Reflection on Chinua Achebe's "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness."

  In this literary article, Achebe discusses the relentless racism found in Conrad’s book The Heart of Darkness.  Specifically, Achebe is concerned with how Conrad uses Marlow as a way to be indirectly racist.  Achebe does allow that this racism might be learned in the unconscious mind and not intentional, but he does not downplay how degrading and immoral it can be.

  Achebe writes about how he sees racism against Africa in everyday society.  He claims that in Western psychology there is a desire to set a foil to Europe.  In this case it would be Africa.  This idea of creating a foil can be traced back to Shakespeare and his famous plays.  Another desire that is present in society is the need to create an “other.”  Conrad puts African natives in the role of the “other” to white Europeans. 

  Achebe condemns Conrad in much of his article and called Conrad’s heart a true “heart of darkness.”  He claims that Conrad makes the African natives seem inhumane. In addition, he writes that Conrad made the Africans seem lesser than modern humans.  Conrad would often throughout the book describe the African atmosphere and natives as dark.  Achebe says in his article that Conrad probably had an obsession with this darkness.  He does not doubt that Conrad was a very talented and brilliant writer who had his moment of true greatness.  However, Achebe calls Conrad irrational and not clear-minded.  According to Achebe, Marlow may have been a tool to protect Conrad from the “psychological predisposition” of his readers.  Conrad created a “narrator behind a narrator.”  Achebe is still respectful for Conrad’s work, but sheds light on the racism it contains.

   In his article, Achebe brings a different perspective to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.  Although the article does not diminish Conrad’s great book, it does reveal its racism.

Response to Virginia Ross's "Kate Chopin's Motherless Heroine"

In the literary criticism, “Kate Chopin’s Motherless Heroine,” Virginia Ross suggests that Edna Pontellier’s conflicting needs are the consequence of the absence of her mother.   The Creole society began the “awakening” within Edna into a “sensual and sexual woman” (Ross 252). Edna turns her back on her family, her home, and what she deems society requires of her.  She chooses to seek out a life where she is independent and free from the chains of society.  Her actions from then on reveal insecurities and a regressive tendency.  Ross analyzes the novel through a psychoanalytical lens that gives evidence of Edna’s yearning for a mother that causes the insecurities and regression from her former self.

  Ross put an emphasis on Freud’s theories in her criticism.  Freud’s overarching concept is to scrutinize a person’s actions to find a deeper motive that is buried in their unconscious.  Freud claims that the unconscious part of the mind holds the darker desirers that the conscious mind suppresses.  According to Freud, the confliction between the unconscious desires with the conscious is the cause of much of human behavior and the cause of mental disorders.  Ross writes that the sea is symbolic of maternal love in the novel.  Whenever Edna is by the ocean she feels depressed and abandoned.  Freud might say that sea evokes these feelings because of the absence of a mother in her childhood.  According to Ross, Freud says that a child may not feel separate from the mother giving the child the feeling of eternity.  Carl Jung, a Neo-Freudian, looks at water as the female side of personality.  Edna may substitute a mother with the sea.  When Edna looks towards the sea, she feels a sense of eternity.

   One of Abraham Maslow’s theories is present in the criticism.  Maslow’s Theory of the Hierarchy of Needs is not directly mentioned in the criticism, yet it is outlines in Ross’ article.  Edna’s regressive tendency and search for independence can be her journey to self-actualization.  According to Maslow, in order to reach self-actualization there are other requirements of basic survival have to be meet.  With a dead mother, insensitive father, and unloving sisters, Edna stops short of feeling loved and accepted.  Ross writes that Adele provides the feeling of love and belongingness to Edna.  This brings about her awakening.

  I feel that Ross presents and argues in her article very effectively.  Analyzing Edna’s actions from a psychoanalytical point of view helps prove her points valid.  I believe that Edna’s actions throughout the novel are motivated behind her wanting of a mother.

Reflection on "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

   In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman we read the writings of a women who is put into confinement for an entire summer.  As the story progresses, the speaker slowly loses her mind and becomes insane.  I found this transformation of mind very disturbing and eerily relatable. 

   I have memories of seeing at a pattern or picture that put me in somewhat of a trance when looking deeply at the intricacies.  Some patterns become an optical illusion that trick the mind in seeing things that are actually absent from reality.  Even the speaker has the idea that she is the only one who sees her visions.  It seems as if the speaker sees the pattern moving and reshaping before her eyes and in different lights.  If a person looks at tiles on a bathroom floor or at the small patterns on some furniture, it is very possible to see, often with tired eyes, the pattern morphing into something different then originally seen.  I found that the descriptions of the wallpaper mirrored this.  The shifting pattern on the yellow wallpaper contributes to her decline to madness.

