". . . providing it is a cheerful lie."

I'm sure I wasn't alone in noticing similarities between Song of Solomon and Wide Sargasso Sea , not just in the characters but also the themes. I think perhaps the most obvious parallel is between Pilate and Christophine. They both seem to have supernatural powers, and even give another character a love potion. But besides that, they also fulfill similar roles in the books. Both act as a sort of mother figure to the main character, in the place of the main character's weaker biological mother. They also are at odds with the male figure trying to 'take away' the main character, whether Macon or Rochester. I especially found this interesting since we briefly discussed in class the potential racism of putting Christophine in a caretaker role. There are of course differences between the two characters. Pilate just has more autonomy, probably because she lives in a predominantly black environment that white people rarely intrude on (versus Christophine being constant...

The love potion-drug that Antoinette gives to Rochester symbolizes the larger incompatibility of West Indies and colonialist British cultures. First, Antoinette tries to use obeah magic on Rochester, a British man. This attempted crossover between the two cultures ultimately fails. Rochester even describes it as "poison". This failure happens because they are fundamentally incompatible: Rochester is the colonist, and the obeah magic comes from those who were colonized. As Christophine puts it, "it's too strong for beke". This failure also occurs, though, because Antoinette does not belong to either culture. As Christophine says to Rochester, Antoinette is "not beke like you, but . . . beke, and not like us either". Thus, when she tries to use obeah magic, she fails, because she is not truly Jamaican; when she tries to connect to Rochester, she fails, because she is not truly English. Additionally, Antoinette and Rochester's main relationship is...

. . . the presiding judge told me in bizarre language that I was to have my head cut off in a public square in the name of the French people. This line really struck for a multitude of reasons. The tone was brutal and old-fashioned, reminding me of the French Revolution. It made me wonder if it was meant to critique misplaced patriotism, or maybe the power of a mob. But a mob is not the driving force of this scene. The judge announcing this verdict is. Maybe this line is instead a criticism of the justice system. Meursault's usual flat, impersonal tone seems to convey more in this scene: for once, there is an iceberg. He is shocked, but there is also a sardonic nature in his words. The 'bizzare language' in particular suggests a larger criticism of the artificiality, the inaccessibility of the justice system. Meursault has been pretty bewildered throughout his trial. Previous scenes have shown a sort of brutality in the court's manner towards various witnesses - ...

Gregor's father displays lots of ambiguous behavior throughout the book, especially as compared to traditional gender roles. On one hand he seems very aggressive, driving Gregor back into his room as his mother stumbles away, "to the accompaniment of much stamping of the feet" (77). Later on, Gregor describes his father as considering "only the severest measures appropriate to dealing with him" ever since "the very first day of his new life" (93). That makes Gregor's father seem very harsh and in charge. However, Gregor's father also displays lots of behavior that is not considered 'manly'. When he first sees Gregor's insect form, he does "[clench] his fist in a menacing expression, as if he meant to beat Gregor back into his own room", but that reaction is immediately followed by intense weeping (74). He is also described throughout as rather fat and lazy. His breakfast goes on for hours; he does not work at first, leav...

I know a lot of people hate - and I mean  hate  - Lady Brett Ashley. And I can understand why. She seems to have little regard for other people's feelings. She uses Jake for her own personal gain. She's irresponsible and careless. But I think this is a very superficial way to look at her character. Overall, the level of scrutiny leveled at Brett seems unfair to me. Since she is the main female character, she is especially exposed to hard judgement. But this is a book where all of the characters are, in one way or another, terrible people. Jake, Bill, and Mike all display sexist, homophobic, racist, and anti-semitic behavior. (Brett, comparatively, does not.) Cohn's main crime is being tone deaf, but he also displays some nasty sexism throughout the book. But we do not and indeed should not immediately accuse these male characters of being one-dimensional villains. They obviously all have depth. Yet there appears to be a strong sentiment that Brett is nothing more th...

While reading Mrs. Dalloway I found myself wondering about Septimus Smith's agency. Distinguishing how much of a person's life is determined by their environment versus their personal choices can be difficult, but I thought it'd be an interesting question to explore - especially in the context of Mrs. Dalloway , since one of its major themes is how one's surroundings - particularly society's expectations - can drastically affect someone's life. We can see a lot of Septimus's character from the descriptions of him pre-war. He pursues his passions. He writes poetry and reads Shakespeare. He's rather sensitive, and keenly attuned to his surroundings. So why does he fight in the war? Certainly one reason is that he must; society needs him to fight. But perhaps he also wanted to prove himself - we know he was quite proud that he felt nothing after Evans' death. In that case, is it a display of agency, that he pursued his own goal, or is it yet anothe...

The question of whether someone is a kind person is a difficult one to answer, especially when it's about a real person. Similarly, Clarissa from Mrs. Dalloway  is not a clear-cut case, which speaks to the realistic characters Woolf has created. Certainly she can behave or think in nasty ways. While we have not yet finished the book, there are a number of moments when she seems unkind. For example, during the motorcar scene, she thinks condescendingly of the "British middle classes", thinking about the ridiculousness of their clothes and their unrefined manner. She blames the buses, and, in a way, the lower classes, for blocking the Queen (Woolf 17). This may be interpreted as classism, although I wouldn't be so hasty in labeling her as a classist, since this is, after all, early twentieth-century England, and the context is very different from our world today. Clarissa also appears to be frequently subject to jealousy. In the space of a couple hours, we see h...