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English 45C, Rejection of the Static Life, Physical and Spiritual Death →,…

- - - - The best lack all conviction, while the worst
        Are full of passionate intensity.
        —W. B. Yeats
        
        Who are the "best" and the "worst"?
        
        "The best lack all conviction"
        The best are the educated and morally intelligent. They lack conviction because of their inability to act, as the poem describes. They lack certainty, which stops them from acting.
        
        "The worst are full of passionate intensity"
        These are the so-called extremists, who incite the violence and chaos Yeats describes. Their excessive certainty makes them appear somewhat smart but in reality they are depicted as impulsive, chaotic.
        
        as depicted in ➞
        
        Achebe's Things Fall Apart
        
        Okonkwo's conviction is unchangeable. He is set to certain morals and does not accept to be overpowered. If we compare this with Yeats's poem, we can associate the intensely passionate as the religious, colonialist-led group. Okonkwo's home, Umuofia, became a site of fluidity and, those who accepted fluidity survived. Okonkwo's inability to change became his fatal flaw.
      - Connection to
        Septimus Smith
        
        Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway
        Septimus's experiences are a haunting reflection of the realities that Yeats portrayed in his poem. Septimus admits to his inability to feel because he has seen the collapse of moral order. He has seen the worst of humanity; his own experience of Dante's Inferno.
        
        the quote ➞
        
        "But he could not taste, he could not feel. In the tea-shop among the tables and the chattering waiters the appalling fear came over him – he could not feel. He could reason; he could read, Dante for example, quite easily ('Septimus, do put down your book,' said Rezia, gently shutting the Inferno), he could add up his bill; his brain was perfect; it must be the fault of the world then – that he could not feel" (98).
        
        The reason why Septimus is able to easily read Dante, is because the world has done the job of allowing him to see the worst. He is consumed by the dilapidated nature of society.
  - - - The Past as an Intruder
        At the end of the story, we learn that the memory Greta holds of the boy she loved acts as an intruder in the present. This comes as a sudden realization for Gabriel, one which leads him to the destruction of his self-image and of his ego.
        
        one could
        connect this
        to:
        
        Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
        Janie's story progresses through several moments of realization about her life. These realizations lead to her fulfillment, later on. While Jamie had these several moments of realization, they had a positive effect in the end because she chose to learn from them. On the other hand, Gabriel has one shattering realization that caused his collapse.
    - - connection to:
        
        Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway
        Clarissa, too, hides her true self from the world. She hides her internal struggles and her profound thoughts. Like Gabriel, she has both a social and an internal self.
  - - - Early in his section, Quentin admits he believes he cannot be helped, a thought that further confirms his determination to act on his suicidal desires.
        It reads: "It's not when you realise that nothing can help you–religion, pride, anything–it's when you realize that you don't need any aid" (80). Here, Quentin perhaps thinks there is no help for him, but masks this realization and tricks himself into believing that he simply does not need it.
        
        He does not believe in God or in any external forces that can free him from his obsession with Caddy. He also knows that his obsession with old South ways are not compatible with the fluidity of the modern world.
        
        connection to:
        
        Achebe's Things Fall Apart
        Okonkwo, after losing all connection with his life in Umuofia – through the loss of his titles, of his customs, and morals – acts in resistance to the opposing colonial forces by killing the messenger. This acts finally proves to him that he is alone, that the rest of his clan has accepted fluidity and the new religion. He lost his aid; he is helpless. Okonkwo and Quentin are two characters who lose all faith and end their lives, refusing to exist in a world that has been violently marked.
  - - - Clarissa's personal identity is defined by her own self. She sees herself as someone who is independent and takes pride in the fact. She also explains the dynamics in her marriage, which allow for independence on both sides. Having agency is deeply necessary for her, and is something one sees from the very first sentence: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."
        
        Here, we learn that she does things herself, and it is a relevant factor in her identity. It is also interesting to note that she speaks of herself in the third person, which I understand as another worth mentioning factor of her identity that begs the question of how Clarissa's identity – and her performance of it – impact the way others see her.
        
        She might, at times, appear superior, but this is a facade. She is, actually, quite a sentimental person, but only few get to see this side of her. Of course, her husband, but also Peter Walsh.
        
        "They had always this queer power of communicating without words. She knew directly he criticised her. Then she would do something quite obvious to defend herself, like this fuss with the dog – but it never took him in, he always saw through Clarissa. Not that he said anything, of course; just sat looking glum. It was the way their quarrels often began."
        —Mrs. Dalloway (italics added, 66)
        
        One could see Clarissa's identity as one that is thinly constructed and that can be easily dismantled – if looking closely.
        
