Anna's 20th Century

There is no doubt that a reoccurring characterization of Antoinette, as well as multiple other characters, was madness. Antoinette, before anyone was able to make any judgement calls that were purely based on her and her alone, was labeled as crazy. The familial connection to Annette fostered a whole set of additional characterizations that may or may not have been merited. Unfortunately for her, with the foreshadowing of Jane Eyre, it ultimately lead to her fulfilling the preconceived ideas of her sanity. Over the course of the book, beyond part one, she becomes very displaced, leading her to be solitary and void of super personal relationships, which we as readers see that she longs for. The lack of such relationship, is what I believe to be a major part of her madness. We see that ultimately it leads to her giving Rochester the potion, he main fault in the book, a point which we all agree she held responsibility for. Her fragmented memory calls into question the reality of Antoine...

During the first day of discussion on The Stranger , we were asked to write down our initial reactions to the story as well as the narrator himself. I wrote down things like off-putting and matter-of-fact, but didn't have a full justification for thinking those things. As the story went on, I felt empathetic for Meursault, however I was offput by a lot of the ways that he handled situations or filled his time. I think that much of this stemmed from his focus on the physical world as opposed to the critical and emotional reactions of what is going on around him. The first example of this is what triggered my response in my notebook, when Meursault is told that his mom has died and his subsequent reaction was not one of emotion but of question over the day in which she died. At first I thought, oh he has an interesting way of coping with emotion. I don't fully agree, but everyone deals with emotional trauma in a very different way. However, as the book went on this hyper-focus ...

In the beginning of the novel, Gregor and his father's role in the house could not be different. We see Gregor as hard working and fully dedicated to his work. Herr Samsa is the mirror of that; he is portrayed as lethargic and sorta riding on the work that Gregor does for financial support. The reaction that Gregor has when he first finds out that he is a roach is indicative to the work ethic that he has trained himself to have. His only thought is how to make this better so that he continue to work, only proving financial precedent.  "At that time Gregor’s sole desire was to do his utmost to help the family to forget as soon as possible the catastrophe that had overwhelmed the business and thrown them all into a state of complete despair". He is only worried about how he can make things work, how to get to work ASAP, and the ways that he can continue to support his family and the dream that he has for his sister. We noted in class that this was a very insect like react...

After lots class discussion, I was flooded with additional thoughts about the change in scenery (from Paris to Spain). There is no doubt that Paris contributed a large amount of stress to Jake’s life. It represented the ungraspable –   Brett and full expression of his sexuality being the basis for Jake’s pining. While it is taken slightly out of context, Jake at one point remarks:  “You can’t get away from yourself by moving one place to another”. Jake says this because unlike the others, he acknowledges that the dissatisfaction with the lost generation and their lives is not with geography but with psychology. However, we noted in class the obvious shift in his demeanor and character when left the chaotic scenes of Paris. Based on the philosophy that Jake shared earlier in the book, it supports the alternative idea that while Spain was a beautiful and much ore calming place, perhaps the idea of Spain being “pastoral” was by the removal of himself from the crew, if you wi...

First, I would like to say that if you didn't see "The Hours", watch it. It is not only complementary to Mrs. Dalloway as a novel, but it is also a very powerful movie. While the movie introduces new sides to the characters (i.e. Richard with AIDS, Richard committing suicide, or Richard as a gay man) I thought that the adaptations made for an interesting plot line. I was particularly interested in who David Hare decided to pair together in terms of relationships. In the 2001 scenes, Clarissa is with Sally and Richard was with Louis. While the pairing of Sally and Clarissa was not surprising (knowing that in the novel she was fascinated with her), Richard's character was morphed into one similar to Septimus. This was not the only instance where two of the novel's character identities merged. In addition to the 2001 plot line, the undertones of Woolf's life that were portrayed in the other two plot lines added to the power of the movie. Things like the kisses...

With great sadness, I say that I was not a fan of the Mezzanine. I constantly felt trapped, not just inside of Howie's head, but in the structure of NYC life itself as well as the corporate American expectation. I understand that the whole point of the book is to span the lunch hour, use the vehicle of the escalator ride to the Mezzanine as a beginning and end - however, it is inefficient to me to constrict yourself to a mere hour. I'm very picky about books, have been my entire life, so when I sit down with something it often results in putting the book down fairly quickly. It was a huge struggle not to give up after the first twenty pages... Because there was never a real moment when Baker allowed Howie's thoughts to lapse and pull the magnified glass away from his eye, the reader is forced into a monotonous and exhausting analysis of everything. I wish that there had been a broader timeframe, one that allowed similar attention to detail but also space for the reader ...