He's Desperate.

Something happened to me while I watching Krapp’s Last Tape, my computer had no volume. Waiting to see if came after all of sudden, I started watching the first part without audio. I knew that I would have to watch it again, to actually understand what they old man was saying or listening to still I saw it audio less first. It made no sense, I was confused and did not understand why this man was alone in a basement with a single table and was eating bananas. The only thing that stood out to me was his facial expressions and his movements. The way he clumsily walked holding onto the wall (part 1 3:28 and 2:12), his sweaty face, messy hair and sort of grimace expression with his frowned eyebrows gave me the impression he was desperate and confused. He goes out the basement to another room and brings back boxes with some tapes in them that he will later listen to and in one moment throws them on the ground. This was getting more confusing.

Audio decided to appear in my computer so I started the video again. And for the first minutes of the video I had the same impression of the man, except that this time the noises he makes show him in a state of greater desperation. He listens to his own recordings, the first one was when he was turning thirty-nine, thirty from where the old man is at present time, his sixty-ninth birthday. The same thought recurred in my mind, the anxiety of the old man. The audio, in this case his voice and recording don’t change the fact or the reaction the viewer gets when watching the character. I believe that he was in shock of the things he had said years before, still that doesn’t explain this old man’s behaviors. He started with the same grimed face and desperation even before he started listening to the tape.

There was something bothering him, and just as I was confused while watching he was confused during the video as well. Trying to look for the reason of this desperation he uses his tapes to find an answer that does not satisfy him because the play finishes and the man has the same face. Of course, this was intended to be seen with audio, to actually understand the story, but what I’m saying is that if we for same case ignore that, we get the same idea of the man. He is desperate, showing signs of mental problem as if he were crazy. And I am not sure why. My best guess is he is not pleased with the outcome of his life after 69 years.

I Expect.

In his introduction to Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh says that he became obsessed with that story since he was 15 or even younger. I can’t say that that also happened to me but ever since I read Romeo and Juliet in eight grades and then again in ninth grade I started to really like Shakespeare’s work. With Macbeth I liked them even more because of the way that story was explained to me.

Watching this introduction also made me think about the movies I saw about the other Shakespeare productions I have read, The Leonardo Di Caprio version of Romeo and Juliet and Orson Welles’s Macbeth. With Hamlet, I expect I better movie than the other ones, it’s not that I did not enjoy those ones but they were confusing and boring. What I look forward to with Hamlet is a movie that can really capture Shakespeare’s play unlike the other movies, one that can express the characters real emotions. But before we watch the movie I suppose we are going to read it and I expect a better story than the ones I have already read so that I can love Hamlet as Branagh does.

The Secretary Tale.

And now I will tell you guys my story
About how I almost got my glory.
It all begins with how I got my job
And that thank god I was hired by Bob.
I sit at my desk, high heeled with a skirt
As all men pass by they begin to flirt.
As Bob passes by I get hypnotized
And by the others very criticized.

My days are always boring and the same
Until Bob and I started a fun game.
On Monday we left the office real late
And the next morning we felt really great.
Last night we had fun he whispered to me
I knew I would become his wife to be.
Our game went on all day and all night long
One time Bob even stole my pink lace thong.
One night at his place and the other in mine
And every Wednesday we drank cold white wine.
People were talking and looked at me weird
That they would find out was what I most feared.
His wife came in one day tall and pretty
In her purse carried a fluffy kitty.
Passes beside my desk and gave me the face
Oh my god! I felt like such a disgrace.
In Bob’s office I only heard them scream
How I would wish it had been all a dream.
She came out and in my desk left the thong
I can’t believe that she knew all along.
I tried to call Bob, he told me to leave
How dumb could I be to be so naïve?
And actually think that he would pick me
All I wanted know was a cup of tea.

I guess it’s my fault and call me a slut
I’m left alone and in my heart a cut.
Wealthy guys are not so easy to find
Still I can’t seem to take one off my mind.
I know Bob loved me and yet chose his wife
Only because he was used to that life.
Next time I’ll be sure to pick him single
And around people that do not mingle.
And now friends I will finish the story
That left me alone and with no glory.
For a longtime I did nothing but cry
Left with my hopes up, it was all a lie.

