Closed Reading #4

Ethan Hauser's article The Total Agony of Family Time describes the emptiness he feels during the holiday season. Though he wants to believes it is in fact the "most wonderful time of the year," Hauser has always found that this time period to be very forced and insincere for him. He and his family always seem to just go through the motions of the holidays instead of really feeling the excitement. He describes it as a time "when the gulf between what you want and what you get is the widest." 

The article starts with a description of the train ride down from New York City to Pennsylvania. Hauser describes it as a mundane commute he has taken every year since college, and along the way, he can see others paying visits to their families as well. He then dreams about the fun they must be having or the traditions they might be returning to this Christmas, and how his family celebrates the holidays so differently. This imagery paints a very disheartening picture, a stark contrast to the usual upbeat of this time of year. I'm sure many of Hauser's readers are puzzled as to why he doesn't enjoy seeing his family as much as they do, or feel the same excitement as they do.  

 As the article progresses, there is a change in the voice of the author. At first, Hauser opens the article in a more mature tone, using phrases like "[ I must try] honoring traditions," or "[I could] find ways to cope with the holidays," suggesting that even though Hauser doesn't want to visit his family and deal with the tension, he will be mature about the situation. However, later, his tone changes, and he seems to regress to his teenage state, using monosyllabic words to reply to his parents like "fine" or "out" in response to questions like "how have you been?" or "where are you headed?" He also says he sleeps in until noon or leaves the house for extended periods of time to avoid talking with his family too much. This change in syntax shows the effects that returning home has on Hauser. 

At this point, readers are probably thinking that Hauser is a pessimistic cynical man, void of the Christmas spirit. How could anyone hate Christmas this much? However, at the very end, Hauser reveals that he and his family are Jewish, and ever since he has remembered, he has been jealous of those who participated in Christmas traditions, like the tree, Santa, and a turkey roasting in the oven for Christmas dinner. The large emphasis of Christmas culture portrayed in media and practiced by the majority in our country have withered away Hauser's holiday spirit. By this lack of details, Hauser plays at his audience's emotions, causing them to sympathize with him.     

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/the-total-agony-of-family-time.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

Open Prompt #4

1982. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.

In Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, violence is a very normal part of the characters' society. The story takes place in a fictionalized future where kids are increasingly more prone to violent acts. Alex, the protagonist, leads a gang in his town that either fights other gangs, beats up the men or rapes the women in his community. To pass the time when they are not committing these crimes, the group hangs out at local bars.

I think Burgess implements the theme of violence in society's youth in this story because it shows the change in how people were bringing up their children. Burgess may have noticed, in his own community, a leniency toward older values and how strictly people tended to be toward their kids. Perhaps Burgess was trying to warn others of this loosening of morals through a satirical way in A Clockwork Orange. By showing a group of 15 years old wreaking havoc throughout town and committing almost unfathomable crimes, I think Burgess' point is more shocking to its readers (also, consider the time period that this book was written in. Society was not as exposed to violence as it is today).  

Another use of Burgess' scenes of violence is the idea of a lack of self discipline and empowerment. Perhaps Burgess is trying to suggest that he is noticing that people feel that they are only powerful when putting down others. Alex, in the story, describes a rush he gets when committing these crimes, and how he feels untouchable. By scaring his audience by showing them the lengths that people will go to to feel better about themselves, I think Burgess hopes to show his audience that the greatest satisfaction should only come from believing in yourself, not from the expense of others.

Burgess also is trying to stress how short term satisfaction is no substitute for long term satisfaction. Although Alex may feel a high from these acts of violence, hours later, he is down again, resulting in more crimes. I think Burgess wants people to achieve a long term happiness, and to accomplish something bigger.  

Burgess uses scenes of violence as a method of satire to show his society the results of poor discipline in both our youth and ourselves. 

Death of a Salesman

Author: Arthur Miller
Setting: New York, 1940s. 
Significant Characters:

• Willy Loman- a salesman with a career in decline, a complicated relationship with his son Biff, and an unstable mental state.
• Linda Loman- Willy's wife, who wants their sons to just go along with his illness, and doesn't do anything significant about his suicide attempts because of his pride.
• Biff Loman- Willy's older son, who rejected Willy's values of popularity and money in order to move out west, and has been living with the secret of his father's infidelity for many years.
• Happy Loman- Willy's younger son, who always seems to be trying to get on his father's good side. In the end, it seems that he will follow in Willy's path.

