"Maybe he will feel it too. Maybe it will even change him now from what maybe he couldn’t help but be."
To me, this moment is important because it showcases the internal conflict that the son goes through. He has this thought upon seeing how nice the new house it is compared to the other dozen before and hopes his father will realize how fortunate they are to be working there. This coming of age type moment shows that he doesn't believe what his father has done is right and even wishes better for him. But, as we learn by the end of the story, the true coming of age for the son is the realization that not all people can or will change and that family or not, what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong.
If the son would not of ran up to the house to tell them about the barn, how much longer do you think the father could of kept his barn burning ways up?
Monday, April 9, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
"She came to touch her hand on his face. 'Son,' she said, 'We love you. Remember that. We all love you. No matter how different you are, no matter if you leave us one day.' She kissed his cheek. 'And if and when you die, your bones will lie undisturbed, we'll see to that. You'll lie at ease forever, and I'll come visit every Allhallows Eve and tuck you in the more secure.'" (66)
Timothy is struggling with many of his flaws as seen by the others and himself. The most frightening one that he is forced to deal with may be the possibility that he is destined to die due to these differences or lack of being a vampire at all arguably. He ponders the possibility that he may not be alive at their next time of gathering. His realization that he is the one who is normal in a family of vampires which makes him the outcast or imperfect one. His family shows love for him despite his differences but his feelings overshadow this as he feels he cannot be loved by them because he is not like them. Even his fear of the dark was one of many differences from a family that he tried so hard to be a part of but realizes he will never truly be able to be a part of.
Will Timothy ever be able to live his life with satisfaction as he grows into adulthood or will he be doomed to live the remainder of his short life under a dark cloud of disappointment due to his imperfection and certain death?
Timothy is struggling with many of his flaws as seen by the others and himself. The most frightening one that he is forced to deal with may be the possibility that he is destined to die due to these differences or lack of being a vampire at all arguably. He ponders the possibility that he may not be alive at their next time of gathering. His realization that he is the one who is normal in a family of vampires which makes him the outcast or imperfect one. His family shows love for him despite his differences but his feelings overshadow this as he feels he cannot be loved by them because he is not like them. Even his fear of the dark was one of many differences from a family that he tried so hard to be a part of but realizes he will never truly be able to be a part of.
Will Timothy ever be able to live his life with satisfaction as he grows into adulthood or will he be doomed to live the remainder of his short life under a dark cloud of disappointment due to his imperfection and certain death?
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
"Don't feel badly, Nephew Timothy. Each to his own, each in his own way." (65)
I think this moment is particularly important giving the broad theme of coming of age. Timothy, who is fourteen is endlessly seeking belonging from his family. But, they just brush him off to the side because he is quite different from them. This undoubtedly intensifies his need to belong as it climaxes with him asking his sister Cecy to help him do something that will get everyone's attention. Specifically related to the theme of coming of age is Timothy's realization that he isn't like his family and he never will be.
Do you think the older Timothy gets the more accepted he will be by his family, or is he doomed to a life of alienation from the ones he cares about the most?
Little Vampire
"Oh, to have strong teeth, with incisors like steel spikes. Or strong hands, even, or a strong mind. Even to have the power to send one's mind out, free, as Cecy did. But, no, he was the imperfect one, the sick one. He was even--he shivered and drew the candle flame closer--afraid of the dark"(57)
In Ray Bradbury's short story "Homecoming"- 14 year old Timothy, sees what makes others so special but cannot see what makes him special. In this scene he compares himself to others and realizes differences between family. A theme of coming of age is tied as one can assume Timothy sees himself as imperfect and sick struggling to accept who he is. The moment distinguishes differences and presents itself as a challenge to Timothy's adulthood.
If Timothy wasn't afraid of dark would that have made any difference to how he sees himself? (imperfect)
In Ray Bradbury's short story "Homecoming"- 14 year old Timothy, sees what makes others so special but cannot see what makes him special. In this scene he compares himself to others and realizes differences between family. A theme of coming of age is tied as one can assume Timothy sees himself as imperfect and sick struggling to accept who he is. The moment distinguishes differences and presents itself as a challenge to Timothy's adulthood.
If Timothy wasn't afraid of dark would that have made any difference to how he sees himself? (imperfect)
Monday, April 2, 2012
Inevitable Punishment
"In much of my reading at this time in my early adolescence there was a terrible logic: something virulent and vengeful prepared to rise up in the night, beneath us as we slept, like an animated earthquake, to punish us. Why we were to be punished was not explained. Punishment was something that happened, and could not be averted. Punishment suggests a crime: but what is the crime? Born bad, it was said even of some individuals in Sparta" (119).
