When reading I, Rigoberta Menchú, Milton, Rousseau, Babeuf, Donnelly, Marx and Engels, Babel, Malraux, Orwell, and Azuela, converge. I, Rigoberta Menchú, in part, “reinforce” the ideologies of:
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels:
“Capitalists (the bourgeois), are owners of property, the means of production, and the exploiters of the working class, and the proletariats are the wage-laborers reduced to selling their labor in order to live.”
Ignatius Donnelly, Marx, and George Orwell:
Society’s ruling class (property owners), create an “underworld,” creating a “domain of the poor,” and that all property owners should be abolished.”
John Milton “The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates”:
Dismantles the divinity of the power structure and defines their role as merely “deputies of the people,” and therefore, not above reproach. They are to be challenged politically, morally, philosophically, and legally. And that the power structure is expected to act and serve for the common good of all the people.
Gracchus Babeuf, “Liberty, Equality, Freedom”:
The inequities and violation of human rights is just cause for social revolution, and that the deceitful acts of these institutions give rise to the mental and physical forces that necessitate change by community members.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “Social Contract” provides the foundation for Babuef:
By combining these forces (creating a collective force), men can achieve and maintain true morality within a continuum of self-governing laws.
The events detailed further in the reading: Rigoberta learns that her father was burned to death; Rigoberta is forced to watch the burning of her brother (still alive after the soldiers mutilated his body); she is told that her mother was tortured to death; and when Rigoberta was pursued by the authorities -- Maximilian, Ch’en, Katov, Kyo, and Demetrio surface.
I, Rigoberta Menchú’s political, social, economic, and psychological landscapes unite the aforementioned ideologies that were studied in this course.
Thank you,
Edith
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The Underdogs: The Novel of the Mexican Revolution
On the Surface: The Transformation or Revelation of Demetrio Macias, Part III
Demetrio Macías Revealed
Cervantes:
“Are you tired of the revolution?”
Captain Solis:
“ ‘Tired? But am I disappointed? Perhaps!...I’d hope to find a meadow at the end of the road…and I found a swamp. My friend, there are facts and there are men that are pure poison…And that poison drips into your soul and turns everything bitter. Enthusiasm, hopes, ideals, joys…all comes to naugnt…. Then you have no other choice: either you turn into bandit just like them; or you disappear, hiding behind a mask of the most ferocious and impenetrable egotism’ ” (63-64).
Demetrio:
“ ‘In this same sierra with just twenty men I killed five hundred Federals.’ ”
“As Demetrio begins to tell that famous exploit, the men realize the danger they are facing. When did Demetrio Macias’s men ever say ‘we wont’t go there?’ (149-150).
Outnumbered, his new recruits have retreated, and his loyal comrades fallen, Demetrio, unyielding and alone, is shielded by his “ferocious and impenetrable egotism” in his concluding pursuit.
Edith
Demetrio Macías Revealed
Cervantes:
“Are you tired of the revolution?”
Captain Solis:
“ ‘Tired? But am I disappointed? Perhaps!...I’d hope to find a meadow at the end of the road…and I found a swamp. My friend, there are facts and there are men that are pure poison…And that poison drips into your soul and turns everything bitter. Enthusiasm, hopes, ideals, joys…all comes to naugnt…. Then you have no other choice: either you turn into bandit just like them; or you disappear, hiding behind a mask of the most ferocious and impenetrable egotism’ ” (63-64).
Demetrio:
“ ‘In this same sierra with just twenty men I killed five hundred Federals.’ ”
“As Demetrio begins to tell that famous exploit, the men realize the danger they are facing. When did Demetrio Macias’s men ever say ‘we wont’t go there?’ (149-150).
Outnumbered, his new recruits have retreated, and his loyal comrades fallen, Demetrio, unyielding and alone, is shielded by his “ferocious and impenetrable egotism” in his concluding pursuit.
Edith
The Underdogs: The Novel of the Mexican Revolution
On the Surface: The Transformation or Revelation of Demetrio Macías as, Part II
“The Matrix Reloaded:”
- Luis Cervantes, the bourgeoisie:
“You still don’t realize your true, lofty, noble mission. You are a modest man without ambitions, you do not wish to realize the exceedingly important role you are destined to play in the revolution. It’s not true that you took up arms simply because of Don Mónico, the cacique. You rose up to protest against the evils of all the caciques who are ruining the whole nation” (Cervantes to Demetrio, 44).
- Guero Margarito, captain in the Northern Division:
“ ‘Hey, waiter,’ ” Güero Margarito cried, “ ‘I ordered ice water…. And I’m not begging for it, either, see? Look at this wad of bills; I’ll buy you and…your old woman, understand? I don’t care if it ran out or why it ran out…It’s up to you to find some way to get it. I tell you, I don’t want excuses, I want my ice water. Are you bringing it, or not? No?...Well, take this…’ ”
“A heavy blow sent the waiter reeling to the floor.”
“ ‘That’s just the way I am, General Macías’ ” (81-82).
Pintada, the female revolutionary and companion to Margarito:
“ ‘What stupid fools,’ ” said Pintada, convulsed with laughter. “ ‘Where the hell are you from? Soldiers don’t sleep in hotels and inns anymore. Where do you come from? You just go anywhere you like and pick a house that pleases you, and you take without asking any one for permission. Who’s the revolution for, anyhow? For the rich folks? We’re the fancy ones now... (83).
Demetrio, now General Demetrio, must process and assimilate current stratagems with the “urbane Cervantes" and the opposing perspectives that redefine the private revolution.
Edith
“The Matrix Reloaded:”
- Luis Cervantes, the bourgeoisie:
“You still don’t realize your true, lofty, noble mission. You are a modest man without ambitions, you do not wish to realize the exceedingly important role you are destined to play in the revolution. It’s not true that you took up arms simply because of Don Mónico, the cacique. You rose up to protest against the evils of all the caciques who are ruining the whole nation” (Cervantes to Demetrio, 44).
- Guero Margarito, captain in the Northern Division:
“ ‘Hey, waiter,’ ” Güero Margarito cried, “ ‘I ordered ice water…. And I’m not begging for it, either, see? Look at this wad of bills; I’ll buy you and…your old woman, understand? I don’t care if it ran out or why it ran out…It’s up to you to find some way to get it. I tell you, I don’t want excuses, I want my ice water. Are you bringing it, or not? No?...Well, take this…’ ”
“A heavy blow sent the waiter reeling to the floor.”
“ ‘That’s just the way I am, General Macías’ ” (81-82).
