English 215

Short Stories: 11/17

2009-11-17T10:07:00.000-08:00

Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice

This short story was very interesting to me. I think it describes the life tolls and trials that every human goes through in life. Many not to the extreme as the speaker and his father, but at some point everyone feels hatred towards their parent for some reason it seems like and things they are complete idiots, but in the end they realize that they do know what they are talking about and they are full of love and compassion. Despite the hardships, they still care for you and in their old age are going to need you. The speaker has got to finish a paper within 3 days of his father coming into town. I think it is very intriguing that he chooses to write about his fathers past from his point of view. In the beginning it made me laugh, how the speaker was running around the house trying to clean up all the things that he did not want his father to see. I know how he felt, because my roommate and I often have to scramble to hide things if our parents stop in unexpectedly. It just something about living away from your parents, you find freedom and don’t want them to realize you have it. Also, I think the homeless man in the beginning and end really showed the true colors of the father. Both times he gave him money and talked to him, which showed like the title says “ Compassion and Sacrifice.” The Vietnamese in the story really added a lot of culture. At times I would forget that these people aren’t really from Iowa and the added in language really added character to the book and showed the heritage of these people.

Better Half

The title of this short story is also very ironic to me. Because throughout the whole story I was constantly thinking who is the better half to whom. I felt like Anya only wanted to marry her husband in hopes of her green card while her husband wanted to marry her for love and her Russian heritage. He thought of her as a Russian goddess type, but she never really saw him for love. She ends up filing a protection order against him, because he punches her in the face. However, she accepted him back into her life when she felt loneliness. Im sure it is easy for her to get lonely being an illegal immigrant working as a waitress in NYC away from all of her Russian customs. I feel like the author was trying to show compassion when Anya began to cry at the fact that her husband told her when he was back with her that she did love him and that if he were to die tomorrow she would love him. I’m not sure if she really felt that she loved him, but the thought of anyone dying like that can make anyone cry. Also, like I said before I feel as though Anya was only taking advantage of the guy she had because that is all she had in America.

It's Over? White Noise Chapters: 36-40

2009-11-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

I have been anticipating the closure of this book, and I am sad that it is over but relieved to find out the ending.

Jack has finally had the big Hitler conference in which he had been taking German lessons for, for quite some time. However he gets really nervous during the meeting and spends the majority of it hiding out in his office for the fear of the Germans. How ironic considering that he has been studying one of the most known Germans ever to live, Hitler. He also thinks about the gun that he was given by Babettes father. He thinks about all the power that this gun holds, which makes me think even more that this gun is relevant to foreshadowing.

Jack also goes for his test during this chapter. The man is very awkward and sneaky to me. He asks Jack if he has been around the toxin that was in the air, and Jack denied it. Even though he had been exposed when they stopped to get gas. When they are done the man gives him an envelope to give directly to his doctor. I wonder if this envelope is a representation of death?

In the next chapter, jack finally tells Murrary about the feelings he has been having about death. He explains all the weird thoughts he constantly experiences and concerns he has about who will die first and how will he die and the fact that he has been exposed to death and contains the actual seed of death. I find it interesting that Murray’s response to him is that he has hidden his fear in death by turning to Hitler. Hitler was a man that caused the most deaths in the world, and Jack who fears dying studies this man for a living. The amount of irony that is in this book is quite intriguing. That night he tells Babette about the talk he had with Murray and that he now knows about his obsession with death. The next day I noted that he begins carrying the gun, which completely changed the mood of the novel for me and began to fear what was going to happen. Jack also finds Dr. Gray’s real name by an article that Winnie found. His name is Willie Mink. She also has found that he lives in a Motel room due to being fired from his job, and that is Jack wants to he can find him in this town called Germantown.

Jack goes home and talks to Babette. He demands that he take the car and leave the house. Babette doesn’t let him so he steals his neighbors car which just so happens to have the keys already in the ignition. It was like the people around him knew what was going on. He drives to Germantown in a wreck less manner. He runs stoplights and tolls. It is also said that he continuously plays with the gun in his pocket. I wonder if he has gone from wanting to try the Dylar to killing Dr. Gray for ruining his wife.. The mood of the story just feels like death is going to happen very soon, regardless of which character it will be.

In the next chapter we find that what I thought was right. Jack says that he is going to set Willie up. He wants to shoot him in the abdomen and leave a suicide note. With this he notes that he will steal the Dylar and return home. The secrecy that Jack mentioned earlier about the gun holding now makes much more sense. If guns could talk so many of the mysteries of killings would be answered in society. When he arrives there Mink is completely out of it. Jack notes that he is taking Dylar and just starring at the TV blank. Mink says that he knows Babette and mentions the happening he had with her. This infuriates Jack and he shoots him twice. He begins to set up the “suicide scene” and places the gun in Minks hand. Mink shoots at Jack and hits him in the wrist. At this moment something comes over Jack and he feels sorry for Mink. I was totally shocked by the fact that he took Mink out to his car and gave him CPR. Not even thinking about grabbing the Dylar, took off to a hospital to save the both of them. While there Jack ask a nun about heaven, and finds out that Mink is going to live after all. When he finds this out he goes back home to his family who is sleeping peacefully despite all the chaos that just happened in Jack’s life. In the end the family watches the sunset, and no one dies.

