"The diary is an unusual document of adolescence in that it rarely depicts the emergence of an unformed ego. The standard insecurities, laments, crushes, and daydreams are nowhere in evidence. Instead, Cecilia writes of her sisters and herself as a single entity...we could never understand why the girls cared so much about being mature, or why they felt compelled to compliment each other, but sometimes, after one of us had read a long portion of the diary out loud, we had to fight back the urge to hug one another or to tell each other how pretty we were. We felt the imprisonment of being a girl...we knew, finally, that the girls were really women in disguise, that they understood love and even death, and that our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them" (42-44).
This passage about Cecilia's diary is interesting because it reveals information about both Cecilia and the narrators of the novel. The narrators describe Cecilia writing like all the sisters were a "single entity," which I find interesting because I think this may connect to the fact that all of the girls later kill themselves. As the boys read the diary, they emphatize with Cecilia, and I feel like they also become part of that "single entity" with the sisters as they try to understand their story. Throughout the long paragraph (which I did not copy completely), the boys repeatedly start their sentences with "we knew" and then go into detail about some fact about Cecilia's life. They're so wrapped up into the Lisbon girls' life, which is actually kind of freaky. These boys (now men I suppose), do everything they can to gather information about and piece together the story of the sisters. As I read, I'm questioning why they are so obsessed with these girls and why the author chose to tell the story from this point of view. I think it partially adds to the weird effect of the novel since the boys are so creepy and stalker-ish. I wonder if the reason for this unique point of view will become more apparent as I continue to read the novel...
Friday, March 6, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Virgin Suicides - Blog #1
"Cecilia, the youngest, only thirteen, had gone first, slitting her wrists like a Stoic while taking a bath, and when they found her, afloat in her pink pool, with the yellow eyes of someone possessed and her small body giving off the odor of a mature woman, the paramedics had been so frightened by her tranquility that they had stood mezmerized. But then Mrs. Lisbon lunged in, screaming, and the reality of the room reasserted itself: blood on the bath mat; Mr. Lisbon's razor sunk in the toilet bowl, marbling the water. The paramedics fetched Cecilia out of the warm water because it quickened the bleeding, and put a tourniquet on her arm. Her wet hair hung down her back and already her extremities were blue. She didn't say a word, but when they parted her hands they found the laminated picture of the Virgin Mary she held against her budding chest" (3-4).
This passage, found at the beginning of the novel, immediately grabbed my attention because of the vivid descriptions. The author employs various types of imagery as he describes the Cecilia incident--visual ("yellow eyes of someone possessed," "razor sunk in toilet bowl"), auditory (Mrs. Lisbon's screaming), and olfactory ("the odor of a mature woman"). He also uses similes and alliteration to add color to his writing. These explicit descriptions set a freaky mood right from the beginning of the story that carries throughout the novel. This is strange because though the book is about such a dismal and serious topic (suicide), the book doesn't necessarily have a gloomy feel but more of a freaky, bizarre mood. This makes it quite interesting to read and the uncommon point of view (a group of boys telling the story from some point in the future) gives the reader a unique reading experience.
This passage, found at the beginning of the novel, immediately grabbed my attention because of the vivid descriptions. The author employs various types of imagery as he describes the Cecilia incident--visual ("yellow eyes of someone possessed," "razor sunk in toilet bowl"), auditory (Mrs. Lisbon's screaming), and olfactory ("the odor of a mature woman"). He also uses similes and alliteration to add color to his writing. These explicit descriptions set a freaky mood right from the beginning of the story that carries throughout the novel. This is strange because though the book is about such a dismal and serious topic (suicide), the book doesn't necessarily have a gloomy feel but more of a freaky, bizarre mood. This makes it quite interesting to read and the uncommon point of view (a group of boys telling the story from some point in the future) gives the reader a unique reading experience.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Dracula - Blog #7
"I remember hearing the sudden barking of the dogs and a lot of queer sounds, like praying on a very tumultous scale, from Mr. Renfield's room, which is somewhere under this. And then there was silence over everything, silence so profound that it startled me, and I got up and looked out of the window. All was dark and silent, the black shadows thrown by the moonlight seeming full of a silent mystery of their own. Not a thing seemed to be stirring, but all to be grim and fixed as death or fate; so that a thin streak of white mist, that crept with almost imperceptible slowness across the grace towards the house, seemed to have a sentience and a vitality of its own...The mist was spreading, and was not close up to the house, so that I could see it lying thick against the wall, as though it were stealing up the windows. The poor man was more loud than ever, and though I could not distinguish a word he said, I cold in some way recognize in his tones some passionate entreaty on his part" (275).
