Milkman's Needs Some Milk

Milkman Dead is the protagonist of the Song of Solomon. Have you ever seen a protagonist like Milkman though? The guy is so indifferent and lacks passion for everything. For this blogpost, I want to dive deeper into Milkman's character and a possible comparison.

Wanting to fly when he was young, Milkman actually experienced a feeling of passion before in his life. Sadly, this would be the only time he would experience this feeling again. After realizing his impractical dream of flight, Milkman loses a sense of direction. Without any objective, he doesn't know what to do with his life. Even worse, he is reluctant to change; he is still stubborn when even his closest people ask him to do something. Was the realization of the impossibility of flight too much for Milkman? It's so peculiar that at such a young age he had this drastic alteration. What ultimately gets him going is his search for his heritage and his family's origin. 

Macon Dead III is probably one of the most peculiar characters that I've ever seen. But we've seen this type of character before. Monsieur Meursault? Lacks passion and emotion for everything? While people might argue that Meursault's reason for apathy was unknown and unclear, at the end, he does admit that his relationship with God (involving the crucifix) wasn't very good. Unfortunately, Meursault never is able to ever attempt to step out of his comfort zone. 

It will forever be a mystery on why Milkman so drastically became uninspired. As readers, like we did for Meursault, we hope for these characters to find a solution in the end. 

Mrs. Mason.

There is no question mark at the end of this title because Annette is actually Mr. Mason's wife.

In this blogpost, I want to dive deeply into Annette's character and her unstable life. Mother of Antoinette, one of the narrators in the Wide Sargasso Sea, Annette seems to keep a lot to herself and restrains from developing a closer relationship with Antoinette. While the class have talked a lot about Antoinette receiving pity, Annette being looked upon with sympathy is often overlooked in my opinion. Clearly, Annette is, at times, mentally insane and has done some questionable things. However, when I think of Annette, rather than seeing her as an incomprehensible and abnormal character, I see her as unfortunate.

Being a Creole woman, Annette was wrongly discriminated. The people in the Spanish town have always been distant from her. At her wedding, she was rebuked behind her back: "'Then why should he marry a widow without a penny to her name and Coulibri a wreck of a place?'" She's always been at the receiving end of criticism and lacks any strength to fight back because her heart is anchored due to her unfortunate sequence of events.

Annette lost her first husband; she lost her horse from poisoning. And at the horrible fire, she lost her son Pierre. How sad is that? It's almost like she was destined to be in a tragedy. As I kept on reading these scenes and when I got to Pierre's death, I was shocked. Usually, if a character has conflicts, he/she has some kind of comeback: a positive outcome in his/her favor. However, Annette never has the clear cut comeback. In fact, she dies.

Does Annette deserve pity? I certainly believe so. But is it the same type of pity Marie deserved? Definitely not. Annette is a very unique character. How could someone's life be so tragic and unusual at the same time?

What do you guys think?

Mrs. Meursault?

There is actually a love story in The Stranger. While Meursault brushes off how intimate his relationship with Marie is, Marie acts like she really loves him. There were many moments in the book when I got frustrated at Meursault; I mean mostly for his lack of emotions but also for his inability to realize the only person in his life that cared for him after his mom died. If anything was going well in Meursault's life, it was Marie. His time in jail helped him to understand the blessings of having someone like Marie and, in general, all the little details that he stoically overlooked before.

Who is Marie? Marie Cardona was a former typist at Meursault's office, and she caught the eye of Meursault: the man who doesn't even express sorrow for his mother's death. The accounts dealing with him and Marie show rare occasions where Meursault seems capable of expressing emotion but not quite. How lucky is he though? You got a pretty girl who comes up to you first and asks you if you want to marry her (it's usually the other way around)! But how does Monsieur Meursault respond? He responds with pure indifference:

"That evening Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn't make any differences to me and that we could if she wanted to. Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't love her." (Camus 41)

Basically, he's saying "I mean if you want, but I don't really care." Who is this guy? Almost like if he's a stranger, he doesn't take Marie's marriage seriously. Poor Marie! His apathetic personality really pisses me off. Later on, he'll realize that he's made a mistake in dealing the situation in this manner.

Like it was all planned, Marie isn't allowed to go visit, after her first one, because she isn't his wife. Meursault is stuck; the once so impassive Meursault finally reflects how joyful his swimming with Marie was. Before his implied execution, he finally lets it out to the chaplain.

When reading the last chapter in the book, I felt pity for Meursault. I mean his only hope is to hear the cries of hate from the spectators. However, if we look at Marie's situation, I believe we should feel greater pity. She was a person that was with him until the end and had hope for him throughout his trial. The sad ending not only includes Meursault's execution but also the termination/"execution" of the hopes of the sweet Marie Cardona.

