Fareenam – ENG 3407, Gothic Lit, Fall 2019

Beloved 256 – 324 Page 295

“Sethe no longer combed her hair or splashed her face with water. She sat in the chair licking her lips like a chastised child while Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled up with it, grew taller on it…. Sethe was trying to make up for the handsaw; Beloved was making her pay for it. Yet she knew Sethe’s greatest fear was the same one Denver had in the beginning- that Beloved might leave”.

In these lines we see how Sethe belittled herself and as the result, her self importance diminished to absolutely nothing. In previous lines, it was said to love yourself, your hands, neck etc… As the novel proceeded and Beloved was introduced, Sethe’s obsession has shifted to the figure that of her dead daughter. As Sethe depreciated, Beloved grew and matured due to Sethe’s non-existence. This painted a portrait in my mind of Beloved tall and youthful, shining brighter than anyone. While, Sethe is old and worn out and is looking up to her daughter Beloved that is reborn into something greater. Beloved was portrayed as sucking the life out of Sethe the longer she was around. Sethe felt the need to explain the reason why she killed her daughter over and over again, not to prove to Beloved but to prove to herself. That is a guilt that she never really overcame as she escaped to her freedom. As we saw, she was angry at Baby Suggs for trying to live her life as she prepared a feast. The theory behind why she was mad was because she never really labeled herself as “freed”. In these chapters, we saw Sethe holding onto Beloved tighter than ever and she has let go of Denver because 3 is an odd number and one would always be left out. Sethe has let go of her self worth, her future; as she was fired from her job. She needed to prove that she was never letting go of Beloved ever again.

180-256

“Beloved is my sister. I swallowed her blood right along with my mother’s milk. The first thing I heard after not hearing anything was the sound of her crawling up the stairs”.

I take this as Denver’s feeling very close to Beloved as she drank her blood along with her milk. This is such a religious action of Christianity. Jesus says that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood, otherwise we have no life in us. I think Toni Morrison deliberately added this into her writing to show a sign of unity between Beloved and Denver. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” I think Beloved was symbolized as something very much superior that of God himself. However, I feel as if Denver and Beloved would always be connected to each in a way more than Sethe and Beloved would ever be. It was almost an act of salvation between Denver as she was trying to have a connection with her dead sister Beloved. This act was an significance of the sisterly relationship between Denver and Beloved. In theory, as her mother Sethe robbed her of the relation she could’ve had with Beloved.

Paul D’s expulsion of the ghost – Fareena

“You want to fight, come on! God damn it! She got enough without you. She got enough…..The quaking slowed to an occasional lurch, but Paul D did not stop whipping the table around until everything was rock quiet…. it was gone”.

In this scene, Paul D is seen as a fierce heroic figure as he stood firmly and fought back against the ghost. I can relate this to the scene in “Dracula”, when Arthur was driving the crucifix deep into Lucy’s heart as she squirmed, he stood like an figure that of Thor. Paul D did not show any signs of cowardliness and the up roaring of the house had suddenly stopped. The ghost presences could no longer be felt as everything was quiet. In my opinion, he was untouched by what the ghost can do because maybe he endured much worst in his past.

Group 3 Create

a) the scene where Dyer + Danforth are being chased by a Shoggoth

Quote: “So we glanced back—simultaneously, it would appear; though no doubt the incipient motion of one prompted the imitation of the other. As we did so we flashed both torches full strength at the momentarily thinned mist; either from sheer primitive anxiety to see all we could, or in a less primitive but equally unconscious effort to dazzle the entity before
we dimmed our light and dodged among the penguins of the labyrinth centre ahead. Unhappy act! Not Orpheus himself, or Lot’s wife, paid much more dearly for a backward glance. And again came that shocking, wide-ranged piping—“Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!” I might as well be frank—even if I cannot bear to be quite direct—in stating what we saw; though at the time we felt that it was not to be admitted even to each other. The words reaching the reader can never even suggest the awfulness of the sight itself. It crippled our consciousness so completely that I wonder we had the residual sense to dim our torches as planned, and to strike the right tunnel toward the dead city. Instinct alone must have carried us through—perhaps better than reason could have done; though if that was what saved us, we paid a high price”.

