Giving up

"I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on."

The monster was an unwanted creation. He was born and not wanted by his "parents" . From the time of his first existence, he was bound to have issues with belonging. After all, if those who created you don't accept you, then who will. He tried to get adopted by the family in the cottage, but that did not work. Instead, he spent his entire life searching for something he didn't have. Love. Just like Victor and Walton, they are all seeking love and acceptance. They want a sense of belonging and a sense of friendship. And, we see that when that doesn't happen, people die, families are torn apart, and time is spent searching for what truly matters in the world.

Awww fatherly love

"Nothing, at this moment, could have given me greater pleasure than the arrival of my father."

Upon the arrival of his father, Victor soon realizes the importance of family in his life. He begins to think that there is more to life than just seeking self satisfaction. However, on the other hand the monster is seeking to make Victor realize what he experiences throughout his life. The search for companionship and revenge for being created. Now, the tables are turned and Victor is the one seeking revenge for what the monster did to him. The last straw was the death of Elizabeth. She was the only thing he had left in life to live for. The monster turned Victor into a monster himself. Now, Victor will go to any means to make certain that the monster receives his justice, (poetic... that is).

Buzz kill

“I almost felt as if I had mangled the living flesh of a human being.”

Here we are, the monster is just about to get what he wants- a companion. And then, Victor destroys any potential for a female monster. Here, Victor is yet again compared to the monster. Throughout Victor's life he believes he is going to marry his adopted sister; then, he puts it off and finally marries here. However, this was a long time in the making and they went a long time apart before they got married. The monster was keeping them from being together. On the other hand, the only thing the monster yearned for was compassion in the world. He wanted to be friends with someone or something. He thinks he has his chance when he persuades Victor to make a female creation. However, when he rips her apart, all hope for a companion is over. Victor is keeping them from being together. Both the monster and Victor are hindering the other from being with the person the long to grow old with.

The spawns of Satan

“a race of devils . . . on the earth.”

Uh oh, this is all we need. Victor created the monster to be something that he was proud of. He wanted it to be the pinnacle of everything he had studied up until that point. However, the creation ended up being just the opposite. The characterization of the monster is fairly indirect throughout the novel. We gain insight in the beginning about what Victor hoped he would be, and hen once the monster kills his first victim, the audience realizes through the eyes of Victor what the creation is really all about. Now, we see Victor envisioning a bunch of "mini-monsters" running around everywhere. This is all he can stand and he abandons the attempt. He has expectations of the new monster this time, and they are not high ones, unlike the first time around when Victor anticipated the monster to be something great.

Epiphanyyyy

“...a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned"

At this moment the creation realizes what he really is. Up until this point, he knew he was different, but he did not know how different. Once he starts learning the language of the cottagers with Safie, he is able to comprehend more of what is going on around him. The creation is on the outside looking in. Metaphorically and literally. He is on the outside of the cottage listening to the language in order to gain more comprehension. Metaphorically, he is on the outside because of his grotesque nature. He is the only one of his kind and no one has seen anything like him before. This is the point where the creation accepts who he is and realizes that he will never be accepted into society or be able to assimilate with them.

"I withdrew from the window, unable to bear these emotions" Page 75

Both the monster and Victor are the same person. If I had to guess, I would say that the monster is Victor's twin (not really...). They both retreat to a hiding place and have time to think. Victor did the same thing when he was trying to build the monster. Now, his creation is doing the same thing... irony?? Idk you tell me! Shelley's eighteen year old mind was very clever when writing this novel. There is so much parallelism within the pages that it makes me smile. I would never be able to put these connections onto pages and make the readers pick up on them. These subtle details are what make the story what it is. Everyone is connected in some way, shape, or form. It is just up to the reader to figure out how.

This is insane

"THOUGH IN SOME WAYS AN IMMATURE WORK, ..." page iii

Mary Shelley never seizes to amaze me. This eighteen year old created the most well-known ghost novel of all time. I feel incompetent because of her. I feel like I need to get my life on track and figure out what I want to do the rest of my life. Here I am wondering what I want to major in, where I want to go to school, and this woman is married with a novel. If anything, Mary Shelley has inspired me to think about my dreams. She has challenged me to write down my goals and chase them to the nth degree. I respect and admire her and hope I can be as successful as her someday in my professional life.

its aliveeeeee

"'Be calm! I entreat you to hear me, before you give vent to your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it." page 69

Aww the two finally meet up to talk. Victor finally meets the eyes of his creation. One would think that a monster would speak in short, simple sentences, but not this one. Victor's monster speaks just as well as he. Even though this is a ghost story, Shelley conveys to the reader it is a realistic one. Victor's monster speaks just like an adult that has been alive for several decades, unlike the monster. He is the real deal. This also shows the reader that Victor had high expectations for his creation, and would not settle for subpar. This goes back to the duty theme of the novel. Victor would not simply make a monster that would be created without uber consideration.

