Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Prophet's Hair

How important is this writer in the history of British literature? Why? What is the most interesting thing you learned about him or her?
Salman Rushdie did not hold back in contributing his unique style. His ability to bring magic and fantasy into his stories and mix it with a vitality that makes it feel real made him recognized by many. The story that got him the most recognition was his novel Midnight’s Children, which was about India’s Independence and partition in 1947. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2007 for his contribution to literature. The interesting thing about Rushdie was that once he was knighted there was much uproar in many Muslim communities. This is due to the fact that he was recognized as an influential and popular author after publishing a very controversial book Satanic Verses, which at moments described the prophet Muhammad in unfavorable ways. This insulted many and the book was banned in 11 countries. A fatwa, a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority, was ordered on Rushdie by the spiritual leader of Iran calling for his execution. Rushdie received many death threats and was almost assassinated at his hotel; however, the bomb went off prematurely and killed the bomber instead of Rushdie. For years, Rushdie was in hiding and had to be protected by the British Secret Service.


What is the importance of the setting of your story?
It helps sets a sense of place and lifestyle. It also establishes the countries customs and beliefs. This story was set in India but was fused with customs of English, Persian, and Arabic. The importance of this being set in India is that India has been influenced by so many different groups of people and Rushdie himself described his India as a hybrid.

What stands out most about this story? Its subject matter? Style? What are its most and least interesting aspects?
The thing that stands out most is its supernatural tone. The effects the relic had on its subjects were powerful and intense. Sheikh himself was a supernatural being (shape-shifter) who could turn into a bird. This could be the reason why he was such a good thief and was termed the Thief of Thieves. Its subject matter was very interesting. The two main components in the story was money and religion and how it will ultimately destroy its subjects. This can easily be said about the greed for money but with religion it’s a bit more complicated it just shows one way of how religion can be corrupting. When Hashim makes the abrupt switch from money to religion, the effect it had on him is like an alcoholic trying to detox and is having many withdrawal symptoms. The whole story was very interesting. The only thing I might critique about is that it was a little predictable of what was going to happen and how things were going to unfold. The only thing that was not predictable was the wife getting her eyesight back and her children cured of their ailments.

Three important sentences and why are they important?
1) -“They say there are American millionaires who purchase stolen art masterpieces and hide them away—they would know how I feel. I must, must have it!
-"The flower-vendor moored his craft and by stooping over the mouth of the injured man was able to learn the poor fellow's address, which was mumbled through lips that could scarcely move; whereupon, hoping for a large tip, the hawker rowed Atta home"
-"He was set upon by two men whose faces he never saw, robbed of the substantial bank-roll which he had insanely brought on this solitary excursion, and beaten within an inch of his life."
-"So in the extraordinary commission he had accepted from the moneylender's daughter he saw his opportunity of amassing enough wealth at a stroke to leave the valley forever"
What all these quotes have in common is greed for more money. With all these cases the people had to be persuaded or motivated by money to do something. The greed for money also showed its destructive effects it had on its subjects: Hashim went crazy and then killed himself, Sheikh Sin was fatally shot in the stomach, and the flower-vendor didn’t care that Atta was on the brink of death all he cared was getting paid for the long trip home. A prime example is Sheikh Sin, he’s known as the Thief of Thieves. He is greed. Sheikh even has the word “sin,” engraved on his face.

2)-“From then on, he began to pray five times daily for the first time in his life.”
This quote of Hashim not only shows the power of “the prophet’s hair” but also the power of religion.
-“The moneylender looked swollen, distended. His eyes bulged even m ore then they always had, they were red-rimmed, and his knuckles were white. He seemed to be on the point of bursting! As though under the influence of the misappropriated relic, he had filled up with some spectral fluid which might at any moment ooze uncontrollably from his every bodily opening.”
For Hashim, the thing that drove him every day was money. He was driven by money so badly that he charged over a 70% interest rate to his customers. Also he was not considered by other people to be a religious man. Once in possession of the relic he started praying five times daily, which he had never done before in his life. Hashim ended up burning all his books except for the Qur’an, which he tried to follow devoutly, until a debtor arrived at his house to tell Hashim he hadn’t paid the latest installment of interest owed and reminded Hashim of the Qur’an’s strictures against usury, which Hashim had basically done his whole entire life until in possession of the relic. Hashim then goes on to say that the debtor was a thief of other people’s money while Hashim himself is a thief of other people’s money by charging a 70% interest rate.

