I liked this chapter. The idea of the Joads being able to live in a well furbished, sanitary, pleasant place gave me hope that their luck is turning around. Ma was so happy that she "seemed girlish" (Steinbeck 289) with excitement over the camp. The camp was in very good condition and was established with the best that the government could offer a camp. Ruthie and Winfield got to see a toilet for the first time because of the camp. Winfield even "broke" (Steinbeck 300) one by flushing a toilet. Ma was in the men's bathroom when a kind elderly man told her about the Ladies Committee. Ma is a proud person. In being so she had to make sure that she had family and a household to be proud of. She made everyone wash and put on clean clothes. Ma has a good family that she raised well. She should be proud of them and of their accomplishments, no matter if the Committee is coming or not.
I did not like the fact that the greedy car salesmen sold the Wallace's car for a 750% profit. The salesperson bought the car for ten dollars and sold it for seventy-five dollars (Steinbeck 293). Also I am not a fan of the character of Mrs. Lisbeth Sandry, the crazy Christian lady. Mrs. Sandry believes that everyone is going to hell, plus she is well... crazy. First of she is crazy because she was scaring a pregnant young girl into believing that her baby will die. Second of all because she came back to the Joad's tent and insulted everyone in the camp (on top of them going to hell, that was a given coming from this psycho lady) to Ma, who was not taking that sort of talk. Ma almost beat her with a stick (Steinbeck 321) because she was so infuriated at this madwoman's talk. Third of all Mrs. Sandry said that Rosasharn's baby was an "innocent child in that there girl's belly a-burnin'" (Steinbeck 320). That kind of ties in with reason one, but no one in their right mind tells a pregnant person their baby is burning and going to hell! That is not okay!
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Grapes of Wrath Chapters 21 and 23
It seems that a pattern is back! The past eight chapters have been alternating between the Joads and anecdotes about the time period that Grapes of Wrath is set in. Maybe John Steinbeck just slipped up for a couple of chapters in the middle of the book. But as long as the pattern is back, then I am happy (I guess that this shouldn't bother me too bad, but it does and I hope that the rest of the book alternates narration or I will be upset again).
Chapter 21 showed that the banks and great corporations did themselves in by being too greedy. By creating the canneries and lowering the price of the fruit so the farmers don't make a profit, the corporations are killing people. The farmers in California can't maintain their farms and have to turn the land over to the bankers, therefore becoming an "Okie" and they have to look for work. But because there are so many people looking for work, wages are ridiculously low. So if the farmers do find work, they are not making enough money to buy food for their starving family. So because of the bank's greed, people are starving and dieing. If the banks and corporations would have gotten together and worked out some sort of system so wages went up, food prices went down, and everyone had jobs (or something better than the current system) instead of just worrying about making a profit for themselves, then everything would have been fine. But noooo. They were to selfish.
Chapter 23, another little historical story, was a happy little chapter. People who taught themselves how to play the guitar, the fiddle, and the harmonica were entertaining other people in their camp. By spreading the good feeling that comes with music, the morale went up. Young men danced with young women and everyone was happy. I excepted something bad to happen like police coming in and killing someone, or to burn the camp down. But nothing bad happened! Yay for the migrant Okies for catching a break! Unless they found work, these former farmers had been down on their luck ever since the banks repossessed their land.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Chapter 21 showed that the banks and great corporations did themselves in by being too greedy. By creating the canneries and lowering the price of the fruit so the farmers don't make a profit, the corporations are killing people. The farmers in California can't maintain their farms and have to turn the land over to the bankers, therefore becoming an "Okie" and they have to look for work. But because there are so many people looking for work, wages are ridiculously low. So if the farmers do find work, they are not making enough money to buy food for their starving family. So because of the bank's greed, people are starving and dieing. If the banks and corporations would have gotten together and worked out some sort of system so wages went up, food prices went down, and everyone had jobs (or something better than the current system) instead of just worrying about making a profit for themselves, then everything would have been fine. But noooo. They were to selfish.
Chapter 23, another little historical story, was a happy little chapter. People who taught themselves how to play the guitar, the fiddle, and the harmonica were entertaining other people in their camp. By spreading the good feeling that comes with music, the morale went up. Young men danced with young women and everyone was happy. I excepted something bad to happen like police coming in and killing someone, or to burn the camp down. But nothing bad happened! Yay for the migrant Okies for catching a break! Unless they found work, these former farmers had been down on their luck ever since the banks repossessed their land.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Grapes of Wrath Chapter 20
In Chapter 20 a young man named Floyd warns Tom not to be rebellious unless he wants to be one of the "vagrant foun' dead" (Steinbeck 247). That phrase, "vagrant found dead" struck a chord with me. The Okies were being treated just like the blacks of the early 1900s and then later up until the 1960s. The blacks were lynched for things that they didn't do, or for being in the wrong place in the wrong time. The Okies were killed when they disagreed with the land owners and police. Both groups of people were killed and no one seemed to care about them. Nowadays if a group of people were killed and their bodies unlabeled and disregarded, newspapers would be covering the story and the media would cause an uproar about it. Then no one cared if another one of those pesky Okies or a rebellious black died. That was just one less person that the land owners had to worry about. We have to learn from our mistakes. Mini-genocides are happening all the time. One group of people terrorizing and killing another group of people, with the Nazis and the Jews being a more recent example. The more aware we are about it, the easier we can stop it and unnecessary killings can be avoided.
Casy took the blame for knocking out a cop (Steinbeck 266) even though Tom had done it. I think it was very good of Casy to do that. He didn't have to worry about who would feed his family or any of that since he didn't have anyone. In giving himself up, he relieved the Joads of a mouth to feed since the folks in the jail will provide food. Also he saved the Joads from the heartache of losing Tom again since he had already broke his parole and would be sent back to jail for a long period of time. Casy was very brave to stand up like that, and he repaid his debt to the Joads with his act of braveness standing up to the police and sacrificing himself.
One by one people are dropping off of the Joad truck. It seems like a game of Oregon Trail. Grampa died of a stroke. Would you like to bury him yourself or hire someone to do it for you? Granma is sick, would you like to rest for x amount of days, search for a doctor or continue on? Preacher Casy sacrifices himself for the good of the family. The food supplies ratio for everyone has increased! Man, The Learning Company should hire me and I could redesign Oregon Trail into Oregon Trail: Grapes of Wrath edition.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Casy took the blame for knocking out a cop (Steinbeck 266) even though Tom had done it. I think it was very good of Casy to do that. He didn't have to worry about who would feed his family or any of that since he didn't have anyone. In giving himself up, he relieved the Joads of a mouth to feed since the folks in the jail will provide food. Also he saved the Joads from the heartache of losing Tom again since he had already broke his parole and would be sent back to jail for a long period of time. Casy was very brave to stand up like that, and he repaid his debt to the Joads with his act of braveness standing up to the police and sacrificing himself.
One by one people are dropping off of the Joad truck. It seems like a game of Oregon Trail. Grampa died of a stroke. Would you like to bury him yourself or hire someone to do it for you? Granma is sick, would you like to rest for x amount of days, search for a doctor or continue on? Preacher Casy sacrifices himself for the good of the family. The food supplies ratio for everyone has increased! Man, The Learning Company should hire me and I could redesign Oregon Trail into Oregon Trail: Grapes of Wrath edition.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Grapes of Wrath Chapters 17, 18, and 19
"A strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family" (Steinbeck 193). Chapter 17 was not a depressing one! The majority of the non Joad narration chapters have been slightly depressing with the time setting being in the Great Depression and the unfortunate families never catching a break. This chapter was about how a single family formed a community with other families and how they all took care of each other. It was reassuring because the "Okies" have no one else to turn to, but others in the same situation as themselves. Fortunately other "Okies" are kind too and everyone benefits from having the extra people around.
The next chapter is a Joad chapter. The Joads arrive very anticlimactically in California. Not that I expected them to arrive in a lush, fertile grape vineyard and immediately get good steady jobs and live happily ever after (plus there is 200 pages left, so I figured the Joads had some bad things coming their way still), but their arrive still was very unexciting. Then Tom and Pa meet two men who are leaving California because they can't find work. They warn the Joads. Which of course is not reassuring to Tom and Pa. They expected jobs to be plentiful, not to be scarce, or nonexistent. Then Granma is really sick and hallucinating about her dead husband. Which I figured she would die at some point in this book (see the Death Chapter post). But to have Ma lie next to her dead body all night is awful. Ma is one strong woman. She not only has to ensure that the family stays together and is healthy, but emotionally she is the core of the family. The children look to her to make sure everything is okay, she makes Pa continue on when he is ready to quit, and she makes sure that everyone knows that it will be okay in the end.
