If I had to pick a character to play in "Glengarry Glen Ross", I would definitley pick Shelly Levene.
Scene One starts off with Levene fighting to keep his job. The whole real estate jargon kind of threw me off guard, but it wasn't hard to catch up. Shelly Levene reminds me of my mother and how she would threaten to take someone's job that she thought was under performing. These words on page twenty-six could have possibly come out of her mouth: "wasn't long I could pick up the phone..and I'd have your job". I love this guy! He knows that two people will lose their jobs at the end of the month and there is no way he can get on the board by selling the crappy land he has been given, so he strikes a deal with his boss. After the office was broken into, Levene is celebratory in the fact that he sold eight units and wants to tell everyone the story of how he did it. Since everyone else is doing poorly, nobody really wants to hear it. But, Levene continues his story and tells of how he described the American Dream to the couple and got them to sign: "This is that thing that you've been dreaming of, you're going to find that suitcase on the train, the guy comes in the door, the bag that's full of money. This is it..." (p. 72). I love Levene and his persistant nature.
When people know that their financial security is at stake, they become selfish. This is what I see from Williamson. On page 23 he does not trust Levene enough to know he will sell and that he won't lose his job. I could definitely see this play happening in today's current economic situation. Even after they strike the deal, Williamson wants the money then and there, of which Shelly does not have.
Scene two provides the reader with two new characters. Moss comes across as rude, desperate, and controlling. While Aaronow seems confused and timid. Moss uses racial slurs that are quite offensive. He ultimately talks Aaronow in circles and gets him to commit the robbery. From what I know in the rest of the reading, I am not completely sure who eventually committed the crime. Aaronow and Moss have a very weird friendship. They either finish each other's sentences or repeat for clarification. This scene was very hard to read. The whole definition of the word "talking" is used in various ways throughout this scene (p. 39 in particular) that get Aaronow trapped. I guess since they are salesmen that they have ways with words, but Aaronow just could not "out-talk" Moss.
Scene three provides the same setting. Who knows if they were all there at the same time? I doubt it. Roma seems sketchy. He is very long-winded in his speaking parts. I think it is also crazy that he would be asking these crude things of someone he just met. I find it funny and ironic that Roma dismisses the idea of God protecting people from the day's worries, but pretty much sums up my favorite verses of the Bible, Matthew 6:34, "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today". He also wants the man to buy land in Glengarry Highlands, which for right now, I don't know if that is good or bad, but he tells him to have a couple more drinks which can't be good. The scene closes with him telling him to listen, but then nothing is said. That is what you call good suspense. (haha!)
In Act Two, all the characters finally meet together in the office. Their different personalities are hard to keep up with and remember what kind of person they were in the aforementioned act. But, Aaronow is really nervous and continues to mention insurance, which makes me think that he did it and has a guilty conscience, but he hopes everything can be restored. He asks Roma what he should tell the police, and Roma states something very important: "Always tell the truth. It's the easiest thing to remember" (p. 61). This doesn't match my previous notion of Roma being sketch. Oh, well.
Also, Moss was rude as usual. He was mad that the police were talking to him in such a way, but it was his conspiracy. Maybe he was acting out in order to not stand out. But, they would not have thought of questioning him so harshly had he not spoken to Roma about a robbery.
So far, it's great.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
escape the "emergency room"? or go back "home"?
I love short stories like "Emergency Room"! I don't know where to start analyzing, so feel free to enjoy the ramble:
Georgie wasn't lying when he said "[he] save lives (285)". Isn't it crazy how the guy that is most tripped on LSD is the only one to save lives in the emergency room? Not only did he save the life of the patient by simply removing the knife in his only good eye, he took the life of one rabbit to save the lives of eight baby rabbits. Also, he plans on saving the life of Hardee so, it won't be lost in the war.
