suicide? nah couldnt be....

I doubt it was suicide. We read that passage in class and it seemed obvious it wasn't. I wouldn't have even considered suicide if i hadn't seen everyones hands in class. EVERYONE thinks its suicide, but the evidence just doesn't add up.

1) the drug itself wasn't completely understood. Doctors, chemists and patients all experienced different affects on the same dosages.

2) she had just seen evidence that her life could easily turn out pretty good. (the baby scene).

3) she wants to fall asleep, not fall asleep forever. no where in her falling asleep is their substantial evidence that she wanted her sleep to be permanent.

4) she was finally free of debt. She didn't have any more weights over head. she was actually free.

in short, she didn't commit suicide, it was an accident.

Ecclesiastes 7:4

I didn't know the title came from the Old Testament/Torah/Bible...but it does.

Ecclesiastes 7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of the fools is in the house of mirth. So there it is, the title of our book. I'm assuming this means Lilly isn't wise? since shes in the house of mirth? or maybe shes escaping it and finding wisdom?

I also didn't know what 'Mirth' meant, so i looked it up. Mirth-amusement, usually expressed in laughter. I'm not too sure what all this means. i guess we'll find out.

Code?

Is Marx speaking in code? There are a bunch of italicized words throughout this section of his texts. Words like: Proprietors, Greed, Commodity, Product of Labor, Means of Life, Producing Activity, Species-existence of Man etc...

Ok well all these words are nice but frankly this section was a bit too heavy for me. I couldn't follow Marx's whole argument. I realize that he's explaining a complex theory, but i did get lost.

What i did like was all the discussion over how the products of labor are the resume of that labor. That was an interesting product.

i also liked the quote 'what is life but activity' it just seemed wise.

so even that i didn't fully understand this section i do think it demonstrated Marx's wisdom, giving credibility to the texts.

Crusoe = Value

On page 236-237 Marx talks about Robinson Crusoe. The paragraph is long so i won't type it out, but pretty much Crusoe is the embodiment of Marx's value theories. All the economic talk and symbolic reasoning was weighing me down, but that slight interlude about Robinson Crusoe really showed me how simple value theories are (in theory). It also showed me that Marx really knows what hes talking about. Anybody can ramble on in complex language, but it takes a master of a subject to simplify something complex down to laymens terms, and thats what he did.

pg 107: "Man can be distinguished from the animal by consciousness, religion, or anything else you please. He begins to distinguish himself from the animal the moment he begins to produce his means of subsistence, a step required by his physical organization. By producing food, man indirectly produces his material life itself."

Wow, maybe this just hit me and it is no big deal to everyone else, but the fact that man is distinguished from animals because he produces his own means of 'surviving at a minimum' just seems so simple that it must be true. It makes a lot of sense. We are different because we build ways for ourselves to exist, not just flying from flower to flower sucking nectar or hunting down an animal every-time we get hungry. I would argue that religion and consciousness fall in to this same category. They don't help us exist at a physical level, but at a spiritual and emotional level they definitely do.

My Marx group is supposed to identify deviations from the 'communist stereotype' My only stereo type of communists comes a little from modern china, but more from post cold war sentiments of Russia. Films set during the cold war, films made during the cold war, and stories my parents tell are really the only views of Communism that i have, so they are extremely skewed.

The opening line of this reading section was one of the first things that went against my stereotype. 169: The communists, therefore, on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions and the ultimate general results of the proletariat movement.

I always saw (as my group discussed) the people of communism (not the leaders but the actual citizens) as being oppressesd and force-fed propaganda that promoted the communist way of life. I never really envisioned the people of the nation (proletariat) pushing for and marching for communism. Shows how naive i am huh?

Karl Marx's Manifesto is such a widely known book and this is the first time i read it. This may be a sign of the times, but i found the book almost humorous because of all the jokes i've heard and seen involving the 'proletariat rising up'

for example:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=L-RsuI_cOSI

Or how many times in class in high school we would joke about having a proletariat uprising over a test or some project.

