Why Can’t Someone Else Do It?

From lines 15- 22 in the love song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the poem addresses a yellow fog which is animal like in nature. It rubs against window panes and lingers on drains. When I was reading those lines it reminded me of when I was a young kid and I used to play outside on a muggy summer afternoon. See, I live near a swamp and so as it gets later at night, the fog starts to roll in. Just as the poem describes the way the fog would tumble around and gravitate toward bodies of water, so would the mist in my backyard.

It was a bit frightening actually, to see this thick wall billow in from the trees and make my house blur to the point that it nearly disappears. But at the same time, unlike the poem, I had fun in the fog. I could move my hand through it and it would go around. I would shine a flashlight and see the beam. I would try to keep it moving away from the puddles and pools of water. In the poem, the fog seems to trap Prufrock, keeping him indoors and afraid, like a beast is at the gates. Perhaps though, it was intentional that something as harmless as fog was chosen to constrict him, because if he just faced his meaningless fear of an inanimate, harmless, object, then he would be far better off.

-JohnE

If you don’t understand the title, click the break because this piece will make no sense without it.

Ok, honestly I was going to do the section of wriggling on the wall, but frankly it seemed a bit too “jump out”-y and I couldn’t come up with an interesting pun-title ® for it, so once I got the title, the rest wrote itself.

One section of the poem that seemed very interesting is the stanza from 37 to 48. it focuses on physical beauty for the most part and how society disapproves of physical imperfection. I feel like I could relate to that section to an extent, while my hair is not balding nor are my arms and legs thin, I know I am no supermodel. It is interesting actually, how, when talking to people those thoughts don’t come up at all. You aren’t thinking about if anyone is judging you. And, I know, for me I wouldn’t say I judge others whom I know in person based on physical appearance alone. However, almost innately, there have been occasions when out of the back of my mind, those ideas nag me. The odd part is that if I were to think of every individual who comes in contact with me, I would doubt that any one of them cares more about the appearance of my mouth over what comes out of it. Somehow though, when they, collectively, are thought of, for some reason that mass public stereotypically judges physical beauty only, despite the fact that every single piece of that whole does not. It is sort of a negative synergy where the whole thinks less than the part. Granted, it would make sense that ideas spoken are heard, in most cases, by few, where as physical traits are seen by all at all times, making it easier for “the public” to come to a consensus on that end.

Anyhoo, getting to the title of this blog post, the real way I related these lines was not so much to me, but to a guy named J. Yes, that is his whole first name. No, he doesn’t work for the men in black. See, he is a Microsoft executive. Legend has it that he was the one in the early 90’s who sent a memo to bill gates lobbying for Microsoft to become internet-centric. Long story short, he rose in the ranks and by ‘99 was part of a group making Microsoft’s first foray into the videogame market. He and his team had some forward thinking ideas which gave them significant mindshare in the “hardcore” audience, but when he was in product shots with the original Xbox, he was basically a nerd. Over the course of three years he basically overhauled his look and became, arguably, the face of the 360. He had thinning hair, lanky arms, but instead of disappearing away from the limelight, he worked out, shaved his head, and basically changed his image to the rebel of Microsoft, putting stickers on everything, going mountain biking, talking (gasp) a Macbook to work. J Allard basically answered “yes” to the rhetorical questions J. Alfred posed in “do I dare / disturb the universe” and because of it J Allard’s impact became all the more lasting.

-JohnE

Read the rest of this entry »

Paragraph 1 Page 324 “Ignatius spent the day in his room…conquering it”

            It was actually fairly difficult to pick this last quote, for a variety of reasons. See, as you know the book has several story arcs that all twist and turn around each other and, through some degree of separation, Ignatius. In the last fifth or so, the stories all tie together with this huge scene where Ignatius storms out of his house, attempts to embrace reality only to be shoved out of a party and back to the bar that started everything, the bar where he and his mother were thrown out in the beginning of the story, a likely place to tie everything up, well, without spending too much on summary and ruining the book to potential readers, after an incident with a bird, and the recognition that Ignatius is the same one from the beginning of the story, a ruckus breaks out in the bar that spills to the street, it gets so large that it makes the front page of the newspaper. Once there, an entire chapter is told each at the same time through the different perspectives of every character who knew of Ignatius that was profiled in the book, which is fairly difficult to fit into a single quote, so the closest way to show that is with the one here, because the phone keeps ringing, likely from people who saw the article and are calling Mrs. Reilly or Ignatius. Couple that with the traditional character that Ignatius displays, “each new ring making him more nervous and anxious” and it is as close to a microcosm of the whole book as a quote can get. The language is spoken in hyperbole, the sentences are broken up, just as they have been whenever Ignatius faces a situation he can’t handle.