Pintada, the female revolutionary and companion to Margarito:
“ ‘What stupid fools,’ ” said Pintada, convulsed with laughter. “ ‘Where the hell are you from? Soldiers don’t sleep in hotels and inns anymore. Where do you come from? You just go anywhere you like and pick a house that pleases you, and you take without asking any one for permission. Who’s the revolution for, anyhow? For the rich folks? We’re the fancy ones now... (83).
Demetrio, now General Demetrio, must process and assimilate current stratagems with the “urbane Cervantes" and the opposing perspectives that redefine the private revolution.
Edith
The Underdogs: In Response to Professor Hanley (Continued)
“We looked. Yes, thank heaven! it was the signal. The Demon rose like a great hawk to a considerable height, floated around for awhile in space, and then slowly descended” (Caesar’s Column, 221).
“It was a heavenly morning. It had rained all night, and the sky dawned covered with a canopy of white clouds. Young, wild colts trotted on the summit of the sierra, with streaming manes and outstretched tails, graceful as the elegant peaks that lift their heads to kiss the clouds” (The Underdogs, 149).
Auzela’s descriptive imagery is fused with beauty, physicality, appealing characters, and masculinity. The reader’s sensory perception and imagination are on overdrive. Azuela’s revolutionary imagination is one of compassion, loyalty, individual conflict, and sensuality. Comparatively, abrasive characters, acidic dialogue, and desolate towns and villages, occupied by traumatized and despairing residents, define Babel’s revolution. Similarly, Donnelly’s revolution is an illustration of corrupt power, hopelessness, and despair remedied only by an escape to his “utopian” colony. The emotional tensions and individual conflicts become physical descriptions for Malraux’s revolutionaries in Man’s Fate. Satan, in Milton’s Paradise Lost, is a revolution. And Orwell’s revolution can be read as a definitive description and illustration of the modern work place.
Edith
“It was a heavenly morning. It had rained all night, and the sky dawned covered with a canopy of white clouds. Young, wild colts trotted on the summit of the sierra, with streaming manes and outstretched tails, graceful as the elegant peaks that lift their heads to kiss the clouds” (The Underdogs, 149).
Auzela’s descriptive imagery is fused with beauty, physicality, appealing characters, and masculinity. The reader’s sensory perception and imagination are on overdrive. Azuela’s revolutionary imagination is one of compassion, loyalty, individual conflict, and sensuality. Comparatively, abrasive characters, acidic dialogue, and desolate towns and villages, occupied by traumatized and despairing residents, define Babel’s revolution. Similarly, Donnelly’s revolution is an illustration of corrupt power, hopelessness, and despair remedied only by an escape to his “utopian” colony. The emotional tensions and individual conflicts become physical descriptions for Malraux’s revolutionaries in Man’s Fate. Satan, in Milton’s Paradise Lost, is a revolution. And Orwell’s revolution can be read as a definitive description and illustration of the modern work place.
Edith
The Underdogs: The Novel of the Mexican Revolution
On the Surface: The Transformation or Revelation of Demetrio Macías, Part I
(Continued)
“Tall and well built, with a sanguine, beardless face, he wore shirt and trousers of white cloth, a broad-brimmed straw hat, and leather sandals.
“With slow, measured step, he left the room, vanishing into the impenetrable darkness of the night” (3-4).
Demetrio Macías, Mariano Azuela’s uncomplicated and uncompromising revolutionary -- initially. Husband, father, fugitive, and leader of a small band of rebels, fighting for land reform during the Mexican Revolution of 1910. His objective: to annihilate the Federals and create havoc for the bourgeoisie.
Edith
(Continued)
“Tall and well built, with a sanguine, beardless face, he wore shirt and trousers of white cloth, a broad-brimmed straw hat, and leather sandals.
“With slow, measured step, he left the room, vanishing into the impenetrable darkness of the night” (3-4).
Demetrio Macías, Mariano Azuela’s uncomplicated and uncompromising revolutionary -- initially. Husband, father, fugitive, and leader of a small band of rebels, fighting for land reform during the Mexican Revolution of 1910. His objective: to annihilate the Federals and create havoc for the bourgeoisie.
Edith
Sunday, May 6, 2007
The Underdogs: In Response to Professor Hanley
“We crossed the river and entered deeper into the petit-bourgeois settlement. We were nearing the priest’s house when Afonka suddenly came riding around the corner on a large stallion.”
“ ‘Greetings,’ he called out in a barking voice, and, pushing the fighters apart, took his old position in the ranks” (Red Calvary, 121).
(To be continued)
Edith
“ ‘Greetings,’ he called out in a barking voice, and, pushing the fighters apart, took his old position in the ranks” (Red Calvary, 121).
(To be continued)
Edith
The Underdogs: The Novel of the Mexican Revolution
The Transformation of Demetrio Macías, Part I
(To be continued)
Edith
(To be continued)
Edith
Animal Farm: A Personal Comment
Reading Animal Farm outside of capitalism, communism, totalitarianism, and hierarchical contexts, Orwell presents to the reader a typical working class society. Most memorable are Boxer, Mollie, and Squealer. Mollie because of her femininity, self-absorption, and vanity: “ ‘Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion?’ ” “ ‘And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane? ’ ” (36); Squealer, “the brilliant talker, that could turn black into white” 36), and Boxer: strong, focused, well admired, apolitical, and hard working: “I will work harder” (47). Boxer’s dedication, determination, and steadfastness, exemplifies an ideal labor force.
Edith
Edith
Animal Farm: In Response to Professor Hanley (continued):
As stated previously, hierarchy includes systems of compromise, reciprocity, interchange, and exchange. And freedom is innate in man. Hierarchy ideally is relative to the needs of the society and its members, therefore, a means, a process, by which freedom is assured and maintained.
Edith
Edith
Just for the Record:
I incorrectly posted my blog response “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.” in my own “comment” section to my first blog post dated Tuesday, January 30, 2007, rather than a “new” blog post.
Several Thoughts: In Response to Professor Hanley’s Two-Part Question:
What is the “Tachanka Theory” (Question posed in class by Professor Hanley.)
In Red Calvary, the Tachanka is described as “an open carriage or buggy with a machine gun mounted on the back” (footnotes, 75), “capable of unprecedented mobility and demobilization” (76). However, the “theory” lies in the effective utilization and implementation of the piece of machinery: “to hack to pieces―tachanka—blood.”
Is Red Calvary an anti-war book, or a pro-war book? (Question posed in class by Professor Hanley)
Babel’s objective was to “depict the disorder” of war: “petty bickering and blood baths, of rape and self-sacrifice, of mud, stars, and sudden death” (12). While simultaneously, “displaying the loyalty and courage of men and women in war, and, depending on circumstances, may appear vile or heroic” (10). Red Calvary serves as a counter-balance to the traditional glorified, romanticized, and idealized accounts of war.
