Journal 9: Huckleberry Finn

Quote:

"Because it ain't in the books so-that's why. Now Ben Rogers, do you want to do things regular, or don't you?-that's the idea. Don't you reckon that the poeple that made the books knows what's the correct thing to do?" (Twain 114)

Summary:

This quote is from the Chapter two of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Here, Tom Sawyer is trying to explain his friends what the books say about "ransom[ing]" people, which he does not really understand, but when Ben Rogers tries to complain and wants to know what exactly that means, Tom says that whatever that means they have to do it according to waht the book says, because the books are correct.

Response:

I think this quote is Mark Twain’s mockery of “the books” which represent the laws and things kids are thought during his time. These books about piracy and wild stories about murders are what Tom Sawyer reads and he tries to come up with some kind of interpretation, which he does not fully understand. However, he does not want to go against what the books say because the books know what is to be done. In other words, Twain is saying that the way society works in this time is that everything must be followed according to what it’s thought, meaning that there is no room for personal interpretations or individual opinions.
Plus, when Tom threatens Ben saying “do you want to go against the books”, he is practically making a statement about how strict was the teaching and the laws during that time. Basically, this question is enough to make Ben be quiet and follow the Tom’s command. I consider this quite interesting, because Twain was able to make a strong statement about what he thinks about teaching and he put it in the words of some kid, who were just fantasizing about some game. At the same time, I really like the irony of his words, because Tom doesn’t know what the books are talking about and what are the true meanings of the words, however, he follows it. This would mean, that people are mainly being brainwashed by the law and by the “books” teaching, and they will just accept any teaching, even if they do not really understand or do not really agree with it.

Journal 8: Prayer for Victory

Quote:
“You heard these words: “Grant us the victory. O Lord our God!” That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words” (Twain 323)

Summary:
From the story “The War Prayer” by Mark Twain, these words are said by the stranger who entered the church in the middle of the “long” prayer. He is referring to the fact that the prayer people are making to God has two sides, and both sides are included in praying for victory.

Response:
In this story, I find the irony of war, because while people in one side are praying for victory, they want to ignore the means it will take to achieve this victory. Plus, on the other side, the “enemy” army will also be praying for victory. So I believe both sides use God to their convenience. War was a human creation; still, people rely on God whenever there is not other hope left. However, what does God has to do with people wanting to kill each other? It is pretty clear that people will create an image of God that best fits them, before realizing that they are the ones responsible for their own actions.
I think this is part of Twain’s message with this story, because, he claims that people are praying for victory and are not considering the fact that this victory will bring disgrace, suffering and unhappiness to everyone, especially to the enemy. Moreover, this quote unravels one characteristic of human nature, since we not always think about the consequences of our acts and sometimes hide behind ideas that will help us feel good about ourselves. Furthermore, the people represented in the story are self-centered, they feel they should be the ones winning victory and they should be the ones protected, but who is to say who is right? I consider this story a very clear criticism to war and not to religion, it is a criticism to people for praying nonsense to a God that has nothing to do with war. Nevertheless, it is normal to do that if they are scared, but either way, the stranger tries to show them the truth about war, and people consider him crazy. In other words, they want to remain ignorant to the truth, because they cannot accept it.

Journal 7: Mad or making some sense?

Quote:

MAD, adj.
Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech and action derived by the conformants from study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual. It is noteworthy that persons are pronounced mad by officials destitute of evidence that themselves are sane. (Bierce)

Summary:
This is another definition from Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary. He is basically saying anyone who behaves different from what society has established as correct and acceptable, will be considered crazy.

Response:
This is another definition that really caught my attention while reading the dictionary. I think this definition is mocking society itself and sends to an extreme what is considered mad. Bierce’s was focusing in the fact that anyone who tries to go against society’s rules and what is considered correct, will be judged, considered a stranger and probably separated from society in order to not interfere with the acceptable way of living.
I really like this definition because it reminded me of a novel I have read many times and that has always interested me, which is The Stranger by Albert Camus. The story is about a main character Meursault, who lives up to his own rules and does not share the common thoughts about love, marriage, happiness, god or what is considered a good life. For him it is all about the moment and what he enjoys doing, he does not worry about the consequences and even killed a man “because of the sun”. This man was judged and sentenced to death not for killing a man but for being different, which was condemned in his society. Therefore, he was considered a threat to the normal course of living, and he had to be eliminated.
I really consider there is a big relation between what Bierce describes as mad and what happened to Meursault. I do think that most of the time, people have a need to follow what is considered rightful by society, and there is only few of them who decide to live their own lives, even if they end up judged by society. However, it is really hard to fight against what everyone else thinks, which makes some people become “like everyone else”.