        Life as a Social Performance
        
        relation to
        
        Poe's The Man of the Crowd
        In Poe's story, the narrator categorizes people based on their external characteristics, positions them under a certain social role, and decides he has figured them out. The performance the person must put up in the social setting of the city can be compared to that of Mrs. Dalloway in the sense that Clarissa must put on a mask to be herself in the social, crowded city. But Clarissa defines who she is: she is someone independent and deeply sentimental, someone who often gets lost in the profoundness of her thoughts.
  - - - William Carlos Williams, in "Spring and All," describes a slow, gentle collapse of winter, its end, which leads to a natural renewal: the arrival of spring. .
        
        in contrast:
        
        This view of death and renewal can show a sharp contrast with Yeats's poem, "The Second Coming," where the collapse of humanity is chaotic and violent, and leads to the birth of a force that is destructive: the rough beast
    - - "Sea Rose"
        This poem by Hilda D. uses the image of a rose as a symbol of femininity. She acknowledges the woman who has gotten past hardships.
        
        connection to:
        
        Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
        In Hurston's book, Janie is a woman who goes through many hardships before becoming her best self, a happy woman who is fulfilled and has full control over her life. She could be seen as a "harsh rose" who adapted to "sand" and "wind."
    - - In "A Few Don'ts by an Imagiste", Pound talks about the sudden growth one experiences when in the presence of a work of art. The growth in this sense happens because of the impact the work has on the viewer, or rather, when the viewer comes to an understanding of its meaning.
        
        in this sense,
        one could connect this to:
        
        Beckett's Waiting for Godot
        Going back to the idea of "sudden growth," this can be linked to the image of the tree in the play, which suddenly blossoms at the beginning of the second act. In relation to this, one could think of the sudden growth of the tree as the sudden realization one can get when new information is being digested -- in this particular case, the sudden growth one experiences when in the presence of a work of art.
- - - - Relation to:
        Surroundedness and Isolation
        
        Mrs. Dalloway
        Through the exploration of urban isolation, using a stream-of-consciousness narrative, Clarissa Dalloway is part of the crowded city of London but feels quite a disconnection from others. It is her profound, internal thoughts what give meaning to her life.
        
        Since the city allows for hiding and isolation, it is difficult to really know what really goes on in people's lives. Septimus Smith, for example, is someone who hides his crisis in the isolation the city of London provides him.
    - - The Man of the Crowd as a Product of the City
        
        The man of the crowd becomes a product of the city: he is unreadable and leaves room for absolutely no context other than the suggestion that his existence cannot leave the crowd.
        Here, the city becomes a site of social performance, where the true self is held on pause.
        
        Bartleby's Refusal to Perform
        Bartleby refuses to engage with the working, capitalist city and the urban life: he prefers not to participate and gives no reason for his choice. He remains a mystery, and although we don't know his motivations particularly, we know he is someone who is determined in doing what he wants – or rather what he prefers not to.
  - - - 'Well, Miss, you're not the first – and you won't be the last.'
        —The Turn of the Screw (14)
        Mrs. Grose, after the governess is amazed at Miles's remarkableness, addresses the fact that the governess got "carried away" into the job, and her remark holds power in its way of suggesting that the ability – or rather the curse of it – of getting carried away gives the impression that the fate of the governess leads to the same ending – in the physical sense, at least – of that of the late governess, Miss Jessel, an ending that remains a mystery to her until later in the novel.
        The governess's confession, "I'm rather easily carried away. I was carried away in London!" suggests that there is some part of her that has been, in a way, lost, perhaps in an attempt to escape her past, to start over (13).
- - - - After Okonkwo returns to his motherland, Uchendu, in his speech from chapter 14, talks about his life and the hardship of burying 22 of his children throughout his life. "I did not hang myself, and I am still alive," he says (135). One could read this as an acceptance of failure, where 'accepting' his fate - or, the ones around him - allows him to live.
        Here, Okonkwo's death is foreshadowed; after the death of his land and all hopes, he can't live after this, and decides to hang himself.
      - Obierika, Okonkwo's closest friend, remains close despite his friends exile. He helped Okonkwo in the managing of the land in his absence, and Okonkwo is deeply thankful. He confesses he cannot thank him enough, and Obierika jokingly tells him to then kill himself.
  - - - In this play, I like to think of living as an act of waiting, which begs the question of what is it that Vladimir and Estragon are really waiting for. Well, clearly they are waiting for Godot -- supposed to bring salvation -- and, in this sense, I will suggest the interpretation of Godot as a symbol of Death.
        
        If we think of Godot as Death, their absence then becomes a presence that inevitably influences Vladimir and Estragon's actions - and inactions.
        
        When will Death arrive?
        
        We learn in the play that we are unable to know when death will come. As we see, Godot had promised going on the first day and failed to do so. The act of not arriving and the subsequent waiting suggest that life can be seen, in one way, as a performance of waiting, where its final meaning does not influence the outcome: inevitable death.
        
