A Whole New World

"Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye." pg 16

At the beginning of the novel, we are given a focus on which to concentrate. Walton tells his sister that he has a steady purpose (to find the passage to the North Pole), and with this purpose his life is calm. Reading over this quote, I discovered some major irony going on! Here, Walton expresses that by following his dream and pursuing to fulfill his hard earned education he may help mankind. It just so happens that on his voyage north-bound, the crew stumbles upon Frankenstein. IRONY! Frankenstein began his life and creation of the creature with the same aspirations Walton lived by: to put his studies to work in a discovery which might better mankind. Another ironic point surfaces as Frankenstein loses his mind to the obsession of his scientific discovery; whereas, Walton describes his goal of discovery as "tranquil."

The image below describes the passage Walton and his crew were searching for.

Splish Splash I Was Taking A Bath

pg. 184 "The birds sing just as sweet when us leave as when us come. Then, look like as soon as us turn back on the main road, they stop. By the time us got to the cemetery, the sky gray." Here, imagery depicts the tone of the scene. I found this chapter completely ironic because these beautiful flowers and trees line the drive up to the house, a place of gloomy memories from Celie's past. Yet when she drives up with Shug, knowing she will see Pa, the beauty consumes her. For such an ugly cruel man, Pa knew how to keep a pretty, lively looking house. We don't see anything else about birds singing (giving a positive connotation), so automatically there seems to be some tension as she arrives at and leaves the house. As soon as she enters the real world past the house of her childhood, the world turns gray and gloomy again. Celie so yearns for color in her gray world! Luckily, she finds that inevitably in the pants she makes and connection upheld with Nettie.

Dangerous Safety

In "Once Upon A Time," I got the impression at the beginning that the narrator was going to give in to writing a child's story. In fact, she did just the opposite: composed a child's nightmare to help her fall asleep. Slightly erring on the creepy side? I think so! Irony at its best appears in the narrator's story. A perfect family is surrounded by not-so-perfect people. Burglaries and crimes crop up all around the "happily ever after" family. They take all precautions to secure their household and lives. While barriers keep people out, they also keep the family in. I found it ironic that the "wise old witch," or husband's mother, gave the boy the book of fairy tales and the parents money for a higher wall. Her gesture to the boy was innocent, designed to bring peace and fantasy to his world. However, because of lack of peace in their community and the boy's imagination, innocence was lost in the perfect family's life as the boy was torn to pieces by their barb wired fence.

Guns and Monks

There's nothing quite as ironical as the peaceful monks in the chapter "Church" cleaning Henry Dobbins' weapon. On page 114, the monks are "squatting quietly in the cool pagoda, [helping] Dobbins disassemble and clean his machine gun." They have a reverence for the soldiers who are there fighting against their government. Just as Dobbins explains his religious views- and how he hates church- "the younger monk use[s] a yellow cloth to wipe dirt from the belt of ammunition." Dobbins is in a church, saying he hates church, cleaning his killing machines, with monks. Seems a little disoriented to me!

I liked how Dobbins' decent side is again shown as he says, "it wasn't the religious part that interested me. Just being nice to people, that's all" (page 115). He makes it seem so simple, yet he's out there fighting a war. Maybe O'Brien put this story in to show not only the deep thoughts and conversations that occur as a result of being in war, but also to show the different religious views of the soldiers.

True or False- War Stories are True?

O'Brien confused me in the chapter "How to Tell a True War Story." He contradicts himself on several occasions. By repeating the phrase "a true war story is..." we see the complexity of memories and need to share stories, however real they may be. "A true war story cannot be believed" (page 68), but then O'Brien goes on to say four pages later that "you can tell a true war story by the way it never ends." One such story is the account of how Curt Lemon died. O'Brien brings up the death four different times on pages 67, 75, 79, and 81; he can't rid his mind of this image of Lemon blowing to pieces, so he keeps bringing it up. Irony plays its part when O'Brien admits that "what wakes [him] up twenty years later is Dave Jensen singing 'Lemon Tree' as [they] threw down the pieces [of Lemon's body]." It's a war story that doesn't end.

Even though O'Brien wrote all these stories, I had a hard time believing them after reading this chapter. "It's safe to say that in a true war story nothing is ever absolutely true" (page 78); however, maybe the point isn't in the validation of the story. But in the people and the things they faced and pulled themselves through, like picking pieces of Curt Lemon out of a tree.

Just Drink Up, Bill!

Jake Barnes puts off every emotion and feeling he might have by consuming alcohol. Along with the men that make up his circle of friends, Jake is a WWI veteran which may play a role in his heavy drinking. He writes all problems off by offering a drink to someone. I turned three pages at most without Jake having some sort of liquor in his hand! Bill Gorton is a friend of Jake's and a war veteran as well whom Jake describes as "very happy" because he had a lot of money from his last book; to me this showed clearly the money-dependent lifestyle which people took on in the 1920's. I found it especially ironic how on page 76, Bill is describing his trip in Vienna and how it was not good because he was drunk all the while. Jake, who obviously cares little about what the man is saying, replies with an oblivious answer of "that's strange. Better have a drink" even though Bill has just said the drinking is what made his trip miserable!