The Passive, the Active

The two short stories “My Heart is Broken” and “Prue” obviously deal with female protagonists and the events surrounding them. Therefore, these stories can be interpreted through feminist literary analysis, which focuses on how women are represented in literature in relation to a patriarchal society. Despite their similarities, “My Heart is Broken” and “Prue” have some differences when viewed from a feminist perspective. While “My Heart is Broken” portrays a rather passive female protagonist, “Prue” illustrates a more active and stereotype-breaking protagonist.

One interesting point of comparison between these stories is looking at how patriarchal society is represented in each story. In “My Heart is Broken,” Mrs. Thompson mirrors the male-dominated society. Mrs. Thompson claims that Jeannie got raped because she “took a walk in the bush that way” and “had them all on the boil.” Her attitude resembles that of a patriarchal society, which blames the victim for rape. Moreover, Mrs. Thompson reinforces traditional feminine values, including cleaning up the home and being happy with a caring husband. Mrs. Thompson tells Jeannie that “you could have cleaned up your home a bit” and questions Jeannie for not being happy with “a good, sensible husband working for you.” Through Mrs. Thompson, the patriarchal society is manifest from the beginning to the end of the story. However, in “Prue,” the male-dominated society only appears in a single paragraph where Prue, the female protagonist, complains about her name. Prue, or Prudence, reflects the traditional value that a woman should be always prudent about her actions. The story is more centered on Prue as a person rather on the male-dominant society that Prue is subject to.

The two female protagonists respond differently to the stereotypes of a patriarchal society. Jeannie in “My Heart is Broken” occasionally defends herself from Mrs. Thompson’s accusations, but she does not claim that Mrs. Thompson’s views are totally wrong. For the most time, Jeannie remains passive towards Mrs. Thompson, although she voices her own opinion at the very end. On the other hand, Prue explicitly rejects the stereotypes of a male-dominated society. She does not complain about most things but readily complains about her name, a symbol of gender stereotype. Prue also calls her marriage a “cosmic disaster” and “regards sex as a wholesome, slightly silly indulgence.” She does not even seem to take gender stereotypes seriously. From the male-centered view, Prue is not prudent at all.

The two protagonists also differ in where they find satisfaction. Jeannie reveals that “If he’d liked me, I wouldn’t have minded,” which means that Jeannie would have been satisfied if the rapist had liked her. Her words are surprising from the traditional view, as shown from Mrs. Thompson’s attitude. Traditionally, raped women feel shameful at the fact that they are raped. However, Jeannie does not care about her virginity or shame, but focuses on the relationship between her and the rapist. But Jeannie’s view is still passive because her heart is “broken” by a man. Her very statement that her heart is broken, though not identical to the patriarchal view, proves that she depends on men’s love to be satisfied.

On the other hand, Prue finds satisfaction from her own actions. Prue’s independence from men is evident when Prue regards Gordon’s marriage proposal as “reasonable.” Gordon states that he has another lover but wants to marry Prue in a few years. If Gordon had said this to Jeannie, Jeannie would have been unsatisfied because Gordon does not love her. Prue’s attitude towards Gordon’s proposal shows that Prue’s satisfaction does not rely on Gordon’s love. Furthermore, Prue is satisfied from her own actions because she “steals” Gordon’s possessions. She is satisfied not because she is “struck” by Gordon’s memory from the stolen objects, but because she “takes” and then “forgets” his possessions. Prue obviously plays an active role; she acquires satisfaction for herself.

To conclude, the two protagonists are different because one is passive and the other is active. Jeannie, the passive protagonist, reacts to Mrs. Thompson in a passive manner and depends upon men for satisfaction. Contrary to Jeannie, Prue defies traditional stereotypes and constructs her own satisfaction. While Jeannie is “feminine,” Prue is “female.”