There is some underlying theme of sight mixed with real vs. hallucination. This is first exemplified with Georgie continually mopping the floor that is supposedly covered in blood, which after I continue to read realize that both him and the narrator are seeing things. Considering the narrator "worked two doubles with eight hours off in between" (278) it's no surprise that he is on LSD. The most obvious example is the patient, with one fake eye and another that has just been stabbed. Suddenly, they leave the emergency room and just start driving. Here, I got really confused. Ultimately, they get lost and end up at a fair, and here again Georgie does not see the rides. Then on the way back, they must stop because the car didn't have any headlights, so he could not see to drive. But it's obvious he was not seeing much anyway. Foreshadowing seems to present itself when the narrator imagines they were in a military graveyard, all the while it was a drive-in movie. The narrator is in need of help with his perception. Later he says something that is very interesting: that he understands "how a drowning man might suddenly feel a deep thirst being quenched. Or how the slave might become a friend to his master" (283). I believe he is stating that he comprehends the last will of people searching for an escape. Georgie mentions this need to escape earlier when he states that there is so much goop insdie of us, and "it all wants to get out" (274).
There is also a underlying religous theme and a time theme both with very light touches mentioned in the story. Georgie says he want to go to church to worship, but I find it ironic that they work at a Catholic hospital that plays the Lord's Prayer on a loudspeaker nightly. Throughout the story, the narrator gives the reader a constant update on how much time is left in the shift, expressing their burning desire to leave. It seems as though everyone in the emergency room is extremely selfish and has no care in the world about the patients. Sentences like "the eye man was on vacation or something" and "I've got my own life and the protection of my family to think of" (277) really worry me. Especially thinking about things that I have seen on television with multiple people dying while waiting for aid in emergency rooms.
Overall, great story about the daily lives we live--sometimes we get lost on purpose, only to return to our place of entrapment.
Speaking of entrapment--there is "Home". This reminds me of the many talks we have had in class about what to do after college when the dream job does not land on the doorstep. The narrator "ran out of money and [she] wasn't in love, so [she had] to [go] home to [her] mother" (410). Even at the flea market, she sees items that could belong to her past friends, maybe meaning that they are back home like she is. One statement found on 418 defines this story: "They wantto go home to die" (418).
The mother-daugther relationship in this story is one that resembles relationships across the world. When the narrator states that "[Their] telepathy always frightens [her]" (417), I definitely understand what she is saying. It's funny, because I do not completely understand the daughter's wild ways, but I know the way she feels towards her mom. It cannot really be described. The mother is truly hurt by her daughter's ways, but is stuck in her own. She does not give up knitting or the watching of television, but it is quite sad when the mother goes to church alone. There is alot of guilt in this household because of their different ways, and the mother takes it upon herself to harbor the guilt by paying for the daughter schooling, paying for her escape.
I loved the quote from Phillips in the interview when she said "scars can represent trauma, but they also represent healing"! That is probably the best thing I have ever heard. I definitely needed to hear that. I can relate to that in my life right now. Cancer is a huge source of pain in this story. The mother suffered from breast cancer, of which too much of her breast was removed in the surgery, and Daniel her past and present lover has pieces of shrapnel stuck in his arm from war that have started tumor growth. The interview was great.
Both stories were great and represented entrapment and escape in the workplace, household, and battlefield.
Georgie wasn't lying when he said "[he] save lives (285)". Isn't it crazy how the guy that is most tripped on LSD is the only one to save lives in the emergency room? Not only did he save the life of the patient by simply removing the knife in his only good eye, he took the life of one rabbit to save the lives of eight baby rabbits. Also, he plans on saving the life of Hardee so, it won't be lost in the war.
