THE BLUEST EYE by Toni Morrison

THE BLUEST EYE

                        -Toni Morrison

                                    Toni Morrison is an African-American writer and professor. Growing up in Ohio, she developed a love for literature and storytelling. She studied English at Howard University and Cornell University, before teaching English at various universities and working as an editor. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. She continued to write and gradually garnered national attention before publishing Beloved in 1987. Beloved was hugely successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and is regularly included in the discussion of the best novel written after World War II. In 1993, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her writings often focus on the experiences of black women in the United States. She is currently a professor at Princeton University. Morrison's work joins the African-American literary tradition, which strives to depict the African-American experience of living in the United States. With The Bluest Eye, Morrison set out to create a distinctively black literature, what she calls a "race-specific yet race-free prose." Her novel joins an abundance of texts that center on African-American experience in the decades after the Civil War, most notably, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neal Hurston, Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, Native Son, by Richard Wright. Morrison's prose is infused with black vernacular, and black musical traditions such as the spirituals, gospel, jazz, and the blues. Her novel also joins the modernist tradition established by Faulkner and Woolf, utilizing techniques of stream-of-consciousness, multiple perspectives, and deliberate fragmentation.

                                    Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" is an inquiry into the reasons why beauty gets wasted in this country. The beauty in this case is black; the wasting is done by a cultural engine that seems to have been designed specifically to murder possibilities; the "bluest eye" refers to the blue eyes of the blond American myth, by which standard the black-skinned and brown-eyed always measure up as inadequate.

                                    The Bluest Eye is a harsh warning about the old consciousness of black folks' attempts to emulate the slave master. Pecola's request is not for more money or a better house or even for more sensible parents; her request is for blue eyes — something that, even if she had been able to acquire them, would not have abated the harshness of her abject reality.

HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad

HEART OF DARKNESS

                                    -Joseph Conrad

                        Joseph Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski was an orphan by the age of 12; his mother and father both died as a result of time the family spent in exile in Siberia for plotting against the Russian Tsar. He wrote his best-known works in the years just before and after the turn of the century: Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), and Nostromo (1904). Conrad died in 1924.

                                    Joseph Conrad's novels reside in the transition period between Victorianism, with its strict conventions and focus on polite society, and Modernism, which sought to explode old conventions and invent new literary forms to convey human experience more fully. Conrad's work was instrumental in this effort, particularly his experimentation with the use of time and non-chronological narratives. Heart of Darkness also fits squarely into the genre of colonial literature, in which European writers portrayed the colonialism and imperialism of European nations from Africa to the Far East in the late 19th and early 20th century.

                                    During the last two decades of the 19th century, European nations battled each other for wealth and power. This battle caused the "scramble for Africa," in which European countries competed to colonize as much of Africa as possible. While the colonizing Europeans claimed to want to "civilize" the African continent, their actions spoke otherwise: they were interested solely in gaining wealth and did not care how they did it, or who was killed. One of the most brutal of the European colonies in its treatment of the native Africans was the Belgian Congo, the property of the Belgian King Leopold I. In 1890, Joseph Conrad worked as a pilot on a steamship in the Belgian Congo, and Heart of Darkness is at least in part based on his experiences there.

                                    This is a book that takes place in Europe and then in Africa. Lot of students read this in class as a short story. It is not that short. This was also a movie called "Apocalypse Now". Martin Sheen is in it, with fatty Marlon Brando and Harrison Ford. It's a pretty good movie. In this story there are "agents". These are guys that travel and go get ivory.

                                    The story starts out with these 5 dudes sitting on a boat. There is a lawyer, an accountant, a military guy, the narrator, and some dude named Marlow. Then Marlow tells them his story. He starts out telling them how he was sailing around, all over the place. He jumped from boat to boat experiencing new things. Many of these boats were ivory boats, sailing around looking for ivory. His rich powerful Aunt got him a job as the captain of a steamer in Africa looking for Ivory. . Then he arrives at the "station". He sees a lot of overworked black slaves. He meets this handsome accountant guy. The accountant tells him about a dude named Kurtz. Kurtz is one of the best "agents" (he gets a lot of ivory). They take a trip to the central "station". They get there and see that their steamboat has sunk. The manager of the central station doesn't know where Kurtz is.

That night Marlow talks with one of the agents. The agent says good things about Kurtz and how he'll probably be promoted in the big company. However, the agent kinda hates Kurtz because they are competing for similar promotions. Marlow pumps the agent for info on Kurtz. Marlow is very curious about this dude named Kurtz. Then the Steamer is fixed so they continue with the trip. They head toward Kurtz’s station to find out what the hell happened to him.

