Frankly, I am having a little trouble deciding at the moment how Paton wanted to show the treatment of women. During the conversation about the letter and money, Stephen seems a little commanding of his wife using comments such as "count it" "Bring me the St. Chad's money"
Yet at the same time he seems to care about his wife. When she says that he was hurting her (emotionally) he stopped and claimed that hurting her was not something he would do. To be honest, I am going to have to read a little bit further before I am willing to make a statement. At the moment, I am guessing that women are not treated very kindly in Cry, The Beloved Country. Stephen may only be kind to his wife because of his position as Reverend. But that is just my guess at this time.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
*Late*9- 29-2010
My 4 tabs:
Narrative on page 1-2
At first, the description is beautiful. Almost a paradise that I can see! However, the sudden change to a darker theme was a bit of a shock. With just two pages I could tell that Alan Paton was a master of descriptive writing
Page 44, Last three paragraphs
They show obvious fear of the future, and how it seems to engulf hope. But out of his pocket, Kumalo finds comfort and hope in his Bible. This shows that there is always something to hope for in a dark situation.
Page 42 Plot, death of Michael
This book is obviously not supposed to be a comedy. So early in the book, sad thoughts and images are being presented with next to no relief of any sort. I can guess that this book will be quite heart wrenching as it goes on.
Language Word: Umfundisi
Umfundisi is a term of respect, and it is not uncommon for Kumalo to be referred to like this multiple times in a conversation. He is a respectable man.
Narrative on page 1-2
At first, the description is beautiful. Almost a paradise that I can see! However, the sudden change to a darker theme was a bit of a shock. With just two pages I could tell that Alan Paton was a master of descriptive writing
Page 44, Last three paragraphs
They show obvious fear of the future, and how it seems to engulf hope. But out of his pocket, Kumalo finds comfort and hope in his Bible. This shows that there is always something to hope for in a dark situation.
Page 42 Plot, death of Michael
This book is obviously not supposed to be a comedy. So early in the book, sad thoughts and images are being presented with next to no relief of any sort. I can guess that this book will be quite heart wrenching as it goes on.
Language Word: Umfundisi
Umfundisi is a term of respect, and it is not uncommon for Kumalo to be referred to like this multiple times in a conversation. He is a respectable man.
Monday, September 20, 2010
9-20-2010
Question: How does Golding develop and convey the theme that you identified.
My theme: Fear is a weapon and inhibitor, and it's presence in society can prevent it from functioning correctly
In my opinion, the ultimate symbol of theme in this book is "the beast". It started out as a rational fear of the unknown amongst the littluns, advancing to the point where their ability to sleep restfully is damaged, and culminating in it's usage as a weapon by Jack. Jack offered fun, meat and protection from the beast, and in truth it was all most of the children really desired. By doing so, he managed to bring people to join his tribe and give himself a position of power.
Golding uses savagery as a method of developing this theme. The more and more the children desensitized themselves, the more real the beast came to be in their mind, resulting in increasing levels of fear and panic. And the last think any society needs, is panic stricken people armed with weapons.
My theme: Fear is a weapon and inhibitor, and it's presence in society can prevent it from functioning correctly
In my opinion, the ultimate symbol of theme in this book is "the beast". It started out as a rational fear of the unknown amongst the littluns, advancing to the point where their ability to sleep restfully is damaged, and culminating in it's usage as a weapon by Jack. Jack offered fun, meat and protection from the beast, and in truth it was all most of the children really desired. By doing so, he managed to bring people to join his tribe and give himself a position of power.
Golding uses savagery as a method of developing this theme. The more and more the children desensitized themselves, the more real the beast came to be in their mind, resulting in increasing levels of fear and panic. And the last think any society needs, is panic stricken people armed with weapons.
Monday, September 13, 2010
9-13-2010
Question: What would be different about The Lord of the Flies if there were females on the island?
The first two things I can think of: boys and girls against each other, sexist ideas taking root in the minds of both genders, and least likely a higher chance that order could have been established.
If you think about it, at the age the children are at they probably might not cooperate cross genders every well yet. Granted some of kids might, but it is always a possibility. What I envision happening, is that the boys will want to survive one way(savagery), and the girls may want to live on their own.
