“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme”-Mark Twain

Alison and Jonathan are trying to discover themselves and they do this by obsessively trying to understand their parents. They are both fueled by fear of turning out like their parents, but as Mark Twain said “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme” and we see this to be true in both the book and the movie.

Throughout “Fun Home” Alison relates herself to her father as a way to try and understand herself. She spends most of her life obsessively trying to understand him hoping to be able to take her

life in a different direction. From the beginning we see Alison and her father as very similar people who will be faced with similar obstacles. Like her father, Alison had obsessive compulsive disorder. Alison never explicitly says that her and her father share this disorder, but she eludes to it throughout the entire book. On page 18 we see Alison’s father punishing the children for the vase being moved to close to the edge of the table, thus out of place. Then Alison spends several pages discussing her obsessive compulsive disorder and how she “cured” herself, which was an obsessive process in itself. Alison and her father also share a love for books, mythological and psychological, any book that they can put themselves into to try and make sense of their feelings and their life. We know that Alison will not take the same approach to life as her father, but we can argue that it will be similar in many ways.  It is also very interesting that Alison believes her father’s death is her beginning as if now she doesn’t have to see him as a constant reminder of what she could be and now she feels free to live her life.

Similarly, Jonathan’s obsession with his mother is a way for him to figure himself out. At the end of the movie he says that he is scared of ending up like his mother so he spends most of his life trying

to understand her, which is virtually impossible with a mental disorder. Through the numerous clips it is obvious that Jonathan is emotionally disturbed due to the events in his life, being put in foster care and beaten, knowing that his mother is in and out of the hospital due to a mental disorder, and dealing with the feelings of being gay and being unsure. He is eventually diagnosed with depersonalization disorder. As far as we know Renee was a normal child until the events in her life eventually overcame her. She was paralyzed after a fall and received shock treatments, she was raped in front of Jonathan, and then was in and out of the hospital and put on various medications. According to the movie there were no signs of Renee’s schizophrenia until after she was raped.  The late diagnosis of schizophrenia makes Jonathan fear that one day he will be diagnosed with another mental disorder. Unlike Alison, Jonathan doesn’t seem to ever get relief in his life. As weird as it is to say that when Alison’s father passed away she was relieved, it is true, and Jonathan has yet to encounter this relief. I believe that Alison and Jonathan will in some ways repeat their parents’ history and at the same time make their own.

 

Death and the Maiden

As we discussed in class there are many ways to interpret “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” but after doing a little bit of research I found out that Oates had the “Death and the Maiden” folktales theme in mind when writing this short story. Knowing that Oates had the old “Death and the Maiden” folktales in mind does change how interpret the text. It could be argued that Oates used the death and maiden folktale of Hades and Persephone to inspire this shorty story.
 

Hades was the God of the underworld and Persephone was the daughter of Zeus (Hades’ brother) and Demeter. Persephone was a virgin and is known as the goddess of grain, agriculture, and fertility. Hades saw Persephone and fell in love with her. He wanted her to himself and he knew that Demeter (Persephone’s mother) would never approve of the marriage so he decided to abduct her while she was gathering flowers on a plain in Sicily. Hades arrived on a four-house chariot and took Persephone into the Underworld before anyone could notice. Persephone did resist and call for help, but before anyone noticed she was already descending into the chasm. It is said that when Hades swooped down to collect Persephone that he “scooped her up with one arm, and literally and figuratively deflowered her—leaving the plain scattered with blossoms of every color.” Demeter searched the earth for Persephone and after a whole year she finally found out where she was and began convincing Hades to let her go. He agreed to let her go, but Persephone had not eaten anything while in the underworld and when it was time for her to go Hades begged her to just eat something before she went home. Anyone who eats anything from the Underworld is forced to live there. Because of Hades trickery Rhea, the mother of Zeus, Demeter, and Hades decided that Persephone is to live in the Underworld for six months out of the year and has the freedom to live with Demeter for the remainder of the year.

