"The Yellow Wallpaper" - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

It is interesting to listen to what people have to say about a story and then reading it. I feel you pick up on more than you would if you read it before hearing someones opinion on it beforehand. That being said, it is hard to have your own opinion on a piece of literature without part of it being based off what you have already heard about the story. However, that didn't stop my imagination from creating the most frightful images.

From what I can gather, (using the theory I heard in class) it was about a woman, who in the Gothic Tradition has been classified as insane, or has a "temporary nervous depression", as stated in the story. She spends most of her time in this room with a "sickly sulfur" coloured wallpaper surrounding her. As time wears on she begins to see things within the patterns of the paper, eventually seeing a woman, or many women at times trapped behind the bars the patterns make. She spends her time then ripping the paper off, attempting to free the woman from within. The perspective flips then, and she sees herself as the woman, free now from the bars that had trapped her and not wanting to return to them. This could be looked upon as a theme for Woman's Oppression, but as always arguments are open for debate. You can read the story here.

Frankly, this story frightened me, whether it be from the word choice or my own imagination I am not sure. The word 'creep' was used frequently, to describe how the visions of women she seen outside her windows crawled around in the grass, and later she used the word for herself to described how she 'crept' around her own room. The imagery that this gave me was of, 'The Exorcist' of course! We all know the scenes in which Regan (or the demon Pazuzu) 'creeps' along the walls in the now grotesque body it has possessed. "I see her on the long road under the trees, creeping along, and when a carriage comes she hides under the blackberry vines."  I think of Pazuzu when she talks about creeping. What frightens me more though is the second part of the quote: " I don't blame her a bit. It must be very humiliating to be caught creeping by daylight." As if she thinks it is fine to creep along the road looking like Regan from the 'Exorcist', smiling and waving to the common passerby, BUT only at night, because no proper lady creeps by in the daylight...

Reading the story really put me into the mind of the woman who suffered from insanity. It's argued that she is not in a summer home, but in a institution for people like herself. There is fair bit of evidence to suggest this, such as her husband, who happens to be a doctor, (A doctor in an institution? Nah.) repeatedly tells her that this place will do her good, and she will come out much better. So they go to a place for three months, because she is sick, and they plan on leaving again and going back their original home. Interesting. Another example of this is how she fancies she sees people walking about the grounds and her husband has  cautioned her not to take to such fancies. As if she is imagining them, or maybe she isn't, and this home is not a home and is more a Institution. I won't go any farther into the topic, but those are just a couple of facts to suggest it.

There is so much in this story that I could talk/write about, that it's rather hard to keep my thoughts in order. The imagery, the character development, the real meaning, the plot... The plot! Yes, the plot. Such an interesting plot line, I honestly don't know what to say about it, or even know if there is a real plot to it. Her insanity (in the gothic tradition) progresses as you move deeper into the story of course, and she seems so calm about most things up until the end, and that is where it gets me. I honestly have no idea what happens in the end. There are so many different interpretations of it. Who was Jane? Was is always her she saw behind the wallpaper? What did she actually do with the rope? Was she in a summer-home or Institution? I guess it really depends on the reader them selves, and ultimately it is them who has to decide what really happens in the story and not what everyone else says (Although it probably can help a bit). My concluding remarks are that one should read the story before it is discussed in class, so that you may have you own opinion and not get what you think your opinion might be, jumbled up with the 30 opinions you get in class.


A side note that has nothing to do with the story itself: When you listen to a discussion about a piece of literature in class and you go to read it afterwards. USE A HIGHLIGHTER! As I wrote this, I struggled through the eight pages of small text to find all the quotes and words that I thought would be good to use in this blog. 

"The Black Cat" - Edgar Allan Poe

Before I get into what my thoughts were of  the Black Cat, I would like to explain why I am writing about the Black Cat. I am doing an English course in university, (No shit, right?). In this course, which is about Critical Thinking and Writing, I have a 'Journal' assignment in which I am to write what  my thoughts were about 8 different pieces of poetry and prose we do in the course. There are no specifications as to what we write, as long as it is our own, not a plot summary, and it has a decent introduction and conclusion. Having just started a blog recently, I figured it would have been a cool idea to make my blog into my project (at least till I finish it) and write my 'journals' here. I can be creative as I want to be so it really opens it up and in my terms , deems it acceptable for my 'blog'. Now that that is out of the way I can move into what I thought of the Black Cat... which wasn't a whole lot.

I know very little about Edgar Allan Poe, except what I have heard class, the story 'Tell Tale Heart' (which I think most everyone knows about) and some sort of ghost story about a candle or something that was read to me by my friend Will, one time in Katimavik. (That one is a little hazy). Although from the very little knowledge that I have of this guy, I'm going to assume, that in most of his stories someone is murdered, they are then cased in a wall, or floor, and then later found again due to the own murderers guilt. Yet, each story there underlies a different theme, about something that would seem so abstract that only Mr. E.A Poe himself would be able to figure out, then under a pseudonym he would broadcast it out to everyone so the word gets around what the story is suggesting.