As my tale ends my life stays the same
With the same job, without Bob all so lame.
Waiting for a man, answering the phone
And at the same time getting Bob a scone.

So Unpredictable.

That was an unexpected ending. Papa dies and the family that was following them comes and saves the boy. The least I imagined would happen was a somewhat happy ending. Reading 200 pages or so about death, bad guys and a “grey beach, cold, desolate, birdless”(215) I thought they both were going to die, never reaching south. My idea of a happy ending would have been that both of them will die together, after struggling so much to survive. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the ending so I decided to watch the movie to see if it was the same.

And another disappointment, the movie was so boring. I had enjoyed reading the novel, and reading the trek of Papa and the boy to reach south so I thought the movie was going to be more exciting. Watching the trailer you get that feeling, the music and images give you the feeling of suspense and thrill but it’s nothing like that. It’s slow, and dull. If I would have to choose one and I would say that book, so to you my reader if you doubt to either watch the movie or read the book, read the book. The movie takes so much away to McCarthy’s novel. Really, both are very similar they have the same important scenes that stand out in the novel. For example:

1. The coke scene.
2. The suicide of the mother.
3. The boat and the grey beach.
4. “carrying the fire” (283)
5. The dungeon with the almost dead people to eat.
6. When the dad gets hurt.

I do give some credit to the movie and how it represents the father as a struggling man that would do anything for his son. But the other scenes mentioned above lack emotion in the movie. Maybe it was hard to create the images described in the book but then I thought about the movie 2012 and they do make you feel emotion, still there is no book about that movie and there never will be so we are left with the doubt. With this, I think I learned a lesson and finally realized that books are almost always better than movies because the author unlike the director has no limits. I am not saying this based only on The Road. Having also read and watched the Twilight movies and Harry Potter I got the same impression. These others movies were not bad compared to The Road movie, I did liked them but still the books are better because as I said before the author has no limits. They could describe the vampire or wizard image however they wanted, without a perimeter.

Two things I want to point out: the ending was unpredictable and don’t waste your time watching the movie, read the book.

Reading With Different Eyes.

I have to agree with Sonya Chung when she says that she “admires people who reread book over and over again.” I’ve never done that and reading this made me think why I love and don’t mind repeating movies that I have seen but it has never occurred to me to reread a book that I liked. So I asked my mom if she ever rereads books that she likes and, no she does not. Because of this, I think people when they read, they do it in a more general way. What I mean is that they don’t read to get a message out of it or find its symbols. They read to distract themselves and to understand the global idea of it.

I remembered when I saw the movie Salt for the first time. I enjoyed it and thought it was a good movie, then my sister asked me to watch it with her again, so we went to the movies and when it was over I realized many things that I had not understood the first time I saw it. For example, the fact that agent Salt was infiltrated in the C.I.A from the beginning. I know that if I had not watched it again, I would still have that doubt. So if we understand better when we watch it for the second time maybe we all should reread books that we really enjoy.

The author of the blog states that “there’s knowing something, and then there’s knowing something. It’s like I’m a born-again rereader, experiencing anew how a first read can be as different from a second read or a third read as reading two completely different works. And yes: with great literature, the experience is deeper and richer with each successive reading.Of course, the works stays the same; it’s we who change.” I agree with her, and not only referring to books. When looking at a movie for example, or an article or a poem even more, the second time you read it you focus on different aspects, more specific details than the first time. Because when you read or watch for the first time you tend to try and understand the broad idea, leaving details behind.

She shares her own experience with Gatsby by writing on how she focused on Fitzgerald sentences, Daisys voice, “the eyes of Dr. T.J Eckleburg,” and the meaning of the yellow car. And I had my own experience with the movie. So we can conclude that rereading book is useful in getting a different approach of the novel, because each time you reread it, you read it with a different approach, it is as if you were reading with different eyes.

Father for Son.

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It's always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
if you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
(Son-- Away Away Away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone - no)
Son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them They know not me.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
(Father-- Stay Stay Stay, Why must you go and
make this decision alone?)

