THIRD QUARTER post #1

For third Quarter I chose to read the book Life Class by Pat Barker. This book’s main character is a man named Paul that is in an art class called the life class. As Paul rushes out of class in the first few pages he is developed as not very artistic as he wonders why he is there. The book is in the time period of the early 20th century and therefore the relationships that develop in the first bit are more restrained and very different than we see now. As Paul tries to figure out what he has to say he admires a woman named Elinor and, as he befriends her, meets a friend of hers named Teresa who he gets to know and then has relations with. Paul is a very interesting character, here to learn a new art and meeting new people, but can be seen somewhat regretting his change as we see through the words of his conscience that appears in the voice of his deceased grandmother. Paul is a kind, gentle man that worries about those around him, “Are you responsible for this?” he asks a man taking advantage of a young woman. He goes on to ask the man to leave the woman alone and we see his kindness and caring nature as he protects a complete stranger. His “girlfriend” Teresa is a big alteration in his character but only for this bit of the book. She is a beautiful woman and her relationship with Paul shows him about women and her difficult life gives him a different perspective.
Life Class is an engrossing novel with many arguable themes. One topic the author seems very interested in is women. As three women enter Paul’s life in this first small piece it is a reoccurring topic. The theme that seems to be presented by women is that things are never what you expect them to be. The Beautiful Teresa is a poor city girl with a bad past and the enthralling Elinor is a shallow little girl. Finally the little girl in the park, looking so innocent at first, is hurt and drunk, needing the assistance of a stranger. Another theme has to do with dangerous men harming the women he meets. They support the theme that violence in men deserves punishment as he throws the cane of the man who preys on the young woman in a pond and then, as he hits him in the face, fights back. I think that this will be a very interesting theme considering Paul goes to war later in the book and it will be interesting to see how this theme corresponds to the violence of war.

Post #6

This last post of the semester corresponds to the last 48.5 pages of Naked by David Sedaris. His random phases of his life storytelling are displayed once again in this reading. My reading started out at the wedding for his sister as his mother is dying of cancer and ends when he is leaving a nudist colony where he discovers much about himself, hence the name “Naked.” David is happy for the last part of his book and near the end he seemed determined to show us he realized his flaws as a youth. His mother is dying and, at the time, he was too selfish to recognize her pain. Mrs. Sedaris is recognized at the end as his hero as she was a great woman and she did everything she could do for her family. He realizes her quiet pain, “I myself tend to dwell on the stupidity of pacing the cemetery while she sat, frightened and alone, staring at the tip of her cigarette and envisioning her self, clearly now, in ashes” (250). His mom is in every happy moment in the book and now that she is dying, the reader can see how she made him happy and gave him a good life. The nudist colony part leads him to self discovery. Something about the nakedness let him be okay with himself, and with self-acceptance came his ability to accept others. The people that would have bothered him before the nudist colony he now talks to and can even be friends with them.
The themes in the book stay the same throughout the book and the ideas stay the same. The topic of cats is prominent through to the end. They reappear in this reading when he meets a woman and her husband and they tell him about their twenty eight cats. She, Roberta, talks about her cats, and there are, frankly, too many curse words in a row to quote it. I have to talk about it because she talks about the cats like they disappoint her. They breed super fast in her house and she doesn’t have the cash to keep them all. Women are also a topic David writes about. Women are his mystery and the learning in his life. When he meets Roberta she is very sad, “‘…I love the sun… don’t you?’ I looked up at the sky and saw mostly clouds. How could she see only the sun and I couldn’t?” Women can do things he can’t and they know things he doesn’t and for that the women that come into his life bring in learning.