   I believe that almost everyone has had a taste of the madness that creeps into ones mind when placed alone for a period of time.  To imagine the kind of confinement that the speaker was subjected to for the length of a season, especially during summer when there seems to be no end of activity, is a frightening thought.  Being alone with ones thoughts can cause a person to lose the sense of reality much like the speaker in the short story.  The madness seems to take a hold of the speakers mind very similar to how the “woman” would creep around behind the wallpaper.  Each entry of her writing takes on a new level of paranoia and madness as her time in confinement progresses.  The reader can truly sense a shift in the speaker’s mind when she claims that her reflection in the window is really the “woman” behind the wallpaper.  The length of time that the speaker was confined in her room greatly contributes to her insanity.

  Gilman’s short story accurately predicts how a person, when left by themselves, can lose their mind to madness.  

Summary of Literary Article

   When assessing Samuel Fisher Dodson’s essay, “Frozen Hell: Edith Whatron’s Tragic Offering,” Edith Wharton’s novella, Ethan Frome, is characterized as a modern tragedy. Once Dodson gives the reader his view on the traits of a modern tragedy, he dissects Ethan’s persona and situation to define the novella as a modern tragedy.

   Dodson defines modern tragedy through an understanding of the connection between tragedy as a genre and the real world.  Dodson says in the article that, “The modern world contains only real people who make mistakes, suffer, and die or endure.  The degree of suffering is not necessarily in just proportion to their mistakes and, from this discrepancy, tragedy arises” (309).  Ethan Frome is a good man who does not deserve his fate, according to Dodson.  This puts Ethan Frome’s story in a “real world” light.  Dodson then connections this “real world” story to the genre of tragedy to consider it a modern tragedy.

   Dodson uses the ideas of the ancient philosopher Aristotle and Marilyn Jones Lyde to deduce his own ideas on modern tragedy.  At first, Dodson’s refutes Aristotle’s views on the workings of a tragedy by arguing that Greek civilizations, with their gods and rigid class structure, do not reflect modern day.  Dodson says that modern democracy replaces Aristotle’s tragic hero with the “modern hero who is elevated internally instead of externally,” (309).  Reading further into the article, Dodson then gives evidence that approves Aristotle’s ideas on tragedy and relates them to modern tragedy.  Aristotle’s four main character traits and strong moral ethics of a protagonist pertain to Dodson’s modern tragic protagonist.  Dodson and Aristotle also reach a consensus that the tragic character must have a hamartia, or tragic flaw, that is the cause of the disaster.  For a work to be considered a modern tragedy, the two agree that there must be an emotional reaction due to the empathy that the reader or viewer experiences as a result of the disaster.  The strength of the feelings produced by the disaster determines the modern tragedy’s quality.

   Then Dodson introduces the three points that define a modern tragedy to Marilyn Jones.  Her first point states that a modern tragedy must have a great force, alias fate.  Dodson writes that this point strays from his idea of modern tragedy because he believes that the protagonist must have free will.  As an example, Dodson refers to the Grecian tragedy’s protagonist, Oedipus, who was never forced to commit any act of murder, but chose to commit the acts himself.  According to Dodson, Jones’ second point of a “universal significance” (qtd. in Dodson 310) follows suit with Aristotle’s ideas on tragedy.  Her third point of absolute truthfulness suggests that a truthful character’s fate is credible.  Upon reading this essay, it is apparent that Dodson uses the ideas from both sources to form his definition of modern tragedy, but it is defendable to say that Dodson agrees more with Aristotle’s view.

   Before fully introducing the novella into his writing, Dodson gives his final thoughts on what makes a tragedy and what that tragedy has to be in order to consider it a modern tragedy.  Dodson defines tragedy:

“Tragedy as a genre goes beyond the stage to any from of literature that honestly depicts a morally good person suffering through the domination of internal passions, the behaviors of people, the whims of an indifferent universe, or the active alienation of the modern world… and through some mistake causes great pain or death,” (Dodson 310).

Then, Dodson describes the workings of a modern tragedy.  An interesting conclusion that he makes is that a modern tragedy must have a lack of narration.  By this he may mean that the presence of an omniscient narrator hurts the potential of the emotional response that was mentioned earlier as an important factor in a modern tragedy.  Dodson writes that in a modern tragedy the hero must reveal a tragic flaw that causes disaster due his free will so that he takes blame.  These tragic events cause the reader to reflect upon their own self and feel empathetic towards the hero thus producing an emotional response.  This is Dodson’s view on modern tragedy.

