The 101st

The 101st 

            Its mid winter 1944 in the heart of Germany and Nick Johnson is serving his 3rd year as an infantry soldier for the 101st infantry division.  They have been fighting and defending their front line for many months now.  They have had many casualties on both sides due to the cold and brutal fighting each side has exhibited.  He and his company have been sent out on many missions in the past week or so, more than usual.  It’s so cold, that on these missions it bites at you, it bites you so hard that you feel it in the deepest parts of your bones.  Some soldiers don’t have shoes for whatever reason; lost, stolen, blown to bits, or shot up.  Some of them can’t feel their feet anyways because of frost bite, and others have had them chopped off due to the frost bite. 

             War is hell and it shows you a lot of things that you can never forget or never want to forget.  Some people can handle it and some can’t.  But every soldier has their own way of dealing with it.  Nick had seen many new replacements come into his company and they are all the same.  They are hungry for action and want their first kill.  They all want to start fighting right when they get there and then the next day they are sitting there on the ground all shot up bleeding calling for their mothers with their guts hanging out.  Nick wished that something could stop this for good, so no one would ever have to go through the things that he has encountered and the things that he has seen.  No one wants to see their best friends, brothers, or people that are almost like family lying on the ground dead or hurt. When you’re out there on the front lines it’s only you and the man next to you. He is the only one that you can trust and depend on. He’s the one that is going to bring you back home alive or in a box with a flag draped over. They say that the friendships that are formed in or during the army or war are unlike any other and that theory is about to be put to the test. 

             This day in the middle of December was just like any other. Everyone was thinking that the war would be over by Christmas and once again it seemed like it wouldn’t hold true. This meant that once again Nick and his company would be going on another mission, probably reconnaissance.  That’s what most of their missions were. Go out and find the enemy, come back, then go back out and kill some more. Then when you were done doing that you would dig another fox hole. The next morning you would move out and then start the whole process all over again.  But this time it would be different, much different. 

             This mission they were walking a lonely road along the woods at night, God only knows where. Suddenly the leader put up his hand signaling the rest of the company to stop, meaning that he probably saw or heard something. When the silence was broken by the sharp sputter of a light machine gun or rifle they all hit the dirt, normal procedure when something went BOOM!  The whip, whip, whip, of the bullets hitting the ground and trees all around them and the whoosh, whoosh, of more bullets flying over head were all that could be heard.  They had fallen into a trap, something called a cross fire, which is when the enemy is on both sides of you, and you are in the middle of a circle of fire.  The men are pinned down with bullets coming at them from both sides.  This is one place that you don’t want to be in. Its way too foggy to see exactly where the enemy is firing from, so they just start firing blindly hoping that they’ll hit something or someone. They would try to fire at any flash that they could see from the guns in the woods.  A lot of the men have been hit and some are already dead.  They can’t get up because there is no place to go and because if they lift up their heads it would be almost certain death. So they hang tight and keep firing, fighting for their lives. At any second something could hit them seeing as they have no cover, but by some miracle of God, Nick isn’t touched by a single bullet.  Not even a scratch.  But the case is not so good for some of the other guys who are screaming, yelling, and bleeding.  Nick managed to pull a couple of his buddies over to him before they could be hurt any more.  The other guys that were not hurt too badly kept on fighting and helped Nick pull the other guys over to one side. And just as soon as it all started all the screaming and shooting just stopped. He looked around and everyone was just sitting there on the ground.  He couldn’t believe it.

             Later on that day when they got back to base and the wounded and dead had been cared and accounted for, he told his men about his experience. The soldiers couldn’t believe it and just stared there opened mouthed. One fellow by the name of Jeff Valentine finally gathered himself and said, “We ambushed a company today in that same area!”

 One of the other fellows named Mike Boss said dumbly, “You don’t think that…”

 ”Well hell, who else do you think it was?” said Jeff. “We just ambushed the wrong enemy. How are we going to explain this to the Major?”

 ”We’re not going to tell a single soul about what happened!” said Boss, almost yelling. “This isn’t our fault. We did what we were told to do. Intelligence said that there was enemy activity in that area. How were we supposed to know it was our own army? God damn intelligence kids can’t do anything right for anyone.”

 ”What about those kids’ parents?” asked Jeff. “What do we tell them?”

 Boss looks at him a second then says, “They’ll get a letter just like every other poor kid that’s died. You’re son died for a good cause; his death was important to our success and was not lost in vain…blah…blah…blah. You guys know the deal.”

 Then Jeff says to Boss, “What if intelligence finds out that they messed up and brings it up and everything comes back to us? We’re good as dead then. We’ll get court marshaled!”

