V for Vandetta

             In Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vandetta, The main character, V, committed different crimes and murdered several people in order to create a revolution to change society.  V's motive of killing the people might not really be clear, whether it is what he thinks is the only way to free the country or for revenge since most of the people he murdered were people involved in the  Larkhill resettlement camp where he was kept in.  Although V's possible reason of doing such horrible crimes was to be able to liberate the country from the hands of corrupt and evil people, the methods he used to accomplish his goals were wrong.  V did not have to end several lives in order to make a change but could have instead just punished them and try to make them change their ways because everyone can have a good side in them but it is just hidden.  By using violence to make a change, V sets a bad example to other people who might think that using violence towards other people is justifiable as long as it is for the right reasons. 

            Some of the parts that caught my attention while reading and looking at the pictures is when Mr Finch reports about the event that happened in the Larkhill resettlement camp from Dr. Surridge's diary.  Instead of just trying to imagine how the camp looks like and how the events might have occurred, the images helped me better picture and understand what happened.  It was able to clearly show the fear and panic of the people in the pictures, giving the reader more emotions towards what was happening in the book and gets them to be more engaged in it.  Another part is when V was about to kill the bishop by feeding him the wafer.  The image of the bishop kneeling shows his submission for V and his expression shows his fear.  This shows that maybe V did not have to kill the bishop or even the other people because before he even killed them, their fear already caused them to submit to him.

A Different Approach to Literature

            In Franco Moretti's article, “Graphs, Maps, Trees”, he uses a different approach to literature wherein he uses a lot of graphs and charts to show data about the history of literature and different kinds of genres during different periods of time in able to support his argument.

            There are several benefits and draw backs in Moretti's kind of approach to literature.  One of the benefits is that he is able to show the reader that he is able to support his arguments with a lot of data, making it credible.  At the same time, the visual graphs and charts make it easier for some people to understand what he is trying to say instead of listing everything with words which might even make it really boring.  Some of the draw backs however is that it seems like he is just listing some data he was able to gather.  It also ruins the flow of words and ideas by inserting graphs or charts in between his argument which some readers might find inconvenient. 

            The method of combining literature with computer tools might be better with presenting scientific data for other fields such as social, biological, and physical sciences.  This is because it would be hard for a scientist to support his or her theories or arguments without the use of computer tools such as graphs and charts.  On the other hand, I believe it is better to not use graphs, charts, and other computer tools in English literature.

            A different way to approach SSTLS other than the close reading analysis we have been doing is that we can try to look at the reason why Shteyngart wrote the book.  We could think about whether he wrote this novel in able to alarm people on what could happen to us in the future or what is starting to happen to us in this modern day society.  We could also try to compare and contrast SSTLS with other literary works of this century and how are they similar and different from each other.

M. Butterfly and SSTLS

            There are several similarities between, M. Butterfly and SSTLS, such as the themes of love, gender, and ethnicity. 

           

            The movie and the novel both talks about a love story between two individuals who were very different from one another, coming from very different cultures and backgrounds but.  It shows how love can be very complicated and hard to understand but at the same time, it creates a bond that can only be shared between them.  In SSTLS, Eunice is having a hard time figuring out what she really feels for Lenny but she still has a connection with him that is different with other people, allowing her to open up to him and express her feelings.  In M. Butterfly, Rene falls in love with Song and has a strong bond with his "butterfly" that he was willing to leave his wife and wait for Song to come back even though he was abandoned.

            Throughout M. Butterfly and SSTLS, it reveals to the audience the hierarchy of men over women and some stereotypes.  In the novel, Eunice's family was being abused by her father and is under his control because they see him as the man of the family.  Just like the novel, the power of the men over women was emphasized especially in the scene where they talk about how the men knows how the women are supposed to be like that is why men play the parts of women in the plays.  Another stereotype is the weak and submissive view of women.  Song, who was pretending to be a woman, tells Rene how women are there to please the men and how Song's character  was gentle and not aggressive. Eunice and her family are allowing her father to abuse and beat them up and not stand against him just like when they were being scolded by their father the day Lenny ate with them.

            There is also a huge emphasis on how different ethnicities are being stereotyped and how each country are more concerned about their own well being instead of working together.  In SSTLS, Eunice's family emphasizes on the importance of having really good education, just like many other Asian families and how many people see Asians as having a lot of money even though it is not always true.  It was also mentioned that the only reason why other countries are still trying to help U.S. because they did not want all their investments to go to waste, only concerned about their own and not there to help out of their own will.  In M. Butterfly, China and U.S. were in conflict and was even willing to have Song, a man, pretend to be a woman and deceive Rene to make him fall in love with him, just to be able to attain information about what the other country is doing.

a love story

Love can have several different meanings for everyone, each unique depending on an individual.  Gary Shteyngart's novel, Super Sad True Love Story, shows the reader a love story of Lenny and Eunice, two people from very different backgrounds, coming together to have a relationship.

            When Lenny was drunk, he talks about Eunice's freckles and how " every one of them means something to [him]" (94). Usually when people are in love, they learn how to appreciate everything about that special someone, even though at times it is something that is not really a big deal such as freckles.  Maybe to some extent, the saying "love is blind" might be true because people tend to ignore the flaws of the people we love.  At the same time, there really isn't such as thing as a perfect relationship that is why we need to be able to communicate with each other.

            Both Lenny and Eunice are able to communicate well about what they feel and think towards each other.  Lenny "constantly [wants] to open up to [Eunice]" (97) and in their conversation on pages 149 and 150, it shows how Eunice pointed out something that is bothering her, which is Lenny's unclean place, and they both were trying to talk about it on how they can fix it.  In able to have a strong relationship, couples need to be able to communicate very well and try to work things out if ever there are any problems because if they decide to keep things to themselves, nothing will get fixed and the problem might just get worse.  Another important aspect in a loving relationship is to trust your significant other.