Edith
Several Thoughts: In Response to Professor Hanley’s Two-Part Question:
What is the “Tachanka Theory” (Question posed in class by Professor Hanley.)
In Red Calvary, the Tachanka is described as “an open carriage or buggy with a machine gun mounted on the back” (footnotes, 75), “capable of unprecedented mobility and demobilization” (76). However, the “theory” lies in the effective utilization and implementation of the piece of machinery: “to hack to pieces―tachanka—blood.”
Is Red Calvary an anti-war book, or a pro-war book? (Question posed in class by Professor Hanley)
Babel’s objective was to “depict the disorder” of war: “petty bickering and blood baths, of rape and self-sacrifice, of mud, stars, and sudden death” (12). While simultaneously, “displaying the loyalty and courage of men and women in war, and, depending on circumstances, may appear vile or heroic” (10). Red Calvary serves as a counter-balance to the traditional glorified, romanticized, and idealized accounts of war.
Edith
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Animal Farm: In Response to Professor Hanley
In class last Thursday, Professor Hanley posed two questions: Why do the pigs impose a hierarchy? Is it human nature to want hierarchy?
As one student stated in class, the hierarchy is pre-existent in Orwell’s Animal Farm. That is, the ranking of the fable’s characters: Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, and the various farm animals, each defined by their genus, individual assets, deficits and liabilities.
Hierarchy, ideally includes systems of compromise, reciprocity, interchange, and exchange.
(To be continued).
Edith
As one student stated in class, the hierarchy is pre-existent in Orwell’s Animal Farm. That is, the ranking of the fable’s characters: Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, and the various farm animals, each defined by their genus, individual assets, deficits and liabilities.
Hierarchy, ideally includes systems of compromise, reciprocity, interchange, and exchange.
(To be continued).
Edith
Man’s Fate: In Response to Professor Hanley
Heroism: Katov and Kyo
Konig:
You want to live?
Kyo:
It depends on how.
Kyo:
Any way of getting out of here?
Katov:
Not a chance.
In class Tuesday before last, Professor Hanley posed a question: What makes Katov and Kyo heroic at the end of Man’s Fate?
Imprisoned and death immanent, Kyo anticipates the possibility of being released, or to attempt “the taking of the prison.” And Katov, shrewd, “tactically” calculates the “taking of the Post.”
Edith
Konig:
You want to live?
Kyo:
It depends on how.
Kyo:
Any way of getting out of here?
Katov:
Not a chance.
In class Tuesday before last, Professor Hanley posed a question: What makes Katov and Kyo heroic at the end of Man’s Fate?
Imprisoned and death immanent, Kyo anticipates the possibility of being released, or to attempt “the taking of the prison.” And Katov, shrewd, “tactically” calculates the “taking of the Post.”
Edith
Man’s Fate: In Response to Professor Hanley
Malraux and the “Revolutionary Imagination”
Milton’s revolutionary in Paradise Lost seeks self-sovereignty and vengeance. Donnelly’s imagination in Caesar’s Column is a futuristic panorama of revolution with social, economical, and political pontification and fundamental resolve. While Babel’s revolutionary thematic in Red Calvary, describes the cruelties, destruction, and devastation of war: socially, culturally, politically, and economically. And the French Revolution graphics illustrate and memorialize the struggle. However, Malraux’s “revolutionary imagination” give the revolutionaries depth and dimension. Individual struggle: internal conflict and complex “emotional interior;” external pressures: family obligations, the absence of friendship, and self-interest and commitment in Man’s Fate create awareness for the reader: revolution is a rebellion with the self.
Edith
Milton’s revolutionary in Paradise Lost seeks self-sovereignty and vengeance. Donnelly’s imagination in Caesar’s Column is a futuristic panorama of revolution with social, economical, and political pontification and fundamental resolve. While Babel’s revolutionary thematic in Red Calvary, describes the cruelties, destruction, and devastation of war: socially, culturally, politically, and economically. And the French Revolution graphics illustrate and memorialize the struggle. However, Malraux’s “revolutionary imagination” give the revolutionaries depth and dimension. Individual struggle: internal conflict and complex “emotional interior;” external pressures: family obligations, the absence of friendship, and self-interest and commitment in Man’s Fate create awareness for the reader: revolution is a rebellion with the self.
Edith
Man’s Fate: In Response to Professor Hanley
Terrorism and Revolution: Kyo
(Continued)
Kyo advocates the ideals of the revolution. Ferral asks “ ‘And how many revolutionaries who can do something besides talk?’ ” (82). Trotsky argues that one’s fear is disempowering and disabling, and destroys the integrity of the struggle. Kyo, emotionally reconciled, has elevated his level of commitment with his death: “To die is passivity, but to kill oneself is action” (318).
Edith
(Continued)
Kyo advocates the ideals of the revolution. Ferral asks “ ‘And how many revolutionaries who can do something besides talk?’ ” (82). Trotsky argues that one’s fear is disempowering and disabling, and destroys the integrity of the struggle. Kyo, emotionally reconciled, has elevated his level of commitment with his death: “To die is passivity, but to kill oneself is action” (318).
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part III (Personal Commentary)
An Exchange: Ch’en and Kyo
(Continued)
Ch’en:
“ ‘I’m not the sort to feel remorse. In the business of murder the difficult thing isn’t to kill – the thing is not to go to pieces: to be stronger than…what happens inside one at the moment’ ” (153).
The murder of Chiang Kai-shek remains at the center of debate. Murder and death are analyzed validated, and absolved. “My life is not in the past, it is before me” (Ch’en, 154). Dreams, memories, and guilt are overruled by “certainty” and conviction: the vital elements when deciding, defining, and determining one’s destiny.
Edith
(Continued)
Ch’en:
“ ‘I’m not the sort to feel remorse. In the business of murder the difficult thing isn’t to kill – the thing is not to go to pieces: to be stronger than…what happens inside one at the moment’ ” (153).
The murder of Chiang Kai-shek remains at the center of debate. Murder and death are analyzed validated, and absolved. “My life is not in the past, it is before me” (Ch’en, 154). Dreams, memories, and guilt are overruled by “certainty” and conviction: the vital elements when deciding, defining, and determining one’s destiny.
Edith
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Man’s Fate: In Response to Professor Hanley
Terrorism and Revolution: Kyo
“He was resolved not to hear the insults, to endure everything that could be endured; the important thing was to get out of there, to resume the struggle. Yet he felt a nauseating humiliation that every man feels before someone upon whom he depends, powerless against that shadow with a whip—shorn of himself” (294).
(To be continued)
Edith
“He was resolved not to hear the insults, to endure everything that could be endured; the important thing was to get out of there, to resume the struggle. Yet he felt a nauseating humiliation that every man feels before someone upon whom he depends, powerless against that shadow with a whip—shorn of himself” (294).
