The Past and its Impact

Song of Solomon is an incredibly complex book because of how the past is intertwined with the future. It’s intriguing to see how the family history plays a role in everyone’s life in this book. One of the themes that seems to be prevalent throughout the book is that you can’t ignore the past, no matter how much you might want to. The past drives the future in ways that nobody can predict, and the best way to be at peace with the past is to embrace it, and learn to accept it. One of the manifestations early in the book is the first time Pilate tells the story of Macon Sr.’s death compared to the first time Macon Jr. tells the story. When Pilate discusses the events after her father’s death, she talks about the fact that she and Macon saw their father’s ghost. When Macon reminisces about his childhood later on, he omits any details of his father’s ghost while telling a similar story to Pilate’s. This contrast shows that Pilate is better at accepting and understanding the past than Macon is. It seems like Macon is hiding from his childhood, remembering only the things he wants to as an effort to distance himself from a painful time in his life. Pilate seems to have accepted what happened to her dad, and it doesn’t affect her attitude. Macon is portrayed to be a much more compassionate and caring person by the people in Danville, Pennsylvania, when Milkman visits. Macon sees his father killed by material possessions and it drives him to care only about what killed his father. Macon only sees the shortcomings of his father that led to his death, and seems to be trying to avoid them by leading a materialistic life where he aggressively pursues money and power. Pilate is in many ways a clear opposite from Macon, but the past still had an effect on her. While she has accepted the way Macon Sr. was killed, she doesn’t become detached or cold like Macon does. Instead of relentlessly pursuing and protecting her material possessions, she develops a reputation for protecting her daughter Reba and granddaughter Hagar, destroying everyone who hurts them. She is still affected by Macon’s death, but it drives her closer to her loved ones whereas Macon is driven farther from emotion for people and towards a materialistic life driven at escaping the perceived shortcomings of his father.

Milkman’s transformation in this book is very heavily based on his family history. From the beginning, he has everything handed to him and as a result isn’t concerned with the past. When Macon Jr. and Ruth tell him their sides of the story in relation to Ruth’s father, Milkman ignores them, because he really doesn’t care. Guitar sees Milkman’s upbringing as too easy and luxurious for him to be mature enough to take something seriously. However, once he sets out to find the gold and has to be on his own for an extended period of time, it changes something inside of him. The new sense of independence and being on his own helps him find a purpose larger than himself. In this case, his pursuit of his family history and who they were inspires him to become a more selfless person. In many ways, the second part of the book is a coming of age story, despite the fact that Milkman is clearly in his 30s by the time this event occurs. By the time he has completed his trip and returned to Michigan, Milkman has come to the realization that it is important to understand his ancestors. After beginning to understand his ancestry, he also views his parents in a new light. Milkman understands that each of them have also been scarred by tough events in the past, and as a result he is able to judge them in a much more objective light and at least begin to see their perspective in a way he couldn’t hope to do in part 1. Milkman’s understanding of the past makes him a more selfless person and drives him to take into account other people’s history before judging them, showing that everyone is a product of their own life experiences and environment, no matter how much they try to avoid them. Much like Macon Sr, ghosts from the past can’t be escaped. Instead, as Milkman realizes, it is critical to understand the past to gain a better understanding of the present and the people who live around you.

Antoinette and Madness

        One of the themes that is really prevalent throughout Wide Sargasso Sea is the question of craziness and what it means for someone to be crazy. Antoinette’s mother, and later Antoinette herself face the question of whether they are crazy or if the environment around them has driven them into acting the way they do. The question of what makes a person crazy and why they act in certain ways is still a mystery, and has a great impact on the way the world works today. James Holmes, the shooter during the Dark Knight Rises shooting in Colorado was almost placed on a mental illness hold, but because the case was borderline, the doctors let him free thinking that confining him would only make it worse. This example, and many others show just how complicated this topic is, and how delicate the situation can be. Nature versus nurture has always been a topic that creates controversy, and in this case we can see quite clearly that while Rochester seems to think that it is natural for Antoinette to be crazy because her mother was the same way, Christophine seems to think that Annette and Antoinette acted mad because they were driven to madness by the way they were treated.