Sisterly Loveo

"Adieu! my cousin; take of yourself; and, I intreat you, write!" pg 43

Awww Victor's sister misses him, how sweet? Walton writes to his sister, but Victor's seestor (Borat style) writes to him. This is an attempt to show the reader how close the two are with each other. Also, the parallelism between the men and their sisters brings out a significant tie with the story. Both recognize that they are lonely and seek companionship with family members. At this point in their lives, family is the only thing they can turn to. How sad? But the truth is the truth and the relationships reveal much about their character.

This guy is nuts

"...I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures, such as no language can describe." Page 61

Victor describes how building the monster consumed him whole life. Yes, being driven is one thing, but being completely consumed is another. He goes on to say that the condition of his health declined as a result of this obsession as well. The obsession plays a role in Victor's duty of the play. He feels that it is his duty to create the monster since he set his mind to it. If he does not succeed, then he will fail in his duty and let himself down. Now, since he has set his mind to this, there is no looking back.

Winston surrenders

"He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big brother." pg 298

How sad? Winston is overcome in his life by the Party. They indeed emptied him out and filled him with themselves. As a reader, I was anticipating that Winston would overtake the Party and everyone would live happily ever after. However, Orwell did not write a love story. He wrote a work of science fiction. If Orwell would have had Winston overtake the party in the end, then no one would fear of communism in the world, because they would feel that the will of the human person is to overcome it. However, this is far from true. Orwell hits the nail on the head when WInston surrenders. Communism is something to be feared and something that is not easy to overcome. We all must fear it and work to make sure it never spreads any farther.

How do they know this?

"They show astonishing intelligence in knowing when a human is helpless." Page 285

The Party thinks they are God. Winston believes that the Party is an omnipotent being that exists to destroy the community. Orwell places The Party on a level that the reader is able to relate to the Party as God. There are many similarities between the two. Both yearn for their followers to accept their beliefs and breathe them with their every breath. Both will do everything in their power to make sure their platform is well known. Both are everywhere and can not be avoided. However, the Party can punish one for the acts. God simply welcomes those back with open arms and rejoices with their return. Unlike the Party, where the people are already dead.

Under the Chestnut tree..

"Under the spreading chestnut tree

I sold you and you sold me-" Page 293

Parallelism eh? The lyrics of this song directly parallel the relationship between Julia and Winston. For example, the both sold each other out in order to attain a greater good. They both knew that in order to be saved and not be killed that they must wish the ill upon the other. This is sad that the Party was endorse such behavior. Love is to be a mutual respect and a mutual agreement. Never in a million years did Winston imagine that Julia would be the one who is saved because she wishes ill upon him and vice versa. The Party does not know that they are in the wrong and believe they are doing what is best for the whole. However, this could be far from true, for they are the ones that are delusional in the head. Not Winston.

Epiphany

"It occurred to Winston that for the first time in his whole life he was looking, at knowledge, at a member of the thought police." Page 224

They are clever. Never in a million years did Winston think that the man who told him he could overtake the party would be the one to condemn him. Winston is astonished when he realizes that O'Brien is the one who set him up. He thought he would be the one to save humanity from the demise of the Party, but he quickly realizes that that is down the drain. He thought that since he read the manual to the Party that he was in the inner group of people trying to overthrow the Party. However, he never realized that he would someday be placed next to those same men and not be able to defend himself, for he has no defensive argument. This is evidence to Winston that the Party is everywhere. No matter how hard anyone tries, they will always be overcome by the Party, who is everywhere and omnipotent.

What is going on?

