Haroun and the sea of stories

We ended the semester with Haroun and the Sea of Stories because the content contained multiple things we have learned through out the semester. We were also in need for a happy ending after reading two depressing stories in a row. At the beginning of the semester, we learned about Beowulf and his completion of the hero cycle. We discussed what it took to be the archetypal hero and the 10 steps in a hero’s cycle. In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, we followed Haroun’s journey through the 10 steps of the cycle. But Haroun was not the archetypal hero for many reasons. For one he did not complete all of his trials, he failed at a few. But he made up for those trails at the end when he defeated the shadow ship and saved the ocean from being polluted and destroyed. He also was able to renew his dads subscription, which was his original goal. We also shortly discuss female heroines and why they are not as successful as male heroes. In the story, Blabbermouth, who has to pretend to be a male to be successful, ends up saving all of the Gup warriors from being blown up. We talked about romance and tragedy, which was all covered in the story. Haroun and Blabbermouth both of a crush on one another. Haroun and his father, Rashid both experience tragedy when his mother leaves his father with another man. This book tied everything we have learned this semester together, which was a great review.

Heroes

In today’s society, heroic men are more successful than heroic woman. When one thinks of literature heroes; Batman, Superman, and Spiderman are likely to pop into one’s head. Both Batman and Spiderman movies have been box office hits, but there are no female heroes that dominate the big screen. People have been raised around the idea that men are the ones that save and woman is the one that need to be saved. I think that is the reason people have stereotyped woman not being able to be heroes. When a movie or a book comes out where the woman is the heroine, society does not know what to think of it because it is not the norm. There are many real contemporary heroes that I can think of right of my head, for example Michelle Obama or Mother Teresa. But I am having trouble coming up with contemporary fictional female characters. Charles Angles I believe are the most popular female heroes, but their success does not come close to Batman’s’ or really any other male hero. I believe that the reason heroines have not had as much success as heroes is because they are females. For example in Watchman, Laurie Jupiter knows how to kick butt and does in the movie, but what people remember is her tight skin leather suit, not the fact that she is a hero.

Notes From Underground

Comment on the underground man’s actions. How is acting here in relationship to the claims he made in Part 1?

The Underground Man describes himself as a man with an acute conscious rather than as a man of action. A man of acute consciousness thinks about situations and issues rather than just acting on them. The underground man invited himself to Zverkov’s fair well party, which ended badly. No one wanted him there, but he chose to stay because he wanted to show that he could. But he ends up getting insulted by Zverkov by the end of the night. This angers the underground man and starts to think of ways to get revenge in his head. He thinks of many ways to hurt Zverkov and comes up with a whole scenario in his mind. But from past experiences the reader would not be surprised if he chickens out. It took him a very long time to get his revenge on the officer. His acute consciousness holds him back from acting out his ideas. All he can do is continue to think but when it comes down to acting he stops at the last minute. So instead of slapping Zverkov, he goes to a brothel where he sleeps with a prostitute and has a deep conversation about having a family and daughters. He will always be a man of thinking, he will think of scenarios where he is a man of action, but he will rarely every act out.

Roooster

My first thought of Rooster is that he is a greedy, self-centered, and egotistic man, he also seems to be lazy and a drunk. When Mattie first asks Rooster to help track down her father’s killer, who was supposed to be on an Indian reservation, he said no. But when she offered him one hundred dollars, he changed his mind and agreed to help her. He seems to think highly of himself since he is the marshal of his lands. I think that he thinks that he can get away with things because his title protects him. Rooster appearance is quiet intimidating with his eye patch, black their clothing, and his gun. When he was in the courtroom a lawyer pointed out he has shot 23 people in only six years. His response was he was only defending himself, but he showed no mercy for those 23 people he killed. As of now I am not a huge fan of Rooster, I agree with his fellow towns people who think he is rude, unfriendly, and uncooperative. But maybe will we see another side of him as the movie continues. So far, he is proving to the audience that he is the ultimate anit-hero and seems to be fine with that.

Notes From Underground 1

In the first two chapters we are introduced to the underground man, we begin to learn how he thinks, what his views are on many subjects, his lifestyle and also where he lives. The Underground man is a very pessimistic, spiteful, and confused human being. He finds joy in bringing other’s spirits down because misery loves company. But then he takes it back and says he was lying about wanting to bring people down, but he was lying because of spite. He is 40 years old in the first chapter and goes on and on about his liver problems, but he is to spiteful to get it checked out. Though he does respect medicine and doctors, but spite keeps him from getting help. He acts egocentric in some cases but not in others, for example the underground man believes he is more self-conscious than the average person and he thinks he is very intelligent. But in others scenarios, he says he isn’t good enough to become an insect. I think that the poor conditions he is living in might have had a huge influence on his negativity outlook on life, he has submitted into the underground lifestyle. I find him annoying and unpleasant and I don’t enjoy reading what he is thinking.

