Archetypal Theme: The Quest

               I just finished the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer, and I must say that this book took me on an emotional toll. Oskar the main character loses his father on 9/11 when the twin towers fell. His father had an appointment that day. Now Oskar goes on a quest to finish the last mission him and his father created, most likely as a form of closure. He finds this key and thinks it’s part of the mission, that it was meant for him; so he goes to find out what the key opens. The book was a bit hard to follow with the flashbacks to Oskar’s grandfather’s youth. The archetypes in this book helped me understand Oskar’s role better and why all the other characters, small and big, are significant to the book.

Oskar has become close with the people he has met through this quest, especially Mr. Ade Black who helped him on his quest to find the right Mr. or Mrs. Black, who knows something about the key and what it opens. Oskar met Mr. Black when he first started his mission but unlike the other Blacks, Mr. Black was odd and strange he had an interesting background knowing lots of things sincere is 143 years old. Both being odd people they connected and balanced each other out and this created a special relationship, a strong one at that. Mr. Black in a way portrayed the Threshold Guardian. In the end  of the book on page 286 Oskar finds Mr. Blacks box of significant people and finds his own name titled son which shows how close and meaningful their relationship was. This would have never had happened if there wasn't a quest.

One major archetype found in the book is the quest. Oskar set out on a quest to find the door that unlocks to the key Oskar found in his dad’s closet. The famous quote “It’s the journey that matters not the destination” describes the quest perfectly. Throughout the journey Oskar made new friends that he became very close with and discovered more about his past but when he found out where the key led too, which was a safe box, he didn't care what was in it. He didn't want to be confused.

Mr. Black told Oskar “why don’t you come with me to the bank?’ ‘You’re nice but no thank you.’ It’s not that I wasn't curious. I was incredibly curious. It’s that I was afraid of getting confused” (p300).

The box didn't belong to Oskar’s father it belonged to Abby Black’s ex-husband who’s been searching for the key to the box. It’s as if Oskar and he were meant for each other but that’s beside the point.

The point is that an archetypal theme in this book is a quest. While it looks like the quest is to find the door that the key unlocks, the real underlining theme is a quest to find closure about his father’s death. Oskar doesn't know how his father died exactly; he doesn't even have his father’s remains. All he knows that his father was in the Twin Towers when it was hit on September 11^th 2000. He wants to end the confusion of how his father died but he doesn't. In the end he still doesn't know how his father died but he realizes that he doesn't want to know he just misses his dad.

GROWING UP SAUDI NONFITION READING RESPONSE

This week I read a nonfiction article from the New York Times Upfront called, “Growing Up Saudi” by Karen Elliot House. It’s about the young people in Saudi Arabia and how the young are increasingly questioning authority and rocking foundations of this very conservative Islamic society. In Saudi Arabia, specifically in Thalia Street of Riyadh belongs to the rebellious youth. It is an example of tension tearing at Saudi society, as tradition is challenged by modernity.

The youth which are as author Karen says “internet savvy”, so they are well aware of the Western ways but they don’t have almost any freedom options open for them. Saudi Arabia forbids dating, there are few public soccer fields, concerts are outlawed, even listening to music is forbidden by conservative sheikhs, though is widely ignored. Things that is such a normality for us is being forbidden for Saudi’s and they want to experience the joy and freedom we feel. People already started rebelling by breaking certain rules like listening to music and dating secretly. But because Saudi is a authoritarian society there is more to rebel against.

Now certain powers of Saudi I understand have nothing against even though it sets many limitations. A strict fundamentalist interpretation known as Wahhabism governs all aspects of life in Saudi Arabia. The Koran and the teachings of the prophet Mohammed effectively serve as the constitution. Unrelated men and women are totally segregated from one another. Women must wear black head to toe coverings called abayas in public. Marriages are arranged by families with the couple usually meeting for the first time when they become engaged. Since the majority of Saudi is Islamic it makes sense that they make women where abayas. Also arranged marriage isn't a shocker in the east. Unlike on the western side of the world arranged marriage isn't shocking it’s quite common. Even my own parents’ marriage was arranged.

