Grendel

Grendel is a very interesting novel. It takes into account the point-of-view of the “evil Grendel” from Beowulf and transforms the whole story into a nice heart-felt novel. In Beowulf Grendel is portrayed as an evil monster who gains pleasure from slaughtering humans. However, in this novel, I feel sorry for Grendel. He appears as a lonely, sad creature who only tries to make friends with humans. They misinterpret him, due to the fact that they cannot understand his language, and they attack him. He only comes to the mead hall in hopes of making new friendships. He observes the Danes secretly in a sort of jealous way. As if he wishes, he could be a part of their celebration and storytelling. Even though he sarcastically mocks the Danes and their dumb “religion”, to me it seems that he still wishes to be a part of them.

When Unferth attacks Grendel, Grendel defends himself and throws apples at him. This could be as a sign of that Grendel is throwing “knowledge” upon the Danes. He wants to wake them up into reality, and make them stop believing in God. He wants them to realize that he truly is not after them. It is important to realize that the apple throwing symbolizes Grendel’s knowledge. He only longs for connection, not harm. Are the humans cruel to nature that they do not ever try and approach Grendel in a friendly way? Is that their instinct to survival? Will they ever really see Grendel past the outside and into the inside? Grendel does not wish to continue fighting the humans, as the whole action is “mechanical” and pointless. Grendel can sense that this war will go on and on, with no end. But will he ever be able to change that? Will he ever be able to get the point across to the humans and let them know that he is not intending any harm? Grendel grows up alone, he cannot even communicate with his mother and the dis-connection grows stronger and stronger over time.

The dragon tries to influence Grendel to continue fighting with the Danes. At first Grendel finds pleasure in his raids, but later he realizes that the whole action is pointless and meaningless. He wants to have meaning in the world, to be something…but fighting won’t get him there. He wants to be known for something, but it is not as Grendel who killed the Danes. Will Grendel ever find a way to gain some meaning in his world or will the Danes end his life before he can gain any significance?

All the King's Men- Reflection

 The deaths of each person seemed to have been connected in sort of a web pattern. One dramatic event lead to another and so on. That is how life seems to be. The way Jack attempted to escape reality is often times the same way people in the real world try to escape their problems. But running from your own mistakes is not the answer. Good thing Jack realized this in towards the end and finally became “motivated”. If he hadn’t, perhaps he and Anne Stanton would have never gotten married. It is sad to see though, that she had an affair with Willie just because he represented power and ambition. Or did she do it for the money? We may never come to a conclusion. Whatever the reason was, I’m glad they made it work in the end because Jack truly seemed like a lovable character.  Moreover, I do not usually enjoy books that have to do with politics, but I must say this one was quite fascinating. It seems to me that the purpose of this work was to show that everyone is responsible for his or her own actions. Jack refused responsibility and tried to escape reality by heading out to the West, but when it all came down; he was forced to face the truth in the East. He sort of received a wake-up call and the “vibrations” of the spider web, which were the deaths of certain people he knew, caused him to see the reality. In many ways this is my life every day and it is clearly obvious that no one must ever run away from their own responsibility. The plot of the story itself was confusing at times, but things seemed to clear up as the novel progressed forward, such as the story of Cass Mastern. At first I was not sure how it related to anything going on in the book at all, but later I drew the parallel between Jack and Cass. In many ways the story of Cass was a foreshadowing of Jack’s future. The tone of some of the characters seemed as if they were angry at times or powerful, such as Willie. He asserted himself in a very dominant manner and people became submissive under his power. This type of tone made me feel repressed under Willie’s dominance and I too became submissive. The author’s style of writing this novel at first seemed annoying, because he often times wrote long and descriptive sentences. But as I continued to read the novel, I became accustomed to such details and it made the book flow as I read. All the characters and random stories, such as the one of Cass, tied up in the end and gave the novel a meaning.

