Night – the breaking point of our sanity, the inevitable transformation from day to day, enveloping dusk, creating dawn – leaving the hopeless citizens of Sighet to question their values, their moral instincts, as God’s everlasting grace, no longer remains an essential building block of Jewish culture. As the Nazi’s continue to progress, working their way through Jewish communities, capturing, destroying, and exiling innocent victims as they go, author Elie Wiesel of the novel Night, paints pictures in the mind of the reader with beautiful imagery and crafted diction; in order to give a better understanding of the emotional journey the Jew’s encountered, when taken into the authoritative arms of the Germans.
Covering up their inhumane intentions, the German’s masked their sins with false accounts of sincerity. Wiesel brings attention particularly to an instance regarding a woman’s encounter with a German soldier on the home front. After moving in with the woman and her family, Wiesel states that he had heard, “he was a charming man, calm, likeable, and polite” (10). Three days after moving in, the soldier had purchased a box of chocolates for the Jewish woman, presenting himself as a respectable human being, without evil ever taking capacity in his twisted mind. Only days later, “two ghettos were created in Sighet” (11). The Jew’s took this as a grain of salt. Maybe this was for the better? After all they were still all together weren’t they? It wasn’t until the Germans took severe action, placing Jew’s in cattle cars as if they were the animals themselves, taking them to an unknown place where they all were to face their final solution – death. Throughout this section of the novel, regarding the departure from their homes and their arrival at Auschwitz, Wiesel’s simple, yet powerful diction helps to illustrate the reactions of the people and their surroundings. Their greeting was not from those who worked there, but rather “the smell of burning flesh” (28). The burning, the killing, the mass murder of their own kind, represents the descent to savagery the Nazi party must have endured in order to find pleasure in such inhumane anguish.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
What does it mean to be an adult?
Growing up, innocence overtakes youthful minds, creating dreamlike versions of reality. Everything is perfect and nothing could possibly go wrong, for the toughest decision that had to be made was who would be today’s playmate at recess, or what color crayon would successfully complete the latest masterpiece. This innocence however, slowly begins to fade, as magic no longer remains the center of creation. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Remarque proposes the question as to what was the cause of this loss of youthfulness. What could have possibly transformed easygoing children into savages on their road to adulthood? Remarque’s character development makes it clear that the reactions to traumatic experiences and possible hardships along the way remain the main factor that truly separates the boys from the men.
Paul, a boy nearing the end of his teenage years, takes his love for his country to the battlefield, risking his life as he chooses to do so. “[He] [is] twenty years old; yet [he] [knows] nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow.” (263) Upon enlisting in the war, Paul never thought that a lack of food, painful wounds, and death of not only the enemy, but comrades as well, would come along with it. He drives himself nearly to insanity as he soon becomes comfortable with the sins that he is committing. While on the front he experiences his first true killing stating, “This is the first time I have killed with my hands, whom I can see close at hand, whose death is my doing.” (221) Granted, “Life is short;” (139) however, when it comes to an end, which would a soldier rather have flash before his eyes? His great memories? Or rather the murders and wrong actions that he has achieved? These experiences and the process of acceptance afterwards is what illustrates the level of maturity necessary in order to successfully complete the transformation from childhood to adulthood, a transformation that Paul and the rest of the men in his unit, have greatly failed.
Paul, a boy nearing the end of his teenage years, takes his love for his country to the battlefield, risking his life as he chooses to do so. “[He] [is] twenty years old; yet [he] [knows] nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow.” (263) Upon enlisting in the war, Paul never thought that a lack of food, painful wounds, and death of not only the enemy, but comrades as well, would come along with it. He drives himself nearly to insanity as he soon becomes comfortable with the sins that he is committing. While on the front he experiences his first true killing stating, “This is the first time I have killed with my hands, whom I can see close at hand, whose death is my doing.” (221) Granted, “Life is short;” (139) however, when it comes to an end, which would a soldier rather have flash before his eyes? His great memories? Or rather the murders and wrong actions that he has achieved? These experiences and the process of acceptance afterwards is what illustrates the level of maturity necessary in order to successfully complete the transformation from childhood to adulthood, a transformation that Paul and the rest of the men in his unit, have greatly failed.