They sail on the river and then they are attacked by spears and arrows. It’s the African savages attacking them. They shoot back and try to pop some caps in their asses. They finally blow the steam whistle and the noise scares the savages. Then they get to the "Inner Station". A Russian dude is there and he’s taking care of Kurtz because Kurtz is sick. The Russian sailor dude tells the crew that Kurtz went psycho and started killing the African savages and stealing their ivory. He became their leader and was treated like a God. Marlow sees sticks with heads on them (like Lord of the flies). Marlow is kinda scared because he knows Kurtz has a big African army that will do anything he wants them to. Kurtz was the one who told the savages to attack Marlowe's steamboat. So now the crew has Marlow in their "custody".

The night before they leave, Kurtz tries to escape back to his followers (the African savages). Marlow catches him and doesn’t let him go. They take Kurtz back and that’s where he says those famous lines "Oh the horror. The horror! Then Kurtz dies.

Marlow gets sick, but then gets better. He goes back to Brussels. He visits Marlowe's fiancee who he left at home. In the book she is called the "Intended" (like he intended to marry her). She asks Marlow what Kurtz’s last words were. He lies and says it was her name. She cries.

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

 FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

                                      -Thomas Hardy

                    Far From the Madding Crowd centers on the beautiful Bathsheba Everdene, and the three who love her and try to win her over. Gabriel Oak, Mr. Boldwood, and Sergeant Francis Troy find themselves intertwined in their quest to win Bathsheba. Bathsheba is headstrong, feminine, and beautiful. She inherits her uncle’s farm, and tries to run it herself. As all of them were farmers, they didn’t think that she could do it. Although she had a few things go wrong like fires she overall handles her farm very well and became a good farmer. But, her love life was something else. She had three men after her at the same time. The first suitor she met was Gabriel Oak.

                    Farmer Oak was dependable and caring and wise. Without him, Bathsheba couldn’t have taken care of the farm. Oak did have his own sheep, but they were killed in a freak accident when they ran off a cliff. Oak is “one with nature." He knew just by looking at his she’s tails that it was going to rain. He would do anything for Bathsheba (and he did), even though she denied his first attempt at marriage. In the end thought, Bathsheba did marry Oak. Troy first met Bathsheba as they were walking through the woods. Bathsheba became tangled in the brambles with Troy. He made a few comments to her about how lovely se was and how he would love to stay tangled up with her. Instantly, Bathsheba was in love. Little did she know that Troy was deeply in love with a girl named Fanny Robbins, who was a maid of Bathsheba’s? Troy ended up marrying Bathsheba, but it was a bad marriage and didn’t last for long. Bathsheba was in love with Troy’s image and he loved her for her money and appearance. The final straw for their marriage was when Fanny died. Troy lost his true love, an unborn child, and in the end, his own life. Ironically, his death was by the hands of Bathsheba’s suitor Boldwood.

DR. JEKYLL and MR. HYDE

DR. JEKYLL and MR. HYDE

                                    -Robert Louis Stevenson

                      

         Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson first published in 1886. The work is also known as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or simply Jekyll & Hyde. It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the very phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.

                      

         Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, published in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson, is about a man who transforms between two personae: Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde. It is an example of the Gothic genre.

         Gothic stories typically blend elements from horror stories with elements from Romantic stories. The persona-changing potions, murders, and eventual suicide in the novel are all examples of the horror elements at work in the text. The Romantic element in the novel comes across in the theme of science versus nature, since Romantic works often are seen as a rebellion against science's rationalization of nature. Gothic novels often explore the human psyche and supernatural phenomena, too.

      The phrase 'Jekyll and Hyde' is sometimes used colloquially to refer to someone whose actions cannot be reconciled with each other.

Respected Sir,

Darkness:

           There is a word “star” shows the beauty of stars in the dark sky and without stars sky is all dark and “darkness” itself is the symbol of “fall”. But star is a symbol of brightness and hope. So here we can say that shine of a star and a silver ribbon represents the positive side of this age.

Image:

                        Image shows the inner side of our human mindsets. - Lustful nature of human beings ultimately leads towards "burning" ,fall of man. - Love & death goes side by side, like life and death in short. Lust & desire forces to us to lead it before time. 

The Red wheel barrow :

                         Two sides of life, negative & positive reflect here. - Hardships of life turn to reliefs. - Dying stage is the ultimate way of living life throughout.

In a Station of a Metro:

                   Pound describes watching faces appear in metro station. It is not clear that from which point the poet writes a poem whether he is on the train itself or on the platform. “Crowd” suggested that station is quite busy. He compares faces of people which he found in the crowd with the “petals on a wet, black bough,” suggesting that on the dark subway platform, from there people look like flower petals that stuck on a tree branch after a rainy night. Here in the poem pound contemplating the fragility of life.

The Pool:

                   As a bi-sexual person, Doolittle faced just such a situation. She played many roles; but, ultimately, she became a many faceted person. Sometimes, we have difficulty, especially as adolescents, understanding our feelings. We do not know what our emotions mean. We question who we are and what we want from life. It might be satisfying to have someone pull us close and help us to understand as the poet says in the last line.

