Dear Abby

Dear Embarrassed in Encino,

Friendships are tricky business. I for one think that rude behavior is very disgraceful and I am bothered by the lack of manners in the world today. But nonetheless its best to keep your mouth shut, in order to maintain friends. Its better for your reputation to have friends that are a bit obnoxious than no friends. But to make the situation better try to compensate for bad friends by making yourself look good, always dress nicely and try to be very polite to others when you’re group of friends is acting poorly. You’ll get the respect of others outside your group of friends and hopefully you’re friends will follow your example. But primarily you want to remain faithful to your friends no matter what, friendship is the most valuable thing these days, and it is best to preserve them and remain loyal to them because they are all you have. If you preserve the friendship but still maintain your manners, you never know your positive example might rub off on your friends. If you become very frustrated with your friends

Robert Cohn

Brett, Jake and Bull fighting

During the bullfight passage in chapter 15 a lot is revealed about the relationship between Brett and Jake.  Jake is the most passionate about Bull fighting and explains it to Brett, and that sort of contributes to her admiration for Romero. Why does Jake do this? Why would he encourage Brett to admire another man despite his love for her? Jake is very knowledgeable about Bullfighting and he could be showing of a bit for her showing her how he knows so much about this masculine activity, but still why focus so much on Romero. This situation is where Brett actually listens to Jake and his knowledge of bullfighting creates a sense of power and masculinity in their conversation, but ironically this knowledge only sends Brett into the arms of Romero. I think it is possible that Jake told Brett so much about Romero and why he later helps her find Romero because he wanted to mess up her relationship with mike regardless of whether he gets her or not. I don’t think that he schemes this but it is definitely possible, that he feels that if he cant tie her down himself than nobody should be able to that way he wouldn’t feel like less of a man. He could be helping her find Romero so for less selfish reasons, that he loves her so he helps her regardless of his own desire for her. This idea sounds of sacrificing ones own happiness for love sounds romantic, noble and self-less, but really its just pathetic, those old ideals of nobility are dead. There isn’t really love in that relationship, Brett has an emotional connection with Jake but she wont let him be more than a friend. She tries to separate her emotional relationship from her sexual relationships as most of the lost generation looks at sentimentality as a destructive thing, but ironically it’s her sexual relationships, which lead to destruction. Jake loves Brett but he knows that he cant have her; she emasculates him in her denial of a relationship. He doesn’t necessarily pursue her but he still wants her and destroys himself wanting her when he is stuck in the “friend zone” and whether he helps Brett out of love or out of subconscious selfishness I'm not entirely sure, perhaps both.

As for the bullfighting I don’t necessarily think it stands for one thing, but I think it mainly focuses around sexuality and masculine warfare. I read a jstor article on bullfighting,(http://www.jstor.org/pss/778863) and they discussed the notions of it to be a mostly aesthetic activity more of an art form, than a typical sport. Which I think is interesting, becuase sport provokes more typical notions of masculinity, that the hemingway hero posses. The Jstor article mentioned that while more than a spectator sport, it is not entirely like to a ballet or other performance art either. Bullfighting is unique becuase of its tradgedy and closeness to death. The near death is important, it seems to increase notions of masculinity and risk. But this isnt necesarily true. Jake probably had a near death expierience when he got wounded in war, certainly closer to death than Mike expierienced, but he wound up completely immasculated. this wasnt becuase he was unskilled as a fighter, he just had bad luck and got hit. I think while Romero is the code hero that Jake aspires to I dont think those heroic notions would be attainable for him in the modern world.  The diction describing it is clearly relative to seduction words like “suave” and “smooth” create notions of seductively and sexually skilled. But unlike the detached sex life of Brett and the others the bullfight has connotations of passion mixed with its sensual connotations. Also there are lots of mentions of “purity” in this passage which might contradict the sexuality and provoke notions of sin vs. purity, which might relate to the religious allusions in the book, but I don’t think that’s what purity means hear. I think it implies simple and honest relationship, both sexually and emotionally. This reminds me of the line where Jake asks Brett “couldn’t we just live together?” But we know from that the relationships between the characters is just not that simple. There are also Romantic connotations of war provoked by the bullfighting. It’s a very romantic process and makes the Bullfighter look very skilled and masculine. A bullfight is essentially a battle but unlike the World War I atrocious trench warfare the soldier comes out looking and feeling honorable. The fact that Romero uses the dangerous old bullfighting technique which doesn’t create fake emotion provokes this notion of the old notion of Romanticized war fare. The mixing of sexual connotations with battle connotations foreshadows how, sex will create conflict later in the book. The Bullfight is something so contradictory to the lifestyles and values of the lost generation, its nostalgia and an escape from the painful reality that is. The groups of friends sort of try to attain this nostalgia by watching it and talking to Romero but in the process they only destroy it and corrupt it with their own insecurity. Jake talked in the beginning to Cohn about how one cant escape themselves and their reality, and he is considered one of the more aware characters of the book, but why is he such an aficionado of bullfighting which is only a dream?