(To be continued)
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part VII (Personal Commentary)
The Paradox:
“ ‘A civilization becomes transformed, when its most oppressed element […] suddenly becomes a value, when the oppressed ceases to attempt to escape t[his] humiliation, and seeks his salvation in it, when the worker ceases to attempt to escape this work, and seeks in it his reason for being’ ” (294).
I am still debating how to contextualize or interpret this profound statement, (because it operates on many levels) from one of Old Gisors lectures, attended by Hemmelrich, who has escaped China and is employed as a “mounter in an electric plant.” Influenced and motivated by the professor’s theory, Hemmelrich vows to “return to China as an agitator.”
Oppression seemingly is a double-edge sword: It convicts as well as reveals the constituent qualities of man.
Edith
“ ‘A civilization becomes transformed, when its most oppressed element […] suddenly becomes a value, when the oppressed ceases to attempt to escape t[his] humiliation, and seeks his salvation in it, when the worker ceases to attempt to escape this work, and seeks in it his reason for being’ ” (294).
I am still debating how to contextualize or interpret this profound statement, (because it operates on many levels) from one of Old Gisors lectures, attended by Hemmelrich, who has escaped China and is employed as a “mounter in an electric plant.” Influenced and motivated by the professor’s theory, Hemmelrich vows to “return to China as an agitator.”
Oppression seemingly is a double-edge sword: It convicts as well as reveals the constituent qualities of man.
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part VI (Personal Commentary)
The Unexpected:
“But as long as things are bad I prefer to be fed in prison rather than die of hunger in freedom…” (294).
Malraux persistently interlocks events, contrasting philosophies, and ideologies to catalyze action. Kyo, now imprisoned, has adopted Ch’en’s persona: fortitude, perseverance, and resolve. He is determined to endure the harshness of imprisonment until he escapes or by releasement in order to “resume the struggle.” His fellow prisoner – conditioned to and contented with the cruelties and inequities of life: “You know, one gets used to it.”
Edith
“But as long as things are bad I prefer to be fed in prison rather than die of hunger in freedom…” (294).
Malraux persistently interlocks events, contrasting philosophies, and ideologies to catalyze action. Kyo, now imprisoned, has adopted Ch’en’s persona: fortitude, perseverance, and resolve. He is determined to endure the harshness of imprisonment until he escapes or by releasement in order to “resume the struggle.” His fellow prisoner – conditioned to and contented with the cruelties and inequities of life: “You know, one gets used to it.”
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part V (Personal Commentary)
Deliverance
“He could not banish from his mind the atrocious, weighty, profound joy of liberation. […]. He was no longer impotent. Now, he too could kill. […]. His hands trembling, his teeth chattering, carried away by his terrible liberty” (266-268).
Allow me to continue with Hemmelrich. Malraux introduces another psychological and philosophical turn. Hemmelrich feels liberated after the murder of his wife and son. And relieved from the guilt of Ch’en’s death (for denying him temporary shelter, in fear of jeopardizing his family’s safety) and the lingering image of Ch’en’s dead body on the sidewalk, drenched in blood, after his failed attempt to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek: “Now, he too could kill.”
Character redefined, psychologically renewed, and philosophically unrestrained, Hemmelrich concretely asserts, “that life was not the only mode of contact between human beings.” And that love is better attained and achieved “in vengeance than in life.”
Edith
“He could not banish from his mind the atrocious, weighty, profound joy of liberation. […]. He was no longer impotent. Now, he too could kill. […]. His hands trembling, his teeth chattering, carried away by his terrible liberty” (266-268).
Allow me to continue with Hemmelrich. Malraux introduces another psychological and philosophical turn. Hemmelrich feels liberated after the murder of his wife and son. And relieved from the guilt of Ch’en’s death (for denying him temporary shelter, in fear of jeopardizing his family’s safety) and the lingering image of Ch’en’s dead body on the sidewalk, drenched in blood, after his failed attempt to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek: “Now, he too could kill.”
Character redefined, psychologically renewed, and philosophically unrestrained, Hemmelrich concretely asserts, “that life was not the only mode of contact between human beings.” And that love is better attained and achieved “in vengeance than in life.”
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part IV (continued)
Marital Obligation and Terrorism: (Personal Commentary)
As stated previously, marital confinement and constraints restrict Hemmelrich’s involvement in the revolution.
Malraux continues to revolve his dramatis personae around Ch’en, Malraux’s “model” for a terrorist: “Won’t I ever be in his place?” The emotional and psychological framework of his principal characters influence and determine their “means and mode of production.” Hemmelrich remains within the context of a proletariat: loss of independence and individuality, and into a state of subjugation.
Edith
As stated previously, marital confinement and constraints restrict Hemmelrich’s involvement in the revolution.
Malraux continues to revolve his dramatis personae around Ch’en, Malraux’s “model” for a terrorist: “Won’t I ever be in his place?” The emotional and psychological framework of his principal characters influence and determine their “means and mode of production.” Hemmelrich remains within the context of a proletariat: loss of independence and individuality, and into a state of subjugation.
Edith
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Man’s Fate: The Terrorist (In Response to Prof. Hanley)
All of the principal characters in Man’s Fate are “terrorists.” What distinguish each character is their level of participation and commitment during the revolution. Ch’en, emotionally and philosophically isolated, operates at the organization’s periphery, categorizing him as an assassin rather than a terrorist. A terrorist, typically, is united by similar ideological beliefs and course of action. Marital, familial, and emotional ties are de-layered by the failures of the revolution, and acts of heroism and sacrifice are the bi-products of regrets, self-interests, and more importantly, Ch’en’s unselfish and ultimate sacrifice: his life.
Edith
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part IV (Personal Commentary)
Marital Obligation and Terrorism
“You don’t know, Ch’en, you can’t know how lucky you are to be free! (185)
Marital confinement and constraint, restricts Hemmelrich’s involvement in the revolution. (To be continued)
Edith
“You don’t know, Ch’en, you can’t know how lucky you are to be free! (185)
Marital confinement and constraint, restricts Hemmelrich’s involvement in the revolution. (To be continued)
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part III (Personal Commentary)
An Exchange: Ch’en and Kyo
“ ‘Man’s complete impenetrability takes on something inhuman,’ thought Kyo as he looked at him [Ch’en].” “ ‘Is it because we easily feel a sense of contact through our weaknesses?’ ” (146)
Conflicting stratagems and methodologies come to the forefront during the existential discourse between Ch’en and Kyo in Part III. Ch’en is resolute, unhesitant, and invincible. And Kyo is introspective, vulnerable, and uncertain. (To be continued)
Edith
“ ‘Man’s complete impenetrability takes on something inhuman,’ thought Kyo as he looked at him [Ch’en].” “ ‘Is it because we easily feel a sense of contact through our weaknesses?’ ” (146)
Conflicting stratagems and methodologies come to the forefront during the existential discourse between Ch’en and Kyo in Part III. Ch’en is resolute, unhesitant, and invincible. And Kyo is introspective, vulnerable, and uncertain. (To be continued)
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part II (Personal Commentary)
Ferral: An Opposing Force
Financial intellect, arrogance, nepotism, and diversification are the opposing forces that embody the President of the French Chamber of Commerce and leader of the Franco-Asiatic Consortium. Malraux’s prototype: the ultimate self-seeking capitalist is the counter-ideological force of the revolution. Ferral’s “insolence,” “indifference,” and “domineering” style becomes Malraux’s model for the “means and mode of production.”
