Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Question 3 of 3
1997. Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or another novel or play of literary merit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Dubliners - "The Sisters" (Not as good as "The Dead")
ReplyDeleteThis chapter is the opening for the collection of short stories in Dubliners. In this short story, the narrator focuses on a boy who thinks about the death of the priest. In the funeral discussion between the Priest's sisters and the boys aunt. The sister brings up the point of the priest's break in his faith. This introduces the theme of religion, and the use of religion by the characters, to the reader. Coupled with the boy's thinking of paralysis in the beginning, this serves as a perfect thematic intro to the book.
Also, the little details of the chapter allude to much more symbolic things to the themes. The crackers and sherry the sisters offer the boy is similar to the wine and crackers at mass. The broken chalice is symbolic of a broken faith and the three strokes are both in terms of a medical stoke and a stroke of time.
Can we do a short story?
DeleteWalter, my first reaction was to jump to "The Dead" and discuss the party scene, but I have to agree that this scene is perfectly suited to the prompt, as the funeral discussion, as you put it, introduces many key themes and motifs into the text. Dubliners is broken into three sections - childhood, adolescence, and adulthood - ultimately ending, as all life cycles do, with "the dead" as the final story. This scene introduces a recurring juxtaposition of life and death, as it's the first story in the book (meant to represent life/early childhood - as symbolized by the child present in the scene) but it focuses on the death of "Poor James" (16). The religious references are crucial, as WZ mentioned, but also important are the ways in which Joyce uses this story and this scene in particular to develop the mood of the book, which overall is somewhere between gloomy and eerie/creepy (for instance, the priest smiles in his coffin - also that he's a priest is critical because of the developing religious themes).
DeleteCrime and Punishment
ReplyDeleteMarmeladov's funeral is for lack of a better word, ridiculous. Katerina has spent almost all the money she received from Raskolnikov on this funeral to honor a husband she seemed not to love. Throughout the festivities, there is no mention of the deceased Marmeladov - she instead worries about the respectability of her guests, or lack there of. It represents what Dostoevsky refers to as "poor man's pride," but ties into the greater theme of pride throughout the novel. Though never implicitly stated, Raskolnikov kills out of a certain arrogance - he justifies his actions by contending that his victim was a bad person and he is therefore obligated to execute a final judgement on her right to live. Katerina is essentially doing the same. She is in deep poverty, but believes herself superior to her landlady and guests. The scene also mocks the values of that society: sacrificing what is genuine and important (say spending the money to feed her starving children) for the sake of appearances and pride.
I would have gone straight to this scene as well... I think that Dostoevsky develops the role of mobs through Rask's distorted sense of reality here. Particularly with respect to Sonya, Rask has the uncanny ability to make mental exceptions to harsh rules that he seems to impose on others. He looks down upon the beggars and prostitutes on the street while he claims to love Sonya, and he himself is far from an exemplary member of society; this is a fact that, given enough pressure, he would probably attest to. Rask is horrified by the lack of respect the mob shows for the purpose of the gathering, but their individual situations might actually have warranted this seemingly savage behavior. Because of the poverty of the funeral's participants, their coming for food might be excused, but together they look like sub-humans. This concept of groupthink is relates back to Rask's dream of the mare being beaten to death by a group of peasants and the horror he felt because of it. All the while, though, you feel that his hatred and disgust of mobs is a conditioned one; he looks to justify his ubermensch philosophy.
Delete"The Dead"
ReplyDeleteThe party in the beginning of "The Dead" seems realitvely normal until Gabriel is encompassed by feelings of isolation as a result of his inability to communcate with others. This is first demonstrated when Gabriel tries to complement the housemaid and later when his speech is incomprehensible to the party guests. "The Dead" is split into two main sections: the party and Gabriel's realization. The party scenes are used to further emphasize Joyce's statement on the shallowness of adult conversations- he is mocking how all these people attend a party merely to uphold their social standing, and also that they have nothing of importance to talk about, for Gabriel cannot communicate at all. Through the relationship between Gabriel and his wife Gretta, the reader can further understand Joyce's overall message from Dubliners. Gabriel realizes that because he cannot superficially communicate with others around him (like they all do with one another), including his wife, although he is living, it is as if he is already dead.
I guess I would use the dream scene in Crime and punishment. Raskolnikov remembers a childhood dream when he walks near a cemetary or something like that. In the dream a man is telling people that his mare can pull up all the people in his cart up the hill. Soon the crowd starts going crazy and everyone gets loud and vile. They start yelling and laughing- and Raskolnikov remebers the laughing very strongly. His father pulls him away from the window to protect him. But he goes back to watch the cruelty towards the mare. The mare collapses and because she is not able to pull all the people up, her master clubs her to death. Raskolnikov is very distrubed by this whole scene. We see his view of society that man is a putrid animal- prone to cruelty. We learn of Raskolnikov's motivation. We understand slightly why he is elitist and how he condescnds towards others. Crowds are portrayed as thoughtless, cruel people who join into evil like sheep. The laughing and happy attitude, druring a sad scene shows the crowd's insesetivity, which ties into Marmeladov's death scene.
ReplyDeleteI would use the dinner party scene from "the dead". Focusing on Gabriel's in ability to connect with other people. Starting with his interaction with Lilly( that awkward moment when he kept saying "Christmas time) then his inability to connect to the other people at the dinner ( his speech). Then finally talk about how he is unable to connect with his wife, which leads to his epiphany at he end of the story.
ReplyDeleteI would use Wide Sargasso Sea. Antoinette describes the wedding of her mother to Mr. Mason, which both shows the social standards of this culture and also foreshadows her own marriage. The guests show up to the wedding faking their approval, but Antoinette has already heard them gossiping about her mother's worthlessness and how Mr. Mason is only going through with the marriage to make money. This scene shows the struggles between the native people and the Europeans, between the colonized and the colonizers, that are dominant throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteI think the scene that is most powerful for me in this prompt is Hagar's death scene in Song of Solomon. It is this scene that serves as a tribute to Hagar's life and to the power of familial love- in order to be affirmed on this subject, we need only look to Pilate's commanding commentary... "And she was loved."
ReplyDeleteI think that the confessions that take place in the first city visited by the priest in TPatG would be what I'd write about. The townspeople's (especially that one man...) inability to even recognize that what the priest wants to do is not to hear their confessions, but rather to sleep is indicative of a larger inability to demonstrate empathy, and look beyond one's self and maybe help someone else. The priest demonstrates extraordinary kindness in helping these people (even if he groans about it, he ultimately does it), while the people seem ungrateful and unappreciative of what he is doing for them. This of course ties into the ultimate meaning of the novel: the idea that people should treat each other with kindness.
ReplyDeleteI actually thought of Hagar's funeral before I saw your post Ms. Siegel (really :D). The scene was filled with Reba and Pilate's mournful singing. The scene shows Pilate's compassion for Hagar and touches the readers by calling Hagar her baby girl. Pilate's emotional trauma leads to her almost killing Milkman. Yet their family history drew them back together. This singing connects back to the songs in the rest of the text. Pilate, Reba, and Hagar sang together when Milkman first visited them. The song of the children told Milkman the story of his ancestors, and singing here helped mourn for the death Milkman caused with his apathy. These celebrate the power of tradition and family in the text.
ReplyDelete