden starts to feel “peculiar” and tries to make conversation with her. He claims that he recently underwent a spinal operation and isn’t sufficiently -recovered to have sex with her, but he offers to pay her anyway. She sits on his lap and talks dirty to him, but he insists on paying her five dollars and showing her the door. Sunny returns with Maurice, who demands another five dollars from Holden. When Holden refuses to pay, Maurice punches him in the stomach and leaves him on the floor, while Sunny takes five dollars from his wallet. Holden goes to bed. He wakes up at ten o’clock on Sunday and calls Sally Hayes, an attractive girl whom he has dated in the past. They arrange to meet for a matinee showing of a Broadway play. He eats breakfast at a sandwich bar, where he converses with two nuns about Romeo and Juliet. He gives the nuns ten dollars. He tries to telephone Jane Gallagher, but her mother answers the phone, and he hangs up. He takes a cab to Central Park to look for his younger sister, Phoebe, but she isn’t there. He helps one of Phoebe’s schoolmates tighten her skate, and the girl tells him that Phoebe might be in the Museum of Natural History. Though he knows that Phoebe’s class wouldn’t be at the museum on a Sunday, he goes there anyway, but when he gets there he decides not to go in and instead takes a cab to the Biltmore Hotel to meet Sally. Holden and Sally go to the play, and Holden is annoyed that Sally talks with a boy she knows from Andover afterward. At Sally’s suggestion, they go to Radio City to ice skate. They both skate poorly and decide to get a table instead. Holden tries to explain to Sally why he is unhappy at school, and actually urges her to run away with him to Massachusetts or Vermont and live in a cabin. When she refuses, he calls her a “pain in the ass” and laughs at her when she reacts angrily. She refuses to listen to his apologies and leaves. Holden calls Jane again, but there is no answer. He calls Carl Luce, a young man who had been Holden’s student advisor at the Whooton School and who is now a student at Columbia University. Luce arranges to meet him for a drink after dinner, and Holden goes to a movie at Radio City to kill time. Holden and Luce meet at the Wicker Bar in the Seton Hotel. At Whooton, Luce had spoken frankly with some of the boys about sex, and Holden tries to draw him into a conversation about it once more. Luce grows irritated by Holden’s juvenile remarks about homosexuals and about Luce’s Chinese girlfriend, and he makes an excuse to leave early. Holden continues to drink Scotch and listen to the pianist and singer. Quite drunk, Holden telephones Sally Hayes and babbles about their Christmas Eve plans. Then he goes to the lagoon in Central Park, where he used to watch the ducks as a child. It takes him a long time to find it, and by the time he does, he is freezing cold. He then decides to sneak into his own apartment building and wake his sister, Phoebe. He is forced to admit to Phoebe that he was kicked out of school, which makes her mad at him. When he tries to explain why he hates school, she accuses him of not liking anything. He tells her his fantasy of being “the catcher in the rye,” a person who catches little children as they are about to fall off of a cliff. Phoebe tells him that he has misremembered the poem that he took the image from: Robert Burns’s poem says “if a body meet a body, coming through the rye,” not “catch a body.” 35 Holden calls his former English teacher, Mr. Antolini, who tells Holden he can come to his apartment. Mr. Antolini asks Holden about his expulsion and tries to counsel him about his future. Holden can’t hide his sleepiness, and Mr. Antolini puts him to bed on the couch. Holden awakens to find Mr. Antolini stroking his forehead. Thinking that Mr. Antolini is making a homosexual overture, Holden hastily excuses himself and leaves, sleeping for a few hours on a bench at Grand Central Station. Holden goes to Phoebe’s school and sends her a note saying that he is leaving home for good and that she should meet him at lunchtime at the museum. When Phoebe arrives, she is carrying a suitcase full of clothes, and she asks Holden to take her with him. He refuses angrily, and she cries and then refuses to speak to him. Knowing she will follow him, he walks to the zoo, and then takes her across the park to a carousel. He buys her a ticket and watches her ride it. It starts to rain heavily, but Holden is so happy watching his sister ride the carousel that he is close to tears. Holden ends his narrative here, telling the reader that he is not going to tell the story of how he went home and got “sick.” He plans to go to a new school in the fall and is cautiously optimistic about his future. Alienation as a Form of Self-Protection Throughout the novel, Holden seems to be excluded from and victimized by the world around him, he feels trapped on “the other side” of life, and he continually attempts to find his way in a world in which he feels he doesn’t belong. Holden’s alienation is his way of protecting himself. Just as he wears