Edith
Financial intellect, arrogance, nepotism, and diversification are the opposing forces that embody the President of the French Chamber of Commerce and leader of the Franco-Asiatic Consortium. Malraux’s prototype: the ultimate self-seeking capitalist is the counter-ideological force of the revolution. Ferral’s “insolence,” “indifference,” and “domineering” style becomes Malraux’s model for the “means and mode of production.”
Edith
Man’s Fate, Part I (continued)
Terrorism is perceived as pre-mediated, calculated, and certain, and adhering to a methodical and precise course of action. Success is anticipated, but not within a context of emotional torment, marital estrangement and infidelity, familial detachment, confusion, and despair. However, that is the essence of Man’s Fate. In Part I, Malraux place his terrorists in an affecting psychological atmosphere: the complex emotional interior of Ch’en; the marital discord between Kyo and May; the connectedness between Old Gisors and Ch’en; the disconnect between father and son (Old Gisors and his son Kyo); the loss of financial and social status of Baron de Clappique; the restrictive marital obligations of Hemmelrich; and the audacity and boldness of Katov.
Edith
Edith
Literary Form and the War Narrative: In Response to Prof. Hanley (continued)
As stated in my initial post, Caesar's Column, Red Calvary, and Man's Fate, provides the reader with three distinct narratives characterizing war: Babel's journalistic narrative; Donnelly's "manifesto" narrative; and Malraux's psychological narrative.
Donnelly’s theories, ideologies, and socio-economical models are framed within a dialectic and authoritative discourse. His declaration of opinions, motives, and resolve create a consciousness that will enable ideological acceptance and integration between author and reader.
The “violence” and “brutalities” of the 1917 war between Russia and Poland are illustrated within an abstract and fragmented diary of events. Babel’s personal experiences and observations are objectively reported within a journalistic style and context that incorporates multiple narratives and tone with poetic and “pictorial” imagery within a symbolic discourse that allows the reader to assess and formulate the ramifications of forced ideologies and belief systems.
Psychological warfare and existentialism are Malraux’s thematic tools in Man’s Fate. Revolutionary ideology and abstract theories are overshadowed by personal identity, frustration, fear, obligation, and commitment during the Chinese Revolution. The acts of terrorism interchange with multi-faceted ideological and philosophical discourses between the novel’s characters. Malraux fuses their emotional framework with the elevation of responsibility, commitment, and a definitive course of action.
Edith
Donnelly’s theories, ideologies, and socio-economical models are framed within a dialectic and authoritative discourse. His declaration of opinions, motives, and resolve create a consciousness that will enable ideological acceptance and integration between author and reader.
The “violence” and “brutalities” of the 1917 war between Russia and Poland are illustrated within an abstract and fragmented diary of events. Babel’s personal experiences and observations are objectively reported within a journalistic style and context that incorporates multiple narratives and tone with poetic and “pictorial” imagery within a symbolic discourse that allows the reader to assess and formulate the ramifications of forced ideologies and belief systems.
Psychological warfare and existentialism are Malraux’s thematic tools in Man’s Fate. Revolutionary ideology and abstract theories are overshadowed by personal identity, frustration, fear, obligation, and commitment during the Chinese Revolution. The acts of terrorism interchange with multi-faceted ideological and philosophical discourses between the novel’s characters. Malraux fuses their emotional framework with the elevation of responsibility, commitment, and a definitive course of action.
Edith
Caesar’s Column and Communist Manifesto: In Response to Prof. Hanley (continued)
As previously stated, according to Donnelly and Marx, technological progress reduces society into two classes: the bourgeois/“oligarchy” and the proletariat/“workers.” And that power is the product of wealth. Marx defines the bourgeois as capitalist, owners of property, the means of production, and the exploiters of the working class. Additionally, the proletariats are the wage-laborers who must sell their labor in order to survive. Similarly, the Oligarchy is a ruling class of corrupt plutocrats. And, the “workers,” are the product of plutocratic “misdeeds” and “indifference.”
Donnelly and Marx’s ideologies run parallel. They agree that economic power is the impetus for social, political, and moral decline. Additionally, to diffuse the power of the ruling class and to equalize, if not, empower the labor force. The redirection and investment of capital and the abolishment of private property are common ideologies that unite the authors. Donnelly’s approach and resolve for social, political, and economical reform are palatable compared to the absolutism of Marx and Engels.
Edith
Donnelly and Marx’s ideologies run parallel. They agree that economic power is the impetus for social, political, and moral decline. Additionally, to diffuse the power of the ruling class and to equalize, if not, empower the labor force. The redirection and investment of capital and the abolishment of private property are common ideologies that unite the authors. Donnelly’s approach and resolve for social, political, and economical reform are palatable compared to the absolutism of Marx and Engels.
Edith
Caesar’s Column: In Response to Prof. Hanley (Continued)
As stated in my previous post, Donnelly’s futuristic New York City illustrates societal declination within a context of technological evolution. And Donnelly’s resolution, his ideal society, is a modification and incorporation of “past governmental philosophies.”
According to Donnelly, “usury” is the “root of all evil,” and his economic theoretic, in part: the abolishment of “usury,” corporations, and “excess” (because “excess” is “destructive”), will create “universal prosperity” within a prescribed set of laws, government, and political economy: Donnelly’s “Utopia.” That is, no one person will have the advantage over the other. Altruism and beneficence will prevail when one’s surplus, by a governing body is appropriately distributed and invested.
In Donnelly’s “Garden in the Mountain,” he restructures a society by establishing a body of governing laws “to protect ourselves from ourselves.” For example: formulated a constitution detailing fundamental laws and religious belief, with a preamble stating that:
“This government is intended to be merely a plain and simple instrument, to insure to every industrious citizen not only liberty, but an educated mind, a comfortable home, an abundant supply of food and clothing, and a pleasant, happy life” (236);
three branches of government, wage and labor guidelines, a judicial system, trial by jury, penal institutions, tariff laws, a national treasury, and municipal laws and ordinances. However, if you did not abide by the “reformations,” one was “transferred to the outside world, where they could enjoy the fruits of the time-hallowed systems they praised so much” (239).
