Recommended Reading; "The Cask of Amontillado"

The fiction we have read this quarter has all been interesting in its own way, my favorite however and the one I would recommended to friends is "The Cask of Amontillado". The short story, written by Edgar Allen Poe, has a very dark and sinister plot underneath the cheery mask of the carnival. We follow Montressor through the catacombs as he narrators his story of murdering his friend. Montressor is an unreliable narrator in this story since everything is told in first person by  him, and he is the one committing the crime as well. We start to wonder whether or not the whole story is true, whether or not he really had a motive to kill Fortunato, or which bits and pieces are true if the whole story is not. It brings mystery and intrigue to the reading of the story and complexity of the plot.  

Throughout the story Poe uses dramatic irony to increase the mystery of Montressor's intensions and bring humor with the murder. For example, as they are heading down to the catacombs, Montressor opens up a bottle of "De Grave" wine and presents it to Fortunato to drink, foreshadowing his death. Along with the dramatic irony are the ironic names of the characters. Montressor sounds almost like monster and in the story he truly is monster like. Fortunato sounds like fortune which is ironic because he does not know what fortune awaits him down in the catacombs. Overall, the humorous irony and mysterious narrating make "The Cask of Amontillado" an appealing story to read and recommend. 

Bartleby is I prefer not to say

There is a lot one can learn by looking at someone's Facebook page; their interests, favorite music, favorite pastimes, who their friends are and so much more, that is, if they provide any of that information. Bartleby's Facebook would fall under the category of those profile's lacking in description and creativity. His profile picture would be taken from behind showing him standing and facing a solid brick wall that towers above him. Right off the bat this would show others his hesitancy to face reality and his awkward social skills.  His wall would be barren except for a few comments from his overly compassionate boss who does not understand him in the slightest. He would not have a lot of friends, mostly just those he worked with at his previous job at the post office and his colleagues at the law office. On his information page, one of his interests would be starring and another would be the mystery of walls since throughout the story he is constantly facing walls with a blank stare on his face. His about me section would simply say "I prefer not to" and his favorite quote would be the same. Overall, one would not get a lot of information by simply surfing Bartleby's Facebook page, you would have to delve deeper into the meaning of everything he has on the page and piece together the different pieces to figure him out. His page is mysterious and lacking description just as he is as a character. 

The Cask of Amontillado

"You, who so well know the nature of my soul..." Poe begins this short story trying to instill the readers' trust in the narrator. Surely if you know the nature of ones soul after such a short time into the story the narrator can be trusted. Why though does the narrator feel he needs the trust of the audience here, now? Why not gain it as the story progresses and the audience becomes more familiar with him? From these skepticism's one might gather that the narrator has something to hide, something that if he doesn't gain the readers trust now he will never have it. He continues that same sentence saying that the reader, knowing his soul so well, will not believe that he "gave utterance of a threat". Now it is clear why attempting to gain that trust was necessary, the narrator is about to reveal his other side, the threatening, revenging side, the narrator cannot be trusted.

The narrator takes us through the plotting and carrying out of the murder of his own friend, Fortunato. As he is plotting he remains friendly and smiling, wheels turning on the inside, hungry for revenge. The narrator is able to lure Fortunato down into his Catacombs with promises that he will be the one to identify whether or not he has a rare, expensive wine, Amontillado. He slyly goads Fortunato saying that perhaps he should get someone else to come taste the wine, someone better than he, Luchresi. This only ensures that Fortunato will continue, he wants to defend his reputation and his pride. As they continue downwards, the narrator comments on Fortunato's cough then points to the "nitre" on the walls of the cave indicating the damp environment they are in. He feigns concern saying that Fortunato's "health is precious"  and that perhaps he should turn back and get Luchresi. He once again is enforcing the idea that he cannot be trusted. If he can stand before he friend acting concerned for his health while plotting his murder, he is not trust worthy. 

They continue down farther into the Catacombs when the narrator says they have reached their destination. Fortunato is told to go into a niche and see the Amontillado, in that same instant, the narrator chains him there and builds a wall to trap him there. Here we see that he is truly not a monster however because as the narrator is barricading Forunato in, he "hesitated, [he] trembled". He did have a moment where he acted in a human manner, with feelings and remorse. It did not last long however enforcing the fact that he cannot be trusted.