Chapter 19 is another depressing short story. The former farmers, now migrants, can't feed their family. So they see fruitful land that could be used to farm crop, but isn't being used. The migrants take some seed and farm a small patch of land for extra food for their family. Then the police destroy the crop and in doing so, crush the hopes of the former farmers. They still can't catch a break.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
The next chapter is a Joad chapter. The Joads arrive very anticlimactically in California. Not that I expected them to arrive in a lush, fertile grape vineyard and immediately get good steady jobs and live happily ever after (plus there is 200 pages left, so I figured the Joads had some bad things coming their way still), but their arrive still was very unexciting. Then Tom and Pa meet two men who are leaving California because they can't find work. They warn the Joads. Which of course is not reassuring to Tom and Pa. They expected jobs to be plentiful, not to be scarce, or nonexistent. Then Granma is really sick and hallucinating about her dead husband. Which I figured she would die at some point in this book (see the Death Chapter post). But to have Ma lie next to her dead body all night is awful. Ma is one strong woman. She not only has to ensure that the family stays together and is healthy, but emotionally she is the core of the family. The children look to her to make sure everything is okay, she makes Pa continue on when he is ready to quit, and she makes sure that everyone knows that it will be okay in the end.
Chapter 19 is another depressing short story. The former farmers, now migrants, can't feed their family. So they see fruitful land that could be used to farm crop, but isn't being used. The migrants take some seed and farm a small patch of land for extra food for their family. Then the police destroy the crop and in doing so, crush the hopes of the former farmers. They still can't catch a break.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Grapes of Wrath Chapters 14, 15, and 16
Both Chapter 14 and 15 are short history referencing stories. The pattern from the first 11 chapters seems to no longer be true since this is twice now that there was a double dose of historical information in the form of telling about life during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Oh well. I guess Steinbeck couldn't have split a Joad narrating chapter in half or even unequally to continue with the pattern. Apparently John Steinbeck didn't have OCD like I do.
I really enjoyed reading Chapter 15. The diner alongside Route 66 and its inhabitants had a really interesting story. Both the customers and the employees have to make a living and feed their family. But for each side to do so, someone gets cheated. The way that the waitress Mae starts off as a hard person who has to make a living for herself regardless if another family starves, then turns into a caring person who gives two little boys candy that was worth ten cents, but she gave the candy to them for a penny anyway. Her transformation is a reassuring one that gives hope to traveling families that not everyone is cruel and heartless like the banks.
Chapter 16 was back to the Joads' tale. There was two things that got to me in this chapter. One being the one eyed man and the other was the ragged man whose two children and wife starved to death. At the "wrecking yard" next to a service station, a man with one eye was working when Tom and Al came looking for car parts. Now I wouldn't have a problem with the man's one eyed-ness, except for the fact that he doesn't wear an eye patch or attempt to cover the eye socket in anyway whatsoever. That is gross and I have no doubt that he isn't getting any girls (Steinbeck 179). If he at least covered the missing eye then he could have played the Nick Fury battle scarred eye card to get the ladies, not sulk and not even try to cover up the eye sore (haha that is punny), then complain about his love life. The ragged man's story bothered me. I understand that he couldn't find work and his family starved. But why is he still alive? First, if I saw my children and spouse die in front of me because I couldn't provide them food, then I would probably die of grief and guilt. Second, there would be a good chance that if 75% of my family died, I would be starving to death also. Unless I was holding out on them, but I don't think the ragged man did that. No father could do that to their child. So my problem is the fact that the ragged man is alive. He should have starved with his family. How and why did he survive?
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
I really enjoyed reading Chapter 15. The diner alongside Route 66 and its inhabitants had a really interesting story. Both the customers and the employees have to make a living and feed their family. But for each side to do so, someone gets cheated. The way that the waitress Mae starts off as a hard person who has to make a living for herself regardless if another family starves, then turns into a caring person who gives two little boys candy that was worth ten cents, but she gave the candy to them for a penny anyway. Her transformation is a reassuring one that gives hope to traveling families that not everyone is cruel and heartless like the banks.
Chapter 16 was back to the Joads' tale. There was two things that got to me in this chapter. One being the one eyed man and the other was the ragged man whose two children and wife starved to death. At the "wrecking yard" next to a service station, a man with one eye was working when Tom and Al came looking for car parts. Now I wouldn't have a problem with the man's one eyed-ness, except for the fact that he doesn't wear an eye patch or attempt to cover the eye socket in anyway whatsoever. That is gross and I have no doubt that he isn't getting any girls (Steinbeck 179). If he at least covered the missing eye then he could have played the Nick Fury battle scarred eye card to get the ladies, not sulk and not even try to cover up the eye sore (haha that is punny), then complain about his love life. The ragged man's story bothered me. I understand that he couldn't find work and his family starved. But why is he still alive? First, if I saw my children and spouse die in front of me because I couldn't provide them food, then I would probably die of grief and guilt. Second, there would be a good chance that if 75% of my family died, I would be starving to death also. Unless I was holding out on them, but I don't think the ragged man did that. No father could do that to their child. So my problem is the fact that the ragged man is alive. He should have starved with his family. How and why did he survive?
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Grapes of Wrath Chapter 13 (The Death chapter)
In Chapter 13 the Joads stop at a service station and of course something good doesn't happen. Why would something good happen to this family? The wrath of the grapes is fully directed at the Joad family. Anyway... their dog gets run over. Cut in half by a hit and run driver with "burst intestines" (Steinbeck 130). Basically it was a slightly gruesome way to kill off the dog that takes food away from the kids and from the pregnant Rose of Sharon. I guess being ran over is better than Pa shooting him and sending the dog to "the farm". The death of the dog just surprised me a little bit. I wasn't expecting it. I had forgot about the dog. Then the dog I had forgot about was killed in cold blood. So that is why the death startled me. I don't think it had any hidden meaning or reading in between the lines secret symbol, but just a death.
Then Grampa died 8 pages later! Bam! The wrath of the grapes strikes hard! The difference this time is that Grampa is an old man and he didn't even want to go to California (see chapter 10 blog post for drug inducing convincing) so his death didn't come as such a surprise. Just like Casy said, "Grampa died the minute you took 'im off the place." (Steinbeck 146). All the stubborn old man wanted to do was to die on his farmland. He was born and raised there, and felt like he should die on that land. It was only a matter of time before he died. Luckily it was a quick death and he didn't suffer much. Now that he is gone, Granma will probably die too. She is an old woman who has relied on her man for to many years to survive without him. Hopefully she will go peacefully too (but if she doesn't go, then boo to Steinbeck for killing the dog, and not Granma. Granma has a solid reason for why she should die, and the dog only went because he strayed in front of a car and now the Joads can save their food scraps).
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Then Grampa died 8 pages later! Bam! The wrath of the grapes strikes hard! The difference this time is that Grampa is an old man and he didn't even want to go to California (see chapter 10 blog post for drug inducing convincing) so his death didn't come as such a surprise. Just like Casy said, "Grampa died the minute you took 'im off the place." (Steinbeck 146). All the stubborn old man wanted to do was to die on his farmland. He was born and raised there, and felt like he should die on that land. It was only a matter of time before he died. Luckily it was a quick death and he didn't suffer much. Now that he is gone, Granma will probably die too. She is an old woman who has relied on her man for to many years to survive without him. Hopefully she will go peacefully too (but if she doesn't go, then boo to Steinbeck for killing the dog, and not Granma. Granma has a solid reason for why she should die, and the dog only went because he strayed in front of a car and now the Joads can save their food scraps).
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Grapes of Wrath Chapters 10, 11, and 12
Grampa is excited about going to California and exclaims, "Come time we get to California I'll have a big bunch a grapes in my han' all the time, a-nibblin' off it all the time, by God!" (Steinbeck 103) I feel like since the book is called Grapes of Wrath, then that statement has to be ironic. Eating a big juicy bunch of grapes in peace everyday does not seem wrath-provoking. Speaking of wrath-provoking, without being too literal here, grapes are going to be vengeful and take revenge on the Joads? Obviously the grapes will be a symbol at some point in the book. When I finish reading the novel I am sure it will make more sense.
