As I Lay Dying Kahla Wilson
1. Why do you believe each of the characters consistently repeats phrases over and over again?
They’re trying to get their minds off the death of Addie. When people go through a loss of a loved one, they deal with the grief differently. Jewel seemed to lock himself away, Anse goes on and on about the weather, Vardaman keeps thinking about that stupid fish, Dewey Dell keeps going about the sex she had with Lafe, and just on and on it goes, especially about the weather. The characters kept talking about how it was going to rain. It simply seemed like they were trying to get their minds off things, and so they concentrated on one thing and kept repeating it, as if to reassure themselves.
2. Why do you believe Darl sets fire to the barn?
He wants to set fire to Addie’s casket in the barn as well as the mules because taking Addie’s body to the burial place she wanted caused so much trouble to the family. It caused Cash’s broken leg, and his puking and passing out, and the death of their own mules and they had to buy more with money they didn’t have. The money they got from farm equipment and Jewel’s horse and such. Later, the burial also caused Darl’s mental illness “arrest” because he set fire to the barn, and Anse got a new wife.
3. What does Darl mean when he talks about Jewel’s mother being a horse?
Jewel seemed to be more worried and upset about a horse than his own mother’s death. He tells Vardaman that his mother is not a horse though, because Vardaman actually showed some emotion to his mother’s death. Most people would be more emotional about their mother dying than a horse, but Jewel only seemed to care about his horse and showed little if any emotion about his mother.
4. Name and explain a theme from the novel.
Family in itself is portrayed a lot in this novel. The whole book is about the family trying to bury their dead mother in the place she wanted. It shows how the family is going through such strains to fulfill this last wish. Each family member risks something or gives something to the cause. Family sticks together to fulfill the task, no matter what the cost, and the cost kept rising from Cash’s broken leg to the cost of a new team of mules.
5. Name 3 symbols or motifs from the novel.
Darl burning the barn- Darl burned the barn because it was the only way in his mind to get rid of all the troubles going on. It was because of having to bury his mother that they all had gone through so much. If they could give up or go home or if they could have simply not gone at all, none of it would have happened. It seemed like the only solution to solving the problems.
Addie didn’t want to be buried at home- this is what caused the whole book because if she would have simply wanted to be buried at her home with her children and husband in the backyard the family wouldn’t have had to go through all the trouble of burying her. Also, it seems like Addie hadn’t wanted to be buried with her husband and children because she had had an affair with the minister so she wanted her body to be in peace when she died instead of her body being around a man that she had lied to.
Vardaman’s fish- Vardaman caught a fish at the beginning of the book, and it seemed to be huge, since over and over the narrator would say that it’s as big as him. The kid was proud of the fish and wanted to show it to Addie but she was dying and Anse said to go wash it off instead because he was not impressed, showing immediately how the family was not close. If the family would have been close then the father would have been more than happy to let Vardaman show off his work to his dying mother, that or Vardaman would have been with his mother in her last days alive instead of off fishing. Vardaman also compared his mother to the fish because he chopped up the fish and it was dead. It was as if he was saying that Addie was just another fish in the sea, free and swimming until someone caught her and she put up a struggle and then killed her. Addie had been caught by Anse and he had killed her spirit, then she had struggled by sleeping with someone else and giving back to Anse then finally dying once her debt was paid off to him. She was free, then caught, struggled, then died.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Kahla Wilson pd. 1 In Cold Blood
Capote’s first chapter, ‘The last to see them alive,’ is simply the day before the Clutters die, yet he writes in a way that makes the reader understand each character more than just the few things they did on the last day alive. Capote goes into a whole background check on each of the characters, and gets the reader acquainted with each person’s life and attitude and feelings. When the family is killed and Capote goes into all the gruesome details of the deaths, the reader feels drawn to the deaths and almost sympathetic over the lives lost. In a way, the reader feels like the towns people did, and wants revenge and justice. Yet, Capote has also lets us as readers into the lives of the killers. As the book progresses, we feel more sympathetic to them as well, even though they committed such a crime, and the author presents the townspeople as more of the criminals. The townspeople were frightened for their own lives, which is understandable, but they accused one another. Before the deaths, everyone in town new everyone else’s life and motives, yet after the deaths, people stopped trusting each other, and locking their doors for fear of them being the next victim.
As the story progresses we get to know Perry and Dick, the two murderers, even more as we venture into their private lives and thoughts. By the end, Perry is the round character, who changes from a person that could easily kill anyone, to thinking he’s messed up for what he did and can’t believe he went through with it. Perry blames his childhood a lot on what crimes he commits. He believes that it’s simply in his blood to commit crimes just because his family did. Dick on the other hand is flat. He doesn’t seem to change through out the book at all. Even when he was in prison he sent out letters to try to find anyone who would support him in court, as if he didn’t deserve to be there. As if the crimes he committed didn’t matter. As if he hadn’t taken away four young lives for no profit at all but to just do it and prove that he could. He even wanted to rape poor Nancy, but luckily Perry refused to allow it. Dick’s nickname is ironic in that way, and also because in one part of the book he is having sex with a prostitute, and just in general likes women and has been married twice with children. He also seems to be a little “messed up” since he likes to hit stray mangy dogs on the side of the road when they pass them. Strange as it is, this seems a sport to him, especially when he comments on splashing the dogs’ blood everywhere.
It seems right that Perry had the mental disorder. He seemed to be suffering from something from the childish way he acted throughout the novel. Perry kind of reminds a reader in this way of just a small boy who was beat up on the play ground by everyone who turns around and beats up some other kid. Though, he still strikes the reader as ‘messed up’ he also seems just misunderstood. It was blatantly obvious he had some kind of mental disorder after Capote through in the part about that Perry sees a big bird that comes and saves him whenever he has had his heart broken or someone else has hurt him in some way. This big bird sort of reminds readers of like Big Bird from Sesame Street, just a lovable guy that hugs the little children and comes to their aid and breaks up fights and teaches valuable life lessons. It’s also interesting that though Perry seems to have no Christian outlook on life and seems to be an atheist his role model and mentor was like a priest, by being associated with a chaplain.
