Monday, May 31, 2010
Curious incident of the Dog in the Nighttime response
In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, the main character is used as a constant form of truth, because he does not have the capacity to lie, and is shown to dislike the colors yellow and brown, which represents the part of us humans that is superstitious, and the Black Days where he just doesn't talk is almost a representation of those who believe so firmly in their horoscope that they just stay home and lay on the couch since their horoscope is bad. This is used to show the ridiculousness of the subject, as an autistic boy is shown doing things eerily similar to certain things most people do that the author has a low opinion of.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Existential Answer
An essay response to the novel The Power and the Glory
The existential question: why do we exist? This question has puzzled the human race since the beginning of intelligent thought. Finally the human race has come up with it's own answers as to why each and every one of them exists. The novel The Power and the Glory uses characters to represent those various answers that like people devised.
Firstly, there is the jefe. The jefe is used to represent those who choose to live with large conviction towards what they do, and stand strong for their beliefs, never allowing anyone to shake their firmness in things they think are so right, believing that they exist to execute their plans for the world. In the novel, the jefe is an extreme socialist who believes all churches are centers of public delusion and therefore must be destroyed. He even is ready to kill innocent civilians who have nothing to do with the church for the simple information of whether the priest had been in the town or not. This is a true example of existing to execute.
In sharp contrast to the jefe, there is Padre Jose. Padre Jose is a disgusting coward who is to afraid to stand for anything but for his own greed. He represents those who think they live to indulge and never have to feel pain at all. This is just what he does during the entire course of the novel, refusing to even perform his priestly duties, serving as what the communist government can use as a living example for the cowardice of the church and the hypocrisy the priests exercise, banning wives while Padre Jose has one, banning indulgence while that is Padre Jose’s daily routine, banning greed while that is Padre Jose’s sole emotion. Padre Jose represents the coward in all of us.
Thirdly, there are the Lehrs. They represent those who simply ignore trouble and try to live without any conflicting ideas to their own. They are even described as “simply ignoring anything that conflicted with an ordinary German-American homestead”Pg.163. These are people who think they live to be constantly happy, and never argue, simply choosing to stand for nothing to prevent those who would stand for something in opposition from caring. This is a perfect exhibition of people that want nothing to do with arguing.
Finally there is the mestizo-- the prime example of living like an animal. Never giving half a care to the needs of others, the mestizo lives doing only what is beneficial to himself. He represents those who think they exist to “feel pleasure in any way they choose”. The mestizo doesn’t even care for the priest’s life if getting him killed would give him a good name with the authorities. He uses the lure of a dying man to bait the priest into being captured and killed by the government. This man knows no mercy nor kindness. Only what makes him feel the pleasure he so very much loves. The mestizo is the role model of the heartless.
All these people represent all the different answers to the greatest question humans can ask themselves. They all show various ways to live, and why one would choose that lifestyle. Some are bad and some are good, but all are what makes humans make the choices they do, and determine what kind of a person they really are.
An essay response to the novel The Power and the Glory
The existential question: why do we exist? This question has puzzled the human race since the beginning of intelligent thought. Finally the human race has come up with it's own answers as to why each and every one of them exists. The novel The Power and the Glory uses characters to represent those various answers that like people devised.
Firstly, there is the jefe. The jefe is used to represent those who choose to live with large conviction towards what they do, and stand strong for their beliefs, never allowing anyone to shake their firmness in things they think are so right, believing that they exist to execute their plans for the world. In the novel, the jefe is an extreme socialist who believes all churches are centers of public delusion and therefore must be destroyed. He even is ready to kill innocent civilians who have nothing to do with the church for the simple information of whether the priest had been in the town or not. This is a true example of existing to execute.
In sharp contrast to the jefe, there is Padre Jose. Padre Jose is a disgusting coward who is to afraid to stand for anything but for his own greed. He represents those who think they live to indulge and never have to feel pain at all. This is just what he does during the entire course of the novel, refusing to even perform his priestly duties, serving as what the communist government can use as a living example for the cowardice of the church and the hypocrisy the priests exercise, banning wives while Padre Jose has one, banning indulgence while that is Padre Jose’s daily routine, banning greed while that is Padre Jose’s sole emotion. Padre Jose represents the coward in all of us.
Thirdly, there are the Lehrs. They represent those who simply ignore trouble and try to live without any conflicting ideas to their own. They are even described as “simply ignoring anything that conflicted with an ordinary German-American homestead”Pg.163. These are people who think they live to be constantly happy, and never argue, simply choosing to stand for nothing to prevent those who would stand for something in opposition from caring. This is a perfect exhibition of people that want nothing to do with arguing.
Finally there is the mestizo-- the prime example of living like an animal. Never giving half a care to the needs of others, the mestizo lives doing only what is beneficial to himself. He represents those who think they exist to “feel pleasure in any way they choose”. The mestizo doesn’t even care for the priest’s life if getting him killed would give him a good name with the authorities. He uses the lure of a dying man to bait the priest into being captured and killed by the government. This man knows no mercy nor kindness. Only what makes him feel the pleasure he so very much loves. The mestizo is the role model of the heartless.
All these people represent all the different answers to the greatest question humans can ask themselves. They all show various ways to live, and why one would choose that lifestyle. Some are bad and some are good, but all are what makes humans make the choices they do, and determine what kind of a person they really are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)