Grampa also decides that he doesn't really want to go to California (Steinbeck 111). So the solution to that problem is to drug him and make him go anyway! (sarcastic exclamation mark, just wanted to made sure my tone was portrayed) I understand why they couldn't leave him because he is slightly crazy and would have a hard time living by himself. But to drug his coffee, I am pretty sure that is elder abuse. They could have convinced him, or because he is a stubborn old man they could have figured something else out besides drugging him. Oh well. I guess the spiked coffee did the trick.
Chapter 11 was another slightly depressing short-odd-numbered-anecdote-historical-story. The new workers on the land do not have the same blood and sweat connection with the land like the former farmers that grew up there. The new workers just do their job and go home. The bond with the man and his land no longer exists. It reminds me of the Native Americans being forced off there land so that the white people could use it for their personal gain. The connection and appreciation for the land surrounding them was lost.
Chapter 12 (gasp) breaks the pattern. Instead of being a Joad chapter, it is another historical story! There was a particular quote that I enjoyed in this chapter, "An' the fella says, I done it, an' ever' time since then when I hear a business man talkin' about service, I wonder who's gettin' screwed." (Steinbeck 121) Although that is a generalization, a lot of salesmen are con men and cheat people out of stuff (oh wait, that is a generalization too...). The statement just struck me as funny. The bluntness of the way the man said it was comical.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Grampa also decides that he doesn't really want to go to California (Steinbeck 111). So the solution to that problem is to drug him and make him go anyway! (sarcastic exclamation mark, just wanted to made sure my tone was portrayed) I understand why they couldn't leave him because he is slightly crazy and would have a hard time living by himself. But to drug his coffee, I am pretty sure that is elder abuse. They could have convinced him, or because he is a stubborn old man they could have figured something else out besides drugging him. Oh well. I guess the spiked coffee did the trick.
Chapter 11 was another slightly depressing short-odd-numbered-anecdote-historical-story. The new workers on the land do not have the same blood and sweat connection with the land like the former farmers that grew up there. The new workers just do their job and go home. The bond with the man and his land no longer exists. It reminds me of the Native Americans being forced off there land so that the white people could use it for their personal gain. The connection and appreciation for the land surrounding them was lost.
Chapter 12 (gasp) breaks the pattern. Instead of being a Joad chapter, it is another historical story! There was a particular quote that I enjoyed in this chapter, "An' the fella says, I done it, an' ever' time since then when I hear a business man talkin' about service, I wonder who's gettin' screwed." (Steinbeck 121) Although that is a generalization, a lot of salesmen are con men and cheat people out of stuff (oh wait, that is a generalization too...). The statement just struck me as funny. The bluntness of the way the man said it was comical.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Grapes of Wrath Chapters 8 and 9
Back to Tom Joad's journey. The tale of Tom's Uncle John and his deceased wife was interesting. In the 1930s going to the doctor really wasn't that common, and self-diagnostics was the norm (Wilde). So I understand why Uncle John didn't take his wife to the doctor when she had a "stomickache" (Steinbeck 68). The wife died of a ruptured appendix. I wondered if John could have actually saved her, therefore his remorse and guilt were justified. I didn't know what kind of treatment doctors had for appendicitis patients in the 1930s. After doing some research I found "from about 1900, the publicity surrounding appendicitis fostered the idea that this was a potentially lethal condition, but that it could be cured if it was treated sufficiently early. Many other health problems are now understood in a similar way, including heart disease and cancer, but in the early twentieth century people who suspected they had appendicitis were consulting doctors, while people with symptoms of heart disease more often died without medical intervention." (Wilde) Based off of this statement, if John and his wife knew what type of pain was a symptom of appendicitis, then John should have taken her to the doctor and saved her life. But I don't think that he knew what the symptoms of appendicitis where because after his new bride complained of stomach pain he told her "You et too much" (Steinbeck 68). The reason that I am looking so in depth into this, is because John would be a different person if his wife was still alive or even if he didn't feel responsible for her death. The whole character of Uncle John could be different.
Chapter 9 was a short tale about the farmers getting ready to go to California. It was a very sad little story about the sacrifices the families had to make in order to have enough money to make it to California. Selling away their memories is hard enough, but to sell away the memories to buyers that know that whatever they offer, the farmers have to accept, must have been painful. The families of the Dust Bowl era were very brave to have made the move across the country to a place where they may or may not find a job. They only had one another to rely on and barely made it through.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Wilde, Sally. "The Patients | The History of Surgery." The History of Surgery: Free EBook Download. Australian Research Council, 2008. Web. 29 July 2011.
Chapter 9 was a short tale about the farmers getting ready to go to California. It was a very sad little story about the sacrifices the families had to make in order to have enough money to make it to California. Selling away their memories is hard enough, but to sell away the memories to buyers that know that whatever they offer, the farmers have to accept, must have been painful. The families of the Dust Bowl era were very brave to have made the move across the country to a place where they may or may not find a job. They only had one another to rely on and barely made it through.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Wilde, Sally. "The Patients | The History of Surgery." The History of Surgery: Free EBook Download. Australian Research Council, 2008. Web. 29 July 2011.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Grapes of Wrath Chapter 6
Chapter 6 is back to Tom Joad's narration (do I sense an odd numbered, even numbered narration pattern here?) and it seems that all of Tom's chapters are part of a continuous story. Because no one is at home when Tom and Reverend Casy arrived at the farmhouse (see previous even numbered chapter), Tom is very concerned. Luckily a man name Muley happens to be walking by and informed the duo where the rest of the Joad clan is.
Muley is one troubled man. He "broke up the fambly" (Steinbeck 48) much to the preacher's displeasure. He should have went with his wife and kids to California. To leave his children to go on a journey to a land and to live a new life among new surroundings without a father, and leaving a wife without a companion or someone to rely on was a selfish decision. Muley's defense of "Somepin jus' wouldn' let me." (Steinbeck 48) was not a very good reason to support his decision of not accompanying his family. I understand that the farmland was his birthplace as well as his father's, grandfather's, etc., but it was also his children's too. They left the land. Their mother knew that better things were in store for them if they left Oklahoma. Muley just couldn't see it. Also Muley builds up all his emotions and is going to explode and do something he regrets. Tom and the preacher crossing paths with Muley probably saved him from that since he vented so much to the duo. Casy said, "Sometimes a sad man can talk the sadness right out through his mouth. Sometimes a killin' man can talk the murder right out of his mouth an' not do no murder." (Steinbeck 53) and he is correct in that piece of wisdom. Letting everything bottle up inside always results in something bad. Venting it out by talking to people is very healthy. Shrinks are there for a reason. Muley was alone and left to his thoughts in the middle of a farmland wasteland (but not the land the banks had repossessed, that was a farmland cottonland wasteland) which is probably why he was going crazy. Going to California with his family would have prevented all of this... but that just wasn't an option for Muley.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Muley is one troubled man. He "broke up the fambly" (Steinbeck 48) much to the preacher's displeasure. He should have went with his wife and kids to California. To leave his children to go on a journey to a land and to live a new life among new surroundings without a father, and leaving a wife without a companion or someone to rely on was a selfish decision. Muley's defense of "Somepin jus' wouldn' let me." (Steinbeck 48) was not a very good reason to support his decision of not accompanying his family. I understand that the farmland was his birthplace as well as his father's, grandfather's, etc., but it was also his children's too. They left the land. Their mother knew that better things were in store for them if they left Oklahoma. Muley just couldn't see it. Also Muley builds up all his emotions and is going to explode and do something he regrets. Tom and the preacher crossing paths with Muley probably saved him from that since he vented so much to the duo. Casy said, "Sometimes a sad man can talk the sadness right out through his mouth. Sometimes a killin' man can talk the murder right out of his mouth an' not do no murder." (Steinbeck 53) and he is correct in that piece of wisdom. Letting everything bottle up inside always results in something bad. Venting it out by talking to people is very healthy. Shrinks are there for a reason. Muley was alone and left to his thoughts in the middle of a farmland wasteland (but not the land the banks had repossessed, that was a farmland cottonland wasteland) which is probably why he was going crazy. Going to California with his family would have prevented all of this... but that just wasn't an option for Muley.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Grapes of Wrath Chapters 5 and 7
Chapter 5's tale is about the bank, known to the common folk as the"monster" (Steinbeck 34), kicking families off their land. The land isn't technically the farmers and their families, but they have been raised on that land, as have their parents and grandparents. The country is going through a great depression in the economy and no one has money to spend or to have be paid. I understand why the banks had to do what they did, but somehow the farmers should have been moved to a different location or allowed to keep something of their home/farm land. Plowing the family's house and barns down is a little excessive, but the banks have to make money. I am not endorsing the bank's action, but not condoning it either. People have to survive. It is a natural instinct in human beings. The banks need to have money, the farmers are not giving them money, therefore the banks have to take away the land away from the farmers.