Commenting on Sitara's

i agree that The passage provides insight into the relationship between cohn and jake. Cohn is portrayed as even more pathetic and eager. It looks at how jake pities cohn but he really doesn’t because he enjoys it so much, which isn’t really in the spirit of pity, its seems like jake is bringing himdown to feel good about himself. It is clear that while cohn is clearly dependent on people liking him and tries way to hard jake is also dependent on him for his sense of satisfaction. In general this makes both characters look bad, but jakes awareness shows that despite being a judgemental he also is aware of his own hypocracy. sitara siad on her blog about jake " Due to his impotency, Cohn always emasculates him because he is physically bigger than him." While i agree that Jake belittles him out of insecurity, i dont think Jake is necesaryily lying about how pathetic Cohn is other peoples reactions to Cohn also correlate to Jake's view, but  i think it is the satisfaction jake gets out of belittling him that shows his insecurity more. Its quite possible that Jake might find Cohns physical strength threatening but Cohns physical strength is a form of compensation for his steer like personality whilest Jake's harsh comments and slightly sadistic view of cohn's short comings' are compensation for his injury. In this sense they relate to one another more than they are threatened by one another, but i think in this story relating to some one is a seen as a threat in it self becuase it some times leads to sentimentallity. Overall good choice in Passage, it allows us to examine the relationship and the reliability of the narator.

Chapter 11

On page 110-111

Bill raised the wine-skin and let the stream of wine spurt out and into his mouth, his head tipped back. When he stopped drinking and tipped the leather bottle down a few drops ran down his chin.
       “No! No!” several Basques said. “Not like that.” One snatched the bottle away from the owner, who was himself about to give a demonstration. He was a young fellow and held the win-bottle at full arms’ length and raised it high up, squeezing the leather bag with his hand so the stream of wine hissed into his mouth. He held the bag out there, the wine making a flat, hard trajectory into his mouth, and he kept on swallowing smoothly and regularly (111)

I chose this passage because it conveys some hope for the lost generation through the Basque’s skillful drinking from the wine skin. This passage shows how the Basques are able to drink properly from their own wine skins. Unlike the bottles that bill offer the men on the bus the Basques have their own unique and skillful way of drinking. There is heroic, passionate, and triumphant diction of the young man lifting the wine bottle high above his head to drink and he doesn’t spill it all over himself like Jake did previously.  There are some masculine connotations associated with the ability to skillfully control the wineskin. The Basques are also people that are part of two countries but don’t have a particular connection or nationalism to either France or Spain, their disconnected but still remain similar to the lost generation. But the skillful way they drink from their wineskins show that they have redefined their masculinity and identity. This passage is an example that even disconnected lost people can redefine them it provides a little hope for the characters in the book.

Bill

Bill I find to be quite a strange character and one that is important to Jake. What I find strange is bills obsession with taxidermy but I don’t quite know why and I don’t quite know what that says about him.  The diction he uses is quite positive a bit excessive he describes things as “wonderful” a lot contrasts to the uncertain qualifier laden diction of Jake. I noticed that when bill was in the scene Jake’s thoughts filled with judgment it was mostly dialogue based Jake doesn’t describe or react to bill in his head like he does with other characters. Whilst bill is definitely dominant in the conversation it seems like Jake is actually listening which doesn’t happen when Cohn is talking. I found it interesting when he said that he isn’t daunted by anything. Which clearly most of the characters are daunted by everything in life they just mask their insecurity. I think bill acknowledges this too when he says Vienna seemed better than it was because he was drunk. He is aware that things can be masked with nightlife. In this it seems Jake and bill are the same page, they both understand that they deny their own unhappiness and have nothing to do. But still bill calls things wonderful and seems to be a bit ahead of Jake in appreciating the world in a sense. There are many ways we could look at bills obsession with taxidermy. Taxidermy has masculine connotations, essentially taking an animal you’ve killed and turning it into a decoration, showing domination over it in a sense. Stuffed animals also show preservation, taking an animal from a living environment and after its dead posing it in the same position it was when it was alive. I think both are relevant to the sun also rises and the lost generation.  Masculinity is something that’s been destroyed at this point by the war, shown through jakes injury and the desire for men to compensate for the lack of masculinity and recreate it through masculine things like stuffed animals. The stuffed animals as zombie like creatures that were living and moving and are now in frozen faux living poses, relate to the lives of the lost generation. They go through the motions and they might look as though they are living just as they were before the war but they’re simply going through the motions and not developing real human connections. I think bills obsession hints to the audience to acknowledge these things. There’s usually a character in every book that we’re supposed to really tune in and listen to, (for example Mrs. Maude in to kill a mocking bird) and were often cued to do so by the narrators extensive or positive description of them. But jakes internal judgments actually cease when talking to Bill, so when he is barely described we are actually cued to pay attention.

