Great Gatsby - Read "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway supposedly wrote this story about Fitzgerald. What connections do you see between Fitzgerald/Gatsby and the protagonist of this story? Consider researching Fitzgerald's life and how it parallels Gatsby's, but also how Hemingway portrayed such a life in this story.
The Sun Also Rises - Read "Eyes of a Blue Dog" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ralphsun discussed dreams in class today in response to the final lines of TSAR "Isn't it pretty to think so?" How does Marquez's work create a similar type of relationship between the male and female dreamers that Hemingway portrays in Jake and Brett? Even if you don't want to do the extra credit, read this story, it is amazing.
The Bell Jar - Read "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Gilman chronicles a "hysterical" woman trapped in a room by her doctor husband. She begins to hallucinate, believing that the wallpaper around her is moving. Find direct comparisons to Plath's more modern text and conclude the significance of Freidan's "problem without a name" decades before Freidan was even born.
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Eyes Of A Blue Dog--
ReplyDeleteJake and Brett can never consummate their relationship, much like how the male and female dreamers can never meet in reality. They are separated physically, and left with only an empty companionship.
The last line in EoaBD, "You're the only man who doesn't remember anything of what he's dreamed after he wakes up," describes a situation very similar to that of Jake and Brett. Jake is the only man Brett cannot have sex with.
In TSAR, Brett is very promiscuous, regardless of the significance each lover has to her. Jake does not have this physical connection with anyone. The furthest he gets is when he calls a prostitute his fiancee and then leaves her at a bar.
In EoaBD, however, the man seems to be the more physically independent of the two. He is very relaxed throughout the dream, and he suggests that he has had the same dream several times and is very used to it. He even states plainly that he completely forgets the woman once he wakes up, which frees him from the burdan of faithfulness while he is awake. The man's comfort is contrasted by the woman's anxiety, since she worries constantly about how they can meet "in reality." She clearly has no love life while awake, since she spends all her time writing "Eyes of a Blue Dog" on dumpsters and asking promising bachelors if they have seen her true love (#speculation).
This story also brings rise to the question of what is reality, or which reality is more real?
The woman seems to think that reality occurs when she is awake, since she longs to find the man there, so she can have him 'for real.'
The man, however, has a more abstract interpretation of reality, since he seems to define both realms as separate but equal. To him, it's not that one is real and the other is fake, or that one is the opposite of the other, it is that at night he talks to the woman, and in the day he goes to work, etc. (this reminds me of the TV series, "Awake").
The Yellow Wallpaper
ReplyDeleteThere are many connections between the Yellow Wallpaper and The Bell Jar. Both involve female main characters trapped and slowly going crazy. The females don't have the freedom to do as they please. For example, the main character in the Yellow Wallpaper says that "I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a great deal -- having to be too sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition." This is similar to Esther's predicament with Buddy when he calls poems a piece of dust. The men in the stories don't respect women and dismiss their works as trivial or unproper. They both also have examples of woman that are the traditional and proper housewives that provide contrast to the rebelling main characters. Mrs. Willard is the perfect housewife and the sister-in-law in the Yellow Wallpaper "is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession." However, we can see that being a housewife doesn't suit everybody. Both Esther and the narrator would rather have more freedom and be free to write and not be reduced to a lower status than men. The "problem without a name" is exemplified in the Yellow Wallpaper as the narrator is unsatisfied and slowly deteriorates into madness because she can't escape, which shows that the problem has persisted for much longer than just Friedan's time.
The Yellow Wallpaper was published before the start of first-wave feminism in which it is very similar as to how it represented the same problem women faced in society that The Bell Jar represented. In a way, both sparked the minds and morals of their contemporaries to start feminist movements.
ReplyDeleteA wallpaper exists to cover up the wall, which in doing so is replacing something unappealing and flawed with something appealing and pretty. A bell jar instead serves to display that previously hidden object while at the same time isolating it within a cage.
The narrator of the Yellow Wallpaper has no name and thus, has no identity. This is similar to Esther's attempts to find an identity for herself yet cannot, as she often adopts some other name, pretending to be another person.
