Close Reading

http://jezebel.com/5974934/in-defense-of-never-moving-on

This article is interesting because it's totally out of the ordinary- people always tell heartbroken lovers to "take time to move on". However, this man suggests that it might not be that bad of an idea to actually never move on. 

He has a frank but still eloquent tone, both to dispell the social norms of forgetting about your past relationships and to persuade the reader into imagining what he's saying, so that they can associate what is wrong with their behavior. He says that one needs to  "recall the inexplicable forces that caused you to act and react certain way. Because you'll encounter them again. There's a reason many of us tend to make the same mistake again and again. It's because we move those previous behaviors on to a shelf, into a taped up box containing one prior girlfriend or boyfriend. It's one we tell ourselves not to open. But moving past something means you can no longer learn from it." 

Calling the forces "inexplicable" and addressing the reader, saying that "you'll encounter them again", and "you can no longer learn from it" is like he's telling the reader what will happen to them, making them agree with him, especially because this is a very personal kind of topic. Saying that people make the same mistakes because they put their exes in a "taped up box" conjures images of items that were once of use that were put away in a dusty attic, never to be used again, even in cases where they could be useful, and saying that things are put on a shelf gives it the same kind of effect. His language is casual so you don't read this like a paper, but more like advice from someone who has had an experience. 

Open Prompt

2008, Form B. In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.

     In the book series Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, childhood is not only portrayed as a scary place but also portrayed as innocent, showing that children can act and learn about things far beyond their age, but when it comes down to it, they are still children. This is mainly shown in the first book, The Sorcerer's Stone, where Harry is just barely eleven, and must undergo physical and mental trials not even fit for adults, while juggling a new school, friendships, and growing up, just like a "normal" child. The veiwpoint in this book of Harry's childhood pretty much sets the stage for the rest of the series- even though adolescence is a tough time, you make the best of friends, fight the worst of enemies, and learn the best of lessons as you grow up. 

     Harry's adventures start right as he turns eleven, too old to be called a child and yet too young to be called an adult. His sudden wonder and amazement at being thrust into a new and magical world symbolizes the wonder that people can feel when they suddenly start to see things in a new light-as they think they are growing up-but they're still excited kids. He's filled with so many different awesome feelings as he has a new world to explore, very much so like a child, which kind of shows us that even when you start being "older", your journey can bring out the child in you.
     When Harry was a child, he was mistreated by his Aunt and Uncle, whom he lived with. He was able to stand strong through their repeated onslaughts of cruelty, yet is watched over carefully by someone who knows what's trulyt going on. When he moves to Hogwarts, things move parallely- and admittedly, he is loved there, but he is mistreated by some students and teachers, and when he discovers that he has enemies out in the world, his new life starts to parallel his childhood. He is constantly under siege from those who wish him ill, yet is still watched over by Albus Dumbledore, who knows exactly what is going on.
     [I'm not totally sure what else to write here, but I feel I'd have to call upon the childhoods of other characters to make a point about how their arcs turn out]

Dead Salesmen

CHARACTERS

Willy Loman: The titular salesman. He is losing his job, he is haunted by ghosts of his past, and everything seems to be going badly. He is an angry hypocrite with a heart of gold but not really.

Linda Loman: Willy's devoted wife. Extremely passive and takes all the abuse he doles out at her because she loves him. Willing to choose him over her sons. She has extreme emotional strength and suffers through Willy's ups and downs and delusions.

Biff Loman: The "favorite" son. He was the kid back in high school-handsome, popular, athletic star-but he used to steal, he was rough with the girls. He failed math and everything went downhill from there. Now 34, he is unable to accept his dreams of manual work out west, and comes back home to try to become a salesman to appease Willy.

Happy Loman: The "lesser" son. He has ruthless ambition and a ruthless sex drive, and you can tell that he may be going down the same path as Willy.

Charley: Willy's next door neighbor and kinda-friend. He is the exact opposite of Willy, both as a man and as a parent.

Bernard: Charley's son, and the antithesis of Biff. He ends up successful while Biff doesn't.

Howard: Willy's boss, the son of the man that first hired Willy. Treats Willy poorly and shows the contrast between how Willy used to imagine business and how it is now.

Ben: Willy's older brother who went off to Alaska/Africa in search of their father, and walked out rich. He symbolizes the success Willy wished he had.

The Woman: The woman Willy cheated on Linda with. Biff found them and that's what made their relationship spiral.

SETTING
The Loman's Brooklyn home which is now surrounded by apartments.

POINT OF VIEW

The play takes place from the points of view of both Willy and Biff. When it's focused on Willy, he often has flashbacks of painful memories of the past. When it's focused on Biff, it usually chronicle's his frustrations with Willy.

TONE

The tone is somewhat pessimistic- the past seems to always be better than the present, when things change they change for the worst, and everything that goes wrong is the fault of the main character.

SYMBOLS/MOTIFS/IMAGERY

The West/Alaska/Africa: These are places that represent success (or it's opposite)- the West for Biff and Alaska/Africa is failiure for Willy, because that's where Ben went and got rich and he didn't. Wide open spaces and hard manual labor oppose the city and the sales work.

Seeds: symbolize Willy's labor to put food on the table for his family, as well as his failure to grow and nurture Biff properly.

Stockings: Represent the weight on Willy's shoulders of his infidelity to Linda-he gave Linda's stockings to the Woman, and Biff called him out on it.