        They can't leave; they lack a sense of agency, so all they can do is wait. Waiting for the inevitable death can seem haunting, but we see them engaging in rather meaningless ways of passing time while they wait for Godot to arrive.
        
        connection to →
        
        MODERNISM
        
        Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
        Here, the act of waiting can be seen in parallel to the paralysis and inability to act that torments Prufrock. The three characters share an existence that remains ritualistic and lacks motion.
    - - The Tree
        One can see the tree in the play as a symbol of life that represents the passing of time. This idea sharply contrasts the static state of waiting and the unstoppable passing of time and, with it, of life.
        
        how is this represented
        in the play?
        
        Between Act I and II, we learn that the tree suddenly blossomed. Sudden blossom can be representative of how change, or rather the realization of it, can happen as quickly as a snap.
        While Vladimir and Estragon pass the time, life - represented by the tree - goes on without them realizing, suggesting that the tree, too, will grow into decay without their attention.
        
        The absurdity with which they perform life is in itself an act of living. Their routines, whether they carry meaning or not, become their escape while they wait. Life continues passing while they perform life.
        
        In this note, we can see living as a neverending performance
        
        So, if life is a performance, this way of living suggests that the characters will only be able to stop performing when they cease existing. Once Godot arrives, there will be no life left to perform.
  - - - an aspect shared with Achebe's Things Fall Apart
      - The Dog
        After the devastating thunderstorm happens (which was based on the real-life 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane) the dog that gives rabies to Tea Cake is put down. This is significant because it foreshadows Tea Cake's imminent death, an event that impacted Janie's main storyline of her life.
    - - There is so much importance in preserving African American culture, folklore, and language, and in depicting such preservation as a source of strength and identity while pursuing, simultaneously, self-discovery. To know what was right, Janie first had to know what was wrong. Then, she thrived.
        
        In essence, we see Janie learning to take control over her life - a journey that is beautiful to be, as readers, witnesses of.
- - - - This is relevant because →
        
        The reader no longer reads the story from the eyes of a culture that is being destroyed, taken over. We now see it from the eyes of the commissioner, who sees Okonkwo as merely one more of the colonized and reduces his existence and identity to a paragraph, if he is lucky.
        
        A victim of his resistance
        Connection to ⬆
        
        Mrs. Dalloway
        Okonkwo's suicide is an act of resistance against oppressive forces of colonialism. He cannot move along the moving, fluid world. He is similar in this sense to Septimus; his suicide was also an act of resistance against the structural and historical violence that caused him so much trauma.
        
        It is highly unlikely that he knows or ever paid attention to Okonkwo's name. He knows him as "this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself" (208). His identity is then reduced to his final moments, which, in the context of his plan to write a book, is a narrative that seeks to benefit the colonizer rather than the colonized.
        
        Relation to my point under Modernism - Eliot
        
        The narrative that benefits the colonizer rather than the colonized is particularly important to point out because it overlooks and undermines the struggles of those who underwent the horrid, violent colonizing practices. As Achebe said in this beautiful interview, "until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." This point is crucial to include because it directly brings light to the danger for indigenous communities of not having their own stories.
        
        link to Eliot's "Tradition
        and the Individual Talent
        
        Creating stories is a job of historians.
        It is essential to note that the authors of the Harlem Renaissance employ historical fiction to provide historical context for readers, who, through the act of reading, develop a historical sense that is crucial for preserving African American folklore, vernacular, and culture. This connection is directly linked to Eliot's idea, but for a different purpose than he had intended, where historical sense is used to bring consciousness to the struggles and trauma caused by colonialism.
- - - - Achebe's Things Fall Apart
        I happened to read an interview with Chinua Achebe in The Paris Review, and it stuck to me his emphasis on the need to document history and tradition, and he speaks about this need as one of his motivations to write and publish Things Fall Apart. He said in this interview that "until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter."
        If we apply Eliot's concept of historical sense, the relevance of the pastness of the past, and its relevance to the present, one could argue that Achebe here becomes the poet who possesses the historical context. His goal, then, is to give the reader the historical sense to understand the colonial impact on modernist traditions.
        
        he does so by
        
        He achieves this by showing the rise and fall of the clan system in Umuofia. We see them at their "best," where the traditions are still in place. Then, we see how they are conquered, stripped away from their values onto this new imposed order.
        
        The story of the indigenous world is meticulously documented by Achebe through the book. This story becomes the historical context.
        
        Here, historical sense is applied not in any European context but has the purpose of preserving African American culture, language, vernacular, and folklore. To give historical sense is to point out the Western tradition that unvalidated the relevance of African past and gives light to the pain, bravery, and resilience of those who survived these violent practices.