 

Significance of Chapter 10 in ATKM

I’d like to discuss some of the significant quotes from the last chapter of ATKM.  The first quote that catches my attention says “…and soon now we shall go out of the house and go into the convulsion of the world, out of history and into history and the awful responsibility of Time” (661). The Cass Mastern story, which takes up most of Chapter 4, is not relevant to the novel's plot, but it is very important to the novel's theme. Cass Mastern's journals describe a man who slowly learns the same lesson of responsibility that Jack must learn during the course of the story. At first, Cass is nonchalant about his hedonistic behavior, but after his friend's suicide and Annabelle's selling of Phebe, Cass goes to great length to make amends and to undo the consequences of his actions. As a young man, Jack is unable to understand Cass's motivations; by the end of the novel, he writes that he "now may come to understand" them. Thus the Cass Mastern story works as a kind of index of Jack's development--the closer he comes to understanding it, the closer he comes to being ready to step into the "awful responsibility of Time."

Moreover, another quote that is worth a discussion says, “she gave me a new picture of herself, and that meant, in the end, a new picture of the world” (652). Here Jack is referring the knowledge that his mother gives him right before she decides to move away. The knowledge that she gives him, which is that she is still in love with Irwin, proves to jack that his mother is capable of love and this helps jack overcome his numbness. Jack is then able to return to Anne. His numbness was caused by confrontation of responsibility. Also, the quote saying “Duffy was the villain and I was the averaging hero. I had kicked Duffy around and my head was as big as a balloon with grandeur. Then all at once something happened and the yellow taste was in the back of my mouth “ (628). Here Jack realizes that he has blamed Duffy in full for willies death, and that blaming Duffy is an admission that someone was directly responsible for what happened. If someone’s responsible for an action, then great twitch theory cant hold up. And if someone’s responsible for willies death, jacks forced to face the measure of responsibility that he himself bears.

A Doll's House

At first, Nora believes that the true meaning of being “free” is not what she considers it to be later in the play. By telling Ms. Linde “Free. To be free, absolutely free. To spend time playing with the children. To have a clean, beautiful house, the way Torvald likes it,” (1226).  In this quotation from her conversation with Mrs. Linde in Act One, Nora claims that she will be “free” after the New Year, after she has paid off her debt to Krogstad. While describing her anticipated freedom, Nora highlights the very factors that constrain her. She claims that freedom will give her time to be a mother and a traditional wife who maintains a beautiful home, as her husband likes it. But the message of the play is that Nora cannot find true freedom in this traditional life. As the play continues, Nora becomes increasingly aware that she must change her life to find true freedom, and her understanding of the word “free” evolves accordingly. By the end of the play, she sees that freedom entails independence from societal constraints and the ability to explore her own personality, goals, and beliefs. This is triggered by Nora’s sudden realization that Torvald is not who he seems to be. She used to see him as this noble man, but once he refuses to protect her back against a bad reputation, Nora realizes that she is not happy with him and their marriage. This leads her to further seek an independent life as a woman. In Act three, at the end Nora states, “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That’s how I’ve survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. It’s because of you I’ve made nothing of my life,” (1230). Nora speaks these words, which express the truth that she has gleaned about her marriage, Torvald’s character, and her life in general, to Torvald at the end of Act Three. She recognizes that her life has been largely a performance. She has acted the part of the happy, child-like wife for Torvald and, before that, she acted the part of the happy, child-like daughter for her father. She now sees that her father and Torvald compelled her to behave in a certain way and understands it to be “great wrong” that stunted her development as an adult and as a human being. She has made “nothing” of her life because she has existed only to please men. Following this -realization, Nora leaves Torvald in order to make something of her life and for the first time to exist as a person independent of other people. She shuts the door as a symbol of giving up on the “fantasy” world that she used to live in with Torvald and she seeks out to find her true self in the “real” world.