Capote’s first chapter, ‘The last to see them alive,’ is simply the day before the Clutters die, yet he writes in a way that makes the reader understand each character more than just the few things they did on the last day alive. Capote goes into a whole background check on each of the characters, and gets the reader acquainted with each person’s life and attitude and feelings. When the family is killed and Capote goes into all the gruesome details of the deaths, the reader feels drawn to the deaths and almost sympathetic over the lives lost. In a way, the reader feels like the towns people did, and wants revenge and justice. Yet, Capote has also lets us as readers into the lives of the killers. As the book progresses, we feel more sympathetic to them as well, even though they committed such a crime, and the author presents the townspeople as more of the criminals. The townspeople were frightened for their own lives, which is understandable, but they accused one another. Before the deaths, everyone in town new everyone else’s life and motives, yet after the deaths, people stopped trusting each other, and locking their doors for fear of them being the next victim.
As the story progresses we get to know Perry and Dick, the two murderers, even more as we venture into their private lives and thoughts. By the end, Perry is the round character, who changes from a person that could easily kill anyone, to thinking he’s messed up for what he did and can’t believe he went through with it. Perry blames his childhood a lot on what crimes he commits. He believes that it’s simply in his blood to commit crimes just because his family did. Dick on the other hand is flat. He doesn’t seem to change through out the book at all. Even when he was in prison he sent out letters to try to find anyone who would support him in court, as if he didn’t deserve to be there. As if the crimes he committed didn’t matter. As if he hadn’t taken away four young lives for no profit at all but to just do it and prove that he could. He even wanted to rape poor Nancy, but luckily Perry refused to allow it. Dick’s nickname is ironic in that way, and also because in one part of the book he is having sex with a prostitute, and just in general likes women and has been married twice with children. He also seems to be a little “messed up” since he likes to hit stray mangy dogs on the side of the road when they pass them. Strange as it is, this seems a sport to him, especially when he comments on splashing the dogs’ blood everywhere.
It seems right that Perry had the mental disorder. He seemed to be suffering from something from the childish way he acted throughout the novel. Perry kind of reminds a reader in this way of just a small boy who was beat up on the play ground by everyone who turns around and beats up some other kid. Though, he still strikes the reader as ‘messed up’ he also seems just misunderstood. It was blatantly obvious he had some kind of mental disorder after Capote through in the part about that Perry sees a big bird that comes and saves him whenever he has had his heart broken or someone else has hurt him in some way. This big bird sort of reminds readers of like Big Bird from Sesame Street, just a lovable guy that hugs the little children and comes to their aid and breaks up fights and teaches valuable life lessons. It’s also interesting that though Perry seems to have no Christian outlook on life and seems to be an atheist his role model and mentor was like a priest, by being associated with a chaplain.
Kahla Wilson pd. 1 In Cold Blood
Capote’s first chapter, ‘The last to see them alive,’ is simply the day before the Clutters die, yet he writes in a way that makes the reader understand each character more than just the few things they did on the last day alive. Capote goes into a whole background check on each of the characters, and gets the reader acquainted with each person’s life and attitude and feelings. When the family is killed and Capote goes into all the gruesome details of the deaths, the reader feels drawn to the deaths and almost sympathetic over the lives lost. In a way, the reader feels like the towns people did, and wants revenge and justice. Yet, Capote has also lets us as readers into the lives of the killers. As the book progresses, we feel more sympathetic to them as well, even though they committed such a crime, and the author presents the townspeople as more of the criminals. The townspeople were frightened for their own lives, which is understandable, but they accused one another. Before the deaths, everyone in town new everyone else’s life and motives, yet after the deaths, people stopped trusting each other, and locking their doors for fear of them being the next victim.
As the story progresses we get to know Perry and Dick, the two murderers, even more as we venture into their private lives and thoughts. By the end, Perry is the round character, who changes from a person that could easily kill anyone, to thinking he’s messed up for what he did and can’t believe he went through with it. Perry blames his childhood a lot on what crimes he commits. He believes that it’s simply in his blood to commit crimes just because his family did. Dick on the other hand is flat. He doesn’t seem to change through out the book at all. Even when he was in prison he sent out letters to try to find anyone who would support him in court, as if he didn’t deserve to be there. As if the crimes he committed didn’t matter. As if he hadn’t taken away four young lives for no profit at all but to just do it and prove that he could. He even wanted to rape poor Nancy, but luckily Perry refused to allow it. Dick’s nickname is ironic in that way, and also because in one part of the book he is having sex with a prostitute, and just in general likes women and has been married twice with children. He also seems to be a little “messed up” since he likes to hit stray mangy dogs on the side of the road when they pass them. Strange as it is, this seems a sport to him, especially when he comments on splashing the dogs’ blood everywhere.
It seems right that Perry had the mental disorder. He seemed to be suffering from something from the childish way he acted throughout the novel. Perry kind of reminds a reader in this way of just a small boy who was beat up on the play ground by everyone who turns around and beats up some other kid. Though, he still strikes the reader as ‘messed up’ he also seems just misunderstood. It was blatantly obvious he had some kind of mental disorder after Capote through in the part about that Perry sees a big bird that comes and saves him whenever he has had his heart broken or someone else has hurt him in some way. This big bird sort of reminds readers of like Big Bird from Sesame Street, just a lovable guy that hugs the little children and comes to their aid and breaks up fights and teaches valuable life lessons. It’s also interesting that though Perry seems to have no Christian outlook on life and seems to be an atheist his role model and mentor was like a priest, by being associated with a chaplain.