Chapter 7 (another odd numbered short story) is about car salesmen pulling a fast one on the already unfortunate farmers. The farming families just can't catch a break! First their homes and land are taken and/or destroyed by the banks, and then when they try to move West, the salespeople take advantage of them. The salesmen change out the batteries in the cars, put sawdust in the engine, and fill up the slow leaks to make it seem like the farmers are buying a great used car (Steinbeck 61-62). The salesmen have to make a living so once again I understand why they did it, but they are still taking advantage of the farmers who don't know any better. The car salesmen and the banks are both basically screwing the farmers over, if you pardon my language. But because the salesmen are real people and aren't just a generic 'monster' like the banks, it feels like they are treating the farmers the worst. The car story is more personal because everyone has met some sort of salesman and can relate to the story more, as opposed to a big corporation that send out their bidding to innocent people who are just doing it for the money.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Chapter 7 (another odd numbered short story) is about car salesmen pulling a fast one on the already unfortunate farmers. The farming families just can't catch a break! First their homes and land are taken and/or destroyed by the banks, and then when they try to move West, the salespeople take advantage of them. The salesmen change out the batteries in the cars, put sawdust in the engine, and fill up the slow leaks to make it seem like the farmers are buying a great used car (Steinbeck 61-62). The salesmen have to make a living so once again I understand why they did it, but they are still taking advantage of the farmers who don't know any better. The car salesmen and the banks are both basically screwing the farmers over, if you pardon my language. But because the salesmen are real people and aren't just a generic 'monster' like the banks, it feels like they are treating the farmers the worst. The car story is more personal because everyone has met some sort of salesman and can relate to the story more, as opposed to a big corporation that send out their bidding to innocent people who are just doing it for the money.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Grapes of Wrath Chapters 2 and 4
Chapter 2 and 4 are told from Tom Joad's point of view. Tom is out of jail and on parole trying to go home. The prison gave him new clothes to wear (Steinbeck 6) which was done with good intentions, but an ex-convict wearing fancy new clothes and shoes during a Depression just has to end up badly. A thug, burglar, and/or person hiding in a dark alley tries to take the new clothes or shoes from the ex-convict, the ex-convict defends himself, the ex-convict breaks his parole, then he ends up back in jail. That is just setting the ex-con up for failure. At the end of the forth chapter Tom finds his house abandoned. By one of the many rules of writing a book (I have determined that almost all of the books that I have read were written according to some secret author code that has rules that authors have to follow, because it can't be a ridiculously large coincidence that crappy stuff always happens to the protagonist or if one good thing happens, imaginary dominoes fall and a bunch of bad events are in the protagonist's future), the main character cannot leave a bad place (jail) and go to a good place (childhood home with whole family at the residence) without some sort of hitch. Tom got a ride, therefore his family can't be at home waiting for Tom. No protagonist's journey is easy. If that were the case, The Odyssey would have been a short tale of a man who goes off to war, becomes a hero, and returns home to his loving wife and son, as opposed to a really long tale that involves a ten year detour, then when he makes it home he has to fight for his wife, and then finally lives happily ever after. No one would read a story with no conflict. That wouldn't be very entertaining. Which is why all authors have unfortunate things happen to their protagonist, whose lives are never easy.
Also in chapter 4, the turtle from the previous chapter makes an appearance! Tom picks him up and is going to give the turtle to his brother as a present (Steinbeck 21). The turtle tries to escape the cloth cage, but fails. That has to be a symbol for something. From what I have read so far, I believe it is either a symbol of suppression of people by the banks (the banks kicking people off their land and not caring if they die) or the hard times that people have to endure before they escape to their freedom.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Also in chapter 4, the turtle from the previous chapter makes an appearance! Tom picks him up and is going to give the turtle to his brother as a present (Steinbeck 21). The turtle tries to escape the cloth cage, but fails. That has to be a symbol for something. From what I have read so far, I believe it is either a symbol of suppression of people by the banks (the banks kicking people off their land and not caring if they die) or the hard times that people have to endure before they escape to their freedom.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Grapes of Wrath Chapters 1 and 3
Since this book has chapters (Old Man and the Sea was just 127 pages of a run-on paragraph) I will break the book up into parts and write about them, then do the questions at the end when I finish the book.
After an hour of reading The Grapes of Wrath, I had a flashback to the Lord of the Rings books. In both books there was a ton of detail describing the land and the world that the book takes place in. The LOTR books were good, don't get me wrong, but there was sooo much detail. I was really hoping that John Steinbeck wouldn't pull a Tolkien and describe Oklahoma and everyone else on the road to California with so much detail that I could know what kind of bush (and the condition of the leaves) that the Joad family pees behind on their journey (Steinbeck 124) [I read ahead of what I am posting so there is a little influence of future events in my writings]. The way Steinbeck alters between point of views every chapter is a refreshing way of doing it, and it keeps the book from being boring since the chapters alternate from the story of the Joads to short, anecdote like, passages that tell about the time period of the novel.
Chapter 1's tale about how the women look to the men to make sure they don't fall apart and the children look to the women to see if everything is okay, is a nice tribute to the family hierarchy. The men are the head of the household and dictate family affairs. The women stand by their men and they are the enforcers and the backbone of the family. The children know that if the women are okay and still believe in the men, then they can keep on playing since everything will be okay. This situation is set in the Dust Bowl, but the same family hierarchy situation can still be found in today's economic problems. Chapter 3's tale of a turtle crossing the road is one of survival. The turtle is almost hit by a woman (Steinbeck 15) and is nicked and flipped over by a truck (Steinbeck 15), but rights itself and continues on his journey (Steinbeck 16). I am sure that the survival theme will be an important part of the upcoming story, otherwise it wouldn't have been mentioned, let alone had its own chapter.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
After an hour of reading The Grapes of Wrath, I had a flashback to the Lord of the Rings books. In both books there was a ton of detail describing the land and the world that the book takes place in. The LOTR books were good, don't get me wrong, but there was sooo much detail. I was really hoping that John Steinbeck wouldn't pull a Tolkien and describe Oklahoma and everyone else on the road to California with so much detail that I could know what kind of bush (and the condition of the leaves) that the Joad family pees behind on their journey (Steinbeck 124) [I read ahead of what I am posting so there is a little influence of future events in my writings]. The way Steinbeck alters between point of views every chapter is a refreshing way of doing it, and it keeps the book from being boring since the chapters alternate from the story of the Joads to short, anecdote like, passages that tell about the time period of the novel.
Chapter 1's tale about how the women look to the men to make sure they don't fall apart and the children look to the women to see if everything is okay, is a nice tribute to the family hierarchy. The men are the head of the household and dictate family affairs. The women stand by their men and they are the enforcers and the backbone of the family. The children know that if the women are okay and still believe in the men, then they can keep on playing since everything will be okay. This situation is set in the Dust Bowl, but the same family hierarchy situation can still be found in today's economic problems. Chapter 3's tale of a turtle crossing the road is one of survival. The turtle is almost hit by a woman (Steinbeck 15) and is nicked and flipped over by a truck (Steinbeck 15), but rights itself and continues on his journey (Steinbeck 16). I am sure that the survival theme will be an important part of the upcoming story, otherwise it wouldn't have been mentioned, let alone had its own chapter.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Opinion on The Old Man and the Sea
As a whole I liked this book. There was enough suspenseful action and emotional investment that I actually enjoyed a book that was not sci-fi or fantasy. Hemingway put a lot of hard work into this book. The attention to detail and tying all of Santiago's actions to stories in the Bible was amazing. Santiago carrying the mast to his shack, the number tie ins, and the character parallels of biblical figures was a nice in depth understory for The Old Man and the Sea. Hiding the Christianity aspect (not mentioning anything Christian except for praying to God when the old man needed some extra help even though he isn't religous [Hemingway 64] ) unless the reader was looking for it is one of the reasons the book is a classic. That much detail and back story fitting into one hundred and twenty seven pages is crazy.
The lions on the beach in Africa was a nice touch in my opinion. Having a story to tell the boy about the past and a story that gives the old man reassurance and a 'happy place' to go to was very sweet. The lions remind Santiago of a time when he was a young man having adventures in other parts of the world. That 'happy place' allowed Santiago to have an anchor in the world and not be lost in the pain and suffering that he was enduring.
