The Good Life

ACTION: Terms that perform an exertion with some kind of movement.

SENSATION: Terms that evoke a certain feeling

Ladder of Society

JUXTAPOSITION: Terms that ignite a comparison

Visceral

Globalization: the portrayal of globalization generates a means from where to contrast developed and developing areas

Setting: The setting provides a lot of contrasting work with the characters.

Libido

Desire

Romance/Romanticism

Home

Narative Voice

Ruminating:

Civil Disobedience

Feminism:

Beneatha from A Raisin in the Sun is introduced as an independent woman who is ahead of her time in standing up for what she believes. Towards the beginning of the play, Beneatha mentions that God was just an idea which leads to her getting slapped by Mama and shortly later she explicitly calls Mama a tyrant for forcing her ideas upon their family (Hansberry, 51-52). Antigone is similarly showcased as a feminist in Antigone as she also stands firm with her own beliefs and takes action despite Creon’s orders that threatens anyone who gives Polynices, her brother, a proper burial. On page 22 of Antigone Creon insists similar tyrannical characteristics to that of Mama from A Raisin in the Sun, where he remarks his law and order upon Ismene and Antigone when he confronts them with the allegations that they went against his commands. Despite what Creon and Mama believe to be correct, Antigone and Beneatha both present resistance to the order set upon by the people who hold higher hierarchical power than them within their homes. The parallel joining both sets of characters in each play presents a dynamic power play between a certain order administered by a tyrannical figure who oppresses their subordinates who in both of these cases are challenged by feminists who push back on this order by openly displaying their own beliefs.

Sophocles, Antigone

Loraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

image

Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist

image

Jamaica Kinkaid, A Small Place

image

Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed

image

The narrator changes throughout Madame Bovary transitioning the perspective from the reader onto different characters

Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

Stephanie Black, Life and Debt

image

Bong Joon Ho, Parasite

image

E5E14512-0AF8-4B15-B449-7F383A656C1C

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, presents varied meanings of “home” which changes with every character in the play. This story of the Younger family takes place is during the time of segregation.

This novel takes place in the United States around the time of 9/11 following the life of a college Pakistani student living during this time.

Kincaid’s book A Small Place provides many aspects of Jamaica that are often not considered by tourists when they visit, such as their impact on the country when deciding to spend their holiday in a developing country such as this Caribbean island.

image

This novel follows Sheveck as he encounters the tension between both Urras(dystopia) and Anarres(utopia).

This documentary speaks the many effects that surrounding countries have upon Jamaica.

Parasite makes a clear distinction between the portrayal of contrasting social classes with the Kim and Park family

This play portrays many conflicts within the characters themselves and the different duties they hold in their society.

Antigone goes against her states laws to mourn her deceased brother.

Contemplation, Staying in place, such as the Younger family and their individual dreams. Mama with a house for her family. Walter with his store. Beneatha with her career and finding her purpose. All their dreams are in a way "ruminating " in the sense that they never entirely dissapate, but rather stay afloat throughout the changes that occur in the the novel.

This novel explores the contrast between provincial and urban life through the lives of Charles and Emma Bovary.

Changez is taking different steps such as attending college in order to attain his diploma and working at a evaluation firm in order to move up the social ladder career wise

In The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Changez is the narrator which lets us view the novel through his perspective.

The tone of both A Small Place and Life and Debt are very direct and give the impression that they are talking straight to the specter.

Le Guin’s description of Abbenay is introduced initially through Shevek’s curiosity. Shevek’s eagerness to see a new area of Urras builds on the tension that is continuously and thematically seen between both worlds throughout the novel. Shevek’s enthusiasm when pressing “his face [against] the dusty window” when catching his first glance of Abbenay enriches the narrative by providing a sense of suspense similar to the imagery of a kettle pot on the verge of whistling its uproar after its water has reached boiling point mimicking that of the tension between worlds (pg. 91). Shevek’s reaction when viewing Abbenay can be seen as the same intensity of the whistling of a kettle pot being that it's built from the suspense. In this case, the curiosity of what an outsider will think when perceiving a different space holds a similar effect. Shevek’s suspenseful curiosity reminded me of this imagery whereas Hansberry’s introduction similarly creates structurally similar effect with her usage of “would be...if not for” beginning sentence that makes the reader contrast the space being described rather than simply seeing the space factually and literally for what it is (pg. 24). Both authors introduce a space by first directing the reader towards a certain reading of the description rather than providing any core description of the space cold turkey. Through this both authors are warming the reader into viewing the space they are describing with a specific perspective in mind which in this case was curiosity in The Dispossessed and through a contrastive lens in A Raisin in the Sun.

