All posts by Rena

Ten minutes for seven letters

I want to choose the passage in the beginning of the story on page 5, paragraph 4, 5, and 6.

What stood out to me was the nonchalance air that the section had.

“Ten minutes for seven letters”. This stood out to me a lot because it is the first look at how much she loved her children. It never explicitly tells the reader what exactly this line means. But it is implied that she was willing to give the engraver ten minutes of sexual pleasure in exchange for the 7 letter of beloved to be engraved on her baby daughter’s tombstone. She was even willing to give another ten minutes or maybe even thirty in order to engrave the word Dearly as well.

She was counting on the stillness of her soul, as in she gave her soul away in order to provide and give something deserving to her daughter who had died at such a young age.

She knows that she has repressed her own soul to do this but the only thing she cared about was the soul of her daughter and how it may have raged her more. She believes that as long as her daughter comes and listens to her, she will understand how much Sethe really loves her daughter.

Another detail that explains that she’s lost her soul was how she kept referring to her knees being wide open like the ‘grave’. She was willing to lose a bit of herself to engrave those letters for her daughter because she truly was her beloved.

Something to think about: was she feeling guilty about killing her daughter even though she justifies it? Is she torturing herself to keep herself sane, staying in the house, succumbing to sexual advances of the engraver?

Another thing that crossed my mind when reading this passage is, what is her daughter’s real name? We know that Beloved is not her real name because it was something the preacher had read in the funeral that resonated with Sethe.

It brings to mind the lack of independence Africans had before and after the Civil War. Names are independent of each individual. When her daughter died, she is only referred to as beloved in the story and never by her actual birth name. I feel that beloved is a word of ownership. You have to be someone or something’s beloved. In this way, her daughter (in a way) will always be hers and will always stay with her.

 

Young Goodman Brown Versus The Pink Ribbon – A Comparative Essay

Young Goodman Brown Versus The Pink Ribbon – A Comparative Essay

In Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the narration is third person limited omniscient. Hawthorne’s narrator follows around the thoughts and feelings of young Goodman Brown. This story is limited to the experience and the views of Goodman Brown. The readers of the story do not understand all the events that may have happened in the story because Goodman Brown does not understand the full events of his experience. Goodman does not know why his wife was at the devil’s gathering. Goodman does not know whether or not he dreamed the experiences of the night. Focusing the narration to Faith’s point of view through first person narration will allow the reader’s to piece together both sides of the story to better understand what happened the night at the forest. Although the original short story’s third person limited omniscient of Goodman Brown conveys vulnerability, mystery, and dominance, the retelling of the story uses first person narration of Faith to emphasize on vulnerability, submission, and love.

Young Goodman Brown showed a sort of dark romance with vulnerability of people whom Goodman thought were innocent and religious. The narrator describes Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin with kind words from Goodman’s point of view. This could be portrayed in the quote, “as he spoke, he pointed his staff at a female figure on the path, in whom Goodman Brown recognized a very pious and exemplary dame, who had taught him his catechism in youth and was still his moral and spiritual advisor” (Hawthorne, 1846:4). This could also be portrayed in “The young man sat for a few moments by the road-side, applauding himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet his minister, in his morning-walk, nor shrink from the eye of good old Deacon Gookin” (Hawthorne, 1846:5). Although the third person narrator is speaking here, readers can understand how Goodman thought of Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin by pointing out their role in Goodman’s life.

The retelling of Young Goodman Brown also portrayed vulnerability of people but specifically of Faith. This can be portrayed in paragraph 4, “I do not doubt you my dearest… I doubt myself! Please, my dearest, doubt the lone woman, stay with me by my bedside to-night!” This shows the vulnerability of Faith herself and how she doubts herself even though Goodman Brown still believed her as pure and innocent. She wanted Goodman to bring her back to the good side because she could not do it herself. This could also be shown in paragraph 16, “Just seconds later, I felt trapped in my body. I felt like I was gazing through the eyes of a stranger’s withered body.” The vulnerability of Faith to stand for what is right caused her to lose control of her body. She was only a passenger on the ride to the communion where she joined the devil. In the retelling of the story, Faith was a lot more vulnerable than Goodman was to walk with the devil. This shows that Faith was submissive whereas Goodman showed dominance.