Rubber Hose: Symbolizes Willy's attempts at suicide.

SUMMARY

This play starts at the Loman home in the evening. Willy has come home, quite exhausted, and Linda gets out of bed to meet him. He says that he kept kind of zoning out while driving. Their sons, Biff and Happy are at home. They're worried about Willy talking to himself all the time. Happy sleeps with a lot of girls, even those who are taken. 

Willy has a flashback. Biff says that he "borrowed" a football from the locker room, and Bernard appears, entreating Biff to study for math, because he'll fail otherwise. Willy claims Bernard can be really smart but won't get anywhere because he isn't well liked, and they fall to harassing the poor kid. Willy and Linda talk about how much Willy made, and he starts out with a high amount, but slowly reveals a more realistic, truthful number. They talk about Charley and you can tell Willy is jealous. Linda tells him he is the handsomest man, and Willy starts to talk about how much he misses her when he's on the road, and suddenly The Woman's laughter is heard. 

He falls into a secondary daydream (inception!) and The Woman tells him about how she picked him because he is funny and sweet, she thanks Willy for giving her stockings, and Willy is back into his conversations with Linda, who is mending stockings-he doesn't want her to wear old stockings. Bernard comes back and begs Biff again to study math. Linda and Bernard reveal some truths about Biff that Willy doesn't want to hear and he shouts at them. 

We are back in the present and Willy is sad that he did not go to Alaska with Ben. Charley has heard Willy and comes over to play cards with him. Charley is concerned about Willy and offers him a job. Willy goes hypocritical crazy and defensive and affronts Charley. Ben appears as somewhat of a hallucination, and Willy begins to mix them up. 

Willy's shouting wakes everyone else. Linda tells the kids that Willy borrows $50 a week from Charley because he works on commission now and pretends it's his salary. She tells the boys they don't care for Willy, and talks about finding the rubber hose. Willy walks in on their arguement and Willy misunderstands Biff and gets mad. Happy says that Biff is going to ask Bill Oliver, a business man, for a loan, and they optimistically outline a proposal. They go to bed but Biff secretly removes the hose from the basement. 

Willy wakes up the next morning and Linda tells him that Biff and Happy will treat him to dinner that night. He leaves, happy and excited, to ask Howard if he can have a non-travel job, and gets angry at Linda for mending a stocking. Howard is playing around with a tape recorder. Willy begs Howard for a job, but is eventually told that he is to be fired. He tells many anecdotes, including the one about the salesman who inspired him, but to no avail. Howard leaves and Willy thinks of Ben. Ben asks willy to go to Alaska with him, but Linda insists he has a good job. They are off to Biff's big football game. 

A dejected Willy goes to Charley's office to borrow money. Bernard is off to a job at the Supreme Court. Charley tells Willy that he's wrong that the key to success was being well-liked. 

Dinner. Happy banters with Stanley, the waiter. He's flirting with a pretty girl there. Biff arrives and gets in a word edgewise to let Happy know that he waited 6 hours for Oliver but no avail. Happy gives Biff a good lie to remedy the situation to Willy, but Biff insists on telling the truth. Willy arrives and things go badly. They leave him blabbering in the bathroom. 

Willy has a flashback to when Biff found him and the Woman together. This is the moment where the close father/son pair was wrenched apart. It's notable that Biff was so upset that Willy gave The Woman Linda's stockings. Stanley gets Willy out of his funk and Willy says he needs to plant seeds. 

Biff and Happy return and Linda is pissed. Biff insists on talking to Willy. Willy is in the garden "talking" to Ben about a $20,000 proposition to Biff (life insurance) he makes many allusions to suicide. Ben warns that Biff will call him a coward and hate him. 

Biff tells Willy that he is leaving for good. Willy tells Biff he is throwing his life away out of spite. Biff eventually ends up crying, to Willy's shock, revealing that his son still loves him. Willy urges them all to go to bed. He tells Ben that Biff will definetley go far with $20,000 and they hear the car start and speed away and crash. 

There aren't many people at the funeral. Linda says that they were so close to paying all the bills. They were free.

Important Quotations

"I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and the time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and I thought, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be . . . when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am."

This quote from Biff is significant because he's finally realized what he truly wants, and he is admitting to Willy that he is wrong. 

"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine . . ."

This is a good description of Willy-he's going out there, hoping to be successful by being liked and looking good and kind. 

Theme
What you think is good for you may not be what makes you happy.




(Thanks to SparkNotes for the help!)

Response to Course Material

So the past few days in class, we've started reading Hamlet....which is really exciting to me because I love Shakespeare. So in celebration, I am going to write this post in Iambic Pentameter.

In class we have been reading on Hamlet,

a play in which a man does want revenge!

Our talks as groups do help although are long

The constant analyzing aids with my

understanding of the play in notes

and reading it aloud does make it good,

at least, more good to me than when we saw

a film adaption of the play in class,

for acting is a good way to discuss

events and deeper meanings in the work

....you get the point. I don't know how far I can go with that, but it sums it up, I like acting it out and discussing it the first time through, because watching the movie before we had any context didn't work for me and made annotating harder. 

Also, now I'm thinking in iambic pentameter. Thanks.

It reminds me of when we read MacBeth in Brit lit, and now I'm looking for elements of Shakespearean tragedy in Hamlet as well...the main one being that everyone dies at the end. Both are set in a royal family, and both have characters who are insufferable assholes. (sorry). It gets me thinking, though.