Paradise Lost Book I

First thing to say about Paradise Lost is that it overturns common sense and knowledge of Satan. I am not a strong religious person, but even I know, that the bible does not contain biographical information about the fallen angel, Lucifer. While he is usually referred as the evil one, as he contributes solely in negative aspects of a person’s life, Milton’s novel portrays how his downfall from heaven was a failure to reach his goal – which was to be stronger and more significant than what the God had assigned him to be.

Honestly, the book blew my mind. Milton spun the readers’ minds as he conveyed that Lucifer was not full of atrocity. He had a reasonable excuse that made him unsatisfied with the position in Heaven; he could not stand working underneath the God’s son. This envious emotion is what led him to the rebellious war. As I read the book, it almost made me feel as if God, who most society believes to be the flawless, wonderful figure, was the main contributor of turning Lucifer into an evil symbol of Hell. After all, without considering Lucifer’s feelings at all and sticking to the idea of what we call is “monarchy”, the God used his overwhelming power to break Lucifer’s ambitions.

Now the book poses a question. Were Lucifer’s rebellion and the formation of Hell a bad thing? From my point of view, and reading the text, I think Heaven and Hell must coexist. It is like the idea of binary opposition that appears in post-structuralism. Additionally, Lucifer’s will to break the repetitive lives and work for a higher position in Heaven was a very understandable excuse. Now, I’m not saying that war was the best solution in order to solve this problem, but I think the action he took was so much more efficient than sitting as one of the many angels in Heaven, simply obeying what the God says. Otherwise, Heaven would be a Marxist state – very close to the ideas introduced in Brave New World Revisited – loss of self-identification, manipulations by stronger powers, etc.

As I read the book, I figured a strong connection between Paradise Lost and Grendel from Beowulf.  The author wrote the story from a new perspective that is usually ignored – thus through this, the readers can judge for themselves, whether Lucifer was the criminal or actually a victim.

 

The Tempest

ANTONIO (ACT 2 SCENE 1)

Ay, sir. Where lies that? If ’twere a kibe,

'Twould put me to my slipper. But I feel not

This deity in my bosom. Twenty consciences,

That stand ’twixt me and Milan, candied be they

And melt ere they molest! Here lies your brother,

No better than the earth he lies upon,

If he were that which now he’s like—that’s dead—

Whom I, with this obedient steel, three inches of it,

Can lay to bed for ever; whiles you, doing thus,

To the perpetual wink for aye might put

This ancient morsel, this Sir Prudence, who

 Should not upbraid our course. For all the rest,

They’ll take suggestion as a cat laps milk.

They’ll tell the clock to any business that

We say befits the hour.

 

                The above passage is drawn out from the famous last work by Shakespeare, The Tempest. The story revolves around Prospero’s retaliation against Antonio and others who had usurped his throne as a king of Milan twelve years ago. While everyone is sound asleep on the island, Antonio and Sebastian stay awake, as they have their own secret talk. Antonio suggests Sebastian to kill his brother, King Alonso of Naples, in order to attain the position of a king. Sebastian appears to be uneasy about the plan, and inquires Antonio whether he feels the guilt from stealing his brother’s throne, when he answers as above.

 

                In one of the first lines, Antonio states  

“If ’twere a kibe,

'Twould put me to my slipper. But I feel not

This deity in my bosom.”

With this, Antonio compares the act of usurping a throne to an ordinary conduct of putting a slipper on. By making the comparison, Antonio successfully acquires the other’s attention and eliminates the sense of guilt that was residing inside Sebastian, as he explains how he was simply acting for a better future of Milan. Additionally, in the following sentence, Antonio compares Alonso to dirt, and skillfully convinces Sebastian to murder his own brother. This phrase portrays Antonio’s lack of respect for the current King of Naples, as he describes Alonso as “no better than the earth he lies upon.”

 

                 Furthermore, the readers can see how Antonio thinks lightly of the other members from the last two sentences.

For all the rest,

They’ll take suggestion as a cat laps milk.