There is some underlying theme of sight mixed with real vs. hallucination. This is first exemplified with Georgie continually mopping the floor that is supposedly covered in blood, which after I continue to read realize that both him and the narrator are seeing things. Considering the narrator "worked two doubles with eight hours off in between" (278) it's no surprise that he is on LSD. The most obvious example is the patient, with one fake eye and another that has just been stabbed. Suddenly, they leave the emergency room and just start driving. Here, I got really confused. Ultimately, they get lost and end up at a fair, and here again Georgie does not see the rides. Then on the way back, they must stop because the car didn't have any headlights, so he could not see to drive. But it's obvious he was not seeing much anyway. Foreshadowing seems to present itself when the narrator imagines they were in a military graveyard, all the while it was a drive-in movie. The narrator is in need of help with his perception. Later he says something that is very interesting: that he understands "how a drowning man might suddenly feel a deep thirst being quenched. Or how the slave might become a friend to his master" (283). I believe he is stating that he comprehends the last will of people searching for an escape. Georgie mentions this need to escape earlier when he states that there is so much goop insdie of us, and "it all wants to get out" (274).
There is also a underlying religous theme and a time theme both with very light touches mentioned in the story. Georgie says he want to go to church to worship, but I find it ironic that they work at a Catholic hospital that plays the Lord's Prayer on a loudspeaker nightly. Throughout the story, the narrator gives the reader a constant update on how much time is left in the shift, expressing their burning desire to leave. It seems as though everyone in the emergency room is extremely selfish and has no care in the world about the patients. Sentences like "the eye man was on vacation or something" and "I've got my own life and the protection of my family to think of" (277) really worry me. Especially thinking about things that I have seen on television with multiple people dying while waiting for aid in emergency rooms.
Overall, great story about the daily lives we live--sometimes we get lost on purpose, only to return to our place of entrapment.
Speaking of entrapment--there is "Home". This reminds me of the many talks we have had in class about what to do after college when the dream job does not land on the doorstep. The narrator "ran out of money and [she] wasn't in love, so [she had] to [go] home to [her] mother" (410). Even at the flea market, she sees items that could belong to her past friends, maybe meaning that they are back home like she is. One statement found on 418 defines this story: "They wantto go home to die" (418).
The mother-daugther relationship in this story is one that resembles relationships across the world. When the narrator states that "[Their] telepathy always frightens [her]" (417), I definitely understand what she is saying. It's funny, because I do not completely understand the daughter's wild ways, but I know the way she feels towards her mom. It cannot really be described. The mother is truly hurt by her daughter's ways, but is stuck in her own. She does not give up knitting or the watching of television, but it is quite sad when the mother goes to church alone. There is alot of guilt in this household because of their different ways, and the mother takes it upon herself to harbor the guilt by paying for the daughter schooling, paying for her escape.
I loved the quote from Phillips in the interview when she said "scars can represent trauma, but they also represent healing"! That is probably the best thing I have ever heard. I definitely needed to hear that. I can relate to that in my life right now. Cancer is a huge source of pain in this story. The mother suffered from breast cancer, of which too much of her breast was removed in the surgery, and Daniel her past and present lover has pieces of shrapnel stuck in his arm from war that have started tumor growth. The interview was great.
Both stories were great and represented entrapment and escape in the workplace, household, and battlefield.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Lolita: Part Two
The very descriptive pages that begin part two are intimate tellings of motels around America, or what Humbert would call the "Functional Motel" (p. 145). It's funny to think that his description of a motel then is "a clean, neat, safe nook[ed] ideal place for sleep, argument, reconciliation, insatiable illicit love" (p. 145), but as I think of a motel I imagine a low priced, dirty, roach ridden Super 8. One of the funniest lines of this entire section is found on the second page of reading: "We avoided Tourist Homes, country cousins of Funeral [Homes]". I think that just goes to show how Humbert did not want to be seen, and if he did happen to be seen he could end up dead. I don't know, just a thought.
The concept of American movement in contrast to European inactivity is again illustrated when he mentions Lolita's immature ways that he was not prepared for: she had "fits of disorganized boredom, intense and vehement griping, her sprawling, droopy, dopey-eyed style, and what is called goofing off" (p. 148). Did Humbert forget this was a child? Don't children usually have unusal shorts spans of attention? No, he couldn't have forgetton. Especially when he looked for roadside signs that mentioned children under 14 were free as his "income was cracking under the strain of [thier] joy-ride" (p. 175). Oh, Humbert.