I did not like how I didn't know the boy's name was Manolin until I was trying to find a quote for my first blog post and saw the Santiago addressing the boy as Manolin (Hemingway 27). For being the second main human character, Manolin's name is mentioned twice (Hemingway 27, 124). I thought he was just called "the boy". At least Santiago was addressed as Santiago more than twice in the novel (The Old Man and the Sea does sound better than Santiago and the Sea though). Knowing the characters names, physical attributes, and personality helps me connect with the story and immerse myself into the setting and plot. Manolin wasn't in the book a lot, but still, I wished I would have know more about him.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
The lions on the beach in Africa was a nice touch in my opinion. Having a story to tell the boy about the past and a story that gives the old man reassurance and a 'happy place' to go to was very sweet. The lions remind Santiago of a time when he was a young man having adventures in other parts of the world. That 'happy place' allowed Santiago to have an anchor in the world and not be lost in the pain and suffering that he was enduring.
I did not like how I didn't know the boy's name was Manolin until I was trying to find a quote for my first blog post and saw the Santiago addressing the boy as Manolin (Hemingway 27). For being the second main human character, Manolin's name is mentioned twice (Hemingway 27, 124). I thought he was just called "the boy". At least Santiago was addressed as Santiago more than twice in the novel (The Old Man and the Sea does sound better than Santiago and the Sea though). Knowing the characters names, physical attributes, and personality helps me connect with the story and immerse myself into the setting and plot. Manolin wasn't in the book a lot, but still, I wished I would have know more about him.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Christian References Parte Dos: Names and the Virgin Mary
A possible coincidence or a subliminal Catholic reference is the fact that Santiago is "of Spanish origin" and means "Saints James" ("Santiago"). St James is the patron of laborers and evangelized Spain ("St. James"). Cuba is a Spanish speaking country (thanks goes to Columbus for discovering Cuba in the name of Spain for that one) and since Spain once owned the territory, St. James could tie in through the link of cultural spreading and influence. Also Santiago was a laborer, therefore under Saint James's protection. The old man had a hard labor job. Being a fisherman caused a lot of injuries to his hands, shoulders, and back. Also Santiago states that "All my life the early sun has hurt my eyes." (Hemingway 33). If he was named for the patron saint of laborers, then that could explain why he is an old man and is still physically able to capture and bring home an eighteen foot marlin. His name sake could have been watching out for Santiago and protecting him from life threatening dangers that the old man couldn't handle (you would think shark attacks would fall under that... but Santiago can hold his own against los dentusos).
I know that Santiago is Catholic since he prays the Hail Mary (Heminway 65) and that is a prayer that is predominately used by Catholics (Mary is held in the highest regard and worshiped by the Catholics, but not by all Christians [that question was on my Confirmation test]). Mary, Mother of God, has a lot in common with the sea or as Santiago refers to it, la mar. Both are nurturing and are foundations of hope. The sea brings the hope of adventure, survival, and life. The Blessed Mary brings the hope "from the moment of spiritual birth to the moment of death" ("Mary"), the hope of salvation, and the hope of a life of grace. The sea and Mary also are well meaning guardians of their children. Mary knows what lies ahead for Jesus and watches over him while he suffers, knowing he will be in a better place soon. Santiago has spent his life on the sea and has a great respect for la mar. The sea also observes her child when he suffers, but the sea knows that she will not cause the death of him and so la mar knows that Santiago will make it through the rough times and there are no waves or storms when the old man is out at sea.
Beegel, Susan F. "Santiago and the Eternal Feminine: Gendering La Mar in The Old Man and the Sea." Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc, 2002. Web. 9 July 2011.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
"Mary the Blessed Virgin." Catholic Online. Web. 09 July 2011.
"Santiago." Think Baby Names. Web. 09 July 2011.
"St. James the Greater Apostle." Catholic Online. Web. 09 July 2011.
I know that Santiago is Catholic since he prays the Hail Mary (Heminway 65) and that is a prayer that is predominately used by Catholics (Mary is held in the highest regard and worshiped by the Catholics, but not by all Christians [that question was on my Confirmation test]). Mary, Mother of God, has a lot in common with the sea or as Santiago refers to it, la mar. Both are nurturing and are foundations of hope. The sea brings the hope of adventure, survival, and life. The Blessed Mary brings the hope "from the moment of spiritual birth to the moment of death" ("Mary"), the hope of salvation, and the hope of a life of grace. The sea and Mary also are well meaning guardians of their children. Mary knows what lies ahead for Jesus and watches over him while he suffers, knowing he will be in a better place soon. Santiago has spent his life on the sea and has a great respect for la mar. The sea also observes her child when he suffers, but the sea knows that she will not cause the death of him and so la mar knows that Santiago will make it through the rough times and there are no waves or storms when the old man is out at sea.
Beegel, Susan F. "Santiago and the Eternal Feminine: Gendering La Mar in The Old Man and the Sea." Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts on File, Inc, 2002. Web. 9 July 2011.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
"Mary the Blessed Virgin." Catholic Online. Web. 09 July 2011.
"Santiago." Think Baby Names. Web. 09 July 2011.
"St. James the Greater Apostle." Catholic Online. Web. 09 July 2011.
Christian References: Crosses and Numbers
In the book, many events had direct Christian symbolism. At the end of the book when Santiago had made it to the port of Havana, he "shouldered the mast and started to climb... and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder... He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack." (Hemingway 121) then, in my opinion, died in peace after seeing the boy. Jesus carried the cross to the place where he was going to die and sustained five wounds while on the cross ("Numbers"). Jesus also knew that he was going to die and was at peace and shouted to the heavens, "It is finished. Into your hands I commend my spirit." before he did die ("Three Hours"). Both Santiago and Jesus lives ended in the same fashion: immense suffering followed by a peace of mind and death.
Many different numbers appeared in The Old Man and the Sea. Many of the numbers had another meaning besides functioning as a measure of something. The first double meaning number is the amount of days in a row that Santiago fished with the boy without catching anything (Hemingway 1). Forty is a number of "trial or probation" ("Biblical Numerology") in the Christian religion. Manolin is tested to see if he will stay with Santiago just based off of faith even if the old man is "salao" (Hemingway 1) like his parents believe. Like an apostle and their faith in Jesus, Manolin believes in the old man and wants to stay in fish with him and make sure he is taken care of. Those forty days were his "trial" run, and the boy passed and became an 'apostle' of Santiago. When the old man was fishing he had "three forty-fathom coils of line in reserve" (Hemingway 44). He had three coils, one for each of the members of the Trinity. Speaking of a trinity, "There are three things that are brother: the fish and my two hands." (Hemingway 64), Santiago has his own. Those three things are the only things left that he can put all of his faith in when he is out alone in the sea (he also has a trinity of companions: God, DiMaggio, and Manolin. Those three people are the only ones he can rely on and knows he can pull strength from the fact that they are strong people and believe in him). His left hand cramped up and he was worried, but knew that his right hand wouldn't fail and that the fish will still be there after the hand uncramps. He had the faith that he could make it through another night as long as he had his two hands and a fish. Nothing else mattered.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
"Numbers in Christian Symbolism - ReligionFacts." Religion, World Religions, Comparative Religion - Just the facts on the world's religions. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 July 2011.
"Three Hours of Darkness." The Story of Jesus. Bible Heritage Foundation, Inc. Web. 09 July 2011.
"What Is Biblical Numerology?" CARM. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. Web. 09 July 2011.
Many different numbers appeared in The Old Man and the Sea. Many of the numbers had another meaning besides functioning as a measure of something. The first double meaning number is the amount of days in a row that Santiago fished with the boy without catching anything (Hemingway 1). Forty is a number of "trial or probation" ("Biblical Numerology") in the Christian religion. Manolin is tested to see if he will stay with Santiago just based off of faith even if the old man is "salao" (Hemingway 1) like his parents believe. Like an apostle and their faith in Jesus, Manolin believes in the old man and wants to stay in fish with him and make sure he is taken care of. Those forty days were his "trial" run, and the boy passed and became an 'apostle' of Santiago. When the old man was fishing he had "three forty-fathom coils of line in reserve" (Hemingway 44). He had three coils, one for each of the members of the Trinity. Speaking of a trinity, "There are three things that are brother: the fish and my two hands." (Hemingway 64), Santiago has his own. Those three things are the only things left that he can put all of his faith in when he is out alone in the sea (he also has a trinity of companions: God, DiMaggio, and Manolin. Those three people are the only ones he can rely on and knows he can pull strength from the fact that they are strong people and believe in him). His left hand cramped up and he was worried, but knew that his right hand wouldn't fail and that the fish will still be there after the hand uncramps. He had the faith that he could make it through another night as long as he had his two hands and a fish. Nothing else mattered.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
"Numbers in Christian Symbolism - ReligionFacts." Religion, World Religions, Comparative Religion - Just the facts on the world's religions. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 July 2011.