The ending of the book really took me by surprise I was not expecting any of that to happen. I thought it was almost funny that at the end of the book it is noted that the infamous SuperMarket rearranged its shelves and that all the elderly people were in a constant state of confusion. It was an odd way to end the book but sort of a comic relief for me.

Chapter 29-35: White Noise

2009-11-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

Chapter 29, much like many of the other chapters, starts off in the supermarket. This time Babette and Jack are in there together. They are discussing their health and about the problems they are both encountering with their fear of death. I think Babette is getting worse, because as Jack starts to go down another aisle she stops him and says that she is afraid of being alone. Even in a supermarket people are everywhere and it is well lit so unless someone has a true mental illness they shouldn’t be afraid to be alone in a supermarket. Also later in this chapter Jack goes into Heinrichs room and sees on the TV that there have been two dead bodies found. The news reporter informs people that there will be about 30 more people found. However, none of the others are found and the community is let down. I think this is an odd reference back to the media, and how people are so captivated by whatever it says no matter what.

Jack has been continuously wondering in his mind about this Dylar pill. He finally confronts Babette about him, and wants to find him so he too can get on this prescription. He makes a valid point in saying that the pill would be beneficial too him because he has the seed of death planted inside him and he will probably die soon anyways. However, Babette refuses to give him Dr. Grays real name or contact info she is afraid that jack might do something crazy as kill Dr. Gray for doing this to his wife. I think that Jack sincerely wants to try this medication, even though it does not seem to be helping Babette, but merely making her situation worse.

In Chapter 31, I was interested in the event that the family does. Much like many families in today’s society no one wants to cook at home so they decide to go out to eat. However, instead of going out to eat they get it to go, and they all eat it in the car. It is even noted that they are all in silence. How awkward to have the whole family, packed in the car, eating take out all facing forward in silence? Why didn’t they just eat in the restaurant? I think it goes to say how distant the family is and they are all living a straight forward life towards death. I find it interesting that the author choose this illustration to portray this concept.

Jack is continuously losing sleep over the Dylar pill and Mr. Grey. He thinks about it almost everynight. In Chapter, 33 he wakes one night to see a man with white hair outside his window.However, whenever he goes outside to see what is going on he finds that it is Babettes father. This is very odd that he wouldn’t tell them he was coming, and the fact that he comes in the middle of the night. Jack welcomes him inside for coffee and Vernon tells Jack that he has found a new woman. He does decide to stay with them for some time, he gives off a very awkward sensation even around Babette which is his own daughter. It is just like the rest of the book in which the elderly people have given off this awkward sensation around them.

Another night Jack is woken up again. However this time it is by the TV in Denises room. He finds that she has too taken the Dylar pill. He asks her for some yet she tells him she has thrown them away. I find that hard to believe that she would throw away these “precious” pills in their household. As he is going back to bed he notices Vernon in the kitchen. Vernon tells Jack that they need to talk and he takes him out to his car. At the car, Vernon gives him a gun saying that it is dangerous to have a weapon. Jack tries to decline the gift however Vernon wont take it back. I think it is very interesting that he gives Jack of all people the gun considering that he has had such a difficult time with the idea of death, and a gun can take a life in a second. I think it is dangerous for it to be in this household as many members of the family are showing mental illness signs. I think this is foreshadowing to a later part of the book. Also, when Vernon finally leaves he tells Babette not to worry about him and all his problems in life but to worry about his car, and only his car. I think this too foreshadowing to something that is going to happen soon since his visit was so odd. Im interested in finding out what will come of the ending of the book.

Dylar?

2009-10-28T13:58:00.001-07:00

White Noise: Chapter 23-28

Finally in Chapter 24 Jack finds this mysterious medication that babette has been suspiciously taking. The same one that she denies when confronted and Denise worries about constantly. Obviously, she tries to hide it considering that Jack found it taped to the bottom of a radiator in their bathroom. It is called Dylar and he takes it to his doctor who has not heard of it but says it sounds like an island in the Persian Gulf. Denise admitted that she has already found out the medication that Babette is taking and has not found a pharmacist that has heard of it. And later that night he notices her strange actions. When he goes to bed she just stares out the window and does not acknowledge him. I am interested in if this medication is making her act this way or if something is truly wrong with her and the medication is something to help. Nevertheless, something awfully strange is occurring.