his hunting hat (see “Symbols,” below) to advertise his uniqueness, he uses his isolation as proof that he is better than everyone else around him and therefore above interacting with them. The truth is that interactions with other people usually confuse and overwhelm him, and his cynical sense of superiority serves as a type of selfprotection. Thus, Holden’s alienation is the source of what little stability he has in his life. Holden’s alienation is the cause of most of his pain. He never addresses his own emotions directly, nor does he attempt to discover the source of his troubles. He desperately needs human contact and love, but his protective wall of bitterness prevents him from looking for such interaction. Alienation is both the source of Holden’s strength and the source of his problems. For example, his loneliness propels him into his date with Sally Hayes, but his need for isolation causes him to insult her and drive her away. Similarly, he longs for the meaningful connection he once had with Jane Gallagher, but he is too frightened to make any real effort to contact her. He depends upon his alienation, but it destroys him. The Painfulness of Growing Up a novel about a young character’s growth into maturity. Holden fears change and is overwhelmed by complexity. He wants everything to be easily understandable and eternally fixed. He is frightened because he is guilty of the sins he criticizes in others, and because he can’t understand everything around him. But he refuses to acknowledge this fear, expressing it only in a few instances—for example, when he talks about sex and admits that “[s]ex is something I just don’t understand. I swear to God I don’t” Instead of acknowledging that adulthood scares and mystifies him, Holden invents a fantasy that adulthood is a world of superficiality and hypocrisy (“phoniness”), while childhood is a world of innocence, curiosity, and honesty. Nothing reveals his image of these two worlds better than his fantasy about the catcher in the rye: he imagines childhood as an idyllic field of rye in which children romp and play; adulthood, for the children of this world, is equivalent to death—a fatal fall over the edge of a cliff. His created understandings of childhood and adulthood allow Holden to cut himself off from the world by covering himself with a protective armor of cynicism. But as the book progresses, Holden’s experiences, particularly his encounters with Mr. Antolini and Phoebe, reveal the shallowness of his conceptions. The Phoniness of the Adult World 36 “Phoniness,” which is probably the most famous phrase from The Catcher in the Rye, is one of Holden’s favorite concepts. It is his catch-all for describing the superficiality, hypocrisy, pretension, and shallowness that he encounters in the world around him. Holden explains that adults are inevitably phonies, and, what’s worse, they can’t see their own phoniness. Phoniness, for Holden, stands as an emblem of everything that’s wrong in the world around him and provides an excuse for him to withdraw into his cynical isolation. Relationships, Intimacy, and Sexuality relating to the larger theme of alienation. Both physical and emotional relationships offer Holden opportunity to break out of his isolated shell. also represent what he fears most about the adult world: complexity, unpredictability, and potential for conflict and change. Holden likes the world to be silent and frozen, predictable and unchanging. Because people are unpredictable, they challenge Holden and force him to question his senses of selfconfidence and self-worth. Holden has trouble dealing with this kind of complexity. As a result, he has isolated himself and fears intimacy. Although he encounters opportunities for both physical and emotional intimacy, he bungles them all, wrapping himself in a psychological armor of critical cynicism and bitterness. Even so, Holden desperately continues searching for new relationships, always undoing himself only at the last moment. *Niestety to wszystko co udało mi sie znalezc o “Catcher...”, nic wiecej nie mam.... 11. Minority fiction: Jewish fiction: Philip Roth „Portnoy’s Complaint” Portnoy’s complaint is American writer Philip Roth’s fourth and, to date, still most popular novel. It has been first published in 1969. Structurally, it is a continous monologue as narrated by its eponymous speaker, Alexander Portnoy, to his psychoanalytist, Dr. Spielvogel (a discourse of a patient sitting on a psychoanlitycal couch). This narration weaves effortlessly through time and describes scenes from each stage in Portnoy’s life, with every recollection in some way touching upon Portnoy’s central dilemma, his inability to enjoy the fruits of his sexual adventures (he is impotent). Roth is not subtle about defining this as the main theme of his book. On the first page of the novel one finds his clinical definition of “Portnoy’s complaint”It’s a disorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a pervasive nature... The narrative situation Structurally, Portnoy's Complaint is a continuous monologue as narrated by its eponymous speaker, Alexander Portnoy, to his psychoanalyst, Dr. Spielvogel. This narration weaves effortlessly through time and describes scenes from each stage in Portnoy's life, with every recollection in some way touching upon Portnoy's central dilemma: his inability to enjoy the fruits of his sexual adventures even as his extreme libidinal urges force him to seek release in ever more creative (and, in his mind, degrading and shameful) acts of eroticism.