Monday, April 16, 2012
1980 Question
A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.
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Sound and The Fury
ReplyDeleteSpecifically Quentin's chapter (Chapter 2). Quentin's own ideals of the southern gentleman and traditional southern values clash with his current situation and the setting he is in. He is at Harvard, which is in the north and in the liberal state of Massachusetts, and Quentin's are all talking about their successes with women. Quentin is still obsessed about the events with his sister Caddy as she has become pregnant due to her sexual promiscuity. With the reinforcement by his nihilist father's views, as his father is saying that virginity is something that man has made up and that has no place in society. Quentin is also worried that he cannot control Caddy, as Caddy had refused the offer to go with Quentin and live with him at Harvard. Quentin's actions of his southern gentleman can be seen in his escort of the little Italian girl to help the girl find her home. Instead of being seen as a helper, Quentin is forced to pay a fine for "kidnapping" the girl, which did not happen. Also, Quentin's mind is going haywire due to his views and the setting contrasting, as she envisions an old black man on a donkey while he is on the train. Time is also skewed in the piece, as Quentin's watch breaks and his mental instability of flashing back and viewing the present at the same time, and the book does not give the reader cues on when the analepsis is occurring. Faulkner dedicates an entire chapter (1/4th of the book) to illustrating Quentin's confusion of his current situation, especially with what to do with his sister. This conflict shows the anachronistic thematic of the novel and how the Compson family is lost in their time, as their family name slowly disappears and their family deteriorates from their historical prominence.
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DeleteThe Power and the Glory
ReplyDeleteThis prompt seems to be tailor-made for The Power and the Glory. Throughout the text, Greene explores the meaning of responsibility and frequently juxtaposes the sense of duty (felt by many of the characters) with feelings of passion. A central theme of the text is this conflict between logic/duty with emotional connections and commitment. Padre Jose and Captain Fellows are examples of characters without any real feelings of passion (or, in Padre Jose's case, any sense of responsibility to anyone other than himself). In the case of the lieutenant, on the other hand, responsibility toward the state becomes indistinguishable from his passion and heartfelt commitment to his task of eradicating priests from his country (reminiscent of the type of emotional fervor that went alongside legal/military duties in European fascist regimes of the early 20th Century). While the lieutenant could be used to create a compelling answer to the prompt, the Whiskey Priest is the most logical choice, as his inner struggles present to the reader a variety of examples with which a strong essay could be formulated. The Whiskey Priest's daughter serves as a living example of the battle between passion and responsibility, as she is the child of a priest (her very existence is in violation of religious laws) and yet is the love of the priest's life. As the priest's life draws to a close after his capture, he prays not for himself but for his daughter, demonstrating the triumph of passion and fundamental human emotions over comparatively artificial and unimportant responsibilities. This idea illustrates a key theme of the text: that the importance of religion lies not in its laws but in the values that it teaches. Other examples of the conflict between passion and responsibility in the Whiskey Priest's life include his repeated close shaves with death (he puts his life on the line - with the multiple mass services he holds, by helping the boy who comes to Mr. Tench's door in the first chapter, etc.), as he is forced to make a choice between his own life and the livelihoods of the people who depend on him.
Could not agree with Mike more about the prompt just screaming Power and the Glory. The whiskey priest is a perfect example of this. He shirks his religious responsibilities and fathers a child. He indulges frequently in excessive alcohol use. Conversely, he ignores his responsibility to preserve his life and freedom due to his love for and devotion to religion (despite his previous shirking of his religious responsibilities). He holds mass, he travels as a priest and identifies himself as such to strangers, etc. He takes numerous risks and refuses to renounce his faith due to his undying devotion to the church (even though he goes against the teachings of Catholicism by fathering a child). Basically, he shirks every responsibility due to a passion or love, even when these contradict each other. He shirks his religious responsibility for a worldly passion, and shirks his worldly responsibility for a religious passion. He just shirks left and right.
