Explication of "Blackberry Eating"

In the poem “Blackberry Eating”, Galway Kinnell uses many techniques that add to the sound of the poem. The poem has many instances of alliteration, such as “black blackberries” (2) and “blackberries for breakfast” (3). The “b” sound is harsh, which adds emphasis. The alliteration continues when the blackberries are described as “prickly” (4) which the author considers a “penalty” (4). Here, more harsh syllables represent the negative connotations of these words. Kinnell also uses the words “stalks” (7), and the phonetic intensive of the morpheme “st” shows the strength and stability of the blackberry stalks. Kinnell says that the blackberries get “squeezed” (12) or “squinched” (12). Here, the alliteration sounds cacophonous because the language sounds negative. The poet continues to say that he eats blackberries in the “silent, startles, icy, black language” (13). The alliteration sounds softer, and is thus euphonious. The poem itself is written in free verse and thus has no meter. Kinnell uses the word “icy” (2) twice to describe the blackberries, which reinforces the idea that the blackberries are fragile, just like something made from ice. Kinnell also personifies the blackberries, saying that they have earned a penalty for “knowing the black art of blackberry-making” (5-6). Here, personifying blackberries as if they have a unique knowledge helps add to the idea that they are special. Kinnell also provides a slight contrast in that the blackberries are “many-lettered” (11) yet “one-syllabled” (11). This shows the true nature of the blackberries. While the process of growing and gathering the blackberries may seem complex, in reality the blackberries are simple products of nature. This illustrates that blackberries are refined in that they turn the strenuous growing process into a straightforward result. Kinnell also uses specific diction, calling blackberry eating a “language” (13). This implies that like a language, eating blackberries is an art form that is done stylistically and thoughtfully. This shows his respect and gratitude for this experience.

Explication of "Africa" by Maya Angelou

The poem “Africa” by Maya Angelou tells the history of Africa. The poem is broken up into stanzas that illustrate different points in history. The first stanza is about the natural beauty of the continent, and mentions the deserts, mountains, and Nile River (3-6). This stanza starts out with the line “Thus she had lain” (1). In this line, the word “lain” is unstressed, showing the passive and calm nature of Africa. In the last line, the work “black” is emphasized, which shows that Africa was beautiful before white intervention. The second stanza is a shift in the tone, and the topic shifts to white intrusion in Africa. Angelou mentions that people crossed the “white seas” (9), and she refers to the white people as “brigands ungentled/ icicle bold” (11-12). Brigands have an obvious negative connotation, and words such as “icicle” (11) and “cold” (10) have connotations of lack of sympathy. The second stanza has trochaic meter to emphasize the important words. Angelou says the white people “took her young daughters/ sold her strong sons/ churched her with Jesus/ bled her with guns” (13-16). In these lines, the natural stress is on the first words. This emphasizes the cruelties that took place in Africa during the slave trade and civilization missions.

            The last stanza switches to present day, and expresses a hopeful, optimistic attitude. Many of the lines start with the word “remember” to show the importance of acknowledging Africa’s history. The words “pain” (19) and “losses” (20) are stressed to further show the importance of the history behind Africa. In the line “now she is striding” (24), the words “now” and “striding” are stressed to show the improvement the Africa has made in the present day. The last line, “although she had lain” (25), relates back to the history of Africa and shows that Africa is still prospering despite the cruelties that occurred.

Explication of "Rite of Passage"

The poem “Rite of Passage” by Sharon Olds describes her condemnation of the violent impulses of children. She starts the poem by referring to her son’s birthday party guests as men, showing how the children try to act older than their actual age. Before the party starts, Olds notices that “small fights/ breaking out and calming” (5-6), which shows how the children fight for no reason, so the fights eventually stop. One child says to another “How old are you? Six. I’m seven. So? (7). The children are trying to impress and one-up each other. The children “eye each other” (8) like “a room of small bankers” (9). This metaphor compares the children to bankers, which have a negative connotation for being greedy and deceitful. Olds’ son tells all the party guests that “We could easily kill a two-year-old” (22), once again showing the desire for dominance. After this comment, “the other/ men agree, they clear their throats/ like Generals (23-25). Olds uses a simile to compare the children to Generals because she is relating how both are associated with violence. At the end of the poem, Olds says the children “relax and get down to/ playing war, celebrating my son’s life” (25-26). This statement is a paradox because war is associated with death, but they are simultaneously celebrating a birthday, which represents life. Olds uses this contrast to support her point about the impulsivity of children’s violence.