            While the second and third to last chapters had a very well done way of coming full circle, I cant help but wish it was better, because of the sheer volume of characters, or caricatures as the case may be, I never really felt that much of a connection to them individually, which made the entire event toward the end feel somewhat disconnected when I had to think back to see if I remembered what person Xs deal was or why person Y was there, and seeing as the stories all flowed around each other, I was slightly disappointed that the end had all the characters fray as opposed to tie together, maybe I was setting my expectations a little to high, and perhaps that third to last chapter was enough, but if somehow all the stories could have some thread that took advantage of every part of the story, hiding a little clue as to how one person would fit with the other so that eventually all the characters could be physically brought them all together, then I might have been a bit more impressed. But maybe that was just because I was expecting more of a “Trilogy of Error” than I should have. That wasn’t the only place I was expecting more of a “Trilogy of Error” style; humor, was it in there? When done with the book, I look to the back and am reading these glowing reviews and thinking to myself, did these guys read the same book as me? where was the funny part? Sure there was physical humor, maybe some sophisticated comments that were over my head, but I never laughed out loud, let alone grinned. I never found Ignatius funny, only pathetic. The entire culture which surrounds him only makes matters worse by embracing him at the most bizarre times, it isn’t funny; it is just disappointing, because it becomes obvious what will happen when Ignatius tried to interact with others, the third or fourth time that happens doesn’t make it any less obvious. Maybe it is just me.

            You might like it, you might not; it is at least worth trying – that coming from me is fairly glowing praise

-John E

Paragraph 7 Page 201 “Talc: you have been found guilty…ZORRO”

The reason this particular passage was chosen was that, basically it contains many facets to the novel which, while I touched upon in the previous quotes, now have a full example for. See, this quote is the letter, written in crayon, to the professor, Dr. Talc, by Ignatius many years ago. That letter was just recently uncovered within the course of the book just by chance by Ignatius’ professor in a seemingly unrelated section to the main story, only now to have this note appear when a young female student is looking for her report. Given that the note implies (wrongfully, if the Ignatius of today is any indication) that the professor is a womanizer who is “misleading and perverting young.” As of where the chapter ends, the young woman placed the note in her bag, but chances are it will return with force to affect Dr. Talc, the woman, and maybe even Ignatius’ life. See, even though the plurality, or possibly the majority, of the book is written just following Ignatius, there are often subchapters within the chapter that have little or no direct relevance to Ignatius at the time, but will reference characters who Ignatius either has met, or meets in the book. As such, there is this “six degrees” sense about the book which is quite encapsulating. It will be interesting to see how the different threads of Ignatius’ life and surrounding lives all are tied up in the end.

Also, once again this quote reinforces my position on Ignatius, which is that he is socially handicapped to the degree that he shouldn’t be able to exist within society. He doesn’t conceptualize the difficulty of work, and somehow can verbally bully others with a complex vocabulary in order to maintain his childish desire of keeping “his way” even with those who haven’t buckled, like his mother, such as his boss or in this case, college professor. The even more remarkable aspect is that still others will respect what he writes and says as sane, or at the very least, a viewpoint worth listening to. Perhaps the humor within this is just too lost on me, but if the situational humor is supposed to be made of wrongful accusation and hyperbole, then I guess I don’t find the situation all that funny.  

-JohnE

Paragraph 2 Page 104 “Perhaps I likened myself to Kurtz in The Heart of Darkness… veil of mosquito netting”

Well, yeah it is kind of mandatory when a character in a book references another character in another book we read for class, that it is mentioned; but the quote itself is actually an interesting one on its own merit. Beyond the referential simile, the quote actually takes place within a diary of sorts of Ignatius, an interesting quirk that Toole includes in the chapter because it is a book inside a book telling the story as it has been told, only through the eyes of Ignatius which puts a remarkable tinge to the “real” world. He seems once again to be casting his life as one of hopeless despair that he can’t seem to get himself free of. He will place blame on all others around him. He will also over dramatize every event, in this particular instance simply showing up on the job to work at a pants factory is the equivalent of facing the “ultimate horror.” Now I know this is all intended to be over stylized to a degree that it is humorous, but I still have trouble shaking the fact that this man could improve himself if he were just given the right wakeup call and forced to acknowledge the real world. Instead he has been nursed in an artificial womb by his overly subservient mother who creates an uncomfortable dynamic when he is forced into public places. More so, his first successful job placement in the book has him admired by one co-worker and admiring another neither of which should be happening, which only goes to show how absurd the entire system of jobs and work really is. Granted, because of the multiple viewpoint presentation and the relatively removed narrator, the main story isn’t nearly as impossibly daring as Ignatius would like to believe. Still, I feel like my approach is making me a Frank Grimes about the whole situation, whereas Toole wrote it for me to be a Lenny, so unless this book decides to take a turn for the crazy bizarre, I may just have to take it as it is.

-JohnE

Paragraph 16 Page 41 “Well what do you expect?… Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.”