Its very interesting now to see the actual text that bred such thought. I can imagine being an oppressed lower class worker, reading this, lending it to my friends, and becoming extremely unified and emblazoned against the bourgeois. I really enjoy reading the sections made to fire up the proletariat like on page 167 "the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class. The other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of modern industry; the proletariat is its special and essential product."

Gandhi and Plato Would Have Been Friends.

Gandhi's essay on page 80 (i think) proves this point. His perfect village looks a lot like Plato's republic. All the villages are self sustaining, Education is compulsory, compulsory service for village guards, etc.. I'm sure Gandhi received a classical education when he trained as a lawyer, so i'm sure he has read The Republic. I just found it interesting the overlaps and similarities in wisdom from 2 very different cultures.

While reading Gandhi's 'Fifteen Instructions to Volunteers' I noticed a lot of similarities between Gandhi's codes and many of the Boys Scout's ideals.

almost every ideal Gandhi lists is part of a Boy Scout pledge or ideal or something along those lines.

some examples:
'Do a good turn daily' would go along with Gandhi saying no harsh or cruel language and showing courtesy to those who are rude to volunteers

almost every point G. lists can fit in the scout oath or law though:
Oath:
On my honor i will do my best to do my duty to God and my country. To obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself Physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

law:
a scout is: trustworthy loyal helpful friendly courteous kind obedient cheerful thrifty brave clean and reverent.


The very interesting thing is that Gandhi was alive when Scouting started in England and the British still had their control over India, yet both groups claim to love and value the same things. Scouting was supposed to raise up perfect citizens for England and Gandhi was teaching India's citizens life's true virtues... Its funny that they overlap in 2 cultures in a confrontation.

Gandhi & Christianity?

Throughout the essays we just read from Gandhi I saw many biblical quotes or allusions. Now i don't think this means that on all accounts Gandhi borrowed his ideas from the Bible, but what i do see is that there is a sort of base human wisdom (if that even makes sense) Each culture or religion probes life and all its possible meanings and styles, and many come up with similar or identical answers, which i think proves the fact that some of these moral ideals have real Truth to them.

The first one i noticed was on page 77. "whosoever wants to save his life will lose it and whosoever loses his life for the Lord's sake will find it." That is one of Jesus' famous quotes.

The next one was on page 74. "I can no longer hide my light under a bushel" very similar to the biblical "no one lights a lamp and then places it under a bowl"

Gandhi even mentions St. Francis of Assisi's supposed ability to preach and commune with the animals and nature on page 95, and then on page 96 states that he knows he "must love my enemy" (another popular biblical theme).

I'm not sure if Gandhi was just being wise and saying things that seemed to come from the Bible or if he pulled these from the New Testament because he saw wisdom in them, but either way i believe it shows that across cultures and religion, there is some sort of basic morality and wisdom.

Gandhi's lightsaber

Ok so yea, the title is cheesy, but isn't that what an all sided sword would look like?

"Passive resistance is an all sided sword, it can be used anyhow; it blesses him who uses it and him against whom it is used. Without drawing a drop of blood it produces far reaching results." (50).

I really like this idea. First, that of passivity as a weapon. Of course, it has to be used correctly, passivity should not be confused with apathy. Still, the idea of peaceful confrontation as a weapon and means of social or political (or both) change is always a cool idea and coming from the horses mouth, so to speak, is even cooler. I've known Gandhi promoted passive resistance, but hearing his wording and seeing his arguments makes it all the more real.

I also think the idea of the passive resistance aiding that who it is used against is very interesting. Its not often that means of social change 'bless' those being who don't want the change. Some how, in Gandhi's logic, it is possible. I would like to see how he supports this.

Who is talking?

What is "swarhj"

Ok all that aside, i like this 100x more than N. Gandhi seems to have emotion! He's not a german robot. One of the coolest things i thought Gandhi talked about was railroads. "It was after the advent of railways that we began to believe in distinctions" and that through railways "we are beginning to abolish those distinctions" It's a very unique idea that Gandhi proposes. I'm not a big U.S. history buff, but i wonder if the same was true for the U.S. during the advent of the railroad and the establishment of air travel.