They’ll tell the clock to any business that

We say befits the hour.

Antonio applies simile as he compares the watches to a cat, an obedient animal, and as he does so, he tells Sebastian the simplicity of convincing the others. The contrast between the two conveys how the others are rather brainless – that they will take the two’s words without question.

                Through the passage, Antonio efficiently convinces Sebastian into killing his own brother to steal the position as a king. The comparisons that he makes prove his cunningness, and lack of respect for others, as he would go to any lengths to attain his objective.

Bressler's Chapter Five Response

                Chapter Five in Bressler’s Literary Criticism was very long, and at the same time complex. Structuralism and Post-Structuralism both resemble New Criticism in a way, for they focus on the text and text alone in order to comprehend the messages conveyed by the author. However, unlike New Criticism, the first two approaches may lead to other critical approaches, which created this whole new perception. Aldous Huxley’s popular novel, Brave New World, may also be approached with this method as it involves Derrida’s idea of binary opposition and also the narrative functions that Propp proposes.

            The novel opens with Huxley introducing numerous binary opposites of the story. One of such is the caste system; how humans are separated into Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Though there are five groups instead of two, the basic idea is the same, for they portray the contrast between the privileged to underprivileged. Above all, the main comparison shown in the story is the civilized and uncivilized. According to the society in the book, there is a distinct line between those who are artificially decanted and others who still remain viviparous. The first group of people, living in more scientifically advanced community, stands as the superior population. The other, such as John the Savage, who was born and lived in the Reservations exist as minorities. By illustrating the binary opposites, Huxley conveys how the two groups cannot coexist; that they need to be separated by a strong force. The existence of binary opposites and its significance in the story shows how the novel revolves around deconstructionism.

            Additionally, phonocentrism may be spotted everywhere in the Brave New Worldian society. As infants, Delta populations are trained using hypnopaedia and are taught to hate books. As a result, in their society, written leisure and materials do not exist, they live mainly through conversing. Bressler defines phonocentrism as privileging speech over writing, and the idea can be seen in the conditioning center in London. Furthermore, this point is proved as none of the people living in civilized society are willing to read or write. Instead of reading, they choose to doze off using soma; when they get spare time, they would rather go to experience feelies. In the end, only minorities are ones who are willing to read and write. Helmholtz stands as one of the irregular individual in the Brave New World as he enjoys working with literature.

            The past two points proved how the novel orbited around the idea of Deconstructionism. The idea of narratology that is available in the story proves how Brave New World may also be considered a Structuralism novel. Although the novel does not follow Propp’s thirty-one points every one after another, it still vaguely pursues the points. John the Savage lacks multiple things when he first appears in the story. He desires Lenina’s love and wishes to see the society in which his mother had grown. In order to fulfill his goals, he abandons the Reservation life, and commits to leave and join the community. He successfully joins the community, however, it turns out that his idea of society and reality does not match, leading to another missing component in his life. If Propp’s method is directly followed, John is to overcome the quest, prove Mustapha Mond’s idea of totalitarian state wrong, convince the others, and continue living.  On the other hand, John is unable to enforce his beliefs, and commits suicide. When viewing only the first section of John’s life, Propp’s thirty-one points are directly followed. It is what happens after that leads to him death.

            Though leaning slightly towards the Deconstructionism ideas, Brave New World may also be viewed from Structuralist’s point of view. Binary oppositions exists, some of them are even the direct factors that the conflicts roots from. Chapter Five was very difficult to understand, however, viewing my favorite book from a new perspective was fun and inspiring.

Brave New World Revisited

        Huxley presented Brave New World to the society as he invented an organized society where everything was systematic, artificial, and fake. The novel is extremely thematic; the plot and scenario enhances the significance of individuality in society and how the central government may easily manipulate its citizens. In Brave New Word Revisited, Aldous Huxley reenters the futuristic world where people live under the totalitarian rule of the Fordship. However, this time, he approaches this fictional world in a realistic way. He reveals where the ideas in the novel rooted from and proposes how freedom is menaced over time.

