Getting Frosty

"But he is far less affirmative about the universe then [the Transcendentalists]; for where they, looking at nature, discerned a benign creator, he saw 'no expression, nothing to express.'"

Now Robert, what is that supposed to mean?

For your education, here's what Spark Notes has to say about The Road Not Taken:

"The speaker stands in the woods, considering a fork in the road. Both ways are equally worn and equally overlaid with un-trodden leaves. The speaker chooses one, telling himself that he will take the other another day. Yet he knows it is unlikely that he will have the opportunity to do so. And he admits that someday in the future he will recreate the scene with a slight twist: He will claim that he took the less-traveled road."

That's an interesting take, wouldn't you say? Especially considering that most people consider this poem to be a story of a man who didn't conform. I remember hearing in a class at some point that this poem is often misunderstood, but I can never remember what it's actual jist is supposed to be. The writer of this particular Spark Notes page feels very strongly about it:

"Cursed with a perfect marriage of form and content, arresting phrase wrought from simple words, and resonant metaphor, it seems as if “The Road Not Taken” gets memorized without really being read. For this it has died the cliché’s un-death of trivial immortality."

I appreciate this enlightenment, though I will miss the bliss of ignorance in my former interpretation of Frost.

Wallace Stevens

For some reason, I've been struggling with Steven's poetry. I mean, everything i read sounds very beautiful. I just struggle to piece a meaning out of it. However, I certainly appreciate what I read about Steven's literary theories in his introduction. According to Stevens, "poetry [exists] to illuminate the world's surfaces as well as its depths" and the reality depends on the human observer...the sense of an inescapable subjectivity in everything we know [demonstrates that] Stevens clearly shared a modernist ideology."

The Emperor of Ice-Cream
When I read this poem, I imagine a small town in the summertime. Everyone has their role and every role provides something beautiful for the town. However, the most important role is played by the ice cream man. I'm not sure whats going on in the second stanza, but I think its supposed to be sad.

If anyone can elaborate, that would be cool.

Sunday Morning
This poem is very beautiful and intriguing. The real meaning of the poem is clearly hit upon in the fifth and sixth stanzas, particularly in the following lines:
"Death is the mother of beauty; hence from her,
Alone shall come fulfillment to our dreams"
The speaker claims that the fact that we will not live forever gives our lives meaning. She wonders whether nothing changes in heaven and if that is the case, whats beautiful about that? I take notes in my textbook, and next to these stanzas, i simply wrote "wow."

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
I think this is the poem I was the most lost on. I thought it offered very pretty observations and imagery, but I wonder if the blackbird is supposed to symbolize something deeper then pretty pictures. Either way, I liked it still.

Crane and London

I loved loved loved these readings. They both captured, in the span of a day, the brunt of survival and everything that might go through a human's mind in such circumstances.

Both readings also carried a lot of obvious symbolism, which as we know, I like. For example, the fire represents man. It is born as a weak flame, with so much potential to grow and to help or hurt. However the fire is still very fragile, like man. And of course all fires will go out.

Both pieces were realist and naturalist in nature; very Man vs. Nature. In theater, the rule is that a play is never about moments in time that are ordinary and I think that rule goes for books too and these readings were definately about extrodinary instances in time and how the characters respond to their environments. (If only Dreiser had followed it. Carrie's opening moments=ordinary to the point of dull.)

In Crane's piece, I also observed that it appeared as though the characters were going through stages of grief.

Denial:
There's a house of refuge just north of the Mosquito Inlet Light, and as soon as they see us, they'll come off in their boat and pick us up.

Anger:
I'd like to catch the chump who waved the coat. I feel like socking him one, just for luck.

Bargaining:
It is, perhaps, plausible that a man in this situation, impressed with the unconcern of the universe, should see the innumerable flaws of his life and have them taste wickedly in his mind and wish for another chance.

Depression:
If I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come this far and contemplate sand and trees?

Acceptance:
It's merely occur to him that if he should drown it would be a shame.

What's in a Story?

For me, it's all about the characters and the symbolism. And when a story fails to satisfy one of these, I am simply appalled with boredom. So then of course, I have to dig. Otherewise, what was the point in reading the stupid piece of literature in the first place? And obviously, I'm made to read this literature for class so it can't actually all be stupid. However, this is how I felt about Dreiser's piece.

So, not only did the characters in "Sister Carrie" suck, but the story did too! We'll assume that Dreiser is simply trying to make some Naturalist remark on society and it's ways, but God how depressing! It's like Carrie had no real purpose. The only point I felt any sort of drive in the novel was when we were introduced to that asshole Drouet. But I am grateful that Drieser manage to evoke any sort of emotion out of me other then appalled boredom, even though the reading went down from there. He also managed to fit in some very honest observations about humanity. I just wish that if that were his purpose, he wouldn't have wasted our time with petty little girls and douche bags.
The following is one example of an honest observation.... though I hate to admit it.