I also liked his long discussion on Religion. My favorite quote had to be "If everyone will try and understand the Core of his own religion and adhere to it...there will be no room for quarreling" There is a whole ton of wisdom packed in there, mostly established on self discipline, understanding, and wisdom (all things religion promotes). I have big problems with religious hypocrisy (even though i commit it myself making me an even bigger hypocrite) so it was nice to see this and definitely something i'll try and adopt to my own life.

Nietzche claims that "for a time the tyranny of such paradoxical and paralogical concepts as 'guilt', 'sin', 'sinfulness', 'depravity', 'damnation' " (128). I agree that these words and the ideas behind these words exercise some amount of control over people. They exercise control over me due to my beliefs, but people subscribe to these. They say, 'i accept these beliefs as true and therefore accept the meanings behind this new vocabulary i will begin using'. The people who use these words choose to put meaning into them and are not under a tyrannical rule, but under a governing system they agree to. John Locke's second treatise of government (reading in leadership studies) discusses how people choose to be governed or not. This is definitely a situation where people choose to be ruled (in this case by words) and thus the system is a legitimate and appropriate governing system.

So again, sorry Nietzche i have chosen to go against your thoughts. I do agree with some of your stuff, its just more fun to write about things i don't like.

Some of his own medicine.

I have a hard time siding with all this nihilism. Maybe a little here and there, but Nietzsche is nihilistic all the time, and thats a little too much to handle. I'm still working my way through the reading, but interestingly enough i have found something i agree with in here.

"an even more highly valued means of combating depression is the prescribing of a petty pleasure that is easily attainable and can be made into a regular event" pg. 135. Thats how i'm handling Nietzsche right now. I'll read ten pages of his depressing outlook on things (which though insightful is very depressing at times) and then i'll take a nice nap where I let my brain relax and take a break from all those nihilistic pressures.

Alright Fred, yes because you and i are not getting along i'm using a more derogatory version of your name. Sure i didn't agree with you before, but now the trend seems to be continuing and this can't be good.

Well, you continued on this good bad and evil thing, and you know how i feel about that, but now you are mocking me. I am a christian and you are beating up our 'love your enemies" policy. Now i admit it is a little crazy and darn near impossible to do but i don't see you offering any great advice. All i see you saying is that we as humanity are tired of other men! How insightful, thank you. Any advice for aiding the development of humanity? helping us exist together even if we get tired of each other? no? well then what good have you done? you've torn down our social beliefs and presumptions, but how are we supposed to fix it. I want some answers here buddy not just some ideas on how messed up our beliefs are.

I did like how at the end of section 11 you state that a higher man is affirming life. I'll support you there.

Sorry friedrich, i don't agree. There are legitimate concepts of good bad and evil. Sure some of these may be based off other values, but the total idea of 'good' or 'bad' based of a mixture of those other values.

"that which has proved itself useful is good" - see i don't agree with that. There are many things that would be useful. Slavery would be extremely useful. Cheap labor = cheaper products and less civil (for lack of a better word) drama. Yea that would be more useful.

Another problem i have: I have never heard the rich call themselves or be called the "truthfull". I don't know any wealthy people who consider themselves more truthful than others, i know plenty who know they are liars.

I feel like i'm watching a televangilist or a stuck up forbes reporter or a political figure who speaks like they know the people and the peoples thoughts/needs, but they really don't.

in short: Nietzsche, i'm not in agreement sir.

Ok Nietzsche, I know you're an extremely influential man who defined or influenced whole sections of western thought, but come on. Did you really write On The Geneology Of Morals because you didn't like Dr. Ree's book. I mean sure, you can disagree and respond to him, but i refuse to believe that this whole text that is so influential to modern thought was simply a response to this guy's book as "precocious" as it may be!