World Literature #1: The Student

After reading “The Student” in class, I noticed that this story was reputed as “the perfect short story.” I was shocked. Nothing notable happened in the story. A young man walked through an unfavorable weather, went to the widow’s garden, preached the story of Saint Peter’s denial, and realized something delightful. As a person who usually skims through the plot, I did not like this story much. I even doubted whether “The Student” is a short story. A story had to have some kind of conflict, which gives some “content.” However, this “perfect short story” lacked that conflict. There were some descriptions, but they were not conspicuous enough.

When I read “The Student” again, new things came into my mind. I read carefully to decipher the hidden messages between the seemingly useless descriptions. The idea that Ivan Velikopolsky could be an immature person interested me. I noticed that "Ivan," the name of the protagonist, appears in the whole story only once. The actual name of "the student" only appears when necessary— when the author introduces him. In other cases, the protagonist is addressed as "the student." I thought that the repetition of "the student" suggests the protagonist's immaturity. After all, a student is in the process of learning, so a student is immature compared to his teacher. This immaturity becomes clearer when the experienced woman Vasilisa is contrasted with the student. The author introduces Vasilisa as a woman with a lot of life experience just before the protagonist starts his story. The immature student preaching an experienced woman is ironic; this situation includes the element of humor that Chekhov claimed to be inside his stories. Investigating one characteristic of the protagonist through a careful reading was enjoyable.

I also thought about the overall mood of the story. Is the story pessimistic or optimistic? It might be pessimistic, considering the description of the setting. A cold wind blows “inappropriately” from the east, and the forest is “cheerless, remote, and lonely.” That negative situations “had existed, did exist, and would exist” reveals a pessimistic attitude towards life. On the other hand, this story could be interpreted as optimistic because of the hopeful tone near the end. After telling a biblical story to the two widows, the student receives an insight about the relationship between the past and the present. Then his life becomes joyful, happy, “enchanting, marvelous, and full of lofty meaning.”

Determining the mood of the story is complicated by the author’s detachment from the protagonist. The protagonists’ change of mood is obvious. He first thinks that life would not become better even though a lot of time passes. But he changes his mind, as his eyes turns from the west to the east, that life has some hope. However, the message of the story is formed by the combination of the protagonist and the author. Because the author’s attitude toward the protagonist is not revealed, I cannot conclusively say that this story is pessimistic or optimistic. Chekhov signals the protagonist’s musing with the phrase “the student thought” and “it seemed.” The revelation at the end is only the protagonist’s, not the author’s. The author may agree with the optimism, but believe that the student’s revelation is wrong. The author may also think in a pessimistic way. It is up to the readers to interpret this story in their own way and formulate their own impressions.

“The Student” is very real, but it is not real as well. The succinct sentences and direct expression makes the story seem like the epitome of reality. But the story leaves a large space for interpretation. This space is not completely blank because the author inserts some hints between the lines. However, this space contains infinitely many possibilities. Perhaps Chekhov wanted the readers to experience the irony of realism itself—transcendence within reality.

A Letter to My Blue Blanket

Dear Blanket,

You have been with me for more than ten years. I remember my mom buying you in the States; I was five years old then. You were blue, you were butterfly-ish, you were flowery, and you were a soft new blanket. I really loved your softness, which was slightly different from that of other blankets. You covered me both in summer and winter because I loved you so much. Then I brought you from the States and moved you inside the hectic and heterogeneous school, KMLA.

You have been my cheering and consoling companion in KMLA. The hectic tick-tocking of KMLA schedule, as it did to everyone else, often drained out my energy. When I listened to a lecture in my 1^st study period and spent the 2^nd study period for club activity and then returned to my room, you always gladly greeted me and covered me with your soft, blue body. I became a long, blue caterpillar after you covered me. Your butterfly patches softly hugged me as would a mother hug her daughter. You truly restored my energy whenever I felt exhausted. Without you, I would have felt very hard to continue my study in this busy school.