           

            Even though couples can communicate well, it would still be hard to work things out if they can't trust each other.  Both Lenny and Eunice can feel like themselves around each other and they don’t have to pretend to be someone else.  Lenny "believed in [Eunice]" (109) although they haven't really known each other for a very long time, enabling her to "trust him with everything and [for her to] open up the way [she] would to a girlfriend"(114).  Their love for each other is more than just like a couple but also like best friends who can share anything with one another.  their trust also helps them be able to communicate better because they are comfortable to share things.

            Being able to appreciate, communicate, and trust one another in a relationship is very important for it to work out but there are times when people over look these causing them to not be able to have a happy relationship.  It shows that no matter how big the difference is between two people, things can still work out.

"All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace" by Richard Brautigan

The poem "All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace" by Richard Brautigan can be perceived as either anti-technology or pro-technology depending on how we interpret the tone and message of the poem.  One of the reasons why this poem can be considered as anti-technology is because it mentioned "and all watched over by machines of loving grace".  Even though Brautigan used the words "machines of loving grace", it still makes it seem like the machines are starting to take over the world, making it a bit more like a dictatorship, by showing how everyone's actions are being watched.  Another reason is that when he used the words "I like to think (and the sooner the better!)","I like to think (right now, please!)", and "I like to think (it has to be!)", he is illustrating how nature and technology does not have peace and harmony right now but it is just his imagination of the future.  It also shows that he is desperate for change because he does not like how nature and technology is not in harmony right now.

Another point of view for Richard Brautigan's poem is that it is pro-technology.  For the most part of the poem, it talks about how computers, electronics, and machines can benefit us in the future.  An example is shown in the line "of a cybernetic ecology where we are free of our labors".  The words "the sooner the better!" and "right now, please!" shows how Brautigan could not wait for technology to further advance to the point where technology could be a part of nature, displayed with his descriptions of cybernetic meadow, cybernetic forest, and cybernetic ecology.  He also talks about how even though humans will eventually die and be joined back to nature, the machines would still be there and would not perish, bringing our history with them.

I think the anti-technology's side is more convincing because right now, there is a conflict between nature and technology, on how sometimes the more technology we make, the more we destroy nature.  There is also no guarantee that what Brautigan is talking about in the poem, the machines having feelings and the harmony with nature and technology, can actually happen in the future.  It is also scary to think about how nature and human beings will eventually perish but machines can usually last longer, giving the possibility that technology might be the one controlling us.

casabianca interpretation

Imagery:

·         boy stood on burning deck

·         flame lit around him

·         born to rule the storm

·         proud, tough childlike form

·         flames rolled on

·         he would not go without his father's word

·         father's voice no longer heard

·         boy asked if his task is done

·         father is unconscious

·         boy asked father if he can go again

·         looked from that lone post of death

·         brave despair

·         boy asked father if he should stay again

·         the wreathing fires made way

·         they wrapt the ship in splendor wild

·         caught the flag on high

·         streamed above the gallant child

·         a burst of thunder sound

·         noblest thing that perished there was that young, faithful heart

I chose the poem "Casabianca" by Felicia Dorothea Hemans because it has several strong images that can represent many things depending on how the reader interprets it.  This poem is about a boy on a burning deck asking for his father's permission to go but his father could not reply because he is unconscious so the boy eventually perished in the fire.  In this poem, Hemans kept on repeating the imagery of the fire consuming the ship, the boy asking his father whether he can go or if his task was done, and death.  In my interpretation of this poem, the battle they are in is like life, which always has its ups and downs.  The result depends on whether the person gives up or does something about it.  The flame that is consuming the ship are like the tough times and challenges in their life.  Both the father and the son might be going through a tough time in their life to a point where the father might not have been able to handle it, with his dreams and goals being crushed represented by death.  At first the boy was just surrounded by the fire but then instead of doing something about the problem, he just stood there and did not do anything.  Even though the boy is being obedient to his father, he chose not to make his own decision which resulted in his own death.  This shows how there is some point in our lives where we need to start making our own decisions and stop relying on other people to decide our fate for us.  Even though the boy was brave and faithful to his father, his lack of experience revealed to us by using the word "childlike" caused him to not survive the tragedy.  The flag can also represent someone surrendering or being able to accomplish something just like how some people used to put their flag in the territory of the people they were able to defeat.  In this case, the flag was consumed by the fire showing how both the father and son were not able to overcome their challenges. 

Why kaizen my life?

The reason why I chose kaizening my life as my blog title is mainly because of the word kaizen.  While pondering about what the title of my blog should be, I considered relating it to my goals for this year, to improve my skills, overcome my fears and live a better life.  Suddenly, I remembered my friend from work who told to me about the meaning of kaizen and I decided to use it not only as part of my blog's title but also my life.  Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy meaning constantly improving or making things better.  Even though this term is usually used in businesses, I believe it can also apply to everything we do.  Everyone can improve on something in their life no matter how rich or good they are because no one is perfect.  Although living a perfect life is impossible, I still would like to keep on improving every aspect of my life such as my relationships with my family and friends, communication skills, or even how to be more efficient when I do things.  It might not be easy to improve on everything but I am willing to "sacrifice the lollipop today for the bike tomorrow " just like what my friend said.  This inspires me to keep on moving forward and not give up no matter what challenges I have to face because in the end, I know that I would be happy I went through it, learned something from my experiences and from there, I could further improve my life.