You say some very intelligent things here, like how "we have never sought ourselves" and how we only want to "bring something home" I still can't fully understand or explain these things that you say in the beginning of the preface, you barely skimming the surface of your arguments. Yet when i read them something clicks and i know there is some form of truth in these tangled arguments.

In other words Nietzsche, give yourself some more credit.

Rives Blog

I almost liked his blog more than his poetry. Its obvious he is just putting up thing that interest him and that he wants to share, not necissarily making any kind of statement with the items. His coverage of the only patially attended debate at Morgan state was very entertaining. I loved how he muted the guy next to him because he 'could talk, and talk'.

The artists convent looked like fun. How interesting would it be to go to your window and not know what you will see when you look out it (in a good way)?

The video of people making rooster noises was my favoite little bit. I could easily tell that all these people were making the sound of a rooster, but it was definetly not the sound i would make. Its interesting how our brain can connect it but still doesn't adapt it.

Rives

I'm a huge fan of this guy. He blends his thoughts and musings on life with pop culture (homer-homer simpson) very well. I love the speed at which he speaks, he is moving almost as fast as i can think, which is considerably slower than I can speak. I'm going to give my comments on each one as i re-watch them for the 2nd or third time.

Mockingbird:
"The Johnny Appleseed of Sound" - Rives says he's going to plant sounds everywhere and to a slight extent thats what i see rap and hip hop music doing. 3 years ago (i think) tim mcgraw and nelly teamed up to make a song (which was WAY overplayed on my local radio station), but anyway they mix 2 sounds together to make a 'beautiful' song, and if it hadn't been so over played i would agree.

OP Talk:
He's not even telling a full story, its small little stories telling the story of 'OP' talk, but you still get this feeling, this deep understanding, of his relationship with his sister. Ha i love the inclusion of Prince's 'When Dove's Cry'. The ending is so sentimental without any real explanation of his sister, but just their way of interacting. I'm amazed at the level of emotion he can elicit from me with so little background info.

(I really liked Kite even though it wasn't on our list).

DPJ:
I never thought of poets being deaf, of course they can be poets, it just never crossed my mind. I loved the end line. The connotations in his voice, the motions of his body the way he finally pulls 'voice' out of his throat. wow. it was good stuff.

Gorgeous:
"Gorgeous is an extra special helping of appropriate" - that is an awesome way of phrasing things.
I just got his little joke about 'Gorgeous is not charismatic, i know because i shave me" - I like his level of self understanding and a bit of self-deprecation
"people put the ow in shallow" - my guess at this is that there is something reasonable in 'face value' logic, but people basing all their judgments on face value assumptions hurts others.
I like how at the end, after spending all this time saying how he and we arn't usually gorgeous, he turns it around and claims he is, and by association, all of us are.

Sell out:
He is a pretty good harmonica player. I like his little joke "i don't even know whatever the hell that means" and "if talk is cheep why are they charging 10 bucks to get in"? I like people who can see the humor in their own lives/lifestyle
"all i know is my life is like a poem" If he is really asking if he is a sell out, my answer is no. He, according to his own defense, is just telling his life in a way he is skilled at and enjoys, and people pay to hear these. So no, he's not a sellout.

He uses poetry in our modern words and our modern situations, but makes it lyric and finds some kind of meaning within it. Most of the time i can't even figure out the meaning, but i know its there. Like seeing a car through fog, i know its there, but i can only see the headlights.

My Taoist Poem

Decisions cause unrest
Unrest fills the empty.

Decisions lead to peace or chaos

Life is a balance of peace and chaos
Trying to maximize peace
And minimize chaos is the task of life

Peace is found in the letting go of value.
Empty value and you empty all

Chaos is an abundance of value
Filling all and still more

Act as though there is value,
Live as you know it does not exist

That is Te.

Tao-ish..