In the short story of Young Goodman Brown, Goodman repetitively showed dominance to the devil. This can be seen even in the beginning of the story, “too far, too far!” (Hawthorne, 1846: 3). Just at the beginning of his walk, Goodman is already wanting to back out of it exclaiming that they have already reached too far and that his father and his father’s father have never went into the woods for such errands. It can also be seen in “my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil, when I thought she was going to Heaven! Is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith, and go after her?” (Hawthorne, 1846: 5). Goodman sees that his moral and spiritual advisor has chosen to be with the devil but he stands strong and makes up his mind to stay behind. Goodman makes up his mind to stand against the devil and shows dominance to his decision by standing strong.

Faith, on the other hand, was extremely submissive to the devil. The moment Goodman Brown walks into the forest and away from Faith, Faith followed the devil. In paragraph 14, “He has chosen, and so have you my sweet girl!” With just this quote, Faith lost control of her body and sold her soul to the devil. In paragraph 15, Faith shows submission, “If my dear Goodman choose to walk with the Devil tonight, I will walk with him as well. I will sell my soul to the devil if it means being with my sweet love.” Although Faith chose to follow the Devil it can be seen that she does this out of love. She does this because she wants to be with her love. Even towards the end of the retelling, it showed the ultimate submission to the devil because in paragraph 28, “Twisting and wriggling in a pink ribbon, I saw the great black snake.” Towards the end of the retelling, she followed Goodman’s advice to look up to heaven and resist the devil but she still followed the devil.

In Young Goodman Brown, it wasn’t exactly clear whether or not Faith and Goodman followed the devil. Mystery encompassed the entire short story since the beginning. This can be portrayed in “of all nights in the year, this one night I must tarry away from thee” (Hawthorne, 1946: 1). There is so much mystery in this quote because the readers do not know where he is going and why it must be this night. It could also be portrayed in the paragraph before, “”dearest heart,” whispered she, softly and rather sadly” (Hawthorne, 1846: 1). The reader’s do not know why Faith is sad, and why Faith does not want her new husband to leave to the errand this one night. Finally, readers do not know who the old man that is walking with Goodman in the forest is. This is also shown in the quote, “the elder person was as simply clad as the younger, and as simple in manner too, he had an indescribable air” and “his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought.” (Hawthorne, 1846: 2).

In the retelling of the story, in paragraph 4, “I do not doubt you my dearest… I doubt myself! Please, my dearest, doubt the lone woman, stay with me by my bedside to-night!” Again, this solves the mystery that Faith does not want Goodman to go to the forest because she knows that he is going to the devil and that she doubts herself to stay faithful to Christianity without him by her side. In paragraph 13, it says “I turned around and there he was, about fifty years old, with an indescribable air of one who knew the world. I saw his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent.” Through this sentence it is understood that the person talking to Faith is the same person that is walking with Goodman in the forest. In paragraph 12, when Faith exclaimed “The devil”, readers understand that it is the devil who is leading Goodman and Faith to the communion.

Although the both the short story of Young Goodman Brown and the retelling had a gothic and dark mysterious vibe to it, the retelling of the story in Faith’s perspective gave readers a lot of answers that they were searching for in the actual text. Young Goodman Brown, being told in third person limited omniscient only allowed a small peephole into the actual events of the story through the eyes of Goodman Brown. Because Goodman was confused with the events of the night, the readers were confused with the events of the night. The retelling of the story through Faith’s perspective is also limited to only her thoughts and feelings but because Faith is more aware of the story, the readers are also more aware of the events that happened. When readers read both versions of the story, they come to a better understanding of the characters of Goodman and of Faith. Readers understand their differences in handling the same situation as well as the outcome of the story, answering some of the vagueness at the end of Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

 

Retelling: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/rosens2015fiction/?p=1106

The Pink Ribbon

The Pink Ribbon – A retelling of Young Goodman Brown
Edited by Rena

[1] My sweet husband and I came forth at sunset, into the street of Salem village. After crossing the threshold, he turned around and kissed me with his soft supple lips. I felt the wind playing with the pink ribbon in my hair. I felt him pulling me towards the dark side but I refused. I cannot let this happen. I don’t want to go, not yet.