            One force that is definitely driving the current world into communist society, as mentioned by Huxley himself, is the issue involving over-population. Over-population leads to economic instability and social unrest. This problem appears due to limited natural resources that are available. As the author mentions, although advances in technology may save more lives, because there are not enough resources to feed and supply everyone with their needs, he/ she will end up miserable as slow death by outright starvation threatens their lives. To cover up such defects in society, central government must perform more power amongst its society. The forceful power forms the crowd to become mass-like, resulting in the loss of self-identity. The strengthened power leads to a government ruling in a dictatorial fashion. Huxley clearly demonstrates the chain reaction that appears when the human population exceeds the certain limit.

            Additionally, Huxley presents numerous effective methods that dictators use when manipulating “isolated individuals”. Brainwashing is one of the techniques that the author introduces. Using sources and examples to prove his points, Huxley concludes that to control a person, the dictator needs to practice skillful psychological manipulation. Although it is extremely doubtful whether a person can actually control others by such method, through his examples, the technique is proven effective. The section where Huxley talks about propaganda and how it manipulates citizens is the most relative to the lives today. The media does have a significant role in people’s minds. Even though it may not wholly control their thoughts, society does get many ideas influenced by what is on the TV or newspaper.

Through Huxley’s non-fictional approach to the dystopian novel, Brave New World, it can be concluded that our society is heading towards, slowly, but steadily, towards the Brave New World. The author himself mentions in the end, that these forces are too strong to be resisted for long. However, it is always important to do whatever is necessary to prevent society without any freedom.

             

Flannery O'Connor

            Flannery O’Connor’s writing style is very unique and distinctive. She starts off the story in an ordinary setting. It is so normal that the narrative may seem rather mundane at first. She starts off the story in an ordinary setting. It is so normal, that the narrative may seem rather mundane at first. However, she proves the idea wrong as she continues on to her climax and ending, which both turn out to be suspenseful and also tragic.

            Through the stories in the Norton (A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Good Country People, and Everything That Rises Must Converge), the readers can see that the author’s main thought focuses on the two ideas; human wit and impudence. Although the ideas are very contrary, they are interconnected. In O’Connor’s works, she depicts how foolishness of mankind are twisted and turned into a disaster by the witty ones. To be more direct, O’Connor portrays how people with big egos are the ones who get tricked most easily.

            In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the grandmother is selfish and pretentious. At first, she strongly objects to visiting Florida, but when it is decided that they are not going to Tennessee and that there is a possibility for her to be left behind, she was “the first one on the car, ready to go.” The way she pretends to be an expert on the Misfit yet gets her family and herself killed, also shows how she had overestimated her intelligence while underestimating the others’. Moreover, when she remembered how the house of the Misfit was in Tennessee instead of Georgia, she decided not to announce the subject. This illustrates how her egotism is so strong that she does not even want to admit her own flaws.

            Second, in Good Country People, Joy (Hulga) looks down on other characters, as if they are not smart enough for her. She does not show any respect for her own mother, even though she is much more amiable and caring than herself. At first, Joy acts as if she is the one who has the control over the situation; she is proud of having many degrees and thus, believes that others are less civilized than she is. However, as soon as she begins to trust Pointer (and this is not even his real name), she becomes more lenient on what the boy says. In the end, Joy is outwitted by Pointer as he simply stole her artificial leg, and did not have any interest in loving her as who she was. This story shows how people who think they are smart are ones who are the actual fools.

            Overall, O’Connor’s stories revolve around deep moral teachings. It highly censures human egotism and depicts how it can easily be turned over. Also most of her works begins dull and rather ordinary, but they all have a turning point where the story becomes full of thrill and suspense.