In the next chapter, Jack begins to have the same thoughts that I had in the last chapter. He notes that babette has become more distant from their family and she has begun to act more and more differently. Jack is still curious about this medication and takes it to his University College on the Hill. He gives the medication to Winnie who is a coworker of his. She tells him she will conduct a research on this medication over 48 hours but that she has never heard of it. Jack never hears back from her and begins to wonder. Finally he sees her on campus and tries to flag her done but she runs off. I began to think that maybe she knows something secretive about this medication. However, when he actually does run and catch up with her she tells him that this medicine is something that she has never encountered before. Jack goes on to ask her if she was intentionally running from him. I think his thought process of this idea is quite interesting. He says isn’t this what the 20^th century is about? People running and hiding even people are looking for you. I think this is true in many circumstances. While reading this I began to relate it to Jacks wife, it’s almost as though she is hiding from her family and society and no one is looking for her.. that we know of.

In chapter 26, information is just pouring out and many of my wondering thoughts are being answered. Jack finally corners Babette in bed about this drug. She admits that it is a secret drug that was named to dangerous for any human, but she slept with the project manner in order to have it. She admits that she is taking it to cure a problem she has, a fear… one of death. Which is very ironic, since Jack has been struggling with death throughout the novel. Now their ideas are becoming closer yet their personal lives seem to be drawing apart. Her and jack have a bonding moment as they both admit they are extremely afraid of death and more scared than they have ever been. Could this be foreshadowing that we are moving closer to death? Especially since Jack was told my SIMUVAC that the seed of death has been planted within him. In the later part of chapter 27, the Dylar has gone missing and Jack thinks Denise has it. However, she refuses to give it back to him. He makes an interesting point that it could quite possibly the cure to Nyodene D.

White Noise Chapters 21 &22

2009-10-27T12:21:00.001-07:00

White Noise Chapters 21-22

In chapter 21 the most abnormal things begin to happen. And all these foreshadowing events, such as Jack’s repetitive thoughts about death begin to make sense. The chapter opens as his son is sitting on the roof watching this black cloud of smoke that has become the result of a train wreck in a nearby town. Heinrich tells Jack that this toxic is dangerous and that he knows a lot about it. Later on in the chapter we find that the name of this substance is Nyodene D. Heinrich goes on to tell him that it causes problems in rats such as lumps. Jack thinks nothing of it and continues to not let him phase him until he begins to actually see results of this deadly chemical. This back cloud is eventually named “The Airborne Toxic Event” In the beginning people were suffering symptoms of nausea and skin irritation. Jack just tells Heindrich that things like this cant happen to a town like theirs. This made me start to put life into perspective. So many times we go with the same midset that Jack has through the whole beginning of this chapter. He brushes the issue off by thinking that something this outrageous could not possibly happen to everyday people. It’s amazing that someone who is so obsessed with the idea of death does not fret over this immediate danger.

Soon the family is evacuated and sent to a near by Boy Scout Camp. It is noted that people have gone to the extremities of wrapping themselves in plastic due to this toxic outbreak. Humans naturally freak out at the thought of death. While they are in the car ride there they begin to hear stories of symptoms furthering such as people experiencing déjà vu, comas, and miscarriages. Steffie and Denise admit to experiencing sweaty palms. However, Jack thinks that it is quite possibly that they are only imagining this out of fear. I think they are just doing it out of fear, much like many women who think about being pregnant so much that there body goes through the symptoms, even though they have no baby. It is only a means of their imagination due to being surrounded by the idea. Jack even comments on the power of imagination people are beginning to develop due to all the stories of death and tragedy that are constantly being discussed at the camp. As he goes to sleep last night he watches all his kids who are safe and asleep. I think he finds comfort in all this chaos at this moment and rest in a “sigh of relief” However, I think that is rather odd that he points out that Steffie mutters “Toyota Celica” while she is asleep. I am unsure of the meaning of this but perhaps it is foreshadowing to a later event.

The next day the family is informed that the wind has shifted this great cloud and that they are not longer safe at the camp. People are left in mayhem again as they scrabble to safety elsewhere. When they arrive back in the Iron City they stay at a karate studio. A man mentions that the media has not attacked this problem yet. I find this odd especially after how they neglected to be at the almost plane crash and how Bee noted that why does it even happen if the media does not come? In our society, if something this big happened to where people would be moving out of their homes to safety.. the whole nation would be informed. I am confused about this whole theme of media that is being brought up repetitively. The man even says, ““Even if there hasn’t been great loss of life, don’t we deserve some attention for our suffering?” I think this is interesting that he is so worried about getting media attention and not the whole idea that he might be facing death. The chapter ends with the family returning home after 9 days.

Chapter 22 picks up at where else but the super market. Jack begins to think about all the negativity that surrounds his life and the world around him. He thinks about the condition of houses and roads of the town that could be fixed up. Then he goes to note something interesting. He says that as long as the atmosphere of the supermarket is swell, there is reason for optimism. However, he does comment on the old people in the store. There is a storm that is coming soon and all the older people seem to be flustered and anxious. It seems like every time he goes to the supermarket he always notices that it is full of elderly people. To me they always tend to give of a mood of depression. There lives are practically over and they are just waiting for death. Maybe that is why Jack tends to relate to them so much sense he is obsessed with the idea of dying and who will die first.