You have been my shell of self-regard during most of my KMLA years. I found out that KMLA is a very heterogeneous school, with many students having different characters and different abilities. I often felt a sense of inferiority by comparing myself to other students. Sometimes other students seemed perfect and I seemed to be very inferior. Whenever I was depressed by such feeling, you called me with your sweet voice and covered me with your soft fabric. You told me to not compare myself to totally different others and to focus on my abilities. Your flowery patches ensured me a flowery future; inside your soft touch, I was imagining me fully realizing my abilities.

Nowadays, I feel that I am growing. I feel uncomfortable when I am a blue caterpillar, when I am covered with your soft fabric. The caterpillar skin was once very comfortable and consoling, but I feel too big to be confined inside the blue caterpillar. I feel that I should become a cocoon instead of a caterpillar, and turn into a butterfly, just like your butterfly patch. I came to realize that the flowery future you provided was an imagination and that I should turn into a butterfly to make the flowery imagination a reality.

Thank you for being my consoling companion. Thank you for protecting me from my self-destroying sense of inferiority. Thank you for being my butterfly-patched mother. Thank you for providing me an image of a flowery future. But I know that I cannot remain a blue caterpillar forever. I must grow up. Maybe now is the time to say good-bye.

Good bye, my old friend, my butterfly, my blue blanket.

Sincerely,

Na Yeon Kim

The Nature of Deception Manifest in "Tales of the Unexpected"

As the title Tales of the Unexpected suggests, the short stories inside this book contain a variety of turning points. Sometimes the turning points provide a plausible explanation to a seemingly mysterious chain of events, as in “Taste” and “Skin.” In other stories, the turning points expose the hidden part of the individual, as in “Man from the South,” when it is revealed that the woman engaged in multiple bets. Among these turning points, those which provide an understandable explanation to mysterious, even bizarre events, effectively portray the human nature of deception: humans often deceive others because they do not want real risk.

In the story “Taste,” a connoisseur called Richard Pratt participates in a seemingly absurd bet. Based on his numerous experiences on tasting and evaluating food and drink, he strongly insists that he can figure out the name of the wine served at a dinner. He proposes a bizarre bet: if he exactly figures out the name of the wine, he would marry the daughter of the dinner host. The dinner host, Mike Schofield, says that this bet is absurd, but reluctantly participates in the bet. Although Pratt pretends to concentrate in figuring out its name, in the end of the story it is revealed that Pratt already saw the name of the wine. Moreover, in the story “Skin,” Drioli has a tattoo on his back drawn by a famous artist, Soutine. Because the tattoo is an early work of a well-known artist, many people wants to have it, and a man states that he would give Drioli immense wealth and pleasure if Drioli gives him the picture. However, the man was actually incapable of giving Drioli the promised gift. The two stories have similar endings which remarkably reveal the deception of characters.

Such deception enables the characters to participate in a safe bet, which ensures that they would get what they want. As a result, the characters have a strong motivation to engage in deception. This ending shows that humans deceive others for the sake of their safe, 100% sure advantage. Moreover, the placement of the “revelation” of deception reflects another characteristic of human deception. The revelation is always placed at the end of the story, which provides an unexpected turning point. Such placement could be done for the sake of providing a twist, but this very placement exactly reflects deception in real life. Every liar hopes that his deception would not be disclosed forever because the liar worries that he would be in trouble when his lie is exposed. Even though the deception is revealed, it is always revealed in the end. Therefore, the “unexpected” twist in the end of the story resembles the predictable pattern of disclosing a real-life deception, and further reveals the desire for safety behind deception.

When a person deceives others, he is hiding two things: the reality and the fact that he is lying. The characters of “Taste” and “Skin” lies, respectively, that he has an extraordinary ability to figure out the name of a wine and he can provide wealth and comfort in compensation of a skin tattoo. These characters conceal the reality, that he has no ability to magically figure out the name of any wine and that he has no ability to provide wealth and pleasure, to certainly gain what they desire. Moreover, they hide the fact that they lie, a behavior represented in the placement of the revelation of deception, because they want to be safe from the troubles associated with their lies being exposed. Therefore, through his deceptive characters, Roald Dahl shows that deception is a result of the desire for safety.

