QUOTE:
“O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain” (Twain 323).
SUMMARY:
This section of “The War Prayer” is one of the most outright violent parts in this text. It’s probably one of the main sections that led to it being unsuitable for publication at the time.
RESPONSE:
While I read this work, I imagined the most passive-aggressive speaker reciting it as a speech. I think Twain is exposing how ridiculous it is for people to go to war “in the name of God,” and is throwing this idea back up in everyone’s face. At first I thought Twain was just merely suggesting his idea, but after our discussion in class, I see how bold Twain was with his choice of words. The word that stood out to me the most was from our class discussion though, and that was hypocrisy. It pointed out to me that Twain is basically accusing “Crusaders” (or even just basic religious people) of viewing war as a double standard. It reminds me of when we read Abraham Lincoln last quarter because he addresses the issue of how not everyone can be “right,” and yet they are all praying to the “same” god.
I think that it was too controversial to publish this text at the time, not only because it was written during the Philippine-American War, but also because some people probably realized that there was some truth to what Twain wrote. However, Twain takes back everything he says at the end. The last sentence, which reads, “the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said” (Twain 324); seems to be Twain’s disclaimer. He can blame everything he has written on the “crazy” man, who is just a character in a story. Maybe it’s more obvious that this isn’t just a fictional story though, so any publisher would know that any “war literature” would be too touchy.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Journal #9 Mark Twain: My Favorite Humor!
QUOTE:
“Why, it made no difference to him - he’d bet on any thing – the dangdest feller” (Twain 105).
SUMMARY:
Smiley is just a lucky guy, so he finds the strangest bets to try his chances on. He even goes as far as betting whether Parson Walker’s wife will die or not.
RESPONSE:
This is a nice light-hearted story about a gambling man and a frog, and it also happens to be frustratingly funny without the obvious punch line. The humor comes from the ridiculous situations, which seem especially silly when told in the correct accent of the dialect, and other little details in how the simple story is told. For example, I wonder how different this story would have come across if it were told from a third person perspective instead of a first person perspective.
The main reason I love this story, however, is because it reminds me of my all-time favorite show in the whole world on television: The Simpsons. Reading this story made me think of an episode with Krusty The Clown making ridiculous bets, similarly to Jim Smiley’s ridiculous bets. Krusty starts getting into gambling debt, so to fix this problem he makes any other bet he can make. He asks his bookie, “What do ya got on the Opera tonight?” And the bookie actually asks, “Who do ya like?” Krusty then says, “The Tenor!!” That’s the joke without a punch line.
It seems so much wittier to me than anything; book, movie, or television show, that uses “bathroom” or crude humor. Maybe that’s why I also have always loved Groucho Marx. He is probably my favorite comedian, and he always said that a real comedian would never have to be censored; a real comedian can suggest something that is only an allusion to something shocking, so anyone will still find it funny.
“Why, it made no difference to him - he’d bet on any thing – the dangdest feller” (Twain 105).
SUMMARY:
Smiley is just a lucky guy, so he finds the strangest bets to try his chances on. He even goes as far as betting whether Parson Walker’s wife will die or not.
RESPONSE:
This is a nice light-hearted story about a gambling man and a frog, and it also happens to be frustratingly funny without the obvious punch line. The humor comes from the ridiculous situations, which seem especially silly when told in the correct accent of the dialect, and other little details in how the simple story is told. For example, I wonder how different this story would have come across if it were told from a third person perspective instead of a first person perspective.
The main reason I love this story, however, is because it reminds me of my all-time favorite show in the whole world on television: The Simpsons. Reading this story made me think of an episode with Krusty The Clown making ridiculous bets, similarly to Jim Smiley’s ridiculous bets. Krusty starts getting into gambling debt, so to fix this problem he makes any other bet he can make. He asks his bookie, “What do ya got on the Opera tonight?” And the bookie actually asks, “Who do ya like?” Krusty then says, “The Tenor!!” That’s the joke without a punch line.
It seems so much wittier to me than anything; book, movie, or television show, that uses “bathroom” or crude humor. Maybe that’s why I also have always loved Groucho Marx. He is probably my favorite comedian, and he always said that a real comedian would never have to be censored; a real comedian can suggest something that is only an allusion to something shocking, so anyone will still find it funny.
Journal #8 Ambrose Bierce: Oh The Humanity!
QUOTE:
“From this state he was awakened – ages later, it seemed to him – by the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation” (Bierce 363).
SUMMARY:
Peyton Farquhar is being hanged. This is the description that leads to the “trick” ending, but it is really describing the suffocation sensation of the hanging.