White Noise: Chapters 13-20

2009-10-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a few days since I read these Chapters so I had a hard time recalling all the thoughts I had while reading it. However, these were the situations that stood out in my mind, and I found interesting and of importance.

White Noise: Chapters 13-20

Chapter 13 started off in the search for the Treadwells who were noted as missing in the end of Chapter 12. They were thought to have drowned in the River. However, they found the family in the mall huddled in a Kiosk, while one of the daughters was searching the trashcans for food. This is creepy. How could anyone not see them if they were in the mall, and after all why would you hide out in a mall?? Jack notes that it may have been a cause of the noise that they couldn’t handle. Jack also tells Denise that he has found the medicine that has caused Babette to have these memory relapses, it is called Dylar. While watching TV and eating dinner, like their normal family event, they watch a plane crash that has happened. One the front of my book this image appears, I wonder what sort of significance this event could play in the storyline, as it must have some importance to be on the front cover.

While at lunch with the New York “Emigres” as Jack calls them, Alfonse Stomponato, a man of this groups says that “Catastrophes are a way of breaking the flow of everyday news” They are something that is bigger and more interesting than the more occurrences of everyday life. I think this is an interesting way to look at it, however I don’t agree that Catastrophes are good in any sense.

Later in the novel, Jack’s daugher Bee is coming into town. He goes to the airport to pick her up but only finds her mother there, which is Jacks ex-wife. Bee is said to have been in Indonesia and will arrive the next day. Tweedy, Jacks exwife, and Jack ride around as Tweedy expresses her discomfort in her current marriage. She said he is very distant since his job is undercover, and it is “like he was never there in the first place” They go back to the airport and hear of a crash that some passengers just survived. However, they were able to regain control of the plane and save the people. I think Bee makes an interesting point when she arrives, she ask where the Media was for this crisis and Jack responses that there is no media in this town. I think that is ironic, especially after the comment of Alfonse that catastrophe is used to catch peoples attention. Bee wonders why the people would even do this act in the first place if there was no media present..

After Bee stayed with the family for Christmas, Jack takes her back to the airport. He feels almost intimtated by her, and feels like she is trying to get information from him for her mom, Tweedy. He stops by a grave on the way home and tries to feel “the peace that ascends upon the dead” He states that the dead provide this feeling that the living are able to detect. The next day, Mr. Tredwell’s sister dies from being at the mall so long with her brother. I think is is interesting that when jack reads this obitituary he comments that he always relates the death of those that die, to his own. I too, find myself doing this when I hear off deaths. I think it is only common to ponder the idea of when you are going to die. However I think it is necessary that everyone acknowledges they will die at some point, and should not fear the day or waste their whole lives in anticipation as it can only drive you mad, Babette tells Jack over breakfast that she wants to die first. Later that evening, While watching tv Babette’s face comes up on the Television. There is no sound but simply her image. I found this very odd and interesting. Right after it goes of Wilder begins to cry again like he had done earlier in the novel and the other children run to meet Babette, who has just walked in the door… I am interested in what will come of this next.

Beginnings of White Noise: Chapter 1-12

2009-10-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

White Noise Chapters 1-12: English 215-005

In the beginning the author describes this scene, that I could vividly relate to as Clemson. He talks about lines and lines of station wagons unloading all these students necessities for college. Describing the emotions of the parents and the anticipations of the students. I thought this was quite funny, even though the book relates to 20 years ago, I remembered feeling those same things, and having those same thoughts on move in day. The speaker of the novel is a professor at this College on a Hill and mainly studies Hitler. After watching this and walking home through his small town he heads home to find his wife, Babette. He describes her as someone who has much more important things to think about than her appearance, nevertheless he loves her. In their household they have 3 children, however none of them have come from different households yet Babette still manages to take care of them all.

Later in the book, Jack (the speaker) runs into a man who has come to his college to do almost the same thing as he, except he desires to study only Elvis Presley. I think that would be such a waste of life to study only Elvis, but I guess some people are truly that obsessed. These two drive into the country and come across a barn that has many signs before it reading “Most photographed Barn in America.” Jack makes the comment that people don’t really ever see the barn, even though there are tons of people out taking different types of pictures with all the different types of cameras Jack describes. I think he says this because the people are truly seeing the barn for its own importance, but merely following the crowd. Also they have preconceived notions about this barn because all of the signs that have led up to it. No one knows the importance of it, they just see everyone else taking a picture and feel like they should take one too. It relates to many aspects in life in how people just do things because everyone else does. Much like college, people are influenced by dress, actions, parties.. just because it is the “Thing” to do.