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, presents varied meanings of “home” which change with every character in the play. In the beginning of the play, Ruth feels distraught and disappointed with the fact that even after so many years she is still living in that apartment whom she shares with her family. Walter and her planned on only staying for a short period of time, but due to resources and other circumstances they have stayed there for over ten years. Ruth’s meaning of “home'' can be inferred to be that of building something from scratch, since she mentioned that Walter and her were going to save up money little by little in order to have their own place. Since Ruth is living in her mother in law’s house, perhaps she feels a sense of lack of home since it's not a place that she personally has built from scratch. Ruth has just lived in that particular space, but never felt as though it was her own, but rather this apartment serves as a constant reminder of what she’s missing. On the contrary, Mama sees this same apartment as a home she has inhabited since back when her husband was still alive and cherishes the memories and all the hopes and dreams that were placed within that place when they first arrived. The narration in the beginning of Act I suggests that the Younger apartment is worn down and that there are traces of the asspirations that were placed in that apartment in the very beginning, but time has now clouded and worn down this place by the living of the Younger family. I know that around the time when this play takes place is during the time of segregation and having a home in the neighborhood of Clybourne Park was a really big deal since it was heavily populated by white Americans. The Younger family having their own house would be difficult in itself, from the buying process to the transition adjustments, but the fact that the younger family are in an area full of white Americans during this time places even more challenges for them. Overall, the most striking portrayal of “home” thus far is the metaphors comparing the objects of the apartment to that of the Younger family. These metaphors remind me of the saying, “you are what you eat” giving the impression that your surroundings reflect who you are and what they say about you. A particular metaphor that stood out to me was when Walter was looking back and forth at Mama and the worn down rug which provided a visualization of these subtitle connections about our surroundings and what they reflect and say about us that we sometimes unconsciously overlook or even consciously choose to overlook (pg.45).

Emma is stern in her idealization of what love can be and desires upon having a life similar to all the variations of love that she has formed as a result of all the different sources from which she has encountered throughout the years. After marriage, Emma looks forward to being able to experience for herself the idealization she has had of love. Although liking Charles at first, Emma begins to realize that their relationship does not match her idealized version of love leading her to resent him for not meeting the criteria of her version of love. The end of the third paragraph on page 38 mentions that Emma often questions her marriage to her husband through comparing Charles to all her old school mates and distinguishing him as unlike any of them despite not knowing what their own relationships are really like behind closed doors. Emma’s desire for a full embodied version of what she believes love to be limits her from seeing her husband from being anything other than a man who does not meet any of her criteria causing Emma to hold a grudge against her Charles, but ultimately marriage as a whole for not giving her what she expected love to be after marriage. This same passage also provokes the reader to desire to know more about why Emma feels so strongly against her marriage to Charles. In both cases, this passage plays desire as wanting something with the addition of our own biased contributions to what we want. For instance, when the reader feels the strong will to know more regarding Emma’s doubts on her marriage same as how Emma perceives her husband compared to the relationships of her old schoolmates to whom she has no bias. In both instances there is a personal bias involved in the portrayal of desire from the reader wanting to know if their speculations were true regarding her disapproval of Emma’s marriage to Emma herself basing her perspective of her relationship with Charles upon the thought that her old schoolmates' relationships are better than theirs.

Tourism

I argue that tourism can be considered to be seen as trauma upon Jamaica. How does this trauma (affect) hinder and/or expand the country and its inhabitants? Kincaid’s book A Small Place provides many aspects of Jamaica that are often not considered by tourists when they visit, such as their impact on the country when deciding to spend their holiday in a developing country such as this Caribbean island. For instance, Kincaid reveals foreigner’s ignorance to simple tasks such as brushing their teeth, their consumption of food on the island, and even the fact that they can so easily enter Jamaica without discrimation of their skin color and current country of residency to have an underlying negative impact on Jamaica since its resources lack sustainability (pg. 14-19). Many of the produce used in Jamaica comes from Miami, Florida in the U.S. given the fact that it is cheaper than locally grown produce. Through foreign goods being cheaper than Jamaican grown produce, the economy is not being distributed within the country, but rather outside causing for the blockage of flow within Jamaica’s economy. Tourists do not consider this when they are consuming food while on vacation in Jamaica which is actually harming the country’s economy. Also since Jamaica is a developing country, “there is no proper sewage-disposal system” meaning that all the waste created by tourists is not properly being disposed of and incorporated into the island’s surrounding oceans (pg.140). Kincaid solidifies the lack of consciousness from tourists when it comes to their stay in Jamaica, inferring that through their visitation despite spending money inside the island, they are actually harming its environment and their inhabitants by adding to the dismay rather than helping improve the country’s socio economic stance.

Changez’s reaction to the collapse of the twin towers was similar to Emma’s reaction to her child with Charles as both challenged the social constructs of how it is normalized to respond in their situations. For Changez, he felt a sense of joy seeing that America had been hurt by an outside territory. In class we discussed Changez’s reaction a little bit more in detail and concluded that all American wars have occurred in foreign territory, so the fact that 9/11 occurred inside the U.S. showcases its vulnerability that is often unrecognized. Perhaps this is why Changez felt this sense of joy which I see as passive confrontation with America about how the U.S. has not really spent much time acknowledging and reflecting on the effect they have had on other countries. Similarly in Madame Bovary, Emma does not express the typical reaction of a loving mother towards her child which makes her seem cold and unattached in their society. Both Changez and Emma are seen strangely for not adhering and conforming to what their society has established to be seen as the appropriate response to their situations. Both characters are revealing their true emotions and reactions to what is happening in their lives and this parallel between them presents the tension they share between themselves and the social constructs in where they live. These were their instinctual reactions to the situations they were in.

shevek seems to feel othered being outside of his home, the similar isolation that both worlds have from each other.

Beneath this blanket of explicit portrayal of contrasting social class in Parasite and the tension seen within both worlds in The Dispossessed, symbolism is dragged along the descriptive work of the liminal introductions of the setting in both of these works.

Romantisaization of Jamaica as a beautiful tourist destination, by overlooking the negative impact this has on the country

The Kim family work their way into higher class, although it does not necesarringly mean it was done in manor in which follows the law, such as home invasion.