This quote is representative of the reasoning behind why Madelyn knows Mr. Carmichael will kill himself (page 135). Mr. Carmichael would inevitably be punished for his actions--the logic from Madelyn's reading gave her confidence that, no matter what, Carmichael would pay.
Do you think this is why Madelyn did not immediately tell anyone about what happened with Mr. Carmichael?
This quote is representative of the reasoning behind why Madelyn knows Mr. Carmichael will kill himself (page 135). Mr. Carmichael would inevitably be punished for his actions--the logic from Madelyn's reading gave her confidence that, no matter what, Carmichael would pay.
Do you think this is why Madelyn did not immediately tell anyone about what happened with Mr. Carmichael?
the journey
"So long I've been away. So long I've traveled, and so far." (107)
In Joyce Carol Oates' story "The Beating," Madelyn Fleet recounts her traumatic experience with her father's beating and her own sexual assault. At first when reading this quote, I didn't think much of it, but then going back, I realized she could have said this as a result of her return from her assault at Mr. Carmichael's house. She introduces her journey before it even happens, leading the reader to foreshadow the events to come. However, she does not give a clear indication of what happens at what time. Her errant thoughts link back her trauma, because after a person experiences something traumatic, everything sort of jumbles together in their memory. So, coming back to the hospital room after being sexually assaulted and then being asked to leave the hospital room could have happened within the same sphere of time. However, the quote does serve as an understatement to what happened to her. Since she did get sexually assaulted, it does not translate to going far away on a journey. It is more like setting out for an escape to then be kidnapped and brutally assaulted, but maybe to a fourteen year old, that is the only way to deal with things.
If this story is written in the future, giving the author time to recover, why are the events still mixed up? And why does she summarize the events so nonchalantly?
In Joyce Carol Oates' story "The Beating," Madelyn Fleet recounts her traumatic experience with her father's beating and her own sexual assault. At first when reading this quote, I didn't think much of it, but then going back, I realized she could have said this as a result of her return from her assault at Mr. Carmichael's house. She introduces her journey before it even happens, leading the reader to foreshadow the events to come. However, she does not give a clear indication of what happens at what time. Her errant thoughts link back her trauma, because after a person experiences something traumatic, everything sort of jumbles together in their memory. So, coming back to the hospital room after being sexually assaulted and then being asked to leave the hospital room could have happened within the same sphere of time. However, the quote does serve as an understatement to what happened to her. Since she did get sexually assaulted, it does not translate to going far away on a journey. It is more like setting out for an escape to then be kidnapped and brutally assaulted, but maybe to a fourteen year old, that is the only way to deal with things.
If this story is written in the future, giving the author time to recover, why are the events still mixed up? And why does she summarize the events so nonchalantly?
Blood Thick and Sticking
In William Faulkner's 1939 short story, "Barn Burning," what stood out to me was the way Faulkner used blood as both a theme for the story and a motif. Blood equals family loyalty (theme) and the word "blood" is used repeatedly throughout the story to represent the hopelessness, fear and grief felt by the main character, ten year old, Colonel Sartoris Snopes at the hands of the patriarch (motif).
The pyromaniac father, Abner Snopes, takes Sartoris out onto a road in the middle of the night and strikes him in the head while accusing him of thinking of betraying his family by telling the judge about his father's arson. "You were fixing to tell them. You would have told him...You're getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you" (8). This part of the story was particularly poignant to me. This could have been the "coming of age" father and son talk that usually begins with, "Son, you're getting to be a man...," a time in a boy's life when he should be provided with the tools he needs to have a successful future as a man. Instead, he is terrorized by his own father and what he learns is that he must stay within the bounds of his family or face the consequences of betrayal. Sartoris knows from experience the violence that emanates from his father.
Although Faulkner may be telling readers that not having "any blood to stick to you" is a reference to Sartoris losing his family, it also sounds like a veiled threat that Snopes will kill his son if he exposes his father's criminal activities. No wonder the motif of hopelessness, fear, and grief are so clear in the story. He has no role model, nothing to look forward to and no one to turn to in his darkest hours.
We know from reading the story that twenty years later Sartoris thinks about the things that transpired in his family. What we don't know is how his life really turned out. What do you think Sartoris' future held for him?
The pyromaniac father, Abner Snopes, takes Sartoris out onto a road in the middle of the night and strikes him in the head while accusing him of thinking of betraying his family by telling the judge about his father's arson. "You were fixing to tell them. You would have told him...You're getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you" (8). This part of the story was particularly poignant to me. This could have been the "coming of age" father and son talk that usually begins with, "Son, you're getting to be a man...," a time in a boy's life when he should be provided with the tools he needs to have a successful future as a man. Instead, he is terrorized by his own father and what he learns is that he must stay within the bounds of his family or face the consequences of betrayal. Sartoris knows from experience the violence that emanates from his father.