Death → Revival

The title of this blog might seem contradictory. 

"How can death lead to revival? Matthew are you okay?" 

Yes, I'm okay. Hear me out. Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis got the main character, Gregor, turning into an enormous insect: "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect" (Kafka 89). He still has human thoughts and tendencies, but he has the physical body of a bug...  As the story progresses, humanity slowly parts away from him; things helping him to grasp onto humanity are gradually taken away from him. Becoming more and more like an actual insect, Gregor fails to engage with his family because of his monstrous appearance; the two become more and more distant. Having many confrontations, Gregor struggles to live through the discrimination, harshness, and increasing ignorance from his family members. As a result, Gregor dies. This is the death part of the equation. So how does that lead to revival? 

Elaborating on the proliferating ignorance his family members demonstrated, this was due to an expired option of being able to rely on Gregor for money. The family realized that they couldn't live like they were before in order to have a stable living. Without Gregor, there is a revitalization in the whole family: even his lethargic father that was always sleeping! Gregor is shocked when he sees his father active: "And yet, and yet, could that be his father? The man who used to lie wearily sunk in bed whenever Gregor set out on a business journey; who welcomed him back of an evening lying in a long chair in a dressing gown; who could not really rise to his feet..." (Kafka 120). 

While being so dependent on Gregor, the family forgot about themselves—their capabilities, their aspirations, and their purpose. After Gregor's death, they each are focused on themselves because each have a responsibility to take care of himself/herself. Everyone knows that in order for the family's survival to sustain, he/she must not be a hampering to someone else. 

Even though Gregor's death is very depressing and frustrating, his death has actually brought this family together. Gregor's death has turned on the green light for his family. New doors are opened for his father, his mother, and most importantly Grete. Instead of being detached from society, they are now involved in life.

This is a new beginning for them: a revival of a family, a true and bonded family. 

"Isn't it pretty to think so?"

The last line of the book stood out more than any other line. It surely gave me the chills when I read it. This was the response from Jake to Brett when she said: "Oh Jake, we could have had a damned good time together."

But would they really have had a "damned good time" together?

As readers, I think we can all admit that at some point in the book, we've all wanted Jake and Brett to be together in the end. This was the sort of "happy ending" that I honestly thought was the only way Hemingway could make the book have a happy ending, but I was wrong.

Throughout the book, Hemingway hints at Jake's injury; rather, Jake (the narrator) hints at his own injury. In the beginning, I never knew the extent in which the injury could impact his relationship with Brett. Sadly, this injury would ultimately keep him from being able to be with her. As a consequence, Jake was forced to be Brett's "friend": a friend that would kiss her, a friend that would go to her whenever she called, and a friend that was closer than many of the men whom she was engaged with.

Why Jake? Why? Why do you do such things for Brett? When this discussion comes up during class, I have the same thoughts every time: Jake just really loves Brett. When you love someone so much, the thing that makes you most happy is when that someone is also happy. For Jake, satisfying Brett's needs and desires and seeing that it could make her happy was one of the main things that could make him happy (and not lonely!).

And Jake stuck to it. He stayed loyal to Brett. Even through the numerous guys she was with, Jake kept his emotions and composure and didn't show anger towards Brett. But Brett, I believe, never realized how much of a blessing Jake was to her. Furthermore, even if Brett was with Jake (without Jake's injury), I feel like Brett would've done the same thing she did to all her other guys. It is Jake's injury that is actually somewhat pulling them together. It is Jake's injury that allows them to have a friendly relationship.

Finishing the book, I think the ending is the best possible situation for both Jake and Brett. Jake will never have been able to maintain an intimate relationship (engaged) with shifty Brett. Their relationship right now gives them space and support when they need it. Jake's "Isn't it pretty to think so?", shows his resignation and realization that Brett and him can never be together. But it's okay! It's also a realization (for the readers too) that for right now, in that taxi cab with his arm around Brett, is truly beautiful itself.

The Hours Extra-Credit Blogpost

While the whole movie took place in just a single day, it felt so much longer than that. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days. Throughout the whole movie, I was constantly trying to figure out how all the three stories were connected. The idea for the movie is amazing; using a similar concept to Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, the director expands on that by giving the audience three stories (all occurring in one day) in three different time periods. Insane.

Looking up the movie, you should first notice the cast. This cast is amazing: Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep. With such an overwhelming cast, the first thing I usually do is to try to match the face of that celebrity with the character in the movie. However, for Virginia Woolf, without knowing Nicole Kidman was in the movie, I don't think I would've never guessed that was actually her. Nonetheless, I feel like all three actresses did amazing.