Capote’s first chapter, ‘The last to see them alive,’ is simply the day before the Clutters die, yet he writes in a way that makes the reader understand each character more than just the few things they did on the last day alive. Capote goes into a whole background check on each of the characters, and gets the reader acquainted with each person’s life and attitude and feelings. When the family is killed and Capote goes into all the gruesome details of the deaths, the reader feels drawn to the deaths and almost sympathetic over the lives lost. In a way, the reader feels like the towns people did, and wants revenge and justice. Yet, Capote has also lets us as readers into the lives of the killers. As the book progresses, we feel more sympathetic to them as well, even though they committed such a crime, and the author presents the townspeople as more of the criminals. The townspeople were frightened for their own lives, which is understandable, but they accused one another. Before the deaths, everyone in town new everyone else’s life and motives, yet after the deaths, people stopped trusting each other, and locking their doors for fear of them being the next victim.
As the story progresses we get to know Perry and Dick, the two murderers, even more as we venture into their private lives and thoughts. By the end, Perry is the round character, who changes from a person that could easily kill anyone, to thinking he’s messed up for what he did and can’t believe he went through with it. Perry blames his childhood a lot on what crimes he commits. He believes that it’s simply in his blood to commit crimes just because his family did. Dick on the other hand is flat. He doesn’t seem to change through out the book at all. Even when he was in prison he sent out letters to try to find anyone who would support him in court, as if he didn’t deserve to be there. As if the crimes he committed didn’t matter. As if he hadn’t taken away four young lives for no profit at all but to just do it and prove that he could. He even wanted to rape poor Nancy, but luckily Perry refused to allow it. Dick’s nickname is ironic in that way, and also because in one part of the book he is having sex with a prostitute, and just in general likes women and has been married twice with children. He also seems to be a little “messed up” since he likes to hit stray mangy dogs on the side of the road when they pass them. Strange as it is, this seems a sport to him, especially when he comments on splashing the dogs’ blood everywhere.
It seems right that Perry had the mental disorder. He seemed to be suffering from something from the childish way he acted throughout the novel. Perry kind of reminds a reader in this way of just a small boy who was beat up on the play ground by everyone who turns around and beats up some other kid. Though, he still strikes the reader as ‘messed up’ he also seems just misunderstood. It was blatantly obvious he had some kind of mental disorder after Capote through in the part about that Perry sees a big bird that comes and saves him whenever he has had his heart broken or someone else has hurt him in some way. This big bird sort of reminds readers of like Big Bird from Sesame Street, just a lovable guy that hugs the little children and comes to their aid and breaks up fights and teaches valuable life lessons. It’s also interesting that though Perry seems to have no Christian outlook on life and seems to be an atheist his role model and mentor was like a priest, by being associated with a chaplain.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Kahla Wilson
AP English Pd. 1
April 24, 2008
Hemingway: The Suicide Writer
Ernest Hemingway is one of the best known authors of all time. He is known in classrooms all over the United States and around the world. Hemingway had his own unique and interesting style of writing, which included many personal writing characteristics, as well as writing a lot on his own life. That is, by having his characters have many personal experiences and reactions and dialogue that he experienced and is known for in his own daily life. Some may say that Hemingway’s characters are simply a portrait of himself.
Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” was written about a man who is dying from gangrene on his leg. Harry, the main character, has gangrene because he did not put iodine on a scratch he got, and then it became infected. He and his wife are stranded in Africa as the short story shows and he is dying. The man is half hallucinating as he thinks about what he wanted to write but never got the chance to. Also, the man insults his wife because there is nothing better to do and he is dying. He thinks back and confides in himself and the reader that he doesn’t actually love her and that the lie is easy to continue living because each of the women he has been with was rich. In real life the author Hemingway had many wives. Whether he loved each of them much or whether he married them for wealth we may never know. The things Harry is thinking he should have written are about war and his time in Paris and his travels. Hemingway did all of these things also. Harry is constantly criticizing his own works and saying over and over how he hasn’t written much of anything and he’s continually mauling over how much he still wants to write but is dying and will not be able to do so. Hemingway also writes a lot about death in this short story. The vultures and the hyenas are symbols of death and the coming of death. Also, Harry can “feel” and “smell death’s breath” as it climbs on him.
“He had just felt death come again… just then, death had come and rested its head on the foot of the cot and he could smell its breath… it had moved up on him now, but it had no shape any more. It simply occupied space… It did not go away but moved a little closer… It moved up closer to him still and now he could not speak to it.... (The Snows 25)”
Hemingway also writes about a leopard being frozen at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. “Close to the western summit there is the dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude (The Snows 3)”. Leo Gurko in his book about Ernest Hemingway’s writings believes that the leopard parallels Hemingway’s own life in that he tried too hard to reach the summit where his dreams were and instead was always climbing up the mountain. By the time he was truly famous, just like any author, he was dead, just as the leopard was. By the time the leopard reached his goal of reaching the top of the mountain he froze to death. “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” was Hemingway’s favorite story (Gurko 198).
Hemingway also writes with limited conversations between people. The conversations foreshadow things to come, such as in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” Harry and his wife are talking back and forth but it’s hard to tell they are because Hemingway doesn’t say who’s talking. There’s only dialogue.
“Yes,” he said. “Your damned money was my armour. My Swift and my Armour.”
“Don’t.”
“All right. I’ll stop that. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s a little bit late now.”
“All right then. I’ll go on hurting you. It’s more amusing. The only thing I ever really liked to do with you I can’t do now.”
“No, that’s not true. You liked to do many things and everything you wanted to do I did.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake stop breaking, will you?” (The Snows 9)
With this limited conversation, some critics think Hemingway is trying to show the way human life is short and direct (Gurko ).