This poem also has examples of alliteration with the words “jostling” (5) and “jockeying” (5). The “j” sound sounds like fighting, which adds to the tone of the poem. There is also a lot of repetition of phrases such as “they cleared their throats”. This phrase shows that the children are mimicking actions they observed from adults, and they are repeating it to make themselves seem mature. Overall, the title of the poem shows the children are trying to transition themselves into adulthood.

"The Old Man of the Sea" Analysis

The short story “The Old Man of the Sea” by Maeve Brennan tells about an old beggar who comes to the Brennan home selling apples. Mrs. Brennan feels sorry for the old man and buys two dozen apples. Maeve’s uncle Matt warns Mrs. Brennan that “now that [you’ve] encouraged him, he’ll be on [your] back for the rest of [your] life” (22). Maeve silently agrees that the beggar could be similar to the Old Man of the Sea. Maeve alludes to the story of Sinbad the Sailor, who allowed an old man to stay on his back. However, the old man grew stronger and heavier, and Sinbad could not get rid of him. The old man becomes progressively evil and he continues taking advantage of Sinbad. The beggar comes back once a week and every week Mrs. Brennan cannot bring herself to take fewer apples from the man. Maeve continues to look for signs of evil in the man, yet finds nothing each time. One day, Mrs. Brennan decides she will not answer the door, and the family hides from the old man. However, a neighbor spots the family in the garden, saying the old man told her that “he comes regularly and he knows [you’re] depending on him” (27). Mrs. Brennan gives the man less money than usual, and after that he never returns.

            One afternoon, Uncle Matt returns and says that he saw the old man wearing an expensive suit and not carrying any apples. Mrs. Brennan does not believe him, but Maeve believes her uncle and realizes the man had been taking advantage of her family the whole time. The end of this story is similar to the allusion to Sinbad. Maeve’s story shows the corruption and deceit in Dublin. The old man was pretending to be poor, but in actuality he is a wealthy con man. Maeve learns that things are not always as they seem.

"The Morning After the Big Fire" Analysis

In the short story “The Morning After the Big Fire” by Maeve Brennan, Maeve recounts a time when a house near her home burned down. The house was next to a garage where a majority of the neighborhood stored their cars. Maeve finds the fire fascinating, saying “it was a really satisfactory fire, with leaping flames, thick, pouring smoke, and a steady roar of destruction, broken by crashes as parts of the roof collapsed” (16). However, in spite of this great danger towards the family, the concern of Maeve’s parents is whether or not someone had saved the cars. In the morning, Maeve’s father goes to the scene of the fire and tells the family that most of the cars were damaged, but “some of the fellows connected with the garage had been very brave, dashing in to rescue as many cars as they could” (17). Once again, instead of reporting on the safety of the family, Maeve’s father and the neighbors were more concerned about the cars. This shows that during this time in Dublin, money and material goods were very valuable. Since poverty was widespread throughout the city, people valued their possessions.

Maeve also found pleasure in telling all the neighbors about the news, since many people had slept through the fire. However, once the other children come outside, Maeve remembers that “the fire was [mine] no longer” (18). Maeve “pretending to lose interest” (18), since she became upset that people were paying less attention to her story. Once a new garage is built, Maeve secretly hopes that it will catch on fire again. However, it never does, and the garage still remains standing when the family moves out of the house. While waiting, Maeve recalls thinking that “it some child should steal around with a match one night and set it all blazing again, [I] would never blame her, as long as she let [me] be the first with the news” (20). This shows the dullness of everyday life in Dublin. The most exciting thing that happened in Maeve’s childhood was a fire, and even that became less exciting after the news spread. Overall, this story shows that growing up in Dublin was boring and uneventful, and thus left the children looking for some form of excitement.

Explication of "The Apparition"

The poem “The Apparition” by John Donne describes a ghost’s vengeance, which is later undermined by the ghost’s love. The ghost starts off by addressing a woman, saying “O murderess, I am dead,/ and that thou thinkest free from all solicitation from me” (1-3). Here, the ghost’s tone is angry. The poem continues on saying “then shall my ghost come to thy bed” (4). The ghost’s threats add to the angry tone, and the ghost seems to want revenge on the woman. The ghost then implies that the woman has been seeing another man since he passed away. This angers the ghost even more.