Cat Stevens

These father-son situations are not exactly the same. Still while I read I could not help but think about this song. The lyrics state a father son problem in which they argue because the father is trying to protect his son from the “out side” world telling him there is no rush into growing up. The son tries to tell him that he has to let go and that that is the only way that he will learn. The son feels that all his life has been about doing what his father wants, in fact most kids and even myself think that in one point of our life. What we don’t know or it takes us a long time to figure out is that they only do it for our benefit, our protection. In The Road this is also seen. Even though the child is small and does not argue with his father, we can see how throughout the novel Papa is always worrying about the boy and tries to protect him. “if they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand? Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? you know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard. Do you understand?” (113). The boy probably does not understand why his father would tell him to kill himself but he only does it for his protection, so that if something were to happen to him the boy would not be left alone. Both, the song and the book represent what parents always do, and if even if we as kids don’t agree with them we must think that it’s always for our benefit.

Light at the end of The Road.

So basically, this is a story about survival. The characters are travelling through the road because the world has been destroyed. When reading stories liked this, I see two possibilities either the author gives us some kind of clue that the characters will survive or he gives clues that they are going to die. With The Road I haven’t been able to make up my mind. The clues of death stand out more in the novel but then again “the boy stood wrapped in the blanket looking down at the road” (69). This may be the only sign of hope that they have although we can’t be sure if they will be saved when they reach south.

Still the boy asks “are we going to die” (10) permanently through the novel. The father tries to deny the possibility to the boy but still he knows that they have scarce food, bad weather, and the thought that his mother shot herself recurring through his mind. The chances of hope and survival seem dull up to this point. They are surrounded by deadly things, “coming back he found the bones and the skin piled together….A pool of guts” (69). Everything that happens to them brings them one step closer to death, they are faced with dangerous things, but still as they face this things they walk south through the road. And we are left with the doubt of what will happen to them because as they walk down the road they are faced with death. So there is always the possibility that they will survive.

Chaucer's Tales Couplets.

The Knight, the Miller, the Wife and the Pardoner. Four tales, and one word repeated over and over again: Life. Or, more accurately, lyf. The following were found in the corresponding tales, and capture the essence of the mood for each one:


The Knight's Tale -
"Allas, myn hertes quene, allas my wyfe,
myn hertes lady, endere of my lyfe" (2775-2776).
As you can see, this shows that the Knight's
tale is a dramatic and flowery story, full of love and
tragedy. Showing how fake the Knight is, and
how he wants to be viewed...noble, and chivalrous.
Because he is trying so hard, we can conclude
that he is the opposite of that.


The Miller -
" I am thy trewe, verray wedded wyf;
Go, deere spouse, and help to save oure lyf" (3609 - 3610).
In context, this excerpt shows the deceit of love,
and the blindness of the fools. It's vulgarness
describes the Miller's perverted sense of humor,
and his version of love.

The Wife -
"And be to yow a trewe, humble wyf,
And nevere yow displese in al my lyf" (1221-1222)
The wife, who had just been telling of her own
cruelty to her many husbands, tells a story of a
rapist marrying an old hag, who ends up becoming
beautiful, and pledging to dutifully serve her husband.
This shows us that the wife is a silly woman who
doesn't understand herself, or what she wants.


The Pardoner -
"Ne deeth, allas, ne wol nat han my lyf.
Thus walke I, lyk a restelees kaityf" (727-728).
This is the first tale that does not rhyme the words
lyf and wyf. This is most likely because the Pardoner
has been castrated, thus does not feel the pull of lust.

Unconditional Love.

I have only read the first fifty pages and I can say this is not like any book I have read before. The way the author tells the story makes it an easy read but still at the beginning the reader or maybe just me is a little lost. Until now, I know The Road is a story about the journey of a man and his son as they struggle to survive. Why they have to survive? How they got to the woods where they wake up when the story starts? I don’t know. What I do know is that this novel reveals how unconditional love for your own child exists.

People always say that the moment you see your child for the first time you fall in love him, there’s nothing that you will ever love as much as that, and your goal will be always to protect him no matter what. In the Road, papa and the boy are on a journey where they don’t have permanent shelter, warmth or food. It was a hard situation. The boy was little and had to be taken cared of. The dad had to do everything he could in order to save him, because “the boy was all that stood between him and death.” (29) Papa does not want to keep living that way but he does for his sons because he can’t leave him.