It annoys me to see Humbert "warn her she would dwell with [him] in exile for months and years if need be...unless her present attitude changed" (p. 149) and put scenarios in her mind of her going to an orphanage if she was to accuse him of rape. Was he not just saying how happy he was getting off without affecting her. His whole attitude has changed, and I do not like it. He puts up this facade of a "dream dad protecting his dream daughter" (p. 149) which is disturbing, and I can only imagine it gets worse as the story progresses.
From a literay point of view there is beautiful imagery as the two travel across the United States from motel to motel: "we glided over their glossy black dance floors", "mummy-necked farmer", and "sky losing its blue to the heat" are all wonderfully written phrases (p. 152-153).
Humbert is a very jealous man. He should be mad at himself. He has turned her into one of those promiscuous girls that are typically raised without a father and wander into the streets longing to belong to a man. "The men peered at her and me with malevolent curiosity. suddenly all dimples, she beamed sweetly at them, as she never did at my orchideous masculinity" (p. 171).
Also, Humbert mentions that although they went cross country, they never really saw anything. Maybe it's because he was too busy hiding himself from the rest of the world. He also states in the same thought that Lolita cries herself to sleep every night. Humbert takes a job at a school when the two finally settle and one phrase the headmistress states describes the life on the road for Humbert and Lolita and how he fed her childhood wants: "We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things" (p. 178).
Not much happened in this section. Not that great. But, I also wanted to comment on the end of the section where his view of other girls is blocked by builders whom never return again on their work-- I just think it's fate.
The concept of American movement in contrast to European inactivity is again illustrated when he mentions Lolita's immature ways that he was not prepared for: she had "fits of disorganized boredom, intense and vehement griping, her sprawling, droopy, dopey-eyed style, and what is called goofing off" (p. 148). Did Humbert forget this was a child? Don't children usually have unusal shorts spans of attention? No, he couldn't have forgetton. Especially when he looked for roadside signs that mentioned children under 14 were free as his "income was cracking under the strain of [thier] joy-ride" (p. 175). Oh, Humbert.
It annoys me to see Humbert "warn her she would dwell with [him] in exile for months and years if need be...unless her present attitude changed" (p. 149) and put scenarios in her mind of her going to an orphanage if she was to accuse him of rape. Was he not just saying how happy he was getting off without affecting her. His whole attitude has changed, and I do not like it. He puts up this facade of a "dream dad protecting his dream daughter" (p. 149) which is disturbing, and I can only imagine it gets worse as the story progresses.
From a literay point of view there is beautiful imagery as the two travel across the United States from motel to motel: "we glided over their glossy black dance floors", "mummy-necked farmer", and "sky losing its blue to the heat" are all wonderfully written phrases (p. 152-153).
Humbert is a very jealous man. He should be mad at himself. He has turned her into one of those promiscuous girls that are typically raised without a father and wander into the streets longing to belong to a man. "The men peered at her and me with malevolent curiosity. suddenly all dimples, she beamed sweetly at them, as she never did at my orchideous masculinity" (p. 171).
Also, Humbert mentions that although they went cross country, they never really saw anything. Maybe it's because he was too busy hiding himself from the rest of the world. He also states in the same thought that Lolita cries herself to sleep every night. Humbert takes a job at a school when the two finally settle and one phrase the headmistress states describes the life on the road for Humbert and Lolita and how he fed her childhood wants: "We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things" (p. 178).
Not much happened in this section. Not that great. But, I also wanted to comment on the end of the section where his view of other girls is blocked by builders whom never return again on their work-- I just think it's fate.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Lolita: Second Set of Readings
I didn't want to blog on the first set of pages, because I was still getting a feel for the main character. Now that I get what kind of person he is, it is easier for me to analyze him in my own personal way. It is now known to me that Humbert is a modern day peophile, and due to my attorney mentality and my many years of watching Law and Order: SVU, I was immediately disgusted. But, I guess it's always good to hear things from other people's views--even if you do not agree. Instead of blogging after reading all of the pages, I decided to blog while reading.
