06-22-10 A.P. English
Journal Entry #1: A Street Car Named Desire
At the start of this play, my main focus already seems to be on Blanche who may prove to be a dynamic character throughout Tennessee Williams’ story. Even her first appearance is interesting, as she turns around the corner in her beautiful and extravagant outer appearance. Her character almost is almost too beautiful in this case as her surroundings are not nearly on the same level of appeal as herself. Her background is of course going to play a major role in who she has become but that does not necessarily mean that what is on the outside is as glamorous as what is on the inside. Blanche describes her life as rich and delightful, but we see that there are truly more problems within than expected. There must be a reason for her arrival at her sister Stella’s home and most likely not because things are going as splendid as she says they are.
Blanche has developed into someone on the physical appearance who shows beauty with clothing and attitude but she has darkness in her soul. As Stanley speaks about her past life, there is a traumatic experience that has changed who she has become, and that is the death of the love of her previous love. It doesn’t say what has exactly occurred yet but I predict that maybe some one killed him or maybe an accident occurred. What ever may have happened is the reason why Blanche is the way she is, she drinks to get away from the world she is living in and covers up the pain she feels inside by sugar coating everything with clothing and other luxuries. She has fenced herself into her own world in which she feels the need to rely on others for strength (like she has with her sister Stella) and is actually miserable because of her past. It looks like the rest of her future isn’t going to be as bright because of her current mindset; I believe that if she leaves her sister she is going to be on a road to disaster.
07-02-10 A.P. English
Journal Entry #2: A Street Car Named Desire
In scene three (page 47) Steve tells a joke, “This ole farmer is out in the back of his house sittin’ down th’owning corn to the chicken when all at once he hears a loud cackle and this young hen comes lickety split around the side of the house with the rooster right behind her and gaining on her fast…. But when the rooster catches sight of the farmer th’owning the corn he puts on the brakes and lets the hen get away and starts pecking corn. And the old farmer says, ‘Lord God, I hopes I never gits that hungry!’ ” After reading this quote, it was evident that this small joke actually was foreshadowing the remainder of the story through some symbolism and imagery.
The joke initially doesn’t seem very significant but throughout this story the same idea reoccurs. Love is the universal language that all living creatures can speak and the familiar “chase” is what brings these individuals together. To form the strong bond the rooster chases the hen, but what is strange is the distraction that occurs causing the chase to end. I interpreted this through the perspective of Stanley and Stella’s relationship. Initially I thought Stanley was the rooster and that the couple might fall apart at some point due to the arrival of Blanche in their home, but as the story progressed, Stanley was clearly the farmer looking upon the rooster and hen (Blanche).
Blanche is the hen in this case because she is always focusing on the chase! She never truly lets her “rooster” catch her during the process of finding a soul mate, possibly being the reason why she has gone so insane and has such a bad reputation back in Belle Reve. Her love life has never settled down, and as she continues to run like the hen, the male ends up giving up on her and finding something better because they lose interest. Her inability to attain love and be happy is due to her being wedged in between love and the chase. If she had slowed down a long time ago, she most likely would be a very different woman, but she is trapped in her own demise. She has seen many roosters at home, but age will eventually catch up and leave her lonely, as the hen is in the end of the joke. The rooster has moved on to something new while she was still hoping that it was chasing her, and as the farmer views this hopes the same will never occur to him.
07-10-10 A.P. English
Journal Entry #3: A Street Car Named Desire
Two of the author’s main ideas in this book were the madness and happiness love creates and opposites attract (throughout all hierarchies of society). Blanche shows the perfect example of how love can create insanity; she completely loses her mind by the end of the story. She lies about most of her life because she is unhappy with the way it has developed after the conclusion of her previous true love. She was so crazy that she believed that there were other men who were trying to do everything for her including Mitch, but her insides seep through her skin and she becomes completely transparent all due to love. There are positive effects of love that the author also wants to show through Stanley and Stella’s relationship. They fight verbally and even physically at one point when Stanley is drunk, but the power of love is so strong that it keeps them from separating. They are almost glued by their emotions and forgiveness is all that is needed to make things better. How relationships are and are not supposed to be ideally is what the author desires to show the ideals of a relationship and marriage. Although the male and female come from different levels in society, they still stay together. Williams shows that even people from opposite ends of the spectrum are competent to come together.