When the ghost visits the woman’s bed, he sees her in “worse arms” (5) with “feigned vestal” (5). The ghost is implying that the woman is lying about being a virgin. This angers the ghost because he claims to know the truth about her virginity. The ghost also thinks that he was a better man than the woman’s current lover. The ghost threatens to scare away the woman’s lover, telling her that the man will become “bathed in coldwater sweat” (12).

However, at the end of the poem, the tone shifts. Instead of expressing anger, the ghost expresses love for the woman. The ghost says “since my love is spent/ I had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,/ than by my threatenings rest still innocent” (15-17). The ghost says that if the woman repents for lying and losing her virginity, then the threats are empty. The ghost still has feelings for the woman, and it irritates him that she is lying to everyone. Perhaps the woman lost her virginity to the ghost while he was still alive, and by repressing this memory the ghost feels like the woman is repressing her feelings for the love they once shared.

Themes in "The Sisters"

In the short story “The Sisters”, there are some apparent themes. The first is the luminosity of light. When the narrator passes by the priest’s house, the house is “lighted the same way, faintly and evenly” (1). To the narrator, this is a good sign because if the priest is dead, the narrator would “see the reflection of candles on the darkened blind…two candles must be set at the head of the corpse” (1). The narrator goes to mourn for the loss of the priest after sunset. Since the sun is no longer up, the sky is dark. The darkness represents the lack of life. In the room with the coffin, there are candles that look like “pale thin flames” (7). Here, the candles are letting out a “dusky golden light” (6), placed there by those who are trying to keep the memory of the priest alive. This light is artificial, yet it is the last attempt to bring life where there is sadness and mourning. The narrator recounts a time when they found the priest “sitting up by himself in the dark” (10). At this point, even though the priest was physically alive, he was no longer mentally connected to the world.

            Another theme is the inability to speak. When Mr. Cotter visits the house, he says some things that anger the narrator. Instead of speaking out, the narrator continues to eat “for fear that I might give utterance to my anger” (3). The narrator here is choosing not to speak. The priest, on the other hand, is unable to speak. The priest has suffered three strokes, which have left him with paralysis. This contrasts the choice to not speak and the inability to speak.

            There is also the use of color to show liveliness. When thinking about the priest, the narrator remembers “the heavy grey face of the paralytic” (3). This imagery is repeated again when the narrator sees the priest in the coffin. The priest is described as having a “very truculent, grey, and massive” (7) face. Grey is typically a lifeless color, which shows the lack of vitality in the priest.

Explication of Paired Poems

            The poems “My Number” by Billy Collins and “I had heard it’s a fight” by Edwin Denby have different views on the idea of death. Collins paints death as something to be feared, while Denby’s view on death is less serious.

            Collins personifies death as a person who roams around looking for lives to end. Collins asks “Is Death miles away from this house,/ reaching for a widow in Cincinnati” (1-2).  Collins blames unfortunate accidents on the secret work of Death, who is “too busy making arrangements,/ tampering with air breaks,/ scattering cancer cells like seeds” (5-7).  Collins then uses imagery to describe Death as “shaking open the familiar cloak,/ its hood raised like the head of crow;/ and removing the scythe from the trunk?” (13-15). Here, Death is illustrated as the popular figure the Grimm Reaper. This imagery creates fear in the reader because the scythe is commonly associated with death. The narrator then reveals his plan to distract death, saying “Did you have any trouble with directions?/ I will ask, as I start talking my way out of this” (16-17). The narrator has clearly put in a lot of thought about how he will avoid death, showing that the fear of death dominates the narrator’s life.

            Denby, on the other hand, illustrates the fight with death as playful, saying “you wrestle with it, it kicks you/ in the stomach, squeezes your eyes” (3). Although the fight with death sounds painful to the reader, Denby’s tone makes the fight appear to be fun. He enjoys the thrill of the fight, and recalls that “it sneaked up on me like a sweet thrill” (6). Denby also thinks a person has control over their own fate, and death can be avoided by living a healthy lifestyle. This contrasts Collins’ view of death because he thinks a person has no influence over their own fate. Denby further shows his lighter view of death by saying “the crazy thing, so crazy it gives me a kick” (13). Here, he finds parts of death to be humorous, yet he “can’t get over that minute of dying so quick” (14). Denby shows a small fear of death in this line, because he realizes that death comes quickly and unexpectedly. This idea is more similar to Collins’ view of death.

