Author: Salim

Salim Adamu’s Final Essay

December 14, 2020 / Salim / 0 Comments

Salim Adamu

Eng 3407-O628 Lec(53013)

12/04/2020

Eleanor’s Hill House

Is the supernatural real or is it something that was made up from our fears and is just a figment of our imagination. I do not know if we can ever get a solid answer to if it’s real ornery but many people have attempted from past to present. This thing called supernatural investigation was displayed greatly in a novel called The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson . This novel had a great concept about a lot of gothic theories that could surround the supernatural and for this novel the theory being the fantastic and uncanny, it showed great representation of gothic spaces in Hill House. In the house a double seemed to be from or a sort of connection which was Eleanor and the Hill House itself which opposed each other at some point but also connected or seem they are made for each other a real pair towards the end. This in all is what the novel was covering and what intriguing reactions popped out the most to me.

The double pairings Eleanor and the Hill House did not have many great times together. The house wore Eleanor down mentally throughout and made her really unstable with her actions and emotion. Even before she got to the house itself the gate already gave her a little feeling of what the house was like itself and that gate and the area around it made that a great gothic space. Eleanor herself stated that “The gate was tall and ominous and heavy, set strongly into a stone wall which went off through the trees”(Jackson, pg 11) and those are the feelings which are gothic and what gothic space should make you feel dark and ominous. when shoes get there what she experiences and feels is much worse than just an ominous feeling . For Eleanor and Hill house the interaction wasn’t always pleasant but not to say that didn’t have some good parts. Like when Eleanor first came to the house and was finally able to relax unlike before shows that she liked that about the house and got something out of being in the house that time. It was even stated that ” It was a surprise to find that she had slept until after eight, and she thought that it was ironic that the first good night’s sleep she had had in years had come to her in Hill House”(Jackson, chpt 4) and there it proved that a positive connection between the house and Eleanor was made because of what the house did for Eleanor.

The parts where the house mentally strained Eleanor was deep and even caused a strain in the relationships with the members of her team. For example when they came out and saw writing on the wall which talked about Eleanor specifically it stated in the novel “”Can you read it?” Luke asked softly, and the doctor, moving his flashlight, read slowly: HELP ELEANOR COME HOME.”(Jackson, chpt 5) and from there it caused Eleanor a shock and caused her to not have the same relationship with Theodora after . What caused that to happen was when Eleanor said “Did you write it?” Eleanor turned to Theodora. “Please tell me—I won’t be angry or anything, just so I can know that—maybe it was only a joke”(Jackson, chpt5) all that showed a sense of distrust between them and no wonder one would leave the side of someone due to that. This event had the properties of a gothic theory since the novel itself is gothic and focuses on gothic theories throughout and it embodied the theory of the uncanny. In this case because it was never shown if a member of the team wrote it or if it was the Haunted Hill House so the event acted as an interaction between the house and Eleanor because it could have been the house which committed the act. That idea was on Eleanor’s mind as well which would count this as one of the parts where the double of the Hill House and Eleanor was not positive and affected her mentally. Even though all that showed a great connection, the greatest one between the Hill House and Eleanor was the ending of the story. Where she didn’t want to leave the Hill House it was shown when she said herself that “The house wants me to stay”(Jackson, chpt9) this could also be seen as the fantastic because we never know if she really hears the Hill House or if it’s just all in her head. Not only that but it confirmed that the house and Eleanor are a real pair true doubles which attract each other in the end.

That was what this doubles pair of the Hill House and Eleanor went through together. It still isn’t made clear if the Hill House was really alive or supernatural in the end and that was what made this story truly a great example of the uncanny and fantastic depicted by Todorov. All that mattered was that to Eleanor it was alive and a place where she belonged the only place she can be at since she had nowhere else to go to or call home. The whole story covered a lot about them, the Hill House and the others but the one it affected themes and meant the most to was Eleanor and that is why they are best double shown in the story. They attract one another not always in a fond way but to Elenor after being damaged psychologically in the house which would count as the times they opposed each other, but all that didn’t matter after all in the ending of the novel. That place became her home and she could only perceive it as something good for her and similar to her. That attracted her to it and they became truly connected as one after all the good and bad presented at Hill House, to Eleanor the house was meant for her.

