The Transformation of Demetrio Macías, Part I
(To be continued)
Edith
Sunday, May 6, 2007
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
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