My take on it all: The shoggots are these black bubbly creatures with eyes and tentacles that they can expand to however long they want to. I tried to capture the faces of the characters, to show how frightened they were. This is the perfect example of the fantastic hesitation and terror because they know what these creatures are capable of doing so far so what could this mean? Are they going to escape this god forsaken place or are they going to die like lake and his men?

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GROUP 3 CREATE

Boy was it a long trip to Barchester Cathedral ! I am very surprised how big and massive the stalls are here. I did not see the three wooden figures anymore; the cat, figure pertaining to death, and the devil. As I took a seat in the archdecon’s stall I vividly visualized in my mind where each wooden figure would have been. I was not tempted to touch anything of fear of not knowing what other “curse” could be laying around unknowingly. I definitely felt very terrified, curious, and very tense. I made sure not to lay a hand on anything or fell asleep and mistakenly touched any god forsaken object in such a cathedral. In my view, everything that lays here such be holy, but without a word did I ever question it. I think anyone would be prompted to feel as I did due to the proceeding of such a story.

The writer visited the Barchester cathedral and the wooden figures are no longer around. I would feel as if maybe there are more curses laying around that no one has discovered or were the right candidate for the curse to undergo. Did John Austin think this was a way of punishing the people who have blood on his hands?

Group 3 Fareena – Create Chapters 10-15

Parents: Oh dear God ! Oh where did you go and who where you with? Are you alright my child?

Child: Mom, Dad I was with the “bloofer lady” translating beautiful lady, she took me by the hand. She appeared very angelic, so very sweet to me. She had such red lips like when I eat my popsicle, very red and pearly long white teeth. Her two teeth at the side are longer than yours ! It was fascinating! I stared at them all the time.

Parents: How you scared us?! Did she hurt you? Was it anyone we know? Have we seen this lady before? Why on earth would you go with a stranger ?!

Child: No mom and dad, I’ve never seen the “bloofer” translating to beautiful lady before. I would certainly remember it.

Parents: What happened to your neck? Did the lady do that to you?

Child: I think she went to kiss me, but now I don’t remember how it got there. Maybe I scratched myself ? I don’t think she meant to hurt me.

Parents: Thats certainly not a scratch, maybe you hurt yourself in the bushes, or while you were wandering about when we found you. Looks like a rat has bitten you, you say she has long white teeth, but Im sure she didn’t want to hurt you or else you wouldn’t be here with us right now. I suppose it was someone who needed company or someone who couldn’t have kids or lost a kid even. So she took you for a day and befriended you. But promise us no more talking to strangers and going with them okay?

I highly think the parents wouldn’t even think it could be something as supernatural as it really was. I think the child would describe Lucy as very beautiful as in the English accent bloofer lady is pronounced as beautiful lady. Lucy was beautiful in life and death because she was proposed to 3 times in one day ! She had to be beautiful, as well as characteristics I would say long pearly white teeth and cherry red lips.

Fareena Group 3 CONNECT:

“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens….. I know not how it was but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; …. I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows”.

As the author of “The Fall of the House of Usher” started this literature by painting the setting in our mind as we read. The opening was very dark, dull and filled with nothing but something all at once. Then went on by saying the first glimpse of the building was very distasteful rather extremely unpleasant. The house is gloomy and filled with unimaginable and unexplainable mystery. I interpreted this piece of literature, as the author is using the description of the house as a metaphor for America. He describes the house as a simple landscape.. bleak walls.. and the vacant eye like windows. One aspect of America the narrator could be referring to is American politics. In essence, autumn days are filled with bright colored leaves and a bright sky; however it was written as a dull and dark day. This could be relating to the corrupting president candidate that we currently have in office and the fact that he has us in pure darkness as a nation. Afraid to go outside for we as people of the United States should be deported. He then went on by saying first sight of the building a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded his spirits. I thought about the White House and all that Trump is doing to bring our country down. Hearing the word America, is not what it once was. The narrator touched on the vacant eye-like windows, for this could be the metaphor of the madness that is currently taken place in our country. For our president is not thinking of his people, he is thinking of solely all the wrong topics and is causing him to have a vacant eye on all the topics he should be focusing on.

Author: Fareenam