Reflection on "Hairball" Essay

I had good ideas in my paper, but as it turns out I needed more support for them. Perhaps I could blend in more quotes into my sentences in order to help support what I am trying to say. For example, when I mentioned that “her co-workers disregarded her aspects and failed to realize the importance of Kat’s view”, I should have supported that statement with some evidence. Moreover, some of my sentences had fragments in them, so I should have someone read over my essay next time more closely in order to have the maximum amount of editing possible. I noticed that some of my sentences were labeled as “awkward”. I do get that a lot, but I am not sure how I can fix that. To me my sentences seem alright, but I guess when another person reads them, he or she does not feel the same way I do. Also, I need to use double quotation marks instead of single ones. I thought we used single ones when we are mentioning the same word we previously used in a quote, but I guess not. I need to work on my transitions in between points and paragraphs, as they seem to be weak. Sometimes I feel like I am being repetitive if I keep using similar transition words. So that is a bit of a problem for me. I also see that commas should go inside quotes, not on the outside. I think I knew that, but it was just a mistake on my part. I see that I had a few passive voice comments on my essay. Well I do try to use active voice as much as possible, but again, sometimes it is hard to notice your own mistakes.  As I see, I should not mention “in conclusion” at any point in any essay for this class. I use it in environmental science because we are told to do so, so I guess I got a bit confused on which class is for what.  It seems that I am missing a lot of commas. Well, I do try to use them as much as I can, as I perceive that there is a need for them. However, I guess I need to work on pausing in my sentences or perhaps making them shorter. I also see that “taxi” does not need to be capitalized. I thought it should be, because it is a type of a car? Hmm. Well good to know. I did try to analyze a lot of my work, and I think I got that part down pretty much. But as I focused on one thing: analyzing, my other sections went down. Sometimes I have a hard time getting across what I am trying to say, so that makes my sentences seem awkward and grammatically wrong.

Why Cass Mastern?

Many might question on why chapter 4 was ever included in the novel in the first place. Chapter 4 is essential to the whole novel, because it contributes to the theme of All the King’s Men. The story of Cass Mastern is the story of a man who commits an evil deed, and who finds the rest of his life shaped by his sense of responsibility for the outcome of that deed. Cass cannot simply forget about Duncan Trice and Phebe, and his sense of responsibility drives him to leave Annabelle, to try to free Phebe, and to try to become an abolitionist in the South. Due to the fact that Cass commits adultery with Annabelle and this causes her to cheat on her husband; Cass feels guilty for the rest of his life. This correlates to Jack Burden and how he tries to learn to accept responsibility for his own actions. As a young man, Jack is simply not ready to understand Cass Mastern’s motivations because he is not ready to confront the idea of responsibility himself. “Or perhaps he laid aside the journal of Cass Mastern not because he could nto understand, but because he was afraid to understand for what might be understood there was a reproach to him” (Warren 284). The story of Cass Mastern becomes an index against which Jack’s progress as a character can be measured. The closer Jack comes to understanding Cass Mastern, the closer he is to accepting the idea of human responsibility. Perhaps we can say that Jack is still ignorant at this point in his life, and once he is able to understand Cass, then he has gained knowledge.

Now the actual crime which Cass commits can be seen as an evil act. The focus of evil vs. good runs throughout the story and it can be greatly pin-pointed here. The actual sin gave “security as the strength of the desire seemed to give the sanction of justice and righteousness” (Warren 255). Therefore, Cass seems to think that their desire made the act less evil, almost good. Even Annabelle herself says “’Oh let’s not think about it now’”, once they are finished with their sexual actions. She seems to have an evil influence upon Cass, and this causes him to think that their act wasn’t so sinful after all. But later his conscious haunts him and his personality begins to disintegrate as he begins his long life journey of finding Phebe. This could foreshadow the fact that Jack will one day realize that he cannot run from life and responsibility, which might cause him to have a downfall just like Cass. Hopefully, Jack won’t die though.

Discussion About Ch. 3

In chapter 3, the Byram White scandal shows just how powerful Jack and Willie have gotten. It displays the corrupt political mastermind at work. “There was just the empty space which had been occupied by the empty space which went by the name of Mr. Byram White” (Warren 199). Due to the knowledge gained by Willie of Whites secrets, Willie was able to use the “dirt” he gained against Mr. White and remove him from office. Because Mr. White was ignorant, he lost his identity and position of power by becoming just an ‘empty space’. This lead to the “graft scandal” and Willie was able to blackmail MacMurfees men before the impeachment of Willie occurred. The scene in which Jack confronts the leaders of the rebel legislators really shows how powerful Jack and Willie have become. They are able to simply bully their enemies into submission in a sense that the enemies don’t even understand how they have done it.