This passage is very foreboding due to the various literary devices used. The repetition of words like "dark," "black," and "silent" gives the passage a very dark, still, tense mood. The simile "but all to be grim or fixed as death or fate" further adds terror to the foreboing mood. What is really eerie is the mist, which Van Helsing earlier explained was Dracula. The mist is described as being very thick, sneaky, and graceful as it creeps up the house towards Mina's window. Because of the terrifying, deathly mood, this partially foreshadows how Dracula will be coming after Mina, and now we see some of his sneaky tactics he uses to get to people. The sounds and excitement coming from Renfield further add to the horrific mood because we know that he has some sort of connection with Dracula, and he's getting excited that his "master" has come. Overall, this passage really illustrates that even though Lucy has been taken care of, there is still a much larger problem to take care of, and that it's not going to be easy. Additionally, the eerie mood foreshadows some kind of horrific happenings that will occur before the end of the novel.
This passage is very foreboding due to the various literary devices used. The repetition of words like "dark," "black," and "silent" gives the passage a very dark, still, tense mood. The simile "but all to be grim or fixed as death or fate" further adds terror to the foreboing mood. What is really eerie is the mist, which Van Helsing earlier explained was Dracula. The mist is described as being very thick, sneaky, and graceful as it creeps up the house towards Mina's window. Because of the terrifying, deathly mood, this partially foreshadows how Dracula will be coming after Mina, and now we see some of his sneaky tactics he uses to get to people. The sounds and excitement coming from Renfield further add to the horrific mood because we know that he has some sort of connection with Dracula, and he's getting excited that his "master" has come. Overall, this passage really illustrates that even though Lucy has been taken care of, there is still a much larger problem to take care of, and that it's not going to be easy. Additionally, the eerie mood foreshadows some kind of horrific happenings that will occur before the end of the novel.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Dracula - Blog #6
"'And now for you, Madam Mina, this night is the end until all be well. You are too precious to us to have such risk. When we part tonight, you no more must question. We shall tell you all in good time. We are men, and are able to bear; but you must be our star and our hope, and we shall act all the more free that you are not in the danger, such as we are' [Van Helsing].
All the men, even Jonathan, seemed to be relieved; but it did not seem to me good that they should brave danger and, perhaps, lessen their safety--strength being the best safety--through care of me; but their minds were made up, and, though it was a bitter pill for me to swallow, I could say nothing, save to accept their chivalrous care of me" (258-259).
This passage illustrates one of Dracula's main themes--that the novel's leading women are treated as beautiful, delicate, weak, and easily conformable to their society. Dracula was written (and I'm assuming takes place) during the 1800s, and the social interactions between men and women during that time are highly illuminated throughout the novel.
The first paragraph displays one side of the coin. Throughout the novel, the men are always praising Lucy and Mina as being beautiful, angelic, etc., but at the same time there's a bit of degradation in their speech which kind of makes the women come across as pretty objects rather than intelligent beings. Van Helsing follows this trend as he tells Mina that she isn't allowed to continue on in the journey to get rid of Dracula. Van Helsing uses such prettily connotative words like "precious," "star," and "hope" in order to illuminate Mina as being beautiful, valuable, and admirable, but at the same time he's talking down to her, saying "YOU will do this and YOU will do that..." He also asserts male dominance when he says "we are men, and are able to bear," showing that someone as delicate and precious as Mina is not able to bear the task before them.
The second paragraph, from Mina's point of view, further contributes to this idea of delicate, submissive women in society. Mina is as dedicated to getting rid of Dracula as the rest of the men are, but when told that she can't continue her efforts, she readily accepts it without argument or question. I was actually a bit surprised, thinking that a woman as dedicated and spirited as Mina would have stood up for herself and tried to protest. However, the worst reaction we get from Mina is in the weak metaphor "it was a bitter pill for me to swallow." Besides that, she's basically saying "yeah, they're all right" and believes she's helping the men by not joining them in their endeavor.
Throughout the novel, Mina (as well as Lucy) is constantly acting the way she is being portrayed by the men. She's eating up these shallow opinions of her and accepting them as who she is. I feel like Mina has the potential to be a more open, opinionated, and independent women, but because she is so submissive and afraid to disappoint the men, she will never realize her potential.
All the men, even Jonathan, seemed to be relieved; but it did not seem to me good that they should brave danger and, perhaps, lessen their safety--strength being the best safety--through care of me; but their minds were made up, and, though it was a bitter pill for me to swallow, I could say nothing, save to accept their chivalrous care of me" (258-259).