The absence of free choice and free enterprise overshadows Donnelly’s idealized universal prosperity and a “pleasant, happy life.” Ultimatums position one to prefer to “reign in Hell than serve in Heav’n,” without objectively considering the consequences and aftermath.
Edith
According to Donnelly, “usury” is the “root of all evil,” and his economic theoretic, in part: the abolishment of “usury,” corporations, and “excess” (because “excess” is “destructive”), will create “universal prosperity” within a prescribed set of laws, government, and political economy: Donnelly’s “Utopia.” That is, no one person will have the advantage over the other. Altruism and beneficence will prevail when one’s surplus, by a governing body is appropriately distributed and invested.
In Donnelly’s “Garden in the Mountain,” he restructures a society by establishing a body of governing laws “to protect ourselves from ourselves.” For example: formulated a constitution detailing fundamental laws and religious belief, with a preamble stating that:
“This government is intended to be merely a plain and simple instrument, to insure to every industrious citizen not only liberty, but an educated mind, a comfortable home, an abundant supply of food and clothing, and a pleasant, happy life” (236);
three branches of government, wage and labor guidelines, a judicial system, trial by jury, penal institutions, tariff laws, a national treasury, and municipal laws and ordinances. However, if you did not abide by the “reformations,” one was “transferred to the outside world, where they could enjoy the fruits of the time-hallowed systems they praised so much” (239).
The absence of free choice and free enterprise overshadows Donnelly’s idealized universal prosperity and a “pleasant, happy life.” Ultimatums position one to prefer to “reign in Hell than serve in Heav’n,” without objectively considering the consequences and aftermath.
Edith
Monday, March 26, 2007
Man’s Fate, Part I
“Anguish,” bewilderment,” revulsion,” and “nausea”: the emotional prescriptive for the terrorist. (To be continued).
Edith
Edith
Red Calvary: An Overview, Part III (pages 106-169)
“We went, limping with broken legs, waving our crippled arms, holding each other up” (152).
The young journalist is “overcome with self-pity and loneliness; and numb with despair.” As his narrative voice changes, Babel’s emotions and perspectives shift from warfare to loss and emotional attachments. The death of one’s steed produces uncharacteristic and candid sentiments from the regiment: ‘“A horse—that’s a friend,” Orlov answered.”’ ‘“A horse―that’s a father,”’ Bitsenko sighed. ‘“The horse saves your life more times than you can count. Bida is finished without his horse”’ (120). Babel places the reader in the epicenter of his emotions.
Edith
The young journalist is “overcome with self-pity and loneliness; and numb with despair.” As his narrative voice changes, Babel’s emotions and perspectives shift from warfare to loss and emotional attachments. The death of one’s steed produces uncharacteristic and candid sentiments from the regiment: ‘“A horse—that’s a friend,” Orlov answered.”’ ‘“A horse―that’s a father,”’ Bitsenko sighed. ‘“The horse saves your life more times than you can count. Bida is finished without his horse”’ (120). Babel places the reader in the epicenter of his emotions.
Edith
Red Calvary: An Overview, Part II (pages 66-105)
“Comrade,” she said, after a short silence. “All of this makes me want to hang myself?”
Babel maneuvers the reader towards his emotional center and aesthetic consciousness. His psychological subjugation is temporarily relieved: “Savitsky, the commander of the Sixth Division, rose when he saw me, and I was taken aback by the beauty of his gigantic body. […]. He smelled of perfume and the nauseating coolness of soap” (66). The young journalist illustrates the need for acceptance, and the necessity to diminish the ridicule by the Cossacks with disdain and aggression: when a village woman refuses his order to prepare him a meal, he arbitrarily kills a goose by stepping on its neck. Babel reveals to the reader that he is “oppressed” by the repetition of their criminal acts and fighting strategy: “hack to pieces.” And seeing wounded men eating in ditches, dead bodies covering the fields, and more importantly, lost friendship.
Edith
Babel maneuvers the reader towards his emotional center and aesthetic consciousness. His psychological subjugation is temporarily relieved: “Savitsky, the commander of the Sixth Division, rose when he saw me, and I was taken aback by the beauty of his gigantic body. […]. He smelled of perfume and the nauseating coolness of soap” (66). The young journalist illustrates the need for acceptance, and the necessity to diminish the ridicule by the Cossacks with disdain and aggression: when a village woman refuses his order to prepare him a meal, he arbitrarily kills a goose by stepping on its neck. Babel reveals to the reader that he is “oppressed” by the repetition of their criminal acts and fighting strategy: “hack to pieces.” And seeing wounded men eating in ditches, dead bodies covering the fields, and more importantly, lost friendship.
Edith
Red Calvary: An Overview, Part I (pages 1-65)
“The stench of yesterday’s blood and slaughtered horses drips into the evening chill” (39).
Isaac Babel’s diary of the 1917 war between Russia and Poland: the Cossacks and the Poles, is a perplexing and disturbing diary of exploitation, destruction, and carnage. At the onset, the reader is placed in Babel’s emotional periphery. His objective, abstract, and non-responsive reporting of the brutal and seemingly arbitrary slaughter of people, livestock, and religious artifacts, reveal a systemized method of dehumanizing, degrading, and annihilating resistors in Poland’s towns, communities, and villages. “The naked shine of the moon poured over the town with unquenchable strength” (59). Babel incorporates provocative imagery and poetic description of war and its aftermath.
Edith
Isaac Babel’s diary of the 1917 war between Russia and Poland: the Cossacks and the Poles, is a perplexing and disturbing diary of exploitation, destruction, and carnage. At the onset, the reader is placed in Babel’s emotional periphery. His objective, abstract, and non-responsive reporting of the brutal and seemingly arbitrary slaughter of people, livestock, and religious artifacts, reveal a systemized method of dehumanizing, degrading, and annihilating resistors in Poland’s towns, communities, and villages. “The naked shine of the moon poured over the town with unquenchable strength” (59). Babel incorporates provocative imagery and poetic description of war and its aftermath.
