V for Vendetta

Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s V for Vendetta depicts how a fascist government slowly collapses due to terrorist attacks done by a man known as V. He is the mastermind behind all the destructions of threats and murders, which would later destroy and overthrow the unjust government out of its reign. The actions that V takes are for a reason and that very reason is revenge. When I first read this book I was confused on who the main character was, I was not sure whether he is one of the good people or the villain. His actions led me to think that he was a villain because he killed so many people. The way that the novel presents resistance and revolution to change society is morally wrong. The novel shows all the actions that V takes in killing several people for revenge. The people that he had killed were the same people who worked for this concentration camp where he was once a prisoner. Although V had the right intentions, his way of carrying out his revenge was wrong and inappropriate. In one of the scenes, V used an innocent girl, Evey as bait in his plan to murder the bishop. The bishop’s death does not change society. What would change society is the concept of his other actions that may encourage others to rise up against the government in order to regain the liberty they once had. V regularly used violence in order to bring out change, but violence is not always the answer because it would not solve the problems already existed.

The passage that shows how graphic novels are effective is in Book 1, Chapter 11 where the investigators are going through Doctor Delia’s diary. Her diary shows many incidents and events happening during her stay at the concentration camp in Larkhill. Although this is a comic book, the details in the pictures show more detail and gives a better in depth, clear understanding of what is going on. Since words can only cover so much information, looking at the pictures will show more detail. This scene gives more background information about V and thus making it easier to understand where he came from and what his purpose is. V’s escape was the most memorable one due to all the destruction and chaos going on. There were flames everywhere and people running in every direction trying to save themselves was mortifying. Then, near the ending there is V with his back towards the flames, this was symbolic because it represented that he was a man of destruction.

Historical Literature

      Franco Moretti's article, "Graphs, Maps, Trees," shows the benefits along with the drawbacks of the approaches of literature. The approaches are the different ways that literature can be established and viewed. He uses graphs to show the correlation of a quality between the different years. In addition, Moretti touches on the topics of novels and their prices, the different genres mentioned (epistolary, gothic, historical, etc.), and preferences that different genders might attribute to in the history of the novel.

      Moretti displays hard evidence in his writing where he shows graphs and maps. This is where his evidence comes into play and the statements he makes, he can prove. Literature can interpret as a historical phenomenon dealing with issues such as lifespan and politics. For instance, an issue was debated about the duration of time that a certain genre was "in" that points out the question, "why so short-lived?...because of politics again" (pg 84). Politics had seized the existence of it causing it to diminish and decrease in lifespan. History in terms had greatly influenced the whole purpose of how the advances of literature changed over time. Based on our knowledge and clear understanding, we can conclude that as time progresses, there are different aspects that influence the rate at the graphs showing the different genres range.  

      I believe that the drawback of this approach to literature is the aspect that it is not entirely a formal way of writing or a piece of evident work. In addition, the downside would be if a certain category in literature would survive. An example would be any chosen genre. The only way to keep a genre alive is when people keep reading it continuously because "Books survive if they are read and disappear if they aren't" (pg 82) due to lack of interest.

      I propose that the other interdisciplinary projects can combine with literature in a way where it can pronounce the meaning it has such as how to read a chart or the graphs and maps mentioned. The trees in this aspect would be the material used to make the maps and graphs that one uses for his or her own gain and purposes.

      Gary Shteyngart's SSTLS does in fact approach to the fact where history deeply embeds in the story as a whole. The act of reading was different in the story. People would "read" a text by scanning it for information. Most of the conversations done are by verballing to each other through the apparats. In literature, texts are suppose to be read and analyzed by the reader based on his or her own way of understanding the text that they have engaged in.

Are You My Butterfly?

The film, "M. Butterfly" deals significantly with the themes of the issues of gender, ethnicity, politics, and the history of arts. All of these themes are quite relevant in the story as a whole they are pieces that fit together perfectly to create this one masterpiece.

The gender roles portrayed in this film show the differentiation between men and women. It depicts that men are the breadwinners who go for the things they want. In this film, Rene was the man who held a steady job and went after what he wanted, such as Butterfly. Although this action was morally wrong, and that Rene was as married man, it did not stop him from finding true love. Song Liling, on the other hand who played the role of the woman known as Butterfly, was trying to stay pure in the beginning and keeping "her clothes on" and not showing any parts of "her" body. She had to be fully covered and that was how women were supposed to be.

Ethnicity is quite controversial and can be depicted in the film where in society, the white race is seen as more supreme over all else. It is more dominant and seen to be the one holding down all other forces and it is the one race to have all the power. In a way, this evidently relates to the political aspect of this film.

Politically, this deals with the fact that the whites are stronger and that they have a more powerful force. It has been this way for the longest time. Thus, society accepted the fact that they are the more dominant race. The film shows that in Beijing, the French has taken control over some areas and are using its forces to control all else. The most political part in this film would be all the times that the French diplomat, Rene, gave important pieces of information to the Chinese espionage know as Jeanette (Butterfly). Rene unconsciously convicts treason and goes to prison.

The history of art in this film is the opera "Madame Butterfly" that tells a story about a Japanese woman falling for the white man who later abandons her. This causes her to kill herself from all the pain and despair that he had caused. The twist was that at the end of the film, Rene dresses himself like a Japanese woman and commits suicide with a dagger. He was the Madam Butterfly in this round and decided to die because he has lost his lover.

The Many Things that Come with Love

 Romance is one of the themes associated in Gary Shteyngart’s novel, Super Sad True Love Story. It is about the growing love between two individuals and the extremities that one would go through for their significant other.