#5

This next portion of the book Naked was very interesting. We still see the same old David, cocky and ignorant, but, as we see him age, he gains some perspective and starts to recognize his loneliness. “At some point we all go beck to our family. Once we get hit one too many times” (198). Being the reader, one has to feel his growing but still we see his jerkiness. He says, “When I wake up I look great. As always” (213). He just can’t seem to stop loving himself wore than anyone else. He constantly puts down anyone even remotely different than his norm. Mr. Sedaris, while riding the bus, refers to a woman as “a poor hillbilly” (173). However much his rudeness bothers the reader there is always an undercurrent of joking. David, being much older when he wrote this, reflects on his inability to learn about others. The majority of this reading took place with a group of his new Christian friends as he is, apparently sticking with that phase of his life. He recognizes his change, “I was a Christian now, a Christian” (194). At the end of the reading though, he does end up back with his family and even says he loves them.
Themes in the book are still the same. The strongest two themes being cats represent the disappointment in his life and women are a mystery. His topic about women for the most part revolves around his mother and sisters and him being the only boy. It is a bit like he was left out of a society all around him and banned from their secrets. When his mother develops lung cancer and he is worried about her, she simply shrugs it off. She says, “…and it will happen to you someday. It will be my time soon and I accept that” (238). He is shocked that his mom would let go like that and even more surprised that she can accept dying, which, to him, is not acceptable. His mom was so calm and happy in her last months and he could not understand her attitude. The cat theme about disappointment reappears in this section when he is on a bus, which happens to be a theme in itself as busses in the story and adventures. They are at a stop and when he gets off he sees a cat. “It was beautiful and black as night… I bent to help it but it hissed and ran away” (219). No matter how much he cares for something and wants to help it, he is never rewarded for his trying with love in return.

Post #4 of Naked

Mr. Sedaris depicts himself as a complete ass. We accept David because he is our character and we can laugh at his behavior but truly, what we are laughing at is his terribleness and inability to accept others under his wealthy suburban status. He discriminates a handicapped girl he helps, “…I did that, ME, how dare she take half the credit” (149). Reading this, one is shocked at his horrible personality, but we find his inappropriateness funny like the kind humans we are. I find this interesting though because at the end of the chapter he admires Peg, the handicapped, and notes his own arrogance and childish views. “…pictured myself in a wheelchair, hoping that the person assigned to care for me would have none of my qualities” (148). This “phase” of David’s life is spent primarily on an orchard and in an apple processing plant. On the orchard and in the plant he meets some weird people and at the end of my reading proclaims himself a Christian as he is about to be attacked by a man from his work. This came to be because of a run in he had with a devout Christian who he worked for. The book is a whirlwind of events following one after the other that somehow mesh together by little strings. David didn’t develop very much as he still is extraordinarily prejudiced and horribly inappropriate. I recommend the book.
Themes seem to have been put on the back burner for the book but some exist. His topic of women evolves into the theme that they are to be revered as they present the mystery. Peg, the handicapped girl, brings David selfish happiness but not until she dies does he see what she was all about and what she went through. “Following a brief period of hard won independence she came to appreciate the fact that people aren’t foolish as much as they are kind” (152). Cats also bring something to the table. They support the theme of disappointment. When a cat enters his life they leave or die and they make apparent his loneliness and sadness. When he invests time in them they don’t return the favor. “I fed him sardines and stroked him until he set off sparks. He ran away” (166).

The Question for 12/12

The movie On the Waterfront is an exceptional movie about a man named Terry and his involvement with the mob. When it comes to traitors and whistleblowers there is a distinct difference. A whistle blower works for the larger society while a traitor works selfishly. In the film, Terry, is ethically challenged on if he should “tattle” on the mob. Eventually he does just that and he is seen as a “whistle blower.”The characters beliefs are generally the same. A snitch is a snitch and there is no difference. Terry in the beginning of the movie would never dream of telling on the mob because the general idea was that anyone who gave information, no matter who it helped, was a traitor in the highest degree. Through the movie, though, we see that his beliefs change and, by the end, he knows that you are not a traitor if you help a larger, innocent society. Some characters, the ones who lead him to this decision, Edy and the Priest, always believe that a traitor and whistle blower are two very different things. The Mob characters always believe that any information given about the society was traitor behavior and was punishable by death. And finally, the views of the larger society. In the beginning no one was willing to talk because of their fear for themselves and for that, we can call them traitors to the greater good. They refused to protect the innocent, and by being faithful to the mob, they hust society. By the end, though, they realized that, if it protected the citizens and the larger group by giving information, it wasn’t treachery, it was protection.
I believe that anytime the innocent are being persecuted and information is given, the person is completely safe from the title of “traitor.” I believe that you are a traitor if you give information of protection to the ones trying to hurt something. In war (sorry, couldn’t think of a better example) if you give information to the other side, if both sides are fighting equally, it can be considered treachery. More importantly, I believe that whistle blowers are anyone trying to help those who have done nothing wrong. The difference between a traitor and a whistle blower is essentially this; when you “tattle” to help the wrongly persecuted you are a whistle blower, but if you are merely trying to win something by giving information, you can be called a traitor.