Edith
Caesar’s Column and Communist Manifesto: In Response to Prof. Hanley
Technological progress reduces society into two classes: the bourgeois and the proletariat as defined and illustrated by Ignatius Donnelly, and Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. (To be continued)
Edith
Edith
Caesar’s Column: In Response to Prof. Hanley
Donnelly’s futuristic New York City illustrates societal declination (of Donnelly’s “present”) within a context of technological evolution. And Donnelly’s resolution, his ideal society, is a modification of his “past.” (To be continued)
Edith
Edith
On the Surface Part III: Caesar’s Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century
Donnelly extends his symbolic imagery within a romantic narrative. Beauty, virtue, benevolence, and, chastity are represented by the relationships between Gabriel and Estella; and Maximilian and Christina. Estella’s “fair complexion; long and flowing blond hair that enfolds her like a magnificent, shining garment; large blue eyes that are set far apart; a look of honesty and dignity (rarely witnessed in the countenance of a woman); and calm intelligence,” converges with Christina’s “youth, innocence, and a lyrical singing voice,” contained in a petite and diminutive frame, are symbolic images illustrating benevolence and honor of mankind (considering that Maximilian, is a member of the Brotherhood of Destruction), and reassuring Donnelly’s readers that man can live morally, ethically, and honorably.
Edith
Edith
On the Surface Part II: Caesar’s Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century
There are two global bodies of government in Donnelly’s futuristic society: the Brotherhood of Destruction, an organization that acts and speaks on the behalf of the proletariat. With a membership that encompasses the non-criminal element, that has the capacity to “endure harsh labor without resorting to crime.” And the Oligarchy, the plutocratic organization, headed by the novel’s antagonist Prince Cabano. His governmental body consists of “large middle-aged men with finely developed brows; clean cut, successful looking; showing signs of sensuality and dissipation; a hesitate manner; shrewd, and to the point; and with the power to crush, destroy, and bring about the downfall of mankind.”
The Brotherhood, anarchist determined to overthrow the Oligarchy, the plutocrats: the exploiters of the underclass, the labor force, the proletariats.
Edith
The Brotherhood, anarchist determined to overthrow the Oligarchy, the plutocrats: the exploiters of the underclass, the labor force, the proletariats.
Edith
On the Surface Part I: Caesar’s Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century
"In this vast, over-crowed city, man is a drug,—a superfluity,―and I think many men and women end their lives out of an overwhelming sense of their own insignificance;—in other words, from a mere wariness of feeling that they are nothing, they become nothing” (17).
Donnelly’s futuristic New York City has declined socially, morally, and politically. The city’s social strata consist of the labor force (the proletariat) and the aristocracy (the wealthy).
Gabriel, the novel’s “primary” narrator describes New York’s aristocracy as “quiet, decorous and courteous.” The female population of androgynous military replicants is: “broad, square, and deep brows; firmly developed square jaws; penetrating, immodest looks; challenging and inviting fierce eyes penetrating the soul.” And the male population: “unattractive, incredulous, unbelieving, cunning, and observant; heartless, and non-sacrificing with powerful faces, high noses, resolute mouths, and fine brows characterizing their shrewdness and energy.”
Donnelly’s lengthy description of the labor force, the proletariat, the “underworld, the domain of the poor” is a disconcerting representation of poverty. In part, the poor are described as “stolid, hungry-looking, haggard, poorly clothed, and hopeless.” The faces of the children’s are “prematurely aged, hardened, joyless, and sullen.” This ethnically diverse and impoverished populace, form an endless “succession of mechanized and stooped silent toilers, consumed with disease, and eaten up by society.”
Donnelly shrewdly parallels social, political, and economic status to intellect, demeanor, and physical characteristics.
Edith
Donnelly’s futuristic New York City has declined socially, morally, and politically. The city’s social strata consist of the labor force (the proletariat) and the aristocracy (the wealthy).
Gabriel, the novel’s “primary” narrator describes New York’s aristocracy as “quiet, decorous and courteous.” The female population of androgynous military replicants is: “broad, square, and deep brows; firmly developed square jaws; penetrating, immodest looks; challenging and inviting fierce eyes penetrating the soul.” And the male population: “unattractive, incredulous, unbelieving, cunning, and observant; heartless, and non-sacrificing with powerful faces, high noses, resolute mouths, and fine brows characterizing their shrewdness and energy.”
Donnelly’s lengthy description of the labor force, the proletariat, the “underworld, the domain of the poor” is a disconcerting representation of poverty. In part, the poor are described as “stolid, hungry-looking, haggard, poorly clothed, and hopeless.” The faces of the children’s are “prematurely aged, hardened, joyless, and sullen.” This ethnically diverse and impoverished populace, form an endless “succession of mechanized and stooped silent toilers, consumed with disease, and eaten up by society.”
Donnelly shrewdly parallels social, political, and economic status to intellect, demeanor, and physical characteristics.
Edith
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
War Narratives
Caesar's Column, Red Calvary, and Man's Fate, provide the reader three distinct narratives characterizing the war. Babel's journalistic narrative; Donnelly's "manifesto" narrative; and thus far in my reading, Malraux's psychological narrative. I will begin with Malraux, because the central character, Ch'en Ta Erh is an intriguing and fragmented character, and for now, immediate in thought. (To be continued).
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Manifesto of the Communist Party
Part 1
One of the arguments in Marx’s manifesto is that the bourgeoisie (defined as “capitalists and owners of social production and employers of wage labor”), has “converted” society’s esteemed professionals, namely: physicians, lawyers, priests, poets and scientists into its “paid wage” labor force: a “mode of production.” Furthermore, no member of society is impervious to the “production” and “exchange” dyad. Additionally, economic greed exploits the bourgeoisie, and the bourgeoisie exploits the labor force (the proletariat), and the labor force exploits the bourgeoisie. Consequently, society will continue to operate within a cycle of agitation, alienation, and exploitation.
Part II
One of Marx’s many enticing arguments in Part II is: “in bourgeois society, living labor is but a means to increase accumulated labor. In communist society, accumulated labor is but a means to widen, to enrich, to promote the existence of the laborer.” The communist party’s objective is to act solely on the behalf of the laborer, giving voice to the proletariat. And transform the laborer to an “independent, an individual,” no longer subjugated to and by labor.
Edith
One of the arguments in Marx’s manifesto is that the bourgeoisie (defined as “capitalists and owners of social production and employers of wage labor”), has “converted” society’s esteemed professionals, namely: physicians, lawyers, priests, poets and scientists into its “paid wage” labor force: a “mode of production.” Furthermore, no member of society is impervious to the “production” and “exchange” dyad. Additionally, economic greed exploits the bourgeoisie, and the bourgeoisie exploits the labor force (the proletariat), and the labor force exploits the bourgeoisie. Consequently, society will continue to operate within a cycle of agitation, alienation, and exploitation.
Part II
One of Marx’s many enticing arguments in Part II is: “in bourgeois society, living labor is but a means to increase accumulated labor. In communist society, accumulated labor is but a means to widen, to enrich, to promote the existence of the laborer.” The communist party’s objective is to act solely on the behalf of the laborer, giving voice to the proletariat. And transform the laborer to an “independent, an individual,” no longer subjugated to and by labor.