As Jack goes to meet Babette at a local high school where she is struggling to run down the steps. He watches her and after the third time he meets her at the bottom. The whole time he is constantly battling with the idea of who will die first in his mind. This is something I have thought about before with my family and my friends, and it’s a depressing thought. If you let it, it can really drive you into insanity and I think Jack over thinks this idea way too much. In the later part of that evening as the family is sitting around doing their traditional Chinese dinner and watching tv, Jack explains how the college chancellor told him he needed to buff up, change his name, and grow a beard to look more like a researcher of Hitler. He changes his name and admits that now he is living this false life under his name just for the sake of his job.

The next day or so, Jack and Babette are grocery shopping and run into Murray. He freaks me out in the chapter. He starts smelling all their groceries and making these comments to Babette like he wants her. When she walks away he tells Jack about how much of a wonderful woman she is. If I was babette I wouldn’t even let Jack take Murray back to his house, he appears like a creeper. I think Jack still struggles with interesting concepts in his mind, as he drives his son to school. He argues with him about if it is raining or not, even though they can clearly see the rain. He tells him if someone were to put a gun up to his head how would he answer? And what if rain weren’t really rain to someone else. I was confused by the whole conversation, but I think Jack was trying ti portray how people see different things in life and don’t always assume that people see things the way you do. In the evening, he and Babette lay in the bed and she offers to reading him something sexual, however when he goes to find a “trashy” magazine he ends up spotting old family photos. The two divert their attention and begin looking through these photos. Once again, Jack begins to question “Who Will Die First” I am starting to see a repetitive pattern and wonder if this will be a foreshadowing to something in the book.

In chapter 8, Jack goes to a neighbor of Murray’s to learn German. Being the head of the Hitler chapter at this college, it would be embarrassing for him not to know it when they have their siminar coming up. I find it interesting that he has such a desire to learn about Hitler, yet he despised the German language. He even comments that when Dunlop ( the man teaching him) talks in German it changes his entire entity. After his lesson he stops by Murray’s house. Murray puts away an “American Transvestite” magazine, which explains a lot epically the actions in the supermarket. But is Murray really a transvestite?.. I think that important observation will eventually unfold to something.

In the beginning of chapter 9 something odd happens, Jack’s two little girls, Denise and Steffie, are sent home from school because their school closes for a week. Several teachers were having stange symptoms such as headaches, tasting metal, and eye irritations, not to mention, the books describes one lady even rolling around on the floor speaking another language. I am not sure what the inspectors find, I was a little confused as to what they were saying near the end, but I think they haven’t found any results.

While they are all home from school, the family takes a trip to the grocery store, while there they run into Murray again. Jack notes it is interesting that he has seen Murray in the grocery story just as much as he as seen him on campus. And as he is walking down the aisle with Steffie, she tells her that Babette has been taking some sort of drug and that Denise is concerned. Jack is unaware of this. Things only start to get more odd though, Murray mentions to Babette this philosophy called Tibetan Philosophy of Death. He tells her that he find theres all this symbolism in the marketplace. He says “here we don’t die, we shop. But the difference is less marketed than you think.” They leave the Market and Murray ask the couple over for dinner. In the parking lot they hear the first rumor than an inspector of the girl’s school has died in the second floor classroom.

In the middle of the night one night, Jack wakes up suddenly and the clock says 3:51, he wonders If this number has some sort of importance. He then begins to think that maybe all numbers have some sort of importance and could be threatening. When he goes downstairs the family points out that Jack will be 51 next week, and Babette says the only difference is one is odd and one is even. I find this very ironic, since Jack was just contemplating the idea of numbers in the middle of the night.

When Jack comes home he finds Babette’s ex husband at the house and Denise’s father. He takes the kids out as jack and Babette go out, and when they return to pick up the kids from the Doughnut place. Jack notes the way babette looks at her ex, as though she is trying to figure out what has come of their past relationship.

I am enjoying reading this book, and cant seem to put it down! It is taking some odd turns that I didn’t expect but it seems more realistic and I can relate more to the ideas than in Crying of Lot 49.

Readings 10/8

2009-10-08T02:50:00.000-07:00

Home: This short story is about a 23 yr old girl who has moved back in with her mom due to financial and possibly social issues. There is a sense of tension in the house as a result of the father being absent after 20 years. Both the mom and the daughter tend to stress of the idea of sexual relations. The mother has not had sexual intercourse in years, and her daughter has had many hook ups. Also it seems to be awkward between the two of them until Daniel moves in. The mom sits on the couch watching tv and knitting, and after work the daughter typically goes in her room and reads magazines. It seems to be a very dull life. However, with the addition of a male in the house the mom looses up and we see her laugh, which she never does. She also, I think, has breast cancer. It is evident by the comment she makes about her breasts as she gets out of the shower. In the end the daughter and Daniel end up having sex. The mother hears this and the next morning is upset. I think she feels that her daughter is being disrespected and she doesn’t want her to turn out like her relationship. Also. I think the mother may have feelings of jealousy since she hasn’t had intercourse in several years.