With all these restrictions and limitations it must be hard for Saudi youth who knows of a “different world of their own” and doesn't have access to the same ways. One Saudi single man is quoted in the article saying, “Facebook opens the doors of our cages. The young understand it is part of nature to have a girlfriend or boyfriend and we should not pretend it isn't happening”. This quote in my opinion summarizes my outlook of how the rebellious youth of Saudi Arabia and how bored and restless they are.

             

Memories by Jessica Das

Memories 

My brain harbors memories;

Or what I think are memories.

Some blurred

Others are vivid and clear as if it was yesterday.

Memories make me up

The same way cells do;

Each different from the rest,

Yet still connected.

Memories make me up.

I have transformed but they

Remain the same.

Some are deep down deranged

Others are happy hopeful

Like the indication of God

Memories are me.

JESSICA DAS                                                                                                                  809

Poetry Reading Response on Starry Night

I never saw myself as a poem person. In matter of fact I was dreadful when I heard our next subject in ELA was poetry. This week I’ve read a poem called Starry Night by Anne Sexton. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the poem. It’s a poem off the artwork Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. One discovery I made about the poem Starry Night by Anne Sexton is that the speaker is depressed. This is because in the poem she seems suicidal and has dark thoughts.

One important observation I made is the speaker is suicidal. For example in the poem the line “This is how I want to die” (Sexton 6, 12) is repeated several times in the text. This quote shows that the speaker is depressed because he is having thoughts about how he wants to die and how. This quote is also an example of verbal irony because most people don’t want to die yet in this quote the speaker contradicts what I expected her to say; instead the speaker says she wants to die.

Another important observation is the speaker has dark thoughts. In the poem the speaker says, “The town does not exist/ except where one black-haired tree slips/Up like a drowned women in the hot sky” (Sexton 3). This quote is an example of a simile. This is because the tree is compared to a drowned women in the sky by using the word like. This quote shows the speaker has dark thoughts about people and herself. This is because drowning is usually paired with death.

A final observation I made is the speaker sees herself as lifeless. This is shown in the poem when the speaker says, “Sucked up by that great dragon/ to split from my life with no flag/ no belly/ no cry”.  The line break in this quote is important because it emphasizes the fact that he is empty both physically and mentally.This quote shows that life has been taken away from the speaker and nothing is left. When there is no life there is only death and darkness.

I discovered many things in this poem such as the speaker wants to be free and die. The biggest discovery I made was that the speaker is depressed by the way she speaks her words and the specific words used in the poem. Vincent Van Gogh, the artist behind the painting was in a mental asylum when he drew the painting Starry Night and ended up killing himself. He was mental and depressed. I believe the speaker got into Vincent’s mind and got into the depressed mindset that he might have been in.

Alphabet Poem- ON TOP

Always was on the top

But then came middle school

Couldn’t see why but,

Didn’t know what to do.

Even my parents were confused;

Friends were just as scared as I,

Going through the same troubles

Having the same problems.

I didn’t know what to do

Just rolled with it

Knew something was different

Let time solve it.

Mind boggling situations

Never knew how to solve it

Options, options, options

Problem solvers near by

Quizzing me day and night

Rest is not option

Slowing down isn’t my style

Turning around sounds nice

Unforgiving regrets;

Venture through your brain

When nothing is left to push you

Xylophones playing in the background

Yearning for you to get back up

Zillions of ways to get back on top

Cabal the Protagonist- Character Reflection

JOHANNES CABAL THE FEAR INSTITUTE by JONATHAN L. HOWARD

I’m currently reading Johannes Cabal the Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard and its nothing but ordinary. In the book there is a land beyond sleep made up of dreams called the Dreamlands but not a dream itself. For millions of years people have explored this mystical land but never truly come back sane but now its Johannes Cabal’s turn to explore. Cabal is a necromancer which means he communicates with ghosts. If you don’t believe my definition then search it in the dictionary. According to the Webster English Dictionary a necromancer is a person who can see the future and talk to the dead like a witch. Being such a guy, people keep their distance from Cabal. Well anyways, he is employed to the Fear Institute, who by the way want to capture fear, to lead an expedition to the Dreamlands. Cabal being the person that he is thinks the Fear Institute’s goal of capturing fear is stupid and unmanageable; the real reason Cabal is going is to do some of his own research and the Fear Institute in his eye is bait for when he needs to run away from monsters.