 ”WOULD YOU SHUT YOU’RE MOUTH!!!” screamed Boss. “They’ll find out just from you running your mouth.”

 Nick finally says, “Enough you guys, both of you shut up! They aren’t going to find out because it never happened…right….RIGHT!”

“Yes…” they all said in unison looking at him.

“Good now lets get some sleep before tomorrow morning because it’s just going to be another long day.” said Nick.

 ”When is it never…” said Boss sarcastically.

 ”Goodnight!” snapped Nick.

             The next morning everyone was suddenly awakened by the screaming of mortars. Explosions were going off everywhere and you could hear the sound of wounded soldiers screaming for a medic. The rounds started coming in closer and closer. The fox hole next to him was hit and the two men inside never knew what hit them. Jeff and Boss are two holes to his left and they are yelling to Nick to see if he’s okay.

 ”ARE YOU STILL THERE NICK!” Jeff yells.

 ”YEAH I’M GOOD! HOWS BOSS?” asks Nick.

 ”SLEEPING!” Jeff answers.

 ”WHAT?” Nick asks in disbelief.

 ”SLEEPING!” Jeff yells for the second time.

             Nick can’t believe that anyone could possibly sleep through an entire mortar attack with a million explosions going off all around. Nick knows that he can’t be sleeping, so he yells back at Jeff again, “CHECK HIS HEAD!” Jeff checks the back of Boss’ head and there is a little piece of shrapnel jutting out the back.

 Jeff yells back, “HE’S DEAD!!!”

            Stunned in disbelieve Nick slides back down the sides of his hole and puts his hands on his head and just sits there. Now more than ever he wants to just go home and try to out this memory in the past. But he knows very well that it won’t be an easy task if possible at all.

             When the bombardment is over an hour and a half later there are fires everywhere and shells lying on the ground. Nick decides to poke his head above the ground. He moves slowly as to make sure that it really is over and the fact that he doesn’t want to see how bad it is because he already knows. As he pops up he looks to his right and there is a dud sitting right next to his hole; a mortar that didn’t explode. He climbs out of his hole to go check on Jeff and when he looks in there is nothing there but a single helmet. Nick drops to his knees and cries. How in the world does the mortar that landed next to him not explode but Jeff and Boss were so unlucky. As much as he would like to stay there and sulk for his two lost friends he must move on and help out with the wounded and assemble for a possible counter attack.

             When he arrives at the field hospital there are two men dressed in black overcoats. They are about the same height and weight but one is distinctly older and has facial deformities almost of that from combat. He is holding what looks to be like profile records and Nick suddenly sees his name plastered across the middle. He turns to walk out when he suddenly hears, “Hey kid!” He stops and slowly turns around.

 He simply responds, “What?”

 The older gentleman says, “Do you know where I could find Private Nick Johnson of the 101^st division?”

 ”I’m Nick Johnson sir.” Nick says. “I must be going though I have to help out the wounded from an attack earlier this morning.”

 ”That’s quite alright. I would just like to take a second to talk to you.” says the old man.

 ”About what?” asked Nick.

 ”Lets take a walk over hear so we can talk in private.” says the man. “I’ve been told that there might have been an accident relating to your company and a recent reconnaissance mission gone wrong.”

 ”I don’t know what you’re talking about sir. The other day was just like any other day we went to find us some Germans and came back.”

 ”Oh.” the man says not believing a word. “So how would you propose that 10 men didn’t come back alive?”

 ”Sir I have already told you nothing happened!”

 ”Mmmm I see. Well being a former soldier myself, I know why one wouldn’t confess, to protect those for which he loves but I must assure you that you and your men will not be held accountable for whatever may have happened.”

 ”And how can you assure that?” asked Nick.

 The man stared at him blankly for a second and then asks, “Where are Boss and Jeff? They were with you on that night, were they not?”

 ”Yes they were sir.”

 ”Then let me have a word with them?” asked the man.

 ”Sir they were killed this morning during a sudden mortar bombardment.” said Nick almost bursting into tears.

“I’m terribly sorry.” the man said. “I know what it’s like to lose a fellow brother.”

 ”Then sir I’m sure you will understand that I have nothing to tell you about this false information that you have acquired and I would like to return to my brothers who need my help from a rough morning.”

 ”Yes. Carry on young man.” said the man as he patted him on the shoulder and gave him a wink from his eye, which Nick just seemed to notice was fake.

 ”Thank you sir.” said Nick.

 ”You’re very welcome and son…God be with you and may he see that you have a safe return home.”

 ”Thank you again sir.”