The narrator sees herself in the wallpaper, equating the wallpaper to a restrictive force, much like that of a prison, as it represents the Cult of Womanhood's attempts to create an appealing identity for women which prevented people like the narrator to express herself. The Cult made an image of the perfect housewife (Jennie) which simply did not appeal to the narrator of the book. The narrator tears the wallpaper and at the same time comes out from the wall behind the wallpaper, representing her breakout from societies pressures to conform. Esther goes through similar thoughts as she keeps on trying to escape her situations by giving up on goals and people or giving up on herself. However, Esther only ever manages to imagine herself escaping from the society. Esther breaks the thermometer which contained mercury, an easily mutable substance. The thermometer represents the values and restrictions that society places on her by emphasizing success of women based on some quantified number, similar to how a thermometer measures the temperature of the room by the pressure being applied by the mercury. The mercury represents Esther in the way that she is constantly changing her behavior to match the situations and people she encounters. The thermometer's breaking represents Esther's desire to escape from such a fate of following along with societal pressures and to be able to become whatever she wants to be, despite not knowing what that was. But unlike the narrator of the Yellow Wallpaper, Esther gives up on trying to break out of the system, representing how women couldn't individualize themselves and instead followed with an unified, albeit different, view of women from the view of women before the first-wave feminism that is portrayed by the Yellow Wallpaper.
There is also huge similarities in the use of doppelgangers in both books. The narrator of the Yellow Wallpaper sees a girl/woman who creeps on all fours throughout the house and garden. This woman, who represents the narrator's desire to break from the identity created by the Cult of Womanhood, was disturbing even to the narrator. This showed that despite all her desires to free herself from society and do whatever see wants, like creeping around, she finds it disgusting. However, she eventually breaks through and creeps all over John. In the Bell Jar, Esther is accompanied by Joan, a woman who is within the same mental asylum. Joan represented Esther's pysche and her feelings about the undesirable identity that women had to put up with. Joan's thoughts reflected Esther's yet at the same time Esther explicitly states that she dislikes Joan. The death of Joan represents Esther giving up on her dissatisfaction and search for true identity, leading to her conforming with what is asked of her. She might have managed to be released from the asylum but unlike the narrator of the Yellow Wallpaper, Esther gives up on the notion of separating from society.
Jake and the man from The Eyes of a Blue Dog possess similarites, whereas Brett and the woman from The Eyes of a Blue Dog do. Jake is impotent and the the male character in Eyes of a Blue Dog can only see his lover before the sun rises. Both of them can only dream about engaging with their lovers, knowing that it can never actually happen. Brett and the female character from Eyes of a Blue Dog are both slowed down by the male characters. Brett is promiscuous because she can neverhave the only man she truly loves. The woman from The Eyes of a Blue Dog continuously says "eyes of a blue dog" so that one day she will be noticed by her lover. It never happens, and she appears to be crazy.
ReplyDeleteAs Zachary stated before, the main connection between the lovers in The Eyes of a Blue Dog and Jake and Brett is that both cannot physically be with each other. Both couples can confide in each other emotionally but they cannot reach that level of intimacy other couples can. Jake and Brett cannot have sex and the man and the woman in the short story can only meet in a dream. Both relationships are fragile and frequently interrupted. Brett's numerous flings with other men put a strain on her and Jake's relationship and the "fall of a spoon in the early morning" usually ends the encounters between the ill-fated lovers in the short story. However, there is also a reversal of roles between the two stories. In the novel, Jake is the one dropping everything to be with Brett whereas in the Eyes of a Blue Dog, it is the woman who goes around writing "Eyes of a Blue Dog" in hopes that the man would remember her. In addition, the phrase "eyes of a blue dog" give a loose image of the man. No one would know what a blue dog looks like, let alone what his eyes appear to be, so how would the readers know if the man is an actual "outside world" character and not just part of the woman's imagination? I agree with Zachary that the woman may not have a satisfying love life and could be just fantasizing about the perfect man, much like how Brett could be fantasizing about her possible relationship with Jake. Because Brett and Jake can never consummate their relationship or move forward, Brett exaggerates the future she could have had with Jake saying, "We could have had such a damned good time together." In a sense, everything is just part of a never ending dream.