Out side the breeze makes it seem like trees are breathing. Whole sections of branches slowly rise and fall together. Everything seems so simple, the branches just exist, and sway. I want to just sway. The sun is very warm, but then the breeze picks up and suddenly i'm a bit cold again. Suddenly i feel like the earth is breathing, not just the trees. The breeze is its breath on me. Birds are flying back and forth like little particles sucked in and pushed out. I feel wrapped up in some living thing i can't begin to describe.

Darwinian Observations

The Height of trees and the placement of branches is very intriguing. There is an evergreen tree with blue berries on it in front of me. Stretched across the the branches are some thin dead vine-esque strands. They resemble garlands on a christmas tree. I believe they are older dead branches that have wilted and been caught by the strong living branches. It seems that natural selection has let this happen to further attract birds to the tree. The dead branches would seem to be perfect for a bird's nest. The berries, which would feed the birds and spread the seeds around, exist inches from these dead branches.

Beau-Tao-ful

I know very little about taoism, but these poems and wisdoms are really awesome. I love "long winded speech is exhausting, better to stay centered" - I have definitely been subscribing to this thought since i had to read the Republic for Leadership class. "having leads to profit, not having leads to use" makes sense... if i have enough money i'm not going to work extremely hard. if i have no money, i'm going to work like crazy to get some. I also like "Understanding the ordinary: enlightenment...Mind opens" This definitely reminds me of American beauty, how the ordinary can make your mind open: click here

Picking and Choosing.

Ah, the wonders of sexual selection. I never really thought to compare male's working out and putting cologne on to a peacock's tails. It all makes sense, and in humanity it seems the females do it as well, with usually the same tools as males. So for humans it seems to have become less of a display and more of a dance...which makes me think of Moulin Rouge...which is probably a bad idea.

I thought it interesting that darwin claimed males who need to "invent and fashion weapons" apparently "requires the aid of higher mental faculties" and he accredited women with empathy and increased perception. I've always seen those as the stereotypical traits of women, and never really thought the ability to sharpen a stick needed higher mental faculties. Darwin, through his research, found these to be true. So i guess there is some truth in those stereo types?

Systems

Darwin is very wordy. I'm not a very scientific minded person, but his last line summed up what i was thinking the during most of the reading. 

"these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other,and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us." 

The complexity of the world around us is really insane. For an art class we used an electron scanning microscope to take images of really small things, and the complexity of some of our simplest items (hair skin etc..) is really amazing. I can't get the picture to work so go here . 

Its also very interesting the amount of adaptation we as humans do socially. What we'll do to fit in or to gain status or prestige can be pretty drastic. Especially here in the first year of college, many things change. People change names they drop old activities and add new ones. We change many things so that we are more comfortable, successful or to fit better with our beliefs. Well...those were my thoughts.

naturally selected

One of Darwin's big ideas was that of 'Natural Selection' that nature in a way chooses the best species or members of species to survive in different areas. As humans we defy this law daily. Now there is the old morbid joke of when someone gets hurt or killed because of very stupid activities that 'natural selection' took its toll, but that aside we fight natural selection constantly. Modern medicine is the main opponent. Without modern medicine I wouldn't be here to think about how without modern medicine i wouldn't be here. When i was about 2 i had a massive asthma attack that hospitalized me. Without the hospital i would be dead 16 years ago. My little brother is extremely prone to hand injuries, he would be at the very least 2 fingers short of his current ten. Many people would be practically blind which would most likely cause an early death. Just keep thinking about all the other ways modern medicine has saved us over the years and, if we hadn't had that, who would still be alive?

One quote that sparked my interest was on page 169 : "we forget that each species, even where it most abounds, is constantly suffering enormous destruction at some period of its life" This made me think about all those statistics that environmental and animal rights activists use. Say someone is opposing a mini mall being built by a wooded area. They'll sight that in Town C just 10 miles down the road that green frogs decreased by 10 percent after the construction of their mini mall. Now i don't doubt that sure the increased human activity did have some affect on the wildlife, but also there could have been a very cold winter, or a shortage of rain, or a disease that ran through the green frog population. It pretty much just made me want to question statistics.