Works Cited

Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House (1959)

The-Fantastic_Todorov_gothicLiterature

Salim’s Gothic Space

December 7, 2020 / Salim / 0 Comments

Garbage alley way at night

The back of the alley way

My gothic space which is close to me is the very place where people put there garbage. The reason why I chose this as my gothic space was because it had a lot of attributes which we described to be seen as gothic . To start with it has the aspect which define Freud’s definition of the uncanny because it is as stated psychological thing where something thats suppose to be familiar for you gives or brings out unsettling feelings that you knew and can also bring out feelings of fear you didn’t know, and that is exactly what happens wth be and this alley way for the garbage . The reason being that this is a place close to home where I need to go to throw garbage a place I pass by to go home but at night it a mystery to me and gives a eerie feeling when normally a place your familiar with is suppose to give comfort and that made this the perfect example for an uncanny gothic space. To be more specific the things that make the place unsettling are the dried walls which don’t give a sense of clearness the sight of garbage around which can make some people feel almost sick and the feeling of being alone in cramped alley and feeling anything can lurking by the sound the garbage makes with the wind.

The second picture has also is defined by an uncanny but notably Freud’s uncanny but Todorov’s representation of the uncanny which is to help us tell between our uncertainty through the marvelous fantastic and uncanny which can arrive at eerie uncomfortable time. When looking at the back the alley ways the shadows seem to move and nothing can be made out from there and at that point when not feeling settled about if the shadow really move but as you get closer you can see it wasn’t and can finally put it in to the category uncanny which is said to be the supernatural explained and the shadows which are thought to be moving an be explained by the lights.

This alley way reminded me of the novel of the Haunting of Hill House where there where looking for the ghostly dogs. It is said to be seen in the hallway which is narrow just like the alley way and as you keep going there is darkness in front. Also just like the second picture where shadows can be seen too be moving in a sort of way the ghostly dogs aren said to be kinda seen at the end of the hallways off the house. All of those thing contributed to making this place a gothic space where I feel anxiety or uncomfortable to just throw out garbage at night.

Salim’s Weekly Goth

November 15, 2020 / Salim / 0 Comments

This is an old cartoon from cartoon network called courage the cowardly dog and I picked this episode because it showed a lot of gothic elements since the start where there is a dark figure and we can just hear his dark thoughts which is a very gothic element showing the spirit of perverseness because the figure itself knows it bad but won’t stop. He always emphasizes on how he’s been “naughty” and thats his nature. There was also signs of terror when courage the dog was trapped with the man Fred in the bathroom since the pressure and pending and courage didn’t know what would happen to him as Fred was dangerous and the terror continued while he caught courage and told his story about his naughty acts.The finale part which was gothic to me was the music as Fred talked letting us view it as something bad was bound to happen.

Salim’s Gothic Architecture

November 15, 2020 / Salim / 0 Comments

These are building which can be seen in my neighborhood the first is the armory in kingsbridge heights which I noticed had some gothic architectural features like its pointed tip and growing tree leaves on the building all give a gothic impression and leave you wondering whats in but at the same time not wanting to go your self,Also it had a few lancet shaped building to add to it. The second building is from Lehman college which is near kingsbridge and it has the the use o tracery and different carving around it which gothic architecture uses alot and pointed spikes at the top though few

