Gummy Vite (n.) a children's multivitamin cleverly disguised as a delicious gummy bear; it tricks children into enjoying their vitamins and forces them to question the definition of candy as they know it.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Thoughts on A Raisin in the Sun: Selfishness


There is no doubt that Walter acts selfishly in the novel -- he takes Mama's money and spends it on his own dream, and he ignores his family's advice/directions, even though what he does directly affects them. He loses the money that has the potential to take them out of poverty and fulfill part of their collective dream; that is the lowest point of the play, and in that moment it seems that all hope is lost.

So why was Walter such an appealing character to me? As I read the book, I found myself siding with him, becoming angry with Beneatha for treating him so coldly, and excusing his drinking and irresponsibility.


It all goes back to the first scene, in which Walter passionately defends his dream, his desire to take control of his situation and provide for his family. I forgave him because his selfish actions stem from unselfish desires. I identified with his passion, his longing for a single goal, and accordingly overlooked his foolish and selfish actions.


One major point in Walter's personality is that he's often willing to risk too much or give too much of himself to attain society's definition of success. In the end, though, I can't condemn him for wanting this kind of success, for I am often guilty of making these same types of sacrifices.


What exactly defines selfishness? 

Can an action ever be wholly selfish or unselfish? 
And to what extent is selfishness acceptable? 



Sunday, December 9, 2012

Field Trip to the DIA

I wish I had taken a picture of the nameplate. :(
I attempted to find the name of the painting afterwards
(through Google, very strenuous work), but to no avail.
Update: The painting is "Savoy Ballroom" by Reginald Marsh



On Friday, I went on the Spanish field trip to the DIA.

 “Ha!”, I thought, “I’ll miss English! Yippee!”

However, as I walked through the museum, I came upon a painting of African-Americans dancing in a jazz club during the 1920’s. I examined the faces of the men and women dancing in the picture. Gaiety exuded from every aspect of the picture, from the facial expressions and body language to the vividly colored finery worn by the black men and women. I began to feel a nagging suspicion that I wasn’t going to engage in the thought-free day I had expected.

I was attacked by a rush of thoughts about the poems we read in class -- Langston Hughes’s “Harlem” and “The Weary Blues” depict a much different view of life for African Americans, a life that “festers like a sore”. He documents the hardships that blacks faced and the heavy burden that society places on them because of their race. In contrast to the painter who portrayed the blacks’ lives as enjoyable, carefree, and even glamorous, Hughes portrayed the life of a black as melancholy and tiresome.

However, In the piece by Zora Neale Hurston that we read this weekend, the author seemed to reflect on her heritage in a more positive light, embracing her blackness and seeming to expect others to embrace it as well.


“[The orchestra] constricts the thorax and splits the heart with its tempo and narcotic harmonies...I dance wildly inside myself; I yell within, I whoop; I shake my assegai above my head, I hurl it true to the mark yeeeeooww! I am in the jungle and living in the jungle way.”
I can almost imagine Hurston dancing alongside the people in this painting.

Also, I was just kidding about missing English and the yippee.


Sunday, December 2, 2012

Finishing The Great Gatsby


I loved the book, because I felt a stronger connection to the characters (despite their moral insufficiencies) than I did to some other characters we have studied in English thus far (in The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter). I think a lot of the problems we face today arise due to modernization; there is a constant battle between our desires to do good in the world and wasting time on the internet, going shopping, getting things that we want but don’t necessarily need… they all arise from our tendencies toward self-indulgence and materialism, what the characters face in The Great Gatsby. The contrast between the rich and the poor portrayed in the novel are readily applicable to class issues of recent times, from the Occupy movement to the portrayal of Romney as disgustingly and inaccessibly rich. The overwhelming wealth of the characters gives them freedoms impossible in the time of the Puritans, freedoms that the characters readily abuse. The Roaring Twenties was a time of extreme moral decay, the same exact moral decay that the Puritans were diametrically opposed to. The actions of Gatsby and Daisy and Tom make the Puritans’ extreme intolerance of pleasure and sin almost seem justified.

Key word: almost. We all know how well their City on the Hill worked out for them… In today’s context, the cruel punishments that the Puritans inflicted on those who broke their strict moral code seem just as wrong as the debauchery, betrayal, and complete lack of integrity in Gatsby’s characters. Furthermore, it is important to note how easily both societies are corrupted – the Puritan society through the Salem Witch Trials and Twenties through…well, everything. Each is so unstable that a single action (Abigail’s manipulation and Daisy’s words “You always look so cool”) can cause everything to tumble into murder and chaos…mass hysteria, if you will.

I feel that studying literature set in both of these extreme conditions sets a frame for the “best” sort of world we want to create today. We strive to find the happy medium in our lives, one that allows us pleasure – perhaps through love, a career, or hobbies – without compromising our morals, the things that allow us to feel empathy and tie us to rest of the human race.

“The Buddha’s message was simple yet profound. Neither a life of self- indulgence, nor one of self-mortification can bring happiness. Only a middle path, avoiding these two extremes, leads to peace of mind, wisdom, and complete liberation from the dissatisfactions of life.” 
~Bhante Gunaratana, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk