Jack's Recovery

I would say that Room is my favorite book that we read this semester. As we discussed in class, it is very interesting to look through the eyes of Jack and see what an impact a situation like this would have on the growth of a young child and his mother. However, now that I read the end of the book, all I can think about is how this would impact both Jack and Ma in the long term, both more Jack because the book is narrated from his point of view.

I would say that Jack in the next year or so would still continue to struggle to adjusting to the “real world”. However, from his last interaction with Room in the last pages of the book, I think he would be able to appreciate the outside world more. Throughout the beginning of his time outside of Room, Jack tended to want to trade all his confusion from the outside with going back to room, by saying things like “I wish I could go back to Wardrobe”. However, only in a few weeks, we see Jack confidently saying goodbye to room and everything in it. He actually can’t believe that the shed he was taken to at first was room and mentions if the room shrank. This in itself shows how much Jack grew in such a little time, in terms of disattaching himself to the idea of going back to Room. I believe that this has something to do with the fact that he is young. His brain and body is still developing, and from a psychological standpoint, childhood traumas affect the brain and mental health a lot more less than traumas after the brain is fully developed (at least that’s what they told me in my psych class).  In that case, I think in 10 years time, he would be able to function as a regular 15 year old. The only thing that I can think would be a problem would be classmates mentioning something along the lines of,  “hey weren’t you the guy that got stuck in a room for 5 years”, or classmates treating him differently because they knew about his past. However, if he changed his name and didn’t have his experience in room constantly brought up, I believe that Jack would be able to have a normal, healthy life after this experience.

Unlying

The last few chapters that we have read, there have been a lot of new developments that changed the way that we view Jack and the impact his environment has on him. The way the Unlying chapter starts off is Jack describing the marks he saw on his mother’s neck. He soon realizes that those marks came from Old Nick trying to hurt him mom. I think this is the first significant time that we see Jack finally realizing what Old Nick actually is, compared to how Jack treated Old Nick as almost a “god-like figure”,  when he asked his mom why they didn’t thank Old Nick when they thanked Baby Jesus for the food.

Throughout this chapter, Jack’s concept of the entire world completely shifts and changes. This is the first time that his mother tells Jack that the outside world is real and the stories about her past, family, and how she got into the “Room”. When she first told him that TV things are real (except for spongebob and dora), and then he looks up on the window on the ceiling to see all the TV things he expects to be real, he gets mad at first because he doesn't see anything but blue sky and clouds. When his mom is first telling him about the story of her family’s house and hammock and the story where she got taken in college because old Nick pretended his dog was dying, Jack thinks she is kidding and is not even interested. However, over time, and by the second time he climbs up to look through the top window, and he sees the airplane, he finally understands that what his mom is telling him is true.

As I was reading this chapter, one of the saddest moments so far of the book was on page 88, when it sort of finally hit me how tragic Jack’s situation truly is. Jack's mom says “Hospitals are real too, and motorbikes. My head’s going to burst from all the new things I have to believe”. Then he asks how come he didn’t see the city when he first looked up through the Skylight and his mother responds by telling him “Skylight looks straight up in the air. Most of the things I’ve been telling you about are on the ground, so to see them we’d need a window that faces out sideways”. Then Jack says, “We could ask for a sideways window for Sundaytreat” and then Ma just laughs. Here, it really just hit me that Jack doesn’t know anything about the outside world and is deprived of so much. Now he begins to understand what he is missing out on, and it is very tragic to watch.

Another aspect of what really hit me is when Jack’s mother describes how the shed is made, and how it used to be a 12x12 feet room, but because of all the sound insulation and metal Nick used to make sure Jack’s mom can’t escape is insane. Even when she describes trying to dig a hole in the ground and then finding that the shed is also insulated from the ground, and Nick laughing from discovering the whole is just horrible. Hearing pieces of the backstory really begins to put things in perspective and really highlight the tragic parts of the novel so far.

Marji's Age Portrayal in Persepolis so Far

Throughout the novel Persepolis so far, we see Marji being portrayed as someone behaving a lot older than her actual age. In the start of the novel, she is just six years old. By that time she has already been able to comprehend and understand the misfortunes of the world and want to work toward fixing those by becoming a prophet. Also, without being raised in a super religious household, she already has a very strong father/friend relationship to god as we can see with how god is drawn in the book panels and their interactions. For just being six years old, you would need a lot more intellect than the average six year old, and be able to hold such big and well thought out aspirations at that age.

In the next few chapters, we are introduced to Marji’s views on the oppression her and her family has been facing. We know she does her research on the subject, and refers to a lot of big authors that most elementary students have never heard of like Leon Trotsky and Marx. We even find out her favorite book is the comic book version “Dialectic Materialism”. Even when she is talking to her uncle in later chapters and he finds out that she has read this book and knows about topics like these, he is also very surprised at first and impressed.

Her knowledge of these topics and her various readings are what inspired Marji’s well thought out anti authoritarian attitude, which is very rare for any 10 year old to hold. Even while holding these values, her mother tells her it is important to forgive those whose parents were former supporters of the Shaw, and Marji follows by trying really hard to forgive. At any age, that is milestone in intellectual growth, which Marji is able to do at ten.
Despite this, we do actually some instances were Marji does act her age, for example when her parents are talking, or her dad is talking to her uncle, she doesn’t quite always understand what they are saying. So she might laugh just because they are laughing or just say what has just been said on the TV thinking it is true. However, this is normal for any child, and overall I would say Marji still acts a lot older for her age. This may because her older self when going back and writing all these events may be just portrayer herself as older, or she actually did act older because the revolution forced her to grow up at a much faster pace.

Is Grant the Hero of the Story?

Throughout the novel A Lesson Before Dying, the questions of what it means to be a man often gets thrown around. However, when it comes to Jefferson and people tell him to be a man (ultimately to stop acting like a hog that the white supremacists think he is), I don’t think they are trying to get him to act like a normal/ average man- I think they (especially Grant) are trying to get Jefferson to be a hero. However, still Jefferson hasn’t filled the role of the hero yet- he is still working on it which leaves the question who is the hero right now in the story?

Overall, what a hero is to me is acting in a way that can be used as an example for other people and helping and “saving” a community (no matter how big or small that community is)

So far while reading, I have thought that Grant is actually the hero of the story because he is the one who is setting up the situation where Jefferson eventually becomes the hero. He is able to get to Jefferson like no other character in this novel so far. In a sense, he himself is going through a hero’s journey himself. At first, Grant is running away and doesn’t want to go to jail to visit Jefferson. However he ends up going because he is forced to by Miss Emma. However, over time, Grant started to recognize his role in trying to help Jefferson become a hero and starts doing as much as he can to help Jefferson.

Right now in the book, Grant tells Jefferson that “a hero is something that other men don’t and can’t do. He is different from other men. He is above other men.” However soon after saying that, Grant also says that”I could never be a hero. I teach, but I don't like teaching...I want to run away. I want to live for myself and for my woman and for nobody else”. Then he goes on to tell Grant that he needs to be man so he can be the hero and prove the white supremacists wrong. I think everything Grant says in this passage is true except for the line “I could never be a hero”. Honestly, because he wants to run away and not do all this stuff, he is still doing it which makes what he is doing for Jefferson even more worthwhile, which is why so far I think Jefferson is the hero.

Anse: Hero or Not

In class we have been talking about if Anse is the hero in the book As I Lay Dying. In my opinion, I think it is an easy no. Anse so far has been portraying anything BUT hero life qualities. The first chapter he narrates we get to see in his eyes and see what he’s really thinking. The first thing that really struck me was that Anse didn’t even bother to call Peabody the doctor until it was too late, and after he called him he then complains that he has to pay for him now. Honestly, a heroic character in my eyes would try to do anything to save his wife, even if he knows it’s pointless. Instead, Anse’s attitude toward Addie dying is pretty much “it's inevitable so there's really nothing I can do and nothing I will do”.