[2] I leaned towards his ear. “Dearest heart,” I whispered softly and afraid, “pr’ythee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she’s afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year!”

[3] “My love and my Faith” replied my dear husband, “of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs to be done ‘twixt now and sunrise. What, my sweet, pretty wife, dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married!”

[4] I do not doubt you my dearest… I doubt myself! Please, my dearest, doubt the lone woman, stay with me by my bedside to-night! I wanted to scream these words in my poor Goodman’s ear but he wouldn’t let me. He wouldn’t let me make a sound of my plea.

[5] “Then God bless you!” he forced me to say, “and may you find all well, when you come back.”

[6] It will not be well, and my dear Goodman will never really be back. Neither will I.

[7] “Amen!” cried my poor sweetheart. “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee.”

[8] I watched as my love pursued his way, until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he looked back, with a melancholy air hovering behind him.

[9] Then he was gone.

[10] “He’s chosen…” thought I as I walked back into the house, for my heart smote me.

[11] I closed the door behind me and headed towards the window in my dimly lit room.

[12] “The devil!” I screamed as I felt a serpent tail-like stick on my neck.

[13] I turned around and there he was, about fifty years old, with an indescribable air of one who knew the world. I saw his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent. This, of course, must have been an ocular deception, assisted by the uncertain light…

[14] “He has chosen, and so have you my sweet girl!” said he of the serpent.

[15] If my dear Goodman choose to walk with the Devil tonight, I will walk with him as well. I will sell my soul to the devil if it means being with my sweet love.

[16] Just seconds later, I felt trapped in my body. I felt like I was gazing through the eyes of a stranger’s withered body. “Oh how weird this feels” I thought. I was no longer in control as I watched the scenery change from the familiarity of my bedroom to the meeting house where I last saw my love, and finally to the wicked dark forest.

[17] “With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!”

[18] “Who was that?” thought I. “I know that voice. I know that is the voice of my dearest love. My sweet husband has changed his mind. What am I to do, there is no turning back now!”

[19] “Goodman, my sweet sweet Goodman, oh do please hear me! Come take me home with you my dear, so we can sleep in our own bed to-night, and forget about this nightmare!” I uttered with uncertain sorrow.

[20] But his voice was drowned out in the wind and before long I was before a sheet of flame; the smile of welcome gleamed darkly on every visage.

[21] The fiend-worshippers surrounded the flame chanting or screaming … but I couldn’t hear anything. I just looked for my dear Goodman, as hope came into my heart, I trembled.

[23] Then, a wretched man held me with his trembling hands.

[24] It was my dear Goodman. “Goodman, dear, oh how great it is to see you! Take me away from this nightmare, I beg of you” I kept screaming at him.

[25] His mouth seem to be saying my name, but I couldn’t hear anything.

[26] “Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!”  Resist the wicked one… resist the wicked one…

[27] I lifted my head up.

[28] Twisting and wriggling in a pink ribbon, I saw the great black snake.

 

Young Goodman Brown Versus The Pink Ribbon – A Comparative Essay

In Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the narration is third person limited omniscient. Hawthorne’s narrator follows around the thoughts and feelings of young Goodman Brown. This story is limited to the experience and the views of Goodman Brown. The readers of the story do not understand all the events that may have happened in the story because Goodman Brown does not understand the full events of his experience. Goodman does not know why his wife was at the devil’s gathering. Goodman does not know whether or not he dreamed the experiences of the night. Focusing the narration to Faith’s point of view through first person narration will allow the reader’s to piece together both sides of the story to better understand what happened the night at the forest. Although the original short story’s third person limited omniscient of Goodman Brown conveys vulnerability, mystery, and dominance, the retelling of the story uses first person narration of Faith to emphasize on vulnerability, submission, and love.