While reading this book, Williams most likely wanted the reader to gain or think about how each person can relate their own personal relationships to either Blanche and her problems, or the example of a rollercoaster with Stanley and Stella, I was able to relate personally to the rollercoaster’s love envelopes but also make connections with how I have seen others go through similar situations as in this play. Overall, the author did a great job of making the reader connect with their own life no matter what their past relationships were like, and help some who have maybe gone down the path as Blanche as well. She is not the only one who has gone through something truly traumatic and changed the future of her love life, possibly making people feel no so alone who feel the same way as her. Connecting one way or another is what he wanted to make the reader gain, and also to realize that love is not only about the chase, but also about the catch.
07-20-10 A.P. English
Journal Entry #1: Crime and Punishment
When I commenced reading this book, I truly despised it and was uninterested. It was very slow and the Russian names confused me beyond belief, I had no idea what was happening for the majority of the first two sections of Part One but then there was a scene that surprised me. When Raskolnikov finally decides to move forward with his contemplation of homicide, I was shocked at his actions during this period. He had clearly gone over the deep end at the start of the book, but when his thought became reality I almost felt scared for him. I thought that maybe once he successfully grabbed the axe, he would turn back down and find a better solution than violence, but it was clearly his last resort. He was desperate when he took the first strike upon the Alyona Ivanovna with the axe and desperate on his second attack as well.
What I do not understand is why he killed Lizaveta when he saw her, was killing her the only solution? Also why did he take the belongings of the two people if he was trying to commit a “clean” crime? Maybe it was a spur of the moment reaction, or he possibly saw no other answers to his problems in life. I have a feeling that some of the actions were a little sloppy such as the theft, which may serve as evidence for others to discover. I actually felt bad more for Raskolnikov more than the heartless old woman he murders. He faces such a rough period and only struggles more as his life is progressing and has stooped down to rock bottom. The reason why this shocked me so much is because in reality, this is something that unfortunately occurs to some misfortunate individuals. What has weighed down Raskolnikov to such a low level is also a mystery I would like to know about, but I don’t think I will find out until much further into the story
Journal Entry #2: Crime and Punishment
Dunechka and Raskolnikov are siblings, which makes them similar in some instances, yet they also have conflicting morals and ideals. Raskolnikov faces the world as an outcast and has never truly found his place in life, or where he belongs. Meanwhile, his sister faces a similar situation where she must figure out the rest of her life as a wife with the right husband. Raskolnikov’s credibility is at a point where his sister still trusts him, allowing him to show her a new perspective of Luzhin. Dunechka realizes that maybe there was someone better out there for her and that her fiancé clearly was not a suitable man. Raskolnikov’s character changes, in that he now has become a little less selfish and tries to help others in his family. Finally puts his family first, and makes sure they are safe with Razumikhin before he departs.
Decision-making varies as the two dynamic characters progress throughout the novel. Raskolnikov begins to help others after he ceased to be self-centered, but Dunya is different in the way she makes decisions. An example of this is when Raskolnikov helps Marmeladov’s family by giving money, but the reason he is content with himself is only because he released some guilt he had for commiting the murder. Dunya makes decisions with her confidence that it is the right thing to do and her use of common knowledge.
08-23-10 A.P. English Ms. Tramantano
Journal Entry #3: Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s writing style is particularly interesting because he has the ability to place the reader straight into the novel and feel as though they are the ones involved. We can feel the inner conflict within Raskolnikov throughout the story; sometimes where he just wishes he could just end his life and others where pressure to say the truth encompassing his entire mind.
Dostoevsky also plays with symbolism in the novel and it has an important role in developing the story as well. An example of this is within the scenes where someone is sleeping. Raskolnikov believes that he made an error in his life and did not commit a sin when he committed a murder, and this is shown in one of his nightmares. He sees that people have a virus spreading throughout the world and that it makes them convinced that they have possession of sole truth. This is somewhat what Raskolnikov believes, he feels superior to others and does not truly regret his crime (even proved in his thesis “On Crime”). This use of a literary element helps further the reader’s understanding of the motives and ideas of certain characters. The author makes a more depth description of emotions further helping the reader walk in the shoes of a poor murder.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment