Psychology of the Poverty Cycle :)
Leave a reply
Author Archives: Kevin Elk
The American Dream in O’Connor’s Stories
It seems that in “The Lame Shall Enter First” and “A View of the Woods” Flannery O’Connor sends a very clear message that relates to the American Dream. In each story, the main character has a very clear goal that they are pursuing earnestly. Fortune wishes to mold his granddaughter in his own image and get her to denounce and betray her father and her family name. Sheppard believes he can “save” Johnson and (in a way) his son. In each case, the character obsesses over their goal, eventually taking extreme measures when things start to not go their way. Clearly however, neither achieve their goal, and instead their efforts result in unspeakable tragedy. It seems O’Connor is sending a cautionary message about obsessively pursuing one’s ambitions, especially when they are unrealistic (in this case because they involve not material things but changing the minds of people). This sends a message we have seen before– one coming from Fitzgerald through The Great Gatsby. Both Fitzgerald and O’Connor seem to be cautioning against pursuing something that cannot be guaranteed: the ability of one’s mind to change.
Ambition in Anderson
As I mentioned in class, I find it interesting how Anderson seems to liken ambition to a disease. It is referred to as something “incurable” that can take “possession” of people, and the way in which Anderson starts his piece (“My father was, I am sure, intended by nature to be a cheerful, kindly man.”) indicates that ambition brought about this negative change in his father. How does Anderson’s framing of ambition as a vice compare to the other works we have read thus far, and do you think this is something we will see in future texts?
Discomfort in the Great Gatsby
Upon my second reading of this book, still I find that one of the most memorable scenes is the exchange in the hotel room where Tom and Gatsby confront each other (beginning on page 126 in my version). What stands out to me the most is really how Fitzgerald framed the scene; continuous references to the extreme heat and the discomfort felt by everyone further emphasized the discomfort, tension and drama of the scene itself. All the characters, as well as the reader, just want the scene to end as soon as possible.
However, I find this same discomfort to be present throughout the book. It seems that in nearly every exchange of dialogue (I think specifically of most involving Tom), Fitzgerald goes out of his way to make them incredibly disjointed and awkward. Very often one character cuts another off, and most every conversation it seems ends with silence, which Fitzgerald seems to emphasize. What is Fitzgerald attempting to convey by doing this? Could he be making commentary about class, as we believe he is doing with other aspects of the narrative, or is it just something to do with his characters’ personalities and how they clash with one another?
The Land of the Frontier
In Turner’s essay it is especially interesting to read how he refers to the land, and how that compares to Cather. Overall Turner refers to the land of the frontier as an intense force, which is at first “too strong for the man” (2). The pioneer must adapt to the environment by adopting techniques of the Natives, and only then will they be able to transform the wilderness. However, because of this, and perhaps more importantly, Turner states that the resulting society (and indeed people) that survive and perform this process are very much different from the way they were (… but the outcome is not the Old Europe… [but is] a new product that is American” (3)). In this way the frontier environment is a formidable opponent to pioneers, but at the same time an agent of great change and the means by which the American identity was formed.
How does this view compare with Cather and O Pioneers! ?
Just as an aside, I find it also interesting how through page 2 Turner made many references to Indian things such as trails, birch canoes, moccasins and scalping but at no point mentions any actual Native Americans.
In the final section of the book, I found it very interesting looking at the manifestation of blame among the characters, regarding the deaths of Emil and Marie. Lou and Oscar both blame Alexandra (which doesn’t surprise me based on their characters), Alexandra herself blames Emil and Marie for what happened to them, and Frank blames primarily himself, though he does say that he partially blames Marie, and that he hates her for “making [him] do [it]” (117).
However, does it seem as though Alexandra blames herself as well, but doesn’t speak of it? After all she has done a great deal to allow Emil to have (at least what she perceives as) more freedom in life and accomplish great things. Does she believe if she had done things differently this may not have happened? May that’s why she feels obligated to help Frank: the only person she can help now.