(I aslo wrote this awhile ago and am uploading it now) I have just finished the book. I think the book asks a few main questions which I would sum up as:
1. What constitutes as insane, and how is that decided?
2. How does society influence/ control us, and more importantly should we let it?
3. What role do impulses and desires play in human life, and why is are they important?
All of these questions sort of tie back into the main idea of following and accepting what is set out for you vs. acknowledging your inner self and figuring out how you feel as a bases for what decisions you make. The emphasis is on ones ability to not blindly follow. (Though personally I also see the patients follow McMurphy which is still following)

In terms of insanity, I think the book brings into question the idea of how and why it is decided that someone is insane. McMurphy is not what one might classify as classically crazy, but he is admitted, and given intense therapies (electroshock, and a lobotomy). In the story asking questions marks one as insane, and someone who needs to be "taken care of" like Maxwell Taber who was given electroshock treatments to make him docile simply because he asked what kind of meds he was taking. Nurse Ratched is in power, and if she see a threat in you, you will be immediately classify you as insane. It is easier to remain in power if you denote anyone who questions you as crazy. The book insinuates that those in charge of our societies, have discovered this as a way to keep people quiet and obedient.

In thinking about the book, most often society is said to be what influences us, what controls us and makes the decisions, But who/ what is in control of this "society",  how do they influence us and should we let them? The book uses Nurse Ratched and the ward, to represent a bigger picture of society as a whole. The obvious controlling factor in the book is Nurse Ratched, she runs the ward like a dictatorship, and controls the hospital or the "society". As I read more, I started to notice more and more mechanical imagery, used as negative symbols. Machines belittle the individual and help make everyone become part of the whole (the whole being Nurse Ratched's ideal ward, or Kesey's view of the modern society) Nurse Ratched's aids are described as mechanical, and they keep the patients at bay. The fog Bromden see's obscures his judgement and ability to see the world, at times he considers it safe as it shields him from his reality. He also believes this is not naturally occurring as fog usually is, but is a result of a fog machine controlled by the staff and Nurse Ratched. This is blatant use of machinery as a controlling force to stomp out individuality, by clouding one's view of the world. Kesey uses machinery to show the repression we may not even realize we face in modern society. Society has eroded our self awareness and natural impulses. Kesey suggests that we should refuse to allow society into our consciousness, and instead embrace our natural impulses and make decisions for ourselves.

As humans we all have urges and desires. With this book Kesey implies that we should not ignore those, they are part of a human experience. If we ignore our desires, who are we? Certainly not happy. Kesey's work poses the question to the reader "Who are you really? What do you desire? Are you content to let someone tell you that this it is innately wrong to have desires?" It is important to recognize what you desire and sometimes act upon impulses in order to experience a authentic human life.

Huck Finn 4

      After the fiasco with the dead man's will, Huck and Jim try to get away from the duke and dauphin, who have started to have secret conversations with one another on the raft.  Jim begins to worry that they are plotting to turn against him.  The next time they stop at a town along the river, Jim waits at the raft while Huck goes with the con men.  After the con men get in a fight in town, Huck goes back to the raft to find that Jim is missing.  After acquiring information from a local boy, Huck realizes that the dauphin had given up Jim to a local farmer named Silas Phelps.  Huck finds himself at a mental crossroads here as he contemplates the morality of his journey and what to do next.  He knows that if he continues to help Jim, he will be shamed in his town, but he thinks about the kind of honest man that Jim is and decides that he will continue to help him even if it is considered sinful by the people of his town.  He goes back on his earlier word that he would never let his conscience influence his decision and resolves to find Jim and continue to help him escape.  This is a major turning point in the novel as it marks the transition of Huck as somebody who is never quite sure of himself to somebody who can confidently make his own decisions.  At this point, he is no longer the boy who followed Tom Sawyer's lead in a make-believe gang, but a man who is willing to do what he thinks is right, even if it means doing the opposite of what society tells him is acceptable.

      On his way through town, Huck encounters the Duke, who tells him that Jim is at the Phelps Farm. On his way to the farm, Huck cannot help but think that God is watching over him, leading the way to the farm.  This demonstrates more character development from the earlier Huck, who simply thought God to be some sort of magic, wish-granting genie, and did not really fully understand.  Now, however, he sees that God is more than that.  He sees the spiritual value in Him more than the materialistic value that he focused on before.