Marlow's Changing Views on Kurtz

Marlow’s feelings about Kurtz constantly change throughout his recollection of his time spent in the Congo. When he first hears about Kurtz, he has a strong desire to meet him. This desire slowly fades as he realizes the cruelties forced upon the natives, all for greed and the collection of ivory. Marlow meets a Russian trader, who is a loyal follower of Kurtz. At the Inner Station, Marlow sees severed heads on stakes and learns they are heads of rebels. Instead of being disgusted, Marlow is not surprised at this act of savagery. As the trader tells Marlow about his admiration for Kurtz, Marlow believes that “it did not occur to him that Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine” (139).

            Once Kurtz is on the boat, Marlow realizes that the manager came solely to take Kurtz’s ivory. Kurtz tells the manager that he is “not so sick as you would like to believe” (143) and does not believe that the manager came to rescue him. However, he stands up for Kurtz, telling the manager that he thinks Kurtz is “a remarkable man” (144). This action isolates Marlow from the rest of the people on board, yet he still remains loyal to Kurtz. Marlow learns from the trader that Kurtz ordered the attack on the ship because “he hated sometimes the idea of being taken away” (145). The trader trusts Marlow to maintain Kurtz’s reputation. Marlow remains loyal to his promise and thinks that “it was ordered I should never betray him- it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice” (147).

            Throughout the boat ride back to Europe, Marlow becomes Kurtz’s companion and develops respect for him. After Kurtz dies and Marlow becomes ill, he believes he must continue to live in order to “show my [Marlow’s] loyalty to Kurtz once more” (154). His close brush with death makes Marlow realize that “Kurtz was a remarkable man. He has something to say. He said it” (155). Once back in Brussels, he refuses to release all of Kurtz’s private documents, and tears the postscript off the report on the Suppression of Savage Customs in order to maintain his heroic reputation. At the end of the story, Marlow meets Kurtz’s fiancée, who is still mourning a year after Kurtz’s death. Marlow tells her that Kurtz’s last word was her name to avoid negative feelings about Kurtz. Overall, Marlow develops a deep respect and admiration for Kurtz, resulting in his utmost loyalty, even after his death. 

"Siren Song" Explication

 “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood shows the continuous process of Sirens seducing male victims into death. The poem makes several allusions to Sirens, which were creatures in Greek mythology that lured sailors into shipwreck. The song is “irresistible” (3), as no man can resist jumping off the boat towards the Sirens, “even though they see the beached skulls” (6). No one can evade the seductive power of the Siren’s song, and no one knows it because “anyone who has heard it is dead” (9). The Siren then asks the reader to “get me out of this bird suit” (10-11). Sirens were affiliated with birds due to their sweet voices. The Siren expresses her discontent with her situation. She tells the reader that she hates “squatting on this island, all picturesque and mythical” (14-15). The diction here relates to actions of birds, which further illustrates the bird-like nature of the Sirens. The narrator refers to the other Sirens as “maniacs” (16) and thinks their song is “fatal and valuable”. These words are contrasting, since it means the song is both deadly and useful. The Siren uses the song to attract men, yet these men ultimately die. The Siren implies that she is lonely and looking for a companion. The Siren teases the reader, saying she will “only tell the secret to you, to you, only to you. Come closer” (19-21). The Siren entices the reader to come closer, which is either a trap or a real attempt at companionship. The Siren claims that the song is “a cry for help” and the reader tells the reader that she wants someone to save her. At the end of the poem, the Siren admits that it “is a boring song, but it works every time” (26-27). This reveals that the Siren was merely tricking the reader into falling for her trap. Although she is tired of the routine, she continues to use the song as means of luring her victims. She wishes that men didn’t always focus on her artificial beauty and the sound of her voice. Instead, the Siren wishes that men focused on the personalities of women.    