"I don't know. Days, weeks, months- I think it's been months." Page 253

This is wild. The Party is playing games with Winston's mind. They are using the lack of light and the lack of knowing time in order to get Winston confused with what is going on in his life. They are attempting to break him down to the point where he must be filled with them (The Party) and nothing else. The element of delusional feeling that Winston encounters leaves him no choice but to be able to surrender to the Party. He will still fight to the end, but now the reader is beginning to think that Winston will not be able to overcome the Party. Orwell will drop more hints throughout the novel to indicate that he will succumb to the Party and not know what he did wrong. He will not remember what he went through and will just blindly follow Big Brother.

How Sad..

" 'Would you believe,' he said, 'that until this moment I didn't know what color your eyes were' ."

This is terrible, but the epitome of the society in which Winston lives. He lives his life as a mundane existence and does not care to notice the little details in life. The little details are the ones that get me the most excited in life. However, Winston is worried about not being able to remember the past, but his larger worry should be whether or not he is able to enjoy the everyday details of life. Sad enough, our society really is not too far off from that of the "Utopian" society Orwell created. The bureaucracy of today's world is the largest employeer in the country. The threat of Universal healthcare looms over the heads of many Americans. The free enterprise system is in jeopardy in many situations, including the insurance realm. Maybe Americans should read this book before making accuasations about what is "best" for the country. Just like how the Party was hungary for power, so too are today's political monguls.

Say it ain't so

"WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"

PAGE 16

The slogan of the Party is a tough one to crack. All of these things are complete opposites in today's world. And, I find it hard to accept these things. Freedom is the right to not be enslaved. Ignorance is a weakness. War is violence and unrest. The Party conducts duties the complete opposite of today's world and the world when Orwell wrote the book. This is the world Orwell envisions in forty years, but this never happened. In what world would someone actually accept these principles to be true? However, I should not underestimate, for Hitler did persecute millions of Jews for no apparent reason. So this phenomenon does not surpirse me.

What, When, Why, Where, How?

"I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY."

I believe this would be juxtopposition. Winston is trying to understand why the Party erases all evidence of the past. He does not doubt how they do it, but he does not fully understand why they do it. What is the point? HOW and WHY are juxtapposed to each other in this sentence. He knows HOW but not WHY. The real question is WHY? It is becoming just an accepted that the past is erased, but no one questions it. Except Winston, who is bound and determined to challenge the Party.

Reverse Personification?

"They were like an ant, which can see small ojects, but not large ones." Page 93.

This quote is depersonifiying humans. The old man's facts are in fact interesting, but they are just pieces to the big picture that Winston is trying to put together. The old man keeps giving Winston scenes of a movie, instead of just the synopsis. Winston is trying to bring his memory back, and the old man is the only way in which he will be able to do so. However, as it turns out, he is not as helpful as Winston thought. All the relevant facts that Winston needs are outside the realm of the man's memory. They are details he is not able to recollect.

Beautiful Language

"The air seemed to kiss one's skin. It was the second of May. From somewhere deeper in the heart of the wood came the droning of ring doves." Page 117.

The first sentence refers to the personification of the air. When Winston goes to meet the brown-haired girl, he feels a sense of freedom about him. He can actually breathe when walking outside. He is very nervous about going to meet the girl, for it is illegal to have relationships or even marriage. However, the air is different out in the country where he is meeting her. It is free and fresh, everything that the air in the city isn't. The second sentence speaks of the droning of the ring doves. I am going to take a stab and say this implies that the ring doves are in the middle of the wood of the tree. Regardless, the langauge is beautiful and brings an element of freshness to the story as a whole. The language comes off as if Winston has a second chance at life.

Willy, Happy, Biff

These names are so immature and reveal an immense amount about the characters. Happy is a name that parents would call their children when they are little because they smile a lot. Not one that a grown boy would have. Biff on the other hand, well I do not even know how to explain this one. No wonder he has trouble excelling in his life. His name is Biff. I would be apprehensive about hiring a boy with that name as well. Willy is short for William. At some point in a boy's life he goes from being Willy to a more mature, William. Willy never made that transformation. More than just that, he also remained childish in his mannerisms and deameanor. He is trying to achieve the American dream, but just can not seem to make it work.

Flasssssshback!

The Death of Salesman makes use of flashbacks frequently throughout the text. Whenever Willy is in a serious conversation with someone in his family, he flashes back to another scene in his life where he is a different person. It is almost as if he has an alter ego that controls a portion of his life. This is sad because he is trying to live the American dream, but soon figures out that is not it is all chalked up to be. In addition, these flashbacks seem to trigger the memmory and then control how he lives his life as a family. These flashbacks also include his sons, who are defenseless in this story. It seems to me that they are begging for their father's acceptance. Willy just will not give it to them.

