Monthly Archives: February 2015

Homework, Week 4

Analysis on “Young Goodman Brown”

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“Young Goodman Brown” is a story about a man deceived by the evil devil. Goodman Brown was tricked and was never the same. He was warned by his wife that evil was lurking in her dreams, to please stay with her. Gooman Brown ignored her and continued on his journey. He met an old man in the forest, that would take Brown to a meeting with the higher up towns people. The forest was filled with lust, greed and deceit.

While in the forest Goodman Brown found an acquaintance of his Goody Cloyse she prayed while she walked through the forest as a worshipper of god. When she saw that  Goodman Brown was in the forest immediately screamed Devil. She knew Goodman Brown was there because of the devil deceit because thats why she was in the forest. She spoke of witchery brooms disappearing. Goodman Brown and the old man continued their walk to the meeting. The meeting consitited of the congregation, ministers, deacons and others. As everyone was settled in the old man welcomed his children into their destiny. Their destiny was to follow his way of wickedness to deceive and destroy others.

Goodman Brown couldnt believe what he got himslef into. He finally woke up it was all a dream. But was it? Goodman Brown was never the same, he constantly feared that he could be easily maniipulated and that that people of the church were worshippers of the devil.

 

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Glossary

Gushed out

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I picked the word from first sentence of page 19: “Gregor gushed out these words”
Gush
: to flow out very quickly and in large amounts

: to produce a large amount of (a quickly flowing liquid)

: to speak in an extremely enthusiastic way

The meaning in this context is that Gregor spelled out these words.

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gush

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Week 4
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I found “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka to be very interesting and easy to attain a firm grasp on the sense of the scenery and story line because of the simplicity of the wording in this story. This experience was a nightmare for Gregor which is the sense that the narrator was trying to give readers because of the use of the word “kafkaesque” which basically describes a nightmarish situation which most people can somehow relate to, although strongly surreal. I deduced this meaning from the sense of a nightmarish encounter that Gregor is having based on the way that the narrator is describing his experience, (Page 2, Para 2) “he threw himself onto his right, he always rolled back to where he was.” (Page 3, Para3) “all these little legs continuously moving in different directions and which he was moreover unable to control.” This can only be describing a nightmare in my opinion. It helps to read this story metaphorically because this story was not meant to be viewed in a literal sense. It helps to keep an open mind and look for the deeper meanings in fiction writings. The meaning of “metaphorically” is a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance or something used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem; symbol.

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Glossary

Firmament

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” While he gazed upward, into the deep arch of the firmament, and..” (47)
Firmament is the curve of the sky thought of as a solid object.
Firmament
fir·ma·ment
noun

1) The heavens or the sky, especially when regarded as a tangible thing.
2) A sphere or world viewed as a collection of people.
“one of the great stars in the American golfing firmament”
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Week 4, Week 4

The metamorphosis

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The metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was wrote in 1912. the story tells us about the transformation of human being Gregor into a gigantic insect. It’s was very interesting and strong imagination from the writer. It was noticeable that Gregor had an issue with his family. He was totally excluded from them. Gregor was a puzzled victim of sickness. I think the message behind this story is about the shift which occurs to someone and the consequences which can follow this shifting. One someone is ill and disabled, family is mostly the only thing we can rely on. In Gregor’s case was different. He had a hard time being accepted. His mother failed to cooperate with her brutal husband to deal which Gregor’s situation. This failure generated loneliness and hardship in Gregor’s feelings. The mother was hoping good for her son and tried so hard to assist, She thought it was only a temporary sickness and she even kept Gregor’s furniture hoping that he goes back to his normal life but she didn’t succeed because the father didn’t accept a bit of what happened to Gregor. It was mentioned in the story that his father bombarded him with apples which is a sign of not accepting neither Gregor nor his illness.
It was a sad story. In the beginning of the reading, I had hope for Gregor and I thought he will be helped, saved and accepted by his family. But getting to the end of the story, it shows different thing than what i was expecting.

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Week 4

Metamorphosis and Young Goodman Brown

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I think “Metamorphosis” by Frank Kafka  could be read metaphorically. This could easily represent a story of someone who got very sick and the family can’t deal with him in the condition he is in. Not only do they have to care for him (and guard him from sight), they now have to go to work since he cannot support them anymore.

