Rags to Riches or was it....Rubies?

Life as an explorer has been interesting this past year. The expedition crew was based around the concept of balance. Arline, Janice, Regine and I were all the pillars of equality that kept this establishment running smoothly.

Our first month began with small outings which brought us into contact with the native peoples in the surrounding areas. The natives were friendly and happily showed us around the land. One of the findings during these explorations was a sacred nesting ground for the double striped gazelle. There, something unimaginable was discovered: ruby reserves. Arline was following one of the natives and happened to sit on a large, dusty rock while taking a break from resource hunting. As she sat, she talked and gazed at the rock beneath her, which seemed to sparkle in the midday sun. After having a closer look, the rock was indeed sparkling, and so was the ground beneath her. That was the day we found the rubies. That was also the day we found out the natives did not appreciate our attempts to bring back the pieces of soon to be jewels. However, we refused to pass up the jewels and the natives allowed us to claim some jewels for our own satisfaction that month. That month also brought good weather and increasingly good relations between ourselves and the natives.

                The same could be said for the next few months that followed. That is until we pressed the natives a bit too far for more rubies to send back to our kingdom. There was an unexpected disagreement after Arline sent me to collect the rubies for the week from the sacred ground. The natives were concerned that we were going to harm the land and insisted that we “replant those no good tomatoes” before the land took out her wrath on the innocent. I was given orders, so I could not turn around and head back to the camp until they were completely carried out. The natives retaliated with refusing to give us our share of months. When I returned with the rubies that night, Regine sat me down and insisted that I immediately stop aggravating the only help we had out here in the middle of nowhere. Weather conditions were tolerable the few months following this incident.

                Regine was becoming increasingly concerned about our relations with the natives and insisted that we ease up our demands for rubies. Janice was on the fence. Yes, the natives had desires, but we also had expectations to meet. We had only been in this new land for six months and had already become the most successful expedition to be sent out by our country. Surely we had to be doing something right. We went about two months without insisting on retrieving rubies from the sacred lands to appease Regine. She seemed convinced that the natives were going to attack us if we continued to demand resources outside of the original agreement we had with them. The only issues we seemed to have had those two months though was the weather.

Unbeknownst to Regine and Janice, the regulation of resources was no longer controlled by us during the last quarter of our expedition. After seeing how successful we had become, King Jameson sent a letter to Arline and me putting us in charge of reporting to his guard and making sure there was a steady income of jewels as long as our expedition was in effect. This led us to push the natives to give us as many resources as we could get the last four months of our stay. The natives retaliated with violence, but the idea of the welcome we all would receive back home clouded any thoughts of remorse as we insisted the natives give us the amounts of rubies we requested. By the end of our 12 month expedition, we left that strange land with 4 times as many riches as we had preceding our trip and optimal relationships with the natives with our departure.

 I am happy to say this was quite the successful quest.

Heart Disease...or Just A Cheater?

First off, I’d like to discuss Foster’s analysis of heart disease! WOW! I must learn how to analyze this well! A cheating wife who just so happens to have heart disease. It’s an obvious connection that I didn’t make until after he explained it. The irony in this story! As tragic as her condition is, it made the story slightly more amusing. I wonder how many more details there are in stories that I read that are sitting in my face like this one.

So I’m guessing that this concept applies to other illnesses as well? In the written world it seems, an illness directly reflects a problem or conflict a character has. In the movie Forrest Gump, for example, Forrest begins the movie with leg braces, barely being able to walk. He faces a confrontation with some bullies and ends up running out of his braces to save himself. That was him outrunning and overcoming his conflicts. Ever since that day, Forrest ran everywhere he went. It kind of became the theme of the movie: overcoming obstacles despite their gravity. Does Foster mean to include mental illnesses in this category? Forrest had an intellectual disability in this movie as well, which is why the movie was interesting. Everything he said was kind of questionable. He said he did all this crazy stuff, but did he really? Is this a message the author is trying to broadcast about a greater truth concerning his audience? Have we thought we did something amazing, but are actually confused?

An illness can be used to display different messages within a story. It can be used to call to attention certain events in a story. The character’s condition will reflect the, sometimes, underlying problem inside a story’s plot. (Like in Forrest Gump) It also goes a lot deeper usually and discusses and highlights society’s problems. (That sometimes are unnoticed or get ignored) By being crafty and writing about controversial topics by disguising them as illnesses and diseases that reflect those observations, authors are ministering and causing a large amount of people to subconsciously become more aware of social and political problems.

In The Wizard of Oz, each character seems to be missing something; a heart, a brain, courage, and a way home. Are these “diseases” humans face regularly? Diseases of the mind? Is this kind of a parody to call to peoples’ attention that even though some of us act like we’re missing a brain, or feel like we don’t have the courage to do something, we actually do, and the power to overcome these insecurities lies within us? That was the central message of this work. Are works will illnesses actually created to showcase our illnesses?

Are these things what make certain stories better than others? Is the difference between a story that seems shallow and one that seems vivid and rewarding the author’s message? Does every story have a central (moral) message it wants to communicate to readers? Are there “illnesses” of every kind in all types of stories?

This article is kind of the reverse of what I am talking about, but still interesting. It is discussing how happenings in literature inspired names of current diseases:

https://litreactor.com/columns/7-horrifying-ailments-named-after-literary-characters

So apparently we can all be Jesus now?