             Sadly Nick was never able to return home because later that week he wasn’t so lucky to have a dud land next to his fox hole. His memory lives on in the minds of those who served with him and his soul will rest with those that have died before him and those that will die after him.

 

 

 

NOIRRRRRRR

What makes a noir film noir? Characteristics of a noir style movie are such aspects as bars, stairs, shadows, dim lighting, mazes, quick camera jumps from one object to another, variations in camera views, narrations, and there is also usually an antihero. 

There are many kinds of characters in a film noir. There are often villains, corrupt characters, gangsters, private eye cops, spies, government agents, and police detectives. These characters, when present, are usually cynical, sly, menacing, and in some way shape or form, losers and failures. They tend to me more flawed and have more problems then the people they are dealing with.

But what makes these films so entertaining? It’s is the way that they are shot and told. The story lines in most of these films are non-linear, they have a twisting plot, some incorporate narratives, foreboding, and flashbacks. They take place in urban settings where there are many places that are gloomy, and have lots of shadows. Places like alleyways allow for shadows to be cast down upon the character and engulf them. The shadows also add a sense of dangerousness and uncertainty. With all the gangsters, cops, and criminals the movie naturally has many bars, nightclubs, and gambling scenes for plenty of action.

A consistent theme of film noirs is that there is an inhumane side to human being nature. There are love and hate relationships with a lot of behind the scene tension. Brutality, violence, and backstabbing, top the list in frequently portrayed human behaviors. Crime, usually murder, is the main motif of most of these films. The most common motivation for these crimes is jealousy or some  other human weakness/obsession that drives the individual to extraordinary means. Some characters repeat the same mistake over and over again whether or not they realize it. The criminal acts are due to unfortunate past experiences that still haunt the character, that work as devilish instigators.

 

 

 

In Cold Blood

“I love him, and I hate him.”

“I want to apologize, but, but who should I apologize to?”

These are some of the last words from Perry Smith just before he was executed.  Perry Smith is unlike most criminals in a way that the audience likes him. I liked him because I thought that even though he  killed the Clutter family and a man in Vegas, he was still sympathetic and kind hearted. For example, when he tied up Mr. Clutter in the basement, the basement was cold. Perry noticed this and moved him to a warmer spot so Mr. Clutter would be more comfortable. Also because Perry loved children, during the raid when Hickcock was going to rape the young daughter, he stopped him. It seems to me that Perry Smith has a conscience and feels guilty and sad for what he has done. The acts which he comitts are because he is mentally ill. Periods of intense rage confront Perry frequently and he lashes out in ways he probably wouldn’t otherwise. This is due to horrific past experiences from his early childhood.

During Perry’s childhood his father was extremely abusive and violent. In one account told by Perry, before he was to be hanged, his father, angered by a failure in his supposed to be get rich quick business, started yelling at Perry and took out a shotgun. He tells perry, “Take a good look because this is the last thing you’ll ever see.” and then pulls the trigger. Luckily the shotgun is not loaded and Perry is able to walk away. He goes for a walk and upon returning, his stuff has been piled up outside in the snowy wilderness of Alaska. Perry turns around and walks away without ever looking back.

I believe that Perry would have been just like any other person if he had been loved for and given the help he so desperately needed. But due to an older and more primitive time, mental help was not widely available for people. Perry’s mental help could have also saved him from the death penalty and he could have been charged with insanity and not help responsible for his actions. But again, due to a more primitive time, these standards were not available.

However, both Perry Smith and Dick Hickock were highly intellectual people and this makes Perry Smith one of the most studied criminals ever. He was a genius and an excellent artists, whose paintings can be found hanging in and throughout Kansas. 

 

The Autobiographical Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Instead of picking a modernist theme I decided to talk about something else that really makes a strong statement throughout the play, alcohol and drug abuse. Long Day’s Journey into Night is a metaphoric representation of the path from normalcy to demise by showing the general effects of substance abuse on human psychology and family dysfunctions through the characters Mary, Jamie, Edmund and Tyrone.

Mary Tyrone makes the transition most clearly throughout the entire play. In Act I, her hands move restlessly, and she seems to be quite nervous. As the play progresses the audience should notice that she becomes less nervous and more talkative, she appears to be less nervous,but then one becomes aware that her eyes are brighter and there is a peculiar detachment in her voice and manner.

These are obvious signs that she has started using the drug or “poison” again. The more morphine she takes, the more and more she seems to talk about the past. For example, in Act III she starts to talk about the night that they fell in love, and the night she found out of James alcoholism.