"Three Hours of Darkness." The Story of Jesus. Bible Heritage Foundation, Inc. Web. 09 July 2011.
"What Is Biblical Numerology?" CARM. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. Web. 09 July 2011.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Post Webinar Thoughts
I am going to talk about some stuff while its fresh in my mind. Then I will go into more detail at a later date. First is what happened after the book ended. I believe that after the boy left Santiago died. He lived a good life, accomplished his goal of catching a big fish, and he said goodbye to the boy. He was ready to let go and move on. Plus if Santiago is being compared to Jesus, then Santiago would have died since he carried the mast to his shack. The mast could be the cross and the shack could be the final resting place. Also Santiago's death would be a nice ending. The fish would remain shrouded in a mystery and the legend of the old man and the eighteen foot marlin would grow. A nice conclusion for an epic hero's journey.
Another thing that I realized was some more supporting information for Santiago being an epic hero. I had previously thought that Santiago was only lacking god interference, but then I remembered that he was praying a lot of Hail Marys and Our Fathers (Hemingway 65, 87). If God answered his prayer, which Santiago's hand didn't fail him and he did catch the marlin, then that counts as god interference. The old man can hold his own against the younger epic heroes. Santiago now meets all of my epic hero criteria.
The last thing is all of the Christianity symbolism. I haven't read Mr. Langley's blog post on it yet, but I will expand on this topic later. I didn't catch all of the Christianity stuff when I initially read the book, but now a lot of things are making sense. The fact that Santiago means saint in Spanish is a cool little nod to Christianity. Another thing cool thing is that the old man and the boy fished together for forty days. Many events in the Bible happened in 40 days like the Great flood and Jesus in the desert. Also many symbols throughout the novel can be tied to Jesus: the mast as the cross, succeeding even when everyone thought you would fail, bearing a large burden alone.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Another thing that I realized was some more supporting information for Santiago being an epic hero. I had previously thought that Santiago was only lacking god interference, but then I remembered that he was praying a lot of Hail Marys and Our Fathers (Hemingway 65, 87). If God answered his prayer, which Santiago's hand didn't fail him and he did catch the marlin, then that counts as god interference. The old man can hold his own against the younger epic heroes. Santiago now meets all of my epic hero criteria.
The last thing is all of the Christianity symbolism. I haven't read Mr. Langley's blog post on it yet, but I will expand on this topic later. I didn't catch all of the Christianity stuff when I initially read the book, but now a lot of things are making sense. The fact that Santiago means saint in Spanish is a cool little nod to Christianity. Another thing cool thing is that the old man and the boy fished together for forty days. Many events in the Bible happened in 40 days like the Great flood and Jesus in the desert. Also many symbols throughout the novel can be tied to Jesus: the mast as the cross, succeeding even when everyone thought you would fail, bearing a large burden alone.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Epic Hero Fun
I was contemplating what I should talk about in this blog when the thought hit me: Santiago is sort of an epic hero right? He goes on a quest by himself, he shouldn't come back alive but does and beats the odds, no one knows his last name (the only epic heroe that I can think of that has a last name is Luke Skywalker and his story isn't even told in a book or poem [ex. Beowulf, Odysseus, Perseus, Achilles, Jesus...]), and I would assume the marlin's skeleton on the old man's skiff would make him a fishing legend. Because Santiago has the basic characteristics of an epic hero, plus meets all the qualifications that I can think of at this moment, that means he needs an epic poem!
There once was an old man who fished in the sea
He voyaged all day and night and it was sometimes eerie
But the old man was looking long and hard
To find a large fish to bring back to the shipyard
He tried to catch a big fish for three days and two nights
But the marlin put up quite a lengthy fight
After the old man had roped the fish to his skiff
A couple of nearby sharks got a whiff
They came and attacked the old man and his fish
The battles brought the old man a lot of anguish
After the sharks were gone at last
The old man returned to his port and lowered his mast
Finally home, he was sleepy, worn down, and sore
Then the old man awoke to find the boy on the floor
The boy asked "How much did you suffer?"
The old man answered "plenty" without a stutter
The boy gave him food and left with his eyes moisten
While at the harbor a crowd was amazed at an eighteen foot skeleton.
Ta da! Whew. That took me a while. Apparently the only thing that rhymes with Santiago is afro, furlough, and window. I couldn't fit those in so he was the old man for the duration of the poem. The quotes were (Hemingway 126). I didn't want to put it in the poem and mess with the line spaces. I feel accomplished now. I am a blogger and a poet!
"Free Rhyming Dictionary." Write Express. WriteExpress Corporation. Web. 07 July 2011.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
There once was an old man who fished in the sea
He voyaged all day and night and it was sometimes eerie
But the old man was looking long and hard
To find a large fish to bring back to the shipyard
He tried to catch a big fish for three days and two nights
But the marlin put up quite a lengthy fight
After the old man had roped the fish to his skiff
A couple of nearby sharks got a whiff
They came and attacked the old man and his fish
The battles brought the old man a lot of anguish
After the sharks were gone at last
The old man returned to his port and lowered his mast
Finally home, he was sleepy, worn down, and sore
Then the old man awoke to find the boy on the floor
The boy asked "How much did you suffer?"
The old man answered "plenty" without a stutter
The boy gave him food and left with his eyes moisten
While at the harbor a crowd was amazed at an eighteen foot skeleton.
Ta da! Whew. That took me a while. Apparently the only thing that rhymes with Santiago is afro, furlough, and window. I couldn't fit those in so he was the old man for the duration of the poem. The quotes were (Hemingway 126). I didn't want to put it in the poem and mess with the line spaces. I feel accomplished now. I am a blogger and a poet!
"Free Rhyming Dictionary." Write Express. WriteExpress Corporation. Web. 07 July 2011.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Eighth Discussion Question for the Old Man and the Sea
If I had to rank the eight discussion topics in order of what I would use for an essay this topic would be dead last for this book. Now don't get me wrong, The Old Man and the Sea was a good book, but in terms of representing that time period in history, it doesn't do that great of job. The only reason that I can pinpoint a date for this novel is because of Joe DiMaggio. The other characters are fish, an old man named Santiago, and a young boy named Manolin. Not exactly good historical material to work with. Santiago's quest in the Gulf wasn't based on true events nor is it a symbol for another event in history (or at least that I picked up on).
On the other hand Hemingway does show some responsibilities between groups in the novel. Manolin takes care of Santiago and does it purely because he loves the old man and wants to make sure he is getting everything he needs. That compassion and care between the young and elderly is nice to see outside of a grandparent -grandchild relationship. There is a possibility of a never ending cycle of care in our society. If a child takes care of an older adult, then when the child is elderly there should be a new generation of children to take care of him or her. But that is not always the case anymore when I see headlines of elder abuse and pension and social security funding going to run out in the papers. The responsibility of young people to take care of older people is not something that everyone acts upon. Hemingway's novel hopefully will influence a new generation of young people to go out and bond with their grandparent or an elderly person in a retirement home. At least they could ask to see if the elderly person has any stories to tell. Who knows? Maybe one of them could tell stories of lions in Africa.
Hemingway was influenced by the "great DiMaggio" (Hemingway 17), the story of a man who doesn't give up, and of the responsibility of youth to their elders (see paragraph/rant above). The old man thinks so highly of DiMaggio in the novel. I am sure that Ernest Hemingway was also a big fan of the Yankee player.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
On the other hand Hemingway does show some responsibilities between groups in the novel. Manolin takes care of Santiago and does it purely because he loves the old man and wants to make sure he is getting everything he needs. That compassion and care between the young and elderly is nice to see outside of a grandparent -grandchild relationship. There is a possibility of a never ending cycle of care in our society. If a child takes care of an older adult, then when the child is elderly there should be a new generation of children to take care of him or her. But that is not always the case anymore when I see headlines of elder abuse and pension and social security funding going to run out in the papers. The responsibility of young people to take care of older people is not something that everyone acts upon. Hemingway's novel hopefully will influence a new generation of young people to go out and bond with their grandparent or an elderly person in a retirement home. At least they could ask to see if the elderly person has any stories to tell. Who knows? Maybe one of them could tell stories of lions in Africa.