-> masturbation. Alexander Portnoy: A Jew with a big nose and big ego who loves sex. Unfortunatelly, he was brought up in an extremely strict household with high expectations, and as a result has strongly conflicting feelings regarding the world of sex. He has a strong sex drive, and though there is nothing more that he wishes for but a normal, loving family with kids, he knows he could never settle down because of his wandering libido. He loves kinky sex but feels guilty doing it, and relates this problem through several anecdotes 37 regarding his early childhood and teenage years, hoping to help the doctor reach a conclusion about his problem. Even though he is a forty-year old guy he is still on the same level of sexuality as he was in his childhood. Impotence is his problem (he meets a a Jewish girl who could be his wife. She reminds him of his mother therefore, he is not able to perform). He feels guilty of doing things that seem to be forbidden e.g. masturbation (he is afraid that it’ll make him blind) or having sex with gentile (non-Jewish) girls. Portnoy’s mother: Castrating mother – influences Portnoy’s inability to perform with a girl, because the girl resambles his mother. Mother taught Portnoy everything about Jewish life, she sets the regulations e.g. forbids him to eat french fries and chinese food. Because of all the restrictions imposed by his mother, Portnoy can’t become a normal American, even though he really wants to. Mother stands with a knife over Portnoy (speaking figuratively of course) She is also seductive – she doesn’t mind being naked in his presence. She is Pornoy’s object of desire but she also, as a result of costant absence of the father, is the one who punishes the boy for everything, she terrorizes him ( Mother, an object of desire and at the same time a fearsome person – Castrating mother). According to Freud’s theory, all the problems stem from early childhood: Stages of libido to release mental energy: 1) Oral (baby drinks milk, it thinks it is one with its mommy. Father is someone who is in-between a mother and a child. He is in a way excluded from their relationship) 2) Anal (a child learns to control to pee, it starts to know the boundry between its body and the world – pleasure of controlling the body) 3) Phallic (a child distinguishes the difference between males and females) 4) Genital (discovers the sources of pleasure) Edyp’s complex - You want to exclude the father to regain the unity with the mother (it is an unconscious desire). Castration anxiety (phallic stage): When a son is affraid that his father is going to castrate him. It causes the desire to be suppressed, to worship the father and to identify with him, to become a real man. In case of Alexander Portnoy, his father is too weak and the boy can’t identify with him. It is the mother who threatens the boy with castration. Circumcision – connection between circumcision and castration (reflects Jewishness) He’s afraid he’ll lose his pennis, in one scene he imagines that pennis is talking to him Sexual abuses are against his Jewish morality – he rebels but it’s stronger than him “Portnoy’s Complaint” explores the nature of Jewishness: Portnoy’s big nose show that he is a Jew (a sign that he was circumcised). Portnoy wants to break free from Jewishness. It leads to rebellion: He breaks all taboos (he masturbates and sleeps with non-Jewish girls – one and the other causes guilt) 38 Portnoy wants to become a normal American, to do that he will use bad language and sexual deeds. But still deep inside he is a Jew and he knows that he has to defend his Jewishness (idealism). That is why he feels guilty at masturbating and having sex with gentile girls (guilt leads to his being impotent). Guiltiness and rebellion are fighting a terrible battle in Portnoy’s mind. Alexander mixes reality with imagination (Pornographic descriptions). We tend to lie when we describe our past – we tend to color things, and that’s what Portnoy does. Jewish body as a source of complexes The fact that Alexander belongs to the minority affects theway he perceives himself -> the feeling of identity turns into apsychological problem, his body reflects his psycho. Impotance – is a result of his psychological disorder (the book is a session with a therapists) The sense of morality – not inner but developed on the basis of upbringing Alexander builds his own world , which is a form of protest (-> masturbation and the pursuit of gay girls) He’s afraid he’ll lose his pennis, in one scene he imagines that pennis is talking to him Sexual abuses are against his Jewish morality – he rebels but it’s stronger than him Ambivalance toward Jewish identity (examples) ?? 