Answer the Call: About a Journey

Room has a lot of references to various literary works. I know I already went over some in class, but now that we're deeper into the novel I wanted to revisit some of the stories mentioned. Since most of the stories we had discussed had been about imprisonment, now seems about the right time to talk about the references now that Jack and Ma have escaped. The Count of Monte Cristo : Okay so most of you probably aren't familiar with this one. The Count of Monte Cristo follows a man named Edmond Dantès who is wrongfully accused of a crime and sentenced to prison on the dismal island penitentiary known as Château d'If. The whole story is about the revenge that the imprisoned Edmond Dantès enacts upon those who landed him in the prison. Now that Ma and Jack are out of the prison that Old Nick made for them, they are trying to take back their lives and caused Old Nick to be sent to a cell instead. I think this qualifies as a revenge plot, but Ma and Jack don't have much say

When we started reading A Lesson Before Dying , we all knew it was a book about an African American who is sentenced to execution. If you had been part of African American Lit last semester, this plot may seem familiar. If you weren't, this is what it reminded me of. In African American Lit, the first book we read was Richard Wright's Native Son , where a young African American, Bigger Thomas, is convicted of raping and murdering a white woman (he never did rape her, but does end up accidentally suffocating her). Sound familiar? Jefferson is also convicted of a crime, and no matter what the trial is, the result can be predicted from the very beginning: the black man will be sentenced to death. A Lesson Before Dying  is a bit different than Native Son , as it is told from the perspective of someone who interacts with the convict, not the convict themselves like Bigger. Native Son  also deals with Bigger on the run from the police and the trial is towards the end of the b

As many people in class have said, Anse is in no way a suitable hero for what we think of as the hero's journey. He acts all high and mighty with his religious speech, but when it comes down to it, he's kinda just a cheapskate who takes money from his children and doesn't want to buy a shovel to bury his wife with and instead just looks for the nearest person to lend one to him. We tend to sympathize more with Anse's children (plus Jewel). I believe the person most cut out for the hero role would be Cash. Cash is dependable, smart (at least probably the most educated of the Bundrens, since he actually practices a craft). He is tough and doesn't try to make trouble with the others. He's also the oldest, making him more of a leader. I have always thought that if Cash spoke up more often, this adventure would not have turned into the disaster that it did. Obviously Darl and Jewel wouldn't be the main heroes of the story. I could possibly see Jewel as the br

Friday in class we discussed how the mythology of the Odyssey fit into the plot of O Brother, Where Art Thou. Everyone clearly knew how the guy with the eyepatch was supposed to be the cyclops, and how the sirens are, you know, sirens . However, we talked about something that has always been an interesting subject to me, but I only pick up on it in situations like these: watching movies or being in some class where we have to discuss. And that subject would be American Mythology. American Mythology is a bit abstract. Since the country of America is not that old compared to other cultures, there isn't an expectation for a deep superstitious layer to American culture. However, as we saw in the movie, there are very clear themes that permeate a lot of American literature and folklore. Several myths are based on other cultures, since America is the world famous "mixing pot" of peoples. Some examples would be some of the African American myths that come from the south, somet

As in all Ancient Greek myths, the Olympian Gods are prevalent throughout the entire story. The Odyssey is no exception. People constantly pray to Zeus, Poseidon, and numerous other deities to provide them with good luck and to soothe their anger. However, the gods really just do whatever they please. The most recent example would be Poseidon turning a ship and it's crew to stone and then raising a mountain in front of the Phaenician harbor. The Phaenicians are descendants of Poseidon himself, and they are pleading with Poseidon and giving him sacrifices, but he seems not to care. All because they helped one man get home. The gods really seem to just choose whichever outcome is most or least convenient, adding their own twists depending on their powers. Athena chooses to give great assistance to Odysseus and Telemachus because... she just likes them? Zeus (supposedly) causes a storm that doesn't let Odysseus and his crew go home for a month which inevitably makes it so they e

I'll just start by saying this: I don't often sympathize with the idealistic heroes that want to protect everyone because that's their entire character. Complex characters with faults and that are non-idealistic are my favorite. Anti-Heroes, Villains, side characters, all of those are usually more appealing than the usual hero that wants to save people because "oh boy that's a good thing." However, there is one story that I do enjoy very much (for a variety of reasons) that contains one of these stereotypical characters. Sorry if this post is big and long but I'm going to have to explain a lot to get through all the points I want to touch on. The story (or series, I guess, since there are like 4 different anime, several visual novels, and even some video games that come out of this franchise) that I will delve into is the Fate Series, more specifically the ufotable 2014-15 production of Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (I'll call it UBW from no