October 25, 2020 / Salim / 0 Comments

Salim Adamu
Gothic Literature 3407
Oct15,2020
Dr.Jekyll and M,r.Hyde/Narrator of Black Cat
In literature there are many components that make up a story and they become key components throughout. Two main components of this kind of literature called gothic literature is The spirit of perverseness and Central Gothic Irony(CGI).They two components are what help portray the stories image through characters actions and surrounding. To be more specific two stories held these components to high regard throughout its whole plot and these two were the “Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe and the “Strange Cases of Dr.jekyll and Mr.Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. The way the characters of those stories were portrayed showed a very similar mental state through out change towards the end they were similar in a lot of aspects and in the “Strange Cases of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde” the two main characters showed their sides of view and the way the viewed their actions and feelings and the same occurred in the ‘Black Cat” for the narrator. The spirit of perverseness which is when a character does something bad or continues to do something bad even if they know it is harmful for others,themselves or both them and others. Then it was the Central Gothic Irony which is when the character tries to come back to a state of normalcy after they have gone through and been a source of chaos in a way. So what makes them Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde so similar to the narrator of the “Black Cat”?
In “The Strange Cases of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde” Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde are the same person. The story is about the struggle between Jekyll and his other side Hyde which was caused by a potion Jekyll made to see the other side of people, the dark and bad side, not the side made to compromise to society’s norms. At first it was him in control and he got younger when he tuned to Hyde and he was doing little mischievous stuff he always wanted to do but no one could say nothing because they don’t know him,but later he lost control and Hyde got his own consciousness some way and caused an accident and killed Sir Danvers Carew. When he came to Jekyll couldn’t stop him anymore because Hyde started to come out anytime without Jekyll’s permission and even came out when Jekyll went to sleep and continued his violence. Even though Jekyll knew what was happening he still took that potion it made him feel good and that when his addiction was shown and he saw only two options to regain control or to commit suicide and he chose the latter suicide,.His guilt came to him and he died and left a letter explaining everything about him and Hyde as a way to redeem himself and even left his close friend Mr.Utterson his will.Through that you can see the aspect of the spirit perverseness and the (CGI) from Jekyll and the cause Hyde.
In the ‘Black Cat” the story is about the narrator and his rising violent tendencies because of his drinking problem which leads to delusions. In the beginning he and his wife were people who loved animals. It was their nature but later the narrator changed. The drinking that caused him to fall into his delusions,all of his delusions were all put onto his black cat Pluto. Even though he saw what was causing him to go crazy, which was the drinking he never stopped always went back to or at the end of the day. His anger towards the cat grew which led to abuse and then even led to him killing the cat. Later on he starts to come to a realization of his actions and gets a new cat because it reminded him of Pluto but because he reminded him of Pluto when it was home he started to abuse it more and led to him trying to kill it but instead killing his wife who tried to protect the cat. In the end he looked back at his action which caused him to see his wrongs
Those parts of the story show how Jekyll Hyde are two parts of the narrator of the Black cat. They both show signs of the spirit of perverseness from an addiction which is for Jekyll him being addicted to the potion which turns him into Hyde. It is proven when Jekyll commits suicide and it says “Utterson knew that he was looking on the body of a self-destroyer”(Stevenson 52) which showed light on his suicide but as well as person who destroys his body with his addiction.Then the narrator of who is addicted to his drinking problem was shown when it stated that “my disease grew upon me—for what disease is like Alcohol!—and at length even Pluto, who was now becoming old, and consequently somewhat peevish—even Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper”This showed how his addiction turned him into something else a bubble of rage as for Jekyll it turned him into Hyde who was also a bubble of rage which is why they all seem so similar(Poe). Another aspect which was similar was when they tried to return to normalcy(CGI) It was when his letter said I have brought on myself a punishment and a danger that I cannot name. If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also.(Stevenson) Showing he understood his mistake and was trying to go back to how he was in some way to redeem himself though accepting what he’s due. As for the narrator it was when he said “I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fiber of my frame.” (Poe) it helped to see how he started coming back to his senses and saw his wrong doing) which was just like Jekyll seeing all the bad turning into Hyde did.
That was the similarities between these three characters from, different stories How Two character rep[resented two different sides of a character from another story. Which in this case was the two from “The Strange Cases of Dr.Jekyll And Mr.Hyde” and the narrator of the” Black Cat”.It showed their likeness to one another and how one had two sides to a good which turned bad because of drinking and then one who transformed to one accustomed to society tried to escape the norm with a potion and turned into a whole another person with bad intention as his focus. The bad sides both murdered and the good both understood in the end they had ti\urned to something horrible. So yes those aspect is what made them so similar with SOP and CGI as a main point of both stories to add on it.