      When Huck arrives at the farm, he is greeted by a woman named Sally, who is under the impression that Huck is her nephew, Tom, who was meant to come visit a few days ago.  As he had done so many times before, Huck seizes the opportunity and plays along with this charade.  However, it later comes up that the "Tom" who Huck is pretending to be is really Tom Sawyer.  Upon realizing this, Huck heads to the dock in order to meet up with the real Tom and inform him of the situation at hand.  When Tom gets there, he agrees to help Huck to free Jim.  This is especially significant due to the fact that for most of Huck's life, including in the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, he has been under Tom's leadership.  However, now it is the case that Huck is the one leading an "adventure" while Tom takes on the role of an assistant.  However, Huck becomes frustrated when Tom reverts back to his usual romantics, insisting that the rescue must be made in the most theatrical manner possible, or else it is not a real escape.  Unlike Huck, who is grounded in reality, Tom does not seem to grasp the concept that this rescue really could result in death for any of the three involved.  In Tom's mind, it is probably similar to the make-believe gang that pretended to rob fake stagecoaches.  Sure enough, Tom Sawyer seizes control of the operation, and the power is constructed in much the same way as it was for most of the story.

      Despite the fact that Tom's Hollywood-esque preparations have attracted a mob of farmers armed with shotguns who hope to thwart the operation, the three make it back to the canoe with Tom's leg bleeding from a bullet wound.  After escaping, Huck sends for a doctor, and ultimately the three of them wind up back at the Silas's, only this time Jim is chained at the hands and feet.  However, he is unchained when Silas hears of Jim's heroism - another sign that his morals are not different from those of a white man.

      At this point, Huck begins to wonder if his father has taken Huck's huge fortune yet, but Jim tells him that it is not possible because the dead man on the bed was Pap.  Jim simply did not want Huck to see, so he said nothing of it.

      Jim gets his freedom when he finds out that Miss Watson wrote in her will that he would be freed at her death and had actually died two months ago.  Huck decides that he is through trying to be civilized and heads west with the new found knowledge that black men are not so different from white men after all.

(I wrote this on paper like two weeks ago but haven't uploaded it on to here) I am almost done with the book now. I feel like not so subtle Christ imagery has gotten even stronger, with the scene with the electroshock therapy. He lies himself down on the cross shaped table without the kind of fuss or fight you might expect from him. He even asks when he will get his crown of thorns, and obvious Jesus reference. Throughout the book though he has been a Jesus figure since he walked in, the other patients became sort of like his disciples, he takes them fishing (which I'm not completely sure but I think is something Jesus did with his disciples). In the movie he dies, and if this remains the same in the story, one could look at that as McMurphy dying for everyone else absolving them of their sins in a way.

I also think that the book makes Ratched (and most women in the book) appear as symbolic castrators. Ratched is emasculating in a way, she refuses to acknowledge sexual impulses which may be sort of a representation of society and its desire to squelch the overt sexuality of man. McMurphy is very free sexually, but his desires are uncouth and not really accepted in society. Nurse Ratched, even with her large breasts which most would consider an indication prominent sexuality refuses to acknowledge them. She even condemns Billy when he has relations with Candy, she threatens to tell his mom (also portrayed as castrating) and Billy having just have symbolically gained his manhood, kills himself. When McMurphy rips her clothes, showing her skin it pushes her to be seen as a human being, who possesses human qualities, including been both seen as a sexual figure and innate sexuality which she has tried to conceal. She like society, represses sexual urges and feelings by shaming those who admit or act upon them into feeling like they are abnormal. McMurphy accepts his sexual desires as part of not just who he is but also part of a natural human life.

