PART THREE

Frankenstein in the movie Frankenstein (1931)

Some themes that are seen in the book 24, have been seen through out the poem. We see the theme of vengeance and fear, when the Cephallenians come to kill Odysseus for the murder of their sons and brothers.  We have seen this theme in Odysseus exacting his revenging on the suitors for using up his resources. As well as when he stabs the eye of the Cyclops for not following the rules of guest – host rules. The scene of the Eupithes riling up the Cephallenians reminds of the scene of Frankenstein, the villagers are in front of the town hall building and then they start amassing weapons to use against Frankenstein. Although, Frankenstein is a book about fear and the scene in the Odyssey is about revenge, you can also see the of Eupithes riling up the Cephallenians as a way for them to protect themselves from Odysseus because they known that he knows that they did nothing to stop the suitors from destroying his house. It can be taken that way as being fear. Fear for their lives.  Another theme that can be seen is relationships between father and son. We see the relationship expand between Odysseus and Telemachus as well as between Odysseus and Laertes. Father and son relationships are important in the poem because names are based on the fathers, because the fame that they acquire gets transferred on to the son and the expectation of better than the father becomes a great pressure in the life of Telemachus and Odysseus. This pressure must have been one of the factors of Odysseus deciding to go to war.

Another important theme I think is karma. Karma is the consequences of your actions whether they were for the good or the bad of everyone and how in the end it would come back to haunt you. We see this in the suitors getting killed after taking advantage of Odysseus’ household and bad treatment of the beggars just everyone that worked at the house in general.

Frankenstein Clip of "The Chase"

Frankenstein (1931)

GQ: Have you ever experienced that type of fear where you wanted to fight back and destroy something to make yourself feel better? Why or why not? What does this tell us about the nature of humanity? 

PART TWO

We see a lot of intervention from the gods. Athena comes to the rescue of Odysseus after she talks to Zeus about the villagers coming to kill Odysseus to take revenge for their dead sons and brothers. In the beginning when we read the introduction, we read about how the gods love to intervene and become so involved in an individual’s life. In this poem the intervention comes from Athena to Odysseus’ life. She helps him fights off the suitors as well as, scare the Cephallenians into stopping their attack and make them understand that they need to work with Odysseus and that the killing must stop.

We also see epic machinery in the fact that there is a trip to the underworld that the readers experience and the suitors although now they are dead. This trip signifies an important turning point in the suitors’ demeanor in the fact that they all begin to be more open. As well as, they begin see that they were in the wrong, because of how Agamemnon talks to them and talks about how much he respects Penelope for not marrying them.

I found one of the translator’s notes really interesting. It explains how Odysseus was a conscientious objector to the Trojan War. It talks about how he tried to escape going to the war by pretending that he was insane. I find this extremely interesting because Odysseus turns out to be this great hero from his experience at Troy and that he becomes so well known. That he is known to be this great fighter, and yet he didn’t want to fight, he   wanted to stay home. When I first read this, I thought wow, complete change from how he was then to how he is now. And it made me wonder, what really changed his mind in the end, Telemachus and Penelope or the war itself?

GQ: Do you think that Odysseus made the right choice to go fight in the war in the end? If you were in a similar position, would you fight for what you believe in or would you go where you are needed, even if it meant going against your beliefs? Where have we seen moments like this in our history?

Book 24: Peace PART ONE

Book 24 begins with the Hermes taking the suitors ghosts to the underworld, where they meet with Agamemnon and Achilles. Agamemnon asks them about Odysseus and how they ended up being dead. This is an important scene because it shows how the suitors’ perspective of the event and why did what they (abuse their guest hood privileges). This scene is also important because we see how Agamemnon really feels about Odysseus having Penelope for a wife because he says, “Happy Odysseus! ... Son of old Laertes – mastermind – what a fine, faithful wife you won!” (Homer 24, 210-212) The next great scene in book 24 is the reunion of Laertes and Odysseus. The scene is important because Odysseus stays consistent with the idea of testing everyone. He tests his father and when his breaks down, Odysseus tells him the truth and then Laertes test him in return with proof. We find out a little more information about Laertes and his battle glory and his title of sacker of cities. As well as, how Odysseus got the things he has from his father. Anther important scene is of Eupithes, the father of Antinous (the first to die of the suitors), starting to rile up the Cephallenians (citizens of Ithaca and island of Cephallena) to fight Odysseus and take revenge for the killings of the suitors. In the end, Athena stops the battle between the Cephallenians and Odysseus, to make them compromise and promise not to kill each other. This is an important scene because it explains the resolution of the poem and explains the title of the book, Peace.