I pick up in section 14 where Humbert was gloating about how he got his personal high without Lolita even noticing: "Thus had I delicately constructed my ignoble, ardent, sinful dream; and still Lolita was safe--and I was safe" (p. 62). But it seems as though Humbert knows his lust for Lolita will not last forever since he says "I knew I had fallen in love with Lolita forever; but I also knew she would not be forever Lolita." This "pet" name that he has given her is her current, childish state, he knows soon she will mature and be a " 'college girl' --that horror of horrors" (p. 65). Being in my fourth year of learning the french language, I love the heavy emphasis Humbert makes on irrelevant lines; yet, criticizes everyone else's french as if they are of lower status than he (even though from my view he has the problems).
The passages are seeming to get longer, especially 15 when Lolita runs back into the house to kiss him before she takes off to the camp.
I love how the letter from Madame Haze is even printed as if it was word for word what she wrote, yet at the end of it he explains that he may have changed up some of her words, which leads me to believe that he is a classic unreliable narrator. About this letter, I found it funny tht he actually thought, had an ounce of hope to think that the "schoolgirl's scribble" (p. 67) could be that of his young love. She also has this way of being emphatic with her French. In this letter, from what the reader knows is her writing, she is uses alot of reverse psychology by simplying stating things like "I am nothing to you" and "do not even read this absurd note to the end" (p. 67) knowing he must continue to read since anything concerning M. Haze concerns Lolita as well. The note also throws strange hints that M. Haze might know of his love for her daughter when she claims he would be a "criminal--worse than a kidnapper who rapes a child" and alludes to her husband that was "twenty years [her] senior" (p. 68). I found the end of the letter a challenge or a test, basically telling Humbert to go to church and pray away his sin.
Humbert's idea of marrying M. Haze in order to get closer to Lolita is so far-fetched, but he seems like he has it all planned out: "killing her by placing five bichloride-of-mercury tablets in her preprandial sherry or anything like that" (p. 71). M. Haze starts becoming more social and keeps herself more decent when she realizes that she may be getting married. She constantly asks him about his past and Humbert admits to the reader that "never in his life had [he] confessed so much" (p. 80). He is starting to get used to her jealous nature, but he still dislikes her feelings towards Lolita and describes one of many episodes when M. Haze goes out of her way to make Lolita seem like a bad child.
My favorite description in the readings comes from section 20 when they go out to the lake. He wants to kill her! Seriously! I knew he was crazy and everything, but this pushed the envelope. They go out just far enough and Humbert's thinking is of that of a true murderer. He thinks, "[t]he setting was really perfect for a brisk bubbling murder" (p. 86). So chilling! I felt as if I started suddenly reading Agatha Christie. But there are two workers close by (they just had to ruin it!) "They were near enough to witness an accident and just far enough not to observe a crime" (p. 86).
It seems quite irrelevant, but it goes to mention that Humbert locked his love for Lolita in written love letters that he willingly admitted was hidden. Guess who finds them? M. Haze! She starts reading the mean things he wrote about her aloud, and he brushes it off while making her a drink claiming that he is writing a novel. By the time he makes the drinks, she's dead, a car hit her they say. I just want to add that this is not the way I wanted M. Haze to die! Ugh.
John and Jean are annoying, at least to me. Humbert was happy that M. Haze died. But, he wants the reader to at least see that he felt bad (for getting caught!) and directly addresses the audience by saying: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury--I wept" (p. 103). I don't know if this has any relevance to the shortest passage in the Bible which is also mentioned in "The Color of Water" a memoir by James McBride. (one of the greatest books ever!) Then out of nowhere, comes a kiss from Jean. This is getting out of hand!
He plans to take Lolita away and buys her all kinds of gifts including clothes. The weirdo even knows her measurements. Oh boy. In the last section, a little over one hundred pages, he realizes he isn't really going anywhere and asks the publisher to write her name out in order to fill a page.