An example would be the part where Lenny was hanging out with his friends and they were streaming the emotions that he had for Eunice, the girl he fell in love with. Lenny “started to blabber about how much she meant to [him]” (p. 93) and started talking about how they hung out and of how she paid attention to him. This shows the qualities that he finds in a girl. Judging by what he says, one can tell that Lenny is a man of affection. He wants someone who would listen to everything he has to say and just be there for him whenever he needs her.

This passage shows the love that Lenny has for Eunice where he starts talking to himself, and making a mental note that he is “not going to screw this up… [he had] been given a chance to help the most beautiful woman in the world,” and the fact that he could “show her that adult love can overcome childhood pain” (p. 100). He wanted everything to be perfect so that she would love him the way he loved her. Lenny wanted to be everything he could be for this woman and he wants to prove this to her so she could overcome her pain and accept the love that he has to offer. This shows that people who are deeply in love with someone would do anything for that person because they would want that other person to feel happy.

Finally yet importantly, in the passage that says, “You’re really hurting me Grace…How can you judge her so quickly? How can you judge us?” (p. 163) shows the effort Lenny has put into defending Eunice. He went from questioning Grace on how she was able to judge Eunice then he added in the world “us” which shows the linkage he had made by being with his love. That word unifies the two and this implies that he is willing to defend her no matter what and that he would not put up with people whom do not accept the love between them.

                                                                                                  

The Meaning Behind Machines of Loving Grace

Brautigan’s Poem, “All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace” has a negative tone and message. In the beginning of each stanza are words in parentheses that show the sarcasm used. This implies that the follow messages after every stanza are false showing that Brautigan is against technology. The message in the parentheses are enough to show what the poet really means through his use of sarcastic demands such as “right now, please!”, “it has to be!”, and “the sooner the better!” Both the exclamation marks and the parentheses interrupt the flow of the poem making them seem like outcasts that do not belong to begin with. I believe that although this poem may seem harmless, I see it as a warning that technology would soon take over.

This poem demonstrates qualities of pro-technology. There are several scenes where it shows how nature and technology can coexist harmoniously. The line “where deer stroll peacefully past computers,” show how naturally both can exist in each other’s presence without disturbance. This may be symbolic for the fact that technology can be beneficial to nature and thus create some kind of utopia. It would be a positive change that even nature would learn to cope with it.

I believe that even though this poem can also be seen as pro-technology, I see it more as anti-technology by the way this was initially written. Although it may be a good thing that “we are free of our labors,” the lines that say we can return “to our mammal brothers and sisters” imply that we are savages and technology may surpass us. The lines, “programming harmony,” sound as though harmony does not exist and that we have to program it. If computers were to program harmony, then it would seem pretentious. Computers do not have feelings and therefore it is highly impossible for it to program harmony or any other natural state of ease. The title “All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace” sounds odd in a way where it seems like the machines are the all mighty and powerful source. The part where it says “All Watched Over By Machines” made it seem as though the machines are Gods that can see our every move. This is scary because that would mean that we live in a world without privacy.

The Lovely Design of Doom

A fat and white spider

A white moth

White piece of rigid satin cloth

Dead wings

Paper kites

Heal-all

Design of darkness

Witches’ broth

Snow-drop spider

Robert Frost’s poem, “Design,” tells a story about the circle of life. The dimpled spider on white heal-all catches its prey, the white moth. The adjectives fat and white describe what the spider looks like. The word fat showed that the spider feeds well in order to sustain life and satisfy its hunger. The line that says “like a white piece of rigid satin cloth” does not make any sense because satin cloths cannot be rigid which makes this sentence abstract and incoherent, but it does describe the moth.

 Death is definitely described in this poem in the line “death and blight” that compare with the “ingredients in a witches’ broth.” Witches are a negative aspect and death and blight, a plant disease, become mixed into this shows how deadly situation can be for the moth. Frost used the color white to describe the two most important creatures in this poem, the white spider along with the white moth. White is usually symbolic for innocence which this poem does not show by having nature take place and showing how the circle of life works.

The beginning of the second stanza asked why the flower was white when the color white usually meant purity and perfection when that very flower allowed the white spider to sit there and be hidden, waiting for an insect to pass by and fall into the trap that leads to the kill. Towards the ending of the second stanza, the poem showed how even the most beautiful thing can be deadly. The design that the spider created was as trap in which the moth falls prey. It is just nature and natural for the little spider to create such a huge design that “govern in a thing so small” so the spider can live and feed itself. That is just how nature works. The living creatures are either on the top or on the bottom of the food chain. In order to survive, the creatures must kill to nourish their own bodies to live. Nature does not have sides, it just either benefits one or the other. The spider having to be white was able to use the white flower as its advantage to camouflage itself so others would not see it.

Trip to a Different World

Have you ever wanted to go on a trip right away just to escape all the troubles and worries you might be having or feel like your life is not as exciting when compared to others around you? Sometimes I feel this way and in order to escape this feeling of despair and boredom, I would open up a book and start to read. Reading is like a movie in your head. The words in the books I read transforms into motion pictures in my mind. Every book has its own story that one would feel as though he or she is apart of. The book I recently read was The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks in which I was taken into a completely new world. I felt as if I was the main character, Ronnie, who had to make all the decisions she had to face. In general, it is just simply amazing reading about the characters living in different lives compared to my own. They have their own situations and decisions to make that all vary according to the books.

I believe that reading in general is very important. Reading can help increase the vocabulary that people use and it allows people to learn more about things that they did not take note of beforehand. Knowledge expands in the minds of many and this process is due from taking time in one’s life to just simply open up a book of their choice and start reading. That way, people can just let their minds wander and have their imagination take over. This is also another way to relax and escape reality for a while.

I chose this title because that is how I see it. If one wants to take a trip to a different world that he or she is unfamiliar to then by all means, open up a book and start to read. When people read, they are taking trips to different worlds that they are not use to in their average, daily lives.