         If we look at Antoinette’s actions from an outsider’s perspective, there are countless examples where one could draw the conclusion that she is a little bit insane. Her spiking Rochester’s drink seems like a desperate and insane thing to do, well meaning, but also hopelessly out of touch with the real situation. At the end of the book she is obviously going mad, and other characters who don’t know her story would see just a woman who seems out of place and doesn’t fit in with society. It’s telling that the others describe Antoinette as fierce among other things, which seems to be so far off from the Antoinette that narrates the first section. Fierce is the last thing I think of to characterize Antoinette. Yet, despite the way the others in England react to her, since we are given her whole story, it makes more sense to feel sympathy for her. I lean towards Christophine’s side in the debate between nature and nurture, because it seems that Antoinette is driven mad by her neglectful husband and years in the attic rather than that she is inherently mad to begin with. Since we know her story, we can see what Antoinette has been through, and for her to be taken away from everything she is familiar with, including Christophine, who is so critical to her childhood, is huge. Additionally, she not only has been taken away from familiar surroundings, she is placed in the care of servants and never sees the man who brought her to England, and doesn’t even have a window in her room. I definitely think that overall Rochester is presented as a villain and that his actions drove Antoinette to madness more than Antoinette was destined for madness.

Meusault and Compliance

            The Stranger is a very strange book because it forces us to confront situations that are unfamiliar and strange. Meursault is a character that shatters all possible expectations, he seems like he lives a relatively normal life on the surface yet he is completely devoid of any emotion and is brutally honest about everything and everyone. He truly doesn’t seem to care what other people think of him, even when he feels self-conscious during the funeral for not looking at his mother’s body, that doesn’t stop him from sticking with his decision. Despite him seeing that Marie is visibly upset by him not claiming to love her. he doesn’t choose to change his answer when she asks again later on. In particular, he doesn’t seem to be governed by any morals or even governmental laws since he doesn’t fear the consequences.. It is really interesting to look at this in the context of the situation. As we have talked about a little bit, Camus novel was written in the context of a Vichy government installed by the Germans to run France. In this context, it seems like Camus might be trying to criticize people who complied with the Germans after they took over, whether explicitly or implicitly.

             Meursault complies with Raymond’s clearly immoral deeds, but he never seems to be truly a part of the situation, at least until he kills the man. Throughout the first part of the book, he is slowly drawn deeper into Raymond’s scheme, eventually turning from an innocent bystander into a murderer. However, despite everything that makes it seem as such, by the narration in the book we can tell that Meursault did not commit premeditated murder, and that instead, the murder just happened. Meursault takes full responsibility for his actions and yet infuriatingly refuses to acknowledge his reasons. What makes the situation even more striking is that Meursault is the only witness and in a racist court system, a simple lie about the man rushing at him with a knife would’ve have sufficed to ensure his freedom. Meursault’s complete disregard for his, and others’ existence until the end when he is faced with death is striking as Camus is asking some real questions about the meaning of life.

            Meursault’s compliance with Raymond can be compared in some ways to French citizens who complied with the Nazis during World War II. There are undertones of fear in Meursault’s relationship with Raymond, as there does seem to be a sense that Meursault would find it difficult to say no to Raymond. The French citizens during WWII were faced with the same dilemma, since speaking out and fighting the Nazis could very easily result in death but complying with them seems immoral in that you are complying with a force of evil. War impacted Camus from early in life, as his father died in World War I, and Camus himself was deemed physically unfit to serve in the army. However, Camus was deeply involved in the French Resistance and throughout the Stranger, there is a feeling that Camus is warning against going with the crowd, whether it is how the court treats Meursault or how Meursault acts in relation to Raymond. Camus questions the meaning of life throughout the book and it seems like one thing that he found meaning in is to do what’s right, because if you go with the crowd, your life is insignificant, whereas if you resist, at least you have given yourself meaning in some small way.