Monday, March 12, 2012
O Earth - Response to page 55
Author’s Note: After reading chapter 4 in Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, I was particularly inspired by the last three paragraphs on page 55. Remarque’s diction and beautiful imagery help to create a heavenly sanctuary for the soldiers, when in reality it is quite the opposite. The beauty of war; however, was not the main point that I took out of the reading. The fact that as life nearly flashes before one’s eyes, as life’s end draws near on the battle field; one must take a moment to realize the blessings that life brings along with it and take notice of even the smallest of details. That was my inspiration because that is what holds the truth. The breathtaking imagery on this page also inspired me to include a mimic line and I hope I may do Remarque even the smallest bit of justice.
Gun shots firing, gas masks flying, soldiers throwing themselves upon the barren ground; I run for cover. Desperately seeking even the smallest bit of shelter, a grave, a hole, a body, to protect me from the savages that maneuver the fields before me; to protect me from the savages who run frantically, killing everything in sight, only in hopes to save themselves. This is not how war should be! Soldiers should be ones to help, to save, to heal. Not ones to simply slaughter all of mankind!
I find refuge in a rundown home, for now a safe haven from the evilness that progresses about me and soon find that I, myself am not the only one. A British soldier stares blankly back at me, slowly raising his gun – his only protection – from the dirt floor, and aims as I reach to do the same. He is no match for me: smaller, shorter, and much weaker. He is clearly not a product of German boot camp. I prepare for fire as I feel a shot from behind. Tumbling down, I turn to see yet another British soldier breathing in the smoke from his own gun. O Earth, thou receives back one of your own powerless men after short-lived life. Embrace me in your loving arms and catch me as I fall back into you. Wrap me in your warm caress and find in me new life. Forgive me for all my sins, for I know that I have failed you.
“O Earth, thou grandest us the great resisting surge of new-won life.” (55)
Gun shots firing, gas masks flying, soldiers throwing themselves upon the barren ground; I run for cover. Desperately seeking even the smallest bit of shelter, a grave, a hole, a body, to protect me from the savages that maneuver the fields before me; to protect me from the savages who run frantically, killing everything in sight, only in hopes to save themselves. This is not how war should be! Soldiers should be ones to help, to save, to heal. Not ones to simply slaughter all of mankind!
I find refuge in a rundown home, for now a safe haven from the evilness that progresses about me and soon find that I, myself am not the only one. A British soldier stares blankly back at me, slowly raising his gun – his only protection – from the dirt floor, and aims as I reach to do the same. He is no match for me: smaller, shorter, and much weaker. He is clearly not a product of German boot camp. I prepare for fire as I feel a shot from behind. Tumbling down, I turn to see yet another British soldier breathing in the smoke from his own gun. O Earth, thou receives back one of your own powerless men after short-lived life. Embrace me in your loving arms and catch me as I fall back into you. Wrap me in your warm caress and find in me new life. Forgive me for all my sins, for I know that I have failed you.
“O Earth, thou grandest us the great resisting surge of new-won life.” (55)
Friday, March 9, 2012
Living in the Unknown
Author's Note: I wrote this piece from the perspective of a soldier from the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The boys came into the war not expecting it to turn out the way that it did. They believe that now that they are off at war, they are superior to all those around them, when in reality they are just 18 year old boys, who rid themselves of their innocence and thrust themselves into experience with the constant death, and gruesomeness that surrounds them. The power thirsty men that they take shelter with, help them to create images of a peaceful meadow to take away from their brutal surroundings; each of these occurrences inspiring my response from chapters 1-3.
Along to war I take, a gun, my dignity,
The life I chose to make
A greenhorn on the battle field
My imagination remains my most powerful shield
Creating perfect pictures of the life I wish to live,
Swaying grasses, clear blue skies,
A gift that nature continues to give
Yesterday at home - loved, and sheltered,
I left, leaving my innocence behind
Opening new doors,
New opportunities,
Opening new eyes
Men whom I have grown to hate,
Power thirsty savages determining their own fate
Sickness spreading, diseases unknown
Please dear lord, let me go back home.