  Having established the workings of a modern tragedy, Dodson continues his essay to show how Ethan Frome can be classified as such.  When defining modern tragedy, Dodson stressed the importance of a tragic flaw.  Dodson writes how Ethan fits all the criteria for the tragedy’s hero.  However, he finds Ethan’s tragic flaw and uses it as his main argument to prove that the novella is a modern tragedy. Dodson concludes that Ethan’s tragic flaw is his lack for the ability to communicate. 

   Ethan’s tragic flaw is very apparent when he is with Mattie and Zeena.  His lack of communication leads his to loneliness, which is why he asks Zeena to marry him.  Dodson writes that Zeena’s inability to help Ethan realize his dreams and “sickness” is a factor that crushes Ethan.  Dodson observes “perhaps Zeena wouldn’t have been so ‘sick’ had Ethan confronted her early on and talked to her about their individual fears and dreams” (312).  Throughout that novella Dodson noticed that Ethan is similarly unable to fully express his feeling to Mattie.  Ethan’s self-sacrifice for both women is also a product of his lack of communication that sinks him deeper into tragedy according to Dodson.  Ultimately, this tragic flaw leads Ethan more dead then alive without any glimmer of hope.  Dodson writes that Ethan is a defeated hero who still has an admirable strength, but cannot reach his potential.

  I felt that this essay was very well presented.  Dodson backed up his opinions with other people’s ideas.  He also filled his reasoning with valid examples from the novella.  I agree that this novel is a modern tragedy.

Sonnet 130

  This sonnet is sarcastic in its nature.  It is very possibly a parody of an Italian sonnet.  Italian sonnets are supposed to be very romantic.  They often compare the subject to other objects that are supposed to be beautiful.  This is very apparent in the first line of the sonnet when the speaker says that his lover's eyes are nothing like the sun.  The speaker goes on like this throughout the sonnet denying that the subject has any beauty.  In line four, the speaker describes the subject's hair as being "black wires."  In Shakespeare's time, light colored hair was favored over darker hair.  The speaker also claims that he would rather hear the music of the subject than hear her talk.  However, the tone changes dramatically from line eleven to then end.  The rest of the sonnet tells that the speaker's love is rare and that she should not be confined to the ridiculous standards of beauty that society places on her.

Sonnet 129

  This sonnet is full of a fiery passion.  When one reads the sonnet, it seems to have a driving force that propels it forward and a frightening way.  Throughout the sonnet, there are a plethora of verbs.  Line ten has the same verb repeated three times all in different tenses.  This sonnet has the feel of a rant and almost seems as though it was improvised.  Overall, it seems to be very negative.  There is almost a feeling of regret and frustration in the sonnet.  According to some people who study Shakespeare's sonnets, sonnet 129 is part of the Dark Lady sonnets.  The Dark Lady is supposed to be a musician who world for the same wealthy family that Shakespeare works for.  When this sonnet it put into context with its surrounding sonnets, this tone of this sonnet is very different.  Unlike its surrounding sonnets, this sonnet is very negative and angry.

Sonnet 116

   This sonnet is very concerned with the definition of real and true love.  The first two quatrains focus on how love is constant.  In the first line of the sonnet, the speaker says that the marriage of love should not be denied to anyone.  The rest of the quatrain explain that what true love is not.  True love does not change. It does not "alter when it alterations finds."  The second quatrain tells what is true love.  The first line claims that true love is an "ever-fixed mark."  In Shakespeare's time, and ever-fixed mark was a lighthouse.  A lighthouse can symbolize a never changing call to a better place.  Line seven is a metaphor comparing a star to love.  The start could be referring to the North Star that always points north.  The last line of the quatrain is the speaker claiming that we do not know love's true value, but we can imagine how great its value can be.  The last quatrain of the sonnet tells that love outlasts time, although time can destroy beauty. Even on the brink of death love endures.  In the last line of the last quatrain, "his" could be referring to Father Time.  The couplet of the sonnet attempts to prove the sonnet valid.  In the sonnet, the speaker claims that if this is not true, the speaker did not write the poem and man never loved.  Shakespeare uses the words "proved" and "writ" in the couplet.  Both these words are legal terms and he might have used them to make the couplet sound me absolute.