12. Post-modern and contemporary fiction Everyone perceive the world in his own way because everyone has different expariance, attitudes (sth is good / bad for different people) There are not enough words to describe the reality The way we look at the world depends on the way we are shaped by our language, society, environment Concept (a tree) <-- a sign ----------------------------------represenatation (vocal / visual) Concept is never representative, a word is always arbitrary to the concept, there’s no natural connection between them! 39 S-signifier <-- we think in --> no natural connection! ------------S-signified That’s why we’re involved in signifier. The proof is -> a tree -> in different language it’s a different word, we have no realaccess to reality Communication <-- we learn a language to communicate ------------------understanding Truth – there’s no truth because truth is not valid toothers Trafamadoria – an artificial world ?, not a reality, it’s in the book, it’s prior to other – you cannot tell whether it’s true or not (?) Histograficzna metapowieść Dąży do umiejscowienia się w dyskursie historycznym, ale częściowo fikcyjnym Parodia, gdyż historia i fikcja przybierają równorzędny status Intertekstualność Zastępuje wyparty związek „autor-tekst”, zawiązkiem „czytelnik-tekst” Dzieło literackie nie jest źródłema jedynie częścią poprzedniej wypowiedzi Umberto Eco „Imię Róży” -> „ksiażki zawsze mówią o innych książkach”. Parodia Konserwatywna i rewolucyjna Po to by odnowić historię i pamięć wobec wypaczeń „historii zapomnienia” 40 By zakwestionować autorytet wszelkiego aktu pisania Postmodernism the postmodern shift has been located as early as the late fifties to as late as the early seventies, but for the most part changes in the 1960s lead cultural critics to see us as entering a new historical period (especially in the worlds of art, architecture, literature, and ideas). Some observers have identified this shift with the full onslaught of consumer capitalism: Frederick Jameson, for one, calls postmodernism "the culture of late capitalism." a) Kurt Vonnegut “Slaughterhouse Five” Slaughterhouse-Five treats one of the most horrific massacres in European history—the World War II firebombing of Dresden, a city in eastern Germany, on February 13, 1945—with mock-serious humor and clear antiwar sentiment. More than 130,000 civilians died in Dresden, roughly the same number of deaths that resulted from the Allied bombing raids on Tokyo and from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, both of which also occurred in 1945. Inhabitants of Dresden were incinerated or suffocated in a matter of hours as a firestorm sucked up and consumed available oxygen. The scene on the ground was one of unimaginable destruction. Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse-Five as a response to war “because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre.” The jumbled structure of the novel and the long delay between its conception and completion serve as testaments to a very personal struggle with heart-wrenching material. But the timing of the novel’s publication also deserves notice: in 1969, the United States was in the midst of the dismal Vietnam War. Vonnegut was an outspoken pacifist and critic of the conflict. Slaughterhouse-Five revolves around the willful incineration of 100,000 civilians, in a city of extremely dubious military significance, during an arguably just war. Appearing when it did, then, Slaughterhouse-Five made a forceful statement about the campaign in Vietnam, a war in which incendiary technology was once more being employed against nonmilitary targets in the name of a dubious cause. Bo treść jest dość zakręcona daje : Plot overview BILLY PILGRIM IS BORN IN 1922 and grows up in Ilium, New York. A funny-looking, weak youth, he does reasonably well in high school, enrolls in night classes at the Ilium School of Optometry, and is drafted into the army during World War II. He trains as a chaplain’s assistant in South Carolina, where an umpire officiates during practice battles and announces who survives and who dies before they all sit down to lunch together. Billy’s father dies in a hunting accident shortly before Billy ships overseas to join an infantry regiment in Luxembourg. Billy is thrown into the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and is immediately taken prisoner behind German lines. Just before his capture, he experiences his first incident of time—shifting: he sees the entirety of his life, from beginning to end, in one sweep. 