Young Goodman Brown showed a sort of dark romance with vulnerability of people whom Goodman thought were innocent and religious. The narrator describes Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin with kind words from Goodman’s point of view. This could be portrayed in the quote, “as he spoke, he pointed his staff at a female figure on the path, in whom Goodman Brown recognized a very pious and exemplary dame, who had taught him his catechism in youth and was still his moral and spiritual advisor” (Hawthorne, 1846:4). This could also be portrayed in “The young man sat for a few moments by the road-side, applauding himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet his minister, in his morning-walk, nor shrink from the eye of good old Deacon Gookin” (Hawthorne, 1846:5). Although the third person narrator is speaking here, readers can understand how Goodman thought of Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin by pointing out their role in Goodman’s life.

The retelling of Young Goodman Brown also portrayed vulnerability of people but specifically of Faith. This can be portrayed in paragraph 4, “I do not doubt you my dearest… I doubt myself! Please, my dearest, doubt the lone woman, stay with me by my bedside to-night!” This shows the vulnerability of Faith herself and how she doubts herself even though Goodman Brown still believed her as pure and innocent. She wanted Goodman to bring her back to the good side because she could not do it herself. This could also be shown in paragraph 16, “Just seconds later, I felt trapped in my body. I felt like I was gazing through the eyes of a stranger’s withered body.” The vulnerability of Faith to stand for what is right caused her to lose control of her body. She was only a passenger on the ride to the communion where she joined the devil. In the retelling of the story, Faith was a lot more vulnerable than Goodman was to walk with the devil. This shows that Faith was submissive whereas Goodman showed dominance.

In the short story of Young Goodman Brown, Goodman repetitively showed dominance to the devil. This can be seen even in the beginning of the story, “too far, too far!” (Hawthorne, 1846: 3). Just at the beginning of his walk, Goodman is already wanting to back out of it exclaiming that they have already reached too far and that his father and his father’s father have never went into the woods for such errands. It can also be seen in “my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil, when I thought she was going to Heaven! Is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith, and go after her?” (Hawthorne, 1846: 5). Goodman sees that his moral and spiritual advisor has chosen to be with the devil but he stands strong and makes up his mind to stay behind. Goodman makes up his mind to stand against the devil and shows dominance to his decision by standing strong.

Faith, on the other hand, was extremely submissive to the devil. The moment Goodman Brown walks into the forest and away from Faith, Faith followed the devil. In paragraph 14, “He has chosen, and so have you my sweet girl!” With just this quote, Faith lost control of her body and sold her soul to the devil. In paragraph 15, Faith shows submission, “If my dear Goodman choose to walk with the Devil tonight, I will walk with him as well. I will sell my soul to the devil if it means being with my sweet love.” Although Faith chose to follow the Devil it can be seen that she does this out of love. She does this because she wants to be with her love. Even towards the end of the retelling, it showed the ultimate submission to the devil because in paragraph 28, “Twisting and wriggling in a pink ribbon, I saw the great black snake.” Towards the end of the retelling, she followed Goodman’s advice to look up to heaven and resist the devil but she still followed the devil.

In Young Goodman Brown, it wasn’t exactly clear whether or not Faith and Goodman followed the devil. Mystery encompassed the entire short story since the beginning. This can be portrayed in “of all nights in the year, this one night I must tarry away from thee” (Hawthorne, 1946: 1). There is so much mystery in this quote because the readers do not know where he is going and why it must be this night. It could also be portrayed in the paragraph before, “”dearest heart,” whispered she, softly and rather sadly” (Hawthorne, 1846: 1). The reader’s do not know why Faith is sad, and why Faith does not want her new husband to leave to the errand this one night. Finally, readers do not know who the old man that is walking with Goodman in the forest is. This is also shown in the quote, “the elder person was as simply clad as the younger, and as simple in manner too, he had an indescribable air” and “his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought.” (Hawthorne, 1846: 2).