The Sun Also Rises

Through the characters in The Sun Also Rises, Hemmingway illustrates the influential power of war which takes hope and will to live from the young generation. Many characters do not show any motives in life; Brett is the best example. She loves Jake dearly and it is clear that if he was not injured in the war, the two would have been together. However, because the war took a part of him away, she goes for any men who she finds attractive and even cheats on her fiancé multiple times. Additionally, Brett repetitively mentions how she does not know what to do. Brett’s life shows how the war made her lose purpose in life.  

In the novel, Hemmingway never directly states how they are lost in life. Instead he portrays his life going in circles, without any final destination. This idea is proved through Jake and Brett’s relationship. After every conflict that Brett causes, Jake stands by her side to support her. In the end, they are in the taxi together, and Brett mentions how they “could have had such a damned good time together” (Hemmingway 251). However, she also admits that she will return to Mike. This scene relates to a section of the book in the beginning, when the two are sitting together in the taxi, however, in that section, Brett is extremely confused, even stating how she is “miserable” (Hemmingway 32). Thus, the reader can see the connection between the two scenes, and although something seems to be progressing, nothing actually is getting resolved.

Overall, I really liked the book. Even though everything seemed aimless, I felt something very genuine between Jake and Brett’s relationship. It was really disappointing that they still did not get together in the end, but I enjoyed how their bond was extremely stable throughout the whole entire novel. Because everyone else was messed up throughout the story, having something that was consistent made everything balanced out and even. Lastly, it somewhat reminded me of The Great Gatsby, which is one of the reasons why I ended up liking the book so much.

He Slipped in the Bathroom

Did you just call me a suspect for murdering Herman Mildew? There is no way I could have ever killed Mildew; he was my dear editor and a friend. Yes, even after he ripped my book into pieces in public and declared how he lost faith in writers after reading my book. No, I did not hate him AT ALL.

His death is to be lamented. In fact, I believe that many of his writers are holding some festivals to mourn for his death. Yes, he was that much loved. You know you were a wonderful editor when millions of writers worldwide create a holiday just for you. In fact, I am guessing I will be attending to some of the events; I received about two hundred and ten invitation letters relating to Mildew’s death. Some even says how there will be disco dancing involved. I am quite appalled by how time has passed. These young writers nowadays employ “modern dancing” into funeral events. I believe it helps to extinguish the sorrow feelings. I must admit, they are very thoughtful.

What was I doing the night Mildew was murdered? Oh, I was very busy that night. I can prove to you that committing a murder was impossible for me. After I came back from work at five in the afternoon, I was changing the light bulb in my house. To be slightly more precise, light bulbs, for I replaced more than one. Are you asking me why I decided to change them all at once? You are a very inquisitive person.

Well, it all started when Mildew visited my house the day before his death to complain about my newly published work, He Slipped in the Bathroom. Have you read it yet? I must say, it is a masterpiece. No, it is not a comedy, it is a mystery novel. Well, Mildew said how it lacked coherence. He said how the victim could not die from electrocution, and how the crime would not have worked in real life. I strongly objected to the idea, and he told me that he would prove me wrong and left the room to go to the bathroom. The next minute, I heard multiple glasses breaking. No sir, I did not kill Mildew using the trick I used inside the novel. I would not be telling you this story if I was the culprit. Now, shall we go back to business? Good. So I slowly entered the room to find Mildew standing in middle of the dark room covered in shattered glasses! I do not know how he managed to break all ten light bulbs in the room, but he succeeded. Looking very furious, he told me that the situation I was looking at was the realistic outcome of my novel. Then he left my house.

Yes, he was a generous person. He chose to cover himself up in dangerous pieces of glass in order to teach me a life-long lesson. What I got out of it? I learned the importance of confirming each trick before writing it down. He was my true friend. I just wished that he paid for all the light bulbs, though.

In fact, if you are looking for the true criminal, I know a man who wanted to kill him. Do you know that man with the bold head and with an astounded look on his face? What was his name…. Oh yes, Mr. Jon Scieszka. You should definitely check him out. Oh, and don’t forget to buy He Slipped in the Bathroom. It is underpriced, it only costs one-twenty five, but it will soon become a modern classic.