AQWF Response #2

Author's Note: Continuing with All Quiet on the Western Front, I have noticed that many of the men in the army act like children.  Here is my analysis about what I have observed.

Adulthood is defined in different ways by many different people; some say it is literally being the age of eighteen, some say it is when you are finally on your own, and some say it is when you are completely grown up.  In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, adulthood is shown in many of the men by how much power they have - yet, it commonly shows as a childlike state as well.  They act high and mighty when they are put in that place of power, but there are many instances in which they act in ways that five year olds would, showing that adulthood is when you cross over from childhood into a state of maturity and responsibility.

The soldiers in the army display their immaturity multiple times throughout the novel thus far.  For example, the main character, Paul, has "exchanged [his] chewing tobacco with Katczinsky for his cigarettes" (2), just as little kids in middle school trade foods in their lunches.  The trade of tobacco and cigarettes shows adulthood because of the fact that they can openly take or use the substances.  Yet, it also shows that sense of childhood because children often trade goods with each other to satisfy their own needs.  When new recruits arrive, Paul comments saying, "'Seen the infants?'" (35), showcasing that sense of self-recognized adulthood in the way that he and his friends have more experience than these recruits have coming into the army.  Although Paul and his buddies act immature about the new recruits, it is obvious that they only act in that way because it gives them a sense of power over other men, just as their own leaders have power over them.  Once people realize they are adults, they seem to look back and wish that they could have their childhood back, even if they do possess the power that they desire.  Even as adults, some of that immaturity will still linger and those people will always partly be in that childhood state.

All Quiet on the Western Front Response #1

Author's note: We are reading All Quiet on the Western Front in english class right now and conversing (a.k.a. text coding) with each chapter.  It is a novel about World War I and the struggles that came with it while soldiers were in war.  The point of the novel is to show what adulthood truly is and show the difference between expectation and reality.  Here is my response on what chapter two in the book is trying to convey.

Being an adult comes with many new adventures like the ability to vote, live on our own, join the military, and multiple other things.  Mostly, though, being an adult means that we have a new sense of power; people younger than us must follow our commands without questioning them.  In the book "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque, power is shown by the soldiers and their officials through imagery of the soldiers following ridiculous commands.  Adulthood in this novel means power, yet it is made clear that although adults are clever and have experience, each generation that comes after outsmarts them, overcomes them, and obtains the power that the adults previously held. 

Baumer, a soldier in the war, says that he has "remade his [disciplinarian's] bed fourteen times in one morning" (23), which leaves one wondering: How does making one's bed relate to training for war?  He goes on to tell all of the unnecessary things that this disciplinarian makes them do, like kneading boots until they are "as soft as butter and not even Himmelstoss, [the disciplinarian, can] find anything more to do with them" (23).  The author of the novel uses this imagery to show that these tasks are only given in a way that abuses the power that the officials have.  Although Himmelstoss finds ways to make Baumer look like a fool, Baumer and his friends always come back with a way to disobey him and surpass what commanded them to do.  These young men see it as they have nothing to lose, so they try their hardest to outsmart the adults in their army just to add some fun to a devastating war.  Adults have power, but younger generations figure out schemes to become more clever than them and make them look like the fools.  Therefore, being an adult, as shown in this novel, gives you power, but it is in no way unlimited.  

Jekyll and Hyde Response #4

Author's note: We finally finished the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in class.  The last chapter was a statement from Henry Jekyll that finally showcased the truth to the reader of the letter.  In the letter, Jekyll implied that he sold his soul to Hyde and that there was no way out.  This is a literary analysis on how Hyde truly and completely enslaved Jekyll.

Everyday, something is thrown into our lives for us to struggle through and deal with and everyone deals with these things differently.  Some handle it maturely and happily while others handle it using destruction and ultimate fury.  In the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the main character, Henry Jekyll, deals with his obstacles using the latter.  Yet instead of handling it himself, he instead sells his soul to a deeper evil that lurks inside of him, showing that people are unpredictable and something, whether good or bad, enslaves us all.