In the retelling of the story, in paragraph 4, “I do not doubt you my dearest… I doubt myself! Please, my dearest, doubt the lone woman, stay with me by my bedside to-night!” Again, this solves the mystery that Faith does not want Goodman to go to the forest because she knows that he is going to the devil and that she doubts herself to stay faithful to Christianity without him by her side. In paragraph 13, it says “I turned around and there he was, about fifty years old, with an indescribable air of one who knew the world. I saw his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent.” Through this sentence it is understood that the person talking to Faith is the same person that is walking with Goodman in the forest. In paragraph 12, when Faith exclaimed “The devil”, readers understand that it is the devil who is leading Goodman and Faith to the communion.

Although the both the short story of Young Goodman Brown and the retelling had a gothic and dark mysterious vibe to it, the retelling of the story in Faith’s perspective gave readers a lot of answers that they were searching for in the actual text. Young Goodman Brown, being told in third person limited omniscient only allowed a small peephole into the actual events of the story through the eyes of Goodman Brown. Because Goodman was confused with the events of the night, the readers were confused with the events of the night. The retelling of the story through Faith’s perspective is also limited to only her thoughts and feelings but because Faith is more aware of the story, the readers are also more aware of the events that happened. When readers read both versions of the story, they come to a better understanding of the characters of Goodman and of Faith. Readers understand their differences in handling the same situation as well as the outcome of the story, answering some of the vagueness at the end of Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Impertinence

impertinence

noun im·per·ti·nence \(ˌ)im-ˈpər-tə-nən(t)s, –ˈpərt-nən(t)s\
1
a. irrelevance, inappropriateness
b. incivility, insolence
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impertinence

Page 60 Paragraph 11/12 – “There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down. I get positively angry with the impertinence of it and the everlastingness,”

John’s wife is talking about how inappropriate and uncivil the bulbous eyes look to her and the absurdity of the situation of being in this room with the ugly yellow wallpaper

The Pink Ribbon

The Pink Ribbon – A retelling of Young Goodman Brown
Edited by Rena

[1] My sweet husband and I came forth at sunset, into the street of Salem village. After crossing the threshold, he turned around and kissed me with his soft supple lips. I felt the wind playing with the pink ribbon in my hair. I felt him pulling me towards the dark side but I refused. I cannot let this happen. I don’t want to go, not yet.

[2] I leaned towards his ear. “Dearest heart,” I whispered softly and afraid, “pr’ythee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she’s afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year!”

[3] “My love and my Faith” replied my dear husband, “of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs to be done ‘twixt now and sunrise. What, my sweet, pretty wife, dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married!”

[4] I do not doubt you my dearest… I doubt myself! Please, my dearest, doubt the lone woman, stay with me by my bedside to-night! I wanted to scream these words in my poor Goodman’s ear but he wouldn’t let me. He wouldn’t let me make a sound of my plea.

[5] “Then God bless you!” he forced me to say, “and may you find all well, when you come back.”

[6] It will not be well, and my dear Goodman will never really be back. Neither will I.

[7] “Amen!” cried my poor sweetheart. “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee.”

[8] I watched as my love pursued his way, until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he looked back, with a melancholy air hovering behind him.

[9] Then he was gone.

[10] “He’s chosen…” thought I as I walked back into the house, for my heart smote me.

[11] I closed the door behind me and headed towards the window in my dimly lit room.

[12] “The devil!” I screamed as I felt a serpent tail-like stick on my neck.

[13] I turned around and there he was, about fifty years old, with an indescribable air of one who knew the world. I saw his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent. This, of course, must have been an ocular deception, assisted by the uncertain light…

[14] “He has chosen, and so have you my sweet girl!” said he of the serpent.

[15] If my dear Goodman choose to walk with the Devil tonight, I will walk with him as well. I will sell my soul to the devil if it means being with my sweet love.