Mary – “I was so lonesome I kept Cathleen with me just to have someone to talk to. Do you know what I was telling her, dear? About the night my father took me to your dressing room and I first fell in love with you. Do you remember?”

Tyrone – “Can you think I’d ever forget, Mary?”

Mary – “No. I know you still love me, James, in spite of everything.”

Tyrone- “Yes! As God is my judge! Always and forever, Mary.”

Mary – “And I still love you, dear, in spite of everything. But I must confess, James, although I couldn’t help loving you, I could never have married you if I’d known you drank so much. I remember the first night your barroom friends had to help you up to the door of our hotel room, and knocked and then ran away before I came to the door. We were still on our honeymoon, do you remember?”

In Act III, she talked about her two childhood dreams of becoming a concert pianist or a nun.

Mary – “It’s a special kind of medicine. I have to take it because there is no other than can stop the pain–all the pain–I mean, in my hands. Poor hands! You’d never believe it, but there were once one of my good points, along with my hair and eyes, and I had a fine figure too. There were a musician’s hands. I Used to love the piano. I worked so hard at my music in the Convent–if you can call it work when you do something you love. Mother Elizabeth and my music teacher both said I had more talent than any student they remembered. My father paid for special lessons. He spoiled me. he would do anything I asked. He would have sent me to Europe to study after I graduated from the Convent. I might have gone–if I hadn’t fallen in love with Mr. Tyrone. Or I might have become a nun. I had two dreams. To be a nun, that was the more beautiful one. To become a concert pianist, that was the other.”

 By Act IV, she has dragged her old wedding dress from the attic and attempted to play the piano again. This presents a psychological reasoning for her relapses. She considers herself to be growing old and ugly, and often refers to the how she was at one time young and beautiful. To her, the ugliness of the hands and hair is the ugliness of what she has become over the last twenty-five years, which is why she uses the pain of the rheumatism as an excuse to use the morphine. This is why she has become addicted. The Morphine makes her feel better about herself.

Although she is doped up she is not entirely gone from a intellectual state of mind. When she was accused of relapsing she said, “It would serve all of you right if it was true”. This advocates that she may be seeking some sort of justification for her actions, and to continue her drug addiction by using her family’s suspicions and constant remarks as a reason for her deterioration. Her actions are largely influenced by her family, but mainly by Edmund. He is quite aware of his diminishing health, and suspects that he may have Tuberculosis, a very dangerous disease back then. He feels, however, that he can overcome his illness as his mother overcame her addiction. His optimism is crushed though, when he realizes that she has started taking Morphine again. Mary and Edmund are connected in more ways than a mother is to her youngest son. Both have tried to kill themselves and are both linked to sanitariums. Because they are so similar, he uses her strength and willingness as motivation for himself to help him with his own problems, but with her failure it seems to ensure his.

Jamie is the disappointment of the family. He spends much of his time in whore houses and in barrooms with other alcoholic degenerates. He was expelled from college even though he received praise from all his teaches and fellow pupils. Jamie is a seemingly bad influence on his younger brother because he brings Edmund to the bars and whore houses with him. Mary blames Tyrone for Jamie’s alcoholism, since he fed Jamie a teaspoon of whisky as a child whenever he was restless.

The relationship between Jamie and Edmund seems healthy, but it is obviously not. It is not uncommon between two brothers that the younger looks up to the elder, as Edmond does. Knowing this, Jamie purposely sets a bad example due to his jealousy of his mother’s affection for him.

The Tyrone family is very dysfunctional, especially in their drinking (and drug) habits. They seek every opportunity to drink, and constantly try to justify themselves. Because this is true, their addictions feed off each other and make abstention nearly impossible. Mary’s need for morphine is enhanced by Edmund’s ill condition and the constant suspicion that she is using again. Edmund, Jamie, and Tyrone all drink because Mary has relapsed, and they were hoping that she could beat it. Thus, the cycle continues, and each character is justified in their substance use. Due to this constant dependency on other members of the family to help them fight their addiction, it is practically inevitable that they will fail.

 

It was truly a long day for the Tyrone family, where the morning symbolized normalcy and the night represents the demise. One also notes that the substance abuse causes different occurrences within each family member. The morphine makes Mary nostalgic and the alcohol makes Edmund more aware. Jamie becomes quite intoxicated and becomes viciously honest, and Tyrone simply holds his liquor in such a way that he seems to be in control of himself, but one is able to see that he is not. Most important, however, is the sub theme that alcohol and drugs are what destroy a family from the inside out. The dysfunctions of the family only grow larger and more hideous as the night progresses.