41 Billy is transported in a crowded railway boxcar to a POW camp in Germany. Upon his arrival, he and the other privates are treated to a feast by a group of fellow prisoners, who are English officers who were captured earlier in the war. Billy suffers a breakdown and gets a shot of morphine that sends him time-tripping again. Soon he and the other Americans travel onward to the beautiful city of Dresden, still relatively untouched by wartime privation. Here the prisoners must work for their keep at various labors, including the manufacture of a nutritional malt syrup. Their camp occupies a former slaughterhouse. One night, Allied forces carpet bomb the city, then drop incendiary bombs to create a firestorm that sucks most of the oxygen into the blaze, asphyxiating or incinerating roughly 130,000 people. Billy and his fellow POWs survive in an airtight meat locker. They emerge to find a moonscape of destruction, where they are forced to excavate corpses from the rubble. Several days later, Russian forces capture the city, and Billy’s involvement in the war ends. Billy returns to Ilium and finishes optometry school. He gets engaged to Valencia Merble, the obese daughter of the school’s founder. After a nervous breakdown, Billy commits himself to a veterans’ hospital and receives shock treatments. During his stay in the mental ward, a fellow patient introduces Billy to the science fiction novels of a writer named Kilgore Trout. After his recuperation, Billy gets married. His wealthy father-in-law sets him up in the optometry business, and Billy and Valencia raise two children and grow rich. Billy acquires the trappings of the suburban American dream: a Cadillac, a stately home with modern appliances, a bejeweled wife, and the presidency of the Lions Club. He is not aware of keeping any secrets from himself, but at his eighteenth wedding anniversary party the sight of a barbershop quartet makes him break down because, he realizes, it triggers a memory of Dresden. The night after his daughter’s wedding in 1967, as he later reveals on a radio talk show, Billy is kidnapped by two-foot-high aliens who resemble upside-down toilet plungers, who he says are called Tralfamadorians. They take him in their flying saucer to the planet Tralfamadore, where they mate him with a movie actress named Montana Wildhack. She, like Billy, has been brought from Earth to live under a transparent geodesic dome in a zoo where Tralfamadorians can observe extraterrestrial curiosities. The Tralfamadorians explain to Billy their perception of time, how its entire sweep exists for them simultaneously in the fourth dimension. When someone dies, that person is simply dead at a particular time. Somewhere else and at a different time he or she is alive and well. Tralfamadorians prefer to look at life’s nicer moments. When he returns to Earth, Billy initially says nothing of his experiences. In 1968, he gets on a chartered plane to go to an optometry conference in Montreal. The plane crashes into a mountain, and, among the optometrists, only Billy survives. A brain surgeon operates on him in a Vermont hospital. On her way to visit him there, Valencia dies of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning after crashing her car. Billy’s daughter places him under the care of a nurse back home in Ilium. But he feels that the time is ripe to tell the world what he has learned. Billy has foreseen this moment while time-tripping, and he knows that his message will eventually be accepted. He sneaks off to New York City, where he goes on a radio talk show. Shortly thereafter, he writes a letter to the local paper. His daughter is at her wit’s end and does not know what to do with him. Billy makes a tape recording of his account of his death, which he predicts will occur in 1976 after Chicago has been hydrogen-bombed by the Chinese. He knows exactly how it will happen: a vengeful man he knew in the war will hire someone to shoot him. Billy adds that he will experience the violet hum of death and then will skip back to some other point in his life. He has seen it all many times. As a metafiction / narrative technique History nothing like one story, e.g not everyone kows about war bombing of Dresden time, history are relative -> everything depends on the person who writes about it 42 (subjective point of view), the author’s mixture of facts and fiction. Fiction to make it more interesting not able to “give” it in the right way Metanarratives want to explain, to have the right to the best explanation of the world, create what is good or wrong to have the best knowledge of the world selfreflective fiction, aware that it’s a fiction (in the first chapter it was stated that it is a fiction) The Author interferes in the story author is the witness Billy as disintegrated protagonist The novel is based on Kurt Vonnegut’s own experience in World War II. In the novel, a prisoner of war witnesses and survives the Allied forces’ firebombing of Dresden. Vonnegut, like his pro-tagonist Billy Pilgrim, emerged from a meat locker beneath a slaughter-house into the moonscape of burned-out Dresden. His surviving captors put him to work finding, burying, and burning bodies. His task continued until the Russians came and the war ended. Tralfamadore – an alternative reality frame, as an escape, as an structural device Tralfamadore a kind of a madness (people perceive it that way) fictional escape from reality, fantasy utopia WAR - real TRALFAMADORE – dream, fantasy Valencia (his life) Montana – sexy girl who comes to Billy’s bed