From this I’d like to derive a theme for the book that knowledge moves power forward. So far I have witnessed that the more “secrets” and “dirt” that Jack is able to derive, the more power Willie gains. Due to the face that Willie was able to blackmail MacMurfee, Willie was able to stop the impeachment before it occurred and later he won the election. This makes me wonder is this what real politics is like? The more dirt someone picks up, the more power they gain? That does not seem to be fair. What would have happened if Jack had not dug up any dirt about the opposing party? Would MacMurfee have won and the whole novel would have taken a twisted turn the other way. Why is Jack the narrator? Why isn’t Willie telling the story from his point-of-view? All these questions are accumulating into my head and I cannot seem to find answers to them. This novel truly confuses me to the maximum and as we move forward more and more questions form in my head.

I’d like to also go over the role of women in this chapter. Jack’s mom uses affectionate ways to try to convince him to not work for Willie just as she tried to get him to go to Harvard by “putting her hand over his eyes and began to move it again upward over his forehead” (warren 168). Perhaps this is why Jack struggles with his relationships later in life, because he always assumes that people constantly want something out of him and that they expect him to do certain things. He is afraid to have a relationship because he thinks women will always desire him to do certain things and maybe he is afraid to lose his autonomy. These are the questions that haunt me. Hopefully, everything starts to come together soon.

Knowledge of Willie

I’d like to focus on Willie in chapter 2 of this novel. A sudden change occurs in Willie once he learns that he has been tricked and framed in politics. I’d refer to this moment as an epiphany that Willie obtains all the sudden. He drinks himself unconscious, and then the next day delivers a speech at the picnic, making Tiny Duffy appear as a fool. In this chapter Willie realizes that politics is not a game of ideals, it is a game of willpower and manipulation. With this knowledge, Willie focuses on learning how to play the ‘game’ and then becomes a powerful political figure. It is ironic how he begins the chapter “Cousin Willie from the country” and ends it by becoming Jack’s boss. This shows the transformation of Willie, which he was capable of achieving due to the fact that he gained the knowledge and was not ignorant anymore. This shows a gradual focus in the novel of knowledge vs. ignorance. The knowledge which he receives spurs him to reach for greatness.

Perhaps there is a significant reason and irony for why Willie marries a schoolteacher. He strives to obtain more knowledge, and as we all know teachers are symbols for knowledge, so with irony Willie portrays the typical stereotype. However, once he becomes successful, he decides that he does not need his wife anymore. So perhaps this shows the cruelty of political figures, how they drain everyone around them just for their benefit, and then once they achieve what they were after, they dump the useless, human bodies to the side.

To add more the knowledge of Willie, there is a time period when he focuses on studying law just for fun. He occupies himself with law and even builds his own law practice after he loses the election.  He could have taken a vacation and relaxed somewhere on the beach, but instead he took his time and put his effort into studying law and passing the bar exam. This helps portray the motif of knowledge running throughout the novel. Perhaps a theme that might emerge later would be that with great effort for knowledge comes success and fortune.

                Also, when Willie commands Jack to go and ‘dig’ up some ‘secrets’ about Irwin’s past, hints that knowledge is the key to success. Perhaps the ‘dirt’ that Jack must find will be the knowledge of the competition. Once dirt is known about the competition, then there will be a downfall of that competition (political figure). Is this how real politics works? Is this what the government is set up as? Knowing the secrets of others can lead to one’s success? I guess it must be that the ‘best man wins’.

"Cinderella"

The Archetypal Theory consists of shared human experience throughout time. Symbols, motifs, images, characters, are “collective unconscious”. So let’s take a look at the some of the most common aspects we hope will happen in a typical fairy tale.

First, would be the ultimate Princess that many of my childhood movies and stories seem to always have. The sweet, young, beautiful, and caring Princess is always present in almost any story you read for children. In this case, Cinderella is the Princess who is constantly turned down and mentally abused by her step-mother and her step-sisters. She asks to attend the ball, but her nasty step-mother just laughs at her. The step-sisters make her feel jealous by talking about what they will wear, “I shall wear my red velvet dress and my English lace” (10). Their clothes were bought from the latest designers and were very expensive. This shows the mistreatment of poor Cinderella.