Edith
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
Gracchus Babeuf states that the inequities and violation of human rights practiced by society’s leading institutions is the impetus for social revolution. The deceitful acts of these institutions give rise to the mental and physical forces that necessitate requisite change by community members. And by combining these forces (creating a collective force), says Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his Social Contract, men can achieve and maintain true morality within a continuum of self-governing laws.
Comparatively, Chapter 3 addresses human rights and individual liberty. By analyzing and incorporating the various ideologies and methodologies characterized by the Enlightenment period, the French revolutionaries believed that complete equality between men: politically, economically, and socially, apart from religion, tradition, and community is obtainable. While the political atmosphere in Chapter 4, identifies and characterizes the various opposing political and social factions: the Jacobins, who were responsive and decisive; and the Girondins, analytical and cautious, provides strength and force leading towards a reformed government.
Philippe-François Fabre d’Englantine chaired a committee that recognized the importance of and secular calendar for the agrarian community of Paris. By removing the “subjugating influences” characteristic of Christianity, as illustrated in the Gregorian calendar, d’Englantine designed a calendar depicting the four seasons of the year with images of crops and scenic views associated with the season, and its temperature within the calendar year; instilling a renewed appreciation and national pride among the farming community.
Edith
Comparatively, Chapter 3 addresses human rights and individual liberty. By analyzing and incorporating the various ideologies and methodologies characterized by the Enlightenment period, the French revolutionaries believed that complete equality between men: politically, economically, and socially, apart from religion, tradition, and community is obtainable. While the political atmosphere in Chapter 4, identifies and characterizes the various opposing political and social factions: the Jacobins, who were responsive and decisive; and the Girondins, analytical and cautious, provides strength and force leading towards a reformed government.
Philippe-François Fabre d’Englantine chaired a committee that recognized the importance of and secular calendar for the agrarian community of Paris. By removing the “subjugating influences” characteristic of Christianity, as illustrated in the Gregorian calendar, d’Englantine designed a calendar depicting the four seasons of the year with images of crops and scenic views associated with the season, and its temperature within the calendar year; instilling a renewed appreciation and national pride among the farming community.
Edith
The Sabine Women (continued):
After reading Women and the Revolution, from “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” it was not surprising that women participated “in every aspect of the French Revolution.” Kiahini and Denise effectively captured the emotion and physicality of David’s painting. Although the role of the women was mainly confined to the home and domesticity, it was in the home where women gave voice to the prevailing social, political, and economical issues primary to the revolution. It was in the home where women created a consciousness for their husband regarding food shortages, inflation, and familial despair. It was the women who led and encouraged their men to join the many demonstrations protesting bread increases. It was the women, “acting collectively,” armed with guns, pikes, swords, who disrupted the National Convention by removing the officials from their “benches” in protest. It was the women who not only agitated, more importantly, served as mediators and conciliators for social equality and resolve.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Beyond Symbolsim
After viewing the class annotations on David’s The Sabine Women, my focus did shift from the symbolic role of the woman to the physical role of the woman. Kiahini characterizes the women as “the voice of reason” and Denise characterizes the women as “active revolutionaries,” allowing me to reconsider my thoughts and opinions regarding David’s painting. Thank you. (To be continued)
Monday, February 19, 2007
Revolutionary Images: Comments
The beauty and significance of “Liberty,” is that the revolutionaries are inspired, strengthened, and encouraged by the female symbol of Liberty waving her red flag. As fallen bodies block her path, the revolutionaries look to her for reassurance and instruction. Although her body faces the viewer, her focus, as illustrated by her profile, is on her followers, signaling, and reaffirming that freedom is worth fighting and dying for, therefore, we are victorious. The “Bastille” symbolizes the spirit of the revolution. The Bastille, in the background, is the imposing fortress positioned high above the town. The revolutionaries, in the foreground, appear to be diverse: commoners, “officeholders,” merchants, and the privileged, and they are not threatened, nor intimated by the troops firing down on them. The revolutionaries, engaged in warfare, are undaunted and steadfast. In the “Arrest” the viewer can feel the shock, dismay, and fear of the committee members as the angry troop storm and invade their clandestine meeting. Identities revealed, and stratagems and schemata are exposed and confiscated; the committee members confront the certainty of imprisonment and execution. In the background of image #29, the dark smoke pouring forth from the burning building, is contrasted with the white smoke circling the ground and into the blue sky that form clouds alongside and above the Bastille. In the foreground, the revolutionaries are entangled in the ruthless warfare with the troops. Moreover, the citizens in the middle ground are looking out of their windows, arms raised in protest, witness the slaughter, and deaths of men and women in this physical and violent confrontation. The Bastille, austere and foreboding, (painting #28) is strategically placed in the middle ground of the picture frame, flanked by miniature rebels and their miniature weaponry. However daunting, the rebels confront and challenge this imposing structure “head-on,” characterizing the strength, fortitude, and resiliency of the revolutionaries and the French Revolution. The frightening and chilling black and white caricature of the guillotine (image #24) symbolizes the degree of frustration, despair, and intolerance of the crowd during the events of the French Revolution. And in image (#19), the artists captures the social and economic hostility, and the discontent of women as they are being guided by (the female symbol) Equality. The steer, the symbol of capitalism, and the subsequent economic despair for the underclass, (image #11) is lassoed, brought down, and broken. And the viewer can hear the victorious cheers of the restrainers.
Edith
Edith
Sunday, February 18, 2007
"The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates": Several Thoughts
Milton dismantles the divinity and authority of kings and magistrates when he redefines their role as simply “deputies of the people,” and therefore, not above reproach. They are to be challenged politically, morally, philosophically, and legally. And they are expected to act and serve for the common good of all the people and the body politic. Moreover, man is made in the “image and resemblance of God” and possesses the freedom to think and reason, which one quickly relinquishes and abdicates to further personal desires and interests.
Edith
Edith
"Paradise Lost:" A Comment
In our last class discussion of "Paradise Lost," particularly, Book III, it was argued that Milton’s portrayal of God and the Son of God appear unimaginative and non-authoritative. And their soliloquies are ineffectual and lack poetic “sublimity.” When God, “sitting on his throne, foretells his Son sitting at his right hand, the success of Satan in perverting mankind / The Son of God freely offers himself as a living sacrifice:” “Behold me then, me for him, life for life / I offer, on me let thine anger fall,” (III, 236-237), may seemingly pale in comparison to Satan’s “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.” Needless to say, that is an enticing argument. However, Milton counter argues with a subtle portrayal of God and power: as perceptive, insightful, unimposing, and sacrificial.
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