3) “Hashim was fond of pointing out that while he was not a godly man he set great store by ‘living honorably in the world’.”
What’s interesting about this quote of living honorably in the world is that no one this book lived honorably in this story except for Sheikh’s wife.
-Hashim and his entire family was driven by the greed for money--"In their children, Atta and Huma, the moneylender and his wife had successfully sought to inculcate the virtues of thrift, plain dealing, and a healthy independence of spirit."
-Sheikh was also driven by money. His four sons were partially driven by money and partially driven by religion. The four sons were said to be devout men but it wasn’t until the end that it was revealed that when they learned their father had died they lost 75% earnings and were ruined.
-Sheikh’s wife in the end actually regained her eyesight and her four sons were cured of their ailments that they had endured as children. The children were rewarded but also punished because they were brought half-and-half. 

Sunday, April 17, 2011

When You Are Old


The narrator of this poem asks an old women to read a book of memories and recall how beautiful she once was and what love he had for her. The first stanza starts off very peaceful creating a very cozy image of dozing off next to a warm fire and dreaming of your youthful years. This type of imagery puts the reader in a very comfortable state. In the second stanza he asks the woman to recount all the people who loved her in her past both “false or true.” However, he then asks her to recall one particular man who “loved the pilgrim soul in [her] and loved the sorrows of [her] changing face.” It seems the narrator is talking about his own past and that he loved this woman even when her beauty started to fade. He didn’t just love her for her beauty, he found something special about her soul that made his love last for her. Things do not seem quite apparent yet where things are going, however, in the last stanza everything is revealed. The tone changes from comfortable memories to sad and regretful memories. It becomes apparent that this woman never took advantage of his special love for her and as the years moved on his love was ignored. His love for her “hid amid a crowd of stars.”
 This poem is to not only make the old woman feel regretful for not taking advantage of this man’s passionate love for her but also to send a message out to present people. He is opening people’s eyes to what they would be missing if they ignored someone’s love for them and how much regret they would feel when they are older if they continued to ignore love and that they should take advantage of it. At the end it seems the narrator has lost hope and that the old woman will only remember him “a little sadly” and she will continue to grow old without him and has only her memory book to remember him by.
This poem that started off peaceful and reminiscent quickly turns into a sorrowful and regretful recollection. However, the main point of this poem is to keep people from making the wrong decision and living a future full of regrets. He wants to keep people from make the same mistake the old woman made.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Waiting for the Barbarians

The Magistrate learns that the Empire is not only corrupt towards the barbarians but also to anyone who opposes the Empire even if they had friendly relations with each other before. The Magistrate, before the Empire's arrival, lived peacefully in his town unaware of what really went on in the Empire. He had heard rumors of the barbarians but never really experienced any problems with them before until the Empire interfered. The Magistrate believed the Empire was here to help and protect his town when in fact the Empire was the enemy. The Magistrate learned this the hard way when he was subject to torture by the Empire. The Magistrate never really knew anything until he was subjected to torture and mistreatment. When the Magistrate first met Colonel Joll he didn't get a good feeling from him but still in a way trusted him because he was one of their own. The Magistrate was too caught up in his imperial upbringing to understand the conflicts between the Empire and the barbarians. Only when his world was no longer peaceful could he truly see what the world was really like.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Torture

Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. These forms of torture were committed by military police personnel of the United States Army.


Man in this photo was believed to have worked under Sadaam Hussein and had taken part in the kidnapping and murder of two Americans. After this man was tortured and abused it was discovered that he was in fact not the man who committed these crimes. He just had similar physical qualities of the man that was guilty of these crimes.

To date no high-level U.S. officials have been brought to justice in a court of law for what went on at Abu Ghraib.

http://www.salon.com/news/abu_ghraib/2006/03/14/introduction

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Pride and Prejudice: Van Ghent


What is the writer’s thesis?
-The whole marriage concept back then was basically a business partnership. Women were seeking financially stable men to marry. Social standings by far outweighed love.

What are one or two key points the writer makes in support of the thesis?
-The Chart: These were words that continuously popped up throughout the book. These words were put into categories, which were: Money, Material Possessions, Social Integration, Trade, and Arithmetic. All of these words either dealt with social class or business.
-Pg. 301: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”… What we read in it is its opposite—a single woman must be in want of a man with a good fortune.
-Both these points as a whole showed that as people developed relationships they were more concerned with financial well being than in love and happiness.

Were you persuaded? Do you agree with the writer’s thesis? Why?
-English’s societies leisure class (don’t work and live off of daddy’s money) primary focus was how to continue their life style. They ignored all aspects of life that did not contribute to their comfort (ignore war, poverty, disease; they could care less about any of societies problems and felt that it was someone else’s job to take care of it.)
-Yes, I would agree with the writer’s thesis because this was simply how life was back then. This was considered normal. However, I would only agree from an early 19th century viewpoint. If taken from the 21st century viewpoint I would not agree because you should be marrying someone you love not by how much many the person has. 