Hemingway also wrote “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” about two waiters, one young and one old, talking after closing hours about an elderly man who drinks too much (A Clean). The themes of the story are clean and dirty, light and darkness, time, death, nothing has meaning, age differences, and the importance of names. Hemingway again uses his conversation style in this story, demonstrating how little needs to be said between the characters for a point to get across. When Hemingway writes, the themes he uses are generated from his own views on life and human behavior. The themes are clearly displayed in this short story. The elderly man speaks of cleanliness in a café and how it is needed for a place to “feel right.” He doesn’t like bars and bodegas because they are either not lit right or they are unpolished. The elderly man speaks to himself and to the other younger waiter about light and darkness. The older waiter explains how he likes light in order to sleep. “I am one of those who like to stay at the café... with all those who need a light for the night.” The short story also ends with the older waiter falling asleep once day break comes and brings light. “He would lie in the bed and finally, with day break, he would go to sleep.” When the younger, hurried waiter says to close up and go home for the night, the older, not hurried waiter is reluctant because “there may be someone who needs the café.” Then when the young waiter points out the fact that there are bodegas and bars open, the older man says it just isn’t the same to go to those places because they are not clean and well lit. The man is talking about comfort, and how humans like to be in nice, comfortable settings where the place is clean and polished and well lit instead of dark and dreary and pitiful. It’s all emotions and feelings. The older waiter ends up stopping at one bar on his way home and points out to the barman how the place is nicely lit but unpolished and the barman just ignores him. Hemingway also writes about time by using the younger and older waiters. The older waiters seems to have all the time in the world because he wants to keep the café open and stay longer, but the younger waiter is in a hurry to get home. In one statement, waiters are arguing over how much an hour weighs to each mean. The old man says “What is an hour?” and the younger waiter replies “More to me than to him.” Death is a common theme in most all of Hemingway’s short stories. It would appear that Hemingway is focused a lot on death and how to die and what goes through your mind as your dying and why you’re dying. In this short story we see that the old man attempted suicide. One waiter believes it’s because he’s lonely, but the other waiter is not so sure. Either way, Hemingway seems to foreshadow his own death in this particular short story by having one of his characters attempt suicide. Another theme in this short story that Hemingway brings up is how nothing has meaning. At one point while the older waiter is discussing things with himself he starts rambling on about nada, which is the Spanish word for ‘nothing.’ He says about the light, “Some lived in it but never felt it but he knew it was all nada y pues nada y pues nada y pues nada...” He then goes on to tell the Christian prayer filling in the word ‘nada’ with every few words, especially words explaining divinities and deities. Many believe this is how Hemingway views life, especially because he committed suicide, showing that his life and the people around him and his works meant nothing any more. Life was not worth living anymore to him. One of the last themes Hemingway shows in this short story is the differences on the outlook on life in age groups. The younger waiter was in a hurry to get home early even though he usually got home by 3 AM. He was much more hostile to the drunk old man than the older waiter was. The older waiter seemed to relate to the older man better because the older waiter said he had basically nothing besides a job. In a conversation with the younger waiter he explains the difference between himself and the other waiter.
“‘You have youth, confidence, and a job,’ the older waiter said. ‘You have everything.’
“’And what do you lack?’
“’Everything but work.’”
Clearly Hemingway was trying to portray the fact that older people have nothing to live for. Hemingway’s younger waiter also criticizes the old man by saying that he has everything in the world because he had money. Obviously Hemingway is saying that money and wealth are not everything a person needs in life because the old man tried to commit suicide even though he was wealthy. In “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” Hemingway makes another statement about money by showing the fact that Harry was depressed and did not love his wife, even though she was rich and he had everything he needed. By this common theme we can assume that Hemingway does not see money as the key thing for a person to live happily ever after, even though it is hard for us as readers to look at Hemingway for help on how to live a happy life since he did commit suicide. The last theme in this short story is the importance of names. No one in this story had a name, including the older waiter, the younger waiter, and the old man, or the old man’s niece of the soldier and the girl or the barman. No one had names. This is more than likely because Hemingway wanted the emphasis to be more on the age difference and the way one waiter was rushed and the other was more laid back. Giving names to any of these characters would not have added anything to their personality, but in fact it more than likely would have taken away from the main themes of the book that Hemingway is trying to get across to his readers. Hemingway is famous for writing like this. He puts a lot of impact on the themes in each of his novels and short stories.
Another short story Hemingway wrote is “A Day’s Wait.” In this short story, Hemingway’s main theme is death. The whole day a little boy waits for death to come because he thinks he has an extremely high temperature by not understanding the difference between degrees of Celsius and Fahrenheit. The whole story is about this confusion, and because of it the little boy starts thinking of all he would have done if he were not going to die.
AP English Pd. 1
April 24, 2008
Hemingway: The Suicide Writer
Ernest Hemingway is one of the best known authors of all time. He is known in classrooms all over the United States and around the world. Hemingway had his own unique and interesting style of writing, which included many personal writing characteristics, as well as writing a lot on his own life. That is, by having his characters have many personal experiences and reactions and dialogue that he experienced and is known for in his own daily life. Some may say that Hemingway’s characters are simply a portrait of himself.
Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” was written about a man who is dying from gangrene on his leg. Harry, the main character, has gangrene because he did not put iodine on a scratch he got, and then it became infected. He and his wife are stranded in Africa as the short story shows and he is dying. The man is half hallucinating as he thinks about what he wanted to write but never got the chance to. Also, the man insults his wife because there is nothing better to do and he is dying. He thinks back and confides in himself and the reader that he doesn’t actually love her and that the lie is easy to continue living because each of the women he has been with was rich. In real life the author Hemingway had many wives. Whether he loved each of them much or whether he married them for wealth we may never know. The things Harry is thinking he should have written are about war and his time in Paris and his travels. Hemingway did all of these things also. Harry is constantly criticizing his own works and saying over and over how he hasn’t written much of anything and he’s continually mauling over how much he still wants to write but is dying and will not be able to do so. Hemingway also writes a lot about death in this short story. The vultures and the hyenas are symbols of death and the coming of death. Also, Harry can “feel” and “smell death’s breath” as it climbs on him.