DeleteI agree with this. I think P&G wil do a great job, especially because The Whiskey Priest has to juggle his Christian morality with the yearnings of his flesh. I would however, use Jane Eyre for this prompt. Her struggle beins in childhood. She is abused at home. She has to choose between the respectable thing to do(swallowing her guilt and be grateful for shelter, clothes and food) and the right thing to do (assert her rights, fight for her liberty). SImilarly, later Jane is wholly in love with Mr. Rochester and is about to get married, when she finds out that Rochester is already married. Choosing religion and morality over her love, she leaves Rochester. We see her struggle between morality and love increase even even more when she meets St. John. She again has to choose between love and religious morality. She could either devote her life to God, or embrace her true love. Of course, in the end, stuff works out for her and she is able to reconcile the two. SHe is able to stay moral and marry her true love.
DeleteI agree with Mike and Drew. I think Power and the Glory best demonstrates the struggle between passion and responsibility because it functions beyond an internal struggle within certain characters. Rather, it can be seen as the conflict between faith and religion, the former being an emotional and moral compass and the later being a stringent doctrine of responsibilities that inhibit Christian morality. This is most abundantly clear in the scene where the Whiskey Priest comes upon a cluster of plain crosses in the middle of a plateau. He comments that, though less ornate than those found in churches,these are direct connections to the faith. A similar theme is echoed when Greene explains that over time, the priest has abandoned his chalice and regious garments so that he may continue his worship.
DeleteAnother text that I think works really well for this prompt is Dubliners, though more specifically, The Dead. We know that the cheif purpose/theme of the short story is that of paralysis; Gabriel is effectively paralyzed by a struggle between fufilling what is expected of him and what he himself desires. While his Aunts regard him as the best of their nephews and though he dutifully attends their party every year, he desperately longs to escape. Also, he struggles between his perceptions of his wife. On one hand he feels lust toward her (obviously passion), but on the other he understands that his role is more of a social responsibility - she will never truly love him and he has never truly loved her. The fact that responsibility consistently triumphs over emotion is what denies the reader hope that his situation will change.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
ReplyDeleteJose Arcadio Buendia has this conflict. His passion is his quest for for knowledge while his responsibilities are his children and the village itself. We initially see him taking an active roll in the village, acting as the leader, but as the gypsies come with more mysteries, he becomes more and more engrossed by by his passion for knowledge that he eventually disregards erthing. After he completely succumbs to his passion, he goes insane and needs to be tied to the tree.
I would respond with One Hundred Years of Solitude as well but instead of Jose Arcadio Buendia I would talk about Colonel Aureliano. Initially he joins the liberals because he is outraged by the conservatives corruption and wants to defend his family and friends. However his responsibility of protecting his family is quickly forgotten as he becomes impassioned with the war. This crazed passion is also symbolized in that he fathers seventeen children during the war. When he returns, an empty shell of a person, Ursula even rejects him as no longer a Buendia.
Deleterole,Simon,role
ReplyDeleteExemplify the dangers of the quest for knowledge.
DeleteI would tend to agree with Walter and choose Quentin Compson, but I do think that I would focus the essay slightly differently. Ostensibly, Quentin's responsibilities as a student, and as a Compson involve his success at Harvard. Quentin's "private passions" involve his clinging to the deteriorating Southern tradition and his attempts to maintain the honor of his sister. So I guess the main difference between my essay and Walter's is that I'd consider his duties to be his academic responsibilities that are sacrificed for his passion involving his sister's virginity and upholding Southern values.
ReplyDeleteAlso, even though I don't have the exact quotes, there are many instances of Quentin specifically demonstrating a lack of care about his studies (for instance the part about the threat of his missing one more class, but this not mattering). And the sacrifice that his family made (even if it's one that he didn't want them to) of selling Benjy's Pasture so that he could attend Harvard makes his attitude towards school seem a little unappreciative.
DeleteSiddhartha
ReplyDeleteSiddy and Govinda both confront their own self in the process of reaching Enlightenment. While Enlightenment is achieved on an individual basis, it relies ultimately upon dissociation from the self and ability to see a more profound truth. When Siddy and Govinda leave on their travels to seek out Buddha, it is their responsibility to find this Enlightenment. Whether their commitment to this responsibility is with themselves or the people they have left behind is unclear, but they have devoted a life to this cause and it should be carried out to the best of their ability. Govinda, in particular, relates to this question for his failure to dissociate from his sense of self is his greatest obstacle in achieving Enlightenment. Hesse balances Govinda's passion for achieving his own Enlightenment and his inability to do so because of that very passion. It is this passion that conflicts with his responsibility, and he ultimately has to rely on another, Siddy, to reach Enlightenment.