Second, always present is of course the Prince. He is often times assumed to be young, handsome, rich, and oblivious to everything around him besides beauty. He falls in love with Cinderella from first-sight, but he knows nothing about her personality or background. Could this be true love? He has only one dance with her, but does that mean she is his soul mate? Of course, as in every other fairy tale, the Prince comes to rescue the Princess. He sends his servants out to search for the one whose foot fits into the little “glass slipper”.

Third, is the Evil character that is always after the Princess.  Almost every story I’ve read as a child, always had some evil witch or God-mother that wanted to harm the innocent one. As expected, in “Cinderella” the God-mother is mean, rude, old, and jealous. She takes her jealously out onto Cinderella and mocks the fact that it couldn’t have possibly been “Cinder-bottom” at the ball. To add to it, the step-sisters are also evil characters present in the story. “The very idea! Id have to be crazy to lend my dress to nasty Cinderbottom like you” (13). Ironically, enough as it is, I find it interesting how everyone views Cinderella as the most beautiful girl while she is at the ball, but once she takes all her luxurious clothes off, she is back to basics. What ever happened to people finding the beauty deep in? it isn’t all about looks. From a critical point-of-view I don’t see why they would show these kind of movies to little kids who should be taught otherwise: that beauty goes beyond what is on the outer surface. Clothes do no make Cinderella beautiful, but it is her personality that makes her so pure and innocent. Whereas, her evil companions are the ones who should be dressed in rags instead of those “velvet dresses” because they are the ones who are truly ugly inside and out.

Lonely and Isolated Themes of Winesburg

The novel Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson consists of many shorts stories that complete to make the novel as one whole story. Even though some argue that the novel is just a set of different stories, I see it as one because it connects with the same motifs and themes running throughout the text. The themes of the inability to communicate, loneliness and isolation are portrayed throughout the novel and make the whole book connect. One of the characters in the novel is Elizabeth, who was once young and was considered a “stage-stuck” but later on she became a woman “who seeks some kind of release from her perpetual loneliness” (Anderson, 223). Even though she has an affair she is still emotionally unsatisfied. Therefore it shows that it is not sexual acts that can satisfy the women in Winesburg, but perhaps it is the connection and ability of people to express their emotions that can really fulfill them.

Another character is Enoch, who is lonely and sad most of the time in his apartment. The real people do not understand him fully, and he always gets frustrated by the way that people don’t understand him. He attempted to make his points clear “but he always ends up saying nothing” (Anderson, 170). He imagined that there are imaginary friends in his apartment, who understand his reason for words. They made him feel “bold” and he could feel as if he was powerful enough to be able to get his points across. They provided him a sense of communication and temporarily filled his emptiness and isolation inside, by allowing him to explain what he was never able to explain to real people. When Enoch got married, he soon realized that the woman was making him feel small. “I thought she would be bigger than I was there in that room” (Anderson, 176). Enoch wanted her to understand him, but then if she did then he would have nothing left inside of him that made him so ‘big’. He would feel as if he is “drowned” in that room and that would make him feel weak and small. He wanted to be almost like a God in that room, but having her mere presence there was a threat to him. When she left the room she took all his imaginary people with her. She took his ability to communicate and to gets his points across, away from him. She took all his power that he had created and this made him feel weak. When she was in the room, her presence made the bond between Enoch and his imaginary friends seem weaker and almost unreal. At the end, Enoch remained alone just as he was in the beginning and perhaps he soon returned to having imaginary friends in his apartment, who fully understand his motives and reasons behind the things he says.

"Sophistication"