“He had just felt death come again… just then, death had come and rested its head on the foot of the cot and he could smell its breath… it had moved up on him now, but it had no shape any more. It simply occupied space… It did not go away but moved a little closer… It moved up closer to him still and now he could not speak to it.... (The Snows 25)”
Hemingway also writes about a leopard being frozen at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. “Close to the western summit there is the dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude (The Snows 3)”. Leo Gurko in his book about Ernest Hemingway’s writings believes that the leopard parallels Hemingway’s own life in that he tried too hard to reach the summit where his dreams were and instead was always climbing up the mountain. By the time he was truly famous, just like any author, he was dead, just as the leopard was. By the time the leopard reached his goal of reaching the top of the mountain he froze to death. “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” was Hemingway’s favorite story (Gurko 198).
Hemingway also writes with limited conversations between people. The conversations foreshadow things to come, such as in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” Harry and his wife are talking back and forth but it’s hard to tell they are because Hemingway doesn’t say who’s talking. There’s only dialogue.
“Yes,” he said. “Your damned money was my armour. My Swift and my Armour.”
“Don’t.”
“All right. I’ll stop that. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s a little bit late now.”
“All right then. I’ll go on hurting you. It’s more amusing. The only thing I ever really liked to do with you I can’t do now.”
“No, that’s not true. You liked to do many things and everything you wanted to do I did.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake stop breaking, will you?” (The Snows 9)
With this limited conversation, some critics think Hemingway is trying to show the way human life is short and direct (Gurko ).
Hemingway also wrote “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” about two waiters, one young and one old, talking after closing hours about an elderly man who drinks too much (A Clean). The themes of the story are clean and dirty, light and darkness, time, death, nothing has meaning, age differences, and the importance of names. Hemingway again uses his conversation style in this story, demonstrating how little needs to be said between the characters for a point to get across. When Hemingway writes, the themes he uses are generated from his own views on life and human behavior. The themes are clearly displayed in this short story. The elderly man speaks of cleanliness in a café and how it is needed for a place to “feel right.” He doesn’t like bars and bodegas because they are either not lit right or they are unpolished. The elderly man speaks to himself and to the other younger waiter about light and darkness. The older waiter explains how he likes light in order to sleep. “I am one of those who like to stay at the café... with all those who need a light for the night.” The short story also ends with the older waiter falling asleep once day break comes and brings light. “He would lie in the bed and finally, with day break, he would go to sleep.” When the younger, hurried waiter says to close up and go home for the night, the older, not hurried waiter is reluctant because “there may be someone who needs the café.” Then when the young waiter points out the fact that there are bodegas and bars open, the older man says it just isn’t the same to go to those places because they are not clean and well lit. The man is talking about comfort, and how humans like to be in nice, comfortable settings where the place is clean and polished and well lit instead of dark and dreary and pitiful. It’s all emotions and feelings. The older waiter ends up stopping at one bar on his way home and points out to the barman how the place is nicely lit but unpolished and the barman just ignores him. Hemingway also writes about time by using the younger and older waiters. The older waiters seems to have all the time in the world because he wants to keep the café open and stay longer, but the younger waiter is in a hurry to get home. In one statement, waiters are arguing over how much an hour weighs to each mean. The old man says “What is an hour?” and the younger waiter replies “More to me than to him.” Death is a common theme in most all of Hemingway’s short stories. It would appear that Hemingway is focused a lot on death and how to die and what goes through your mind as your dying and why you’re dying. In this short story we see that the old man attempted suicide. One waiter believes it’s because he’s lonely, but the other waiter is not so sure. Either way, Hemingway seems to foreshadow his own death in this particular short story by having one of his characters attempt suicide. Another theme in this short story that Hemingway brings up is how nothing has meaning. At one point while the older waiter is discussing things with himself he starts rambling on about nada, which is the Spanish word for ‘nothing.’ He says about the light, “Some lived in it but never felt it but he knew it was all nada y pues nada y pues nada y pues nada...” He then goes on to tell the Christian prayer filling in the word ‘nada’ with every few words, especially words explaining divinities and deities. Many believe this is how Hemingway views life, especially because he committed suicide, showing that his life and the people around him and his works meant nothing any more. Life was not worth living anymore to him. One of the last themes Hemingway shows in this short story is the differences on the outlook on life in age groups. The younger waiter was in a hurry to get home early even though he usually got home by 3 AM. He was much more hostile to the drunk old man than the older waiter was. The older waiter seemed to relate to the older man better because the older waiter said he had basically nothing besides a job. In a conversation with the younger waiter he explains the difference between himself and the other waiter.
“‘You have youth, confidence, and a job,’ the older waiter said. ‘You have everything.’
“’And what do you lack?’
“’Everything but work.’”
Clearly Hemingway was trying to portray the fact that older people have nothing to live for. Hemingway’s younger waiter also criticizes the old man by saying that he has everything in the world because he had money. Obviously Hemingway is saying that money and wealth are not everything a person needs in life because the old man tried to commit suicide even though he was wealthy. In “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” Hemingway makes another statement about money by showing the fact that Harry was depressed and did not love his wife, even though she was rich and he had everything he needed. By this common theme we can assume that Hemingway does not see money as the key thing for a person to live happily ever after, even though it is hard for us as readers to look at Hemingway for help on how to live a happy life since he did commit suicide. The last theme in this short story is the importance of names. No one in this story had a name, including the older waiter, the younger waiter, and the old man, or the old man’s niece of the soldier and the girl or the barman. No one had names. This is more than likely because Hemingway wanted the emphasis to be more on the age difference and the way one waiter was rushed and the other was more laid back. Giving names to any of these characters would not have added anything to their personality, but in fact it more than likely would have taken away from the main themes of the book that Hemingway is trying to get across to his readers. Hemingway is famous for writing like this. He puts a lot of impact on the themes in each of his novels and short stories.