Story Discussion group:

"Man murders wife, hides her in a wall, then after the police are about to leave, concluding he is innocent, he taps wall where the corpse was located, it then breaks through, revealing it to everyone. What do you think the theme is? I think it is about the guilt of ones conscience making them do irrational things."

"No, not even close. This is obviously about a man suffering from alcohol abuse and this story is a social critique about the dangers of alcoholism."

Obviously, I am being a little bit sarcastic here and I have not told you the whole story. It is about a man, who loves animals, and has a lovely black cat; which if one was very perceptive they would have concluded the story had a black cat, but only if they were very  perceptive. However, due to his alcoholism, his demeanor changes over time and he abuses this cat eventually killing it by hanging. This grows into something much greater when he brutally murders his wife, when she arrested his attempt to kill a second cat.

With that all said and done, I did enjoy this story, not so much for the story itself, but the power he used in his words. '...into a rage more than demoniacal, I withdrew my arm from her grasp, and buried the axe into her brain.'  I think that gets the point across much better than: " He killed her by hitting her in the head with an axe.". His word choice in the entire story really gives it life, especially for the Gothic era in which it was wrote. He gives the story a darkness that, I guess, could only be created by the man himself.

'The Black Cat' was a well written story, with a good underlying theme about alcohol abuse and it's dangers. I would have thought that the theme was to do with the act of confession, seeming, in the story, he wrote this on death row, in hopes to 'unburden his soul'. But whose to say who is right, as long as you can support your argument, it could be about anything. I believe I would read other works by Edgar Allan Poe, but not for the story itself; it would be for how he writes the story. All his stories may be very similar but at least his word choice keeps things interesting.

If you wanted to read the story, go to:
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/24/
I don't think I am breaking the law by putting that there...

Brainwashed by Television.

I started reading the book series 'A Song of Ice and Fire' not to long ago. It has been recently made popular by the 'Hit HBO series Game of Thrones' which is quite similar to the title of the first book, 'A Game Of Thrones'. I haven't seen the series as of yet, but from what the people say it is really good. Each season is based on each book. There are currently five books available and I believe they are working on the second season now. So perhaps when I finish the books first I will sit down and watch the series, and gasp at how different they really are from the books. Like everyone used to do... not the other way around.

I was in my Chemistry class last week, waiting for class to begin so I figured I could catch a few pages before it started. As I was reading, a lady who was sitting beside me asked

"What do you think of it so far?"

I replied " I think it's fabulous, Lord of the Rings (probably my favorite epic fantasy) might have a hard time living up to this."

We continued talking for a little while and we began discussing the T.V. series. I said that I hadn't seen it before, but I may watch it after I finish all the books. Of course I had a long way to go seeming I just finished the first book yesterday. And this is where 'the funk hit the fan'. She said that she had watched the HBO series first, and was surprised at how poor a job the book does compared to the T.V. show. As if the television show was made BEFORE THE BOOK.

What kind of person could even think that a movie or a television show does better than the book itself. I can see someone saying they did a pretty darn good job keeping the show with the book; however the lack of detail in the show compared to book just does not cut it. Referring back to Lord of the Rings for a moment; the trilogy of movies that was directed by Peter Jackson was absolutely exceptional. The cast they had and the detail in each set was gorgeous, but as we all know J.R.R. Tolkien was a stickler about the detail. Right down to how long the grass was and what kind of soil was good for the flowers that sprinkled the field. (Use your sense of sarcasm there.) In my opinion watching a movie isn't the same as reading about everything and letting your imagination run wild. A movie or show based on a book is just one persons interpretation of the events and the world that they happened in. They are not your own; it is the imagination of someone else.

So I think people are being brainwashed by television. Everything that is on T.V. or 'Facebook' has to be real, and nothing else is right. It is dulling their brains and, imaginations, making them rely on a T.V. series to show them what a book is like, rather than picking it up their selves, sitting down, and reading it. It is like this for almost everything!
 
You're sitting on your couch watching the weather channel. "IMPORTANT WEATHER UPDATE: Huge cold front over the GTA tonight. Things are looking bad right now, there is a blizzard hitting so expect 60-75cm between now and later this evening. "

You think to yourself " Wow, this is crazy! I can't believe that's happening. Wait... I live in Toronto." You get up from your couch and look out the window. You can see the sky, and a few flurries dancing peacefully down to the ground below. What do you believe? The 'official' telling you on your oh so powerful and completely truthful television. Or your own eyes. I could talk about the topic of the media for day, but I will save that for another day.

Run free! don't let yourself be boxed in by the imaginary boundaries of the technological era! (Ironic, coming from a blogger, right?) Go out and make your own adventure. Delve into some dark ominous land where magic exists and dragons roam free! Explore the land of Middle-Earth or Wonderland or whatever world they may be in through their own eyes, instead of someone else's.

Go read a book.

A New Beginning.

A Beginning, the definition given by the lovely Ms. Miriam Webster  is "The point at which something begins". Simple enough, and quite frankly, the perfect word for my life right now, which is just beginning. I suppose you could think of it as the beginning of a new adventure into sparsely traversed lands in some dark distant world; I at least would like to think of it as that... it doesn't seem as boring then.

"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to"

So today I am stepping out the door (a virtual one anyways) and beginning a blog.

Let the adventure begin.