ReplyDeleteThe Snows of Kilimanjaro:
ReplyDeleteThere are many parallels to be seen between Fitzgerald's life, the story, as well as the Great Gatsby. For one, the protagonist of the story's leg is hurt and infected, because of the "weak carbolic solution when the other antiseptics ran out that paralyzed the minute blood vessels and started the gangrene." Nick, also has a disability, due to the war which causes him to be impotent. Another parallel can be seen in Fitzgerald's life, when he was still a struggling writer but fell in love with Zelda. Zelda similar to that of Daisy, is more concerned with financial stability and thus refuses to marry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald writes many books, and finally after the publication of his the "This Side of Paradise," he is immensely successful. Through his success, he wins her heart and they wed a week later. Similarly, Daisy falls for the Great Gatsby again, after seeing all his "beautiful shirts," and immense wealth. In the story, as he travels back in time, and he reminisces about the past, he has many regrets. His main one is not reaching his full potential, and instead marrying many wealthy woman. This goes hand in hand with a theme in the Lost Generation with the lost of materialist gain.
David Lin period 7
ReplyDeleteSnows of Kilimanjaro
The main protagonist of the Snows of Kilimanjaro, named Harry, seems to directly allude to Scott Fitzgerald and his life. The story focuses on the final moments of life of the character, Harry. Throughout the story, Harry, keeps asking for alcohol, despite the fact that it made his gangrene condition worse. Just like Harry, Fitzgerald in his final two years of life, had an alcohol. Fitzgerald was also heavily depressed, which was worsened by the alcohol, a central nervous system depressant and a life-wrecking substance. Furthermore, Harry attributes his alcohol consumption to dulling his keen perception of the world, which was to the detriment of his skills as a writer. Likewise, Fitzgerald, in his later years, lost most of his fame as a writer, spent all of his money on alcohol and parties, and struggled unsuccessfully to regain his prior success in writing(biography.com, 1). In the end, he died of a heart attack at age 44, which he didn’t see coming(biography.com, 1). Comparably, the character in the story, Harry, also died due to an unforeseen incident caused by a small cut from a rose thorn. The theme of dying too young, is present in the Snows of Kilimanjaro as well as in Fitzgerald’s life. Fitzgerald’s early death is also coincident to the death of the main character, Gatsby, in his novel, The Great Gatsby. A former army officer, Gatsby worked hard to gain financial riches, in order to win the love of a woman named Daisy. However, due to the outcome of unfortunate events, he was killed by a deranged and depressed character, Mr. Wilson. The idea of an early death is present in Harry, Fitzgerald, and Gatsby.
David Lin pd7 Snow of Kilimanjaro(continued)
ReplyDeleteUpon their deaths, all three characters , Harry, Fitzgerald, and Gatsby have had their regrets or unaccomplished wishes. Many of these regrets seem to be tied to their past wealthy lifestyle, a message that Hemingway tries to convey in the Snow of Kilimanjaro. Harry was a man who spent his entire life sleeping with women because they were rich. Finally, he realized how pointless it was in the end, as he admits that his whole life had been a lie. He doesn’t love his wife, and instead is disdainful of her because she is rich and boring. He refers to her as a “rich bitch” and only married her for financial security(Hemingway, 1). His biggest regret was not working on his writing, which he truly cares about, and is trying to make up for the lost time by writing as much as he can before he dies. He reflects that he did not use his skill in writing and instead traded it for something else(Hemingway,1). What he meant was that he wanted to write about important things at first, about the things he noticed about rich people. He wanted to write of the insights and observations he had of the “rich life”(Hemingway,1). But instead, he eventually gave in to the comforts and pleasures of upper class living which he wanted to investigate, and ended up writing nothing. Harry sacrificed what he really wants to do in exchange for materialistic gains. This was his ultimate downfall. This is connectable to Fitzgerald and Gatsby. Fitzgerald was a good writer at first, with his earlier novels a hit(biography.com,1). However, Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, ended up living a lavish lifestyle of drinking, partying, and similar hedonistic activities. In the end, his writing suffered and weren’t as good as they were before. Likewise, Gatsby tried hard to attain wealth, which was a goal that he didn’t especially care for. It was only a stepping stone to help him win Daisy’s love. However, it was all for nothing because she was already married. In the end, Gatsby died without attaining what he truly wanted, which was his love with Daisy. Instead, he died with his materialistic possessions such as his mansion and his wealth.
David Lin pd7 Snow of Kilimanjaro (Last Continued)
ReplyDeleteHemingway is making a point about wealth through his story, by symbolically connecting it with Fitzgerald, Gatsby, and the American ideal of wealth in the gilded age. He wanted to show that there are many more important things in life than money and wealth. Higher class living is not a fantasy as most people in America believed. Rich people, are not necessarily happier nor are they exempt from the other realities of life, such as death, regret, and suffering. Instead, wealth can even trap people into a boring, repetitive, and materialistic life devoid of true purpose or meaningful value. He tries to show that if a person chases a life of riches and wealth, it may be the wrong choice that leads to regrets, especially in the final moments of life, when death unexpectedly strikes.