GQ: When Penelope talks about her dream with the eagle coming to kill her geese, do you think that because the geese were her favorites and that she was happy with them that (geese = suitors)  she enjoys being the center of attention? (Reference to book 19, 603 - 610) What does this tell us about us? Do we enjoy being the center of attention? Why or Why not?

Who am I?...Who am I to you?

In the song "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence, Amy Lee sings "Perfect by nature/ Icons of self indulgence/ Just what we all need/ More lies about a world that/ Never was and never will be / Have you no shame? Don't you see me?/ You know you've got everybody fooled."

Amy Lee sings about how in today's society we need to be a certain way to be accepted. As well as, how because we act the way we are accepted we don't know that we are "Everybody's fool" because we are the ones losing our true selves.

part of the official video of "Everybody's Fool"

You see the meaning of these lyrics happening to Nora. You see this because Nora is so used to putting on a front for everyone that she has lost her own identity, or it could simply be that she never found it. In today's world you can see this happening to many teenagers and young adults because of the mass media and peer pressure. However, because of all these pressure that we experience we end up finding ourselves, I think. At the end of the play, Nora leaves because she realizes that something is wrong and that maybe who she thought that Torvald is, turns out that he isn't. She had a rude awakening in that way. For young adults today, the it doesn't necessarily have to be a bad marriage for us to realize that we need to change something in our lives. It is usually when something bad has happened, whether its a death or that we get into trouble when we finally realize that we need to change.

What we do for love...

"We always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love - first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage." - Albert Camus, Nobel Peace prize winner for literature

 When I think of this quote I connect it with how when you are in love with someone you don't really see the bad in them at first. When we have spent some time together, we begin to see the bad and fall out of love. At first its an advantage, and then a disadvantage. That is what happened with Nora and Torvald's marriage.

Nora and Torvald during the scene of discovery

She thought that he was going to be there for her just like she was for him by getting that loan to save his life. In response, she wanted him to say that it was his fault and not hers. In that essence this quote is perfect for Torvald. He was so in love with her when she was  "living" for him and giving a very good image in their world, but when it turned out that she did something illegal (getting a loan through forgery) he went ballistic on her and called her all these things.

He had an image of what she was supposed to be and when she stepped out of it, he didn't love her anymore.

This reminded me of how there are so many people with expectation of what others are like that this is how stereotypes start. It reminds me of how we don't ever really know someone because we are not in the person's mind, however we think we know them and because of this when we are let down we feel such disappointment because the person that disappointed us has just broken the image of what we see them as.

Invisibility or Death?

Dr. Rank

"The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living." - Marcus Tulius Cicero

In A Doll's House Dr. Rank is the only person that Nora talks freely with and seems as though he is the only person she trusts completely. In Dr. Ranks view of Nora, she is the love of his life and will do anything for her.

This quote reminded me of when Doctor Rank is confirming to Nora and her husband that he is dieing and bankrupt. He says that for next years masquerade ball he will be invisible and that Nora should stay dressed normally. He says that because unless they remember him, and think of him then he will disappear completely from their lives. He will lose his connection with Nora.

For Dr. Rank the only thing that he will miss is Nora. But he doesn't think that he will be missed.

In our time right now, it reminds me of how there are so many people that are in debt because of the economic recession and that how so many people can't repay those debts that they think about committing suicide. Although Dr. Rank is sick, I don't believe that he is at the point of terminal illness and has only one day to live as how the play makes it seem due to his father's affairs. The many people that do end up committing suicide are those that are so far into debt that they are receive calls from  collection agencies.

What do you see when you look at me?

Before the Mirror - Manet

In A Doll's House, a major aspect of the life that Nora leads is based on image and what she looks like to everyone, especially to Torvald, who wants her to look the best that she can.

At the beginning Nora acts like a child without any consideration for others. However, as the play continues we notice that she actually is aware of what she is doing, she is simply following the norms of the time that she lived in. In fact, the main job of women was to look good and create the appearance of a happy home and marriage to the outside world and at home, even if she was not happy.

The painting that you see, Before the Mirror by Manet reminded me of Nora when Torvald tells her that lying can cause the children to become bad and misbehave because they will follow the behavior of the mother. Afterward, Nora looks at a mirror hanging on the wall.

Nowadays, there are so many things that are considered looking good in our culture and society.  For example, there are so many women that are getting plastic surgery to make sure that they are accepted by society just like Nora does by pushing down her opinions and making sure that she looks exactly right. Also, we do know that the environments that we grow up in shape us but it is not just the mother that causes us to be "bad" its also whole as a family and what we experienced.