Although Faulkner may be telling readers that not having "any blood to stick to you" is a reference to Sartoris losing his family, it also sounds like a veiled threat that Snopes will kill his son if he exposes his father's criminal activities. No wonder the motif of hopelessness, fear, and grief are so clear in the story. He has no role model, nothing to look forward to and no one to turn to in his darkest hours.
We know from reading the story that twenty years later Sartoris thinks about the things that transpired in his family. What we don't know is how his life really turned out. What do you think Sartoris' future held for him?
Beauty and "The Beating"
"The house that looked ugly but dignified from the road looked, up close, only just ugly...the kind of house...in which, in a fairy tale, a troll would live" (128).
This is the description that Madelyn Fleet gives of her former math teacher's house to which he brings her for a clandestine and creepy rendezvous in Joyce Carol Oates's "The Beating." Immediately, this quote made me think of the story The Beauty and the Beast, in which a young woman is brought against her will to a monster's house where he is trying to recuperate from a terrible situation (i.e. being turned into a beast). Mr. Carmichael is dealing with the loss of his wife and young children--to what we do not know--and attempts to seduce Madelyn by taking her away from her depression. The twist is that Mr. Carmichael is not a kindly yet narcissistic prince on the inside, but a creepy, pathological child-molester who is rotting away with his house, and Madelyn doesn't fall in love but out of love with him.
This change from facade to interior is echoed throughout the story, from Madelyn's description of her father as the "everyman" who yet shares very little of his life; to the Brewer Building, which literally has a facade that hides its shady underneath; to Mr. Carmichael himself, math teacher on the outside, criminal on the inside.
Question: What does the idea of facade have to do with the fact that Madelyn waited fifty years to tell this story? And, what actually happened to her father?
This is the description that Madelyn Fleet gives of her former math teacher's house to which he brings her for a clandestine and creepy rendezvous in Joyce Carol Oates's "The Beating." Immediately, this quote made me think of the story The Beauty and the Beast, in which a young woman is brought against her will to a monster's house where he is trying to recuperate from a terrible situation (i.e. being turned into a beast). Mr. Carmichael is dealing with the loss of his wife and young children--to what we do not know--and attempts to seduce Madelyn by taking her away from her depression. The twist is that Mr. Carmichael is not a kindly yet narcissistic prince on the inside, but a creepy, pathological child-molester who is rotting away with his house, and Madelyn doesn't fall in love but out of love with him.
This change from facade to interior is echoed throughout the story, from Madelyn's description of her father as the "everyman" who yet shares very little of his life; to the Brewer Building, which literally has a facade that hides its shady underneath; to Mr. Carmichael himself, math teacher on the outside, criminal on the inside.
Question: What does the idea of facade have to do with the fact that Madelyn waited fifty years to tell this story? And, what actually happened to her father?
Dramatic Irony
"It came to me then: a memory of how Mr. Carmichael had puzzled our class one day 'demonstrating infinity' on the blackboard. With surprising precision he'd drawn a circle, and halved it; this half circle, he'd half; this quarter circle, he'd halved..." (129).
One of the reoccurring images in Joyce Carol Oates' "The Beating" is that of infinity, particularly being trapped in a moment, a memory forever. Literally speaking the story itself is trapped in a repeating loop just because of the way Oates chose to write it: by beginning the story and ending the story in the same moment "Still alive!" (107 and 135). In retrospect, the reader can see how Madelyn is trapped in this moment in her life were everything that could go wrong has. The first quotation appeared to me quite out of place in the story until I saw the way Oates points to Madelyn's memories and the loop that they play. While the reader is pointed to a past and a future, none of that can be brought to the present because of the way the hospital pools her memories.
Did Oates use the metaphor of the hospital pooling her memories forever as a dramatically ironic tool because Madelyn's memory of that day is literally trapped forever in the writing of the story?
One of the reoccurring images in Joyce Carol Oates' "The Beating" is that of infinity, particularly being trapped in a moment, a memory forever. Literally speaking the story itself is trapped in a repeating loop just because of the way Oates chose to write it: by beginning the story and ending the story in the same moment "Still alive!" (107 and 135). In retrospect, the reader can see how Madelyn is trapped in this moment in her life were everything that could go wrong has. The first quotation appeared to me quite out of place in the story until I saw the way Oates points to Madelyn's memories and the loop that they play. While the reader is pointed to a past and a future, none of that can be brought to the present because of the way the hospital pools her memories.
Did Oates use the metaphor of the hospital pooling her memories forever as a dramatically ironic tool because Madelyn's memory of that day is literally trapped forever in the writing of the story?
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