This passage illustrates one of Dracula's main themes--that the novel's leading women are treated as beautiful, delicate, weak, and easily conformable to their society. Dracula was written (and I'm assuming takes place) during the 1800s, and the social interactions between men and women during that time are highly illuminated throughout the novel.
The first paragraph displays one side of the coin. Throughout the novel, the men are always praising Lucy and Mina as being beautiful, angelic, etc., but at the same time there's a bit of degradation in their speech which kind of makes the women come across as pretty objects rather than intelligent beings. Van Helsing follows this trend as he tells Mina that she isn't allowed to continue on in the journey to get rid of Dracula. Van Helsing uses such prettily connotative words like "precious," "star," and "hope" in order to illuminate Mina as being beautiful, valuable, and admirable, but at the same time he's talking down to her, saying "YOU will do this and YOU will do that..." He also asserts male dominance when he says "we are men, and are able to bear," showing that someone as delicate and precious as Mina is not able to bear the task before them.
The second paragraph, from Mina's point of view, further contributes to this idea of delicate, submissive women in society. Mina is as dedicated to getting rid of Dracula as the rest of the men are, but when told that she can't continue her efforts, she readily accepts it without argument or question. I was actually a bit surprised, thinking that a woman as dedicated and spirited as Mina would have stood up for herself and tried to protest. However, the worst reaction we get from Mina is in the weak metaphor "it was a bitter pill for me to swallow." Besides that, she's basically saying "yeah, they're all right" and believes she's helping the men by not joining them in their endeavor.
Throughout the novel, Mina (as well as Lucy) is constantly acting the way she is being portrayed by the men. She's eating up these shallow opinions of her and accepting them as who she is. I feel like Mina has the potential to be a more open, opinionated, and independent women, but because she is so submissive and afraid to disappoint the men, she will never realize her potential.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Dracula - Blog #5
"You deal with the madmen. All men are mad in some way or the other; and insamuch as you deal discreetly with your madmen, so deal with God's madmen, too--the rest of the world. You tell not your madmen what you do nor why you do it; you tell them not what you think. So you shall keep knowledge in its place, where it may rest--where it may gather its kind around it and breed" (132).
This quote, spoken by Van Helsing to Seward, stood out to me as I read. The quote reveals the wisdom of Van Helsing's character while revealing a truth--a belief which could have been shared by the author. Van Helsing is saying that everyone possesses some degree of insanity. He's also implying that Seward and his madmen are a microcosm of the whole world under God because everybody is crazy in some way. Van Helsing then goes on to say that Seward should not tell his madmen what he thinks of them or what he plans to do with them, and I connected that to how we are unaware of what God thinks of/plans for us. I don't know if Bram Stoker intended for this passage to have religious undertones, but I interpreted it that way and found it interesting how the world under God is compared to a mental health doctor and his patients. We are all insane, we all have some kind of problem, and God is secretly working as our doctor to help us. I wonder if Stoker really felt that way, if he was trying to convey a message, or if he even intended for that interpretation to appear in the first place.
This quote, spoken by Van Helsing to Seward, stood out to me as I read. The quote reveals the wisdom of Van Helsing's character while revealing a truth--a belief which could have been shared by the author. Van Helsing is saying that everyone possesses some degree of insanity. He's also implying that Seward and his madmen are a microcosm of the whole world under God because everybody is crazy in some way. Van Helsing then goes on to say that Seward should not tell his madmen what he thinks of them or what he plans to do with them, and I connected that to how we are unaware of what God thinks of/plans for us. I don't know if Bram Stoker intended for this passage to have religious undertones, but I interpreted it that way and found it interesting how the world under God is compared to a mental health doctor and his patients. We are all insane, we all have some kind of problem, and God is secretly working as our doctor to help us. I wonder if Stoker really felt that way, if he was trying to convey a message, or if he even intended for that interpretation to appear in the first place.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Dracula - Blog #4
"...the silver light of the moon struck a half-reclining figure, snowy white. The coming of the cloud was too quick for me to see much, for shadow shut down on light almost immediately; but it seemed to me as though something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone, and bent over it. What it was, whether man or beast, I could not tell; I did not wait to catch another glance, but flew down the steep steps...The time and distance seemed endless, and my knees trembled and my breath came laboured as I toiled up the endless steps to the Abbey. I must have gone fast, and yet it seemed to me as if my feet were weighted with lead, and as though every joint in my body were rusty" (102).
