Gcatron

The theme of age has come up again as chapter sixteen begins. Jacob realizes he was talking out loud when he dozed off and the nurse might have heard him. He tell Rosemary is senility scares him and she comforts him. I think that Jacob is scared of dying because he has valued his life experiences so much. This is evident because when the other man says he brought water for elephants, Jacob was so offended. When the story progresses Gruen makes a further connection between Rosie the elephant and Marlena. As August takes out the stolen lemonade on Rosie, Marlena shrieks with fear at Rosie's fate. One of them experiences a cause but both feel the effect. Then Jacob speaks Polish to Rosie, the language that Marlena thought sounded beautiful. Rosie suddenly reacts to the commands unlike any of the commands she has been ordered. As the connection is made between Rosie and Jacob, Jacob ignites one between himself and Marlena. But, when Jacob is finally advised by a priest when he confesses his love for a married woman, August snaps and accuses him of "doing his wife". A fight ensued and both August and Jacob turn out beaten to a pulp. I think this showed the metaphorical fight between the higher class and the lower class. Also, my belief that Walter is the conscience of Jacob is strengthened when he tell Jacob to walk away from the fight. Walter is such a good influence and I think he is what's keeping Jacob in line. Marlena vows to break from August and moves into the city hotel; this is showing that Marlena the moral figure of desire has broken from the clutches of the evil that is August.

            I predict that either August or Marlena is going to be murdered because August screams "Till death do us part" as Marlena walks away. This has to be foreshadowing because the review on the back says it's a tale of "...murder..." and it is yet to happen so it would make the most sense. I love the build up of tension and anxiety. It is so well express by Gruen, and despite the fact that she splits the tension using his juxtaposed senile memoirs; it stays strong and effects your interpretations. I can tell that something is going to happen in the future that will turn the book around. Jacob and Marlena have sex at the end of Chapter 20 and he describes their love. This has set him up to lose Marlena in the future and it will cause him great pain.

Kinko, the hostile clown roommate of Jacob's finally makes an attempt to get to know Jacob. He creates a bond when he tells Jacob to call him Walter, something that Jacob knows he only allows from his revered friends. Jacob also furthers his relationship with Marlena and August by going dancing in one of their destination cities. As a speak-easy the club gets raided and the horrified August gets separated from both of them. This female relationship topic rears its head once again when Jacob shockingly kisses Marlena to her horror. His horrible relationships with women are personified in Marlena's character who later reveals she has possible feelings to Jacob but is quite frightened at the possibility. After the incident, it is revealed that Walter is in fact the human version of Jacob's conscience advising him in the matter of Marlene.

            Rosie (who im starting to realize has the same name as Jacob's favorite retirement home nurse) is the next thing on Augusts mind. As Marlena strays from August, it seems that Rosie is becoming more of a problem. She acts like a unique show bull in front of crowds but when alone with August acts as though she is not trained. Jacob theorizes that she is not as dumb as all the roustabouts think. In Chapter twelve we see how the show is actually performed. I think that this is important because we see that all this social division comes to work together like a well greased engine. Maybe it is Greun's way of saying despite divisions, society is able to function.

            Gruen reverts the narration back to when Jacob is in the retirement home. He starts to make metaphors about his old age and says that as you age, reality dims and you start to make lies that you yourself believe. I also start to notice that his relationship with Rosemary is beneficial to Jacob. He is still learning about himself from Rosemary, as he is learning from Rosie?

            We return to the circus days and Jacob asks what is role is in the circus, is he a performer or a worker? No one is really able to answer since he is just a veterinarian. This shows that he is blending the lines of society by hanging with the working men while also spending time the performers like August and Marlena. Marlena has become the subject of Jacob's fantasies, his dreams and his heart. Their relationship gets more awkward by the day as they discuss their possible love (she's married to August Oh No!).

            I think the thematic topics will include social division, love, conscience, humanity, and youth. This book seems to be screaming many things about society but im not always picking it up. Social critique is the key in this book and I think it is unique how she used the circus to express it. Her ability to set each character apart in their influence on Jacob is more than curious. I can't pinpoint how she is able to separate the character of each...character in your head so well. This book is entertaining and it used the phrase ‘arms akimbo' which we talked about in English today.

Right away we meet Vladek, Mala, and Artie. We also hear very quickly of Anja who the book is also dedicated to. My conflict with Vladek is that he seems so stuborn because he fights with Mala but at the same time we know he was suffering in the holocaust. Artie is very much so like a journalist always putting Vladek back on track of his stories as Vladek strays. Art Spiegelman uses the animals in sort of a food chain style. The Jews are the mice, and the Nazis are the cats, cats obviously eat mice so it makes sense that he would use this metaphor. THe Poles are portrayed as pigs, and sean and I have made a prediction that Americans, if the story features any will be dogs because the relationship between cats and dogs. Is that saying we are better than everyone else? I dont mean that but its just a prediciton. I think that the pigs are used as mediary. Pigs are not hunted by cats, but cats are treated a lot better then pigs in real life. When anja comes into the story it is interesting how Spiegelman makes her so lovable and petit. Vladek as a young man describes his situations with Cecelia. Cecelia does some not so nice things like the letter about the horrible things Vladek does. I think she is used to cause a transfer from Vladek's sad life in Poland to his happy life with Anja. His descriptions of the camps are so docile and mellow. He doesnt make them as intense as I thought he would. Even the part where he describes the shooting of the first party, the description is mute and you don't get feeling out of it. SOme important tools I have seen so far are the font and sizing of the letters. The borders have also played a large role in movement and place in time. The shading gives a higher intensity while light airy white coloring sets a somber mood. THe story seems to have ended alreayd now that he has gotten out of the camps. I am interested to see what Spiegelman does with the rest of book.

