“Paycheck”, by Phillip K Dick, was a pretty interesting short story. It was somewhat of a mystery, but a thriller as well. Overall, I think there a couple major themes integrated into this piece of literature, but one theme seemed to dominate the story. So, I picked out a couple passages that demonstrated that select idea. The first excerpt is from page 26, and says the following:
“When an individual person was defenseless, a business was not. The big economic forces had managed to remain free, although virtually everything else had been absorbed by the Government.”
The second excerpt is from page 33: “As far as I’m concerned, I’m an individual caught between two ruthless forces: government and business.”
And the final excerpt, which is somewhat long, is from pages 51 and 53: “An individual has no place to turn to, anymore. No one to help him. He’s caught between two ruthless forces, a pawn between political and economic powers. People can’t live this way, tossed back and forth by political and economic powers. Masses of people shoved this way and that according to the needs of this government or that cartel. There’s gong to be resistance, someday. Not by big people, powerful people, but by little people.”
I think these quotes relay a powerful, major theme, which is that a citizen in today’s day and age is trapped, theoretically. We are trapped between the power and control of the government, as well as the regulations of large corporations in the world. It is almost impossible to stand alone on your own accord. In this story, Jennings is literally in conflict with the two ends of the spectrum (the government police force and the Rethrick company), but I believe this is meant to be interpreted as more than the actual conflict in the piece. I believe Jennings is an example of someone in today’s society, in which one is looking for safety and feels as if turning to one of these havens would be smart, but it turns out it isn’t, because both government and big business are becoming hurtful. And then finally, referring to the final quote I listed, I believe people are eventually going to realize this and fight back, rebel, create a resistance. This idea has been proposed before, such as in John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, in which the idea that people have the right to dissolve their government if it does not work solely in their best interest. I believe that “Paycheck” is also driving home this idea as well.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Blog Post #11 - "The Garden of Forking Paths"
“The Garden of Forking Paths”, by Jorge Luis Borges, was pretty interesting to me. As I was reading, I found myself to be confused for the most part, but I was able to piece together some information and form a general idea of what was going on. At the end of the piece, however, I got some closure, and kind of summed it all up. From what I gathered, the narrator had to let Berlin know the name of the “secret city” they must attack, and the narrator felt the only way to do so was to murder a man whose name was the name of desired city. In doing so, however, the narrator seemed to get close to this man because he owned and had studied the riddle that the narrator’s ancestor had written. Together, these two find meaning in the riddle, and it opens up new ideas to the narrator.
I did pick out a section that I found “significant”, if you will. It’s on the bottom of the second page. It doesn’t really correspond to what I have previously spoke of, but oh well.
“I told myself that the duel had already begun and that I had won the first encounter by frustrating, even if for forty minutes, even if by a stroke of fate, the attack of my adversary. I argued that this slightest of victories foreshadowed a total victory.”
I believe this is alluding to when the narrator first narrowly escapes being seen by Madden. But, in a broader sense, I feel this passage can apply to any person reading this piece of literature. If you feel you’ve won even the littlest battle, you can feel as if you can assure overall victory. This may not be too significant in relation to this story, but it stuck out to me while reading.
I did pick out a section that I found “significant”, if you will. It’s on the bottom of the second page. It doesn’t really correspond to what I have previously spoke of, but oh well.
“I told myself that the duel had already begun and that I had won the first encounter by frustrating, even if for forty minutes, even if by a stroke of fate, the attack of my adversary. I argued that this slightest of victories foreshadowed a total victory.”
I believe this is alluding to when the narrator first narrowly escapes being seen by Madden. But, in a broader sense, I feel this passage can apply to any person reading this piece of literature. If you feel you’ve won even the littlest battle, you can feel as if you can assure overall victory. This may not be too significant in relation to this story, but it stuck out to me while reading.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Blog Post #10 - Change
Blog Post #10
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through Act IV of The Crucible. It was very entertaining and made me want to continue reading. There were a couple sections of the text that I found significant; one more than the other, but both interesting in my opinion. The first excerpt is on page 96, when the people of the court are speaking of the poppets that may or may not have been in the Proctor’s home.
Parris: Why could there not have been poppets hid where no one ever saw them?
Proctor: There might also be a dragon with five legs in my house, but no one has ever seen it.
Parris: We are here, Your Honor, precisely to discover what no one has ever seen.
When I was reading, this section struck me as interesting. Everyone is arguing about the witchcraft objects, poppets; a small, tangible object that is considered during the trial. But, the line that Parris says, about how everyone is there to discover what no one has ever seen, stuck out to me. He’s speaking about the whole witchcraft idea, and is relating a small idea to the grand scheme of everything. It may be miniscule, but I found it interesting.
The next passage is at the end of Act IV, on page 110, when Mary Warren, exposes Proctor to the court and tells that he is, in fact, in contact with the devil. While I was reading, this came as a huge shock. In my head, I was visualizing the court room in my head, and when I read this, I could totally envision it. This information really changes the play, and really makes me want to finish this piece of literature.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through Act IV of The Crucible. It was very entertaining and made me want to continue reading. There were a couple sections of the text that I found significant; one more than the other, but both interesting in my opinion. The first excerpt is on page 96, when the people of the court are speaking of the poppets that may or may not have been in the Proctor’s home.
Parris: Why could there not have been poppets hid where no one ever saw them?
Proctor: There might also be a dragon with five legs in my house, but no one has ever seen it.
Parris: We are here, Your Honor, precisely to discover what no one has ever seen.