Form a "claim" about The Picture of Dorian Gray

At first glance, Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" might appear as a novel written to tell a moral lesson by showing the devastating result of unrestrained aestheticism. After all, when the readers consider the ending of the novel, they can easily recognize that Oscar Wilde thought Dorian's decadent deeds to be self-destroying. This claim becomes more persuasive when the readers consider the background of the novel. Many of Wilde's contemporaries thought that British society was experiencing moral decline, and they sought to restore morality of British society. However, Lord Henry, who is heavily responsible for corrupting Dorian, does not receive any punishment. Moreover, in the preface of the novel, Wilde states that "there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book." This statement clearly shows that "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was not written to serve a purely moral purpose. Instead, Wilde states in the preface that "books are well written, or badly written." Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that Wilde wrote this novel just to write a well written novel. In this sense, the moral lessons of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" are only tools for a beautiful novel.

[Movie Review] Ben X

Title: Ben X

Starring: Greg Timmermans, Laura Verlinden, Marijke Pinoy

Rating: 8.3/10





"Show, don’t just tell” is a well-known principle that is easier said than done. Ben X, a 2007 Belgian-Dutch film directed by Nic Balthazar, is an embodiment of this principle; this movie effectively “shows” things that could sound like clichés if they were directly explained. However, because this film does not “tell” much, it does not provide a conclusive answer to the questions it raises.

This film is about a boy called Ben (Greg Timmermans) who suffers from Asperger syndrome, a disorder similar to autism. Because of his abnormality, he is severely bullied in his school. However, in the online game ArchLord, he is well respected because his game level is very high. He always plays the game with a female online user called Scarlite.

This movie conveys Ben’s Asperger syndrome by using various devices. Hypersensitivity, one of the symptoms of Asperger syndrome, is portrayed when certain sounds, such as the sound of Ben’s mother pouring orange juice, are amplified and when the camera close-ups certain body parts, such as the eye or the mouth. Furthermore, his awkward language and gesture tells the audience that he has some kind of disorder. Although the movie briefly tells that Ben has Asperger syndrome, these “clues” of this syndrome clearly shows that he is not normal. If the movie just told that “Ben is an autistic boy,” this would have sounded like a complete cliché. This film avoids such cliché by ingeniously showing the symptoms of the syndrome.

Ben X also shows that Ben cannot distinguish reality and game by juxtaposing game scene and reality. For example, when he recalls the death cross, a weapon in ArchLord, while seeing a crucifix in reality, a weapon slot of ArchLord appears beside him remodeling a crucifix into a weapon. Furthermore, while he is bullied on the bench, he makes a parallel of his situation to a game scene. These juxtapositions effectively show that Ben blurs reality and game, a situation which could have been a cliché when directly stated.

Beside from effectively conveying Ben’s characteristics, this film deals with many issues, such as autism, computer game addiction and bullying. The word play in the title of the film, “Ben X” as “Ben niks,” which means “I am nothing,” also raises a serious question; if one does not tell anything to others, does that individual become “nobody?” This film raises many questions by dealing with many complex issues, but it does not provide a definite answer.

All in all, this film is thought-provoking. It uses clever, if not fresh, means to show that Ben suffers from Asperger syndrome and a blurring of game and reality. These devices make the audience capable of sympathizing with the main character, and this persuasive description about Ben leaves some space to think. Moreover, the film throws a lump of worthy questions.

Dorian, The Flower Bud

At the beginning of the novel, Dorian is portrayed as a beautiful individual. Basil inadvertently introduces Dorian to Lord Henry and praises Dorian for his charming beauty. As Basil puts it, Dorian "has a simple and a beautiful nature." This implies that Dorian is in the state of pure beauty because he is not influenced by anyone. After Basil explains Dorian's nature, he demands Lord Henry to neither spoil him nor influence him, saying that "your influence would be bad." Basil's words act as a foreboding; they suggest that Dorian will be influenced by Lord Henry and lose his pure beauty.