"There is an indescribably faint line in the matter of man's apparel which somehow divides for her those who are worth glancing at and those who are not." 
^^I'll tell you why this is true. Within the inherent psychology of Man and Woman, we have caveman instincts which explain the laws of attraction. Men are instinctually attracted to women who have a baby-making figure. Female's cave man instincts dictate that they be attracted to men who appear successful, financially or otherwise, and could fulfill the role as provider.

Dreiser and London

True Art Speaks Plainly
I now fully understand the meaning of realism. According to Theodore, from what I gather, art is not art unless its tells the truth exactly as life is. that is why many people argued against the ending of Huckleberry Finn. "The sum and substance of literary as well as social morality maybe expressed in three words--tell the truth." However, I don't exactly agree as to what his definition of truth is. True art tells the truth of the human spirit, even if the tale is unrealistic. I do sincerely appreciate what Dreiser had to say about "the mental virtue of the reader." Anyone who is ready The Kite Runner should agree.

What Life Means to Me
Well, London certainly speaks his truth and is highly effective in defending his beliefs about society. And holy cow. I do feel bad for the guy, but what an excellent writer he has become through his struggles. Not only a socialist but a rhetorician as well. He definitely presents a unique perspective of society that gets the reader thinking.

At this point I realize I have read the wrong texts. Screw it. I'm publishing these anyway.

King and Duke?

More like Knave and Douche!

"After all this long journey, and after all we'd done for them scoundrels, here was all come to nothing, everything all busted up and ruined, because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life, and amongst strangers, too, for forty dirty dollars."

Congrats Twain. Your pen has done its job. My emotions have been evoked. Prepare yourself.

Adults do tend to screw things up for Huck. He escaped pap, he's managed his freedom for this long, his plans are generally logical and he's never out to harm anyone. And then the two douchey douchebag frauds come along and mess up everything.

It does make me sad how honest Twain's portrayal is of men like the "Duke" and the "King."

What does this say about humanity? Adulthood? Of course a person isn't actually required to be mature to be an adult. Kind of like horrible people don't have to be tested to be allowed to have children. But still, it does make me frustrated. But there will always be bad guys, there will always be sellouts, there will always be horrible parents, and a child's dreams will always get interrupted by douchebags at some point in time. And yes, I KNOW that Twain told me not to go moral hunting.... but come on. Obviously we're supposed to learn something here.

I guess I just need still to figure out where in the novel the hope for society is. Because obviously we all can't just fake our deaths and go floating around a river for the rest of our lives. And even then, we can't avoid the crazies.

I'm getting ahead of myself. It's not like this is a tale about all the bad people Huck has met. There are the Mary Janes of the novel too. And the Grangerfords. Though they definitely still fit the crazy category.

However, it's all just a story. A commentary on society and an artistic approach to regionalism.

Where bad things happen to my Good Buddy Huck.

Time to read on!

Huck's Hiatus

People are crazy. I can't get over how many illogical, ignorant and violent tendencies people in large groups can have. Groups of people are an intriguing animal. Twain holds up a critical mirror to society in that respect several times throughout the novel, especially after the Duke and King show up. People in groups get weird.

Examples of these Occurrences:

• Jim's Hat
• when a couple people believe Jim's superstitious tales, the word spreads quickly and several people follow lead, despite the fact that he truly makes it up
• Tom Sawyer's Gang
• innocent boys plan to become murderers and robbers... for no other reason then to be doing it together
• Sheperdsons vs. Grangerfords
• families murder each other for reasons no one can remember
• Col. Sherbern's Lynch Mob
• people decide to lynch a man in broad daylight and HE convinces them to scatter
• The Royal Nonesuch
• audience members decide to lie to their friends so they aren't singled out as stupid

Perhaps that's where Twain decided to take the novel after his three year hiatus--to give a social commentary on man's lack of ability to think for himself. I also think humans have a tendency to feel entitled and to look for reasons to prove their entitlements. And they might find that opportunity anywhere, whether its by lynching a man to honking their horns in traffic. This illustrative mirror of human tendencies is an example of how this novel is realist.

Twain pulls an "Alice and Mad Hatter" tactic in his story telling. For you can't tell how crazy society can be unless there is a character who the reader can sharply contrast it with. From the outside of "civilization" and on his raft, Huck observes how messed up people are on land. He tries to shed their ways like he sheds his clothes. This is also apparent in the way Huck makes moral decisions. They are never based on societal rules, but rather spiritual questions of right and wrong (another reason why I love him). And because he is not man but rather a boy on a raft in a river, he thinks for himself.