Finally i thought of natural selection as applied to my life. Like how i wouldn't be here if i hadn't been in the boy scouts or how i wouldn't have gone to Africa if i hadn't dated a certain girl etc... It was very interesting to look back and see how events unfolded leading to new events. It also made me think of what if i hadn't done some of those things, or had been born a slightly different person...which of course made me think of a song. song/video - to hear the song fastforward one min.

The Soul

 Maybe its just me, but it seems like possibly, deep down, Socrates was a wee bit scared of passing on and therefore HAD to convince his friends that the soul is eternal and will go elsewhere after death and theoretically to greater beauty and truth. Maybe thats just me being cynical because his ability to reason in very long complicated dialogue tested my brain a little too much and i want to doubt him...so i think i'm a little biased.

Ok, on to more meaningful things. On page 28 Socrates tells his friend Cebes to 'search  for such a charmer among them all...you must also search among yourselves for you might not easily find people who could do this better than yourselves' pg 28 (near the # 78). This stuck out because Socrates is always teaching, probing, asking questions, driving the dialogue and hunting down a truth, but here he is giving his friends some advice. He is telling them to find a friend, a mentor, a guide, pretty much find another Socrates. I have mixed feelings about this, maybe he is just looking out for his companions, or maybe (this could be too cynical) he doubts their ability to exist/think/reason without a mentor/guide. I doubt that socrates really thought that, but he seems so coldly rational that it could be possible.

I, as insane as it is, disagree with Socrates on a point. This could be very unwise of me, but i'm willing to attempt it. On page 34 socrates states: every pleasure and every pain provides, as it were, another nail to rivet the soul to the body and to weld them together. It makes the soul corporeal, so that it believes that truth is what the body says it is.

I do believe that pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow, etc... have effects on our soul, but that they more thoroughly bind our soul to our body? no. I think they help to shape our soul, the pleasure and joy providing a release of pressure from the soul and the pain sorrow and suffering applying pressure. This letting off and applying of some metaphysical 'pressure' is what shapes us our characters and our beliefs.

The end of the story absolutely boggled my mind. The ambiguity was interesting and at the same time obnoxious. "it is through Beauty that beautiful things are made beautiful" 51. Yes, i understand, there is a higher purer beauty that can be seen through beautiful things on this earth, but still. Sorry to harp on you Socrates but that statement was a bit redundant. The one that really got me was "an opposite will never be opposite to itself" 54. Now i understand that in proving a maxim or theory simple premises must be made...well i guess that justifies this one, so i have no reason to be annoyed with Socrates...

The end scene is pretty interesting. He calmly just dies. I admire his ability to handle the situation so calmly. Bravo Socrates.

I struggled to think of a fitting song for this one...i couldn't find one. I thought i could make something fit, but i couldn't my apologies. i'll get one next time.

Do You Realize??

If it was the day of my execution, i doubt i would be that calm and collected. Socrates was just relaxing with his friends discussing how he was semi-excited about going to find True Knowledge...even if thats true, I think i would still be terrified about being on my death bed.

"either we can never attain knowledge or we can do so after death" - pg 15, E

I also thought his concept of newborns having souls from the underworld very interesting. Essentially souls are being recycled through different bodies, and learning is really just 'relearning'.

"would not we call learning the recovery of our own knowledge, and we are right to call this recollection"? -pg 26, E

This forces me to 'recollect' the old quote "there is nothing new under the sun" - (I believe thats from Ecclesiastes but don't hold me to it)

Now, in keeping with the past few entries, while reading this a song kept running through my mind and i thought it was fairly fitting: lyrics song/video (video is odd i wouldn't pay much attention to it, song is very good though)

Quite the stud.

For all his fancy language and cleverly annoying manipulation of arguments, Socrates has my full respect. His Defense of himself, (if this is possible..i'm sure it is) was rationally beautiful. He speaks with absolute humility: "I show myself not to be an accomplished speaker at all" (21, b); "I am very conscious that i am not wise at all" (24, b). He does this (i believe) to supplicate himself before the jury, admitting to them that he knows they are wise men and he won't even claim at reaching their level of wisdom. 