            Cabal is a very interesting character. He’s intelligent, sarcastic, uncaring, and very anti-social with humans like Bose, Shadrach and Corde which are the three people he is guiding. The most interesting idea in the book is that according to the Dreamlands Cabal is who he wanted to be all along. This is because when a person enters the Dreamlands his exterior changes into the person he dreamt to be as a youngling. In the book Shadrach asks Cabal, “But what about you, Mr. Cabal? Why haven’t your clothes changed?” Corde then asked, “Because you’re already what you want to be, eh, Cabal?” Cabal then smirks and replies, “Just so”. This shows that Cabal is who he wants to be which rarely happen to the protagonist in a book.

            Being uncaring is what Cabal is. When Corde gave Cabal the Silver Key to open the portal into the Dreamland, Cabal shoved the key into Harwell, who was the Keeper of the Silver Key and a lunatic. Cabal shoved the key into Harwell’s forehead and killing him because Harwell himself was the gate to the Dreamlands. This is because only the truly poetic and loony people, which Cabal believes to be the same thing could open the portal. Cabal had no regret whatsoever in killing Harwell. When Bose in disbelief and horror yelled, “You killed him” (Howard 42), Cabal simply shrugged, “He was already dead. He’d allowed certain conceptual the morphs to take residence in his mind. He would have killed himself or been killed within a few months in any case. At least this way he served a purpose. He was a poet. No loss, then.”(Howard 43). Just by reading that quote, anyone with common sense could see he was cold hearted but also very intelligent. He is intelligent and as a reader I know this because the way Cabal speaks with such vocabulary; he had to be educated a great deal.

            I’m not done with the book yet but fairly deep. The story just gets more crazy and unexpected at the turn of each page. I recommend this book because it’s a book that will take you on an adventure and Cabal is character that you will be in a love-hate relationship with because of his character.

Non-Fiction Reading Response

The article “A New Direction?” by Veronica Majerol in the magazine New York Times Upfront is about how China’s government has changed and tweaked certain laws to help improve China’s booming economy. According to the article in 1979, China began limiting most couples to one child; a measure to curb the country’s exploding population which by the way is not at 1.4 billion. The policy has long been a symbol of government control, violators undergoing forced abortions, and sterilizations, or paying exorbitant fines. But there was a big meeting in November, China’s communist leaders said they would relax the policy. Now if either the husband or wife were an only child they can have more than one kid. What’s for the sudden change you might ask?  Because of a preference for boys in the Chinese culture, many couples gave up their girls, creating a gender imbalance; that leaves millions of Chinese men without wives.

            Veronica Majerol’s article is unbiased and just accurately states the current conditions of China’s economy. Although the author’s article has no “loaded” words, it’s missing certain people’s perspective.  The article has the perspective of a China expert who states, “Today the agenda is largely off the table and that is the most serious long-term legacy of Tiananmen” (Joseph Fewsmith, Boston University). I believe Veronica is missing the perspective of a Chinese person who lives in America and a Chinese person who just emigrated from America to get more of a personal perspective. A personal perspective is key in this article because Chinese families are affected by the limiting of children in China; they might have their own stories related to this to share.  Also in the article Veronica states, “With its economy booming, China’s leaders also pledged to allow more private investment, moving China even further to a capitalist system”. This demonstrates that China has been improving itself to keep up with its thriving economy.

            After reading this article, I have come to understand not all countries give as much freedom to the people as America does. China for years have taken away children for the means of overpopulation and strict business, they have finally come to see how interfering with nature puts things out of order. But I appreciate the fact that China is moving forward and that the author Veronica Majerol has shown this. This has strengthen my opinion on how much power leaders should have over their people because ultimately over controlling leads to imbalance and unhappiness.