Another short story Hemingway wrote is “A Day’s Wait.” In this short story, Hemingway’s main theme is death. The whole day a little boy waits for death to come because he thinks he has an extremely high temperature by not understanding the difference between degrees of Celsius and Fahrenheit. The whole story is about this confusion, and because of it the little boy starts thinking of all he would have done if he were not going to die.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
April 10th
Today Danielle worked on the first half the script in school, then I finished it at home.
“Games”
By
Danielle Seiver
&
Kahla Wilson
FADE IN:
EXT. Soccer field-Day
The soccer game is near the end. Everyone is running down the fields. You hear the final blow of the whistle.
Christina’s team shows their excitement over their victory.
INT. School hallways-Day
Christina and Kelly are walking down the hallway laughing and talking about the soccer game that they had won the night before.
Christina
Last nights game was so fun. It was the best game of the year.
kelly
I no right. We crushed that team so badly. I wish one of them would have cried. That would have been sweet.
Christina continues to walk down the hall laughing still talking about how the game was. Christina looks up and sees Megan. They walk towards each other to talk.
Chritsina
(Smiling)Hey Megan that was a good game last night. Your team was doing well. I thought you guys were going to beat us.
MEgan
(Stern faced) What ever. You guys just got lucky that’s all. You’ll never win again when we play against you. Your team can’t beat us twice.
Kelly
(Speaks softly)I don’t see why you’re so upset over a stupid soccer game.
Megan glares at Kelly and Christina. Megan walks up to Christina getting in her face.
Megan
It’s important to me because you both know I could beat you at any sport played.
Kelly looks at Megan with a smug look on her face.
Kelly
I hardly doubt that you can beat Christina at anything. She is the best at any sport she plays. Isn’t that right Christina?
Kelly looks at Christina then back at Megan.
Christina
(Smiles smugly) You know that’s right. Megan I can beat you anytime anywhere at any sport that you chose.
Megan stares at Christina and starts laughing.
megan
Ok than that is fine with me. How about in two days we have a little fight.
Megan and Christina glare at each other with stern faces.
Christina
Ok you’re on. Then the person who wins the fight owns all bragging rights to who is the better person at sports.
Megan
That is fine with me. I will have so much fun kicking your butt.
Megan turns around and walks back from the way she came. Christina and Kelly look at each other and continue down the hall talking.
Kelly
Do you think you can win the fight Christina?
Christina looks at Kelly with a sort of worried face.
Christina
I don’t think I can Kelly. I don’t even know how to fight.
Kelly stairs back at Christina with an unusual expression.
Kelly
You better learn real quick Christina. Megan is really good at fighting.
Christina
(Biting her lip) I know I do. Maybe I can find someone to teach me.
Looking at Kelly.
Kelly
Why don’t you ask Zach? He knows what he is doing when it comes down to fighting.
Christina smiles with excitement.
Christina
That’s a great idea. I see him later so I will ask him then.
FADE OUT:
EXT: outside of the school-Day
Christina spots Zach and walks up to him
Christina
(smiling) Hey Zach, can I talk to you for a sec?
Zach
Sure, what's up?
Christina takes a deep breath.
Christina
Well, I have a small problem. See, this girl, Megan, challenged me to a fist fight, but I don't know how to fight. But my friend Kelly told me that you knew, so I was wondering if you could help me.
Zach glances around.
Zach
Um, did you say Megan?
Christina
Yeah, why?
Zach
Uh, no reason. How bout I think about it tonight and tell you my answer tomorrow after school?
Christina agreed excitedly.
Christina
Yeah, sure. That's great! This would be a big help. I'll talk to you tomorrow!
Zach
Yeah, see ya.
Zach waits for Christina to walk away, then wips out his cell phone.
Zach
Hey, Megan. Can you meet me at the track in 5 minutes? Yeah. See ya.
FADE OUT.
Ext. Track.
Zach is standing, waiting for Megan when Megan comes walking up beside him.
Megan
Hey, what's up?
Zach
I met that girl that you want to fight.
Megan
And?
Zach
And she wants me to help her.
Megan
And what did you say?
Zach
I said I'd give her an answer tomorrow.
Megan crosses her arms.
Megan
Maybe this can work to our advantage.
Zach
What do you mean?
Megan
Well, you said you wanted a chance with me, and I want to win that fight. So if you agree to help her, but you tell me everything you intend to teach her, then I'll know what she's going to do and win the fight and I'll give you a chance on a date.
Zach thinks it over for a second.
Zach
It's a deal.
They shake hands. [close up on hands]
FADE OUT
Ext. Parking Lot after school. Next Day.
Zach waits for Christina by his car, and she comes jogging up to meet him.
Christina
So, did you think it over?
Zach
Actually, yeah, I did, and sure, I'll help you.
Christina claps her hands excitedly.
Christina
That's great!
Zach
On one condition. You help me with my math grades.
They both laugh.
FADE OUT
Int. Weight Room. Day.
Zach and Christina are using the punching bag and random other equipment. They start joking around, and audience can tell they're bonding.
Shots fade back and forth between Zach and Christina and Zach and Megan, showing that he's helping both people.
Finally, Zach and Christina have a short preparation battle, and Christina wins.
Both exhales deeply, obviously exhausted.
Zach
Wow, that was great! I think you're finally ready.
Christina
Yeah, and all thanks to your help. Even if I don't win, thanks for helping me anyways.
Zach
No way, I'm sure you'll win.
Fade Out.
Int. Outside gym, in hallway.
Megan and Zach are arguing.
Megan
But a deal's a deal Zach.
Zach
Look, I know what I said, but things have changed.
Megan
How could things have changed?
Zach
They just have, okay?
Around the corner, unable to be seen by Zach or Megan, Christina walks out of the locker room and overhears them.