In what way does the information give you new or increased understanding of the novel or of Jane Austen as a writer?
-With the scene with Lady Catharine and Elizabeth, I thought Lady Catharine was being outrageous with her reasoning and absurd with how she viewed things. But now realizing that these were societies ideals, Lady Catharine doesn’t seem to be as ridiculous as I first considered her to be.
-Jane Austen as a writer, her reputation of high English society is well deserved. She provided an excellent insight to the English leisure social class and an accurate account to what life was like back then.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Blog #8: Love


I believe that Shakespeare’s message about love is that love is a curse. First, with Orsino and Olivia; Orsino is madly in love with Olivia, but Olivia does not love him back. It must be horrible to want something so badly but you will never be able to have it. Orsino continually sends Olivia love letters only to be rejected every single time and then to hear from Olivia that she is married to his loyal servant, Cesario, whom he had trusted. Second with Cesario (Viola) and Olivia; Olivia falls madly in love with Cesario, But Cesario does not love her back because Cesario is really Viola who loves Orsino. Olivia’s love for Cesario practically makes her go mad. Before Olivia met Cesario, she was a well-respected lady, however, after she practically begs on her hands and knees for Cesario to love her back. She becomes needy and clingy and no man, let alone another person does not like that. Thirdly there is Viola and Orsino. Viola truly loves Orsino, but Orsino does not love her back because he thinks she is a guy. Viola spends numerous amounts of her time trying to convince Orsino that him and Olivia will never be an item. And the fact Viola has to send the love letters of the man she loves to the woman he loves is torturous for Viola. Viola has to sit around all day listening to the man she loves talk about another woman he is madly in love with. If I were her I would be depressed. Then there is Malvolio and Olivia. Malvolio loves Olivia and finally thinks she loves him back after what he thinks is a letter from her. When Olivia does not give any affection back, Malvolio’s love for her torments him and lands him in the nut house.
I think love can be a curse but also a boon. Love makes you second guess yourself and makes you argue with yourself a lot. For example, you want to say hi to a guy but you don’t know if you should because you think the guy might not say hi back or might just think you are weird for saying hi to him because he doesn’t even know who you are and then when you actually work up the courage to say hello to him and than you get an unexpected response like a confused look; then you spend that whole night while in bed playing back the whole scene in your head of what he might think of you or beating yourself up over that fact that you should never had said hi in the first place; then you end up getting no sleep and are very tired and grumpy the next day. However, once you find love, I think it would be the best thing in the world. Having someone to share everything with and be comfortable with and make you happy. I think finding love is the torturous part, but once you find it, it is totally worth all the torture you had to go through. Like in the play, in the end everything was resolved and the two couples got married, except for Malvolio, but he got what he deserved. (541 words)

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Blog #7: CURSE


When thinking of the word “curse” I immediately think of something supernatural. One of my favorite TV shows happens to be Supernatural; and the term “curse” comes up numerous times. I usually think of an item or place being cursed. Curses are sneaky things; they can disguise themselves as good things, like a lucky charm perhaps. For example, say someone finds a cursed object but doesn’t know that it’s cursed. The object, while in the man’s possession, brings him fortune and becomes the luckiest man in the world. He’s receiving new job offerings, getting raises, winning the lottery; but as all of this is happening he somehow misplaces his so-called luck charm. Once he loses his charm everything goes downhill from there and all of the sudden he is the unluckiest man in the world. Say he was in house one day and tripped over the carpet, bumped into the table and a pen fell off in the process. He thinks nothing of it and walks away but fails to see the pen in front of him and slips on it causing him to fall and hit his head on a sharp corner instantly killing him, now that’s what I call unlucky. Curses are a bad thing and should never be tampered with, unless you are the one being cursed, then you can’t do anything about that. Items or places aren’t the only things that can be cursed people can be cursed too, for example, cursing someone to an eternity in Hell.These aren’t the only meanings of “curse.” A curse can also be an utterance of vulgar words towards someone if you dislike them or if they are just being annoying.
            I chose the word “curse” because I find it captivating; mainly for its first meaning of being a supernatural force that brings undesirable effects on certain things. For something to become cursed, it usually has a very interesting history to it. I mean no ordinary object can just become cursed; some sort of horrible event must have to have happened. So learning why something became cursed I find fascinating. (352)