River of Names: Wow this was a very disturbing short story. I can’t believe this family would do such a thing of killing off all these innocent children. Also, the fact that they rape them as well is sick. The speaker is raped by her stepdad. Kids commit suicide, run away, are involved in car wrecks, burnings, and other awful ways of dying. The family is huge and the speaker is a lesbian. She is the only one in the family that wont be baring children, which makes her different. In the beginnings she says “Which one was I? Survivors do hate themselves” I think she was saying this because she feels like maybe shes supposed to be something since she has survived all this trauma. But she has failed her family since she is a Lesbian. These depressing stories of her childhood are told over and over. It is said in the story that if the children weren’t “any good” (for sex) and if they “fought back” they would be killed. I find it interesting that the story takes place here in the South Carolina upstate. I could not imagine something like this happening around her. However, the story is quite appalling and I hope that it would never be true.

Finally Finished! Crying Lot 49: 5&6

2009-10-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Chapters 5 &6

Chapter 5 started out slow reading for me, however I attempted to do it while I was exhausted. Nevertheless this is what I pulled out of the reading.. In the beginning while studying the play book she recently got, she realized that the version was different from the one her and Metzger saw. Ironically, the most important line to her in the whole play (one about the Trystero) was missing. I’m beginning to wonder, just like Oedipa, if maybe all this is truly part of her imagination since everything is related to this muted horn/ Trystero concept. However, Oedipa being the curios woman she is, goes to talk to the playwright, or a man who is associated with the preface of the play. But before doing this she goes to the house of John Nefastis, who has created the machine that Oedipa learned about through Koteks at the factory. Oedipa has been wanting to try out this machine since Koteks told her about it, and when she does she fails it to only find out she isn’t sensitive. Also, while there she is once again confronted by a man. He told her he wanted to have “sexual intercourse with her while thinking about China”. Much like I would do, Oedipa fled from his house in a hurry.

While on the freeway, Oedipa really begins to think about the Tystero and all encounters she has had with it. I think it isn’t until now that she has begun to realize that she has literally become obsessed with it, and its been her number one priority. Later that evening, after arriving in San Narsico, Oedipa goes to “The Greek Way” which happens to be a gay bar. (A woman surrounded by men and almost appears obsessed with men..that goes a gay bar is odd. It’s almost as though she needs an escape where she wont be offered sex or to be hit on.. Especially after the incident with Nefastis), Of course while in there she runs into someone who is associated with the Trystero. A man who claims he is a member of “Inamorati Anonymous” he explains that is to help people with their obsession of falling in love and being hurt emotionally by love. He has a pin on his jacket and it has the muted horn symbol, he tells Oedipa that that’s what the symbol means on his coat. I think it is interesting that he tells, of all people oedipa, that “Love Is the Worst Addiction of them All”. How Ironic.. considering Oedipa encounters more men than I have ever seen, and she is married while carrying on an affair. Pynchon’s has such an odd sense of humor. Anyways, Oedipa ends up telling him all the information she has recently been finding out. However, he is very reserved and doesn’t tell her any information. She even goes on to tell him about the bathroom stall and how it said the name “Kirby.” This man at the bar did inform her that, Kirby was simply a code name. All of this new information helps Oedipa, and as she thinks about it she realizes that maybe the “Mute” of this horn has significance. I’m not sure what she means by this but she pictures it as “two different groups.” Nevertheless, again she may just be confusing her imagination with reality like we recently discussed in class. I think it is merely driven her into insanity.. like a state of paranoia.

I think it is interesting how all these clues are showing up more and more each day in Oedipa’s life later in this chapter she finds more out about W.A.S.T.E. as she runs into a mailman on her way home, and also encounters the horn again when she gets back to her hotel by dancing with a man for 30 minutes. As we briefly mentioned in class it is much like how humans sometimes fret of their future.. and if you let it get to you, it can drive you into a state of true paranoia. I think she is beginning to finally realize it, because she now decides she wants to go see her husband.. which I totally didn’t expect.. and visit her psychiatrist. I think she wants to see him because she is struggling so much with the idea that all of this tystero theory is a part of her imagination.. or is it? However, when she does get back, Ironically Dr. Hilarious has gone insane. He fires shots at her as she enters the house and the nurse tells her he stays in his office with his rifle. This is so odd! I became confused at this point in the book. Oedipa tries to talk to Hilarious, but the police end up coming. He ends up pulling her into his office and telling her something about ways of the Nazis in concentration camps. Im not sure if this has any connection but earlier in the book the tystero was related to the stamps from Germany. However, Hilarious does tell Oedipa that she should “value her fantasies because they distinguish us.” This is true, I think. Everyone has different dreams, desires, and priorities.. but you never really distinguish people by their fantasies.. some which could be driving people literally mad.

Because of all the chaos at the Hilarious home, the news crew is there and Oedipa realizes that her husband, Mucho, is there. They are reunited and go to the studio and talk about things when Oedipa realizes her husband has been doing LSD because it cures his obsession with his old job at the car lot. Oedipa acknowledges for sure, now, that her husband is not the man she knew.. which I don’t believe they ever truly “knew” each other anyway and she heads back to San Narsico. I think its interesting how when she finally wants to go back and reacquaint herself with her past and realize she isn’t going insane… the two people she wanted to see, have gone insane.