Journal 6: Bierce's Occurrence

Quote:

“At the bottom of the steps she stands waiting, with a smile of ineffable joy, an attitude of match less grace and dignity… Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bride”(Bierce 366)

Summary:

This quote is the ending of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and here we can see the end of the dream Peyton had before dying. He imagined he was able to escape from death and go back home to his wife, when in reality he died hanged from the bridge.

Response:

When I read the story, I really enjoyed how the storyline developed. I did believe for a moment that Peyton was able to escape death and that he was back with his wife. However, I had the feeling things could not develop so smoothly and that there had to be something else happening, which is why I really liked the ending.
With this quote I want to show the huge difference between reality and the delusion Peyton had before dying. This story is a clear example of the brute reality that happens in war, which is that there is not always a happy ending and there is not always a hero that can be proud of his actions. I believe the hero was a fool, because in this case, Peyton believed he was doing something great to defeat the enemy, while at the end he was considered the assassin and was the one who died.
I was really impressed of how Bierce pieced together the two realities and was able to trick the reader into believe that Peyton survived. Also, he is mocking people’s hopes of believing that a miracle could occur. Furthermore, when I read the title of the story I started thinking about Bierce’s word choice. I think the word Occurrence has a lot to do with was will happen in the story, because this word which means event, incident, and so on; at first sight would mean the event of Peyton being killed. Yet, occurrence also means something unexpected, which could be that Peyton was able to escape. But in the end the Occurrence is basically make us believe that he escaped in order to shock us when he really died. Therefore, Bierce is mocking the reader from the beginning of the story, and of course, a reader who is not completely paying attention to certain details and hints will fall for it.

journal 5: Bierce's devil's dictionary

Quote:
FUTURE, n.
That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured. (Bierce)

Summary:

This definition from Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary, is basically saying that the future will never come, because we will always live in the present and, will always refer to the future as a time when everything will go accordingly to a plan, which will never succeed.

Response:

When we read some of the definitions of this Devil’s Dictionary in class, I was really captured by Bierce’s ability to find a pessimist side to most words. As I read some definitions in the dictionary I came across the definition of future, and I understood a little bit of how Bierce probably got inspired to write this book.
I think he got this definition from a general look to what everyone thinks the future will bring. I have often heard people say, and I have also said it myself, something like “In the future I want to study this” or “I will go here and I will do what I really like”. However, while we live in the present and keep dreaming about what is going to happen in the future, we forget that how we are living right now is our immediate future. I think, his definition of future was very influenced by this general characteristic that people have, but he also added his personal experience. Since he had a very bad ending to his marriage and both of his sons died, he realized that the hopes he had for the future never came true. Therefore, he gives us this definition, like a slap in the face, telling us to wake up because basically our dreams will never come true, which is why the future will never come. I do not agree with this definition, nevertheless, I was fascinated by the irony in his writing, because he is really mocking people’s feelings and dreams by talking about friendship that will never be true and happiness that will never exist.

Journal 4: Harte's luck

Quote:

"Dying!" he repeated; “He’s a-taking me with him. Tell the boys I’ve got The Luck with me now” (Hart 332)

Summary:

This extract from The Luck of the Roaring Camp, are the final words from Kentuck, a strong and important man in the mining camp who dies protecting the baby after the flood. With these words Kentuck is not regretting that he is dying or that the baby is dead too, instead, he feels very fortunate of being the one dying with the baby.

Response:

I believe these words show how important the baby was to the camp. One of the reasons is that Kentuck does not care that he is dying or that the baby is dead, he is just happy to be able to die with him. I think Kentuck did a noble act by trying to save the baby, even giving up his life. This is also related at how Harte wants to show us that, even though the men in the camp were all rough and did not really know how to be good men; they found in the baby something to believe in, something worth dying for. However, Kentuck’s words hide a tone of selfishness, in a way I felt he was proud of being the one staying with the baby at the end, like the baby was sort of a prize for him, or maybe it was his last hope of feeling good with himself once they told him he was dying.
Plus, Kentuck’s words hide Harte’s irony about luck, because, what does luck have to do with dying? I strongly believe that this message would pass unnoticed by people who want to believe in happy endings, and in the noble acts at the end of the story, where a man gives up his life to protect a baby. However, Harte, in this sentimental scene finds the right way to put the irony about luck. At first I did not notice this fact, but after reading the ending a couple of times, I saw the smooth way in which Harte included a little of irony in such a sad ending.