Megan
Oh, you aren't falling for her, are you?
Zach
No way!
Megan
You told me you'd tell me all the moves you taught her and you've already told me half. Don't you want that chance on the date?
Zach
Yes, of course, I do.
Christina covers her mouth, shocked, and runs the other way. Megan and Zach hear her footsteps and turn around the corner to see her running away.
Zach
Oh, now look what you've done! Christina! Christina Wait!!
FADE OUT
Ext. Guardrail after school.
Megan and Christina are getting ready for the fight. Christina's sitting in the grass, while Megan is stretching and throwing taunts at her.
Megan
You think you're gointa win just because you got Zach to help you, but guess what, I'm the one that taught him to fight.
Christina barely looks up.
Megan
Yeah, and you overheard our little chat. He betrayed you to get a date with me. Don't worry, I saw how you looked at him. You like him don't you?
Christina leans her head back down on her knees.
Megan
Man, I'm gointa beat you so hard you'll wish you'd never even heard the word soccer. Get up and stop acting like a wuss and let's go. I've got better things to do. This should take a max of about 30 seconds.
Christina grudgingly stands up and faces her apponent.
Megan
Come on, let's go.
Megan swings the first punch and knocks Christina backwards. Megan makes another shot at her legs and knocks her on the ground. Megan pushes her foot down on her stomach.
Megan
Still think you've got what it takes to beat me? Come on, you're making this way too easy.
Christina stands back up, only to be knocked back down again.
Zach suddenly runs out at that moment to where the two are fighting.
Zach
Christina! Christina! Megan, lay off her!
Zach helps Christina up.
Zach
Christina, you've got to listen to me.
Christina
Zach, please. I heard what you said to Megan. I heard the deal you two made. Now leave me alone so this can end quick.
Zach
No, Christina, I told Megan that at the beginning, but then I got to know you, and you're a great girl. I just... I was an idiot, and I'm so sorry. Christina, I really like you. Please, Christina. Please listen to me. Trust me, I didn't tell Megan anything I taught you. She knows nothing. Just use all the tricks I taught you and you'll beat her at her own game! Now go!
Christina smiles and faces Megan once again. Megan comes in for the punch, but Christina blocks it and punches Megan hard in the stomach. Megan stumbles backwards, gripping her stomach, then Christina kicks her knee up and knees Megan in the face, spinning her around. Then Christina shoves Megan down on the ground and gets right in her face.
Megan moans.
Megan
I give up, I give up.
Christina
Now, who's the wuss? I can't remember. Now let's see who's tough enough to beat me.
Zach runs up and hugs her.
Christina
Thanks Zach. I owe you so much.
Zach
I'm just glad you listened to me.
Christina
Well, I know you promised Megan a date, but I don't think she'll be able to go for awhile.
They both laugh.
Zach
So, you busy tonight?
Christina. I am now.
FADE OUT.
End.
By
Danielle Seiver
&
Kahla Wilson
FADE IN:
EXT. Soccer field-Day
The soccer game is near the end. Everyone is running down the fields. You hear the final blow of the whistle.
Christina’s team shows their excitement over their victory.
INT. School hallways-Day
Christina and Kelly are walking down the hallway laughing and talking about the soccer game that they had won the night before.
Christina
Last nights game was so fun. It was the best game of the year.
kelly
I no right. We crushed that team so badly. I wish one of them would have cried. That would have been sweet.
Christina continues to walk down the hall laughing still talking about how the game was. Christina looks up and sees Megan. They walk towards each other to talk.
Chritsina
(Smiling)Hey Megan that was a good game last night. Your team was doing well. I thought you guys were going to beat us.
MEgan
(Stern faced) What ever. You guys just got lucky that’s all. You’ll never win again when we play against you. Your team can’t beat us twice.
Kelly
(Speaks softly)I don’t see why you’re so upset over a stupid soccer game.
Megan glares at Kelly and Christina. Megan walks up to Christina getting in her face.
Megan
It’s important to me because you both know I could beat you at any sport played.
Kelly looks at Megan with a smug look on her face.
Kelly
I hardly doubt that you can beat Christina at anything. She is the best at any sport she plays. Isn’t that right Christina?
Kelly looks at Christina then back at Megan.
Christina
(Smiles smugly) You know that’s right. Megan I can beat you anytime anywhere at any sport that you chose.
Megan stares at Christina and starts laughing.
megan
Ok than that is fine with me. How about in two days we have a little fight.
Megan and Christina glare at each other with stern faces.
Christina
Ok you’re on. Then the person who wins the fight owns all bragging rights to who is the better person at sports.
Megan
That is fine with me. I will have so much fun kicking your butt.
Megan turns around and walks back from the way she came. Christina and Kelly look at each other and continue down the hall talking.
Kelly
Do you think you can win the fight Christina?
Christina looks at Kelly with a sort of worried face.
Christina
I don’t think I can Kelly. I don’t even know how to fight.
Kelly stairs back at Christina with an unusual expression.
Kelly
You better learn real quick Christina. Megan is really good at fighting.
Christina
(Biting her lip) I know I do. Maybe I can find someone to teach me.
Looking at Kelly.
Kelly
Why don’t you ask Zach? He knows what he is doing when it comes down to fighting.
Christina smiles with excitement.
Christina
That’s a great idea. I see him later so I will ask him then.
FADE OUT:
EXT: outside of the school-Day
Christina spots Zach and walks up to him
Christina
(smiling) Hey Zach, can I talk to you for a sec?
Zach
Sure, what's up?
Christina takes a deep breath.
Christina
Well, I have a small problem. See, this girl, Megan, challenged me to a fist fight, but I don't know how to fight. But my friend Kelly told me that you knew, so I was wondering if you could help me.
Zach glances around.
Zach
Um, did you say Megan?
Christina
Yeah, why?
