One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Blog Response

           In the real world fog is something that clouds our vision and perception. However we know what lies outside the fog and how the fog is something separate from our mind. In Chief Bromden´s world this is not quite the situation. The Chief cannot discern between reality and “the fog” which in turn affects his state of mind.

 In times of stress like many people the chief loses control of his thoughts and feels a “fog” drift over him. One could say this fog could be a sedative of some sort but I believe it goes beyond this. We have to keep in mind the chief is mentally ill and is not a reliable narrator; the fog could symbolize something else in the ward. My first impression of the fog was negative as if it were a evil force that seeps through the minds of the chief poisoning his thoughts. But as I read on I came across a quote that changed my thoughts: “One of these days ill quit straining and let myself go completely, lose myself in the fog the way some of the other chronics have.” (37) Once I read this I understood the fog was not exclusive to Chief Bromden. The fog affects all of the patients and as I thought about it I came to the conclusion that it is a metaphor for their state of mind.

The Chief is considering giving in to his illness and completely lose touch with reality as it is the case with some of the chronics. As I continue reading I expect to see a lot more of the Chief´s personal battle with the “fog” and how characters like Nurse Ratchet and McMurphy will affect his struggle.

         

Waiting for Godot Film Analysis

            The opening scene of the film adaptation of Waiting for Godot struck an interesting chord with me. As with the book I was not expecting to be engaged in the story or remotely care about the plot. However my initial feelings of apathy gave way to genuine interest. There is a certain social stigma when it comes to movies that come from important works of literature, which basically amounts to: “the book is always better”. Despite of this I quite enjoyed the scenes I watched from Waiting for Godot. What first struck me was the setting. While reading the play I envisioned something different from the baron wasteland that was offered in the film. This got me thinking about a lot of the liberties and decisions that the director of this film had to make. Absurdist theatre is very vague when it comes to stage directions, which makes film adaptations tricky. However in this case all the right decisions were made to make the movie the best representation of Waiting for Godot.

Waiting For Godot Impressions

            Baffled would be an understatement to my state of mind immediately after finishing Waiting for Godot. This absurdist play certainly lives up to its genres name as it had me scratching my head and rereading passages several time through. My confusion, alas, was not in vain. Upon deeper examination I came to realize several of the symbolizing undertones in this play. For example the use of the word “Godot” suggests not a man but something higher like a god. With this new insight into the play I could understand what Samuel Beckett meant to convey: Aren’t we all waiting for something? To say I completely understood Waiting for Godot would be a blatant lie, however I can confidently say that even though my analytical skills were put to the test, I was able to understand the better part of this play. I look forward to reading other literary works that challenge my thinking and enable me to grow as a reader and writer.

The Stranger Blog Response #3

In today’s world reason seems to be the cause for almost everything, It sounds logical enough. Think about all the decisions you’ve ever made. They most likely had some sort of reasoning behind them, which is totally understandable. Society has shaped you to think this way. Why then do existentialists affirm that “Reason alone is an inadequate guide to living”? Mersault certainly does not rely on reason to tell him how to live his life. Through the whole novel we can see how Mersault lives in the moment and acts out of impulse rather than consider how his actions will impact the future. Afterwards we see how this doesn’t quite work out too well for Mersault. The important thing to understand Is Mersault is the extreme of existentialism, he is the exact thing existentialism shouldn’t be. In my opinion the most important aspect in life is balance. People should not be subject to an endless stream of dull decision making, while on the other hand living without any foresight can lead to a situation like Mersault´s

The Stranger Blog Response #2

As I finished reading The Stranger I wondered several things. My main thoughts were about Mersault and how someone could become like that. I kept on wondering about his execution and why Camu decided to exclude it from the novel. The absence of this critical part of the novel made we think what Mersualt would have thought about in his final moments. In the end of the novel we see how he comes to terms with his situation and embraces it: “all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should great me with howls of execration.” (76) This however doesn’t necessarily mean that he didn’t feel fear or dread for what was to come.  Death can be thought of as the ultimate test for an existentialist and as to the way Mersault faced it can only be speculated upon.

Existentialism in The Stranger

            The Stranger by Albert Camus gives us a personal insight into the mind of what most people would consider a true existentialist. We quickly learn that Meursalt our main character and narrator is an extremely subjective and indifferent as to what happens all around him. His emotionless reaction makes the reader questions the true nature of someone like Meursalt. Albert Camus immediately strikes an interesting tone by opening the novel with this sentence: “MOTHER died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure.” (1). The lack of grief displayed by Mersault suggests he is rather unfazed by this event, one that most people would consider a tragedy. Existentialism would have us believe that life and pretty much anything we do is pointless as in the end we are all going to die. To me it would seem as though Mersault agrees with this notion, not only demonstrated by his attitude towards the passing of his mother but also by his all around outlook on life. By this point it has been made clear that Mersault is quite different from most. This not only applies to his way of thinking but his habits as well. Take this quote for example: “now that I was by myself it was too large and id moved the dining table into my bedroom… the rest of the flat was never used, so I didn’t trouble to look after it.” (15) The depths of Meursalt´s existentialist persona is in a way reflected by his apartment. Everything about Meursalt does not suggest his concern for his future or basically anything for that matter. Meursalt is truly in every way a “stranger”  

Color Symbolism in the Great Gatsby

In the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald there is a lot of symbolism to be found. Fitzgerald’s main tool to represent the true intentions of his characters is the way he foreshadows their emotions with the use of colors. Colors have always been linked to human characteristics; red means passion while blue is associated with wisdom and stability. In the novel the color white represents innocence and purity or it can also be thought of as the illusion of those things as the characters that display these colors aren’t really innocent. Take this quote for example: “An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in.” (84) In this quote Gatsby is about to meet Daisy for the first time in five years, before doing so he puts on a white suit in order for daisy to see his honesty and purity. Even the name “Daisy” suggests that she is also pure but as we realize later in the book daisies are white on the outside but yellow (corrupted) on the inside. In the end of the book the symbolism becomes more apparent, and now that I reread passages of the Great Gatsby I can see how the colors are a great insight into the mind of every character.