Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Invisble Man Blog
Well Laurie, my first impression of the book was similar to yours. I too thought I was about a man trying to find himself within the racist society he was living in. One time I noticed about the beginning of the book is its murkiness. There aren’t many clear details to anything. There is no setting, time, and most people don’t seem to have a name. Why do you think this is, Laurie?One thing I don’t like about the book is Ellison’s style of writing. The style is very different from most authors I read and the style is hard to comprehend at times too. Like the very first page in the prologue. The protagonist first says “I” am an invisible man.” But then adds “I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids- and I might even be said to possess a mind” (1). If he is invisible, what type of invisibly does he considers himself to hold? ‘Cause it seems so far that he is viewable to other people. Also, why did Ellison not give the protagonist a name yet? Is possible because he is black? Or maybe it’s part of his invisibly, not having a name. What I believe to think when someone isn’t given a name is that they are usually sought by other people as inferior. ‘Cause if someone doesn’t even have a name, an almost essential thing to life, what other things could they possibly have?
Precious Dreams
Here I am an old stage in life. In a powerful, demanding frame.
The air is cruel, forbidding, & drunk
On the way to escape the streetscape
I drink some vile atrocious, contaminated bacteria which hisses
And fogs to have depth and to come
In. The streets look for life, death, or me. Life
is far Death is near. Hell is close, heaven, it’s unreachable.
Tender crisp, deep illuminated night on me. I forge
Through it, them, as
My heart has been sipped on unchangeable now
10 years almost ago, the man comes close to me, swearing & telling.
Who would have thought that I’d be here, nothing
Nobody, no one to tell me that everything
Worth living for is not worth living for.
Life is not as precious as it seems.
Up in the world, far beyond the cloud, now
More than ever before?
Not that lecherous man, peering in taking off her coat
Eyes penetrating her voluminous body. Searching
& feeling in hunger. Not that annoying, petty teen, who was
Going to have to go, careening into the ocean so
To die, and to go on to heaven, imagine
So to go. Not that homeless man, who after very first meeting
I would never & never forget. Whom I visit every night and take him
Into the streets, where Hell fell on him, calling so demanded.
To love him & who will never leave me, not for fame, nor money
Nor even life itself. Which is
Only our human lot & means nothing. No, not anything.
There’s a song “ Live life to it’s fullest”, but no, I won’t do that
I am frustrated. When will I die? I live never die. I will live
To be famous, & I will never go away, & you will never escape from me
Who am always & only a person, despite this world. Spirit
Who lives only to haunt people.
I am only human, & I am in poverty, & I didn’t want my life to
Turn out like this
I came to your life to demand why you done this to me.
Why you done this to people.
Why love live your luxurious life.
Nothing will be done & I can’t depend on fate, nevertheless
I will continue to live cold, poor, and lonely. And watch
The world’s hunger and poverty only continue to grow.
The air is cruel, forbidding, & drunk
On the way to escape the streetscape
I drink some vile atrocious, contaminated bacteria which hisses
And fogs to have depth and to come
In. The streets look for life, death, or me. Life
is far Death is near. Hell is close, heaven, it’s unreachable.
Tender crisp, deep illuminated night on me. I forge
Through it, them, as
My heart has been sipped on unchangeable now
10 years almost ago, the man comes close to me, swearing & telling.
Who would have thought that I’d be here, nothing
Nobody, no one to tell me that everything
Worth living for is not worth living for.
Life is not as precious as it seems.
Up in the world, far beyond the cloud, now
More than ever before?
Not that lecherous man, peering in taking off her coat
Eyes penetrating her voluminous body. Searching
& feeling in hunger. Not that annoying, petty teen, who was
Going to have to go, careening into the ocean so
To die, and to go on to heaven, imagine
So to go. Not that homeless man, who after very first meeting
I would never & never forget. Whom I visit every night and take him
Into the streets, where Hell fell on him, calling so demanded.
To love him & who will never leave me, not for fame, nor money
Nor even life itself. Which is
Only our human lot & means nothing. No, not anything.
There’s a song “ Live life to it’s fullest”, but no, I won’t do that
I am frustrated. When will I die? I live never die. I will live
To be famous, & I will never go away, & you will never escape from me
Who am always & only a person, despite this world. Spirit
Who lives only to haunt people.
I am only human, & I am in poverty, & I didn’t want my life to
Turn out like this
I came to your life to demand why you done this to me.
Why you done this to people.