The story ends openly thus, one can assume that the play marks one day, one relapse for Mary, one trip for Jamie to the whorehouse, one more drink Edmund takes to forget the past, and one more drink that Tyrone takes to help himself cope. Yet, it will not be the first, or the last. It will be just one more night that will turn into morning and it will all happen again.

 

Overview of Long Days Journey Into Night

The play, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” is deeply autobiographical. Eugene O’Neill is portrayed as Edmund. Like Edmund, Eugene was the child of a Broadway actor. O’Neill’s heritage background was also similar to that of the Tyrone’s in the play; both were Irish-American. The Catholicism Religion plays a major role in both the families lives, with a religious father sickened by his sons’ apparent rejection of the Church. Alcohol is apparent in O’Neill’s father as much as it is in James Tyrone, who gave up what would have been a promising career as a Shakespearean actor for one part in one play, Monte Cristo. He was excellent at that one part and it endoubtedly devastated his acting career as a whole.  O’Neill’s mother in real-life, was a morphine addict, and like Mary, became one after the birth of her youngest child. Jamie is also modeled after O’Neill’s real-life brother, a self-indulgent alcoholic who frequently slept in the whore houses and who failed miserably at everything in life. In real-life Eugene had an older brother named Edmund who died as a baby; in the play, the dead middle son is named Eugene.

Eugene O’Neill sailed for years as a youngin’ as did Edmund, while taking up odd jobs. O’Neill had a fragile health as did Edmund, and was forced to rest for six months in a sanatorium as did Edmund, so that he could be treated for tuberculosis, which in those days, was a very dangerous disease.

The play was first performed for the first time in 1956, three years after O’Neill’s death. It won a Pulitzer Prize and has often been considered as O’Neill’s greatest play. Long Day’s Journey Into Night reveals O’Neill’s life in a way that most could probably not entirely understand, as well as the values and virtues he valued most. The was play also a way for O’Neill to make peace with his troubled past, forgiving and understanding his family and himself.

 

Deire Under The Elms

The farm is the downfall of this family because according to Eben his father, Cabot murdered his wife by working her to death and then taking her land. This left Eben scarred and it was his determination to  obtain what was rightfully his mothers. This makes him almost phsyco and dangerous to others.   

Eben’s father one day leaves and get remarried and when Eben finds out he is shocked and pissed. This starts an uprising in his family and a brutal fight for the ownership of the farm. Because there is a new wife/mother (Abbie) for the family she could possibly obtain the land that Eben is so desperately trying to get. Eben wont let this happen.

 

The second that Abbie enters the farm she begins her mental games to win over everyone in the family  to achieve her main goal, the ownership of the farm. When talking to Cabot though, he tells her that he would give the land to Eben, he tells her,”That hain’t me. A son is me–my blood–mine. Mine ought t’ git mine. An’ then it’s still mine–even though I be six foot under. D’ye see?” Abbie realizes that she must do something about this because her plan isn’t working so she tells him that she would have a son with him if she gave her the farm and not Eben.

Abbie–(suddenly) Mebbe the Lord’ll give us a son.

Cabot–(turns and stares at her eagerly) Ye mean–a son–t’ me ‘n’ yew?

Abbie–(with a cajoling smile) Ye’re a strong man yet, haint ye? ‘Tain’t noways impossible, be it? We know that. Why d’ye stare so? Hain’t ye never thought o’ that afore? I been thinkin’ o’ it all along. At-eh–an’ I been prayin’ it’d happen, too.

Abbie–I want a son now

Cabot–(excitedly clutching both of her hands in his) It’d be the blessin’ o’ God, Abbie–the blessin’ o’ God A’mighty on me–in my old age–in my lonesomeness! They hain’t nothin’ I wouldn’t do fur ye then, Abbie. Ye’d hev on’y t’ ask it–anythin’ ye’d a mind t’!

Abbie–(interrupting) Would ye will the farm t’ me then an’ it?

Cabot–(vehemently) I’d do anythin’ ye axed, I tell ye! I swear it! May I be everlastin’ damned t’ hell if I wouldn’t! Pray t’ the Lord agen, Abbie. It’s the Sabbath! I’ll jine ye! Two prayers air better nor one. “An’ God hearkened unto Rachel”! An’ God hearkened unto Abbie! Pray, Abbie! Pray fur him to hearkened!             

 Later on during the play Eben and Abbie secretly fall in love and have sex and he impregnates her. When the son is born Cabot thinks that it’s his son and is ecstatic. He throws a party in celebration and everyone right away notices that the baby looks just like Eben and not Cabot and they start to whisper and Cabot acts likes he’s ignorant to what they could be whispering about. He gets so drunk that when he finds Eben avoiding everyone in there he reveals the truth to him about Abbie.