When I was reading, this section struck me as interesting. Everyone is arguing about the witchcraft objects, poppets; a small, tangible object that is considered during the trial. But, the line that Parris says, about how everyone is there to discover what no one has ever seen, stuck out to me. He’s speaking about the whole witchcraft idea, and is relating a small idea to the grand scheme of everything. It may be miniscule, but I found it interesting.
The next passage is at the end of Act IV, on page 110, when Mary Warren, exposes Proctor to the court and tells that he is, in fact, in contact with the devil. While I was reading, this came as a huge shock. In my head, I was visualizing the court room in my head, and when I read this, I could totally envision it. This information really changes the play, and really makes me want to finish this piece of literature.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Blog Post #9 - Paranoia
Blog Post #9
So, somehow, I totally forgot to write my blog post last Thursday. I’m hoping this isn’t too late.
Compared to The Crying of Lot 49, The Crucible, in my opinion, is a much better and easy to read book. I used to find myself drudging through The Crying of Lot 49, but with The Crucible, I am flying through pages and enjoying the book quite a bit. The only gripe I have, so far, is all the different characters. I believe we’ve been introduced to most of them, which is good, but as of now, I’m still having to go back and re-read certain passages to refresh my memory. It’s not too bad, however, and it’s getting easier.
A passage that I found interesting, or significant, was on pages 61 through 64. We actually spoke about it in class, but I meant to write about before our class. Anyway, this passage is where Hale comes to visit Proctor and Elizabeth, and questions them about a few things to prove their innocence. I think this passage is pretty significant, mainly because it shows to what extent the people of Salem went to in order to find out who was practicing witchcraft. The questions Hale asks, such as why the couple doesn’t attend church that often, why only two of their three boys are baptized, or if Proctor knows all the Ten Commandments, just prove how serious these people are. It proves the idea of paranoia that we spoke of in class; the people of Salem were paranoid when it came to witchcraft, and this passage shows how the process of finding people guilty or innocent sat on that same line of paranoia and insanity.
So, somehow, I totally forgot to write my blog post last Thursday. I’m hoping this isn’t too late.
Compared to The Crying of Lot 49, The Crucible, in my opinion, is a much better and easy to read book. I used to find myself drudging through The Crying of Lot 49, but with The Crucible, I am flying through pages and enjoying the book quite a bit. The only gripe I have, so far, is all the different characters. I believe we’ve been introduced to most of them, which is good, but as of now, I’m still having to go back and re-read certain passages to refresh my memory. It’s not too bad, however, and it’s getting easier.
A passage that I found interesting, or significant, was on pages 61 through 64. We actually spoke about it in class, but I meant to write about before our class. Anyway, this passage is where Hale comes to visit Proctor and Elizabeth, and questions them about a few things to prove their innocence. I think this passage is pretty significant, mainly because it shows to what extent the people of Salem went to in order to find out who was practicing witchcraft. The questions Hale asks, such as why the couple doesn’t attend church that often, why only two of their three boys are baptized, or if Proctor knows all the Ten Commandments, just prove how serious these people are. It proves the idea of paranoia that we spoke of in class; the people of Salem were paranoid when it came to witchcraft, and this passage shows how the process of finding people guilty or innocent sat on that same line of paranoia and insanity.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Blog Post #8
Blog Post #8
Dana Watson
As I was finishing up The Crying of Lot 49, I came across a passage that seemed almost identical to a movie I have seen pretty recently. The passage is on pages 91 through 94, and explains how the founder of the W.A.S.T.E. almost took his life, but then decided not to. Then, towards the end of the excerpt, it tells about how the man will found a society of isolates, dedicated to swear off love. Well, this passage closely resembles the movie Wristcutters: A Love Story. In this movie, the plot resembles around characters who all commit suicide in the real world. After taking their life, rather than going to heaven or hell, they are taken to a new, desolate place and start a whole new life with others who have killed themselves. Also, in this new society they are apart of, emotions are not allowed; they cannot smile at all.
As I was reading, I pieced together quite a lot of similarities between the book and the movie. In both, those who are suicidal only want to be surrounded and contact by those who have the same thoughts and feelings as themselves (letters to the founder of WASTE and the “society of isolates”, as well as the suicidal community in Wristcutters). Also, both instances are void of any emotion. In the book, the founder wants a society of isolates that swear off love, whereas in the movie, emotions are forbidden.
Now, I’m guessing The Crying of Lot 49 and Wristcutters: A Love Story have no bearing on each other at all, but I just found the similarities to be quite interesting.
Dana Watson
As I was finishing up The Crying of Lot 49, I came across a passage that seemed almost identical to a movie I have seen pretty recently. The passage is on pages 91 through 94, and explains how the founder of the W.A.S.T.E. almost took his life, but then decided not to. Then, towards the end of the excerpt, it tells about how the man will found a society of isolates, dedicated to swear off love. Well, this passage closely resembles the movie Wristcutters: A Love Story. In this movie, the plot resembles around characters who all commit suicide in the real world. After taking their life, rather than going to heaven or hell, they are taken to a new, desolate place and start a whole new life with others who have killed themselves. Also, in this new society they are apart of, emotions are not allowed; they cannot smile at all.
As I was reading, I pieced together quite a lot of similarities between the book and the movie. In both, those who are suicidal only want to be surrounded and contact by those who have the same thoughts and feelings as themselves (letters to the founder of WASTE and the “society of isolates”, as well as the suicidal community in Wristcutters). Also, both instances are void of any emotion. In the book, the founder wants a society of isolates that swear off love, whereas in the movie, emotions are forbidden.
Now, I’m guessing The Crying of Lot 49 and Wristcutters: A Love Story have no bearing on each other at all, but I just found the similarities to be quite interesting.
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