As well as being enslaved, another statement also arises - although it is possible to be purely bad, it is not possible to be purely good.  Jekyll realized that "polar twins [inside of us are] continuously struggling" (105) because they enslave each other and make us realize that we all have an evil side.  While light can occasionally overcome the darkness within us, we have to make the choice to let it; and sometimes we are not strong enough to allow ourselves to contain that darkness because we have an unknown desire to unleash it.  "Whatever he had done, Edward Hyde would pass away like the stain of breath upon a mirror; and there in his stead, quietly at home... would be Henry Jekyll" (110).  Jekyll truly believes that anything that Hyde does does not carry over into Jekyll's world, which makes it okay in his mind to continue letting Hyde take over.  Yet at some point, Jekyll signs his soul over to Hyde, just as some people sign their souls to the devil - a deal that cannot be reversed.  After this deed, Hyde is able to take over without Jekyll knowing and do whatever he wants to do, whenever he wants to do it.  Hyde completely enslaves Jekyll by the end of the book; fills nearly every inch of him so that there is no good to spare.  What are we supposed to do when the evil overcomes the good so completely that we completely lose our original selves?  Only we can make the choice between bringing the good back into the light and shoving the darkness away or allowing the darkness to engulf us in our entirety.

Jekyll and Hyde Response #3

Author's note: Throughout the whole novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, symbolism has been used to show the contrast between the evil of Jekyll and the goodness of Hyde.  I wanted to utilize that information and attempt to write a poemish response about it.  I'm hoping this turns out well!(:

Midnight; the hour comes and goes, night after night
Evil lurks in the depths of this hour
There is no light to bounce into the corners
No quaint lamps lining the street could make the hour comforting.

The day brings good; no evil walks the streets in the shape of man
Only a man with pure and good intentions appears
But when the night rolls around, everything changes
Hostility, fear, and restlessness arise.

In rare cases, the light may break through the darkness
Shoving its way through because it knows its effects
It knows that everyone is scared of the dark; that it is ridding the world of its fear
Proving that light is the true hero.

Light contrives a sense of security and warmth
Sedulously protecting the world from either imaginary or real monsters
Wrapping its arms around humans whenever it can
The sweet embrace that you can always count on to be there.

But what happens when this loving embrace becomes paralyzed
When darkness becomes powerful enough to fully overcome the light
When suddenly light is weak, small, and hopeless
When we can no longer have this protection?

Evil overcomes the good
Hate destroys and conquers the love
People change as the light changes
With dark comes out the devil and with light comes out the angel.

In the end, the devil ends up overcoming the angel
The angel, weakened, gives up all hope of ever being fully good again
The devil reins, inflicts fear, and grows enough to be in almighty power
Finally, surrounded by hate, betrayal, and distrust, the angel dies, never to be forgotten or found again.

Jekyll and Hyde Response #2

Author's note: Halloa readers! We recently read chapters 5-7 of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in my english class.  The three chapters mentioned how different people in the story acted without Hyde's presence haunting them.  Here is a response that describes my take on Hyde's effect.

Certain people have different effects on us; some make us slap happy when we talk to them and others annoy us to a breaking point.  In the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the odious man in town, Mr. Hyde, automatically gives off a menacing vibe to anyone who talks to him.  He wreaks havoc in the city of London, killing people and trampling girls, and then flees to an unknown location.  No matter where Hyde is, his presence - or lack of presence - affects everyone else's personality and health, showing that in this story, he is the true force to be reckoned with.