Billy = mediocre Billy = playboy (nobody cares how he look like, he’s an ideal there) Death as an end of life “so it goes” attitude to death How does the life go on?? Bily jumps from one moment to another one 3 realities (Tralfamadorian perception of time -> everything is a sort of a continuation, there’s no past and future, everything happens now / parallely) 1) War 2) Illium 3) Tralfamador There’s no death, Billy will be continuing living in one of three different dimensions, Tralfamadorians can choose when they want to live, they can choose their favorite moment and last in it. 43 In Illium Billy doesn’t have a choice!! Postmodern treatment of history (?) – a historiographic metafiction Historiographic metafiction: Historiographic metafiction is one kind of postmodern novel which rejects projecting present beliefs and standards onto the past and asserts the specificity and particularity of the individual past event. It also suggests a distinction between “events” and “facts” that is one shared by many historians. the documents become signs of events, which the historian transmutes into facts, Symbols . The Bird Who Says “Poo-tee-weet?” The jabbering bird symbolizes the lack of anything intelligent to say about war. Birdsong rings out alone in the silence after a massacre, and “Poo-tee-weet?” seems about as appropriate a thing to say as any, since no words can really describe the horror of the Dresden firebombing. The Colors Blue and Ivory On various occasions in Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy’s bare feet are described as being blue and ivory, as when Billy writes a letter in his basement in the cold and when he waits for the flying saucer to kidnap him. These cold, corpselike hues suggest the fragility of the thin membrane between life and death, between worldly and otherworldly experience. 12. (...) a) K. Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse- Five Major conflict · Billy struggles to make sense out of a life forever marked by the firsthand experience of war’s tragedy. Rising action · Billy and his fellow prisoners are transported across Germany and begin living in a slaughterhouse prison and working in the city of Dresden. Climax · Dresden is incinerated in a deadly firebomb attack. But Billy misses the moment of destruction, waiting out the attack in a well-protected meat locker. Psychologically, Billy does not come to terms with this event until nearly twenty years later, when the sight of a barbershop quartet on his wedding anniversary triggers his suppressed sense of grief. Falling action · The falling action occurs in the realm of Billy’s later life as he progresses toward a newfound consciousness and an increasingly tenuous mental state. Billy experiences alien abduction and prepares to share his new insights with the world. Chapter 1 as metafiction, narrative technique 44 METAFICTION: fiction which treats about itself as fiction; passages in a text which relate to this particular text one is reading. Metafiction in 1st Chapter: - the author explains why it was hard to write a book about the war - he wanted to achieve/write a piece of mind, treats it as a therapy - we find out about his wartime experience - he tells us how the book starts, how it ends, what the climax would be (the execution of Edgar Derby) – he gives us all the information - he thinks of the results of writing, will it be successful - he wants to write the truth about the firebombing in Dresden Narrative technique - matanarratives- systems described the world, (More: It means a story or narrative that is presumed to have great generality and represents a final and apodictic truth= an imaginary concept of truth in which it is supposed that we know something with absolute certainty. To be an apodictic truth there must be no possibility of mistake. - but: postmodernism- doesn’t believe in metanarratives - dirrefent types of narration, different accounts of history- no one is reliable - no chronology (travelling in time) - ‘So it goes’ – a refrain which appears in the novel every time death is mentioned, it is connected with the war experience and its effects on human life * foreshadowing - Vonnegut gives away the climax he had been considering for his grand narrative (Edgar Derby’s execution) in Chapter 1; when we finally get to the telling of it, at the end of Chapter 10, it comes as an afterthought. Billy as a disintegrated patagonist - Billy is a postmodern hero - unable to choose in which time/dimension he will land, he doesn’t have free will - he is passive, doesn’t decide about what happens to him ex. father-in-law decides about him becoming an optometrist (because he also is an o.), he can’t choose about his own about where to be (past or present) - irony of a soldier- he is not dressed properly (no gun, no shoes, no uniform,) - he is immature, never grows up - he is not a very strong man - he is Pilgrim- traveler, movable 45 - name & surname: meaningful and meaningless at the same time (he wonders in time, realities, but it is not common name, he is someone undistinguished, not a hero) Postmodern