The Crying of Lot 49

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon is a great example of the times. Released in the 1960’s, Pynchon dabbles in various stereotypes and customs that were seen during this turbulent era. By simply examining the characters you can see some of the stereotypes Pynchon wanted revealed in his writing.

First we examine the main character Oedipa Maas. Oedipa is first revealed to the reader as this humble and wonderful wife to her husband Mucho. Going to Tupperware and staying true to her husband were some of her highest morals… or at least we thought. Once Oedipa gets word of her inheritance and leaves town (and her husband), she becomes untamed and commits infidelity. She exemplifies a life style of free will autonomy that not very any women at this time could have even imagined.

Another characterization theme Pynchon used to show the time was the use of The Paranoids. This music group Oedipa meets at the hotel she stays at demonstrates how music was during this era and how important it was as well. While minor, they are used to show how popular music was to many in this generation.

The Crying of Lot 49 is a radical novel filled with many righteous and far out elements from the 1960’s (I hope I sounded like a hippie). The novel is filled with many satirical elements like Dr. Hilarious who happened to be a drug addicted man trying to kill his patients. Needles to say, this book has many things you will not see from other writers. Pynchon is unique and shows it as he writes this mystery based in the 1960’s.

"The Brooch" by William Faulkner

After reading “The Brooch” by William Faulkner, I reminisced in my mind about the literature we have read this semester and how it has adapted and changed through the course of time. We opened the semester reading Cotton Mather’s “The Christian Philosopher,” among others which explored deep issues like where “we” come from, and how the world was formed. At least for me, it was hard to even stay awake, let alone comprehend these nevertheless, great excerpts. However, now we have gotten into more scandalous, racy stories which grab my attention and draw me in to what happens next. Never was this the case before. Still I feel my change of heart towards the readings comes because of the change of time. Each week our stories kept getting more and more liberal. The freedom of writing was epitomized by the author’s scandalous plots and topics of political issues such as slavery. Faulkner’s “The Brooch” is no different as he constructs a dramatic and mysterious plot with scandalous references that would be thought of as coarse by today’s standards. Such graphic nature by males and sexual openness by females, Faulkner demonstrates how society has changed and become more accepting of such atypical topics out in the open. From a cheating wife, to female beating, Faulkner develops a plot which illustrates in my mind how the people have changed and become more liberal to such issues. Most significantly, I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next, rather than when was it going to end, like before.

"There Was a Queen"

"There Was a Queen" By William Faulkner

I relate Faulkner’s “There was a queen” to a lot of Gertrude Stein’s work as they are both confusing. Needless to say what is confusing about stein, Faulkner at times was just too elaborate and detailed in this story. I just constantly found myself lost in the story only because Faulkner uses so many characters. While this gets confusing, it is amazing how elaborate and complex he makes the plot in the end. Elnora is featured in much of the text but at the end it was like her character wasn’t even needed. This shows how elaborate his plot was and how the main story line truly laid within what we saw as the sub characters (i.e. the writer of the letters). However, Faulkner does use many names in his stories that can confuse the readers such as in paragraph two when many of the characters are being introduced and throughout the entire story when they are cited. While these helped to make the plot more real and complex, it added to my own personal confusion.

While the complexity of the plot was amazing, Faulkner’s use of imagery and describing the setting is phenomenal. He truly gives the reader a great sense of the setting. Whether it is describing the sent of the flowers that wafted from the garden, or how Elanora stood at the door as she crept towards Narcissa and Miss Jenny. This quality Faulkner exemplifies in this story truly draws the reader and helps give the reader a better understanding of the exact setting he wants you to feel or hear.

Composition as Explanation

In this excerpt from Composition as Explanation, Gertrude Stein explores how the arts separate the generations from what is classic and contemporary. At first her writing came off choppy and repetitive, however, more in-depth reading gave me better understanding to the point she was attempting to get across. Pointing out what makes a classic a classic; Stein develops several points that make the reader realize why contemporaries become classics.