Gregor's Sense of Purpose

Gregor is a very interesting character due to the fact that the Metamorphosis has a unique premise. Given the fact that he is a bug and the dynamic that he can understand what the humans in the story say without being able to acknowledge it in any way makes for a really tragic experience on Gregor’s part in many ways. He witnesses that his family doesn’t miss him as a person or even miss his income that much. While they are forced to get jobs, they even become transformed and seem stronger and more independent as the story progresses. His father becomes bolder and stronger and emerges as a leader, culminating in him authoritatively removing the lodgers from their house. His sister goes from being a naive girl who takes care of Gregor to one with a job and the one who first speaks up about the fact that Gregor seems to be holding her back. At the end of the book, she is shown to have gone from being a young girl to a mature young lady, and she is ready to find a husband. These transformations suggest that even before Gregor turned into a bug, he was holding the rest of the family back. Gregor thinks he is important to the family because of his ability to earn money for them and provide them with a leisurely lifestyle, but in reality he is not only being exploited but also preventing the others in his family from reaching their potential

Gregor’s sense of responsibility and purpose seems to get shredded throughout the story. His father repeatedly drives him back into the room at the end of part 1 and again at the end of part 2, asserting his authority over Gregor as the leader of the family. Not only does his father get stronger and more authoritative, but even his sister who he like and was saving money for becomes stronger and self sufficient to some degree. Gregor doesn’t even have the satisfaction of knowing that without his work the family was struggling, instead they seem to be thriving in terms of mental and physical health, even if they have some extra work to do. Ultimately, his family seems to be better off than the start of the book after Gregor’s death, which shows that Gregor was not only being held hostage and exploited by his family, but that his family didn’t even necessarily need the support he provided.

Jake and Brett

   The ending of the Sun Also Rises is very ambiguous and interesting because it can be read in so many different ways, as we have discussed in class. When I first read the ending, I saw it as Jake being cynical and questioning Brett’s sentiment that they would have had a nice relationship if Jake hadn’t been injured. When Jake says “isn’t it pretty to think so”, I read it as Jake stating that in reality, their relationship would be completely different without Jake’s injury, and he might just be another one of Brett’s lovers like Mike and Cohn. I thought this because throughout the book Jake seems to realize that his injury is a defining characteristic of their relationship, and that the trust and friendship between him and Brett is reliant at least partially on the fact that they can’t have a sexual relationship. The dynamic between Jake and Brett that exists in the place of the novel could not exist in a world without Jake’s injury. Jake realizes this throughout the book which culminates in him ultimately admitting to himself and Brett that even if he wasn’t injured, their relationship may not have worked out.

   In the beginning of the book, we see Jake struggling to accept the relationship he has with Brett. He asks her if they can live together, and he cries at night because he can’t sleep due to him thinking about their relationship. Especially while they’re in Paris, Jake seems filled with regret and self-pity. However, when the story moves to Spain, Jake’s attitude slowly starts to change as well. Seeing how Brett treats Cohn and Mike makes him wonder if he would’ve been any different, just another sexual partner for Brett that doesn’t mean anything to her. Throughout this section, Jake defends Mike and to some extent Cohn as well, seeing as the way Brett treats them would cause him to act the same way if he was in their position.

   Brett starts to recognize that she is causing them to feel jealous, but she still blames Cohn and Mike for their bad behavior. Also, when she wants to go meet Romero, she understands that it is probably not in either of their best interests to get into a relationship and yet she goes ahead with it anyway all the while telling Jake that she knows how bad it is that she’s doing it. It seems that even though Brett can see what her actions do to the men around her, she chooses not to alter her actions to fit their expectations.