Along to war I take, a gun, my dignity,
The life I chose to make
A greenhorn on the battle field
My imagination remains my most powerful shield
Creating perfect pictures of the life I wish to live,
Swaying grasses, clear blue skies,
A gift that nature continues to give
Yesterday at home - loved, and sheltered,
I left, leaving my innocence behind
Opening new doors,
New opportunities,
Opening new eyes
Men whom I have grown to hate,
Power thirsty savages determining their own fate
Sickness spreading, diseases unknown
Please dear lord, let me go back home.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Duality's Displacement
Author's Note: After doing 3 creative type pieces I decided that for my last response on Jekyll and Hyde, I would go back to more of a literary analysis/fact based response, just to switch things up. After finishing up reading I knew that the dependency on the drug had to be symbolic of a certain defense mechanism so I looked back in my notes to try and figure out what it could possibly represent. Because Jekyll/Hyde tried to avoid dealing with problems as themselves they "displaced" their emotions from reality to the drug that brought them their escapism, giving me my inspiration for my final writing response.
Displacement is the redirecting of thoughts, feelings, and impulses, directed at one person or object, but taken out upon another innocent victim. In the short story Jekyll and Hyde, each character, trapped in their own extremes, represent the evils that lie beneath a pure human heart and the harmful side effects of taking out these feelings and evil mindsets with a potentially fatal decision.
Henry Jekyll – a well to do doctor – found his escape from reality at the bottom of a red vile, giving him the ability to act out against society and react to the evilness that lay within him. Jekyll proposes the question as to whether or not we are born wholly good, or if savage instincts exist within us, only to be brought out in extremities. Edward Hyde was a man that cannot easily be described, “There [was] something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable.” If Hyde was looked so far down upon, feared, and thought to be the face of evil, why would a man such as Henry Jekyll, who seemed to be living a life of luxury, want to transform himself into the animalistic representation of humanity? Scientific studies, as conducted by scientists such as Sir Francis Galton have been created to try and explain the duality that takes place due to our nurture, and our instincts; however, it has not yet been proven as to why humans result to the projection of their feelings onto others; “displacing” the feelings of their initial anger or dissatisfaction with themselves.
Teens going through depression, or those who put themselves under large amounts of stress, turn to self harm, acting out onto others, or potentially suicide. Countless lives have been lost due to the underlying side effects of their displacement, adding Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde to the list as well. By relying on a drug to be rid of the hardships that they were forced to face, the moment it could not provide the pleasure they hoped to achieve, life could not be gone about in the same manner, bringing both of their lives to an end.
By placing personal struggles onto another victim, the doors are open for error and possible death. Dealing with hardships in a displeasing manner has the ability to turn fatal, causing more and more lives to be lost because of it. Jekyll and Hyde were unable to cope with their unsettled emotions – their extreme ways of life – forcing them to continually descend into the gallows of unhappiness and displeasure.
Displacement is the redirecting of thoughts, feelings, and impulses, directed at one person or object, but taken out upon another innocent victim. In the short story Jekyll and Hyde, each character, trapped in their own extremes, represent the evils that lie beneath a pure human heart and the harmful side effects of taking out these feelings and evil mindsets with a potentially fatal decision.
Henry Jekyll – a well to do doctor – found his escape from reality at the bottom of a red vile, giving him the ability to act out against society and react to the evilness that lay within him. Jekyll proposes the question as to whether or not we are born wholly good, or if savage instincts exist within us, only to be brought out in extremities. Edward Hyde was a man that cannot easily be described, “There [was] something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable.” If Hyde was looked so far down upon, feared, and thought to be the face of evil, why would a man such as Henry Jekyll, who seemed to be living a life of luxury, want to transform himself into the animalistic representation of humanity? Scientific studies, as conducted by scientists such as Sir Francis Galton have been created to try and explain the duality that takes place due to our nurture, and our instincts; however, it has not yet been proven as to why humans result to the projection of their feelings onto others; “displacing” the feelings of their initial anger or dissatisfaction with themselves.
Teens going through depression, or those who put themselves under large amounts of stress, turn to self harm, acting out onto others, or potentially suicide. Countless lives have been lost due to the underlying side effects of their displacement, adding Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde to the list as well. By relying on a drug to be rid of the hardships that they were forced to face, the moment it could not provide the pleasure they hoped to achieve, life could not be gone about in the same manner, bringing both of their lives to an end.
By placing personal struggles onto another victim, the doors are open for error and possible death. Dealing with hardships in a displeasing manner has the ability to turn fatal, causing more and more lives to be lost because of it. Jekyll and Hyde were unable to cope with their unsettled emotions – their extreme ways of life – forcing them to continually descend into the gallows of unhappiness and displeasure.