Info About the Congo Free State

The Congo Free State was privately owned by Leopold II, the King of Belgium. Leopold was the chairman of the Congo and used the state to exploit copper, rubber, and other minerals. The people were treated brutally, all to gain capital from the resources. The colonists severely mistreated the native population to increase rubber production, which became popular after the increased use of cars. The colony was monitored by the Belgium army, called the Force Publique (FP).  In enforce the rubber quotas, the FP would cut limbs off the natives, and this practice was used throughout the Congo Free State. These severed limbs were supposed to pay back the amount of the quota that wasn’t fulfilled. Villages would occasionally attack each other in attempts to gather hands. Officers raided villages that protested Belgian rule. It is predicted that over half the native population died during the Belgian reign.

            Other international powers, especially Great Britain, protested the treatment of the locals. This pressure eventually forced the Belgian parliament to take the Congo Free State away from the king. The colony was then called the Belgian Congo, and it was put into the rule of the elected Belgian government.

            It is hard to conceptualize how harshly the natives were treated. It seems as though it was a game among the officers to see who can collect the most limbs, which were somewhat treated as currency. Logistically, it doesn’t make sense to cut off hands, because the person will no longer be able to work. No matter how much rubber they were producing prior to losing their hands, it is more than what can be produced without any hands. Overall, the situation sounds like a severe abuse of power. On the other hand, I am glad that other nations protested against the inhumane treatment of the locals and demanded that Leopold lose power of the colony.

Works Cited: http://cobweb.sfasu.edu/sbradley/Classes/homepages/Congo_Free_State/

"The Metamorphosis" Close Reading

A turning point in “The Metamorphosis” occurs when Grete announces that the family should get rid of Gregor.  Grete starts the conversation by “striking the table with her hand” (47). This contrasts from the first image of Grete, who appeared as a meek little girl crying in her bedroom. When referring to Gregor, Grete says they “have to try to get rid of it” (47). Instead of referring to Gregor as “him”, Grete chooses the pronoun “it”. Grete has now succeeded in further dehumanizing Gregor. However, this may be purposeful, because it is easier to hate Gregor when he is considered to be a bug rather than a person. Grete claims that they have “tried all that humanly possible to take care of it” (47). This word choice is very ironic, considering tried everything humanly possible to take care of Gregor, who is not human. This represents the fact that his family didn’t truly do everything they could to take care of Gregor, especially as more time continued to pass. Grete continues by saying “when people have to work as hard as all of us, they can’t stand this perpetual torment at home, as well”. Here is another instance of irony. Before his transformation, Gregor was the family member who worked endlessly and came home to an ungrateful family. Gregor was the only family member who worked, and the other members put off working for as long as possible after the transformation. Grete is complaining that they work too hard, yet she has no consideration for the fact that this used to be Gregor’s life. Even now, the family can’t appreciate how hard Gregor was working to support them.

            The father contemplates the idea that Gregor can understand them, yet Grete “shakes her hand violently to indicate that was out of the question” (47). The father happens to be correct, since Gregor can in fact understand what they are saying. Grete, on the other hand, is incorrect, even though she had designated herself to be the authority on Gregor. Grete is too self-confident to even consider that she is wrong in something concerning Gregor.  

            Overall, this passage contains irony in the family’s treatment of Gregor. The family struggles with the contradicting images as Gregor as a person and Gregor as a bug. In the end, the family decides to completely disregard Gregor’s human value, and treat him as a pest which must be removed.

Poetry Out Loud Poem Reflection

The poem I chose is “At the Vietnam Memorial” by George Bilgere. This poem conveys meaning and emotion without using challenging devices. One of the things that attracted me to the poem was its seemingly straight-forward nature, yet at the same time the poem encompasses a lot of emotion. The first two stanzas give no indication of being related to the title. The narrator describes a boy named Paul Castle, who in the students’ eyes is perfect. His name is printed in gold on the wall, which shows that he is revered and special. The narrator recalls watching Paul run, and even at his age, he would surpass all of the other runners.

            However, it is also implied that Paul is cocky, as he rarely talked to younger students or athletes who are not near his level. The narrator appears not to care, however, because he can tell that Paul is planning to do great things with his life. In the third stanza, the flashback ends and the narrator is reading his name once again. This time, he is reading Paul’s name on the Vietnam Memorial. He compares his shadow to the other students when in Paul’s presence, saying they drift obscurely without recognition. According to the narrator, once again he is left speechless while in Paul is memorialized.