Much like Persephone, Connie was a virgin and also was a representation of fertility. There is a definite connection between Connie and Persephone, especially knowing that this story deals so much with Connie’s sexuality and that Persephone is the goddess of fertility. Both girls are taken against their will and are both seen as sexual objects. Also, both girls were reluctant to be taken with these men and both made attempts to call for help, both being unsuccessful. Arnold Friend comes to collect Connie in his gold jalopy and is successful in taking her with him before anyone can notice, just as Hades abducted Persephone in his chariot before anyone could notice. The similarity that stuck out to me the most was the connection between Hades literally and figuratively deflowering Persephone and the “figurative” rape of Connie “she felt her breath start jerking back and forth in her lungs as if it was something Arnold Friend was stabbing her with again and again with no tenderness.” This quote, much like the one regarding Persephone’s rape is filled with sexual references and tells us what has and will happen to these girls. Both men in this story have no regard for the girls, only their own wants and needs and both take the girls to a different world. Hades takes Persephone to the Underworld while Arnold takes Connie to “land Connie had never seen before and did not recognize except to know that she was going to it.” Both of these stories can most definitely be qualified as “Death and the Maiden” stories.

There are some obvious differences in the “Death and the Maiden” folktale of Hades and Persephone and Connie and Arnold Friend, but the two stories definitely have some major similarities and it seems that Oates did indeed have this story in the back of her mind while writing “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”  

An education in resisting your culture

Through the narrator’s depiction of his education, he shows how Indian boys are taught to resist the Native American culture in order to protect them from the traditional feelings of pain and punishment. The narrator does leave the reservation for a short time to experience the white world and his experiences there, prove why he has been taught to resist his culture. I do not believe that he completely rejects his culture, but I think through “Indian Education” we see him struggling with what he has been taught and his feelings of tradition.

As a second grader you are very impressionable and this may be why the missionary teacher, Betty Towle, chose to teach this grade. I believe Betty Towle was there to educate the Indians about “her God” (173) and in turn she taught the narrator how most white people feel

about Indians, including herself. After having to eat his spelling test, Betty Towle sent a letter home with the narrator telling his parents to either cut his braids or he was not allowed in class. The next day his parents came in and drug their braids across Betty Towle’s desk and she responds “Indians , indians, indians.” She said it without capitalization. She called me “indian, indian, indian” (173). When reading this the first time I wondered why she said it without capitalization, after some thought I realized that she doesn’t have respect for Indians or their culture and really has a hatred of them. The narrator sticks to his roots and says “Yes, I am. I am Indian. Indian, I am” (173) but this is his first lesson in the struggles he will have if he chooses to identify himself as an Indian.

Throughout the narrator’s education there are several examples that I believe reveal the underlying message that he was taught. In the fourth grade Mr. Schluter told the narrator that he should be a doctor and when the narrator asks why he says “So you can come back and help the tribe. So you can heal people” (174). I find it very interesting that Mr. Schluter doesn’t say “your tribe” or “your people” as if he is hinting to the narrator to become a doctor and find your identity in that, not in being Indian. Then, for the first time, in the fifth grade, we see the narrator

realize that he is going to have to make a choice to either follow the traditional Indian lifestyle or try to make a lifestyle of his own. The narrator says “Oh, do you remember those sweet, almost innocent choices that the Indian boys were forced to make?” (175). I believe that at this point he has already made his decision to try and make his own path that will hopefully allow him to succeed and not fall prey to the pain that the Indian culture seems accustomed to. The last example, and the one that I believe to be strongest, is “This morning I pick up the sports page and read the headline: INDIANS LOSE AGAIN” (179). If the narrator identifies himself as an Indian then he will take a lot of offense to this headline, but if he can find his identity in basketball, or academics, or becoming a doctor he will not experience the same pain. Naturally this headline will always strike a note of pain for him, but he realizes that he can escape this pain by creating his own identity, something outside of the Indian culture.

I really liked this short story because I believe it could be read in several different ways and this is just one way that I believe it can be interpreted.

Ginsberg's spin on religion that can justify any action if twisted in your favor

The obvious theme in “Howl” is how the destructive social forces of Moloch destroy the “best minds” but in addition to these social forces Ginsberg creates an interesting spin on religion that can justify any action if twisted in your favor. Ginsberg includes aspects of Christianity, Islam, and Kabbalah (ancient Jewish tradition of mystical interpretation of the Bible) with some references to Buddhism to create his own idea of religion or spirituality. 