Dr. Jekyll, loved in London by many, is affected the most by Mr. Hyde's appearances and disappearances.  While he says "[he is] quite done with [Hyde]" (52), he proves constantly that the very idea of Hyde enslaves him.  When Hyde disappears, "a new life [begins] for Dr. Jekyll.  He [comes] out of his seclusion, [renews] relations with his friends, [becomes] once more their familiar guest and entertainer" (56).  He revisits his past life; a life where he was truly happy, a life where he had no cares, a life where no evil presided.  That life is ideal for Jekyll, especially since Hyde taking over the nights had made him so mentally ill that he withdrew from his friends.  Yet soon after his period of happiness, "the doctor... had grown very silent, he did not read; it seemed as if he had something on his mind" (59).  The sudden change in Jekyll's attitude only signifies one thing - Hyde is back and once again enslaving Jekyll to him.  While Hyde is away, Jekyll is better than ever before, but when he comes back, Jekyll falls back into a dark place - one that he cannot escape as long as Hyde is around.  Exuding terror, Hyde makes life a living hell for Jekyll, but only Jekyll has the power to change it.  Whatever Jekyll chooses to do affects his own health and wellness.  The choice is his - a happy life or one of insanity.

Jekyll and Hyde Response #1

Author's Note: Currently, our class is reading the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  This novella explores  the ideas of duality of man and the difference between good and evil.  The diction is heavily saturated and the symbolism is very prominent.  Here is my response on the first three chapters of the novel. 

     Evil can be seen differently through the eyes of everyone – to some people evil may be an abusive parent and to others it may just be the complete darkness when they are alone in a dark room.  It frightens us, sends shivers down our spines, and can envelop us if we let it.  A prominent form of evil known by everyone is Satan; the very creature that leads humans, if they allow, away from the love of God and into the arms of Hell.  In the novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll’s creepy doppelganger, Mr. Hyde, is the very depiction of Satan.  A creature that dwells in the night, Hyde inflicts fear upon anyone around him, revealing that the evil of his presence is undeniable and inescapable. 

     The “desire to kill him” (40) is inevitable; who wants to let the devil live and thrive near their home?  Yet after he tramples a young girl in the streets at three A.M., the crowd that gathers allows Hyde to walk away without punishment.  A man, walking the streets of London; a threat, with the nerve to walk away from its own destruction; a beast, a “man [who] seems hardly human” (52) who is ugly for some unknown reason.  Every character thus far in the novella notices that Hyde has devil-like qualities; “he [speaks] with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice” (52) and has a “displeasing smile” (52).  The air about him contains tension and fright, which holds his power; the same power of Satan to draw people into his beliefs rather than their own.  Hyde could easily utilize fear to nurture the insecure into his own grasp, just as the serpent seduced Eve into eating the forbidden fruit.  He will continue to wreak havoc in London as long as no one stops him; and though Jekyll states that “the moment [he] choose[s], [he] can be rid of Mr. Hyde” (58), it is his choice between letting evil run the streets or bottling it up and never again letting it out.

Short Story - The Twisted Truth

 Author's Note: In Honors English 10, we got an assignment to write a creative short story that manipulated a defense mechanism.  My story is somewhat based off of the movie "Uninvited", in which a girl represses the memory of accidentally killing her mother.  I took that idea and twisted it to make it my own and make a unique story out of it.  The same defense mechanism, repression, is used in my story by the main character while she is in court and has flashbacks of her recent past. 

            “He killed them.  He killed them all.  Why?  Why did you do it?  WHY?”  Tears stream down my cheeks, smudging the black frames of my eyes. 

            “I-I I swear I didn’t do it!”  A buzz begins belligerently in the court as the audience contemplates each side of the story.  Collin sits there looking like a lost puppy, as if he will be able to persuade people into believing his innocence; -- but he can’t; he just can’t. 

            “ORDER IN THE COURT!  Prosecutor, please continue.”  Judge Conley grits her perfect white teeth.  Tension and restlessness fill the room, occupying the space left by the sudden silence. 

            “Alright, Lauren, what do you remember about that night?” 

            Here we go again.