Throughout the story he gets to be more and more of a burden, and he slowly gets more and more neglected.  When his mother and sister try to help him out and rearrange his room, he is spotted by his mother (who couldn’t bear to see him in that state) and she faints.

Near the end, Grete is trying to convince her parents to “get rid of it” (Gregor isn’t referred to as he at this point). At this point we see that he is nothing but a burden to the family. This can (sadly enough) be a metaphor for someone withering away in a coma. He can understand them and hears more than think, but cannot communicate with them. When they were getting near the point of “pulling the plug”, Gregor passed on, relieving the family of their tremendous burden.

 

In the first few paragraphs of “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Brown is talking to Faith, his wife. It seems that at the same time Faith could also be a personification of his actual faith.  “Faith kept me back awhile” (12) is a great line. At this point in the story the reader doesn’t know where Brown is heading, only that is something bad.  He was kept back by his wife, but also by his belief, and his knowledge that what he is doing is wrong.

Essentially Goodman is in fact a good man and changes his mind before committing the evil deed. “My Faith is gone” he cried after hearing his wife is there with the sinners. This is referring to  his wife but can also mean he lost the faith he so barely held onto moments before.

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Homework, Week 4

The Metamorphosis – Blog Post

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Between both stories, I enjoyed “The Metamorphosis” the best. On some level I think it touches on humanity quite a bit, in the sense of how people tend to treat each other when things get difficult and complicated. There are times in life when something defining can happen to a person: an illness, loss of a family member, financial hardships, and it’s in these moments when a person may see who is truly supportive and understanding in their life. It’s heartbreaking when those that you have given your support and understanding to fail to reciprocate in return.

The passage that stood out to me is the following:

“One day, about a month after Gregor’s transformation when his sister no longer had any particular reason to be shocked at his appearance, she came into the room a little earlier than usual and found him still staring out the window, motionless, and just where he would be most horrible. In itself, his sister’s not coming into the room would have been no surprise for Gregor as it would have been difficult for her to immediately open the window while he was still there, but not only did she not come in, she went straight back and closed the door behind her, a stranger would have thought he had threatened her and tried to bite her. Gregor went straight to hide himself under the couch, of course, but he had to wait until midday before his sister came back and she seemed much more uneasy than usual. It made him realise that she still found his appearance unbearable and would continue to do so, she probably even had to overcome the urge to flee when she saw the little bit of him that protruded from under the couch. One day, in order to spare her even this sight, he spent four hours carrying the bedsheet over to the couch on his back and arranged it so that he was completely covered and his sister would not be able to see him even if she bent down. If she did not think this sheet was necessary then all she had to do was take it off again, as it was clear enough that it was no pleasure for Gregor to cut himself off so completely. She left the sheet where it was. Gregor even thought he glimpsed a look of gratitude one time when he carefully looked out from under the sheet to see how his sister liked the new arrangement.

I think this passage is so reflective of how Gregor is still willing to give when he is receiving  so little. He spent four hours moving the sheet to put it on top of himself to spare his sister the uncomfortableness of looking at him. He is still doing for his family and looking out for what what make them more comfortable. He not only provided for them financially, but he is still providing the comfort from unpleasantness. All his sister had to do was take the sheet off. She must have known that not only was the sheet uncomfortable to have on top of him, but also, that in removing the sheet it would have provided the kindness of acceptance and comfort. Even that small act was too much for her to grant him.

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Discussion, Week 4

“Young Goodman Brown” and “The Metamorphosis”

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As Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, Young Goodman Brown story progressed it remained a mystery as to the exact reason for the journey of Goodman Brown.  There are hints that this journey was evil and was against his Christian principles.  While journeying through the woods with his companion Goodman Brown expressed doubt about continuing and expressed guilt and shame.  He especially wondered how his moral and spiritual advisors, Goody Cloyse , Deacon Gookin and the  pastor of Salem Church would feel about him making this journey.    The thought of them reproaching him was strong enough for him to hesitate.

