In a modern world, can one find sanctuary? If so, where?
I think it is possible for a person to find sanctuary in a modern world, but as time passes sanctuaries change, and as responsibilities increase it is harder to find true sanctuary. In Metamorphosis, Gregor's room had been his sanctuary growing up. He had always had the same furniture and he framed a picture he could look at and dream about. When he was home from traveling for work he could go there and find some form of peace, but after he transforms into a bug, the sanctuary that been his bedroom turns into a prison of sorts. He cannot go out for fear of getting hit with a cane or apple, and the room begins to feel too small for him. It is not a place of comfort anymore. It is a place where he just exists out of the way of others. Plus, with Gregor's family dependent on him working, his confinement to his room allows him to hear his family discussing the woes of their financial situation. He had been the provider, but then he transformed and was confined to his room knowing that the rest of his family would have to work and struggle to get by. His sister would not be able to go to the school like he had planned. The knowledge of the people he has let down by transforming into a bug constantly weighs on his mind and prevents him from finding sanctuary because he cannot escape his thoughts.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Crime and Punishment/Metamophosis
Both Crime and Punishment and Metamorphosis have instances where the difference between illusion and reality is questioned. In Crime and Punishment Porfiry seems to know about Raskolnikov's guilt from very early on, but he does not directly say it and he arrests another man for the crime. Throughout the novel Rasko struggles to determine whether Porfiry really knows of the guilt and the arrest of Nikoly is a show or Porfiry is pretending/assuming to know of Rasko's guilt and putting on a show to gain a true confession. Rasko tries to determine what the reality is partially by talking to Razumihin and the doctor to find out details about the case, but ultimately Rasko becomes ill, delirious, and paranoid partially because he cannot figure out what is real. Does Porfiry really know or is he just playing mind games hoping for a confession? In Metamorphosis, Gregor, the narrator, transforms into a bug and spends his days crawling around his room. Throughout the story, the reader, not the characters, questions whether Gregor has truly become a bug. Because he is the narrator and the thoughts of no other characters are revealed it is possible that Gregor simply thinks he has become a bug when in reality he could have become ill or insane.
Friday, November 21, 2008
The BIG Question
How can we ever be truly certain of our reality? What tools can the individual use to judge the difference, or draw a line between , illusion and reality?
I chose this question because whatever someone views as their individual reality shapes and defines who they are. They may be living in a world of illusions and fantasy, but if they believe in those illusions, they base themselves around it. Throughout life, people constantly struggle to define themselves while at the same time judging others based on their differing beliefs and personalities. If everyone or most everyone is fooled by the illusions and fantasy, it is accepted by the society as the reality, but if only a single person is living in a fantasy world, it seems as though they are often cast out of the main groups of society making it harder for them to discover the difference between their illusion and actual reality. It is hard to tell the difference between illusion and reality because many people are guilible and can be convinced of many things, and many people lie daily, even if they are only "little white lies." All of these lies build up, distort reality, and cause people to biew each other in certain lights and not necessarily see the reality. People lie to intentionally blind others to realities they want hidden.
My summer independents study book was The Kite Runner, and I think it relates well to this big question. Amir, the main character, grows up in a culture that tells him Hazara, and therefore Hassan, are less people. Because of this illusion Afghanis have accepted as reality, Amir denies friendship and love to Hassan and he constantly bullies him by acting as if Hassan is stupid for not knowing the meaning of word because he is not educated. Hassan is uneducated the family servant, so how could he possibly be an equal? It takes a confession from Rahim Khan to break this illusion and reveal to Amir the reality that Hassan is in fact his brother. The destruction of the illusion causes Amir to question his whole childhood in Afghanistan and it ultimately gives him peace because he finally knows the truth and can work to redeem himself for his past treatment of Hassan. The confession also helps Amir come to terms with the reality of his father's love. Growing up Amir had believed that Baba, his father was ashamed of him as a son, but after the confession reveals that Baba is actually Hassan's father, too, Amir is finally able to see that his dad did love him, but he himself was plagued with inner conflict because of Hassan's identity as Amir's brother and a Hazara servant. Learning this lifts a veil off of Amir's memories of his father, an suddenly he sees what he believed was shame because of himself was in reality Baba's inner conflict and struggle to love both of his sons. A confession years after the fact serves to allow Amir to break the illusions of his childhood and discover the reality.
In the same way in Playboy of the Western World, Mahon's appearance and subsequent description of Christy throws the illusion of a murderer Christy created into question. Mahon's confession of Christy's true character and the true events force the townspeople to question what they have accepted as reality. In Oedipus, the entire plot is based on the city trying to distinguish between the illusion of Oedipus as the just king, loving husband, and city's savior and the reality of Oedipus as his father's killer and the husband of his mother. The truth comes out after a prophecy of Oedipus's fate is revealed to everyone and people begin to see the past in a new light. Then, a peasent farmer confesses to not killing the baby Oedipus, so the prophecy could be true and events unfold resulting in Oedipus's downfall with the discovery of the reality of his actions. This discovery destroys Oedipus's world and , ironically, leads to his blindness. In contrast, Amir's discovery of teh reality of Hassan's identity and his father's true feelings leads ultimately to redemption and inner peace.