Salim’s Coffeehouse Post #4

October 19, 2020 / Salim / 1 Comment

In literature there are many components that make up a story and they become key components throughout. Two main components of this kind of literature called gothic literature is The spirit of perverseness and Central Gothic Irony(CGI).They two components are what help portray the stories image through characters actions and surrounding. To be more specific two stories held these components to high regard throughout its whole plot and these two were the “Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe and the “Strange Cases of Dr.jekyll and Mr.Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. The way the characters of those stories were portrayed showed a very similar mental state through out change towards the end they were similar in a lot of aspects and in the “Strange Cases of Dr.jekyll and Mr.Hyde” the two main characters showed their sides of view and the way the viewed their actions and feelings and the same occurred in the ‘Black Cat” for the narrator. The spirit of perverseness which is when a character does something bad or continues to do something bad even if they know it is harmful for others,themselves or both them and others. Then it was the Central Gothic Irony which is when the character tries to come back to a state of normalcy after they have gone through and been a source of chaos in a way. So what makes them Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde so similar to the narrator of the “Black Cat”?
In the “Strange Cases of Dr.jekyll and Mr.Hyde” Dr.jekyll and Mr.Hyde are the same person. The story is about the struggle between Jekyll and his other side Hyde which was caused by a potion Jekyll made to see the other side of people, the dark and

bad side, not the side made to compromise to society’s norms. At first it was him in control and he got younger when he tuned to Hyde andhe was doing little mischievous stuff he always wanted to do but no one could say nothing because they don’t know him,but later he lost control and Hyde got his own consciousness some way and caused an accident and killed Sir Devers Carew. When he came to Jekyll couldn’t stop him anymore because Hyde started to come out anytime without Jekyll’s permission and even came out when Jekyll went to sleep and continued his violence. Even though Jekyll knew what was happening he still took that potion it made him feel good and that when his addiction was shown and he saw only two options to regain control or to commit suicide and he chose the latter suicide,.His guilt came to him and he died and left a letter explaining everything about him and Hyde as a way to redeem himself and even left his close friend Mr.Utterson his will.Through that you can see the aspect of the spirit perverseness and the (CGI) from Jekyll and the cause Hyde.
In the ‘Black Cat” the story is about the narrator and his rising violent tendencies because of his drinking problem which leads to delusions. In the beginning he and his wife were people who loved animals. It was their nature but later the narrator changed. The drinking that caused him to fall into his delusion,all of his delusions were all put onto his black cat pluto. Even though he saw what was causing him to go crazy, which was the drinking he never stopped always went back to or at the end of the day. His anger towards the cat grew which led to abuse and then even led to him killing the cat. Later on he starts to come to a realization of his actions and gets a new cat because it reminded him of Pluto but because he reminded him of pluto when it was home he started to abuse it more and led to him trying to kill it but instead killing his wife who tried to protect the cat. In the end he looked back at his action which caused him to see his wrongs.

