The Great Gatsby - 4

Gatsby bought that house so that  Daisy would be just across the bay." pg. 79

When I first started reading this novel, I felt bad for Daisy. She was disrespected and cheated on by her husband. But, after hearing how she promised to marry Gatsby then bailed, makes me think that she had it coming. She definitely doesn't deserve to be treated that way by Tom, but it seems to be unfortunate karma. Instead of waiting for Gatsby, whom she loved, she married Tom for his money. She is just as superficial as the rest of the first class society. She settled for Tom who was available and had money, just so she could feel comfortable. In doing that, she now lives a miserable life with an arrogant, cheating jerk.

Potpourri 4 - You're Ugly, Too

"What is your perfume? a student asked. Room freshener, she said." pg. 353

I feel really bad for Zoe. I know that she brings her troubles upon herself, but she doesn't know how to act around people. She is so unsure of herself that she makes jokes in inappropriate situation. She lacks self-esteem even though she acts like she is very confident. She uses humor as a defense mechanism so that she never has to be sincere with people. Because of this, she lacks connection with people. She is very lonely, but it is her own doing. She began using humor to mask herself at a young age. As a kid, she had a speech impediment and was embarrassed to speak. She began telling jokes because people knew the answers to the jokes. This made it okay if people didn't understand her.

Theme 2- Eveline

"No! No! No! It was impossible." pg. 222

I feel very sympathetic towards Eveline. Many people she was close to have died including her mother, her father is abusive towards her, and she has to give all of her hard earned money to her father. She doesn't have a very optimistic life ahead of her until she meets Frank. The meet and Eveline sees their relationship as an opportunity to leave her misery. What I do not understand is why she didn't take it. She had absolutely nothing holding her back besides a promise she made to her now dead mother. Under the circumstanced, I would think that the mom would understand why she didn't uphold her wish. This section is about theme, but I am failing to see the point of this story, let alone the theme. If I had to guess, I think the theme of this short story is to never break a promise, no matter how much pain it causes.

Characterization 4 - Bartleby the Scrivener

"I would prefer not to." pg. 653

I thought that Bartleby was so incredibly annoying. He started off as a quiet but hard worker. But then when he was asked to do something, he just responded, "I would prefer not to." I don't understand why he kept saying that every time he was asked to do something. I also don't understand why the Lawyer never fired him. If Bartleby way my employee, I would have fired him right away. His annoying nature made me not be able to sympathize with him even though he had know where to live.I am so curious as to why he wouldn't do anything that he was asked to do, even when it came to basic needs of life. My only thought is that he was trying to assert that he made his own decisions at all costs. He wouldn't let people persuade his life in anyway, but in reality that is what happened. By not doing things he was asked to do, he died.

Characterization 1 - Hunter's in the Snow

"They had taken a different turn a long way back." pg. 201

I found this story to be completely strange and ironic. In the beginning, I thought Kenny was a huge jerk. He constantly made fun of Tub and never knew when to quit. I also felt really sympathetic towards Tub. He was fat and lonely and let all of Frank and Kenny's jokes get to him. Then, out of know where, Tub shoots Kenny. At that time, I didn't even know what to think. I thought it was ironic how Tub, who was depicted as the victim, turned out to be the real jerk. He shows absolutely no concern for his friend that he just shot. Tub and Frank leave Kenny, who is dying from a shot wound inflicted by Tub, in the freezing cold snow while they go have a heart to heart. This made me really hate both of them. I don't feel sorry for Tub for being fat at all. He brings it on himself. He needs to learn some self control.

Plot 4. Interpreter of Maladies

"The slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi's address on it fluttered away in the wind." pg. 166

I think there were two central conflicts in this story. Both of which were internal. One was Mrs. Das's struggle to deal with her guilt of cheating on her husband and having an illegitimate child. The other is Mr. Kapasi's fantasy like desire towards Mrs. Das. I sympathize with Mrs. Das because she has no one to confide in. She has to live with her guilt and has no one to help her deal with it. I don't sympathize with Mr. Kapasi on the other hand though. I find him to be pathetic. He becomes overwhelmingly infatuated with Mrs. Das when she is simply gives him a little attention. I feel like he made every encounter they had more significant than it really was. I'm glad that Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi never got involved. I felt like that was what the suspense of the story was leading to, but I'm glad it wasn't. I think once Mrs. Das learns to deal with her guilt, she will begin to love her children and husband again. I also hope Mr. Kapasi finds something more meaningful in his life.

Tone 4: Hazel Tells LaVerne

"ya little green pervert an i hitsm with my mop"

There were two things I noticed right away about this poem. The first was that there was no punctuation, like "next to of course god america i." But, this one was much easier to follow based on the structure. The second thing I noticed was that the speaker was uneducated. It is clear through her diction. One of the questions at the end of the poem is, "What creates the poems humor?" Personally I didn't find this poem humorous at all, besides when she refers to the frog as a "little green pervert." I thought that this poem was incredibly sad. I just pictured this poor uneducated young girl cleaning toilets and thinking to herself that she will never be worthy enough to be a princess. I think that is why she develops such a harsh tone with the frog. She sees it as a joke, or as if the frog is mocking her. She cannot even fathom the idea that kissing the frog would actually make her a princess. She puts on a rough exterior to mask the pain she feels in knowing she will never be anything more than she is. If she lets herself hope, then she will be seen as a fool. Her doubtful attitude towards the frog is simply a wall of protection, so she doesn't get hurt.

Never Let Me Go 12

"We all know it. We're modelled from trash. Junkies, prostitutes, winos, tramps. Convicts, maybe, just so long as they aren't psychos. That's what we come from. We all know it , so why don't we just say it?" pg. 166

Up until now, I thought Kathy and her friends were at peace with their destines and how they were created. But, with Ruth going on this rant, I see that each one of them is extremely fearful of donations and uneasy about their creation. I think that they were all just trying to mask their insecurities and play it off like it was no big deal. But, they truly want to be like normal humans and live normal lives. They dream of working and being with the person that they love. I think the only thing that keeps them going from day to day is their daydreams about a different life. When they look at their lives objectively, they see that they have no real importance as people, that their life up until the time of donation doesn't matter. It must be so incredibly difficult to live a life like that, knowing they wouldn't be accepted in society if people knew they were clones. My sympathy grows more and more for them each chapter. I wonder why they are aloud to venture into the real world. I would think that being around normal people would stir up unnecessary emotions, like it did for Ruth. As hard as it would probably be, I think that the clones should remain isolated from the rest of the world until their donations, so that they don't know about a life better than their own. But really, I don't think there is any good way for the clones to be raised. It would be a difficult situation for them no matter what.

Brave New World 12

"There was a gasp, a murmur of astonishment and horror; a young girl screamed..." pg. 150

Even though this chapter was fairly short, many key events occurred. Bernard Marx is exiled from the World State and the Director encounters his son for the first time in his life. But, despite all the action going on in this chapter, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Linda. First of all, she was described as a horrifying monster based upon her looks. I bet that must have been hard for her because she used to look like everyone in the World State. As if her wretched looks weren't enough, she faced condemning judgment because of having a child. Then, to top it all off, Tomakin didn't acknowledge who she was and that he was truly the father of her child. I think that is a lot of misfortune to encounter in one day. If I were Linda, I would have terribly low self-esteem now and possess major resentment towards the Director. He robbed her of her lifestyle, the only one she had ever known. I think the Director needs to assume responsibility for his actions and learn how to deal with the situation in a proper way.