As his 'apology' continues though he becomes more argumentative (for lack of a better word): "'That man Socrates is a pestilential fellow who corrupts the young.' If one asks them what he does and what he teaches to corrupt them, they are silent, as the do not know..." He puts up a great defense, but sadly the city seemed set in their determination to kill him. The poor guy was a little shocked by how many stones were cast against him.

As wise and (i believe) right as Socrates was, he was still killed at the hands of seemingly intelligent, if not wise, men. Great men can be destroyed at the hands of good men acting in what they see as the 'greater good' I don't know what that really means...The greater good can be a very good thing, but so can men like Socrates. If nothing else i've seen the fragility of life (how odd to see that in Socrates/plato?) and the ambiguity of many real situations.  Thats what really caught me, though i side with Socrates on this, i can see where Athens is coming from, and the grey areas don't have a place here. I usually don't like gray, i like black or white, but maybe now i do...

another song: lyrics song/video - i promise this will be my last Bright Eyes song for a while.

Oh Socrates...

Poor Euthyphro, Socretes just toys with him and then shows him that he can't figure out what he believes in.  I'm sure Euthyphro knows what he believes but Socretes, the ever-clever thinker, keeps leading his arguments around in circles so that Euthyphro never really gets a word in that is 'constructive' to his beliefs. 

This does on the other hand prove Socretes' skill at logic and argument.

Wait...what?

That is how i felt after reading this, i'm sure many of the other people reading this did as well. The last 20 pages of white castle are confusing!

The mentioning of 'Fight Club' in class is now ringing true. I am interested, intrigued and confused. 

I assume things unfolded like this: Hoja became the Italian and lived his life as if he had just returned from enslavement. The italian became Hoja and worked for the sultan and Istanbul. Eventually the original Hoja wrote a book about 'the italian' (who he now 'is') and the original Italian wrote a book about 'Hoja' (who he now is). A fan of the original Hoja (new italian) visited him and learned from him. the fan then came to the Italian (new Hoja) and talked with him, but since the original italian is also the narrator he exposes the full truth and lets the visitor read the book. 

I'm guessing that last scene of the book the visitor flips back to the scene where Hoja and the Narrator swap and had to try and believe the story.

White Castle 2

With the most recent reading story telling continued to be a big theme within the novel, but i was more intrigued by the slave-master relationship. The narrator seems to have gotten extremely comfortable in his roll until the plague breaks out which prompts him to flee Hoja. This all seems normal, what was interesting was when Hoja catches him he feels 'secure'.

This may be completely off the wall but i'm reminded of the documented torturer-torturee relationships from past wars. That those being tortured would actually hug and care about their torturers because of strange relationship built by their actions. If anyone has ever read 1984 the end of the book where the main character is being 'remolded' in a sense back into society is the best example i can think of.

The other thing that caught my attention is how in a few pages months or even years will fly by. I can't imagine the monotiny of living with Hoja with nothing too exciting happening for six years, and while thinking that this song came into mind (don't pay too much attention to the video) 'Sunrise Sunset'

I'm also very curious to see what the weapon really is...though i doubt we will.

Finally, the last scene of the reading was really cool. The masquerade, the costumes obscuring the Identities of those he loves, him seeing his youth before him, he has actually become 'at home' in istanbul instead of missing his home in vienna..which means that all those emotional connections have radically changed as well.

White Castle

From the second white castle reading i realized the importance of story telling in this novel, be it that the narrator is telling us a story, the author has translated the story he found in the chest into modern language and then telling it to us or that Hoja and the narrator tell each other stories (there are many other instances in the novel as well).

In life we're all telling stories. we all have our own inter-narrative going on through out our days, we tell our new friends stories about who we are or old friends stories that bond us together. The tradition and history of story telling is rich and constantly flowing through our daily lives...i just realized that...so i put it here...

Oil Tanker Crash

Kenya

Core 1

This is my first Core Post