This big question makes me think of the Russel Crowe movie A Beautiful Mind and teh Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show. In A Beautiful Mind, the main character is best friends with his college roommate and works for teh CIA to discover conspiracies, but eventually it is revealed that he never had a roommate in college and the conspiracies were all in his mind. He must take medications to distinguish between reality and his illusions. Being told teh people are not real is not enough to drive them from his mind. In The Truman Show, Jim Carrey has been raised since infancy in a completely fake world for a tv show. Everyone in his life is a paid actor and ecery event is scripted, but he does not know it. The producers keep him in their world by scripting a series of events to keep him deathly afraid of water, so he cannont sail away from his home, and when he tries to drive away, they create bumper to bumper traffic. A series of production mistakes lead Jim Carrey to question his world, and in order to discover the truth, he ignored his fear of water and sails away. Despite the strom created to stop him, he eventually runs out of ocean and finds a door in the "sky" that leads to a soundstage and the real world. To distinguish between illusion and reality, Jim Carrey's character must ignore everyone's comments, go on a journey by himself, confront his fears, and abondon everyone and everything he knows.
I chose this question because whatever someone views as their individual reality shapes and defines who they are. They may be living in a world of illusions and fantasy, but if they believe in those illusions, they base themselves around it. Throughout life, people constantly struggle to define themselves while at the same time judging others based on their differing beliefs and personalities. If everyone or most everyone is fooled by the illusions and fantasy, it is accepted by the society as the reality, but if only a single person is living in a fantasy world, it seems as though they are often cast out of the main groups of society making it harder for them to discover the difference between their illusion and actual reality. It is hard to tell the difference between illusion and reality because many people are guilible and can be convinced of many things, and many people lie daily, even if they are only "little white lies." All of these lies build up, distort reality, and cause people to biew each other in certain lights and not necessarily see the reality. People lie to intentionally blind others to realities they want hidden.
My summer independents study book was The Kite Runner, and I think it relates well to this big question. Amir, the main character, grows up in a culture that tells him Hazara, and therefore Hassan, are less people. Because of this illusion Afghanis have accepted as reality, Amir denies friendship and love to Hassan and he constantly bullies him by acting as if Hassan is stupid for not knowing the meaning of word because he is not educated. Hassan is uneducated the family servant, so how could he possibly be an equal? It takes a confession from Rahim Khan to break this illusion and reveal to Amir the reality that Hassan is in fact his brother. The destruction of the illusion causes Amir to question his whole childhood in Afghanistan and it ultimately gives him peace because he finally knows the truth and can work to redeem himself for his past treatment of Hassan. The confession also helps Amir come to terms with the reality of his father's love. Growing up Amir had believed that Baba, his father was ashamed of him as a son, but after the confession reveals that Baba is actually Hassan's father, too, Amir is finally able to see that his dad did love him, but he himself was plagued with inner conflict because of Hassan's identity as Amir's brother and a Hazara servant. Learning this lifts a veil off of Amir's memories of his father, an suddenly he sees what he believed was shame because of himself was in reality Baba's inner conflict and struggle to love both of his sons. A confession years after the fact serves to allow Amir to break the illusions of his childhood and discover the reality.
In the same way in Playboy of the Western World, Mahon's appearance and subsequent description of Christy throws the illusion of a murderer Christy created into question. Mahon's confession of Christy's true character and the true events force the townspeople to question what they have accepted as reality. In Oedipus, the entire plot is based on the city trying to distinguish between the illusion of Oedipus as the just king, loving husband, and city's savior and the reality of Oedipus as his father's killer and the husband of his mother. The truth comes out after a prophecy of Oedipus's fate is revealed to everyone and people begin to see the past in a new light. Then, a peasent farmer confesses to not killing the baby Oedipus, so the prophecy could be true and events unfold resulting in Oedipus's downfall with the discovery of the reality of his actions. This discovery destroys Oedipus's world and , ironically, leads to his blindness. In contrast, Amir's discovery of teh reality of Hassan's identity and his father's true feelings leads ultimately to redemption and inner peace.
This big question makes me think of the Russel Crowe movie A Beautiful Mind and teh Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show. In A Beautiful Mind, the main character is best friends with his college roommate and works for teh CIA to discover conspiracies, but eventually it is revealed that he never had a roommate in college and the conspiracies were all in his mind. He must take medications to distinguish between reality and his illusions. Being told teh people are not real is not enough to drive them from his mind. In The Truman Show, Jim Carrey has been raised since infancy in a completely fake world for a tv show. Everyone in his life is a paid actor and ecery event is scripted, but he does not know it. The producers keep him in their world by scripting a series of events to keep him deathly afraid of water, so he cannont sail away from his home, and when he tries to drive away, they create bumper to bumper traffic. A series of production mistakes lead Jim Carrey to question his world, and in order to discover the truth, he ignored his fear of water and sails away. Despite the strom created to stop him, he eventually runs out of ocean and finds a door in the "sky" that leads to a soundstage and the real world. To distinguish between illusion and reality, Jim Carrey's character must ignore everyone's comments, go on a journey by himself, confront his fears, and abondon everyone and everything he knows.
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