            I like how this poem honors the soldiers that lost their lives in the Vietnam War, yet none of that is explicitly stated. The soldiers are described as being the ideal citizens, who all the other people look up to and strive to become. Even many years after school, the narrator can remember how Paul symbolized success.

            This poem reminded me of my grandma. He was in the Navy for many years, and he tells me stories of the friendship and respect between everyone. Whenever something went wrong, everyone was there for each other despite any possible feelings of hostility. Even though the narrator was not friends with Paul, he still mourns his death.

1984 Reflection

The ending of this novel was certainly unexpected. The first thing that shocked me was how blunt O’Brien was when stating the main goal of the Party. He admitted that the Party does not care about the citizens, and their sole purpose in life is the pursuit of power. O’Brien even says that he can live without all the luxuries he has, including plentiful amounts of food and a large home, as long as he has power. This, to me, helps explain many of my questions about the novel. It is also interesting yet not surprising how the Party believes the only way to assert power is by making people suffer. The idea of ripping the mind apart just to put it back together is an interesting idea. This relates to many historical events in which the population was brainwashed into blindly following the ruler. However, the Party does this on a larger scale, resulting in obedience on a larger scale.

            I was surprised when in Room 101, O’Brien stopped the punishment only because Winston asked him to punish Julia instead. This shows that O’Brien knew that Winston was still holding on to something from his life before the arrest, and that was keeping him back from full obedience to the Party. Winston finally breaks the ultimate promise to himself and betrays Julia.

            Winston’s encounter with Julia is also interesting. The two no longer have any kind of attraction, and Winston actually finds the idea of having sex with Julia repulsive. Julia was the last glimmer of hope for Winston, and now even she arouses no emotion. This shows that Winston has officially broken down and completely accepts the Party. The scene with him in the coffee shop shows that Winston’s life has come full circle, and now he has been tortured into obedience just like the Jones, Rutherford, and Aronson, who he saw in the same café so many years before. Just like the three men, Winston has been tortured into obedience so that he no longer poses a threat to the Party. The last four words are the most haunting in the sense that the Party won; they got inside Winston’s head and messed with his thoughts. The morale of Winston and Julia was that the Party could never changed what they think and how they feel, yet at the end of the novel, they are both proven wrong.

The Brotherhood's Book

Winston receives a mysterious book that is supposedly written by Goldstein to be the manifest of the Brotherhood. When Winston reads the book, he realizes that it merely restates everything he already knows about the Party. He was expecting to learn a lot of information about the Brotherhood and what it stands for, yet he learns nothing.

            It is then revealed that O’Brien does not work for the Brotherhood, and he instead works for the Ministry of Love. This leads me to believe that the book Winston received was written by the Party for the sole purpose of being a trap. Branching off that theory, I do not believe that the Brotherhood actually exists. I think that the Party invented the Brotherhood and Goldstein to rally a common enemy, just like the hate rallied by the war. I also believe that Goldstein was created to be a scapegoat for the Party and the people. This is shown during Hate Week, when the citizens blame Goldstein for sabotaging them by making them rally against the wrong enemy.

            This theme of invention by the Party makes me question the existence of Big Brother. I do not believe Big Brother actually exists. I think the Party created Big Brother to make the people feel protected and belonging in a community.

            However, the book does go into a great amount of detail about the purpose of the Party. I think the reason the Party goes into so much detail is because they know that Winston will never have the opportunity to share this knowledge with anyone.

            The book particularly emphasizes the class system and doublethink. I think this is because these two ideas are of the utmost importance to the Party. The Inner Party members enjoy the fact that they have a nice home and plentiful amounts of food meanwhile proles are dying of starvation. They are proud of their place in the social hierarchy, and they want to flaunt their wealth. Doublethink is also crucial to the workings of the Party because the citizens are required to think a certain way, even if they know the information is wrong. 