Journal 1: Dickinson's view of the truth: as simple as lightning

Quote:

“The Truth must dazzle gradually/ Or every man be blind” (Dickinson 91)

Summary:

These lines from the poem 1263 of Emily Dickinson states how true should be told to men. It should be told slowly and in a discrete way or else men won’t understand it and will deny it.

Response:

This poem has a consistent rhyme and when I read it, it had this sarcastic tone which I believe was Dickinson purpose because maybe, she wanted to point out people’s inability to see the truth. When the poem starts she is proposing the reader to tell the truth indirectly or else it will not be accepted or it will cause revolt among people.
She compares how truth affects men with how lightning can affect children. By making a simile between these to facts she is saying that as lightning scares children, truth scares men, and the only way they can be calmed is with kind words or by telling the truth slowly and in a discrete way. She uses nature to show that even though truth is something that scares people, it is also a simple reality that is in front of our eyes like nature. However, sometimes people decide to stay away from it, because it can be as sudden and scary as lightning.
Therefore, these two lines caught my attention because they sum up what Dickinson explains in her poem, which is that if truth is told straight forward, men will be scared and will refuse to believe it. Nevertheless, if truth is told gradually, it will be hard to accept first, but there will be ways to calm men and make them believe it. This aproach to truth will be easier than to tell them the whole truth and expect them to accept it without questions. In my opinion truth will always be subjective to certain point, since everyone sees their own truth and they will change it, accept it or refuse it according to their beliefs.

Journal 2: Dickinson's poetry

Quote:

“Futile - the winds - / To a Heart in port - / Done with the Compass - / Done with the Chart!” (Dickinson 82).

Summary:
This is the second stanza in poem 269 of Emily Dickinson. I believe she is saying that nothing can interfere or pull her apart from the path she has decided to follow now that she has found it.

Response:
The first time I read this poem, I thought it was more like a passionate description of a sexual encounter between her and her lover. However, after reviewing the different interpretations I now believe this poem is about Dickinson the artist. I consider this poem to be a very passionate description of her and her art, because I feel she found herself within her poems. Finally this poem is sort of a revelation for her, like saying “I have discovered who I am as an artist and there is nothing that can make me change”.
This stanza is the end of the longing she announces in the first stanza. She longs for the “wild nights”, but in this stanza, she convincingly realizes that she has to look no more. She is no longer a slave of society’s critics and defined gender roles. Now, she can refuge in her art and her poetry to be herself. I believe she was struggling with herself because she was maybe sick of how society defined women roles, and how she was expected to depend on men and leave aside her own interests.
Therefore, she uses the word “futile”, to declare that anything “the winds” do to separate her from port will be useless now that she knows what she wants. Plus, since this longing is over, now that she has discovered her true self, she feels she is in the heaven, which means she now has found sort of a peaceful refuge where she can stay, which is her poetry.

Journal 3: Whitman's command: "You shall.."

Quote:

“You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through
the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books” (Whitman 31).

Summary:
This quote is from the section 2 of the poem “Song of Myself”. I believe in these two lines, Whitman is proposing the reader the alternative of becoming the center of his own world. Also, I believe the “you” refers to the reader as well as to Whitman himself, since he is making a statement about what he believes should be the way of living for everyone.

Response:

When I first read section 2 of the poem, I noticed a change of tone in Whitman’s lines. First he starts talking about himself and his relation with the world. However, when I read these two lines, which are almost at the end, I felt that he was taking a god like pose, since “you shall” reminded me of the 10 commandments. I believe these two lines are Whitman’s perception of a better world, where continuity is broken, and we no longer need to follow the steps of the old laws and the old books.
I believe he is stating his position about the criticisms he received for his sexual writing and his free verse style, among other things. Therefore, he shows how the world should really be. He wants the readers to open their eyes to a new world where concepts can be changed and where everyone can choose their own path to follow.
Plus, I find his descriptions really interesting, because by saying “you shall no longer take things at second or third hand” he is practically saying “find what you want and do not wait for it or expect to get it from others, get it yourself and do not let anyone get in the way”. That is a very self centered perspective, but it is really showing human nature, because we are self-centered. Furthermore, I interpret “the eyes of the death” as the concepts or ideas of people who are no longer important and that even though might be powerful during their time, generation will change and they will be forgotten. It is as brilliant as when he says “the spectres in books”.

Therefore, I believe he is clearly saying, find yourself and do not let laws and society dictate what you must or mustn't do. It is like an announcement for people to dare to change, which is why I consider the “you” refers to himself as well as to the reader. First because he started a change, consequently, he felt in authority enough to command people to do the same.