Salim’s Coffeehouse Post #3

September 29, 2020 / Salim / 0 Comments

Redemption is hard and as hard as you try too there are just some cases when you rely cant be redeemed because the action where far to grave but still you try and that was Dr.Jekyll. He tried to redeem himself due to the wrong doing of his dark counterpart called Mr.Hyde. This Dark counterpart all cam about because of an experiment designed to split a persons good and bad and Dr.Jekyll went through with this experiment and made a potion to bring about the success of the experiment. In the begging it kinda worked out the way he wanted still Jekyll was excited about it and like his new form of Hyde while he had control and saw he didn’t have to restrain himself as Hyde but later he lost control of Hyde and saw that what that potion instead of separating the good and bad like was thought to happen, instead it brought out ones dark part and gave it a identity its own person to be and that was Dr.Jekyll’s Mr.Hyde. Mr.Hyde was younger than Dr.Jekyll and more evil and started getting stronger and getting control of Dr.Jekyll’s body by turning into himself even when Jekyll didn’t permit or want to. Even though Jekyll wasn’t the one who committed the horrendous acts he still felt responsible because he was the one who brought Hyde in to existence and was the one who gave him so much control over him by getting addicted to drug /potion which made him feel good even though the first time he took it it was a bad feeling but from then on he felt great every time which caused his addiction to it and made him turn into someone younger and evil Hyde himself. What Dr.Jekyll did to try and redeem himself was by writing a letter to Utterson to let him and everyone know of his actions and the truth about Hyde and himself and to take responsibility for the deaths caused by Hyde and gives in the letter a hint of himself committing suicide if he couldn’t find a solution like how he used the salt and it didn’t work he had to find a new solution or else it was his only option and that was exactly what he did because he couldn’t bare anymore of those sins or not being able to remain himself and saw that there was no other solution other than that.

Salim’s Coffeehouse Post

September 21, 2020 / Salim / 1 Comment

In chapter 3 the “Him” That Dr.Jekyll is referring too is actually Mr.Hyde.The reason I believe so is because when Mr.Utterson brings up Hyde and tries to talk and get information about Hyde from Jekyll Jekyll doesn’t want to talk about it and blatantly shuts down the conversation relating to Hyde but still show he trusts utters and tries to reassure him.That would be the reason he said him instead pos actually saying his name due to the fact of not wanting to talk about him.The reason that is so ironic is that both Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Utterson don’t show or talk about Hyde in a positive light and talked about him as someone to be careful and watch out for not someone they would want around.But then later when Dr.Jekyll talk to Utterson as if to take care of Mr.Hyde and cover for him which made the whole thing so ironic.

Another thing that maddest ironic was that when Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Utterson were talking about Hyde the name Hyde is very similar and sound the same as the word Hide which is exactly what it felt like Dr.Jekyll was doing to Mr.Utterson when the topic came up because Jekyll never answer Mr.Uttersons questions or even try to listen to Uttersons reasoning about Hyde and all that made it seemed like he was hiding some things he knew about Hyde from Utterson the whole conversation, even when Jekyll tried to reassure utterson that Hyde was not a threat to him and could deal with him . But still while Utterson tried his best to get Jelkyll to trust him and share what he knew about Hyde to him because it was important to the both of them to figure out Hyde because of how dangerous he could be but it didn’t help because in the end Jekyll still hid what he knew from him

Salim’s Coffeehouse Post

September 7, 2020 / Salim / 0 Comments

This summer due to covid-19 I didn’t do all of what I wanted to do or was expecting to do for summer. It was a pretty bland summer but somedays and pats of the ending of the summer were great and enjoyable. I can say during the end was at the most fun because of the time I spent with me friends. Somedays we played ball and have fun, other days drove around went to different places to eat like a little adventure.That was the best part of my summer and most fun really use hanging out and having fun with my friends. Other days in the summer were my little siblings birthday so it was memorable and fun to.

The three stories we all read were all interesting to read but if I had to pick one I would say it would have to be the lottery because I’ve read it before and it still always gives of a strong impression. It really showed the depth of human action because of mentality and tradition/culture. It showed when people don’t know better what they doing is right by them and when one challenges those view they are certainly in the wrong no question. At the same time it was able to give of the gothic feeling and environment with the suspense of the lottery which connected to someones end and symbolism with the black battered up box and the rocks used to sentence one to death which was the gloomy environment made by this lottery which could be none other than be classified as gothic in my eyes. The other stories were also amazing to and got people thinking thats why I see that the three had a lot of focus on how ones mind works and operates which is whats so interesting about all three together. But in the end the lottery gave me the most of that combined with more, that was why I picked the lottery out of the three.

Author: Salim

Salim Adamu’s Final Essay

Salim’s Gothic Space

Salim’s Weekly Goth

Salim’s Gothic Architecture

Salim’s Coffeehouse Post #4

Salim’s Coffeehouse Post #3

Salim’s Coffeehouse Post

Salim’s Coffeehouse Post

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