"That time of year thou mayst in me behold"

At some point in life, everyone grasps the reality that they must die, but what is dying? Is it when your heart stops beating and your body no longer functions? Or could it be when all your memories fade away and you are left with nothing but the most trivial thoughts? Many people often state that a part of them dies when someone a loved one dies. Is this possible, is it even fathomable that a small part of a person can die and they can continue to live? In its simplest form, dying would be defined as ceasing to live, but what then is life defined as? Is life just lived waiting to die? Death is all around the living reminding those in good health that they will not always be so, those with their loved ones that it will not always be so. In Shakespeare's poem, "That time of year thou mayst in me behold" the point that death is inevitable and at some point one must experience it is illustrated through different images. Fall, a sunset, and a fire are used to depict life. Such images are effective because they all fade away; fall with all of its colors fades into the dark, dreary winter, a sunset again bright with life and color fades away into darkness, and finally a fire bright and burning while alive leaving only cold coals once it is extinguished. In order to truly live, one must appreciate life and accept that one day they must die, but not before their time has extinguished. 

Take the Lead

At last a new man to take the lead

A momentous election

We can only pray he will succeed.

An end to all this hatefulness and greed,

A new direction,

At last a new man to take the lead.

He must right our nation with much speed

And rid us of the worlds negative perception.

We can only pray he will succeed.

One who does not sit high on his steed,

Unconcerned by imperfection.

At last a new man to take the lead.

To guide us and follow our creed,

Our constitution, its resurrection.

We can only pray he will succeed.

This new hope is what we need,

This fair selection,

At last a new man to take the lead,

We can only pray he will succeed!

~Kristen 

I wrote this poem to reflect the hope that a new leader of our country will bring. Change is coming and it is about time that it influences our lives in a positive way. A villanelle is generally humorous but I could not find a way to make all of the rules and regulations fit into a poem that actually read in a humorous tone and still made even the slightest bit of sense. Instead, I decided to base my off of the monumental inauguration we just had. I thought that the strict rules and regulations of the villanelle could be easily paralleled by the strict regulations of government. The new leader in the poem could literally be interpreted as Obama, our newest president, which is originally how I had designed it to be. Or it could simply be an open statement for what our country needs from its leader without putting a name to such leader. However one chooses to interpret it, I hope those who read it will feel inspired to support our new leader and help him to achieve success. 

The Tyger

In William Blake's poem "The Tyger", the tyger is presented as a fierce and powerful creature that wanders the forests in the darkness of night. The poem reads almost as if a child is curiously asking question after question about this tyger. The tyger is a mystery to the child and Blake never answers any of the questions throughout the poem keeping the tyger mysterious. However, the fact that none of the childlike questions are answered allows the poem to be interpreted in many different ways and also creates many paradoxes. 

There are three key paradoxes in "The Tyger" that Blake has created with his childlike questioning; the creation of the tiger through the industrial process, the comparison between the lamb and the tiger, and the similarities between the first and last stanza. Blake wonders who could create such a powerful creature with a perfect symmetry and appearance in line 3 where he says, "What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry". He goes on to question if it was God in the "distant skies, or rather Satan in the "deeps" that created this marvelous creature. He continues to further question the making of the tiger in questioning, "what the hammer? What the chain? In what furnace was they brain?". Blake is paralleling the making of the tiger to the making of our society and industrialization. Blake then speculates about how God created humans and questions if humans were constructed industriously as well as the tiger. Blake, an opponent of the industrialization process, believed that this industrialized part of the tiger was evil because it was related to the industrial process. Blake continues on however to reject "Satan" and continue to believe that everything was created by God thus showing that the tiger has angelic ties and truly cannot be evil. The next important symbol in the poem was the lamb which can be viewed as the opposite of the "tyger". Blake questions whether God could create two such different creatures when he asks, "Did he who make the lamb make thee?". The tiger is such a fierce, powerful animal, and the lamb such a gentle animal and here Blake is questioning how they can fit in in the same world. The last important paradox is the similarities between the first and last stanzas. Each word is the same aside from "could". In the last stanza "could" is changed to "dare thy fearful symmetry", this is a much stringer statement, less wondering than the first stanza, more powerful and asking who is brazen enough to create this tiger, different than any other animal. Who would "dare" to challenge nature with this tiger of  "fearful symmetry". The tiger is used throughout the poem to contrast between good and evil, peaceful and violent. The use of the tiger and the lamb allow for a different perspective on the changing world to be understood.