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            Never, and I mean never, have I been so frustrated.  Mom snatched my phone, Dad kicked me off of basketball, and to top it all off with a beautiful, glistening freakin’ cherry, Logan dumped me.  Everyone has just been acting really strange, like one of those scary movies.  Scream is my favorite, you know, the one where the killer calls his victims and makes them answer questions about scary movies in order to survive?  Anyways, weird stuff happens and then everyone ends up dying in the end.  Usually the people deserve to die for different reasons.  Sometimes I feel that way about my whole family.  My mother is the worst; she comes home insanely late almost every night and acts all mysterious about it – as IF we don’t know she’s cheating.  Well my dad sits at home drunk all day anyways, so I guess he probably doesn’t have a clue.  Then there’s my brother, Ryan.  He brings home his slutty girlfriend, Anna, and she parades around our house acting like it’s hers.  It drives me insane and I’m pretty sure I dislike her more than all of them.  Ugh, I hate my life.

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            “Lauren?  Can you please tell us how you found your family?  I know we have heard the story and it will hurt you to tell us, but for the jury’s sake, please tell us.”  Judge Conley drums her fingers on the table, the beat thrumming along with my heart, filling my world.

            “Of course.”  I choke, remembering. 

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            Blood, my God, there is so much blood.  A knife is laying on the floor next to my mother, caked with blood in remembrance of its last victim.  Her eyes are locked with mine but I know that she sees nothing; the blue of those eyes already clouding as I stare at them.  Her body is mangled; the fresh indents marking their new territory.  Subconsciously, I hear the puddle squish beneath my bare feet as I inch closer to her body.  My mom, whose voice had nurtured me during childhood, and whose soothing arms had enveloped me in a heaven unknown to anyone else, is dead.  The world stops as I take in what is around me; my mother dead and the knowledge that if I search the rest of the house, I will find my father, my brother, and possibly even Anna in a bloody mess as well. 

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The court is silent as each and every human being awaits what I have to say.  I feel everything building up inside me, and my brain and my mouth seem to work together without

my permission.

            “That day, with extreme aggravation, I took the knife from its cradle and sunk it into the womb of my mother; -- sunk it as the screams escaped from her mouth, and with a wonderful enjoyment in my heart; -- sunk it because she knew that she had deserved it, and because I thought she had given me many instances of hate; -- sunk it because I knew that in so doing I was helping the family.” 

            Shock fills the room as those who thought I was innocent wrap their minds around what I just said and those who thought Collin was innocent try to suppress their joy.  Judge Conley’s eyes widen as she and I simultaneously realize the truth; -- I killed my family.

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            The knife is gleaming as I stare at it; beckoning me to grab it, just this once.  While I carefully contemplate this choice – which I can hardly think it as less – my desire and my excitement are evident.  Why not make them suffer as they have made me suffer for most of my life?  The choice is easy; -- all of them deserve to die for so many reasons.  I grip the handle, and it seems to fit perfectly in my hand, as if it were molded just for me, just for this moment.  The sound of the knife coming out of the knife block closely resembles the metallic sigh of a sword being removed from its sheath. 

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I ascend the stairs, courage filling me with each step.  I can hear Ryan and Anna in Ryan’s bedroom, which finalizes my decision.  They both gasp as I shove open the door.

“I have a test for you two.  It’s about a scary movie.  Who ends up being the killer in the original Scream?”  My voice fills the room and my fingers confidently twirl the knife behind my back where it has yet to be discovered by Ryan and Anna.

“It’s those two guys, the boyfriend and his friend.  That movie is hilarious.”  Ryan nervously chuckles and says, “What’s going on, Laur?” 

“I have one more question.  Answer it right, and you get to live.  This story features a girl whose family rejected her her whole life and now she wants revenge.  Who survives?”  The darkness seeps through my words, more and more until I get to the last two. 

“I don’t know, Lauren.  One of the victims always survives.” 

“Wrong…”  A smile creeps over my face as my adrenaline finally gets the best of me.  “No one survives.” 

Screams fill the house; -- the perfect ending to my own little horror story.

Mimic Lines:

#1: “… whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman.”

#2: “One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree; -- hung it with the tears streaming from my eyes, and with the bitterest remorse at my heart; -- hung it because I knew that it had loved me, and because I felt it had given me no reason of offence; -- hung it because I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin…”

#3: “When I first beheld this apparition – for I could scarcely regard it as less – my wonder and my terror were extreme.”