Another reason could be that he, the father felt guilty for the loss of the boy’s mother. “he did not take care of her and she dies alone somewhere in the dark” (32). He still loves his child but feels he has to protect him more so that he won’t lose him. I even risk to say that the father is not living for himself right know but for his son. Probably if they were not traveling together and he were alone the story would be different, he would take other roads.
I can’t say that I have experienced this unconditional love because I haven’t had a child, but up to this moment in the story there is a bond between father and son. On the verge of death and terrible conditions, he has to live to protect his child or will he be able to even consider the possibility of dying knowing that’s his son will have to continue the journey alone and unprotected?

"The Raven"

Symbolism is “something that represents something else, either by association or by resemblance. It can be a material object or a written sign used to represent something invisible.” (http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/symbolism/page.html)

In the poem The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe we see a clear example of symbolism. In this case the symbol is the raven. Before we know that, we know that the narrator remembers someone named Lenore.
“Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—”

Then we know one night the raven lands above his chamber door. From this we can infer that the raven symbolizes Lenore. We can’t be sure of why Lenore left, she may have just gone or she may be dead. Thinking about the color of the raven, black I think Lenore died, so the raven has come to tell the narrator that Lenore has left and will not come back.

"Greed is the root of all evil"

Reading the Pardoner’s Tale made me feel as if I was getting a lecture from my mom. Every time that she wants to tell me what I call a life lesson, she starts off with the point of it and then tells a story that relates to it. It would go something like this:

The main point of the lecture:

“Isabella cae primero un mentiroso que un cojo.”

Then she would say:

I did not raise you to lie, people that lie may get off easy at first but then they get caught, always. I will not accept it.

And then she would tell me the story:

One time, when I was about your age I told my mother that I was going to my best friend’s house. Instead of going there I told my driver to take me to Juan’s house, my boyfriend. Thinking that she would never find out I stayed there a while and then came back home. When she asked me how it went I told her we had seen a movie and then we ordered pizza. That night she sat me down and told me that she would give me one chance to tell her the truth. I was confused but still insisted that I had gone to Virginia’s house. She looked at me with disappointment and told me that her friend Maria had told her that she had seen our car parked outside of Juan’s house. So she would say then, even though my plan was perfect, in the end my mother found out because lies always go out in the open so it’s better not to lie in the first place.

I take in the lesson but then can help but think why she tells me that when she also lies.

The Pardoner’s Tale is similar. In this case the pardoner does the same thing as my mother and the pilgrims like me listen to the lecture and the story.

The main pint of the lecture:
“My theme is always the same, and ever was --
'Greed is the root of all evil.” (333)

Then the Pardoner says that he does not agree with three main things that people take a lit if time doing.

“In Flanders once was a company
Of young folk who practiced folly,
Such as debauchery, gambling, brothels, and taverns,
Where with harps, lutes, and guitars,
They dance and play at dice both day and night,
And also eat and drink beyond their capacity,
Through which they do the devil sacrifice
Within that devil's temple in cursed manner
By abominable excess.” (467-471).
“O gluttony, full of cursedness!
O first cause of our ruin!
O origin of our damnation,” (499-500)
He disagrees with drunkenness and gambling:
“ A lecherous thing is wine, and drunkenness
Is full of striving and of wretchedness.”(550
“ Now I will forbid you gambling.
Dicing is the true mother of lies,
And of deceit, and cursed perjuries,
Blasphemy of Christ, manslaughter, and waste also
Of possessions and of time; and furthermore,
It is a disgrace and contrary to honor
To be considered a common dice player.” (589-596)

And then he told the story.

The tale begins with three friends and how all of them carry out the practices that he just mentions he does not agree with. While they are drinking together someone tells them that a friend of them has just been killed by a mysterious person named Death. Annoyed and angry they set out to kill Death in revenge of their friend. While looking for Death they come across an old man that has been waiting for Death to kill him, the three friends ask him where they can find Death and the old man tells them that behind an oak tree. When they get there, Death is not there but instead they see gold coins that have no owner. They want to steal it but know they can’t do it during the day because they will be taken as thieves. And to make a long story short, once of them goes to town to get food and the others plan to kill him when he came back. He returns, they kill him and drink the wine he had brought but also die because the other one had put poison in the wine so that he would end up with all the money.