This scene is one of the freakest scenes of the novel thus far. Basically, Lucy went out sleepwalking, and Mina found her with a dark figure standing nearby. The horror and excitement of this scene is effectively conveyed through Mina's description of the event. First of all, she repeatedly describes Lucy as being "white," which gives her a pale and ghostly image. The dark figure standing over Lucy directly contrasts her--the darkness gives it an evil connotation. The darkness of the scene in general, as pointed out in the phrase "for shadow shut down on light almost immediately" (notice the direct contrast between "shadow" and "light") really gives this passage a particularly gloomy and horrifying mood.
The sense of urgency that Mina conveys also makes the passage horrific but exciting. Her description of time as "endless" shows how time just seemed to go on forever as she raced to help her friend. The physical details Mina gives about herself shows how much she is struggling to get to Lucy, and the excellent simile at the end of the passage further emphasizes the struggle. Mina's struggle to get to Lucy through a seemingly endless passage of time gives this part of the novel a sense of urgency. Mina's struggle to get to Lucy in the face of danger is what really makes this part of the novel exciting.
Overall, the most intense scenes of the novel thus far have been described using a variety of devices which invoke fear, horror, and/or urgency in the reader. Stoker's effective method of illustrating these scary situations is what really gives this novel a horrific feel.
This scene is one of the freakest scenes of the novel thus far. Basically, Lucy went out sleepwalking, and Mina found her with a dark figure standing nearby. The horror and excitement of this scene is effectively conveyed through Mina's description of the event. First of all, she repeatedly describes Lucy as being "white," which gives her a pale and ghostly image. The dark figure standing over Lucy directly contrasts her--the darkness gives it an evil connotation. The darkness of the scene in general, as pointed out in the phrase "for shadow shut down on light almost immediately" (notice the direct contrast between "shadow" and "light") really gives this passage a particularly gloomy and horrifying mood.
The sense of urgency that Mina conveys also makes the passage horrific but exciting. Her description of time as "endless" shows how time just seemed to go on forever as she raced to help her friend. The physical details Mina gives about herself shows how much she is struggling to get to Lucy, and the excellent simile at the end of the passage further emphasizes the struggle. Mina's struggle to get to Lucy through a seemingly endless passage of time gives this part of the novel a sense of urgency. Mina's struggle to get to Lucy in the face of danger is what really makes this part of the novel exciting.
Overall, the most intense scenes of the novel thus far have been described using a variety of devices which invoke fear, horror, and/or urgency in the reader. Stoker's effective method of illustrating these scary situations is what really gives this novel a horrific feel.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Dracula - Blog #3
"'But I'm content, for it's comin' to me, my deary, and comin' quick. It may be comin' while we be lookin' and wonderin'. Maybe it's in that wind out over the sea that's bringin' with it loss and wreck, and sore distress, and sad hearts. Look, look!' he cried suddenly. 'There's something in that wind and in the hoast beyont that sounds, and looks, and tastes, and smells like death. It's in the air; I feel it comin'. Lord, make me answer cheerful when my call comes!' He held up his arms devoutly, and raised his hat. His mouth moved as though he were praying"(83-84).
This passage is very foreboding for a number of reasons. Most of the words and phrases that Mr. Swales uses--like "loss," "wreck," "sore distress," and "sad hearts"--connote death and bring about a very dismal mood. Swales compares death to a wind that blows in and consumes the senses with death, which brings about a very strong image of death as something that just forces its way in and consumes the life of somebody.
This foreboding mood could attribute to a number of things--first of all, the very subject that Swales is talking about, his feeling that his end is near. The mood could also be reflecting Mina's worried feelings because she hasn't heard from Jonathan in a very long time, and she could be fearing death is on his horizon as well. Lastly, the dismal mood is reflected by the crazy-looking ship that is approaching, which also seems a bit deathly in the way it is being described. Either way, the deathly undertones in this passage make it seem like there is a good chance that death will be seen in the upcoming chapters, and they serve as foreshadowing for what's to come.
This passage is very foreboding for a number of reasons. Most of the words and phrases that Mr. Swales uses--like "loss," "wreck," "sore distress," and "sad hearts"--connote death and bring about a very dismal mood. Swales compares death to a wind that blows in and consumes the senses with death, which brings about a very strong image of death as something that just forces its way in and consumes the life of somebody.
This foreboding mood could attribute to a number of things--first of all, the very subject that Swales is talking about, his feeling that his end is near. The mood could also be reflecting Mina's worried feelings because she hasn't heard from Jonathan in a very long time, and she could be fearing death is on his horizon as well. Lastly, the dismal mood is reflected by the crazy-looking ship that is approaching, which also seems a bit deathly in the way it is being described. Either way, the deathly undertones in this passage make it seem like there is a good chance that death will be seen in the upcoming chapters, and they serve as foreshadowing for what's to come.
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