In the short story "Sophistication", George looks back for the first time on his childhood, and as Anderson writes, this moment could be referred to as a "moment when he crosses the line into manhood" (Anderson 234). As people usually say, once you reach adulthood, you begin to wish you were young again. I believe this is what happens to George and Helen in this story. George walks around the fair, and begins to remember moments with Helen. He wishes for “someone to understand the feeling that had taken possession of him after his mother’s death” (Anderson 234). All the sudden he has an urge to “touch someone with his hands, be touched by the hand of another” (Anderson 235). The symbol of hands helps point out the theme of inability to communicate and isolation, which takes possession of numerous characters throughout the novel. He longs for Helen, in hopes that she will be able to understand his needs and he will fill that emptiness inside of him up. Meanwhile, Helen, returns from college and walks around with an instructor from college. She feels as if he is boring and Helen then seeks out to spend time with George. When they finally encounter each other, they have this sudden urge to go run around in the darkness, like "excited little animals" (Anderson 242). I believe that this chapter of the novel, portrays the fact that George and Helen needed to once more feel young and for the last time have their wild, youthful night as 'animals' before they separated and left to live their different lives in adulthood. This moment allows for both of them to be in “touch” with one another and fulfill that emptiness and isolation, which they feel. “The presence of Helen renewed and refreshed him. It was as though her woman’s hand was assisting him to make some minute readjustment of the machinery of his life” (Anderson 241). She made him better, but the word ‘machinery’ implies that he looked at his life as a boring, job. As if it is something routine and pre-made. Does he feel that leaving town will allow him to full express himself? Become more real and alive? Perhaps they don’t really love each other, they are just using each other to fulfill their desires of the night. “I have come to this lonely place and here is this other” (Anderson 241). The quote implies that George is only using Helen merely to have someone who understands his strong desire to express his final, youthful urges, before he steps into manhood. At the end, both of them received what they so strongly desired and a moment of communication, a bond between man  or boy and woman or girl was finally formed.

"Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?"

As I was reading this short story, the whole time I kept freaking out thinking of how much this “Arnold Friend” guy is a pedophile. Okay, I mean he keeps telling Connie to get in the car and go for a ride…creepy. Then he does not let her get to the phone. That is when you scream “RAPIST”. But now that we had a few discussions in class about the literary meaning behind this weird story, I can see that there are some interesting aspects to take note of.

First of all, I’d like to take note of the author’s reason for brining rock n roll into the story. Perhaps the author tries to get the audience to realize the importance of rock n roll in the 1960’s and the affect it has on society as a whole. Maybe a simple theme to come out of this would be that rock n roll is taking your children and everything they know. That rock n roll is Evil. This is depicted through the way Arnold dresses and how he speaks to Connie. He is a symbol for rock n roll. Therefore, we can say that rock n roll does all the things he does. “We ain’t leaving until you come with us” (Oates). This way Arnold tries to persuade Connie to leave her family and come with him for a ride. Through his bad manner and persuasion in a way he represents a loss of innocence. And since he is a symbol of rock n roll, Connie is being turned away from her youth of innocence into a bad adulthood, through the use of Arnold as influence.

Moreover, I think the door in a way seems as two options for Connie to take. She can either run and grab the phone to make a call, or she can step through the door. Making a phone call could symbolize her sense of youth and her wanting to get help from adults. This would represent that she is still an innocent child and is not ready to go into the real world where there is danger. If she was to step through the door (as she does at the very end), this would symbolize her loss of innocence. She would be ultimately defeated by Arnold and her morals would be changed. She would transition into adulthood.

With his deceptive looks and charming speech, Arnold persuades her to step through the door. “I’m your new lover honey” (Oates). As we can see, lyrics of traditional rock n roll songs are depicted in his speech. When he ultimately gets her to come with him, at that point Connie is transitioned into an adult woman. She gives up and is persuaded by Arnold to move on in her life. In a way this is a good thing because I guess at one point or another she needs to grow up. Perhaps she wanted to gain all this freedom all along and be out on her own.

"Hairball"

Having read the short story "Hairball" by Margaret Atwood, I must say even though it started out gross, it turned out into one of the most interesting pieces I have ever read. The story can be analyzed from beginning to end with very descriptive details. I loved how the story brought about the role of society and how women were to be treated and viewed in the 80's and 90's. The main character, Kat, struggles to have her voice heard in a room full of men. She tries to 'run' throughout her career in order to not suffocate from the expectation that society has set up for her and other women. She strives for female superiority and having the upper 'free-hand', but ultimately is shut down and all her credit is taken by her boss, Gerald, who is ironically enough a man. Kat desires to be independent and not like the rest of the females in the society who are in a 'class'. Kat has her 'own class'. Society expects male dominance, and all women to be housewives. Kat mocks Cheryl for being closed-minded and organized. Basically, fit just how society has set her up to be. “Her mind was room-by-room Laura Ashley wallpaper tiny, unopened pastel buds arranged in straight rows”(Atwood). Here Kat mocks the fact that Cheryl only knows what she is provided and doesn’t know how to apply the knowledge elsewhere. However, she is seduced by his manly features and becomes 'powerless'. This shows that men seduce women and women fall to society’s expectations to be completely dependent upon men. "I knew you'd prefer someone who could, well, sort of build on your foundations...she looks at his neck. She longs for him, hates herself for it, and is powerless" (Atwood).