[16] Just seconds later, I felt trapped in my body. I felt like I was gazing through the eyes of a stranger’s withered body. “Oh how weird this feels” I thought. I was no longer in control as I watched the scenery change from the familiarity of my bedroom to the meeting house where I last saw my love, and finally to the wicked dark forest.

[17] “With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!”

[18] “Who was that?” thought I. “I know that voice. I know that is the voice of my dearest love. My sweet husband has changed his mind. What am I to do, there is no turning back now!”

[19] “Goodman, my sweet sweet Goodman, oh do please hear me! Come take me home with you my dear, so we can sleep in our own bed to-night, and forget about this nightmare!” I uttered with uncertain sorrow.

[20] But his voice was drowned out in the wind and before long I was before a sheet of flame; the smile of welcome gleamed darkly on every visage.

[21] The fiend-worshippers surrounded the flame chanting or screaming … but I couldn’t hear anything. I just looked for my dear Goodman, as hope came into my heart, I trembled.

[23] Then, a wretched man held me with his trembling hands.

[24] It was my dear Goodman. “Goodman, dear, oh how great it is to see you! Take me away from this nightmare, I beg of you” I kept screaming at him.

[25] His mouth seem to be saying my name, but I couldn’t hear anything.

[26] “Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!”  Resist the wicked one… resist the wicked one…

[27] I lifted my head up.

[28] Twisting and wriggling in a pink ribbon, I saw the great black snake.

The girl behind bars

I am eager to post a blog about the Yellow Wall-Paper story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This story overall was such an interesting and captivating read. I love how this one is in an unreliable narrative. It gives so much insight to the thought processes and confusions of a patient who may be delusional.

When she first talks about the figure she sees inside the wallpaper, I immediately related her illusions to her. She said, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out.” This is just like her situation, she is stuck inside the house because of her husband and all she wants to do is to get out of the house.

She also described the patterns on the wallpaper as bars. She feels like she is stuck there and can not escape. Her only escape is through writing in the diary that we are reading. When she tries to confide in her husband, he ignores her. “It is so hard to talk with John about my case, because he is so wise. ”

What I really want to bring attention to though is the passages at the very end. I feel like she eventually turned into the girl in the wallpaper. “I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper as I did.”

As I did? Did she feel like she was in the wallpaper and now she has finally escaped?

“It is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please”

She is creeping around like she describes the figures in the wallpapers does!

When John finally gets his way in, she says, “I’ve got out at last.”

It gets extremely spooky in the end when she says. “Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!”

He was no longer her loving husband, and she is now the figure in the wallpaper…

AMAZING READ!

Perverse

perverse

adjective per·verse \(ˌ)pər-ˈvərs, ˈpər-ˌ\

: wrong or different in a way that others feel is strange or offensive

1
a :  turned away from what is right or good :  corrupt

b :  improper, incorrect

2
a :  obstinate in opposing what is right, reasonable, or accepted :  wrongheaded

b :  arising from or indicative of stubbornness or obstinacy

 
 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perverse

“It was more than perversity, of course, or the unexpected confidence she had recently acquired, that made her insist; she had indeed noticed that Gregor needed a lot of room to crawl about in, whereas the furniture, as far as anyone could see, was of no use to him at all.”

 I guess it is trying to say that is is more than the stubbornness of the sister, it the new confidence that she acquired that made her insist on moving the furniture around.

Espy

espy

verb es·py \is-ˈpī\

: to see or notice (someone or something)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/espy
Young Goodman Brown by Jack Lynch
“At least, there were high dames well known to her, and wives of honored husbands, and widows, a great multitude, and ancient maidens, all of excellent repute, and fair young girls, who trembled lest their mothers should espy them.”

When young Goodman Brown lost his faith after seeing his Faith there, he continued after the light and the noise. He saw people who he would normally see at the council board. In this passage, it is trying to say that these young girls will tremble if their mothers notice them in this kind of gathering.