         As Chapter six begins Jacob, who has become the new Benzini Brother's veterinarian, informs Marlena that her prize horse Silver Star needs to be put down. I think this is the point at which Marlena has changed. She had finally made good friends with Jacob (also a first with Jacob if you remember his relationships with women) and she seems to be a separate person from August finally. As he makes his connections within the circus Gruen makes the connections with each circus member. Uncle Al, the ringleader to say the least says that he craves born freaks. This ensues that all the circus performers are abnormal. This also suggests that Jacob himself is an abnormal which makes sense with the direction his life is going. Among the abnormal is the animal performance coordinator August. Jacob knows his well as Marlena's husband but he is beginning to stray the boundary of social class by making friends with him. When Jacob returns from a party with August and Marlena, Kinko, his clown roommate says, "You wasted no time integrating yourself, did you?" But August is not just the ticket to a good life for Jacob, he is also a case of interest. Earlier, August had Jacob feed the cats (lions) which was incredibly dangerous. Everyone tells Jacob that it was foolish but they are not surprised August did such a thing. People keeps saying that August has "his moments" but no one has yet to explain that. I think August is going to be an important character throughout the book, maybe to represent the wealthy or powerful. As the chapters progress August becomes more controlling of Jacob and it makes him sick.

            We learn in chapter eight what it feel like to be elderly. Jacob describes his five kids and wife and how he arrives in the old people's home. Gruen makes you feel so bad for the guy. He comes off so misrepresented as this invalid malcontent. At the same time, because it is from his perspective, he provides a lot of human analysis so you can detect his intelligence. He also always says "I'm not ready to be old yet" and "I cant find myself anymore, when did I stop being me?".

            Finally, the elephant has come into the picture. Uncle Al pawns an elephant off of a broken down circus and presents it to August and Marlena. The elephants disappoint August and Marlena for a reason unknown to me and Gruen describes the elephant as the color of storm clouds. The elephant is gentle but smiles only when Marlena and Jacob are together. Infact when Rosie is whipped into the rail car by August Marlena cries. It seems that when Rosie hurts so does Marlena.

Hemingway hints the ability of a writer to keep plot a mystery. The reader can always guess that some conclusions or resolutions but sometimes it is not definite or there might not be a true answer. He says that it was true writers do and it is useful because it keep the imagination flowing. The opinion is always valid and there really is no true answer. He also writes that as one reads more, you get closer to that answer. This makes sense of course because as you read further the plot should develop and thicken. You can also see new things every time you re-read something. I think that is a special quality because that is what gets you to think more about the book. I could use this in my writing with plot development because it can be a trick for the reader to keep reading or read again. That is what can make a book interesting and usually it keeps readers talking about it together just like we are now.

 Re-read chapter 1
What are themes and idea that come out in the first chaprter.
-Its hard to say at the moment and I feel like it probably shouldnt be but i guess you could say that an idea of this book is that such hard fighting is going on in such a nice place. It showed how peaceful things are but it also showed the trucks black with rain as though he hinted some death was going to go on later with these trucks (which they rode on in the retreat).
How have they continued in the novel.
The idea of this rain being black and deadly has seemed to appear much throughout it. You can also see that the this once peaceful beautiful land has not become a deadly war zone. All has gone to hell in this place and I really cant think of anything besides that.

    Hemingway and his writing is profound in his accuracy to true life. His goal is to figure out what writing is the most appealing and apply it to his style. I ahte to use this phrase but i think that the ability to relate to the reader is important to him. I know that is one of the most over used phrases in the history of writing, but it overall defines his style. By using true life accounts, it is automatically going to translate into reality, in my theory. To make a scene live is in my head the point of writing. To emphasize an idea to the point where it seems real is something most writers seem to strive for (so far in realism and modernism). As I had said yesterday, Hemingway being an amazing writier, we can obviously take a few pointers from him, but i think its our responsibility to not just copy that technique but to make it our own. He says that all things real arnt beautiful, and I think that is what you need to make a book good. It cant be nothing but bad or only good, but it is important to have both. This could help my writing because it will force to make my writing beleivable. It teaches to use, good and bad, and apply it to make a scene real, whether its a story ot even just an analytical paragraph.

Poem 1
1st: I feel like Dickenson is discussing individuality in this small poem. She seems to be saying that if you follow the lead of others, you are considered sane but if you stray, you are considered a threat. She seemed to treat this with a powerful tone. It seems almost demanding using such punctuation. The short length of each phrase must be what gave it such a demanding tone, once chance to understand or you don't. I felt confused at first. I'm still shaky about what the first couple lines mean but I think its interesting that this topic was discussed even back in the 1800s. I would like to no what this means: " Much Madness is divinest Sense -- / To a discerning Eye --"

2nd: I feel that the first couple lines make more sense. To an observant person, madness seems to be associated with having a sense and society will punish you for it. SO, fi you recognize the madness, you are madness. I see the meaning in seeing madness is madness in lines 1-4, then I see that individuality is scorned by society in lines 5-8.

Poem 2
1st: Oh this is slightly confusing at first. THe central idea, it must have to do with either replacement or what happens after death. I'm trying to relate the fly to something but it just isnt clicking. If only I knew what the topic was, I feel like she seems taken advantage of just by her word choice like "signed away". I feel that this poem has a much deeper meaning from the first, and i am anxious to read it a second time! I would like to know what the buzz and fly refers to more than anything else.

2nd: I barley got any meaning out of this but I can tell for sure that this is about the death of the narrator and the creation of some sort of will. Most of the rest of the poem is unclear, for example the meaning of the king, fly, bussing and light. I think it expresses in line 1 and 9, that her death and identity got signed away for anyone to access, maybe specifically the king.