In this same chapter we see Anse’s quality that is always portrayed whenever we see him: he is ALWAYS complaining about his life and what he has to do. He always talks about how is the man with the least luck and how everything bad always happens to him. Instead of doing anything about it, he just complains and is also portrayed as a lazy man in the book - two qualities you never see in heros. Even when they are in their journey to town to bury Addie, he still complains about things like Jewel taking his horse and how his sons are “acting up”.

This brings up another point why I think Anse is not a heroic character in as I lay Dying: the entire journey to bury Addie. Anse has made it hims mission to bury Addie with her people because it was her dying wish. As I do believe that is completely honorable (honorable not necessarily heroic) that is completely overshadowed by the fact that he has ulterior motives for wanting to go to town. He wants new teeth. As I think that is a completely legitimate reason to go into town, why hasn’t he just gone on a completely different occasion? Or on another trip? This leads me to think that a large reason Anse is desperate to go to town is for his own reasons not Addie’s. Even one of the first things he says right after Addie dies is “Now I can get dem teeth”- completely unhonorable and not heroic at all. This is why no matter all the hardships Anse is going through during the journey, he is still making the journey for his purpose and slightly Addie’s. From what I read so far, if Anse already has a full set of teeth and didn’t have any reason to go into town, I think that he would have stopped already and buried Addie with his people.

On the other hand, all the obstacles they have faced on the journey, Anse is probably the least affected by them. A good example of this is when he had to get some new mules. Although he did give some of his teeth money, he still gave away Cash’s money and Jewel’s horse without their permission. Even though they are family and Anse is their dad, well Cash’s biological dad at least, he still had no right to steal their stuff away from them. No hero would do that in my eye, it would have just been more honorable if just asked.

So no, I don’t think Anse is the hero in the book As I Lay Dying, and I still am trying to figure out who is.

My Mother is a Fish

Honestly, at this point in the novel, Vardaman is my favorite character. I know we talked about this book is supposed to be a “dark comedy” and many of us didn’t really agree. However after thinking about it, I would have to say the only time I see this book as a comedy would be in Vardaman's chapters.

Right after Vardaman finds out his mother dies, it is a very sad moment in the book. However, the in the next chapter after Addie’s death one of the first things Vardaman says is “the trees look like chickens when they ruffle out into the cool dust on the hot days” on page 53. Although I don’t really get a clear sense in what he is trying to say most of the time, that is what I find funny about him. His randomness in the way he thinks (probably because he is like 6) is what makes this book interesting to me and can’t wait for the next Vardaman chapter.

“My mother is a fish”

Is another perfect example of how I find Vardaman's spontaneity weird but funny, although this comedy is obviously overshadowed by the dark aspect of Addie’s death. Obviously, I would say he is the most traumatized character from Addie’s death and it clearly shows. Any little kid would do the same- if you really think about it we are reading from a little kid’s perspective when we read the book. Anyways, going back to how Vardaman refers to his mother as a fish. When he caught the fish and then after it was cooked, he kept relating the chopped up fish to his dead mother saying things like "it (the fish) was there and now it's not" just like his mother. Once the family ate the fish, he goes on to say things like how their mother is a part of them now that they all ate the fish.
Vardaman continues to act spontaneous and crazy when he then later pokes holes in his mother's coffin, impaling her and then blaming the doctor and his horses for the death of his mother.
Overall, some could find some humor in this book through Vardaman, however for me, the dark aspects of the novel so far completelyover shadow the "funny" aspect of the book.

Athena -and Odysseus- The Puppet Masters

Throughout the poem The Odyssey, we see the gods often “playing” with the mortals for purely their own entertainment. Athena’s role basically the whole book, was to orchestrate this entire play, starring Odysseus and co starring his son Telemachus. Especially in these last chapters, we can see Athena going to extremes to make sure her play’s dramatic final scene happens perfectly: the scene where Odysseus with throw his revenge and paints his home with the blood of the suitors invading his home. However, Athena doesn't want that scene to just happen. She wants it to happen in a way that would be “aesthetically pleasing”, in the same way Poseidon turned the phoenicians boat into stone after helping a stranger instead of just smiting them and killing them. The point is the gods want to make a show, and they want it to be a good one.