Zach
Uh, no reason. How bout I think about it tonight and tell you my answer tomorrow after school?
Christina agreed excitedly.
Christina
Yeah, sure. That's great! This would be a big help. I'll talk to you tomorrow!
Zach
Yeah, see ya.
Zach waits for Christina to walk away, then wips out his cell phone.
Zach
Hey, Megan. Can you meet me at the track in 5 minutes? Yeah. See ya.
FADE OUT.
Ext. Track.
Zach is standing, waiting for Megan when Megan comes walking up beside him.
Megan
Hey, what's up?
Zach
I met that girl that you want to fight.
Megan
And?
Zach
And she wants me to help her.
Megan
And what did you say?
Zach
I said I'd give her an answer tomorrow.
Megan crosses her arms.
Megan
Maybe this can work to our advantage.
Zach
What do you mean?
Megan
Well, you said you wanted a chance with me, and I want to win that fight. So if you agree to help her, but you tell me everything you intend to teach her, then I'll know what she's going to do and win the fight and I'll give you a chance on a date.
Zach thinks it over for a second.
Zach
It's a deal.
They shake hands. [close up on hands]
FADE OUT
Ext. Parking Lot after school. Next Day.
Zach waits for Christina by his car, and she comes jogging up to meet him.
Christina
So, did you think it over?
Zach
Actually, yeah, I did, and sure, I'll help you.
Christina claps her hands excitedly.
Christina
That's great!
Zach
On one condition. You help me with my math grades.
They both laugh.
FADE OUT
Int. Weight Room. Day.
Zach and Christina are using the punching bag and random other equipment. They start joking around, and audience can tell they're bonding.
Shots fade back and forth between Zach and Christina and Zach and Megan, showing that he's helping both people.
Finally, Zach and Christina have a short preparation battle, and Christina wins.
Both exhales deeply, obviously exhausted.
Zach
Wow, that was great! I think you're finally ready.
Christina
Yeah, and all thanks to your help. Even if I don't win, thanks for helping me anyways.
Zach
No way, I'm sure you'll win.
Fade Out.
Int. Outside gym, in hallway.
Megan and Zach are arguing.
Megan
But a deal's a deal Zach.
Zach
Look, I know what I said, but things have changed.
Megan
How could things have changed?
Zach
They just have, okay?
Around the corner, unable to be seen by Zach or Megan, Christina walks out of the locker room and overhears them.
Megan
Oh, you aren't falling for her, are you?
Zach
No way!
Megan
You told me you'd tell me all the moves you taught her and you've already told me half. Don't you want that chance on the date?
Zach
Yes, of course, I do.
Christina covers her mouth, shocked, and runs the other way. Megan and Zach hear her footsteps and turn around the corner to see her running away.
Zach
Oh, now look what you've done! Christina! Christina Wait!!
FADE OUT
Ext. Guardrail after school.
Megan and Christina are getting ready for the fight. Christina's sitting in the grass, while Megan is stretching and throwing taunts at her.
Megan
You think you're gointa win just because you got Zach to help you, but guess what, I'm the one that taught him to fight.
Christina barely looks up.
Megan
Yeah, and you overheard our little chat. He betrayed you to get a date with me. Don't worry, I saw how you looked at him. You like him don't you?
Christina leans her head back down on her knees.
Megan
Man, I'm gointa beat you so hard you'll wish you'd never even heard the word soccer. Get up and stop acting like a wuss and let's go. I've got better things to do. This should take a max of about 30 seconds.
Christina grudgingly stands up and faces her apponent.
Megan
Come on, let's go.
Megan swings the first punch and knocks Christina backwards. Megan makes another shot at her legs and knocks her on the ground. Megan pushes her foot down on her stomach.
Megan
Still think you've got what it takes to beat me? Come on, you're making this way too easy.
Christina stands back up, only to be knocked back down again.
Zach suddenly runs out at that moment to where the two are fighting.
Zach
Christina! Christina! Megan, lay off her!
Zach helps Christina up.
Zach
Christina, you've got to listen to me.
Christina
Zach, please. I heard what you said to Megan. I heard the deal you two made. Now leave me alone so this can end quick.
Zach
No, Christina, I told Megan that at the beginning, but then I got to know you, and you're a great girl. I just... I was an idiot, and I'm so sorry. Christina, I really like you. Please, Christina. Please listen to me. Trust me, I didn't tell Megan anything I taught you. She knows nothing. Just use all the tricks I taught you and you'll beat her at her own game! Now go!
Christina smiles and faces Megan once again. Megan comes in for the punch, but Christina blocks it and punches Megan hard in the stomach. Megan stumbles backwards, gripping her stomach, then Christina kicks her knee up and knees Megan in the face, spinning her around. Then Christina shoves Megan down on the ground and gets right in her face.
Megan moans.
Megan
I give up, I give up.
Christina
Now, who's the wuss? I can't remember. Now let's see who's tough enough to beat me.
Zach runs up and hugs her.
Christina
Thanks Zach. I owe you so much.
Zach
I'm just glad you listened to me.
Christina
Well, I know you promised Megan a date, but I don't think she'll be able to go for awhile.
They both laugh.
Zach
So, you busy tonight?
Christina. I am now.
FADE OUT.
End.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
a character that i connected with
In Meet the Robinsons, I connected with the main character because i felt bad for him because his mom left him on the doorstep of the adoption place. Right off the bat he made this invention that he was so proud of, but it ended up busting. The thing he didnt know is that the couple that came to adopt him were allergic to peanut butter and he ended up blasting them with peanut butter. Then we as an audience find out that he had had over 120 adoption interviews and none of them had wanted him. He then makes another machine to attreive his memory of his long lost mother who abandoned him. At the end when he gets adopted, you want to cry a little because you're so happy for the poor little genius, and it turns out that he goes back in time to see his mom, but doesnt say anything to her. You're proud of his decision and happy for his new life.
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