Summery/Plot: This play starts out with Willy Loman coming home from work to his home and wife, Linda, in New York. His two sons, Biff and Happy, are in town visiting. Willy and Linda discuss his job, which Willy has to drive far away to. Linda wants Willy to relocate his job to the city because he is old and shouldn't have to drive that far. His two sons come down and talk to Willy, and then Willy has one of his daydreams, older memories he has that are most likely twisted to his liking. The daydream is about the family playing ball in the backyard, and Willy's reveal of his new business idea. Bernard, the Loman's neighbor, is also there, and stresses the importance of school and Biff's grades. Linda enters as well, and talks about the expenses the family will have to pay off, and how Willy's pay doesn't cover for them. Willy has another delusion with this daydream, flashing back to an affair he had in Boston.
The scene flashes back to reality. The family is discussing Willy's mental state. The boys can see the evident psychological problems Willy is dealing with, but Linda continues to defend Willy, denying that there is anything wrong with him. After much arguing, they argee to go into business together.
The next day, Willy is heading off to work to ask his boss to relocate his job. Afterwards, Linda tells him that his sons are going to treat him for dinner. So Willy goes to his boss, only to find out that he is fired. Willy, now unemployed, goes to Charley, his neighbor, to ask for more money, an activity he engages in weekly. He finds out that his son, Bernard, is going to argue a case in front of the supreme court. Bernard and Willy discuss Biff's past, and how he flunked high school.
Later, Willy arrives at the restaurant  expecting his sons to treat him to dinner, and expecting Biff is have started the business they were previously discussing. Biff, however, had not pulled off the deal, and the family argues. Eventually, the two sons leave with women from the restaurant and leave Willy by himself in the bathroom.
In the bathroom, Willy flashes back to when he had the affair in Boston. Biff finds out about the affair, thus deterring him from enrolling in summer school and stopping his graduation. This is why Biff is such a "bum" now. Willy snaps out of his dream, and goes back home to his family.
The family has a long series of confessions after that, and make amends about their years of quarreling  Willy, finally content with his life, commits suicide in attempt to help his family financially with his life insurance.

Narrative Voice/Style:

The narrative voice is mostly from Willy's perspective, and the frequent time shifts serve to imply to the audience how muddled Willy's mind is, giving the play a stream of consciousness feel. Symbolism is used by Miller to emphasize important points in the play, such as his use of seeds. His failed attempts to grow vegetables can also be seen as a failed attempt to achieve the American Dream the way he sees it, and his failure to help Biff do the same. The imagery of Willy and the rubber hose also contributes to the story, because the reader picturing the end result of the American Dream as an old man hanging dead in the basement makes it clear that Willy's values don't make for a fulfilling way to live.

Quotes:

"I'm vital in New England." ~ this is an example of how Willy constantly tries to pretend that he's more important than he actually is.

"Pop! I'm a dime a dozen, and so are you!" ~ Biff realizes his father's ideas of grandeur are impractical, and tries to tell him that. This quote is central in the message Miller is trying to show in the play.

Theme:

Miller's Death of a Salesman shows that superficial values make for an empty American Dream. The title, which speaks of Willy's eventual suicide, supports this because it could also be construed to mean the death of Willy's personification of a dream based on emptiness. Willy's juxtaposition with Biff also supports this, because Biff is the opposite of Willy, and shows how insignificant Willy's life choices are.

Response to Course Material #4

In class, we've been analyzing Death of a Salesman more. Like before, I think the class discussions about DOS is very helpful is helping me see what the author, Miller, was trying to portray, and how other people in the class interpret the play.
We've also been reading Hamlet, which has been better than a lot of other experiences I've had reading Shakespeare. Ms. Holmes' input is very helpful and helps me understand the strange Old English dialect, and its been much easier to stay interested in the story. What is interesting to me is how different Shakespearean plays are compared to our modern plays. For example, deaths are somewhat taboo in Shakepeare's time, whereas today, we can see death in any episode of CSI or Criminal Minds during prime time on TV. Polonius' death in Hamlet was a complete shock to an audience back then, but now we think almost nothing of it. Other deaths in Shakespearean plays have been announced off stage with characters saying things like "Oh no, I'm dead!" which sounds ridiculous to us now.  Over the centuries, people have become desensitized to violence, among several other things. Like in Death of a Salesman, Biff was unaware of affairs, and children during the 1950s were generally more innocent.  Kids these days just seem to know more, and the social norm has changed.
In Hamlet, long soliloquies and monologues are used frequently in plot development. In modern times, a story line is told through actions and character interactions, rather than through an explanation of one character. It's weird that someone has to stand in front of an audience and have to explain what is happening, especially since lit teachers have been drilling us since middle school to "show, not tell" in our writings. 
Other than that, we had our last student group of the rhetoric exercises, which is pretty sad. Instead, we practice different literary tones before each class as a warm-up, which has been fun, because Ms. Holmes gives out jolly ranchers, and it makes me happy.