After the movie, I was still thinking about that encounter between Richard's mom and Mrs. Dalloway. Like some others, I missed that bit about the little kid being Richard; so when his mom introduced herself to Dalloway, it gave me the chills.

At the end of the day, the three story lines are very similar. One thing that stands out from all the stories is the kissing scene. As awkward and sudden it might've been, I feel like those scenes have a deeper meaning. While the viewers might've had kind of negative interpretations, I feel like those scenes truly define Woolf's struggles: the struggles to hide that identity. And those struggles are expressed in her books.

Petty Peter?

Now that I've talked about Clarissa, I think it's only right for me to talk about Peter. You know that guy that always points out everything and has to judge everything you say: that's Peter; that guy who always comes in at the wrong time: that's also Peter. You could tell by the title of this blogpost that Peter is also petty, but does he a have a reason to be though? This guy still can't get over the rejection from Clarissa to his proposal 30 years ago; he still holds this grudge against her and even towards Richard a bit. 

When he comes back to see Clarissa, his main goal is to look like a different and successful person. In a way, he wants to prove that her decline was a mistake and that she should regret it. He even mentions his new love, Daisy. But, this is something I'm sure everyone does. If someone rejected you and went on to be with another person, you would want to prove to him/her that you're perfectly fine without him/her. Most importantly, you want to show him/her that you've also moved on. Peter Walsh is doing exactly that or is at least attempting to. 

To be honest, Peter kind of got slapped in the face two times. He had to go through a transition where Clarissa started to like Richard more than Peter, and he got hit with Clarissa's rejection. Damn. As much as Peter was critical of Clarissa, this is a hard blow to Peter. It's not easy coming back from such a defeat. 

So should Peter be given a pass and not be looked as petty? In my opinion, I think Peter is doing the best he can. Through all these years, the fact that Peter hasn't forgotten about Clarissa shows his true heart. Because of his critical and sometimes annoying moments, readers (and Clarissa!) have a tendency to forget Peter's inner characteristics. While Clarissa might think his comments insensitive and unnecessary, I believe his comments (although sometimes invading I'll admit) still show a sincere side of Peter; they hide a hidden passionate love for Clarissa. Peter is quick to judge Clarissa because he cares for her; if he didn't, why would he say such things? 

Hit me up in those comments.

Curious Clarissa

What if you could relive your life? Would you make different decisions? How would those different decisions affect your life today? For Clarissa Parry, the commitment to marry Richard instead of Peter would forever change her into a new identity of Mrs. Dalloway. While the marriage seemed right at first, Mrs. Dalloway started to realize how dull her relationship with Richard was. Was she even in love? But at the same time, she respected the space and freedom she was allowed from Richard. On the other hand, Peter would be involved in her every move but their relationship was definitely more intimate. Combining the two might have been perfect for Clarissa but life—even with the overflowing free will—can't do that. 

Virginia Woolf conveys the frustrating reality of never being able to know how it would've been if Clarissa had married Peter Walsh. Woolf wants to use the character of Clarissa to remind us that the question of "What if?" is prevalent in everyone's lives. The sad truth is that everyone has regrets and makes mistakes that they wish to fix. Or even worse, like Clarissa, you never even know what the outcome might've been if you had taken another path. 

What's more, for Clarissa, there honestly isn't even a serious conflict in her and Richard's relationship. But their relationship is so plain that she assumes that she has failed him: "... suddenly there came a moment—for example on the river beneath the woods at Clieveden—when, through some contraction of this cold spirit, she had failed him" (Woolf, 31). Because of this emptiness in her heart for Richard, she is more inclined to remember the times with Peter. 

You don't realize what you have until it's gone. Clarissa, now Mrs. Dalloway, to a certain extent implies that she misses when she was with Peter. What seemed annoying and pestering about Peter long ago, now brought her even closer to Peter. From his strange, judgmental comments to his pocket-knife habit, these unique characteristics induce the thought of "What would Peter do or say in this situation?" into Clarissa. It's a feeling of nostalgia almost rather than truly missing him out of love. I believe Carissa would have been in a similar situation if she had married Peter and not Richard. This all traces back to the question of "What if?"; at the end of the day, no matter what decisions Clarissa made, those decisions shaped her into the person she is right now—and if her past was different then she would be a distinct person shaped from that past. Thus, the question of "What if?" is one that is hard to answer and forever unsolvable. We will never know what would've happened if we took the other road but we know that if we did, we would be in a different place(be a different person) today.