In Chapter 6 we find out that the person who wrote the play committed suicide, and now Oedipa will never understand his meaning behind the final lines of the Tystero. However she begins to realize the origins of this conspiracy but she starts to feel hopeless in finding out all her answers… personally by this point I would have the same feelings. We never find out the real answers. However, at a stamp auction she goes to they will be selling off stamps of “Lot 49”. When someone calls out the numbers it is considering “crying” therefore we get the title the Crying of Lot 49.. which ultimately holds the answers Oedipa has been longing for.

This book is very odd… through Pynchon’s use of double meaning, odd languange, names, and storyline.. it is easy to get lost. However the basic idea of struggling between real and imaginary is apparent. Nevertheless, I don't think I will ever fully grasp the true, in dept concept of the book.

Analysis of Lot 49: Chapters 3&4

2009-10-01T09:22:00.001-07:00

Chapters 3&4:

Chapter 3 was very confusing to me. I had a hard time following the plot of the story, but I’ll do my best to give my interpretation. In the beginning she beings to think about the affair she has been having with Metzger. While going through Peirce’s belongings, she thinks about her previous thought of Rapunzel and that a man might not be the one to rescue her from her tower, but merely the system of the firm that she has begun to look into.

Later that night, She and Metzger hed to a local bar, the Scope. Here she meets a guy by the name of Mike Fallopian which is a member of a group that is extreme right-winged. He says they are called the Peter Pinguid Society. Also, while at the bar, Oedipa goes to the bathroom, while there she sees strange wrting on the wall. There is “engineering lettering” that says “Interested in Sophisticated Fun? You hubby, girlfriends, the more the merrier. Get in touch with Kirby, through WASTE only.” And it had an address. Also there was a picture with a loop connected to a triangle and then with a trapezoid. Oedipa questioned whether it was sexual or not, however thinking it wasn’t she copied it down in her memo book. In the book, the drawing looks like some kind of horn, but I am unsure of its relevance to the story line. When she goes back and talks to Mike, he tells her that his group opposed the U.S. Mail system and that they have their own system of mail. He also tells her he is writing on a book on the postal system since it has caused a huge reform.

Metzger and Oedipa go to ong of Pierce’s major land holdings Lake Inaverity in Fangoso Lagoons. Miles band, The Paranoids, also come with them. While there they run into Manny di Presso. He is suing their law firm because one of Pierce’s clients stole bones from a lake in Italy (where dead US bodies were dumped during WWII) to make a special charcoal. However, his clinet, Jaguar, never paid for the bones. While talking to him on the band members girlfriends point out that this storyline is similar to some play they had seen last week. The play was called “The Courier’s Tradgey”. Then the group goes to admit they smoke pot. They kind of remind of like the typical 1960’s band like you would see in the movie, Almost Famous.

Metzger and Oedipa decide to go see the play that The Paranoids tell them about. The book gives excerpts of lines from the play. The wording of the play is hard to understand. However, it involved murder and was very similar to the story line of di Presso’s case. Near the end of the play something is mentioned about “Who’s once been set his tryst with Trystero.” For some reason this really catches Oedipa as the lights are cut, and after the show she wants to go backstage and talk to the director. He gives her a copy of the script and insinuates that she reads too deep into things as he tried to tell her it is all about the wording. I think she has a tendency to do that too, but I have always heard that is a sign of intelligence and to run a law firm that is necessary. I think it is interesting that she ponders on the idea that she wanted to talk to the director about the idea behind the bones but for some reason ended up talking only about Trystero. Also, when they get in the car to leave the theatre, Oedipa’s husband’s radio station is playing. I think it is sort of a reminder to Oedipa that she still has ties to her past.

Chapter 4:

Oedipa goes to the stockholder’s meeting of a manufacturing plant in which Pierce noted in his will. While there she meets another character, Clayton Chiclitz. (The Characters names in this book just get odder and odder, Pynchon is quite creative). He is the companies president and gives her a tour. While on the tour she comes across the office of Stanley Koteks. Oddly, he was drawing the same figure that she had seen on the stall of the bathroom at The Scope. She tells him she is a stockholder and he goes on to tell her about this machine that only “sensitives” are able to operate. He is really an awkward character. Also, while observing, Oedipa notes that Koteks notepad has written on it Box 573. This is the same box that was given as the address of the bathroom stall.

After thinking about all of this she goes back to Mike at the Scope to tell him about Koteks. Mike thinks that Kotek is part of a conspiracy. Oedipa shows an increased amount of interest in this situation. This is when I became very confused about all these clues. It seems like it is resulting in something great, but like Oedipa I am trying to put all the pieces together.