Once a purely beautiful individual, Dorian Gray undergoes serious change in his character. When Lord Henry tells his view of the world, Dorian is initially perplexed. He says that Henry's words bewilder him, but this bewilderment turns out to tackle his "secret chord that had never been touched before." After going through this critical stage, contrary to his initial perplexity, Dorian gets completely absorbed into Henry's words. He listens to Lord Henry's praise of youth with wondering, open eyes. Eventually, "the sense of his own beauty came on him like a revelation," and Henry's magical words, different from Basil Hallward's compliments, somewhat influence his nature. Quickly Dorian embodies Henry's view on the world when he talks about talking during music to Lady Henry; she comments that his view is "Harry's view." Not only having the same perspective, Dorian "does everything that you[Lord Henry] say," putting Henry's words into action. Although Dorian is sometimes bothered by Henry's views, he develops a strong passion for sensation and pleasure, which is fundamentally similar to that of Lord Henry.

The pleasure-chasing Dorian experiences his initial stage of moral decline when he treats Sibyl with extreme callousness. Dorian first falls in love with Sibyl because he thinks that she is a fascinating actor. His love towards her is rather pure; Dorian is so fascinated that he follows Sibyl wherever she is on stage and is ready to totally devote himself to her. However, despite his mad love towards Sibyl, he coldly treats her when he is disappointed at her low quality acting. When Sibyl says that she could not act well because she was in love with him, Dorian coldly says that he would not see her again because she disappointed him. His cold action is fundamentally different from his past pleasure-seeking actions, such as enjoying the pleasant smell of flowers, in that his pleasure requires the sacrifice of others. When Dorian treats Sibyl with such coldness, he does not treat her as a human being anymore; for Dorian, Sibyl is just a pleasure-giving actor, so if she cannot act well, she must be harshly treated. The devastating impact of Dorian's words is clearly shown when Sibyl commits suicide, which indicates that Dorian's pleasure-seeking activity resulted in an extreme form of sacrifice. Because Dorian's action of harshly treating Sibyl is different from previous actions, the portrait of Dorian starts to show his moral decline by changing cruelly, acting as "the visible emblem of conscience." Despite Dorian's temporary return to his pure love, Dorian becomes more susceptible to Henry's words after experiencing such moral decline.

Apparently, the change of Dorian is attributed to Lord Henry, who notices that Dorian changes and is happy to influence him. However, Lord Henry is not the complete culprit of changing Dorian. Henry thinks that Dorian's change is caused because "his nature had developed like a flower, had borne blossoms of scarlet flame." This suggests that although Lord Henry significantly influences Dorian, Dorian's change can be attributed to his initial nature. This claim is partially true because Dorian epitomizes pure beauty, which is in itself susceptible and powerful. His pure beauty is susceptible to outside influences because it is pure, and it is powerful because it is capable of enthralling others. Because Dorian already possessed such beauty, Lord Henry's words strongly triggered him to become passionate in search for pleasure. Dorian's pure nature contained immense amount of power, which could be used in a good way or the opposite. Henry's words provided the initial direction of change of Dorian's pure beauty. Because such initial direction was hedonistic, Dorian naturally transformed into a hedonistic figure; the changing process involved severe events because Dorian started with great power embedded in his beauty.

To extend Lord Henry's metaphor on Dorian's nature, Dorian started as a flower bud, extremely beautiful and pure. The bud had to open when influenced by an outside force. Unfortunately, the influence was Lord Henry, a pleasure-seeking upper class. The love for plain pleasure and beauty smeared into the bud and it bloomed. The resulting flower was hedonistic, very similar to Lord Henry, but far more devastating because the flower bud had so much power. Eventually, the flower miserably fell into the soil of decadence, loss of beauty, and death.