The Crying of me trying to read Lot 49

I'm going to try and say this in the nicest way possible. I hated The Crying of Lot 49 more than any other piece of literature ever, except maybe anything by Gertrud Stein. There. I really did try to like this book. I expected a story about a band and the drugs and confusion of the sixties. Instead I got a book about...well...I'm not even sure. I expected a book full of symbolism and rich detail, and I got nothing. I got a flat story that leads you no where. For the greater part of the book I was confused about what was going on. What in the world does an underground postal system have anything to do with Oedipa. I'm still trying to figure out why she was so interested in the first place. It was not interesting. As for me, I believe that it was all a wild chase created by Pierce. But then how would he know that she would be able to fall into all his traps? For instance, how would he have been able to know that at the end of her wits she would be travel to San Francisco and end up in a gay bar called The Greek Way? I don't know the answers to these questions because the book fails to give you any. The ending was especially frustrating. Not being able to find out who the mysterious buyers identity was icing on the cake. How could Pynchon do that to me. I made it through the confusing play, and the 1003746382 different characters and then he's going leave me hanging. Although I believe that it was pierce and he was in no way deceased my theory is not enough. I need proof, I need to know! This book deliberately evades solutions to the hundreds of questions that are asked. As the reader you are plagued by uncertainty. But, I suppose the uncertainty that the reader feels is similar to the uncertainty that Oedipa is feeling. Perhaps Pynchon chooses to leave us in the dark so we can relate to Oedipa in her unanswered quest for knowledge. That's great and all, however, just as Oedipa is left feeling out of her mind, so am I.

I thought that the first chapter of The Crying of Lot 49 was slightly confusing but very intriguing. Throughout the entire 12 pages I felt like I had come into a book that was many chapters in. The reader was quickly introduced to people that the book makes you feel like you should already know. I felt like I was bombarded with information, and disordered information at that. However, the more you read through the disorder there was order. But even when I began to understand something, I still found it weird. For instance, the fact that Oedipa's psychiatrist is calling her in the middle of the night to ask her to be apart of his study that requires her to take drugs. There were many times throughout the chapter that I felt like it reminded me of Slaughterhouse 5. For some reason the amount of disorder reminded me of the almost random way in which Slaughterhouse 5 is written. Also there were small little additions to the story that were odd, but I'm sure have some deep hidden meaning. For instance, the fact that the radio station that Mucho works at is the word FUCK spelled backwards. Also, the names in this story are very odd. The name Oedipa which could be said to sound like Oedipus, might be a reference to Freud. Also what is with the name Mucho? So he is a lot. But a lot of what? Also, who could look past the name of the psychiatrist. How could you take someone seriously and expect them to take you seriously when their name was Hilarius. I know that there must be something more to these odd additions to the story I am just unable to figure it out at this point. Hopefully these will be questions that will be answered with further reading.

The Family Name

I enjoyed reading the story "There was a Queen" by William Faulkner. I had read the novel The Unvanquished in high school and was surprised to see the Sartoris family again. I found it interesting how the use of southern standards are used as a measuring stick for a person's character. To Miss Jenny the absolute worst thing that a person, a lady to be specific, could do was damage her reputation and the honor of her family. It was not only the responsibility of a southern woman to take care of her family, but also the family name. The Sartoris family is one that has some of the deepest and most respected roots in the south. Their name has managed to make it through wars and family feuds. To Miss Jenny, the fact that Miss Narcissa would threaten the Sartoris name is insulting. Even a letter that might destroy Miss Narcissa's reputation was enough for Miss Jenny to want to call on the aid of the colonel. The very fact that Miss Narcissa thinks the solution to the problem is to sleep with the man is more than Miss Jenny can bear. She dies in the end, not only because Miss Narcissa has dirtied herself and the family name, but because Miss Jenny knows that this marks the end of an era. This is the end of gentility and respect. This is the end of the life she had known and defended. This is the end of the Sartoris family. One of the most interesting points is that Miss Narcissa knows that what she has done will hurt the family. She knowingly moved the rendezvous to Memphis where she hoped that it would not affect the family. In addition, when she returned she cleansed herself and her son in the creek out beyond the pasture. This shows that Miss Narcissa knew that what she had done was damaging to not only her own self respect, but the respect and good name of the Sartoris family. In the end the damages that were made to Miss Jenny's family and name were too much for her to bear.