The End of Othello

Now that I have finished the book and know the how it ends, I feel sorry for all the characters minus Iago, who is just a jerk. All of these tragic events occurred because of one twisted sick man that had to much jealousy and hatred towards Othello. All the characters were only victims of Iago’s master plan. Iago planted the idea of Desdemona cheating on him with other men, which drove Othello crazy and towards the scene where he killed his wife Desdemona and then eventually himself. Iago is able to manipulate him from when he arrives to Cyprus to pretty much the end of the book. I am frustrated at Othello for not being able to see through Iago and his plans. Why could he not trust his wife, rather than Iago, he married Desdemona and he should put her word before Iagos’. But I also felt bad for him because he could not see through Iago, though I do realize that Iago was pretty convincing.I feel the most sorrow towards Desdemona, who was another victim of Iago’s plan. Iago needed Desdemona to ruin Othello, though she had no part in choosing Iago as the ancient rather than the lieutenant. But she still had to die in order for Iago to receive his revenge and ruin Othello. She loved her husband and was killed because of it. I also feel sorry for Cassio, who also did not choose to be lieutenant, but yet Iago hated him because of it. He was one of the many victims of the story. But Cassio was lucky that he was able to survive the tragedy since majority of the characters did not. Iago is to blame for the deaths and destruction of so many in the story. It was his plan that he carried out, which consisted of ruining Othello and firing Cassio. He had so much determination and motivation to achieve his goals, only death would have stopped him. As I was readying Othello, I had so much hatred toward Iago, I was wishing that someone would call out his lies and kill him. I have never experienced a situation so severe but I have dealt with situations where I have seen someone manipulating someone else in order to get their way. It is upsetting to see and I wished there were not people like Iago out there trying to bring people down with their evil plans, but there is no way to escape people who are like that.

Othello

Iago has never liked Othello and has been looking for reasons to hate him and for motivation to hurt him. Iago found his first reason when he heard a rumor that Othello slept with his wife. His next reason to hurt Othello was when he was not chosen to be lieutenant of the Venetian army. He believes that he was most qualified for the job, but was instead placed as Othello’s ancient. Othello chooses Cassio for the job, though Cassio was previously an accountant and not as qualified for the job as others, especially Iago. Ever since Othello made that decision, Iago has been out for his revenge. Iago comes up with a plan to ruin Cassio’s honor in order for him to be fired from his position in the army. What he is planning to do is convince Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with Cassio. Not only will Cassio most likely be fired and get into huge trouble when Othello hears this, but Othello will also be devastated and deeply hurt when he finds out that the love of his life is sleeping with some other man. I believe Iago’s plan will work because Iago is determined and obsessed with seeing the downfall of Cassio and Othello. He has the ability to convince the people around him to do his dirty work for him. He is able to lie and fool even the smartest people. He has earned Othello’s trust, which means that Othello will believe anything he says. He also has Rodrigo wrapped around his finger doing whatever he tells him. I believe that Iago has so much hate and anger towards Othello that he will not stop until his goal is achieved, which is why he will most likely succeed.

Luke v. Beowulf

Luke Skywalker and Beowulf have very different stories, but what they have in common is the way they stepped up to be the hero they were meant to be. Their backgrounds are very different from one another as well; Luke was an orphaned at a very young age and was raised by his uncle and aunt, while Beowulf was born into royalty. This might have been the reason they reacted differently when called to fulfill their destiny. For example, when Beowulf heard the stories about Grendel in Denmark, he travels to Denmark to fight him. Luke first said no to Obi-wun Kanobi when asked to join the rebels to fight the empire. It was death of his uncle and aunt changed his mind to continue with Obi-wun to the death star. Another difference between the two heroes is their personality; Beowulf was very confident and self-assured, which was necessary for him and the people. While Luke who was raised on a farm, did not have a large ego, he was more down to earth and an average joe than Beowulf. But though their personalities were different, they were one of the best in the world at what they do. Luke Skywalker is a great pilot, one of the best, while Beowulf was one of the best or the best soldier/fighter of his time. One thing that they did have in common was that they both achieved their goals and were able to save many people; they both stepped up to be the heroes they were meant to be.

Beowulf 2

Comment on Wiglaf’s character throughout the end of the book. Is he honorable or heroic like Beowulf or does he display an additional set of values?

Wiglaf showed many similar heroic characteristics as Beowulf towards the end of the book. Wiglaf showed bravery, honor, wisdom and strength, all characteristics Beowulf showed through out the poem. Wiglaf showed bravery and strength when he was the only one of Beowulf’s men that stayed to help Beowulf fight the dragon; the rest ran away in fear. But before he ran into the fight, he made a speech to his men telling them they are cowards if they go home instead of staying and fighting, which showed his honor towards his king. Beowulf was known to give a speech before a major battle, which shows their similarities. Though Wiglaf was not able to save Beowulf, he was there to help him defeat the dragon. He comforted Bewoulf as he was dying. Beowulf did not have to die alone since Wiglaf was there and he was able to die knowing that he has won the treasures for his people and a worthy man will be able to take care of the Geats. From what Wiglaf has shown, he could be a potential leader of the Geats and the troops.

Beowulf and Unferth

Unferth is the local hero of the Danes, who does not like Beowulf’s presence in his town because of jealousy. Unferth brings up the swimming race between Beowulf and Breca, which Beowulf lost. Unferth says to Beowulf how do you expect to win against Grendel if you have lost once before. No one has ever been able to defeat Grendel before, why do you believe you are going to be different. Beowulf being the better man, does not immediately come out and say no you are wrong. Instead he defends himself, saying that he lost because he other’s safety before his glory. He is a hero because he bought others before himself. As he was racing he came across sea monsters that he had to kill in order to protect the sailors. While Breca, simply swam on only thinking about himself to win the race. So Breca might have been the winner, but Beowulf was the better man. Then Beowulf throws in an insult hurting Unferth’s honor. He says that he should not have had to come, that Unferth being the local hero should have stepped up and taken care of Grendel, instead of being a coward and letting Grendel kill all these innocent people. Beowulf is a better man and a better hero than Unferth. Unferth let’s his jealousy take over and he tries to humiliate Beowulf, which ends up backfiring on him.