 

Cabot–Ay-eh. I’ll see. So’ll ye. It’s ye that’s blind–blind as a mole background. What air ye hawin’ ’bout? God A’mighty, yew air a dumb dunce! They’s nothin’ in that thick skull o’ your’n but noise–like a empty keg it be! Yewr farm! God A’mighty! If ye wa’n't a born donkey ye’d know ye’ll never own stick nor stone on it, specially now arter him bein’ born. It’s his’n, I tell ye–his’n arter I die–but I’ll live a hundred jest t’ fool ye all–an’ he’ll be growed then–yewr afe a’most! Ha? Ye think ye kin git ;round that someways, do ye? Waal, it’ll be her’n, too–Abbie’s–ye won’t git ’round her–she knows yer tricks–she’ll be too much fur ye–she wants the farm her’n she was afeerd o’ ye–she told me ye was sneakin’ ’round tryin’ t’ make love t’ her t’ git her on yer side…ye…ye mad fool, ye!

This makes Eben so mad that he flips out on Abbie and tells her that he wishes he had never met her and fell in love with her and that he no longer loves her and that he wished that they never had the baby and that it would die. Abbie to show that she loves him greatly decides to kill the baby by suffocating it with a pillow. The next day when she comes to him he tells her that he is sorry and that he would never want anything to happen to that baby and that he loves it with all his heart. She confesses to Eben and he flips on her again for killing an innocent baby and how could she have done such a thing. He would have wanted her to kill the Cabot instead.

Cabot finds out and is so shocked that he is practically speechless and Abbie tells him that the baby wasn’t really his and he is appalled that they were able to pull a fast one over him. He reports Abbie to the cops. Eben decides to tell the cops that he was part of the plot too so that he could be with her because he now knows that he really does love her. So when they come to pick her up an Eben says that he was in on it and they end up taking the both of them away and Cabot is left to rot on his farm by himself.

The baby in this story is in my perspective the deed to the farm. If you have the baby you have the farm but if the baby is not yours then you have no farm. The farm drove the family apart and even took the life of an innocent baby. Ownership corrupted their minds and greed poisoned them to no end.

 

Street Car’s Twin Play, The Glass Menagerie

This play has the biggest open ending of all open endings.  Throughout the play the reader can somewhat predict the outcome of the story and its events, but the reader is suddenly thrown for a loop at the end.  In scene six, Tom has a conversation with Jim, his friend from work, who is actually over to become aquainted with Laura, Tom’s sister. Tom talks of how he is sick of the factory and is planning to do something with his life that will not involve the factroy or any night classes in public speaking. This hints to how the story will unfold.

Tom’s frustration with his life has lead him to believe that he must leave his family and job and start a new life somewhere else, probably as a writer. This evidence is revealed early when Tom later goes on to say…

Tom: I’m starting to boil inside. I know I seem dreamy, but inside–well, I’m boiling! Whenever I pick up a shoe, I shudder a little thinking how short life is and what I am doing!  Whatever that means, I know it doesn’t mean shoes–except as something to wear on a traveler’s feet!  [He finds what he has been searching for in his pocket and holds out a paper to Jim.] Look–

Jim: What?

Tom: I’m a member.

Jim [Reading]: The Union of Merchant Seamen.

Tom: I paid my dues this month, instead of the light bill.

Jim: You will regret it when they turn the lights off.

Tom: I won’t be here.

Jim: How about your mother?

Tom: I’m like my father. The bastard son of a bastard! Did you notice how he’s grinning in his picture in there? And he’s been absent going on sixteen years!

Jim: You’re just talking, you drip. How does your mother feel about it?

Tom: Shhh! Here comes Mother! Mother is not acquainted with my plans!

In those quotes Tom talks about his father and how he abandoned them. This is when the audience should get a sense of what Tom is going to do.  Tom is most likely planning to follow his father’s footsteps in abandoning his family. Tom says that he is the bastard’s son of a bastard and seems to not care that he will be inflicting much pain on his more than loving family.

The story comes to a sudden ending with another fight.  Tom’s mother gets mad at him for not telling her and Laura, that Jim is married. Tom, however, did not know this and the news is as shocking to him as it is to everyone else. Tom, smashes his glass on the floor and plunges out onto the fire escape slamming the door behind him. Tom stands on the fires escape gripping the rail as the moon breaks through the stormy clouds, illuminating his face. 

Tom closes the play with a quite moving speech as he is walking down an alleyway of some far off place.