Drama Mamma

The Death of a Salesman is a drama. Not only is it a drama in the sense that Willy dies in the end, but also because of his family. Yes, everyone knows Willy is going to die. Hence the title. However, this is also a tragedy because of the death of his family. Willy was trying to be the traditional father figure that cares for his family; however, he fails epically. He neglects his sons in a sense. Yes, there are many flashbacks of him spending time with his sons, but that amounted to nothing. Happy is always telling his father that he is loosing weight and his father ingores him. How immature.

A dysfunctional family?

When looking at the Wingfield family as a whole, I am think that Amanda, who I cannot picture as a grown woman because that is not an adult name, spends too much time and energy picturing what she wishes her children would be instead of accepting what they are. She is the girl who has the rest of her life planned out when she is twelve years old. EVeryone knows that things never turn out the way you think they will. If Amanda would just accept the fact that she has no control of the personalities her kids have now that they are adults, then she would not be as stressed. She could then embrace them for who they are and work with them as a family to be a unit. The mothers who are the ones that believe they have complete control over what their children do and how they act and believe they can dictate who they are by restraining their actions are the ones who have children that do not follow their standards. Instead Amanda could influence her children by her own actions and leading by her example. Eventually her children will catch onto the acceptable way to behave in society. I know I am talking like her kids are little, but I just cannot picture them as being adults in my head.

Tommy boy

Tom Wingfield is the protagonist of the play. He is the one who is the bread winner of the family. The story is told through the eyes of Tom. I find Tom as an interesting character. He was forced to take over his father's role as the man of the house when he left. I do not know anyone who lives with their parent and younger sister who are in charge of making sure the electrical bill is paid. In addition, Tom was thrown into the situation of being the father figure of the family. He is the one his mother leans on when she needs support, and he is the father to his sister who does not have a father figure in her life. Throughout the entirety of the play, I was wondering when Tom would leave like his father. It seems as though he followed his father's life in every aspect up until that point, and it was inevitable he would leave in the end.

What kind of play is this?

When evaluating the type of play this can be viewed as, I think many different ideas are possible. With the two major types being tragedy and comedy, The Glass Menagerie falls into both. It has aspects comedy, for the whole idea that Amanda is trying to seek a caller for her daughter who has quit school and this is her last alternative for being anything in like. In addition, it is filled with irony. The scene where the father's picture is lit up when they talk about being able to escape from a coffin. On the other hand, the play is a tragedy. Laura does not find a potential man to marry, and Tom ends up escaping from the house, following in the steps of his father. However, if I was FORCED to choose which one it is, I would have to say a comedy. After all the whole dynamics of the family is rather humorous.

Not too shabby

Upon starting Othello, I was apprehensive as to how I would get through this whole thing. I saw how many pages I would be reading, and how little time I had. However, once I started, I realized it wasn't too bad. I realized it was actually very funny. I realized the fact that these themes are timeless and can be applied to all walks of life, no matter what the time period. We sometimes chalk Shakespeare up to this figure we don't know who lived before us and can't relate to. However, after reading the scene about uglies and smarties, I realized this is completely untrue. In addition, I was scared to death about the language the play was written in. However, once I got into the mode and forced myself to think they way they spoke during the time period, it really wasn't all that bad.

Dead or alive?

Dramatic suspense is created best in the fifth act. Knowing the play is a tragedy assumes that everyone will die in the end. However, the order and causes of each death leaves the reader wondering how it will all go down. When Othello is in the process of killing Desdemona, Emilia walks in. This leaves the reader wondering if Des is really dead, or if she is still alive. Upon the death of Emilia by Iago, everyone is in shock as to what just happened. The reader thinks that the play is over and enough damage has done. Little do they know that Othello is about to kill himself as well.

Themeeeeeee

A theme of Othello is honesty. During this time period in history, there were no cell phones, internet connections, or instant messaging. Because of this, the only sense of communication was word of mouth. We think it is difficult at Roncalli high school to overcome rumors, but imagine how it would be with everyone talking at different times and rarely being together. Iago thoroughly believed he would get away with the whole scheme. Never did he imagine that he wouldn't. However, conscience always gets the best of everyone, and they end up getting caught in the end. No matter how hard or inconvenient it may be, honesty is always the best route.