Outline

In the poem Route March by Charles Sorley diction, imagerary, and tone are employed to evoke sensations of tradgedy from the slaughtered soldiers in WW1

The sarcastic tone shows the authors bitter attitude towards the heroic mirage of war that fill the soldiers mind.

·      “On the road to death sing”

o   The ironic juxtaposition of song and death creates a dark sarcastic tone

o   Sorely is conveying the tragic falseness of romanticized warfare through this bitter sarcastic tone.

o   Song is associated with romanticized warfare and was used to keep the troops spirits lifted and get them ready for a battle which they all felt they would probably win and become heroes from, but the soldiers hoping to attain heroic status are unaware that their destination is death

o   Sarcasm typically displays a passive aggressive bitter attitude especially when written in a tragic manner, showing how the author is feeling betrayed and powerless after the war

·      The mythic imagery of the earth creates the soldiers false vision of romantic warfare.

o   “All the hills and vales along
Earth is bursting into song”

o   This notion of vast hills appearing to sing creates a sense of unity with nature and beauty.

o   The music of the hills has climatic triumphant imagery a sensation of greatness

o   This heavily romantic imagery builds up the sensation of a soldiers eagerness to fight, their heroic preconception of war

·      The diction used is often simple and straightforward

o   “Live little, great pass”

o   There is little emotion or tragedy created by this diction it is straight forward and matter of fact

o   The lack of remorse from this blunt diction is a stark contrast to the romantic description of the hills; the great drop from dreaming to glory to dying with no dignity creates more tragedy, interestingly despite the lack of tragedy in the diction describing their death.

portfolio

Coverage
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/comedy-and-tragedy.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/mind-map.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/sibling-rivalry.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/globe-theatre.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/sarcasm.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/jacques-antagonist.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-directors-cut.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/comic.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/bill.html
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/outline.html
Depth
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html
Wild Card
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/sibling-rivalry.html
Interaction
http://adrienne-hlenglish.blogspot.com/2011/10/clashing-or-identical.html?showComment=1318253543838#c3525345494507373987
Xeno Blogging
http://airossignol.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/of-foils-and-character-reflections-brett-and-frances/#comment-83
Disscussion
http://elizengblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/globe-theatre.html

BOOk 1 Jake and Cohn

Jakes relationship is one based on mutual insecurity. Jake has insecurity created by his injury and Cohn has insecurity based on his being a Jew. Jake while he portrays Cohn in a weak manner he regardless remains friends with him but insults him. Jake is aware of the false friendship shown through his “god help you” reaction when Cohn confides in him. Jake is aware of the false friendship but he is not necessarily aware of why he stays friends with Cohn. Jakes friendships are mainly to pass time. And while there is a notion of mutual insecurity and codependence with the relationship it is Jake that listens to Cohn and narrates about Cohn. Jakes doesn’t share his emotions with people in order to make them dependent on him for emotional support. Whilst he prevents himself from caring and becoming emotional attached to Cohn, his role as the listener gives him self a sense of usefulness which compensates for his injury. But his emotional stifled emotional connection is shown through Cohn’s description. I found an article by Arthur Scott called "In defense of Robert Cohn"(http://www.jstor.org/pss/372053) and he says that part of the reason why people tend to dislike cohn is becuase he is an "out of step outsider" who no one likes, and readers are embarrassed to like him. i think that is understandable Cohn is certianly more sentimental than jake their clearly not on the same page. But all of the characters are sort of "outsiders" they dont really connect with one another, sentimentality is what they are missing and it is what cohn has plenty of, regardless if it is foolish or not. Cohn tries really hard to get into Jake's inner circle but really there isnt much friendship in this exclusive ring. In our class discussion we tried to look at which characters are stronger than others. I’m not sure which character has a stronger character Jake or Cohn, but I'm not sure if that’s really a necessary judgment or an accurate one. They both mirror each other they both have masculinity issues and poor relations with others. I don’t think this book is a bout whose the stronger character, all of them are the lost generation and all of them are miserable in some way or another. There doesn’t seem to be one totally dominant successful character in the book, there isn’t a “Rosalind or Orlando” no heroes in this novel, no character is really better than or victorious over another, the characters are just in stalemate. Think whilst portraying Cohn as a manipulated insecure man he reveals his own cynical nature that masks his own sense of masculinity. His emotional angst and sense of uselessness come out in his relations with other people he cant separate his social relations from his emotions. He like all the other characters is part of the lost generation, they are all swamped with notions of insecurity and inadequacy and this causes them to be aimless and afraid to connect with one another. Part of belonging to the lost generation means not being connected to those around you because you despite being in the same situation. Because of the fear and insecurity you constantly compare yourselves to others and see your own issues thus you cast your self out of every one else but still are afraid to confront yourselves. It’s almost a platonic relationship with your self and others. You float in between your self and real relationships with others but, never really arrive in either, no clarity.