Hemingway was influenced by the "great DiMaggio" (Hemingway 17), the story of a man who doesn't give up, and of the responsibility of youth to their elders (see paragraph/rant above). The old man thinks so highly of DiMaggio in the novel. I am sure that Ernest Hemingway was also a big fan of the Yankee player.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Seventh Discussion Question for Old Man and the Sea
The techniques used by Hemingway in The Old Man and the Sea are not the kind of things that I am used to. I particularly enjoy reading books that use suspense, action, and development through dialogue (that is why I enjoy Star Trek novels so much; most of them have all three techniques). Hemingway used symbolism and emotions to keep the audience interested. This book effectively used many of the reader's emotions. At first the reader is sad that the old man is lonely and the boy isn't allowed to fish with him, then the old man is by himself out far in his skiff in the Gulf of Mexico. The reader feels the old man's burden of capturing the marlin and is happy when he ties the marlin to the skiff. I thought the book was going to end there since the old man accomplished his goal, but, as if the old man hadn't been through enough, it continued on. The reader then feels defeat and sorrow when the sharks attack the marlin and the skiff (although I almost laughed out loud when Santiago punched a shark repeatedly [Hemingway 109] then returned to being sad when the sharks ate the fish) and ate all of the fish meat. Instead of being happy when the old man returns home, the reader is sad and feels a pang of sympathy for the boy when he cries for the old man. After the emotional roller coaster that was the fishing voyage, the reader and the old man are bonded and cannot forget what Santiago went through.
Hemingway also used symbolism to keep the reader interested. The symbol of determination and constant vigilance, Santiago is a character that the reader wants to know what happens to. The reader cares about the old man since he represents so many ideal traits that the reader wishes to possess (And there's the Jesus thing again. I can't believe I missed that when I read the novel. Santiago's traits and the reader's desire to try to be like him, Jesus's traits and the Apostles trying to be like him). That was a generalization. I know that not everyone who reads this book wants to be compassionate, brave, courageous, strong, determined, and fearless like Santiago, but I sure would like to be. Another symbol, that pulled me in at least, was the bond between the marlin and Santiago. Even though the old man's goal was to kill the marlin, their relationship changed from a predator-prey to a brother like respect. The symbolism of respect was a nice touch to the novel.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Hemingway also used symbolism to keep the reader interested. The symbol of determination and constant vigilance, Santiago is a character that the reader wants to know what happens to. The reader cares about the old man since he represents so many ideal traits that the reader wishes to possess (And there's the Jesus thing again. I can't believe I missed that when I read the novel. Santiago's traits and the reader's desire to try to be like him, Jesus's traits and the Apostles trying to be like him). That was a generalization. I know that not everyone who reads this book wants to be compassionate, brave, courageous, strong, determined, and fearless like Santiago, but I sure would like to be. Another symbol, that pulled me in at least, was the bond between the marlin and Santiago. Even though the old man's goal was to kill the marlin, their relationship changed from a predator-prey to a brother like respect. The symbolism of respect was a nice touch to the novel.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Young Man and the Sea?
I always read all of the books on the Rebecca Caudill list in middle school, as I read all the Abraham Lincoln books in high school. As I was reading The Old Man and the Sea it felt like I had read a story like that before. I was thinking about it and I realized that in fifth grade there was a book called The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick on the Rebecca Caudill list. The only thing that I remembered from reading it five years ago was the boy in the story was fishing by himself and almost died. Those two facts led my to do some research to see if that book was just a knock off of Hemingway's novel. Apparently it was, although the author says it was just a "homage" (Rockman par 3) to The Old Man and the Sea.
The themes of Hemingway's book are reusable (epic hero-ish characteristics, bond between old man and young boy and the bond between man, Santiago, and creature, marlin, and the circle of life/ death is not always a bad thing) as Philbrick's book shows. That also shows how timeless and classic The Old Man and the Sea is when it is rewritten into a new book with different characters, but the same basic plot and similar title. If a book can spawn knockoffs then the book has to have been successful. A knockoff book means that someone took the time to get really into a novel and change it enough to make it their own (like all of the knockoffs of Harry Potter [sidenote: most of the knockoffs kind of suck except for the Charlie Bone octet series]).
In short this post was a slight ramble about knockoffs and the fact that people run out of original material and have to redo older novels. Very few knockoffs are better than the original, but then again the original is the first and always the best. If I read The Old Man and the Sea in fifth grade instead of The Young Man and the Sea I wouldn't have remembered it five years later. The Young Man and the Sea was a nice preview and introduction that was engaging to kids, but it was no substitute for the real thing.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Rockman, Connie. "The Young Man and the Sea Discussion Guide." Scholastic Teaching Resources. Scholastic. Web. 04 July 2011.
The themes of Hemingway's book are reusable (epic hero-ish characteristics, bond between old man and young boy and the bond between man, Santiago, and creature, marlin, and the circle of life/ death is not always a bad thing) as Philbrick's book shows. That also shows how timeless and classic The Old Man and the Sea is when it is rewritten into a new book with different characters, but the same basic plot and similar title. If a book can spawn knockoffs then the book has to have been successful. A knockoff book means that someone took the time to get really into a novel and change it enough to make it their own (like all of the knockoffs of Harry Potter [sidenote: most of the knockoffs kind of suck except for the Charlie Bone octet series]).
In short this post was a slight ramble about knockoffs and the fact that people run out of original material and have to redo older novels. Very few knockoffs are better than the original, but then again the original is the first and always the best. If I read The Old Man and the Sea in fifth grade instead of The Young Man and the Sea I wouldn't have remembered it five years later. The Young Man and the Sea was a nice preview and introduction that was engaging to kids, but it was no substitute for the real thing.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Rockman, Connie. "The Young Man and the Sea Discussion Guide." Scholastic Teaching Resources. Scholastic. Web. 04 July 2011.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Sixth Discussion Topic about the Old Man and the Sea
Oh boy. Here it is. The question that all high school students have been asking since the beginning of time. Why do we still read this 'timeless' book. Well The Old Man and the Sea actually wasn't that bad compared to other books that I have had to read for school. (looks glaringly at the copies of Wuthering Heights and Life of Pi on book shelf). It was short, there wasn't meaningless stuff that didn't contribute to the plot or filler information that just was confusing (yeah still looking at you Wuthering Heights). The ultimate struggle of a man versus himself, nature, and the world is one of the requirements for being a classic work of literature. The Odyssey, Hatchet, Moby Dick, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are some other examples. (Whoa. I apologize. Those are four very random books. That is what heat indexes over 100 do to my brain.) In a way, Santiago is an epic hero. He goes on a quest to catch a big fish, he succeeds beating the odds, and he does it by himself. Those are some of the major characteristics of being an epic hero (minus the whole god involvement thing [Well there is that Jesus thing from prior posts if that counts] that the rest of the heroes have). That is why the old man is so likeable and the book is so popular. Who doesn't like a hero? (Oh wait, villains don't. Never mind. Answering my own rhetorical questions. [Crap. Proving my rhetorical questions moot. I have to stop this parentheses and bracket stuff]) Anyways... Santiago has qualities that are likeable and his journey is a rememberable one. That is why adults keep coming back to it, and select adults who are teachers have their students read it.