Young Goodman Brown and Metamorphosis – What stood out

Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne

[48] “Faith!” shouted Goodman Brown, in a voice of agony and desperation; and the echoes of the forest mocked him, crying – “Faith! Faith” as if bewildered wretches were seeking her, all through the wilderness.

[49] The cry of grief, rage, and terror, was yet piercing the night, when the unhappy husband held his breath for a response. There was a scream, drowned immediately in a louder murmur of voices, fading into far-off laughter, as the dark cloud swept away, leaving the clear and silent sky above Goodman Brown. But something fluttered lightly down through the air, and caught on the branch of a tree. The young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon.

[50] “My Faith is gone!” cried he, after one stupefied moment. “There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given.”

These three passages really stood out to me because it was like the epitome of the definition of allegory to me.

The Webster Dictionary defines allegory as:

the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence; also :  an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allegory

When he claims that he has lost his faith, it spoke to me as if he’s lost his faith in religion or faith in his beliefs. His name is Goodman Brown which is also symbolic that he is probably very faithful in his beliefs. When he realized he lost faith, the young man seized the pink ribbon. It was no longer Goodman.

I don’t think that Goodman Brown really underwent the activities that happened in the forest. It was all in the head of Goodman Brown where he eventually stopped believing and lost his faith.

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

“One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.”

This was the first paragraph of the story as well as the hook. Kafka started immediately with Gregor being transformed into a horrible vermin. It was so explicit that I had to stop myself at this first paragraph to just pull myself together because I vividly saw the brown belly and the armor-like back.

I have SO many questions based on just this one paragraph. Why was he turned into a vermin? Was it a dream? What happened?

This story just had me more and more confused as I read it. I kept trying to find clues that it was actually a metaphor for something else that may be happening in his life. Perhaps he is disabled and really can’t move around and work for the family. That is why the sister need to bring him food every day. Perhaps he just gave up in life and just laid around in his room LIKE a vermin, but not exactly a vermin. But the detailed description of his vermin-like behavior and characteristics made it very hard to continue with that belief.

Definitely an interesting read though!

Power Dynamic with Life

Choose (and include in your post) a passage or a few related passages that highlight some aspect of the power dynamics at play in the story. Who has power, who doesn’t, how do they interact, how to they negotiate their positions of powerfulness or lack of power?  Other factors to consider: how does narration style, point of view, setting, characterization or other elements of fiction play a role in the power dynamic you’re analyzing?  Much of what was raised in our online discussion touched on power, but in very different ways. If there is a different topic that you would like to address, either see how it intersects with this topic of power, or raise it in our discussion either on the site or in Wednesday’s class

The main character Emily has power, yet she can not help the things that happen in her life. This happens again and again in the story. In the beginning, Emily has the power to stop people from making her do something about her house smelling. This can be displayed with the Judge Stevens repeated failed to confront Emily about the house. Instead of talking to her like the neighbors suggested, he sent people to lime the house on her behalf. Later in the story, Emily has the power to refuse to pay tax (partly because of her father’s influence). She ‘vanquished them’ like she did for the smell.

Another example could be seen in this passage:

The druggist looked down at her. She looked back at him, erect, her face like a strained flag. “Why, of course,” the druggist said. “If that’s what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for.” Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up. The Negro delivery boy brought her the package; the druggist didn’t come back. When she opened the package at home there was written on the box, under the skull and bones: “For rats.”

Even though the druggist knew for a fact nothing required something as strong as arsenic, Emily had the power to make the druggist give it to her anyways.

The only thing she was powerless for was when her father died, and her lover left her. In order to prevent this powerless feeling, she preserved Homer Barron’s love by keeping him by her side forever.

Even more so, people are always whispering about Emily, gossiping about Emily, and talking about Emily. The narration of the story focuses on Emily in a way that tells us that everyone in town also focuses on Emily. This gives the readers a feeling that she was a powerful person, and that she was important. The main power dynamic was between Emily and life.

Ultimately, this was an amazing read! Love the twist and the though provoking writing!