Tom: I didn’t go to the moon, I went much further–for time is the longest distacne between two places. Not long after that I was fired for writing a poem on the lid of a shoe-box. I left Saint Louis. I descended the steps of this fire escape for a last time and followed, from then on, in my father’s footsteps, attempting to find in motion what was lost in space. I traveled around a great deal. The cities swept about me like dead leaves, leaves that were brightly colored but torn away from the branches. I would have stopped, but I was pursued by something. It always came upon me unawares, taking me altogether by surprise. Perhaps it was a familiar but if music. Perhaps it was only a piece of transparent glass. Perhaps I am walking along a street at night, in some strange window of a shop where perfume is sold. The window is filled colors, like bits of a shattered rainbow. Then all at once my sister touches my shoulder. I turn to around and look into her eyes. Oh, Laura. Laura, I tired to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink, I speak to the nearest stranger–anything that can blow your candles out!

For Nowadays the world is lit by lightning! Blow out your candles, Laura–and so goodbye….

This leaves the audience wondering what happens to the family? What happens to Laura? Does she ever get another gentleman caller or does she forever live with her mother?  Are they able to get by without the support of Tom? They depended completely upon Tom and his $65 a month paycheck.  With no one to support them how will they get by? The future is left to the readers own devices. 

 

What’s Wrong With Ole Anderson’s Head?

The “Killers” by Ernest Hemingway is an unusual story. Two hit men stop by a little luncheon place for some dinner and wait for a man named Ole Anderson to walk in. Their purpose with this man is that they intend to kill him for one of their friends. The two killers have never met this man before and wait in the back of a kitchen.

“I’ll tell you,” Max said. “We’re going to kill a Swede. Do you know a big Swede name Ole Anderson?”

“Yes.”

“He comes here to eat every night don’t he?”

“Sometimes he comes here.”

“He comes here at six o’clock, don’t he?”…

“What are you going to keill Ole Anderson for? What did he ever do to you?”

“He never had a chance to do anything to us. He never even seen us.”

“And he’s only going to see us once,” Al said from the kitchen:

“What are you going to kill him for, then? George asked.

“We’re killing him for a friend. Just to oblige a friend, bright boy.”

The man luckily never shows up and the two hit men leave. One of the men that works at the diner quickly goes and warns the man at his house. He tells him the shocking news but he somehow already knows. He seems to be unmoved by the whole situation which is shocking…

Nick opened the door and went into the room. Ole Anderson was lying on the bed with all his clothes on. He had been a heavyweight prizefighter and he was too long for the bed. He lay with his head on two pillows. He did not look at Nick.

“What was it?” he asked.

“I was up at Henry’s,” Nick said, “and two fellows came in and tied up me and the cook, and they said they were going to kill you.”

It sounded silly when he said it. Ole Anderson said nothing.

“They put us out in the kitchen,” Nick went on. “They were going to shoot you when you came in to supper.”

Ole Anderson looked at the wall and did not say anything.

“George thought I better come and tell you about it.”

“There isn’t anything I can do about it,” Ole Anderson said.

“I’ll tell you what they were like.”

“I don’t want to know what they were like,” Ole Anderson said.  He looked at the wall. “Thanks for coming to tell me about it.”

“That’s all right.”

Nick looked at the big man lying on the bed.

“Don’t you want me to go and see the police?”

“No,” Ole Anderson said. “That wouldn’t do any good.”

“Isn’t there something I could do?”

“No. There ain’t anything to do.”

“Maybe it was just a bluff.”

“No. It ain’t just a bluff.”

Ole Anderson rolled over toward the wall.

“The only thing is,” he said, talking toward the wall, “I just can’t make up my mind to go out. I been here all day.”

“Couldn’t you get out of town?”

“No,” Ole Anderson said. “I’m through with all that running around.”

He looked at the wall.

“There ain’t anything to do now.”

“Couldn’t you fix it up some way?”

“No. I got in wrong.” He talked in the same flat voice. “There ain’t anything to do. After a while I’ll make up my mind to go out.”

To react to this kind of information is bewildering.  Someone is out to kill him and he just goes “Eh” like it’s no big deal.  PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO KILL YOU MAN!!! Go into hiding or move to another country.  He is accepting his death sentence. That has to be the true power of the mind.  Most people are afraid of death in general never mind being told that they are personally being hunted down.  As Randy Jackson would say from American Idol, “I gutta give you props dog YEAHHH!!!” That takes courage and a little bit of stupidity. 

 

Whose the Real Victim Here?