This passage is said by Ignatius, a thirty year old with a master’s degree who also lives at home, to his mother who comes into his room and complains about the smell. It is really tricky to find one particular quote that fully captures the complete essence of the insanity that is Ignatius, but this comes close. The first several lines comprise him defending the stench that comes out of his pigsty room which somehow winds up referencing mark twain by the end. As of this point, it is clear that while Ignatius may be academically gifted, he is socially retarded. Unfortunately his mother is exacerbating the situation through her overprotection and inability to force him to work for himself. Within the first 40 pages, Ignatius had been nearly arrested, thrown out of a bar, and risks being evicted, yet will continue his socially isolating practices. Granted, the book is designed to be humorous and it does manage to deliver, in a more subtle sense. The quote once again a perfect example, sure any author can get a quick laugh on toilet humor and the smell of body odors, but the juxtaposition of mark twain during his most inspired years having the object of his bed to help him, so does Ignatius have his smell. Granted, the other interesting aspect of this book has been that almost every other character touched by the duo of Ignatius and his mother go on to tell a side story of what happens to them next, with these multiple plots twisting and tangling around each other, but perhaps that particular aspect will be saved for the next journal entry. Personally, I am somewhat conflicted in Ignatius, granted this is a piece of humor and his actions shouldn’t be taken in a real life sense, but I feel like his mother should have sought help for him a long time ago, even if it was after college and he continued to live with her, because it is just a shame that clearly an educated man doesn’t have the sort of motivation and real world sensibility that he can use an education go get a quality job, if even to support his mother, if only he could just behave himself a little better, and act in a more socially acceptable way.

-JohnE

The book: Confederacy of Dunces

The man: John Kennedy Toole

The process: Dialectic Journal

Prepare yourself, gentle reader, for the next few entries will be as follows; a quote, a response, the end. Dig?

-JohnE

I’m sure I am not the only one who is going to talk about this, but that idea of darkness and light and their comparison to the reality of things versus the illusion and more importantly how that equates into the idea of life in darkness versus a more sterile light. I mean, generally speaking light is associated with knowledge, cleanliness, heaven; positive things while darkness is more associated with ignorance, grime, and the underworld. So what makes the concept of going into the darkness brining out reality so intriguing is that, the reality of the world in the heart of darkness is, from an outsiders perspective, one of grime and corruption, but for someone like Kurtz, it is a true existence, everything exists naturally, the people are full of life, not bound by ancient traditions of a “civil” nation. And truly, it is embrace of this “dark” culture that the inner light shines. Just in the difference between the women of Kurtz affection, the wild struggle of the native versus the calm resolve of the intended, highlights that emotion and passion that was practically forced to extinction in the economic hunger of Europeans. But, the problem to me, is it seems that these contrasting lifestyles both try to align themselves with the (general; good) light side, as if there was a better or worse. I don’t think that is the case however. Each lifestyle is different, and each has its advantages suited for the environment. Marlow is the perfect vessel to explore the pro’s and cons of these two cultures and from the looks of things, even though he returns to his original home, subtly crowning that place the winner; Kurtz, another ordinary man from the “light” culture preferred the land of darkness. In the end it is a matter of preference it seems.

-JohnE

            Well, I think I will skip over my group; because it would be taking the easy way out, instead there were these two contrasting ideas/images that I gravitated to during the discussion. The first one was the quote of the river as a coiled snake. That symbol alone is incredibly powerful in expressing the danger this river posses in terms of the life lost and the darkness that will consume, but the part the troubled me about it was that a coiled snake is one ready to strike, and when it does it is quick and (relatively) painless followed by a quick death. In the book however, the second image of the river as a native, pushing the foreigners out seems to make more sense overall. The river slowly makes travel more difficult, the deeper into the jungle Marlow travels. And like a living entity, ejects the alien object quickly. For a living river, it doesn’t seem to act like a snake. It isn’t vengeful or extremely violent for brief seconds, more of a slow and steady obstruction.

Also, it is interesting that the river is the means of propulsion into this darkness, yet in the case of most of the travelers like the pilgrims, it is just treated as a body of water – a dirty one to boot. The “savage” natives seem to be the only ones who truly respect the power that the river seems to contain, and certainly something that Conrad respects when writing the book. Which begs the question of why Conrad, wielding the mighty coiled snake of a river spared many of the travelers the wrath of the sea?

-JohnE

Ah, the darkness, the abomination. With such negatives as the focus of the first set of topics, it is interesting how quickly the conversation is drawn to modern times and the microcosm of society in an adverse environment. With some people like Kurtz who have already descended into the darkness, but were able to co exist with the native surroundings and be the most successful ivory supplier in the area, perhaps it is better to try to succumb to the “dark” if the ends justify the means. And along those lines, that fascination with becoming consumed with this evil darkness which leads to power, not only economically but in the mindshare of the local people. Such legacy can not simply be bought, it needed to be earned. On the other hand, the respect was at the cost of civility, which is a heavy price to pay. It is ironic that the reason Kurtz, an ordinary artist, journeyed here was to be able to wed his intended, but by going down and becoming enough of a success to do so, he, almost internally, made himself unable to return. Such is the fate of those consumed by darkness; and therefore such a lesson can be applied to the modern world that material goods are not worth losing yourself to work towards. It is always better to be happy at doing what you want than to do what you don’t to try to get something even better. If the darkness can show anything, it is to avoid it whenever possible.

-JohnE