Post 3 of Outside reading

Much was revealed about David in my third reading and we now see his life in phases. In his novel Mr. Sedaris has written his life in phases so we can learn about one phase and then move onto the next. I find this interesting because we can see the characteristics that stick with him through these phases. For example, his interest in men is very prominent in the chapters I have read lately and this interest does not fade out. He does change though, my reading starts as he participates in a play and ends with him hitchhiking back to his college. His prejudice though does remain, “How was it that I was important and they were not? There had to be something that separated us” (109). He still views himself as God’s gift to creation but, I think it adds to his writing style; satirical and obnoxious. Mr. Sedaris continues his feeling in his writing that everything is new to him. As he learns new things and meets new people he puts himself above these things and wonders why his family is so accepting, “’Whore’ I whispered. ‘That lady is a whore.’ I wasn’t sure what reaction I was after, but shock would have done quite nicely. Instead, my mother said, ‘Well then, we should probably offer her a drink’” (117). David describes his life as chaotic and wild. As he hitchhikes, due to no rides from his parents, the people he meets are odd. At one point he ad gotten a ride from a man named Randolph who believed in “…the enforced sterilization of redheads” (126). Using hitchhiking he travels the country and comes back again.
Women remain a topic he uses for themes. Women remain the mystery in his life, “Lisa returned in an agitated state, asking my parents if she might use the station wagon” (111). He also continues to use his family as a theme for families are only functional in fairytales. “Woken by the noise, my father wandered up from the basement… His approach generally marked the end of the party” (118). His family works together because they lie and are all poised to hear lies and let them go. David is an avid liar as well. He uses his lies as a way to tell show that the truth gets you nowhere. “I hadn’t planned on lying, but it seemed a good move to embellish my stories” (131).

Question 2

The four main characters, Joe, Kate, Ann, and Chris all make a series of choices of actions whether they benefit family or society. Many examples arise like Chris inviting Ann to stay and Ann deciding to come, but I think the most interesting choice was that of Joe’s. The play gives us background knowledge that Joe sent out faulty airplane parts and blamed it on his partner. The faulty parts killed 21 men and Joe, when prosecuted, blamed a partner and his partner went to jail. For Joe money has always been important and money hurting more than helping is a prominent theme throughout the play. Joe claims, “Chris… Chris I did it for you, it was a chance I took for you. I’m sixty-one years old, when would I have another chance to make something for you” (70). Joe tells us that he only sent out bad parts for his family, he only sent them out so that his family could be successful. In this situation Joe did something for his family’s benefit and not for the benefit of society. Another interesting decision was Chris’s when he found out the truth about his father. He doesn’t know if he should do the right thing and report the truth to authorities or if he should keep it within his family. He ultimately decides, “What? Do I raise the dead when I put him behind bars? Then what’ll I do it for? We used to shoot a man who acted like a dog, but honor was real there, you were protecting something” (81). Chris was stuck between his family and what was right, although, we never really find out his decision because his dad kills himself shortly after.
In my opinion this play was very interesting in its discussion of morals and ethics. I think, for the mast part, one needs to look out for the greater good. I think the needs of society should outweigh family needs if the family made a mistake and hurt the society. Family needs are important, though, and I think that they can come before society needs in emergencies and when the family is innocent of something society is trying them against. Society needs are most important though. If society has a murderer on the loose, for example, and they are in your family, society needs you to reveal the murderer and you should. If society has a standard that is doable and a family will not comply, this is another example of where a society need would require you to put it above a family moral or ethic.