Work Cited
"F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 03 June 2012. .
"F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 03 June 2012. .
"F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 03 June 2012. .
Hemingway, Ernest. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro - E. Hemingway." The Snows of Kilimanjaro - E. Hemingway. Web. 03 June 2012. .
Eyes of a Blue Dog --
ReplyDeleteThe characters in “Eyes of Blue Dog” are similar to Jake and Brett in that their existence as a couple exists only in the dream world. The male character wants to remember the female character's cues (eyes of a blue dog), but he never remembers those cues once he awakes. He can see her only when he is asleep. The dream world resembles the cars and rooms that Jake and Brett are seen alone in. Although they act intimately during those scenes, their intimacy is not seen beyond those places. The story ends with the woman saying, “You're the only man who doesn't remember anything of what he's dreamed after he wakes up.” The male character can experience love only his dreams, therefore making his love for the woman a figment of his imagination. The love that Jake and Brett shares is also a fabricated idea—Jake fancies the idea of having a woman by his side and Brett fancies the idea of being able to attract men of all kinds, even those who can't engage in sexual relationships with her.
David Lin pd 7(Eyes of a Blue Dog)
ReplyDeleteThe love story present in Eyes of a Blue Dog is very similar to the one that Jake and Brett has in the Sun Also Rises. The man and the woman in the Eyes of the Blue Dog, are separated physically, in reality. However, they meet every night in their dreams. This separation can represent the barrier between Jake and Brett. The two of them are in love emotionally in the abstract realm. However, physically, they can never be together, because of Jake’s injury. It is as if in a perfect and idealistic world, Jake and Brett would be together, much like the dream for the man and the woman. This may be why when Brett said, “We could have had such a damned good time together,” Jake said, “ isn’t it pretty to think so.” Jake refers to their love relationship as if it were a mere fantasy or dream, much like as in the short story, Eyes of a Blue Dog. In reality, they are separated by the way things are due to circumstance.
The dreams of the man and the women, in Eyes of a Blue Dog, can also relate to Brett and Jake in their relationship’s outward appearance. The man and the women only meet during the night when they are sleeping. During the day, they go about their usual lives. This is much like Jake and Brett, who kiss each other and express their love when no one else is around. This is their true relationship, behind closed doors. However, during the daytime when Jake and Brett are hanging out with friends, they only show the outward appearance of a platonic friendship. It is much like the man and the women from Eyes of the Blue Dog, in that their love and passion come out through their dreams. But when day comes, the relationship is gone and the man doesn’t remember a thing. This is very coherent to the psychological explanation for dreams, proposed by Sigmund Freud, that during the daytime, we repress many of our thoughts and feelings, but at night when we dream, these repressed things manifest themselves.
David Lin pd 7 Eyes of a Blue Dog (continued due to text limit)
ReplyDeleteDuring the dream encounters, the relationship between the Man and the women also have a recurring cycle to it. They meet again and again between dreams, much like how Brett has relations with men, but always ends back together with Jake. Furthermore the men and the women have a nonphysical relationship even in the dreams. Most of what they do is sit and stare at each other. When the man tries to touch her, she tells him not to because it would “ruin everything.” This is just like how Brett stays attached to Jake, because they never slept together. If it were possible for them to have had sex, Jake would become “ruined” for Brett, and she would lose her desire for him, just like what has happened to every man she ever slept with.
Tracy Huang Pd 7
ReplyDeleteEyes of a Blue Dog
The relationship between the main characters in the Eyes of a Blue Dog is like the connection the main characters of The Sun Also Rises have with their direction in life and their goals. Brett, Jake, Bill, and Cohn never find out what they want in life like how the woman and man never meet each other. The man and woman can symbolize each other’s dreams and goals; they’re always dreaming about it but they never grasp it in reality. The last line as Shirley has pointed out, can also symbolize the man and woman’s inability to achieve their dreams like the characters of The Sun Also Rises. The woman in the Eyes of a Blue Dog strongly resembles Brett. The woman wanders around in a crazy pursuit for the man, muttering, “The Eyes of a Blue Dog.” She is delirious and doesn’t understand what “Eyes of a Blue Dog” means but she wanders around saying it. She is like Brett in a way that Brett goes around with different men. She doesn’t know what she wants but she wanders around in pursuit of something but not totally understanding it at all.