Another reason why Kat stands out from the rest of the society is that she is constantly curious about new things and aspects. “She was terrified but also she was curious. Curiosity has got her through a lot”(Atwood). Kat was afraid to find out the results from the doctor, but she requested to take a look at the cyst due to her curious personality. This kept her on a positive note when going into the doctor’s office. Moreover, she begins to describe the features of Gerald that attracted her to him. “But he was eager, he was tractable, he was blank paper”(Atwood). Meaning that she picked him so that she could create her own masterpiece likewise, you can make just about anything with a sheet of blank paper. Since, she would get bored of things easily, she would always want something to work on and do. Her curiosity accepted the challenge and she decided to transform Gerald into a new man. “He’s a money man who lusted after art, and now he’s got some, now he is some. Body art. Her art. She’s done her job well; he’s finally sexy”(Atwood). However, her curiosity ultimately leads to her downfall and she soon wished he was his old self again, and that she was in that “silver frame”.

Literary or Commercial?

Over the summer I decided to pick to read "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards as my first choice. I would say that this book is Literary Fiction. and Commercial Fiction. As I started reading, right away I noticed that the scenes were very descriptive with alot of focus on detail. "A few flakes first, in the dull gray late-afternoon sky, and then wind-driven swirls and eddies around the edges of their wide front porch"(Edwards). As the novel opens up, it goes into imagery of how the night right before her labor was like. The descriptive sentences throughout the novel, had an impact on the way the overall scene turned out to be like. Literary novels are paced more slowly and like to explore the mind and soul. This book for sure had me analyzing ever page with meaning. Right from the part when the Doctor (husband) decided to lie to his wife and tell her that the baby girl of their's had died during birth, I began to wonder why he did what he did. His decision that night affects the rest of the characters lives' over the succeeding decades. Since the rest of the book describes year by year how each character lives it goes in a slow pace and therefore is considered to be Literary Fiction. For example, "...something he kept hidden, some experience or expectation or dream too private to share"(Edwards). Because he decided to hide a secret for the rest of his life, his wife and his son felt as if something was missing their whole lives. The book made me analyze why certain characters acted the way they did. The wife, Norah, even turned to cheating in order to escape her loneliness and depression of having lost a child. The son, grew up as if his other half was gone. The whole family was affected by the Doctor's decision. The personal innner workings of the characters such as the Doctor himself, keep the book moving forward. This book had an entertaining plot (commercial)- the whole time I was wondering will his wife find out about the secret and how? And at the same time the book contained a deeper character exploration (literary).

The second novel I read over the summer was called "Something Blue" by Emily Giffin. This novel picks up where "Something Borrowed" left off. This one however is from Darcy's point of view and not her best friends, as it was in the first book. After becoming pregnant, and wanting to start fresh Darcy gets in touch with her childhood friend, Ethan, and stays with him in London.The novel is commerical to me because it describes her personal journey and how she evolves from a selfish person to someone who can stay in a real relationship, this time. “Anxiety was not an emotion I could ever remember feeling when I went out in New York, and I wondered why tonight felt so different. Maybe it was because I no longer had a boyfriend or fiance. I suddenly recognized that there was safety in having someone, as well as a lack of pressure to shine. Ironically, this had cultivated a certain free-spiritedness that had, in turn, allowed me to be the life of the party and hoard the affection of additional men....But that had all changed. I didn't have a boyfriend, a perfect figure, or alcohol-induced outrageousness to fall back on” (Giffin). As shown, this text was very straight to the point, and didn't really have a deep analysis on why certain characters were how they were. Darcy said what she wanted to say and I did not have to stop and think on why she did what she did. It was a relaxing novel I enjoyed and didn't have to think much about while reading it. Overall though, this novel was a warm, and engaging text that showed how friendship and love can change us all.