We learn a lesson through this tale and in fact “greed is the root of all evil”. As we see here, three friends plan evil things against each other because they want all of it, be it whatever for themselves. What I can’t seem to understand is why the pardoner and also my mother told me this story, with this lesson when they don’t even follow it. My mom lies and the pardoner accepts that “for my intention is only to make a profit, and not at all for correction of sin” (403-404). So even though we know greed is not a correct thing we always do it because it is easier to say to someone not to do it rather than not doing it yourself. Maybe we should all do as the pardoner and give the lesson just accepting that we don’t live by it.

What Women Want.

After reading the “Wife of Bath”, the only thing that comes to my mind is power. We have always heard how women throughout history are underestimated and considered less than men. The battle of power has always existed and we feel like we have to prove that we are equal. A simple example comes to mind. This summer I went to Cape Town and as you all should know or if you don’t I’ll tell you that over there you drive on the right side. My father was bored one day and did not want to leave the hotel but my mother and me wanted to go out. He told us it was best if we did not go because the driving was difficult, but still my mother busted out “do you think I am stupid? I am perfectly capable of driving on the right”. So we left the hotel and before driving two blocks we had crashed against the sidewalk. No one told my mom that she was not capable, still she had to go and prove that she could do it. The easy solution of the problem would be not to get married so we don’t have to fight the battle of power constantly. Then again why do we do it? What are we women looking for? Why did the wife of bath look for another husband when she left the first one, and then another after that one and another of that one? The answer is simple, we are looking for happiness but still that is really hard to get.

That is just a simple guess but King Arthur’s wife also wanted to know “what thing is that women most desire?” (905). So the story of “The Wife of Bath” begins, as a rapist is given the chance to answer the queens doubt in return of his life. He asks many women and always gets different answers. Some say money is all they care about, others sex and looks and some just want to be free. Not one of these women helps until he finds an old hideous woman that tells him she has the answers but will only give it to him if he does whatever she wants when he is saved. According to the old lady and the answer that the queen was hoping to get, is that “women desire to have sovereignty as well over her husband and her love, and to be in mastery above him”(1038-1040). The knight gets to keep his life and in return the old lady asks him to marry her. Surprised and disgusted the knight tells her she can have anything she wants but that. They get married and the old lady tells him he can have her ugly and loyal or young, beautiful and flirty. He lets her choosing because that answer of his gave her what she most desired, power. She then transforms into a beautiful woman and is always obedient to her husband.

More than the search for happiness or the power over ones husband,women look for
security and consideration. Why do you think the old lady became beautiful, because her husband let her choose. And why do you think the only husband that the wife really loved was the one that was with her at her others husband’s funeral. It does not matter to how many men you are married, or if you have more power in your relationship at the end what matters is if you are considered. It’s like a circle that begins with the search for happiness, then becomes the battle of power, and ends before it starts again, with whether they consider you or not.

Vocabulary.

7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.




1. folly
2. surplice
3.beguile
4.remnant
5.woebegone
6.cloistered
7.wan

(The Miller's Tale)

The Knight’s Tale and The Miller’s Tale are two different stories. One is far more elegant than the other, much more romantic and exaggerated. The other one is funny and grotesque. Even though they are different and tell different love stories the character of the woman is important in both. Emelye in the case of the Knight’s Tale “That Emelye, who was fairer to be seen than is the lily upon its green stalk, and fresher than the May with new flowers” (1036 -1037). And Alisoun, “fair was this young wife, and moreover as any weasel was her body graceful and slender.”(3233-3234) two aspects of love are described in these tales but the fact that the woman is puffed up in both is something to take into account. Having read the Wife of Bath already makes me think that Chaucer gives importance to the female character making her either the problem or the protagonist of the story, it may be a way of saying that love or a relationship depends more on women than it does on men, even though men like to believe that they have complete authority.