RESPONSE:
The beginning of Part III is creepy and pretty horrible when I think about it; and it reminds me of my experience waking up from a coma, like many other texts do as well. When I first woke up, it was the middle of the night and I thought I was dreaming. I had no sense of time or anything, so it seemed like I had forgotten my whole entire life. I guess the difference is that I was waking up, but Farquhar is “falling asleep” a.k.a. dying. I think Farquhar also had more time to experience thoughts in his brain as he dies, which led to his “dream” sequence. I guess maybe that’s better than actually knowing that you are dying, kind of like a movie that just suddenly ends, instead of Farquhar using that time to think about how he’s dying a horrible death.
What I find really interesting about this story (I’m pretty sure Dr. Scott pointed this out in class, and I agree) is that I think the readers are going to be on Farquar’s side. The readers want him to have escaped the noose, but don’t necessarily want any slave owner to help sabotage “The Yanks,” or get any sort of upper hand. Without section II, I believe the readers (and myself) would feel more disappointed or depressed from the ending. However, even though I don’t feel quite as bad for Farquar once I know his background, I still notice that section III makes me wish that he ends up escaping in the end. Maybe that’s just having some sort of compassion for another human being going through a horrible experience?
“From this state he was awakened – ages later, it seemed to him – by the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation” (Bierce 363).
SUMMARY:
Peyton Farquhar is being hanged. This is the description that leads to the “trick” ending, but it is really describing the suffocation sensation of the hanging.
RESPONSE:
The beginning of Part III is creepy and pretty horrible when I think about it; and it reminds me of my experience waking up from a coma, like many other texts do as well. When I first woke up, it was the middle of the night and I thought I was dreaming. I had no sense of time or anything, so it seemed like I had forgotten my whole entire life. I guess the difference is that I was waking up, but Farquhar is “falling asleep” a.k.a. dying. I think Farquhar also had more time to experience thoughts in his brain as he dies, which led to his “dream” sequence. I guess maybe that’s better than actually knowing that you are dying, kind of like a movie that just suddenly ends, instead of Farquhar using that time to think about how he’s dying a horrible death.
What I find really interesting about this story (I’m pretty sure Dr. Scott pointed this out in class, and I agree) is that I think the readers are going to be on Farquar’s side. The readers want him to have escaped the noose, but don’t necessarily want any slave owner to help sabotage “The Yanks,” or get any sort of upper hand. Without section II, I believe the readers (and myself) would feel more disappointed or depressed from the ending. However, even though I don’t feel quite as bad for Farquar once I know his background, I still notice that section III makes me wish that he ends up escaping in the end. Maybe that’s just having some sort of compassion for another human being going through a horrible experience?
Monday, January 14, 2008
Journal #7 Bret Harte: Death For A False Messiah!
QUOTE:
“A smile lit the eyes of the expiring Kentuck. ‘Dying!’ he repeated…‘Tell the boys I’ve got The Luck with me now;’ and the strong man, clinging to the frail babe as a drowning man is said to cling to a straw, drifted away” (Harte 333).
SUMMARY:
The winter causes the creeks and rivers to overflow, and the cabin “The Luck” is living in is swept away. Kentuck, who dies trying to save The Luck, is actually happy during his last breaths because he believes he will be with Tommy forever now.
RESPONSE:
Maybe Kentuck is actually happy because he can believe that he will still be with The Luck, instead of surviving and having to live without Tommy. The expressman even says, “they worship an Ingin baby” (Harte 332) when describing the men at Roaring Camp, which sounds like Tommy is almost like their own “Baby Jesus.” Millions of people have died throughout time because of their religion and so many gruesome wars are caused by religious differences. I think Kentuck’s death probably isn’t in vain, in his own eyes at least.
After reading The Luck of Roaring Camp, I just want to say, “That sucks for them.” Hopefully the men in Roaring Camp won’t turn back into reckless murderers, because their lives seemed to be more enriched when they had The Luck to take care of. Maybe they will really open up the camp to other people, now that they’ll need someone or something to love again. Either that, or they’ll completely shut off their camp to the outside world. I have to say that I really enjoyed this story, and especially because it’s hard for me to think of it as fiction. I was totally thinking about what will become of Roaring Camp, or what became of Roaring Camp, but then I had to remind myself that it’s a fictional story; realistic, but fictional.
Maybe that’s what also allows me to actually like the story though. Maybe because Kentuck or Tommy didn’t actually exist, and camps in the “Wild West” probably never devoted all of their time to a “false Messiah.” I can just read this story as an interesting idea without feeling bad, even though a situation like this has probably happened somewhere in the world already.
“A smile lit the eyes of the expiring Kentuck. ‘Dying!’ he repeated…‘Tell the boys I’ve got The Luck with me now;’ and the strong man, clinging to the frail babe as a drowning man is said to cling to a straw, drifted away” (Harte 333).