A couple of things can be learned from this book. The first is to never give up. Santiago didn't and he captured an eighteen foot fish, punched sharks, and did everything by himself even though he is an old man. Another thing is the circle of life process. Death is not always a bad thing and Hemingway showed that the marlin's death wasn't such a bad thing since the fish lived on through his skeleton and will become a legend. The last thing is something I learned was something that might not apply to everyone. I learned a lot about deep sea fishing. I have fished in a lake with my grandpa before, but that is the limit of my knowledge of fishing. Having a good amount of technical detail about fishing for different things (marlins, dolphins, bonitos) was very interesting. Especially since it wasn't overwhelming.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
A couple of things can be learned from this book. The first is to never give up. Santiago didn't and he captured an eighteen foot fish, punched sharks, and did everything by himself even though he is an old man. Another thing is the circle of life process. Death is not always a bad thing and Hemingway showed that the marlin's death wasn't such a bad thing since the fish lived on through his skeleton and will become a legend. The last thing is something I learned was something that might not apply to everyone. I learned a lot about deep sea fishing. I have fished in a lake with my grandpa before, but that is the limit of my knowledge of fishing. Having a good amount of technical detail about fishing for different things (marlins, dolphins, bonitos) was very interesting. Especially since it wasn't overwhelming.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Fifth Discussion Topic for The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea was written in 1952. According to the website infoplease.com, in that year King George VI of England died leaving his daughter Elizabeth to become Queen, a stamp costs 3 cents, the Yankees (the year after Joe DiMaggio retired) win the World Series, Salk discovers the first dead-virus polio vaccine, and the Today Show debuts. Hemingway talks a lot about Joe DiMaggio, he is even Santiago's hero. I assume this book takes place in '51 since DiMaggio retired in 1952. He was regarded then, and now, as the greatest baseball player of all time. Having him play the role of someone the old man looks up to for inspiration and regards as a hero is a nice acknowledgement of how much big and famous the "great DiMaggio" (Hemingway 17, 21, 22, 68, 97, 104, 105) was at that time. Even for a old fisherman living in Cuba, DiMaggio was a big influence to him. The old man mentions how great DiMaggio is and how if DiMaggio can play baseball with a bone spur, then the old man can deal with a little pain and reel in the marlin several times throughout the book.
This novel doesn't really talk about the social and behavioral issues of the time period, unless you count how nice the vendor people were who gave the boy free coffee and food for the old man. That showed how neighbors helped other neighbors and had each others back. Not everyone does that in current times. Maybe the relationship between the old man and the boy counts as a behavioral issue. Manolin looks after the old man even though he isn't related to him. The boy provides Santiago with food, news about the Yankees and the "Gran Ligas" (Hemingway 68) religiously and would fish with the old man, but his parents do not allow it. Their relationship has a grandfather to grandson kind of feel because the old man teaches the boy about fishing and tells him about his past in Africa. That relationship shows the bond of family and friendship regardless of age that is as easily found now a days. People are very independent now and don't take the time to form bonds like the one showed in the book.
The theme of this book is discussed in my third blog post about The Old Man and the Sea and I just worked for 6 hours at the "4th of July party that is on the 3rd of July" at the pool and I am tired so I don't feel like reiterating everything for the other blog. Sorry.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
"Information Please: 1952." Infoplease. Pearson Education. Web. 03 July 2011.
This novel doesn't really talk about the social and behavioral issues of the time period, unless you count how nice the vendor people were who gave the boy free coffee and food for the old man. That showed how neighbors helped other neighbors and had each others back. Not everyone does that in current times. Maybe the relationship between the old man and the boy counts as a behavioral issue. Manolin looks after the old man even though he isn't related to him. The boy provides Santiago with food, news about the Yankees and the "Gran Ligas" (Hemingway 68) religiously and would fish with the old man, but his parents do not allow it. Their relationship has a grandfather to grandson kind of feel because the old man teaches the boy about fishing and tells him about his past in Africa. That relationship shows the bond of family and friendship regardless of age that is as easily found now a days. People are very independent now and don't take the time to form bonds like the one showed in the book.
The theme of this book is discussed in my third blog post about The Old Man and the Sea and I just worked for 6 hours at the "4th of July party that is on the 3rd of July" at the pool and I am tired so I don't feel like reiterating everything for the other blog. Sorry.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
"Information Please: 1952." Infoplease. Pearson Education. Web. 03 July 2011.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Fourth Discussion Question for The Old Man and the Sea
In this novel I can count the number of characters who are mentioned more than once on one hand: Santiago, Manolin, the marlin, and the sharks. Considering there was four actual characters (Santiago and the marlin being the only ones whose relationship and characteristics were developed) picking the 'hero' of the novel was not that hard. Santiago was the hero of this book. He overcame many things to become not only a better person, but he better himself along the way. Santiago has many desirable traits: determination, bravery, physical and emotional strength, compassion, perseverance, a strong will, and he showed no fear (I don't know very many people who punches sharks repeatedly before beating it with an oar [the old man would have made a good Green Lantern:)]). He showcases all of these traits during his time out in the Gulf when he fishes for the marlin, has a three day long struggle with the marlin to get it captured and tied on his skiff, tries to keep sharks away, then finally to make it back home to the ports of Havana. Hemingway portrays Santiago as a man who knows that he is getting older and can't do everything that he could once do in his youth. Even though Santiago has this knowledge, he still tries to do things that he would have had a hard time doing when he was the boy's age. The old man knows that he can either accomplish what he has set out to do or die trying. During this process he bonds with the marlin, which shows the reader that Santiago is portrayed as someone who is not a ruthless hunter all about the money and who can catch the biggest fish, but as an old man who can still do things and when he fails is very sorry for what harm he believes to have done.
As for an abstract idea that Santiago represents, I have to go back to the Jesus thing from the previous post. Santiago represents the pure kindness and goodness in people even when faced with great challenges. Similar to Jesus he carries a burden that the boy tries to help lighten, but the old man knows that it is his to carry. I guess my fellow lifeguard at the pool was right. Santiago does seem to be similar to Jesus as I write more of these analytical blog posts.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
As for an abstract idea that Santiago represents, I have to go back to the Jesus thing from the previous post. Santiago represents the pure kindness and goodness in people even when faced with great challenges. Similar to Jesus he carries a burden that the boy tries to help lighten, but the old man knows that it is his to carry. I guess my fellow lifeguard at the pool was right. Santiago does seem to be similar to Jesus as I write more of these analytical blog posts.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Third discussion question for The Old Man and the Sea
This post is going to be about the universal theme of The Old Man and the Sea. When I finished the book and before I started on these blog posts, I thought this book was basically a short story about a man who can beat the odds and can overcome the many obstacles that nature and the gods above throw at him. Then one of the people that I work with saw me writing some things down with the book in front of me. He then told me read this book in high school and it was about the old man representing Jesus. After looking at him funny I reread some of the passages and I guess he was right. There was a lot of actions and physical problems that could have been similar to what happened to Jesus. I guess when I read that I didn't read in dept enough and missed it. So with that theme aside, I am going to talk about what I thought it was, the triumph of the old man against everyone (even if the correct theme is the Jesus one).
Everyone roots for the underdog, and the old man is definitely an underdog. He hasn't caught a fish in almost three months, therefore hasn't made money, and lost his one companion because of his "bad luck" (Hemingway 1). After all of the rising actions and the conflict (see previous blog post) he manages to make it back home and is safe in his bed. Everyone is in awe of him because of the enormous skeleton on his small skiff and the boy shows his love of the old man and cries when he sees him hurt so bad. The old man had to talk himself into continuing a few times, had many different physical injuries that occurred at different times, and beat sharks up. Those events show he has heroic characteristics and is a really good example of how everyone should act. (side note: I kinda see the Jesus thing now after writing about how Santiago overcomes everything. I still think its a little abstract, but everyone reads stuff differently and forms their own opinions.)
Obviously Ernest Hemingway understands the part of human nature that makes someone push on through the pain and never giving up. He only shows the good side of human nature though. Which is fine, but if this book was the only book left in the future, and future radioactivepeoplerobotalienterminatordolphinapemetahumans read it, they won't get the full range of good/bad/love/hate that humans are capable of, although they would understand how the humans of the past could persevere through hardship and beat the odds.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
Everyone roots for the underdog, and the old man is definitely an underdog. He hasn't caught a fish in almost three months, therefore hasn't made money, and lost his one companion because of his "bad luck" (Hemingway 1). After all of the rising actions and the conflict (see previous blog post) he manages to make it back home and is safe in his bed. Everyone is in awe of him because of the enormous skeleton on his small skiff and the boy shows his love of the old man and cries when he sees him hurt so bad. The old man had to talk himself into continuing a few times, had many different physical injuries that occurred at different times, and beat sharks up. Those events show he has heroic characteristics and is a really good example of how everyone should act. (side note: I kinda see the Jesus thing now after writing about how Santiago overcomes everything. I still think its a little abstract, but everyone reads stuff differently and forms their own opinions.)
Obviously Ernest Hemingway understands the part of human nature that makes someone push on through the pain and never giving up. He only shows the good side of human nature though. Which is fine, but if this book was the only book left in the future, and future radioactivepeoplerobotalienterminatordolphinapemetahumans read it, they won't get the full range of good/bad/love/hate that humans are capable of, although they would understand how the humans of the past could persevere through hardship and beat the odds.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
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