"In a Station of the Metro

Erza Pound's poem, "In a Station of the Metro", can be interpreted in two different manners. Although the poem is not so substantial and actually quite brief, one can view the arguments in the poem in favor of supporting a shift to modernism, as well as against such a shift. 

Pound's poem can be interpreted as an anti-modernity poem based on several key points. In the first line she refers to the "apparition" of "faces in the crowd". An apparition is usually used to refer to a ghost like figure or supernatural appearance of something. Ghosts and the supernatural are often viewed as evil and dark figures and events that have an underlying agenda that will ultimately bring about destruction, in some way or another, to those around them. In Pound's poem, the metro is depicted as the scene of the apparition, the site of evil. The "faces in the crowd" are the things that are actually appearing and are paralleled to "Petals on a wet, black bough". The "faces" are the "petals" where as the metro station is the "wet, black bough". By comparing the "faces" to the "petals", Pound is saying that the only good things in the station are the faces because petals are usually interpreted as soft and fragile, used as a token of love. The metro station is depicted by the "wet, black bough" because she believes that it is taking away from nature's true beauty by having such wonderful faces, "petals", in such an urbanized area. "Black bough" can also be a metaphor for all of the pollution that comes from an urbanized way of living as well as all the dirty crime and corruption that a city faces everyday. From this we can conclude that the argument of anti-modernity is depicting the negative effect on nature's beauty that urbanization can cause as well as the negative effect it can have on society. 

On the other hand, there is evidence in this poem to argue that it is pro-modernity as well. Metros were busy places where many people passed through, they were a symbol of a growing population helped along by industrialization and urbanization. The "faces" can once again be compared to petals, beautiful, full of life, and  the part of the being that everyone pays attention to. The fact that the "faces" are "apparitions" again suggest something supernatural is involved but perhaps something on the other end of the spectrum, something holy or angelic. The wet petals may signify a growing population, a new hope to a dying area, the "black bough". All in all, the poem may be interpreted in either fashion with the evidence supporting either claim and leaving the poem open to interpretation.

"Diving into the Wreck"

In the poem "Diving into the Wreck", by Adrienne Rich, many different images are revealed. The more dominant images also happen to be the larger images such as "the ladder", "the ocean", and "the wreck". The smaller images are used to support the more dominant images. Each of the smaller images like "the grave and awkward mask" and "the body-armor of black rubber" are constant through the poem and enhance the excitement and the adventure of "diving into the wreck". All the smaller images enhance the largest most significant image, "the wreck".

Throughout the poem, Rich uses the water as a medium of reality. Reality, like the ocean, is vast and subtly ever changing. "Rung after rung and still/ the oxygen immerses me...there is no one to tell me when the ocean will begin", it is basically impossible to distinguish reality from the unreal because who is to say where either border begins. As the diver starts to delve deeper into the water the increase in the pressure surrounding the diver causes the diver to start "blacking out". The ocean, reality, is full of two much pressure, trivial details of everyday life and societal issues. The diver can not interact with reality without the aid of her "armor of black rubber" and "grave and awkward mask". She is unable to deal with the reality without something to cushion the blows of it, her "armor". 

Before the diver ever descends into the ocean, she declares herself ready on the basis that she has read "the book of myths" and that "the words are maps". She has prepared herself for her descent into the ocean with a map that will guide her, even though the ocean is ever changing. If we continue to view the ocean as reality, the book symbolizes a map that will help the diver to navigate her way through reality and make sense of what she encounters. As the diver becomes more accustomed to the ocean, the diver also becomes more open and understanding of reality. The diver realizes that she cannot change reality but yet she can use the tools she has to make it easier to navigate and understand. 

Why My Aislinn?

Aislinn is a Celtic name meaning a dream, vision, inspiration. I found this an appropriate name for my literature blog because I find literature to provide you with all those characteristics present in the name. I enjoy most kinds of literature :p and most inspire me in some way, encourage me to dream, or provide me with a vision of something I have never encountered before. Literature is a way of experiencing the world as I never knew, or will ever know it. 

I chose a celtic name because Ireland fascinates me. It's history and folklore is so engaging and the scenery is beautiful. It also appeals to me because of their reputation in the horse world of producing fantastic sport horses. I ride horses and compete in what is called 3-day-eventing, which is like a horse triathlon, and someday I hope to live there for a few years and learn from some of the best. That is my dream, they are my inspiration, hopefully my vision comes true. This connection to my dream and such a big part of my life is my reason for choosing a celtic name as part of my blog title.