Why love live your luxurious life.
Nothing will be done & I can’t depend on fate, nevertheless
I will continue to live cold, poor, and lonely. And watch
The world’s hunger and poverty only continue to grow.
Peter Bruegel Explication
Roles in Society
In the poem Corn Harvest, by William Carlos Williams, Williams’ use of language and tone penetrates the readers’ mind to suggest the different roles, lifestyles and hardships a woman and a man endures in peasant day society. While the women do the petty, behind the scenes work, the men are handling physical, outdoors work.
In the first half of the poem, Williams describes the hardships of a working male peasant. “Relaxed / by his morning labors”(7-8). Williams used of language propose that the reaper is physically drained and relaxing is his key to happiness. “Summer!(1)” Williams’ use of an exclamation point at the end of summer describes how much the reaper enjoys this season. Summer, people sees as a happy month, and everything grows and get nutrition from. The title “The Corn Harvest” ties well into why summer is the first word of the poem. Because summer also happens to be the season when all the harvesting is done and crops are collected as well.
While men’s roles are reapers, the women hold a more relaxed job. They had “brought him [reaper] his lunch”(14). As the reader could see, the women have a much more relaxed job according to the poem. Williams hints that since women have a lesser role in society then men, they are treated less as human beings. The women are treated more along the lines of servants. Also, the women do not relax by sleeping. They relax by gossiping. “They gather gossiping/ under a tree.” Williams’ use of language suggests that the tree is the women hangout spot, a place where they get together and socialize. The women huddle under the tree to gather their thoughts and ideas and discuss the latest gossip while the men, like the reaper, share his thoughts, and gossip only among himself.
Williams, though describes the hardships a man must endures in peasant day society, uses hypocritical irony to show how lazy a man could be as well. “Young// reaper enjoying his noonday rest completely”(3-6). According to this excerpt, Williams hints to the reader that the reaper’s “noonday rest” is not just happening that day, but happens on a daily basic, suggesting to the readers that the reaper is exhausted once noonday comes. Also, the reaper, though finished his work, becomes lazy once his morning deeds are done. The reaper doesn’t sleep sitting, but instead falls asleep “sprawled”(9). As if he is too tired or lazy to get up. His morning deeds had drained him of his energy and feels that he must rest quickly. As if he doesn’t, the chance of getting to sleep will have passed by and he had not had taken it.
In the poem Corn Harvest, by William Carlos Williams, Williams’ use of language and tone penetrates the readers’ mind to suggest the different roles, lifestyles and hardships a woman and a man endures in peasant day society. While the women do the petty, behind the scenes work, the men are handling physical, outdoors work.
In the first half of the poem, Williams describes the hardships of a working male peasant. “Relaxed / by his morning labors”(7-8). Williams used of language propose that the reaper is physically drained and relaxing is his key to happiness. “Summer!(1)” Williams’ use of an exclamation point at the end of summer describes how much the reaper enjoys this season. Summer, people sees as a happy month, and everything grows and get nutrition from. The title “The Corn Harvest” ties well into why summer is the first word of the poem. Because summer also happens to be the season when all the harvesting is done and crops are collected as well.
While men’s roles are reapers, the women hold a more relaxed job. They had “brought him [reaper] his lunch”(14). As the reader could see, the women have a much more relaxed job according to the poem. Williams hints that since women have a lesser role in society then men, they are treated less as human beings. The women are treated more along the lines of servants. Also, the women do not relax by sleeping. They relax by gossiping. “They gather gossiping/ under a tree.” Williams’ use of language suggests that the tree is the women hangout spot, a place where they get together and socialize. The women huddle under the tree to gather their thoughts and ideas and discuss the latest gossip while the men, like the reaper, share his thoughts, and gossip only among himself.
Williams, though describes the hardships a man must endures in peasant day society, uses hypocritical irony to show how lazy a man could be as well. “Young// reaper enjoying his noonday rest completely”(3-6). According to this excerpt, Williams hints to the reader that the reaper’s “noonday rest” is not just happening that day, but happens on a daily basic, suggesting to the readers that the reaper is exhausted once noonday comes. Also, the reaper, though finished his work, becomes lazy once his morning deeds are done. The reaper doesn’t sleep sitting, but instead falls asleep “sprawled”(9). As if he is too tired or lazy to get up. His morning deeds had drained him of his energy and feels that he must rest quickly. As if he doesn’t, the chance of getting to sleep will have passed by and he had not had taken it.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
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