Happy Ending... or Sad Ending?

While comparing "Happy Endings" and the story which Babette told Jack, I noted something that seemed contrasting. Margret Atwood focused on the details that led to the upcoming death of all the characters that she created, not caring about what happened really before that. Babette, however, was avoiding death as if she could somehow become immortal with a simple pill. It's interesting to read about Babette's beliefs: life and death both being something respected and yet feared of in a way that would make her avoid the inevitable end and embrace any means to stay alive. Nevertheless, Atwood approaches death with no fear, as if satisfied that it is the only real ending in the world. No whats are needed. Only how and why. Death... all we can do is embrace it.

Cookie Time!

Seems to me that all society is doing is preparing these girls - who don't fully understand rejection all that well - to feel the pain of failing. Sure, it helps them build up their esteem by saying, "It's ok! The next person will buy your cookies!" Only, they fail again and again and again. They get a few kind buyers, sure! But the rest? Heartless people who couldn't care less about the little girl only wanting to make her leaders proud of her by selling her cookies. Pitiful? Seems to only harden hearts of the enthusiastic children, making them uncaring if they become rejected or they hide themselves from the world, putting on masks so that no one can see under them. What is the world coming to? Sure, it helps them to realize that they need to work hard to meet their goals, but seriously. What is the real intent?

Why do we have to do this?

So basically, I pulled the "What is ______?" with my mom and brother. My mom just laughed it off and my brother just got mad and proceeded to ignore me after a minute or two. Over all, this blog was utterly pointless! I mean, come on! In class, we can talk to each other easily about stuff like this, but in real life... who would actually force themselves to try and understand what was going on? It was fun to try, but yeah. I don't think anyone would want to do this again for a while.

Characters = Writers?

When it comes to writing a script to a TV show or film, it is important to emphasize what you believe is right somewhere in the piece itself. However, it's not necessarily the writer's purpose to create a character that believes everything he does. It only comes due to his nature or it just fits with the character's personality at best. However, the writers could be intentionally doing this in order to "brainwash" the minds of the viewers so that they could agree with messages that are hidden beneath the facade of real life on TV. It's strange how ones life can become so different just by viewing something on the television screen. The writers are responsible for what they write and yet it is also our duty as the consumers to be wary of what we allow to flow into our minds.

Reach Out With Your Soul

To create art, one must pour their soul into their piece and ignore what other's think. To the artist, it is their pride and joy. Yet, to the consumer, they have to try and understand it to consider it art. It took many years for some paintings to even be classified as art. Nowadays, art seems to be junk tossed into one huge pile and put on display. To some, it's art. To me, that's crap. That wouldn't be worthy enough to be in the same building as the Mona Lisa. In a way, it is mocking the great works of the past with our "art" for this postmodern era. I don't think placing a crucifix in a cup and peeing on it is art. It's mocking God. With the change in worldviews, it's as if our effort for making art unique in and of itself has gone down the tubes.

Disorder Can Only Be Good In Writing

"Forgetfulness" reflects the disadvantages of becoming old and yet parallels it with mythology. To celebrate the disorder involved with becoming old, Collins writes "...the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel//which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of." It was difficult to pick which line, but I thought this was strange in and of itself. The fact that he was writing something for a book and yet this is the first thing he placed down. Another which we had pointed out earlier in class was "No wonder you rise in the middle of the night..." This shows the irony of it all. Doesn't it become darker as you die... your vision fading as your heart stops? Seems that it reveals the emptiness that radiates off of the character in the poem. In conclusion, disorder is celebrated with ease in this piece as the author slowly destroys the memories in the character.


Source = "Forgetfulness" written by Billy Collins

TOAST!

It seems that the breakdown of words and meaning lie completely with the inadequate understanding of the language. Despite the two options that you gave the class, sir, I believe that it is due to our lack of knowledge on our own part. Upon reading this I can across the line, "What is electricity?" The complex word was more than likely easy to describe back when it was first discovered. Most of the words used to label things were random names, a perfect example being Adam and his naming of the animals. However, the fall, the flood, and the Tower of Babel quickly confused our way of understanding how words came to find their meaning. In the end of this piece, where Snowman seems to just give up and say, "Toast is me. I am toast" reveals the postmodern way of thinking. As Cory states continually: "It's all relative." Margret Atwood seems to give up on understanding the complex language that we used which originated form the original language, Latin. In short, it is neither an inadequate system of language or an inadequate understanding of reality that answer the breakdown of words and meaning... but it is the misunderstanding of the language due to the Fall of Adam and the Tower of Babel which confused our minds as to where the true meanings of words lie.