One word:
strange.
I pick up in section 14 where Humbert was gloating about how he got his personal high without Lolita even noticing: "Thus had I delicately constructed my ignoble, ardent, sinful dream; and still Lolita was safe--and I was safe" (p. 62). But it seems as though Humbert knows his lust for Lolita will not last forever since he says "I knew I had fallen in love with Lolita forever; but I also knew she would not be forever Lolita." This "pet" name that he has given her is her current, childish state, he knows soon she will mature and be a " 'college girl' --that horror of horrors" (p. 65). Being in my fourth year of learning the french language, I love the heavy emphasis Humbert makes on irrelevant lines; yet, criticizes everyone else's french as if they are of lower status than he (even though from my view he has the problems).
The passages are seeming to get longer, especially 15 when Lolita runs back into the house to kiss him before she takes off to the camp.
I love how the letter from Madame Haze is even printed as if it was word for word what she wrote, yet at the end of it he explains that he may have changed up some of her words, which leads me to believe that he is a classic unreliable narrator. About this letter, I found it funny tht he actually thought, had an ounce of hope to think that the "schoolgirl's scribble" (p. 67) could be that of his young love. She also has this way of being emphatic with her French. In this letter, from what the reader knows is her writing, she is uses alot of reverse psychology by simplying stating things like "I am nothing to you" and "do not even read this absurd note to the end" (p. 67) knowing he must continue to read since anything concerning M. Haze concerns Lolita as well. The note also throws strange hints that M. Haze might know of his love for her daughter when she claims he would be a "criminal--worse than a kidnapper who rapes a child" and alludes to her husband that was "twenty years [her] senior" (p. 68). I found the end of the letter a challenge or a test, basically telling Humbert to go to church and pray away his sin.
Humbert's idea of marrying M. Haze in order to get closer to Lolita is so far-fetched, but he seems like he has it all planned out: "killing her by placing five bichloride-of-mercury tablets in her preprandial sherry or anything like that" (p. 71). M. Haze starts becoming more social and keeps herself more decent when she realizes that she may be getting married. She constantly asks him about his past and Humbert admits to the reader that "never in his life had [he] confessed so much" (p. 80). He is starting to get used to her jealous nature, but he still dislikes her feelings towards Lolita and describes one of many episodes when M. Haze goes out of her way to make Lolita seem like a bad child.
My favorite description in the readings comes from section 20 when they go out to the lake. He wants to kill her! Seriously! I knew he was crazy and everything, but this pushed the envelope. They go out just far enough and Humbert's thinking is of that of a true murderer. He thinks, "[t]he setting was really perfect for a brisk bubbling murder" (p. 86). So chilling! I felt as if I started suddenly reading Agatha Christie. But there are two workers close by (they just had to ruin it!) "They were near enough to witness an accident and just far enough not to observe a crime" (p. 86).
It seems quite irrelevant, but it goes to mention that Humbert locked his love for Lolita in written love letters that he willingly admitted was hidden. Guess who finds them? M. Haze! She starts reading the mean things he wrote about her aloud, and he brushes it off while making her a drink claiming that he is writing a novel. By the time he makes the drinks, she's dead, a car hit her they say. I just want to add that this is not the way I wanted M. Haze to die! Ugh.
John and Jean are annoying, at least to me. Humbert was happy that M. Haze died. But, he wants the reader to at least see that he felt bad (for getting caught!) and directly addresses the audience by saying: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury--I wept" (p. 103). I don't know if this has any relevance to the shortest passage in the Bible which is also mentioned in "The Color of Water" a memoir by James McBride. (one of the greatest books ever!) Then out of nowhere, comes a kiss from Jean. This is getting out of hand!
He plans to take Lolita away and buys her all kinds of gifts including clothes. The weirdo even knows her measurements. Oh boy. In the last section, a little over one hundred pages, he realizes he isn't really going anywhere and asks the publisher to write her name out in order to fill a page.
One word:
strange.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)