 

In part I we see Ginsberg using several religious terms and references to describe the “best minds.” The first description we see is “angelheaded hipsters” (9). When I read this line I see the hipsters, who I picture to be poets, musicians, and artists, to have a halo on their heads that make them appear to be angels. In the line before this we know that these hipsters are looking for an “angry fix” and right after, Ginsberg turns around and describes them as “angelheaded” as if to ignore the fact that they are looking for drugs. Shortly after, we see another reference to angels when Ginsberg writes “and saw Mohammedan angles staggering on tenement roofs illuminated” (9). In the stanza before this we see that these angels “high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness” (9). We are now led to believe that these angels have been smoking and are now staggering and in the following stanza we see that they are hallucinating. It is apparent that they have smoked some type of paraphernalia, but Ginsberg lets you know that in a very light and angelic way. Then, Ginsberg writes “who vanished into nowhere Zen New Jersey” (11). Ginsberg is not only adding yet another religion by choosing the word Zen, which is connected with Buddhism, he is justifying the way these “best minds” can just pick up and leave by suggesting that they are looking for their Zen. By Ginsberg describing the “best minds” as angels and describing their actions with religious references he is justifying their actions. Also, by using religious references from numerous religions he lets his reader know that he has no tie to one specific religion.    

 

 

In part II there is the obvious religious reference to Moloch, which is an Old Testament deity to whom people sacrificed their own children. Throughout part II Ginsberg uses language to refer to ancient rituals or religion that all require great sacrifice. By describing Moloch this way he is listing all of the ways that Moloch has required sacrifices from the “best minds” and due to these sacrifices they have gone insane. Ginsberg writes “Moloch whose skyscrapers stand in the long streets like endless Jehovahs!” (21). Jehovah is a Hebrew word for God so we continue to see Ginsberg reference religious aspects from all religions. By listing all of the required sacrifices to Moloch Ginsberg is furthering his argument that due to Moloch, which he gives very religious qualities to, the “best minds” are justified in whatever they do whether that be going crazy or doing drugs.

In part III we still see several religious references, but now that Carl Solomon has gone crazy, Ginsberg seems to use them in a manor to enlighten Solomon. He writes “where you accuse your doctors of insanity and plot the Hebrew socialist revolution against the fascist national Golgotha” (25) and “where you will split the heavens of Long Island and resurrect your living human Jesus from the superhuman tomb” (25). I believe it is important for these two quotes to go together because the Hebrew Jesus was crucified and then resurrected in Golgotha and Ginsberg writes about Golgotha and then in the very next stanza tells Solomon to resurrect his “human Jesus.” Throughout the entire poem Ginsberg is giving religious attributes and descriptions to the “best minds.” By doing this he justifies their actions and justifies their insanity.

 

 

 

The epigraph to "The Piano Lesson"

Gin my cotton

Sell my seed

Buy my baby

Everything she need

            -Skip James

 

When I first began reading “The Piano Lesson” I overlooked the epigraph that is at the very beginning of this play. An epigraph is typically a short saying or quote that alludes to the theme of the book or play. We know that the epigraph is a quote from Skip James, but most people don’t know it is actually a quote from his song Illinois Blues. August Wilson was highly influenced by the blues and this is not the first time that he has incorporated the blues into his work.
 

 

The purpose of this epigraph could be perceived in several ways, but after reading and re-reading I believe that this epigraph alludes to Boy Willie and the route we will see him attempt to take. After Sutter’s death he is focused on selling the piano so that he can buy Sutter’s land and begin farming on it. Boy Willie wants to grow cotton so that he “can stand right up next to the white man and talk about the price of cotton. . . the weather, and anything else you want to talk about” (Wilson 92). This is just one of the examples that we see Boy Willie referring to cotton just as in the epigraph. Through this line we can see that Boy Willie’s goal is to be able to stand equal to the white man and discuss the topics of everyday life because he is a farmer with his own land just as they are. Boy Willie wants the land because of pride rather than a bettering of self and family. The word “buy” in the epigraph is an interesting choice of word especially considering it opens a play that is centered around a piano that represents a family who were slaves. The word choice in the song is not abnormal, but remembering that an epigraph is a quote that alludes to the theme of the play, it puts an interesting perspective on the word “buy.” The word most definitely has a double meaning and can be easily taken as buying a gift for his baby and providing for her, which is how most readers would perceive it considering the line that follows. However, I think Wilson chose those lyrics for a reason and I don’t believe that the word “buy” should be over looked.   

        In addition to using James’ lyrics in the epigraph Wilson uses the same lyrics when Boy Willie is talking about obtaining the land and beginning to farm. Boy Willie says “This time I get to keep all the cotton. Hire me some men to work it for me. Gin my cotton. Get my seed. And I’ll see you again next year” (Wilson 11). Since I had originally overlooked the epigraph I also over looked the significance of Boy Willie continually referring to gin my cotton and get my seed. The correlation between the lyrics and the play is something that can easily be looked over because after you read the epigraph you become so quickly engrossed in the story. The epigraph plays an important role to this play and in the future I will not take the epigraphs so lightly because they are an insight to the work.