Pilate's plight

Pilate is a loving, selfless, independent African woman. Yet with all her gifts and talents, the American society ostracizes her for the most trivial reasons.
Ruth on the other hand, is surrounded by the American dream, and smothered by it. Both her husband and father have the wealth associated with it, yet she is completely miserable. Together they represent two distinct type of women sharing the same plight. The oppression of female identity by American society.

The heart of Apocalypse

Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now both depict similar journeys into the jungle which parallels the journeys into each protagonist’s self. Although located in different regions of the world and in different time periods, each character faces numerous events and situations that inevitably changed their perspectives of humanity. Although their destinations are idiosyncratic, they are on the very same journey. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow learns the value of a life and the effects one man can have on another. While in Apocalypse Now, Captain Willard has regressed to a complete disregard for human life and will probably remain in this killer mindset for a long time after the war. The journey of self discovery on the river is what connects these two protagonists.

For both Marlow and Captain Willard the jungle represents the evil that man is capable of. From the river they are looking from the exterior into themselves. The journey they both take upriver is a spiritual journey of their own hearts.

"Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine. The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of overshadowed distances.” (Heart of Darkness)

While on the river, the protagonists' beliefs and ideas are relentlessly falsified until they believe the exact opposite of what they did in the first place. Marlow confronts the issues of colonization, eventually comprehending that while Europe is imposing their culture on Africa, it is truly Europe which is in need of a social reform. In a similar circumstance, Captain Willard realizes that America intervening in other countries' affairs, which he was so adamantly in favor of, does not make the greatest good.

The deeper they travel up the river, the more they are confronted with fears of failure, insanity, and death. They both have a dangerous fascination with Kurtz. They are what Kurtz had been, and Kurtz is what they could become. The difference between them is while Marlow has an enlightenment of his soul; Captain Willard gets off the boat, like Kurtz did. "Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right. Unless you were going all the way. Kurtz got off the boat. He split from the whole fucking program.” (Apocalypse Now)

A bird, a plane, a Bug (bloggy 4)

The short story that I feel is the most complex is Metamorphosis. The story is fairly long for a short story which means there is more to analyze. Also the fact that it was translated from German inherently loses some of it's meaning. The part that is resistant to interpretation for me, is Gregor's mentality, I think it's interesting and unexpected but I don't know why he is like that. The physical change into a bug is deceptively simple. He was a human and then presto chango, now he's a bug. But did Gregor really change or is he now what he always was... The title could be an emphases of the change into a Bug, or it could mean the metamorphosis of peoples interactions with him, or the fact that he didn't change at all, you are what you do.

A pyromaniac in an oblivious gasoline world (blog 3)

I do not think that Iago is a moral pyromaniac, he is just amoral. He does not bother with morals but he is not particularly immoral either. Because of Iago's amorality he is a more believable character. Unlike the one sided immoral movie villains, Iago has depth to him. As for the game of war, Iago does not make a real distinction between the battlefield and everywhere else. In both situations he acquires a goal (orders or personal) and applies his logical mind to achieve it without letting anything else inter fear. Iago is a formidable enemy, especially when you never see it coming.

Te Essay....

Iago’s ability to judge character enhances his power to manipulate others. The players are played. Everyone is consumed by their passions which deepens their flaws. They trust him, and Iago abuses this trust without remorse. Roderigo lets him have his “purse as if the strings were thine” (I,i,2-3). Cassio takes his advice unhesitatingly: “You advise me well...Good night, honest Iago” (II,iii,329-337). Othello finds the idea of Iago's insincerity unfathomable: “'Tis pitiful; but yet Iago knows that she with Cassio hath the act of shame a thousand times committed” (V,ii,247-249). And Emilia, when confronted with solid proof of his deceit, is infuriated, but still skeptical: “Disprove this villain, if thou told'st him that his wife was false. I know thou didst not; thou'rt not such a villain. Speak, for my heart is full” (V,ii,205-208). Iago even goes so far as to try and win the trust of the audience by giving sensible reasons for his actions, “I hate the Moor; And it is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets 'Has done my office” (I,iii,404-406). Iago then wholly and utterly exploits everyone's mislaid trust to better exact his revenge upon them whilst seeming the friend to all, and enemy to none. At the acme of Roderigo's skepticism, Iago says, “O, no. He goes to Mauritania and takes away with him the fair Desdemona, unless his abode be lingered here by some accident; wherein none can be so determinate as the removing of Cassio” (IV,ii,247-250). Relying on the trust that Roderigo has in him, Iago turns Roderigo's skepticism about his honesty into confidence and purpose. Roderigo believes that he must now kill Cassio. Iago needs everyone’s trust to take control, but at the same time he himself trusts no one. It is his very nature not to. Iago is trusted because he understands their weaknesses and plays upon them. He is like a chess grandmaster, carefully laying out a plan for emotional checkmate. But the flaws Iago sees in others he cannot see in himself.

Iago discovers and preys upon their inner most fears and untold desires to persuade them to do his bidding. After Iago orchestrates a drunken brawl, Cassio is panicking over his lost reputation. Iago says to him, “I'll tell you what you shall do. Our General's wife is the General...Confess yourself freely to her. Importune her help to put you in your place again” (II,iii,318-323). Seeing Cassio's distress and knowing he has Cassio's trust, he moves him into the perfect chess square. In doing so, he sets up Cassio and Othello for the endgame.

Othello and Iago are strikingly similar. They both share the passion of jealousy. Iago doesn’t realize this, but he is still able to gain power over Othello. Iago sees the jealousy in Othello’s heart and creates a catalyst to fuel it. In Act III, scene iii, in which Iago is convincing Othello that Desdemona is sleeping with Cassio, Iago actually does very little convincing.” Ha! I like not that...Nothing my lord; or if-I know not what” (III,iii,38-40). Only with subtle suggestions does Othello come to the conclusions which Iago has already made for him. Othello plants his very own seed of doubt. But Iago does not realize that his suspicious and jealous nature is the same as Othello’s. “If Cassio do remain, He hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly” (V,i,20-22) His suspicious nature drives him to jealousy which festers in maniacal plotting against those who are his betters.

Iago suffers from blind ambition. He has a lust for power and it consumes him. He realizes that his plans could crumble but he continues anyway “the Moor may unfold me to him; there stand I in much peril.” (V,i,21-22) Iago is so focused on his goals that he has tunnel vision. Just like a horse with blinders, Iago can only see one destination, the destruction of his friends.

Honest Iago succeeds because those around him assume that “men should be what they seem” (III,iii,148). But If “I am not what I am” (I,i,69) then how can he see what he truly is? Preying upon human instincts and weaknesses, the subjects of his revenge become his willing pawns. Leaving his own passion unchecked, the conman con’s himself.

#2 walking away from edipus...

After walking away from Oedipus I felt intrigued. Could there really be some omnipotent force that has predetermined my choices and life outcome. Or am I the master of mine own fate? I quickly decided not to worry about it and to live my life on my own terms. If it's predetermined then it really doesn't matter what I do because it is fated to be so. But of course another thought provoking question arose during class, is it better to know your own fate or not? For me personally I would say it is better to know. I only say this because weather I am fated to die tomorrow or at 80 the knowledge would not change me.

Blog Post #1

What ever happens, happens.
-Spike

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
- Jimi Hendrix