Tennessee Williams’, a “Street Car Named Desire” takes place during the hot summer months in the city of New Orleans. The story’s main setting is at the Kowalski’s home. It’s a small two room house with one bathroom on the first floor of a two story building. Stella, the wife of Stanley Kowalski is sister of Blanche and she has come to live with the two of them for a short time due to a series of unfortunate events. As Stanley and Blanche become more acquainted with each-other the story starts to really heat up and the action begins when the two become instant rivals, always biting at others heals.

Blanche, probably the most disturbed character in this story, has come to live with Stella and Stanley because she has lost the plantation where the two had grown up as kids. Right after Stella had left for New Orleans (where she would meet and would marry Stanley) Belle Reeve was struck with its own little epidemic. Every individual, besides Blanche, had become fatally ill. Unfortunately Blanche was left to her own devises to tend to everyone while Stella, according to Blanche, was “In bed with her Po-lark.” Nevertheless all the sick ended up dieing and due to a shortage of money, Belle Reeve was mortgaged to the bank to cover the cost of the funerals. Those few dramatic years were the beginning of the end for Blanche. Blanche’s coming to New Orleans was her only choice for she had no place to live. But what Blanche did not see where the events that were to come at her sister’s home.

As a young girl Blanche discovered her true love, but was it quickly came to an astonishing end. After Blanche and her husband had married, one day she accidentally walked in on him only to discover that he was cheating on her. To her surprise he was not cheating on her with a woman but with a man. Her husband had not truly loved her but had only married her for help. He look to her to try and fix his “problem”. She unknowingly had not seen his problem and failed him. After telling him that she was disgusted with him, he quickly ran out of the dance they were at and wrapped his lips around the barrel of a revolver and pulled the trigger blowing the back of his head out. From that point forth she subconsciously tried to fix every man’s problems to try and redeem herself for the once time that she messed up.

Blanche’s nervousness and emotional instability is clearly visible by her actions and behaviors. While talking she is frequently touching herself and rolling a handkerchief around in her hands. When she talks she becomes very emotional, almost bipolar like. One time she will be on the brink of tears then she will suddenly start laughing and then before you know it she goes into a rant about some random topic, she’s a total can utter mess.

This is an almost perfect example of how the mind of a character like Blanche acts as a barrier and how the mind is in complete control of the individual. Blanche is a prisoner within herself. She is unpredictable in her actions and she clearly need to be dealt with extreme care. In reality she is nothing but a time bomb that is waiting to explode, and in due time, will.

But don’t get carried away with assumptions. Blanche may appear to be a $@*% and somewhat is, but she is the victim in the story. Because of what has happened to her, her life has been nothing but regrettable. Stanley appears to be the victim only because his personal space is being invaded and Blanche is the only person who sees him for what he really is. According to Blanche Stanley is “animal like” an “ape” and “primitive”, and Stanley is in many ways, for example the way he eats his food, licks his lips, and pounds his chest. Because Blanche is trying to take Stella away from Stanley he is trying to expose her to. The two are playing mind games with one another and at the same time trying to influence their views upon Stella who is the peacemaker in the story and yet doesn’t believe either one on their accusations and has only her own opinions and is actually very ignorant to the current situation at hand. Blanche is some what a lunatic but she is still very smart and can get what she wants and do what she wants one way or another. But then again are not most “different” people like that very smart even though they are not the same was you and me?

At the end of the movie the break down finally happens. After Blanche is raped by Stanley she starts to lose her mind and becomes easily disrupted. Violent and quick movements such as ripped the lantern of the light and opening the curtain make her protective and cautious. The loud noises, such as Stanley’s screaming and smashing, make her cover up her ears and they sometimes even make her scream.

Because the story is so absurd that Stanley would ever rape Blanche Stella and Stanley call a doctor and have her committed to an insane asylum. The only one person that notices why Blanche has quickly deteriorated is Mitch. While Blanche is being escorted to the car to be taken away, Mitch attacks Stanley chocking him screaming it’s all the work of your stories. At the same time Stella is wailing because she thinks she has done this to her sister because she brought her down here where all the problems started. The movie ends with Stella thinking she has “killed” her sister and Stanley gets what he wanted. Blanche is gone and he and Stella can go back to the way things were. There will no longer be any dilemmas.

For an overview of the story click on ME!

 

My Attribute of Modernism

Attribute: The use of such structural approaches to experiences as psychoanalysis and comprehension of reality. This topic will dive into the mind of the narrator or main character and then discuss reasons behind what they are thinking. Things like how the mind may be a barrier and how the character acts are all a part of his mind. Every action has a reason or motive behind it. If a character is distraught then his actions shall be more irrational and vise versa.

To see other attributes of modernism click here!