The second possibility I see, is boys thinking of girls as "weak" and "inferior" and in their opinion the people they should shove all the boring tasks on. Everyone likes to have fun, and one of the largest sources of "fun" stems from hunting and violence. I can see characters like Jack and Roger, leaving the care of the fire, the littluns, and shelter building to the girls while they go off hunting. As sad as it is, how often do you see women in the military even today?
The final thing I came up with, was the possibility that order may have been established. The boys would probably have been a little more reluctant to dance like fools in front of a dead pig while girls are watching, and they might have watched their manners a little better. I read this article one time about the differences between male and female mind, and both generally process information and think differently. By combining these two types of minds, they children may have come to a better solution and made better choices that could have led to a better life for everyone, and fulfilled Ralph's promise that "having fun" was important.
The first two things I can think of: boys and girls against each other, sexist ideas taking root in the minds of both genders, and least likely a higher chance that order could have been established.
If you think about it, at the age the children are at they probably might not cooperate cross genders every well yet. Granted some of kids might, but it is always a possibility. What I envision happening, is that the boys will want to survive one way(savagery), and the girls may want to live on their own.
The second possibility I see, is boys thinking of girls as "weak" and "inferior" and in their opinion the people they should shove all the boring tasks on. Everyone likes to have fun, and one of the largest sources of "fun" stems from hunting and violence. I can see characters like Jack and Roger, leaving the care of the fire, the littluns, and shelter building to the girls while they go off hunting. As sad as it is, how often do you see women in the military even today?
The final thing I came up with, was the possibility that order may have been established. The boys would probably have been a little more reluctant to dance like fools in front of a dead pig while girls are watching, and they might have watched their manners a little better. I read this article one time about the differences between male and female mind, and both generally process information and think differently. By combining these two types of minds, they children may have come to a better solution and made better choices that could have led to a better life for everyone, and fulfilled Ralph's promise that "having fun" was important.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
9-12-2010
Here are two of my explanations/interpretations for why Golding made the decisions he did:
1. Why did he name the chapter "The Sound of the Shell"
2. Why did he provide no character names to begin with
My Answer to Number 1
Names are obviously important. They have special meanings that can describe a character, sort of like how my name means Jehovah saves. In this case, Ralph's name means: Wolf counselor. By not referring to the two boys by their names immediately, we get a chance to drill their physical description into our heads through repetition (e.g the fair haired boy). I think Golding did not mention names to take us back to older times, where not everything had a name yet and where described for what they literally were. Savage and barbaric times perhaps?
My Answer to Number 2
Most books that I read are so long, that naming each and every chapter probably makes it seem like writing another book to the author. Golding uses his chapter titles for obvious reasons: to highlight major points and symbols, and do some foreshadowing. For example, "The sound of the shell" is referring to the effect that sound has on humans and bringing up the major symbol of democracy and order. While we are on the topic of sound, in our day to day lives music is a large influence on the way we think and feel and it reflects the emotions and thought patterns that society had at a certain time. In the Lord of the Flies, the sound of the conch brought all the boys together, but at the end of the book, the sound of war whoops symbolized danger and drove Ralph away.
1. Why did he name the chapter "The Sound of the Shell"
2. Why did he provide no character names to begin with
My Answer to Number 1
Names are obviously important. They have special meanings that can describe a character, sort of like how my name means Jehovah saves. In this case, Ralph's name means: Wolf counselor. By not referring to the two boys by their names immediately, we get a chance to drill their physical description into our heads through repetition (e.g the fair haired boy). I think Golding did not mention names to take us back to older times, where not everything had a name yet and where described for what they literally were. Savage and barbaric times perhaps?
My Answer to Number 2
Most books that I read are so long, that naming each and every chapter probably makes it seem like writing another book to the author. Golding uses his chapter titles for obvious reasons: to highlight major points and symbols, and do some foreshadowing. For example, "The sound of the shell" is referring to the effect that sound has on humans and bringing up the major symbol of democracy and order. While we are on the topic of sound, in our day to day lives music is a large influence on the way we think and feel and it reflects the emotions and thought patterns that society had at a certain time. In the Lord of the Flies, the sound of the conch brought all the boys together, but at the end of the book, the sound of war whoops symbolized danger and drove Ralph away.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
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