treatment of history - different accounts of history, no one is reliable - the bombing of Dresden- the author refers to his own experience as well as to the text about this event/tragedy - parody – realistic book doesn’t show the truth about the world (as in ‘The French Lieutenant Woman’adultery etc.), the book refers to parodistic composition of realism- the parody of the text that glorify the war - the author is not the source of the text, we should base our knowledge on the experience of the author - the text refers to different texts (there is nothing beside the text- mimesis) Tralfamadore – an alternative reality frame, as an escape, as a structural device; postmodern treatment of history – as historiographic metafiction Tralfamadore comes from books which Billy reads (science fiction), Montana comes from TV and papers he watched and read (or saw ;-) So, the world may be a construction based on reality (historical texts). He creates a version of this. - escape from the reality, from the trauma of war - he has a woman of his dreams (Montana- porno star) - he is glorified, they admire him - he learns there that death doesn’t exist- different point of view on life - he is healed in a way, saying ‘So it goes’ he knows there is no death - Tralfamadore is a remedy to his trauma of war, there he is able to analyze it, to reconcile - he learns that there is no past and future but only now - he finds out about the end of the world- that it is inevitable - it gives him security, peace - the world of Tralfamadore is equally real as the war reality What makes this book an anti-war book - title (people in Dresden were treated as animals in slaughterhouses) - young, weak soldiers who don’t know what to do and aren’t prepared for the war (no uniform, ...) Germans are surprised- You are American Soldiers?? - Roland- cruel, stupid, sadist (says that his father collected some objects for torturing people) - no fighting and combat situations - bombing of Dresden (children crusade, shouldn’t take place, people weren’t prepared,...) - prison/camp for British soldiers (they had v. good conditions there, a lot of food, fun; it’s not a world of war) 46 - Billy as anti-hero Symbols: The 124 (the number of their house) Sethe had four children, she killed the 3rd one. The colour red o o o Amy Denver’s red velvet - hope, bright future Paul D’s red heart - feelings and emotions Red roses - new life for Sethe, Paul and Denver o o o Sweet home – masks the true horror of the plantation Paul D. – freedom, way home Setha’s back (Chokecherry tree) - trauma, suffering, symbol of the prejudice of white men against black people Trees The tin tobacco box o Paul D describes his heart so – he locked away his feelings b) Robert Coover: The Public Burning The Public Burning is a 1977 novel by Robert Coover. It reconstructs the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the convicted traitors who gave atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union in 1953. - Post-war fiction As representation of post-modernism Historiographic metafiction: is one kind of postmodern novel which rejects projecting present beliefs and standards onto the past and asserts the specificity and particularity of the individual past event. It also suggests a distinction between ¡§events¡¨ and ¡§facts¡¨ that is one shared by many historians. Since the documents become signs of events, which the historian transmutes into facts, as in historiographic metafiction, the lesson here is that the past once existed, but that our historical knowledge of it is semiotically transmitted. Finally, Historiographic metafiction often points to the fact by using the paratextual conventions of historiography to both inscribe and undermine the authority and objectivity of historical sources and explanations. Historical reality – figures, events 47 Political bacground Time after WWII- people in the USA are tired with war, they want to lead peaceful life Fighting for women rights Imperialistic character of the US -> Cold War, conflict with the Eastern world Red Scare in the US; as a consequence -> hunting for communists Trials on tv -> to spread the fear, to show that the guilty are among us Rosennbergs’ Case – Jews suspected of spying for the Soviets, trialed and convicted of a treason, executed in public in 1953 (Scapegoats -> nie wiadomo czy śledztwo w ich sprawie było odpowiednio przeprowadzone) Uncle Sam starts osin the battle! On the brink of war with Korea! Execution on the market place (Times Square) – televised only to pull theattention from Uncle Sam losing his battle with Phantom (Soviet Union / international communism) Uncle Sam & Phantom – embodiments of the two great enemies Phantom – because you don’t know how he looks like Nixon – senator and “the one who thinks”, successful, hardworking person, career-man -> Right of passage – Uncle Sam “raped”him or incarnation ? of Uncle Sam, he becomes a president Eisenhower – president, not very intelligent, don’t know what he is talking about -> he’s only to talk to the press, whole of his work is done by Nixon