SUMMARY:
The winter causes the creeks and rivers to overflow, and the cabin “The Luck” is living in is swept away. Kentuck, who dies trying to save The Luck, is actually happy during his last breaths because he believes he will be with Tommy forever now.
RESPONSE:
Maybe Kentuck is actually happy because he can believe that he will still be with The Luck, instead of surviving and having to live without Tommy. The expressman even says, “they worship an Ingin baby” (Harte 332) when describing the men at Roaring Camp, which sounds like Tommy is almost like their own “Baby Jesus.” Millions of people have died throughout time because of their religion and so many gruesome wars are caused by religious differences. I think Kentuck’s death probably isn’t in vain, in his own eyes at least.
After reading The Luck of Roaring Camp, I just want to say, “That sucks for them.” Hopefully the men in Roaring Camp won’t turn back into reckless murderers, because their lives seemed to be more enriched when they had The Luck to take care of. Maybe they will really open up the camp to other people, now that they’ll need someone or something to love again. Either that, or they’ll completely shut off their camp to the outside world. I have to say that I really enjoyed this story, and especially because it’s hard for me to think of it as fiction. I was totally thinking about what will become of Roaring Camp, or what became of Roaring Camp, but then I had to remind myself that it’s a fictional story; realistic, but fictional.
Maybe that’s what also allows me to actually like the story though. Maybe because Kentuck or Tommy didn’t actually exist, and camps in the “Wild West” probably never devoted all of their time to a “false Messiah.” I can just read this story as an interesting idea without feeling bad, even though a situation like this has probably happened somewhere in the world already.
Journal #6 Bret Harte: The Power of a New Baby!
QUOTE:
“Strange to say, the child thrived. Perhaps the invigorating climate of the mountain camp was compensation for material deficiencies. Nature took the foundling to her broader breast” (Harte 329).
SUMMARY:
Even without his mother, “Tommy Luck” is able to survive in Roaring Camp. All of the men make sure that they give the baby sufficient substitutes for anything the mother would have provided.
RESPONSE:
Baby Tommy probably had a pretty good chance of survival with “Cherokee Sal” gone because he had the whole camp as his fathers. In a way I think he may have had a greater chance of survival (or just a better life), because I’m not sure the men in the camp would have claimed Tommy as their own; especially with Cherokee Sal still alive. It makes me think of those horrible talk shows that give paternity tests to all of the possible fathers of a single baby. Almost every time, the real father ends up saying, “I will do what’s right for the baby, but I don’t want anything to do with the mother.” Without Cherokee Sal still alive, all of the men can feel like Tommy is possibly their own baby, but don’t have to worry about any “right” way of dealing with Cherokee Sal.
That may not have been the only reason why the men want to take such good care of Tommy, however. Since this is the first birth at Roaring Camp, followed by the ”regeneration” in the Camp, the new life seems to show the men that there is a possibility for change. I think this possibility is enough motivation to break the old habits of the men. I also think that the men were probably in need of something or someone to really love. No matter how crude, rough, or unwieldy these men were; I think this experience changed them. It’s not like they were all lazy deadbeat-dads to begin with. They may have been known to shoot men dead in the streets, but their parenting skills were what came through in the end.
“Strange to say, the child thrived. Perhaps the invigorating climate of the mountain camp was compensation for material deficiencies. Nature took the foundling to her broader breast” (Harte 329).
SUMMARY:
Even without his mother, “Tommy Luck” is able to survive in Roaring Camp. All of the men make sure that they give the baby sufficient substitutes for anything the mother would have provided.
RESPONSE:
Baby Tommy probably had a pretty good chance of survival with “Cherokee Sal” gone because he had the whole camp as his fathers. In a way I think he may have had a greater chance of survival (or just a better life), because I’m not sure the men in the camp would have claimed Tommy as their own; especially with Cherokee Sal still alive. It makes me think of those horrible talk shows that give paternity tests to all of the possible fathers of a single baby. Almost every time, the real father ends up saying, “I will do what’s right for the baby, but I don’t want anything to do with the mother.” Without Cherokee Sal still alive, all of the men can feel like Tommy is possibly their own baby, but don’t have to worry about any “right” way of dealing with Cherokee Sal.
That may not have been the only reason why the men want to take such good care of Tommy, however. Since this is the first birth at Roaring Camp, followed by the ”regeneration” in the Camp, the new life seems to show the men that there is a possibility for change. I think this possibility is enough motivation to break the old habits of the men. I also think that the men were probably in need of something or someone to really love. No matter how crude, rough, or unwieldy these men were; I think this experience changed them. It’s not like they were all lazy deadbeat-dads to begin with. They may have been known to shoot men dead in the streets, but their parenting skills were what came through in the end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