Oedipa gets a copy of a Jacobean Revenge Plays and notices that there is a reference to the Berkeley Publisher, and wants to go there. On the way she stops by a house that Pierce had built. While there she runs into a man, Mr.Thoth, who has these really weird dreams about his grandfather killing Indians. He shows her a ring he is wearing that his grandfather cut off an Indian. It freaks me out that the inside of the ring has the same “horn” symbol engraved. After talking to Mike, she is still confused about the whole situation. As the reader I am also confused, but curious to find out an explanation!

She decides to visit a stamp expert and have them look at Pierce’s collection. He tells her that these stamps have a watermark of the same symbol and that it is a symbol also used in Germany on stamps. He calls it the era of Thurn and Taxis and says it’s the coat of arms, without the trapezoid on the end. She relates this to a line she heard in the play and as I thought the symbol is definitely a horn and the trapezoid represents a mute. Thus, she concludes someone is trying to mute the postal horn.

As I try to look for some literal interpretations so far I think it is odd how far the plot has developed from the beginning of the book. However, I cant help but notice how we discussed in class the importance of the TV, God, and Drinking were all forms of communication, and even though these three things haven’t been involved, this whole plot is about communication. The way information is received is insane. The combination of a band, lawyers, experts, companies, and plays just to create this huge conspiracy of Tristo that Oedipa has come across.

Analysis of Lot 49: Chapters 1&2

2009-10-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

I have recently begun reading Thomas Pynchon’s book The Crying of Lot 49 for a 215 English Class. So far this book has really thrown me for a loop in all it’s complex meanings and interesting story line. However, I am enjoying reading and trying to interpret all the images and work play Pynchon uses.

Chapters 1 &2:

The book begins with the main character, the protagonist, leaving a Tupperware party and just finding out that she has been named executor of a California Real Estate, which once belonged to her ex-boyfriend. I think it is interesting that Pynchon chose Oepida to leave, of all things, a Tupperware party. I think maybe he chose to use this as a symbol of the times and of her class. Tupperware parties have not been around forever, and they can be quite pricey. It tends to be a social gathering of women who purchase cooking accessories and drink. I also think that maybe he chose to use this as irony. Oedipa, we later find, isn’t very faithful to her husband and doesn’t fit the typical “Housewife” criteria, which would typically be the ones to use Tupperware. The estate she is going to work for is Pierce Inverarity. It is said that he “once lost two million dollars in his spare time.” This shows how big of a firm he was running and how much of a mess it was in. Oedipa tries to comprehend all this news she has just received and wishes to make herself feel drunk as possible. I think it is interesting how the author describes God, the TV, and being drunk all together. They all are types of way the information is transferred. He even goes to say that the TV was glaring at Oedipa. This is much different than most people think about it, to have an inanimate object staring at a human. She experiences each of them by the TV staring at her, her using God’s name in vein, and her current state of mind.

In her decision to try to decide if she wants to accept this “executrix” position, she must not forget that she does have a husband at home, Mucho Maas. His name literally sounds like “much more” in the Spanish language. Which is odd because I think Oedipa is looking for “ much more” in her life than him. She doesn’t seem to be happy. He used to be a car salesman but now he works for a radio station. Oedipa questions his mental state and doesn’t think that he will be able to help much in her new position. It is odd that the title of the book is “Crying of Lot 49” it makes me wonder as to if this has anything to do with her husband and his car lot. I also think it is weird that the radio station Mucho works for his KCUF, which spells out a word of profanity backwards. I’m not sure if this has anything to relate to its actual sexual interpretation or if it is just one of Pynchon’s play on words.

At the end of Chapter one, Oedipa relates herself to Repunzel trapped in a tower, waiting for someone to rescue her. She acknowledges this after a phone call from her lawyer asking her to run away with her. She realizes that she doesn’t really know what she wants, and after trying to escape through Pierce and through her husband, it has yet to be accomplished.

As Chapter 2 begins, she leaves her home and husband in Kinneret, CA and heads to the town of San Narciso, where Peirce’s company is. The storyline begins to move from a bland boring life to a lot of action and chaos. This chapter is filled with an enormous amount of Oedipa, as I see it, letting go. She encounters sexual relationships, drinking, and is partaking in a new job.. while leaving the past of practically nothing behind her. When she first arrives at her hotel she meets a man by the name of Miles. He seems to think she wants to have sexual relations with him after she tells him she will put his bands songs on her husband’s radio station. Later she also meets a man, Metzger, who is a lawyer at the firm. He begins explaining the firm and after a night of drinking Tequila, the two end up having an affair. That night they also play a game of “Strip Botticelli”. I think Pynchon used this a symbolism of Oedipa’s characters. She adds on layers at first but slowly begins to take them off. The story line of the book is going the same way. When you first begin to read the novel you think she is this “Tupperware” type women and then you slowly learn she is a drunk, and then meets other men, then has an affair. Her layers are slowly coming off as well in her personality.

Test Entry

2009-09-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Just a test to see if this Blog sends to Kudera for English 215.