After reading Stein’s analysis, it gave me better understanding to how composition works can portray the era that it was composed in. The idea of acceptance seems to be the major theme on when a contemporary piece becomes classic. Simply put, when the general public accepts the piece, it then becomes a classic. Stein describes this as a natural phenomenon. The accepted piece from each era becomes the classics and distinguished pieces of that generation. For example, The Da Vinci Code may be a classic of this era by Stein’s definition. Stein believed that composition is what separated generations. However in this era that we live in today is composition a good enough measure of what makes a generation significant? For instance, should we use the amount of censorship on television and in movies as the gauge of what separates our generation from others? I highly doubt Britney Spear’s antics would be tolerates in the 1960’s (Marylyn was thought of as scandalous and she is a saint compared to Spears). I feel that how much more liberal and open people have become in this era as portrayed through media is the main divide between earlier generations. While composition and literature is an accurate gauge for earlier times, today I feel that the role has shifted and composition can no longer be the judge of a generation.

The Passing of Grandison

In Chesnutt’s “The Passing of Grandison,” he uses irony to highlight the issues he discusses. The central idea focuses on how a slave master’s son, Dick, attempts to win his fiancé’s heart over. His fiancée was once amazed by a man who took a slave up north to free him. Thinking he could do the same and amaze his lover, Dick takes a slave named Grandison up north. Throughout the entire trip Dick gives Grandison countless opportunities to escape however he refuses to take them after being told he is free in the north. Finally, while in Canada Dick woke up and to his amazement saw that Grandison was gone. He returned home to his fiancé where he was seen as a hero for his kindhearted deed. However, some time after the two wed, an unexpected visitor arrived. It was Grandison. Ironically he never ran away but was kidnapped by abolitionists and beaten. He escaped the men to find his way back home to his master.

"The Passing of Grandison" is a literary piece that tells that is built on irony. It shows how white plantation owners felt about their slaves and thought that they were to dumb to even consider escaping. This story shows that the black slaves were not as dumb as the master's thought. When Grandison returned it was a symbol that slaves were a lot smarter than everyone thought they were. Chesnutt used the innocence of an un-knowing slave to highlight the ignorance of slave owners during this time as the slave inadvertently out-smarted his master.

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Underlying Themes

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is fun story filled with wit and portrayal of southern society during the Civil War era. While the book can be read by all ages, the themes Twain transpires are extremely complex. For instance the theme of education is portrayed as Huck refuses to go to school and object the morals he is being taught. Huck object to many of the morals for which his elders stand for, in particular slavery. Huck is constantly hounded by society for his choices to go against what they see as cultural norms and do what he feels is best. Eventually he develops a conscience of his own where is makes decisions based on how he feels rather than how society does. This becomes especially obvious when he sets off on the raft with Jim. This gave Huck complete freedom from society as he did not have to worry about social consequences of his actions. Huck could be whomever he pleased and befriend whomever.

Nothing conveys Huck’s liberal stance he developed than his relation with Jim, a black slave whom he became extremely close with. By the end of the story he even frees Jim; which went against southern mores at the time. Huck developed a liberal view on society free from school which taught him the complete opposite of what he felt he should believe. Overall, Twain sets out to show that the goal at the time was to teach children earlier on what to believe and think of people. However, Twain’s character in Huck Finn showed us that it was possible to change the cycle that was trying to be created in the south at the time. Twain was able to bring out a lighter side in both black and white races as the two bonded.

Beat! Beat! Drums!

I agree with Mark Nelly’s assertion concerning Whitman’s poem “Beat! Beat! Drums.” No where in Whitman’s poem is there a mention of slavery, emancipation, or anything relating to such topics. However, Whitman does use the metaphor of the drums to serve as unification among the people who hear the drums, which pretty much is everyone as Whitman covers a variety of different people. The drums sweep through the group of people mentioned consuming their consciousness and calling for unification among the people for the good of the war. The drums serve as an overwhelming concern which gets greater and greater consuming more and more people as time goes on. “Blow! Bugles! Blow!” this shows how Whitman wanted immediate action and attention to be heard and this concern of the war (the bugles and drums) to sweep throughout every citizen who wanted to stand up for their country. While the poem can be confusing when first read, you begin to see that these drums are an urgent call for people to unite and drop what they are doing. “No happiness must he have now with his bride…” This quotation from line five demonstrates perfectly how Whitman feels towards the war as everyone no matter what the cause (even marriage), needs to give the war attention.

I feel this poem is a reflection of Whitman’s concern for war attention. However Whitman may want such drastic and immediate attention because he feels the problem of slavery needs to be abolished as soon as possible. Nevertheless, I am forced to concur with Nelly due to no evidence even acknowledging the practice of slavery. The poem is a cry for unification and attention to the war.