Chun Li pd 7
ReplyDeleteEoaBD
When looking upon the characters of this story, it reminds me of the relationship between Jake and Brett.It seems like a forbidden fruit type of situation. The man dreams of this women, he wants her bad but can never touch her. She is even refer to as "laminated metal". This is parallel to how much Jake wants to be with Brett but alas it can't be. There is also a common idea of teasing. The lady appears in the man's dreams every night just as Brett constantly returns to Jake. Nothing ever happens between them though.
For me, I enjoyed how the lady appeared beside the light every single time. The light is usually what wakes us up in the morning. It shows how he will never be able to make contact with the lady, he can try reaching but the light will surely bring him back to reality.
Chun Li pd 7
ReplyDeleteThe Snows of Kilimanjaro
The main character in this story appears to be a direct copy of Fitzgerald or at least in the way that Hemingway interpreted him. The main character and his wife are stuck and waiting for planes to rescue them, the man has leg problems perhaps frostbite and it appears that it needs to be amputated. This is similar to Fitzgerald's life when he was in war. He believed that he would die in the war and so quickly wrote a novel called "The Romantic Egotist." This is similar to how the main character expects to die but asks his wife if she can take dictation.
Fitzgerald was constantly in debt and had drinking problems so it makes sense the Hemingway portrays him as someone who drinks until death. As a result of his debt, it would be a valid reason for why the main character takes richer women as companions.
The way that the main character insults his wife could be in reference to how Fitzgerald alienated those around him during his life. In real life because of how he isolated himself from others, not much people went to his funeral. In the story he dies a lonely death. During his death, there is a hyena outside. The allusion to the hyena could be referring to Fitzgerald's completely different persona when he is drunk. Hyenas are usually shy and cowardly but at times can turn hostile attacking others.
Willie Xu
ReplyDeleteThe Yellow Paper
Friedan’s “problem without a name” involved the feeling that many women were having during her time concerning their lack of power and involvement in society. Unlike what most people believed, women were unhappy with their lives and wanted a future more appealing than being a housewife. They did not want to be the subservient, obedient, and submissive women that society dictated should be their goals in life. Betty Friedman recognized how widespread this problem was and helped many other women realize that they were not alone in experiencing it. This “problem without a name” is experienced by both Esther in The Bell Jar and the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper. In The Bell Jar, Esther tries to escape from what those around her expect of her and become more independent, shown by her resolve to never marry. As Esther experiences feelings of alienation and failure while she is supposed to be, according to most people, very cheerful and happy, she begins to seek escape in the form of attempted suicide. Similarly, when the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper begins to feel that she is being stopped from what she really feels like doing, she turns to other things, namely the wallpaper in her room. In part because she is forced to stay in the room for extended periods of time and because her mind is not allowed to become too preoccupied with other matters, she begins to have an obsession with the paper and eventually deludes herself into thinking that the wallpaper is the cage that is keeping her from what she really believes in doing. Like Esther, she seeks to escape from the influence of those around her. She begins to have a crazed urge to tear down the paper and “creep around” trying to hide from society in her own delusions about the world. While Esther manages to resolve her problems by standing up to society and not fleeing, however, the narrator from The Yellow Wallpaper does not and becomes lost in her imagination. Because The Yellow Wallpaper was published long before both Friedan and the women’s right movement, during 1899, we know that this problem had manifested much earlier in the past.
In "Eyes of a Blue Dog" the main characters have a cyclic relationship where they can never physically meet, somewhat similar to the relationship with Brett and Jake. The characters in "Eyes of a Blue Dog" only meet in their dreams, and while the man forgets everything when he wakes up, the woman is driven insane by her inability to meet with the man. This is similar to how Jake is never able to get Brett when he's crazy for her, while Brett seems to have no deep emotional attachments with anyone. In the story though, I was wondering if anyone questioned the existence of the man. I have tried lucid dreaming before, and one of the first steps is to keep a journal of what your dreams were the previous night. In the story, the man seems to not remember anything that happens during the dreams, while the woman seems to write down and scream out "Eyes of a Blue Dog" everywhere and to everyone. Could the man just be a figment of the woman's imagination? Someone that she dreamed up?
ReplyDelete