Morning at the Window:

                  

                        Morning at the window - morning at the window signs towards the way of living without end , purpose ,if you try to pass your life then it can't provide us that real joy of life that actually we have to. - Enthusiasm only has chances to wait for death with new spirit within.

 Insouciance:

                   In this poem there are many images like “dreary trenches” which means a dark hole or dug in the ground, it is used as a metaphors for the ups and downs of life, or we can say that life is a two side of one coin one is negative and one is positive. There are other words like “trudging” and “cheerily” which represents the image of a person who has to do his work but he don’t want to do. Here poet focused upon the ups and downs of life during the rough time of a person.

Views on movie screening - Waiting for Godot

Respected Sir,

Here are my views while watching movie “Waiting for Godot”.

·         The connection between the play and paintings is that, the play and paintings are connected with each other. Because paintings’ name ‘Longing’ is connected with our desire and in the play- Vladimir and Estragon’s desire are also waiting for Godot. It means bucket uses the paintings as play’s setting.

·         The tree is only important- ‘thing’ in both the acts. In first act – the tree was barren and in the second act – we will see few leaves. So, in first act we could not find leaves and in the second act we can see four-five leaves, it means at some point the tree represents the symbol of ‘death’ and also ‘Hope for Godot’.

·         In both acts, evening falls into night and moon rises, it means that there is progress of evening into night and moon rises. It symbolizes “Hope” and “Desire” for Vladimir and Estragon that Mr. Godot will come next day.

·         Debris means, waste, wreckage of rubbish or garbage. So in the movie, we can see that idea of Debris is represented waste or garbage of our life, it is like nothingness in life as we can see in the play that the main theme is ‘Nothingness’.

·         In the play the first line is “Nothing to be done” – so, it’s clear that the main point is nothingness. In the play, we know that Vladimir and Estragon are doing nothing same as we (people) are also doing same thing. We are doing or achieve many things but at last it will come out as nothing.

·         Yes, I am agree that “Waiting for Godot” is positive play, because in the play Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for something with some hopes and desires that someone will come and solve their problems. So, in the play- nothingness is something that it is positive thoughts effects.

·         Hat and Boot – represented the thinking process of Vladimir and Estragon. Hat represented – higher thinking and intellect as Vladimir a thinker and play with the hat. And Boot is represented level of lower thinking which is shown material life as Estragon plays with his Boot.

·         Yes, it is too much irritating that Lucky is obedience of his master Pozzo and in second act – Pozzo is blind and if Lucky wished, he escaped from slavery but he likes to be slave and it is unbelievable.

·         According to me, Godot is god and all are waiting for him because all human being believe that God will come and solved their trouble. As we see in the play that Vladimir and Estragon are also waiting for someone who solved their problems. So, here we can also say that Godot is an object of desire.

·           The subject of the play is waiting, not Godot, and I agree with this point because we see throughout the movie that Vladimir and Estragon are constantly waiting even without knowing that who is Godot, how he looks and even they don’t know the place they are waiting is right or not.

·         When we watched movie first time, we cannot understand because we cannot get clear dialogues in proper way. So, “Waiting for Godot” is better understood by reading not by watching.

·         I liked two sequence: 1) Pozzo-Lucky episode in both acts

                                                2) Conversation of Vladimir with the boy

·         Yes, there is existential crisis or meaninglessness of human existence. Because in the movie, we can see that they both are waiting for Godot, who never comes. They are doing meaningless actions to pass their times.

·         After too much Waiting for Godot and when Godot didn’t come, Vladimir and Estragon end their useless and meaninglessness of life but they could not do suicide. Here, we can see the effect of existentialism because existentialism represents the empty human condition.

To The Lighthouse

Respected Sir,

          2) Yes, this novel found both the tribute and critique of Mrs. Ramsay. Mrs. Ramsay’s character is like typical woman, kind hearted mother and wife and also ideal Indian woman. If we talk about Lily’s painting, in her painting, she represents a struggle against gender against convention. So, when we compare character Mrs. Ramsay with Lilt Briscoe, we can say that Lily is a free minded woman and always thinks for her own freedom.

          3) We can interpreted that Lighthouse stands for the symbol of Mrs. Ramsay because she is a good wife and mother also. She takes care of every person in the house and she gives enlightenment to her family. She is center of this novel and other characters are surrounded her. So, as Lighthouse is central figure of the novel, Mrs. Ramsay is also in the center of the novel.

          6) Lily Briscoe lives in dilemma because her wish to portray a picture of Mrs. Ramsay by her painting. Here, Lily introduces as an artist. She is a free minded and always thinks for her and therefore at the end, she may be realized that – for her, right place is to paint and she wants to build up her career not wants to live in four walls but she wants to come out of it. And at the end, she proves herself as an artist.

          9) “Army and Navy” stands for capitalism and consumerism and also connected with shaper of culture. It is connected with the catalogue which is signified the world war. James cutting the refrigerator, it shows the negative thing to cut by seizer which is not good sign.

                             THANK YOU…….