Faulkner.. To read or not to read

So, the whole Quentin wanting to kill Caddy scene is probably the most interesting scene in this chapter. First of all, the fact that he lies to her about “doing it with lots of girls,” show that he is trying to be a man that he is not. He feels that in order to be this big burly hulk of a man, so he lies, lies to himself and to his family. So the idea of impotence is extremely apparent here. As him and Caddy lie on the bank of the pond, he holds a knife to her throat and suggests that they slit their throat in a kind of Romeo and Juliet fashion. At this point you read a very provacaitive passage that is the point at which Quentin thinks he commits incest with Caddy. Then he drops the knife and cannot kill her. This again shows the idea of impotence in Quentin. I find it especially annoying that Caddy is like ok I am a bad girl.. you can kill me and believe that it was because I want to be with you. Then he can’t do it and she is all like ok Im going to go inside now. I believe that as a sister, she should have noticed right there that something was wrong and done something. At that point she knew the extent of his obsession and it needed to be addressed, before he killed himself. She was permiscious, there was nothing wrong with her mentally besides that, she should have and most likely did notice it.

This passage makes me think about Faulkner himself. As I pointed out in my Hemingway blog, you are a little bit of what you write, well what is Faulkner? First of all he was confusing himself when he wrote this book. He has to keep a timeline in order to purposly confuse the readers and make them work for the answer. He was either a very brilliant man or a very messed up man. I am guessing a little bit of both. As much as I hate having to fish for the answers and go back and reread passages, it sort of gives you a sense of “oh my God i figured it out.” Making the reader feel not so impotent. I am little on the edges about whether or not I would like to have read this on my own time. He has many different underlying themes going at one time which can be awfully confusing, however, digging deep and figuring it out does have its own rewarding qualities. This makes me very interested in Faulkner and his personal relationships. He is a very inappropriate writer, both in his story and in his form. What exactly is he trying to tell us?

Hemingway

Not my favorite person, although as I am trying to read Faulkner he is not my favorite person either. I think Hemingway has some serious issues he needs to work through. I guess personally I believe that you are little bit of what you write. It you write romance novels, you are probably a little bit of a romantic. If you write murder myteries, then there is something about solving the problem that tickles you on the inside. Right? Well pardon me but, what the hell is Hemingway trying to get through to us? Is he bipolar? Or a schizo? Because frankly his characters are weird and plain old mean.

Can we also talk about for a second how he makes women depend on men. What kind of crap is that? “Oh you are a dumb rich bitch woman”… “I just wanna please you sweety please don’t say that I know you love me.” WHAT?!?! Not to mention what is with Hemingway making all his characters whores? I am sorry I think this man has some deep threaded issues that need to be addressed.

Why is this a canon? So I am still no completly sure about the whole canon thing. I get the ideology, values, aesthetics stuff. I suppose I am having a hard time seeing what kind of values and ideology Hemingway is trying to get across to us. Perhaps that he is saying you can go through women and live you life mooching of people who want to sleep with you, then find a woman and blame the fact that you hate your life on her, and then call her a bitch and expect her to be with you till the last second you die… oh and make you a drink? I just don’t get it. Nor do I like the you have to figure it all out for yourself aspect, if I wanted something to make me think hard, I would read my textbooks for my other classes, thanks anyways though Hemingway. Its safe to say that beyond this class, I will never read another piece by Hemingway… or at the rate this book is going, Faulkner either.

Finishing Gatsby

I was surprised at the ending of this story. I have read this before and I clearly do not remember Gatsby being killed, oh well, I guess thats the point of a story. To me this story was a bit lacking in some areas.

Why didn’t Daisy take any responisibility for killing Myrtle? One would think that letting the man you love ever so much take all the blame would make a person go mad. Then she just leaves, end of dicussion, no more talk of Daisy. I discussed in my last blog that to me American literature give a sense of morals and values, well this most certainly does not uphold that sense.

Tom, I am not sure whether to be angry about him or to praise him. On the one hand, he obviously told Wilson who was driving the car and all the information that drove the man to killing Gatsby. On the other hand, after everything that was said in the hotel room, he went back and protected his wife. It is kind of a angel and devil sort of scenrio. Damned if you do damned if you don’t. I guess he got what was coming as far as Daisy being in love with someone else. He can cheat but she can’t? What kind of crazy messed up way of thinking is that? Men!

Anyways, the significance of this story as being a canon, a book you should read to be considered a “well read person” is what exactly? Sure its an OK book, but amazing? Not really. Why is this considered a great piece of American Literature? I think I have made it pretty clear that I thought this book was a little creepy. It is only natural that I see this book in a God sense, I am telling you I can tie anything with God. Going to a Catholic school my whole life it has been drilled into my head. The eyes of the doctors office just show that we are always being watched and that sinners will be punished, not punished by God, eventually, punished by themselves. Myrtle new she was wrong in cheating, so when she thought she was stopping the car of Tom, what irony that Daisy ran her over. Daisy new she was wrong to be cheating with Gatsby, what irony that she needed to flea and leave the man she loved behind. Gatsby new he was wrong to pursue and cheat with a married woman with a child, what irony that he was killed. Tom new he was wrong to be cheating with Myrtle, what irony that he was the one to see her dead body on the side of the road. The only person who did not deserve any form of this was Wilson.

American Literature

What I think of when I hear American Lituratre is nothing all too exciting. American Literature brings about pictures of men in argile suits with suede patches on the elbows. Professors gathering in small groups discussing what they think about the how West Side Story is a disgrace to Shakspears Romeo and Juliet. Or I imagine a man sitting by himself in a little coffee house writing his story with a feathered pen.

Nothing about literature tickles my insides or gets me excited to open a new book. To be honest, half the books I was supposed to read in high school, I did not. I felt no need to read Nathaniel Hawthorne or Faulkner. Every literature class I have been in forces you to read stories that, personally, I have no interest in reading. 

On the same token American Literature brings about the sense of wholesomeness. The classics that are interesting such as Grapes of Wrath, Gone with the Wind, and Canary Row. A more uncomplicated way of life is brought about by American Literature.  Grass roots authors, writing about an emerging America and the struggles become a unifiyed society with tradtition, morals, and values. Carpet baggers and lost novels are all apart of this coined term American Literature. This is the foundation of all American Literature that has come to be in today’s world.

 All in all American Literature is the foundation. It is the recording of events as they took place and although a lot of it is fiction, it is all based on true life trials and tribulations of our society. The aspect of American Literature that can make some  many adolescents and young adults be turned off, is the way it can be forced upon some. I like to read and enjoy what I enjoy. I do not, as do many students, like being told what to read and when to read it.

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