c) Toni Morrison: Beloved It’s a historical novel, to some extent, typical ghost story. ‘Beloved’ as a famine writing; woman as a slave, woman in a multi-racial society - the book shows the effects of slavery on people - the drama of woman abused, raped, humiliated because they were slaves - dehumanization, sexual abuse by white man - women suffered more than men, physically and mentally - it’s a monologue- she tells a story- it’s woman dominated narrative, she was a kind of a leader (Baby Suggs) - Baby Suggs embodies timeless trauma- a personal trauma but also a trauma of all black woman (slave woman who shared the same experience). She suffers from depression, and after the tragedy (when Sethe killed her 3rd child <Beloved> she can’t cope with life and she dies from the depression). - they can’t forget about the past- this memory is a part of their identity whether they like it or not - taken away the freedom, dignity, treated as animals, humiliated ex. Upon Sethe's back is a maze of scars, referred to by Paul D as a "chokecherry tree." It is the remains of an operation schoolteacher performed upon her back in an effort to determine how much she 48 resembled an animal. The tree, which is ever-present but can never be seen, is symbolic of the burden which Sethe carries. It is her past, and it is the prejudice of white men against her. It is a mark made by people who believed her to be an animal. Magic realism - post colonial culture that is engaged in the process of recovering the past (lost) while remaining completely unable to escape the lingering influence of its more recent colonial history; the characters have problems with identity - there is no chronology - past is real (the same as Beloved is) Beloved is a recent form and result of the past, comes to remind Sethe about killing, remind about her mother/ memories from the past - there are both: magic & realism but we can’t tell the one from another, the ‘magic moments’ are treated as normal, although they are impossible they are mixed with the reality and people - spectacular, fantastic fiction produces in South American Countries after WW, the genre is characterised by the juxtaposition of apparentally reliabe, realistic reportege and fantasy d) Paul Auster: City of Glass Intertextuality; self as a text - intertextuality- referring to other stories; names, quotes, etc. - Servantes- Don Quixote (similarity of characters)- there is nothing beside the text, 2nd volume of D.Q. (initials of Daniel Quinn) refers to the 1st volume - intertextuality of the world- Ouinn observes Stillman- everything needs to be written - we interpret it with different text- it doesn’t have any specific ending Play on detective story A detective story- a detective, a case, a result of the investigation, possibility of crime, while reading a story you feel like a detective; - detective book is based on associations of different events - there is nothing besides the text- when the book ends: Quinn no longer exists City of Glass begins with the transformation of Daniel Quinn, who writes mystery novels under the pseudonym William Wilson, into a real-life detective when he mistakenly receives a phone call intended for one Paul Auster, private detective, requesting his assistance. The call is placed by Virginia Stillman, who wishes to hire Quinn/Auster to protect her husband, Peter Stillman Jr., from his father whom she fears intends to kill his own son. She later tells Quinn/Auster that some years prior Stillman Sr. locked his son away in a dark room for nine years as an experiment in 49 the possibility of recovering a pure lg (~God’s lg), an act that landed Stillman Sr. in prison. Now Stillman Sr. is being released, causing Virginia Stillman to fear for Stillman Jr.'s life. For reasons even Quinn cannot explain, rather than ignoring the mistaken call, he pretends to be Auster, taking on the identity of a detective, and accepts the case, which he initially sees as little more than a "glorified tail job". John Barth „Life story” The writer is the Hero of the story. He’s writing a story but whenever he starts to write it he comes to a conclusion that he cannot write. He misses out one very important element, the story lacks it – he doesn’t have a grand situation to make it a good story. Concept of mise-en- abyne (also used in Hamlet) story which we are reading is the story within a stor(to co czytamy to tekst o pisaniu tego właśnie tekstu). There is lack of grand situation- and that’s what the story is about, about a writes having this problem. Writer’s life situation – he’s going through a crisis, the inability to write, Literature of exhaustion – literature pisząca o wyczerpaniu literatury Story is metafictional- the subject is writing a story, the story is self-reflective(whatever there is in the story reflects this story) Writer himself knows that he is a writes, he writes about his inability to write, he’s self -conscious and the story itself also reflects self- consciousness. Topic of “Life story” is lack of grand situation of the writer. This story performs post-modern exhaustion. 50