Explication of "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins

The poem “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins uses a series of understatements to show Collins’ belief that society undermines the seriousness of important events. The poem starts off by saying that the teacher is trying to “protect his students’ innocence” (1). While it is important to safeguard the innocence of children, Collins also believes that it is the duty of society to teach children the world’s history. The teacher tells the students that during the Ice Age people had to wear sweaters and the Stone Age was named after gravel driveways. Clearly, these are understatements that have nothing to do with those periods of time. The teacher also tells the students that the airplane dropped “one tiny atom on Japan” (12-13). This is another example of word play; transforming an atomic bomb into an understated atom, which can cause no harm. Many of the events casually mentioned by the teacher, such as the Spanish Inquisition and WWII, are important events that shaped history. Collins is criticizing the teacher for outweighing historical significance with his own preconceptions about the world.

            The next stanzas transition into the students’ lives outside the classroom. Whereas the other children are well-rounded individuals, this teacher’s students suffer from a lack of education. They tease the other children because they have not been taught the results of cruelty in the world. The children have also been taught that humans can do no wrong, and they thus feel no responsibilities for their actions. The last stanza further illustrates the naïve nature of the teacher, as he walks “past flower beds and white picket fences” (19). This stroll illustrates the teacher’s ideal society. The teacher wants to believe the world is kind and perfect. However, this is not entirely the case. This stanza ties the whole poem together, as to say that the teacher does not address hardships of the world because he does not want to face them himself. Collins believes that it is important to teach children history, so people can learn from the mistakes of others and learn respect. It angers Collins that society dismisses what can be learned from significant events in history, and he thinks that it is time for a change.

Impressions of Julia

At the plot continues, I believe that Julia is using Winston to merely fulfill her sexual desires, rather than truly loving Winston. Whereas Winston sees her numerous affairs as attractive, I think they show Julia’s flirtatious nature. Julia also blows Winston off on occasion. This is another example of the power Julia has over men. She probably knows that Winston’s life revolves around her, yet she is so quick to cancel the plans because she knows Winston won’t leave her. Another example is when Julia shows up to the room above Mr. Charrington’s shop. Winston immediately tries to embrace her, while she shrugs him off. In this instance, she is more concerned with bragging about her minor revolts against the Party; this time presenting food that is only accessible to Inner Party members. It seems that she is more eager to show off her sneakiness than to be in an actual relationship.

            Julia is also very intelligent and does not fall victim to the Party’s propaganda. Julia refuses to believe in the Brotherhood, and thinks the Party made up the organization for its own purposes. She believes the war was made up for the same purpose and to install fear in the citizens. Even though Winston is so politically against the Party, he has never thought of these ideas. For this reason, Julia appears to be even less naïve than Winston.

            However, Julia does not care about the deceit that does not apply to her own life. Since she already knows the Party is lying, she does not care about the minor lies, such as who invented the airplane, which country Oceania is at war with, or the changing of history in the papers. This frustrates Winston, because he finally thought he had a companion with which to discuss the constant revision of the past. This further illustrates Julia’s belief that it is more important to live in the present than to obsess over the past or future.   

Where is Winston Headed?

It definitely seems that Winston is heading for rebellion. Whereas he used to be so cautious about his public disobedience of the Party, he seems to be coming more and more careless. He recounts of a time he had sex with a prostitute, saying that he was fearful a Party member would be waiting for him when he left. Now, he is far less cautious. This is shown through his public conversation with the old man in the bar, when Winston asks if life has actually improved since the Revolution. When the man presents Winston with random tidbits of information, Winston asks again. This is a very risky conversation, sure to be punishable by the Party. However, Winston’s desire for knowledge is slowly overriding his common sense and fear of the Party.

            Winston is also craving a sexual relationship. He talks about his brief marriage with Katharine, saying that he was unhappy because she was timid about having sex. After the couple realized that they could not have children, they separated. Winston has also engaged in sex with prostitutes. He remembers a prostitute who was old and ugly, yet he had sex with her anyway. Winston believes that the Party banned sex to eliminate happiness. Winston thinks that his happiness will be restored when he reengages in sexual activity. This belief makes me predict that Winston will find a partner in the near future.

            The desires for sex and to break free of the Party may collide in the idea of renting a room about the antique shop. Winston was thrilled to learn that the room did not have a telescreen, meaning he had a whole room to do whatever he wants. Even though he has a small space in his own apartment, there is not enough room for more than one person, and he cannot make any noise. This room may be Winston’s beginning to a definite personal revolt against the Party.  

           

Shakespeare in Newspeak