Curiosity
Author's Note: As Jekyll and Hyde came to a close, my hypothesis was proven right from the beginning; they are in fact the same people, living as one, doing as another, demonstrating the evilness that lies within. Jekyll created a potion that gave him the capabilities to transform himself into a beast whom he could turn to in order to portray his beast-like qualities. What could have possibly possessed him to perform such evil tasks? And what would make him think to create such a potion in the first place? His intial curiosity that must have taken place in order to drive him to savagery was what inspired me to write this piece. Although I didn't base my poem off of a particular quote, the downfall of Henry Jekyll could be seen throughout various chapters and my goal in this piece was to use "show-not-tell" to illustrate this.
Curiosity
Uncertainty ringing from ear to ear,
Echoing throughout my mind,
No worries, no fear
Ruminating the consequences,
The odious task at hand
Each memory lasting,
Like footprints in the sand
Not knowing where I’m going,
Not knowing what happens next
My consecutive wonder overtaking me,
Forcing me towards unbearable tasks
Trying new things,
Experimenting with objects renewed
Mixing
Combining
An ominous brew
Taking over my body
My spirit
My mind,
A controlling addiction, I can no longer hide
Finding pleasure in the harm that it makes,
Perfecting my insecurities, each little mistake
Altering my appearance, my hair, my eyes
Becoming a new being, the perfect disguise
The more I take, the more I need
A want, a desire, I can no longer feed
The effect slowly fading, the high I can no longer reach
Slowly, recklessly I fall to my feet
The life being drained, suctioned from my being
A light - - a flash - - my emotions now fleeing.
Curiosity
Uncertainty ringing from ear to ear,
Echoing throughout my mind,
No worries, no fear
Ruminating the consequences,
The odious task at hand
Each memory lasting,
Like footprints in the sand
Not knowing where I’m going,
Not knowing what happens next
My consecutive wonder overtaking me,
Forcing me towards unbearable tasks
Trying new things,
Experimenting with objects renewed
Mixing
Combining
An ominous brew
Taking over my body
My spirit
My mind,
A controlling addiction, I can no longer hide
Finding pleasure in the harm that it makes,
Perfecting my insecurities, each little mistake
Altering my appearance, my hair, my eyes
Becoming a new being, the perfect disguise
The more I take, the more I need
A want, a desire, I can no longer feed
The effect slowly fading, the high I can no longer reach
Slowly, recklessly I fall to my feet
The life being drained, suctioned from my being
A light - - a flash - - my emotions now fleeing.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Door
Author's Note: Throughout the reading, doors have been a reoccuring motif in the lives of Mr. Utterson, Doctor Jekyll, and all of the people that they seem to encounter. The doors and keys that are continually brought up, I feel have the capability to dictate the confinement of their souls and their incapability to free themselves and their ways of thinking. Whether Jekyll and Hyde be the same person or not, each project the opposite of eachothers personalities, which the other may wish to portray, but is unable to do because they keep it trapped behind "doors" or the social baracades that keep them from doing so. My goal in this piece was to write a rhyming poem in the closed format because I felt that this would be the best way to get my point across. The author of this story continually uses dangling modifiers so in recognition of that, I included them as well.
The door
Open are its arms, its cold embrace
Welcoming the passersby, a smile on its face
Contrived by man, stringent in its making
Endless opportunities, not mine for the taking
One door opens, another door shuts
Forming a ruthful evilness, returning in my gut
Dreaming as one, doing as another
A mask of my uncertainty, a mind protecting cover
The door, the door,
To keep one out, or let one in?
Guarding my evils, guarding my sins
Confining my spirit, unleashing my soul
Forcing myself slowly to be free and let go
Filtering my thoughts, my emotions, my mind
A dual personality, no more; I’m alive
Reaching for the key, to unlock my soul
Breaking free from the door, I am able to let go.
The door
Open are its arms, its cold embrace
Welcoming the passersby, a smile on its face
Contrived by man, stringent in its making
Endless opportunities, not mine for the taking
One door opens, another door shuts
Forming a ruthful evilness, returning in my gut
Dreaming as one, doing as another
A mask of my uncertainty, a mind protecting cover
The door, the door,
To keep one out, or let one in?
Guarding my evils, guarding my sins
Confining my spirit, unleashing my soul
Forcing myself slowly to be free and let go
Filtering my thoughts, my emotions, my mind
A dual personality, no more; I’m alive
Reaching for the key, to unlock my soul
Breaking free from the door, I am able to let go.
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