Contrasting Hemingway and Woolf

          The Sun Also Rises is written in an almost completely different style and method than Mrs. Dalloway. It is interesting to see how authors that were contemporaries and are dealing with similar issues about how the Great War affected people can characterize and represent their characters in such distinct styles.
          Hemingway is focused almost solely on the outside world and how Jake interacts with others. Despite Jake being the narrator of the book, he seldom if ever tells us what he is really thinking, I instead only narrating what is going on or what is said. Because of this, we have many ambiguities about Jake’s feeling towards the other characters in the book. Some things he says suggest that he is fine with them and gets along with them fine, but there are lines in between and descriptions that make the picture a little murkier. His description of Cohn that opens the book is almost scathing in his dismissal of Cohn’s accomplishments, it seems like he is trying to dispel any notions of Cohn being an extraordinary person despite him having written books and been boxing champion at Princeton. Similarly, he talks negatively about Brett to Cohn, even though this seems more to dissuade Cohn from trying to go talk to her and build a relationship. Brett in some ways seems to use Jake since she knows that he is always going to be there. She skips her meeting with Jake because she is hanging around with the Count, later claiming she was too drunk to remember, but there seems to be a sense of Brett taking Jake’s love for granted to a certain extent. Jake rarely ever thinks to himself, even when he is alone there is a sense of him giving a description of everything that is going on without making any effort to explain what his feelings are about the situation. Yet, despite Jake never delving into his feelings, his actions give us clues that let us infer how he is feeling. As we talked about in class, it seems like his anger at the gay men hanging around with Brett stems from his war wound and what it entails for his personal life. We can see how his feelings and emotions are affected by the things that occur and are explicitly narrated to us.
          In contrast, Clarissa in Mrs. Dalloway is represented in a completely different light. She is always thinking, especially when she is alone, and she is pondering deep questions that wouldn’t be expected of anyone in her place in society. It seems like we are given a deeper insight into her brain, yet her relationships with Richard, Peter, and Sally are in many ways just as ambiguous. She constantly thinks about them but she wavers back and forth, almost arguing with herself as to how to think of them, and we get the sense she isn’t totally at peace with decisions that she made so many years ago. Woolf also doesn’t explicitly tell us what Clarissa is feeling in a certain situation but since we are given a window into her mind, we can infer by what she is thinking about and contrast it with what she says. One example of this is the first time she meets Peter in person where they are both attempting to be cordial and yet mocking each other in their heads. However, they also can’t stop thinking/caring about the other has to say. This complex relationship is developed through the ideas in the characters’ brains which are narrated to us. This is in contrast with the specific scene with Jake and Cohn talking about Brett where the tensions in the scene quickly come out instead of staying veiled like in Clarissa’s meeting with Peter. In this way, we can see how Clarissa’s feelings and emotions are indirectly stated through her thoughts.
          We can see that unlike Hemingway, Woolf is primarily concerned with the inside of a character. Jake can be said to represent male soldiers who in some way lost their identity of masculinity in the war. In some ways, Hemingway’s book seems to be about defending his generation, saying its’ still very much vibrant and alive despite the tragedy Jake and others suffered during the war. Meanwhile, Woolf is concerned primarily with making her characters not conform to any symbolic status or societal expectations. Clarissa constantly grapples with questions that she doesn’t need to concern herself with according to society norms, and as a result, she is given her own identity separate from the many other women in her position. Jake’s wound separates him from others in his generation, but unlike in Mrs. Dalloway, he seems to represent a larger group of soldiers who were harmed by the war.

War in Mrs. Dalloway

               War is portrayed in a strange way in Mrs. Dalloway. While five years have passed since the official endpoint of the war, the shadows of the war still loom over London and this is especially evident through the scenes in Mrs. Dalloway. The most obvious implication of the war is how it changed Septimus, but this is far from the only time it is mentioned. Despite the actual portrayal of Septimus being at war lasts one paragraph which mostly depicts his relationship with Evans, its’ clear that in the aftermath of the war, it affects everyone in different ways. From the very beginning of the book, Clarissa thinks about all of those she knows who had lost family and friends in the war, and we are introduced to Septimus quite early as well. When we first meet Septimus, he seemed to be a character who was mentioned just to represent the many veterans who had returned from the war but still had not managed to integrate themselves back into their daily lives.

                Clarissa seems to think about the war in the past tense. While she acknowledges the loss that it created, she also seems willing to dismiss it as something that happened in the past and not something that continues to impact their daily lives. I think Septimus as a character shows that London as a whole is still impacted every day, and despite the high society families like the Dalloways who were relatively unaffected by the war, there is still an undercurrent of people recovering from the greatest conflict in human history to that point.  Even Mrs. Kilman’s identity is partially defined by the war. Her German ancestry leads her to get fired from her original teaching job and maybe contributes to why she is poor and envious of Clarissa.
                 It is interesting to note that Virginia Woolf committed suicide in 1941. That time period was filled with warfare, including the Blitz which involved German planes bombing London and other British cities for the better part of 3 years as part of WWII. While this is obviously not the only reason she decided to take her own life, I think that the war may have affected her in much the same way it affected her characters. I think we can see Virginia Woolf critiquing the idealism that many went to war for by giving us the example of Septimus. He went to war to save Shakespeare’s England and came back scarred mentally. Instead of a returning hero, he is simply a crazy citizen, and according to many in that time such as Holmes, even cowardly. One message the book seems to give is that being patriotic doesn’t necessarily mean going to war for your country, and Woolf seems to constantly criticize the notion of young men going to war for the ideals of the nation by representing the realities of what war does to different people.