First off, I feel extremely compelled to comment on how witty Foster is by opening this chapter with the quote: “This may surprise some of you, but we live in a Christian culture.” How thought invoking! As a Christian, this one was a no brainer to me, an automatic “duh” some might say. However, I thought about how much corruption and craziness is going on in the world that doesn’t line up with what the Bible teaches and literally laughed out loud when I realized that this is probably one of the most sinful countries in the world, if not the most sinful. Here we have America, the supposed model of a correct society, “land of the free and home of the brave” who is the exact opposite of what it is supposed to be. I found the statement horrendously funny. There was too much true irony encompassed in that small sentence for it to be ignored.

Refocusing, this chapter discusses the necessity of having some sort of background in Christian literature, the Bible, if you want to be able to successfully dissect American text. He discusses the way Christ and biblical references are a part of everyday interactions for Americans. It is a piece of the culture. For example, a character archetype taught in English classes is the scapegoat. The most famous scapegoat that I have heard of (or even know of) is Jesus Christ. If you ask any other person who even knows what a scapegoat is, that will probably be their answer as well. Christian tendencies and references are ingrained in Americans. Foster gives an example of a Christ-like figure being depicted in a novel. A woman who, at first glance, was nowhere near Christ in her endeavors. Because of what happened to her and her legacy, a connection can be drawn.

This chapter is a good example of how the prior encounters a person has had with literature can influence their interpretation of things they read later. Thinking back on readings that I have done, my religious background has helped me draw connections and get messages from books easier than a person less experienced with the Bible.

 He made an interesting connection with the woman who threw her life away. How do you compare a person who is nowhere near correct in their ways to Christ? Jesus is supposed to be the person who saves the world and redeems everyone in the world. Isn’t the main point of being Christ- like to be somewhat right in your ways? She died and was resurrected, but does that mean she was the “Jesus” of the story? I, personally, disagree with this example.

The rest of the chapter discusses the way other works of literature can reference the Bible. Much like the chapter discussing Shakespeare, the Bible is an influential text in writing. I have more questions that have sprung from this chapter. Does the indirect reference of Bible scriptures and lessons communicate biblical messages to people who are not Christian? Is everyone indirectly Christian because of the Bible’s heavy influence on American culture? With the type of reasoning shown in this chapter regarding a Christ- like figure, does that mean each individual person in their own life story is “Jesus” at some point in time? A lot of people have made it to 33 and a lot of people have made severe sacrifices. Foster might want to be careful with this Jesus list. Someone might start running around claiming they are the Son of God waving this chapter of the book in peoples’ faces.

               

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/books/review/the-book-of-books-what-literature-owes-the-bible.html?_r=0

Got Bit...Now the Questions Won't Quit

I find it interesting how Foster discusses how and why vampires were used in earlier centuries to subliminally convey a message that was too offensive to come right out and say. It’s interesting how even though we are more liberal when it comes to voicing opinions and thoughts now than in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, we still continue to use vampires and characters labelled as monsters in stories. It makes me question whether or not we still use them for the same purpose. If an author decides to subliminally write about a topic and use symbols to discuss their opinion, the responsibility of realizing the author’s original purpose is in the hands of the reader. After understanding the purpose, which is usually to convey a darker and unwelcome message, chills run up the reader’s spine. A more discrete message will sometimes have a more lasting impact on a reader.

I am an avid and (guilty) reader of the Twilight series. As I began to read this chapter, Twilight automatically popped in my head and, of course, he mentions it in this particular passage. After explaining the meaning behind vampires and other monsters alike, a light is shown on how dark humans truly are. It’s honestly extremely weird reflecting on every supernatural movie or book I have ever experienced and taking into account the true meaning behind a lot of the beings in the stories. Edward in Twilight is obsessed with “devirginizing” Bella, for example. Now the, seemingly, harmless love story runs even deeper, darker and creepier. (As if the fact that Edward is over 100 years old and “drawn” to a teenage girl isn’t creepy enough) Edward has a hard time controlling himself because he is a vampire and vampires compromised the purity of young females. My mind has involuntarily begun to analyze the intentions of Myers and other creators of supernatural media as well.

For example, in the “House of Night” vampire book series, when a vampire drinks from a human, or even another vampire, it creates a very pleasurable experience for both, and ultimately a bond. What does this symbolize? Is this just another form of acceptable sex? Or do the Cast sisters have a deeper meaning behind the bonds and interactions between the vampires and their blood supply. As well as creating (now frightening) bonds, vampires are seen as the victims and humans, the evil enemy. I am wondering if this means the Cast sisters are bluntly calling out the human population for being disgusting and terrible, or if the vampires symbolize certain types of oppressed, misunderstood humans and the actual humans, something else.

This then causes my thought pattern to shift to Caspar the friendly ghost. A character purposed for kids is a ghost who is supposed to be friendly. Is this early conditioning of children? Foster describes ghosts to be a reflection of things that need to be called out. What is Caspar calling out? Being that he is friendly, is he bringing to light a declining emphasis on politeness and pureness? A child is a symbol of something that has not been tainted and Caspar is a dead child. Could he represent a loss of dreams or self after one grows old? A lot of adults fail to accomplish all they dream as adolescents. Is Caspar a way of illustrating a mourning of youthful dreams? Or a call to action for the youth watching the ghost to do all they dream before they lose sight of it and it dies?

Is the whole point of supernatural beings to shine a light to something that was pure that has been destroyed? This book is already extremely interesting and has brought attention to several details and happenings I have never considered while reading. I am excited about reading this book because it has finally caused me to easily begin questioning things for myself, and look deeper into the meaning and purpose of works of literature. Among the things I failed to question above are: Do aliens count in this category? What about other mythical creatures? Aslan? Bilbo Baggins? Are all mythical characters created with the intent to expose so innate, dark, problem with humanity? So many questions have now been awakened within me!

More Vampire things that spark my interest:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/vampire5.htm