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ReplyDeleteOne Hundred Years of Solitude
ReplyDeleteLike Simon, I would also focus on One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I would place a greater emphasis on the resulting isolation for Jose Arcadio Buendia, and how that reflects on the human condition. I would describe the nature of the conflict as being societal responsibilities versus search of knowledge. The neglect of his family and general reponsiblities forces him further into this isolation, as a refection of our flaws in society. While Jose Arcadio Buendia's passion is what makes him one of the stronger characters in the novel, his search for ultimate knowledge proves fruitless, as he finally is driven to insanity, and criticism of our value system is made.
I would use Raskolnikov from C+P. His dilemma between moral duty and passion can be found in his murder of the pawnbroker and her sister. He is originally motivated by his desire to prove that he is above moral reproach. He soon finds himself mired with guilt, however, becomes torn between confessing and staying silent.
ReplyDeleteRaskolnikov's inner conflict deteriorates him because of his refusal to accept compassion as virtue. Instead, he holds fast to a cold version of utilitarianism (he killed the pawnbroker, thinking he was doing society a favor). Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov's pitiful state near the end of the book to perpetrate his message of compassion and love as beneficial, that we are all held to a universal moral standard.
Indeed, we can see that love and forgiveness are encouraged by Dostoevsky at the end of the book, when Raskolnikov finally begins to absolve himself of his internal guilt when he accepts the nurturing love of Sonya.
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ReplyDeleteIn a single half-page, Benjy experiences the entire life cycle of what happens when the actions of personal passion collide with the consequences of responsibility. Faulkner establishes Benjy's ability to distinguish between people and objects through earlier anecdotes, meaning that the idea of rape to him should be abhorrent, at least on some basic level. It is obvious that his personal passion is the unbridled stimulation of all his senses (the scenes when he is intoxicated with jimson weed and champagne, his extolling of Caddy's scents, etc.) and the scene where he rapes the two girls is described as what amounts to total sensory overload. The fact that it HAS been established that he views and values human beings at a higher level than objects or animals places a great amount of responsibility on Benjy himself for this event. He is most supremely negatively affected by this enormous breach of personal responsibility, paying a double debt for the cost incurred.
ReplyDeleteI agree with James and Walter in using Quentin as the example. Quentin could not stop time. He could not change the past and erase Caddy of her sins, of their sins. He could not alter the reality of the past he now viewed with such contempt and regret. He regrets the past not only because of what he did not prevent, but also what he did. His wishing to redeem Caddy’s purity was not only a result of his Southern gentlemen pride for his family but also a product of disgust with himself. Though often mistaken for incestuous, Quentin was only fascinated with virginity. His main memories of his father revolved around a perverted understanding of sexuality: “In the South you are ashamed of being a virgin. (pg 78)”
ReplyDeleteQuentin allowed his obsession to carry him too far. In his distorted flashbacks, we get a sense of Quentin’s obsession not of just purity, but of the sexual nature itself. Like any other obsessive teenager, Quentin yearned to seek the exotic: the loss of virginity. After being caught with “dirty girl” Natalie, Quentin realized his own disgust with sex, and turns his attention onto Caddy. He jumped into the mud, but this soiling of his clothes did not mean a loss of sexual innocence, but rather a loss of masculinity. He is no longer interested in his own sexuality, but that of his sister’s as he smeared mud on her. His symbolic action signifies that he worried not of his own virginity, but that of his sister’s – suggesting, hinting, and taunting until finally realizing he had gone too far. The horror with which he realizes the manifestation of this fantasy brings him back down to earth, desperate for control. Therefore, he views the past with regret and bitterness. But it’s too late. Once the deed is done, there is no going back. Time does not wait for stragglers.