A defining moment in the story occurred on page 6, second paragraph when Deacon Gookin said, ” I had rather miss an ordination-dinner than tonight’s meeting.”    “……besides several of the Indian powwows, who after their fashion, know almost as much deviltry as the best of us.”  I felt this was a defining moment because this is the point where Goodman Brown realized these people that he held in such high regard and who professed themselves to be good Christians were actually evil hypocrites.

It is almost possible to visualize Goodman Brown in his hiding place in shock and disbelief about what he overheard.  The evil journey he was reluctant to continue on was being spoken about with great anticipation by the people he looked up to for spiritual guidance.

The devil meeting Goodman Brown participated in along with his Pastor and Deacon appears to be a dream and better yet a nightmare.   If this incident really occurred as Goodman Brown slept it is unfortunate that  he was unable to decipher real from unreal and allowed himself to live a life of sadness and mistrust with loss of his Christian beliefs.

In Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” this story too has a nightmarish quality.  The transformation of Gregor Samsa into a vermin is unrealistic and impossible.  The term kafkaesque  describes the particular writing style of Kafka.  His stories tend to have a nightmarish quality that tend to be surreal and appears to be from a subconscious origin.  In the case of Samsa he was probably thinking subconsciously about his life and the overwhelming responsibilities he had.  As a young man he must have wondered what it would be like to be free of all his obligations.  He was trapped in a job he hated but could not leave because of debts owed to his boss by his father.  I thought this was a nightmare he was having because of anxiety about wanting to  free himself from his responsibilities.  He was worried about how helpless he would be to his family if he quit his job.   The nightmarish vermin state showed how quickly his family would turn against him if he was no longer able to take care of them.

 

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Homework, Week 4

“Young Goodman Brown”

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In “Young Goodman Brown,” the following passage stood out and defined the story to me:

“Be it so if you will; but, alas! it was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become, from the night of that fearful dream. On the Sabbath day, when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he could not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear and drowned all the blessed strain. When the minister spoke from the pulpit with power and fervid eloquence, and, with his hand on the open Bible, of the sacred truths of our religion, and of saint-like lives and triumphant deaths, and of future bliss or misery unutterable, then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers. Often, waking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith; and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down at prayer, he scowled and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife, and turned away. And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, an aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession, besides neighbors not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom.”

After Brown’s dreadful dream, he started to view everyone differently. From his dream, he has seen what people are or could be capable of. So he distrusted the whole village, including his wife, Faith. He basically spent the rest of his life trying to avoid contact with people, for he was frightened by them.  I presume the message that Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to give in this story is that some people have a hidden personality, and they have a great way of hiding it.

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Homework, Week 4

“THE METAMORPHOSIS” (RESPONSE BLOG)

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“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka was a very interesting read. To me as a reader, it stood out big time because of how surreal it feels when you read it. The way Kafka wrote also used added to the surrealism. One example being the injury Gregor sustained. I could picture those apples and the apple that remained lodged in his flesh as “a visible reminder of his injury.” The struggles he had as a bug can also be pictured. He wasn’t human anymore so of course there would be massive change one main part being his image and feelings from family/loved ones.

It’s sad to see family turn against you. He was “useless” to them and he brought a burden with his transformation. With his presence as a bug, he couldn’t provide for his family and no profit could come with him there. Pretty much, it added greater struggle to the household and frustrated everyone. He morphed from being the carry of the household, to an outcast ignored by his family. What’s also messed up is the fact that his death wasn’t really noticed or mourned. His family just let it go can acted like Gregor never existed even if he was the reason the family was still living under a roof and eating.

“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka was indeed a very interesting read. It was a nightmare at its finest. It’s something that I’d be afraid of. Losing your humanity and the love from your family. Now that’s terrifying. The word kafkaesque is defined as the nightmarish writing style of Kafka. Reading this story did in fact feel like a nightmare which is why it stood out to me. Realism in Fiction is something I like and this story brought it to me. It also brought something I fear and that is to be turned against by the people you are really close to. Luckily the chances of that happening are low but it’s still something to fear. I now just hope reading this doesn’t bring me a similar nightmare.

 

 

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