So going back to Athena, she is just pushing herself to extremes to make her play happen, but we can also see Odysseus at many points slipping out of “Athena’s puppet role”, and playing the “puppet master” role himself. Unlike how Athena really controls Telemachus in the beginning chapters of the poem, Odysseus actually takes it upon himself (of course with Athena’s help) to create and carry out his own plan to kill all the suitors. This really starts when he finally lands in his homeland. However, I believe Athena can never let her plan completely go into the hand of someone else, so of course we see her cover Odysseus in a cloud of smoke so she could keep him confused until she could get him to be familiar with her plan. Although I believe this is a key scene because this is the first time we see both Odysseus and Athena working hand in hand to come up with a plan. Athena first comes to Odysseus as a shepherd, and Odysseus using Athena’s same tricks, makes up a fake story about himself when he “introduces” himself to “Athena”. He tells her he was a murderer, and now he is running away from his land. Athena actually praises this quality of him, the quality that he is able to make up lies right on the spot. When Athena reveals her true form, the two seem to talk to each other like they are old partners who praise each other's trickery and cunningness, and here we see them planning revenger together.

Telemachus’s “coming of age”

 From the start of the book, we see Telemachus as a confused, sad, timid person that can’t really express his feelings to those around him. His home is invaded with a bunch of suitors trying to wed his mom. These suitors have been basically give Telemachus more than a hard time in his own home- they are basically consuming his entire estate, stealing food and acting as if it was their own home. They are pretty much the worst “guests” ever. “Guests” because were they even welcomed to their home? No I don’t think so. Especially at this time and place where hospitality is valued above all, these suitors are clearly in the wrong. Penelope herself also clearly doesn’t want them there, as she unwinds her silk every night for four years trying to put them off (although she is leading them on). Because the war ended 10 years before this book started and Odysseus left for war right when Telemachus was a baby, that means Telemachus has been waiting for his father to return for all his life, half of which has been invaded by the suitors. From 10 to 21, Telemachus’s entire transition from childhood to adulthood has been marred by his rude house guest, although he never gets the idea to actually stand up to them until Athena shows up. Like what??? The time between 10 to 21 is where people end up growing up, figuring out who they are. So basically what I am trying to say is 10 years is a longgg time not to stand up for yourself and that can’t just change overnight (which is basically what happened in the book. He gets tucked in by the nurse in his warm bed and wakes up to call the assembly). So I believe we are giving Telemachus too much credit when we say Athena is only inspiring Telemachus to stand up for himself. Honestly, I think she is acting more like a puppet master then anything else. Before Athena comes, Telemachus is brooding over his father, wishing he was there to get rid of all these suitors. It doesn’t even come to his mind that he could get rid of them himself. But when Athena comes he just “suddenly gets all that courage”. She comes to his home and talks to Telemachus and first puts the idea of setting sail to find word of his father, and Telemachus used THE SAME WORDS when he talks to the assembly the next day. If someone told me something today, I for sure would NOT be able to recite it word for word the next day….. Also the entire idea of setting sail to find word of Odysseus, when I don’t think it has been clear that Telemachus has gone that far from his house before, I feel like it would have taken longer to have him convinced to go on this trip. Especially since the idea literally came from an absolute stranger. But no. Again, he was convinced like that, just over night. Athena even goes as far as impersonating Telemachus when she goes and gathers the crew members for his trip. Even in the start of book 3 when Telemachus is going to meet the king of Pylos, Athena is literally pulling/ and pushing him along- just as one would do with a puppet. Although she does leave him to go to Sparta by himself, as if going to Pylos was a “test run”, I’m still not believing that Telemachus could change so much over night without some mythical force Athena has brought forth that’s doing a  little more then just “inspiring him”.