The old Stalker

I enjoyed the poem, "The Young Housewife" by William Carlos Williams. At first glance it seems as though this man is just describing a woman that he saw. However, as I continued to read I got the feeling that he was fantasizing more than observing. In the first stanza when he states that the housewife, "moves about in negligee", you get the feeling he is describing, or rather directing a fantasy. This is how he wishes to see her. You then realize that he actually can't see her when he says, "behind the wooden walls of her husband's house". This man has probably made this drive everyday on his way to work and is entertained by imagining what the housewife might be doing. This is more clear in the next stanza when he admits that this has been happening over the course of time by saying, "Then again". This is not just a single observation, this is the culmination of a few chance viewings and many fantasies along the way. In addition, it is interesting that he compares the housewife to a fallen leaf. Does he mean that she has fallen from grace, a woman ready to be tempted and taken advantage of? This can further be questioned when he goes on to describe how his car runs over leaves. Is this supposed to represent his domination of the housewife? Perhaps he understands the power he could have over this woman, that he has so thoughtfully imagined needing him as much as he needs her. In an essay on William Carlos Williams Marjorie Perloff describes the possibility that this stanza is describing a rape fantasy. She describes that even though this is possibly a need to have what another man has, this fantasy is quickly overruled by the normalcy of this mans life and his responsibilities. He settles his demons by deciding to simply, "bow and pass smiling."

I was very surprised by the ending of The Wife of His Youth. I expected that Mr. Ryder would not have acknowledged his old wife. The way that he described the society of the blue veins made it seem that he had forgotten his race all together. I'm not sure though how I would have acted in a similar situation. It is very heroic to say that you would not want to be associated with an upper class. However, it is quite tempting to belong. In Mr. Ryder's eyes belonging meant being to opposite of everything that had been formerly associated with his race. Even when I had figured out that he was the young husband I expected it to be a secret he would take to the grave. In addition, I was surprised that the people at the party, especially Ms. Dixon, were so supportive of his decision to acknowledge the older wife. I anticipated the group responding very negatively. Perhaps this is Chesnutt's way of disbanding some of the negative associations people were making in relation to societies of this sort. Maybe Chesnutt was trying to prove that these people were not turning their back on their race at all. They were merely trying to better themselves and uplift everyone. This is all very nice sounding, but I still am not sure if it is really believable. For a man that concerns himself with every outward appearance and ranking it seems unlikely that he would acknowledge his less than beautiful past. You just dont find many people who spend their entire lives trying to run away from the past wanting to revisit it. I guess Mr. Ryder was touched by the love and devotion of his former wife. Perhaps that love was enough to break him down into the real, less than perfect, man that he is.

Unexpected Ending

I was very upset with the ending of Huckleberry Finn. This was my first time reading this book and I expected a more happy ending. After so much bonding between Huck and Jim I can't imagine how Twain thought that the betrayal at the end was suitable. What is even harder to understand is how it is logical that Jim and Huck would so easily forgive Tom for taking their trust and feelings so lightly. The ending leaves the reader feeling let down. I guess it is just harder for us to understand how it could be so easy to toy with someones freedom in such a way. The reader must keep in mind when this was all taking place. If we were reading this in 1884 I'm sure that the thought of taking advantage of a slave and his freedom would sadly not be as upsetting. It just seems so atrocious now that a child could have that control over another person, a grown man of all things. Furthermore, this ending raises the question of how Huck could have went along with all of the trouble Tom was putting Jim through. Even though Huck did not know that Jim was free he knew how much his freedom meant to him. It just seems that Huck would have stood up and put and end to all of Tom's nonsense. However, I do believe that the main reason for Huck going along with the plan was the fact that he was so young and looked up to Tom. I know that when I was Huck's age I did whatever my older sister told me to because I believe she knew better than me. Huck aspires to be Tom so naturally he would listen to what Tom has to say. I don't think that Huck is at the age yet where he can successfully stand up for his own opinion. Though, I do believe that if Huck had know that Jim was already free he would have found it in him to stand up to Tom. I think that Jim and Huck had grown so close to each other that Huck was willing to risk his friendship with Tom for his friendship with Jim.

Revolution is the Pod

In Emily Dickinson's poem, "Revolution is the Pod", she describes that in order for liberty to remain intact it must be tested every so often by revolution. I believe she makes a very good point. Just as Emily describes, excellence can only be a product after revolution has taken place. She goes on to say that in order to see if liberty is still intact revolution, "shakes it for Test if it be dead". I believe that this is true of many things in life. Some of the biggest changes and social movements that support liberty have come out of revolutions small and large. One of the largest of these revolutions was the Civil War. So many times we can overlook the changes that need to be made in the world. In the case of the Civil War the South was refusing to acknowledge the liberty of a whole race of people. It took a revolution of enormous size to make the country as a whole come together and realize the capacity it had for being a better place. In Emily's poem revolution is the pod and excellence is the bloom. Only from revolution can one grow into something more excellent. In the second stanza Dickinson goes on to say that if it were not for the fall, or time of change, the summer would be, "the Entomber of itself". I think what she is trying to say here is that if you never go through a time of change or revolution then you will be your own self destruction. She goes on to say that the same goes for liberty. If liberty is not challenged and defended every so often it will be forgotten and die. To Dickinson liberty is not something that can be left and forgotten about. It must be something that is defended and honored and revised as the times change. I think this is an accurate description of what the United States was going through with the Civil War.