Adventures of Huck Finn (Final Post)

Huck sets out to find Jim, and encounters a family who happen to think he is their nephew, Tom. Once spending some time with them playing this "Tom" role, Huck comes to find out that this Tom he is impersonating is none other than his best friend Tom Sawyer. Tom arrives on a steamboat and thinks Huck is a ghost, believing he killed himself back in the beginning of the book. They find Jim and hatch a litter of plans to get him out and resolve to dig him out with large kitchen knives. Once Tom arrives, Huck's maturity shines bright, Huck sees the potential danger in each of his plans and ends it. But Tom's willingness to help Jim escape confuses not only Huck, but me too. But considering the plans that Tom came up with, he wasn't concerned with Jim's escape, but for the adventure that came with it. One of Toms suggestions was to saw Jim's leg off to get him out of the chains. Huck also uses the n-word in these chapters, I don't know whether it was to imitate a southern style of speaking, or if he still retains some of the mentality he was taught.
Tom sets up a large set of ludicrous plans, one after the other, putting the house in disarray. Huck gets caught up in the madness and begins to feed into these crazy plans, turning Jim into an object rather than a human being. They play games with something that is extremely serious for Jim. Here's the part that loses me, the owners of the house Sally and some other guy visit and pray with Jim, when they plan to make him a slave again. But Tom and Huck are the ones toying with his freedom, but are trying to free him nonetheless. All these shenanigans make it seem like Huck forgot everything he has learned over the course of the novel, and that scares me, at least for Jim's sake.
After making matters worse in their mischievous schemes, Huck and Tom escape with Jim to a canoe after a mob of people attack the shed that Jim is being held in. Tom receives a bullet wound in his leg and Huck goes to get a doctor. The house owners find Huck and the ending of the book is in chaos. They find Tom and Jim, who they chain up roughly. Once everything comes to the light, it seems Tom got what was coming to him once he reveals that Miss Watson died two months ago and set Jim free in her will. The people immediately release him when hearing of this and his care taking of Tom's bullet wound. Huck finds out from Jim that his father is dead when him and Tom plan to find him and the money. Huck decides to leave society with Tom on another adventure, which is completely understandable considering what he has discovered about the misconstrued world he resides in. Jim is the only one who leaves this novel a respectable adult, after hiding Huck from the truth, and taking care of Tom.

After reading this novel I have one large question, with a few smaller ones following.
What did I just finish reading?
Huck seems to look at life from another perspective, but not completely as he sets out on more adventures. Tom is hopeless, and Jim is a free man. Every problem in the book is solved, but the solutions create more problems, for me. They leave me questioning what to take from the story.
The messages I receive are: whether to follow your conscience or what you are taught, that our race is hopeless, and that although Blacks are free, we are still held down by what society is taught to think of us. I'm not sure if i'm satisfied with the ending of this either, it's really upsetting.

Huck Finn 3

      After floating down the Mississippi in hopes of finding the Ohio, Jim and Huck begin to suspect that they have missed the junction altogether.  In yet another stroke of bad luck which Jim attributes to a prank involving a dead snake that Huck played on him earlier, the canoe collides with a steamboat and the two are separated.  While it is unclear what happens to Jim, Huck makes it to shore and is taken in by a family called the Grangerfords, who are in a feud with another family called the Shepherdsons.  It is here that some of Huck's opinions of death are expressed.  One of the Grangerfords, Emmeline, is now deceased but used to write macabre poetry which Huck could not stand for its subject matter.  While walking through the woods with one of the Grangerford slaves, Huck witnesses a gunfight between the two families and is scarred by the death of two Grangerfords.  This is a big moment for Huck, who has spent the whole book up until this point trying to run away from death, only to find that it lurks around every corner.  When he realizes this, he does not immediately flee, but instead takes the time to pull Buck Grangerford's body out of the river, which signifies maturation for Huck.  He ventures on and reunites with Jim, who reveals that he was able to keep the raft by lying to a group of slaves saying that the raft belonged to his master.  

      After floating downriver for a while, Huck and Jim decide to pick up two conmen who are fleeing the people they screwed over.  The conmen try to convince Huck and Jim that they are an English duke and the rightful heir to the French throne, which Huck doubts silently to himself.  The pairing of Jim's lie earlier in order to keep the raft and continue to pursue freedom with all of the lies of the conmen who are simply doing it to make money poses the question "When is it okay to lie?"  Based on the fact that Huck, who has elements of a Christ figure, excuses Jim's dishonesty because it was for his own survival, but seems to frown upon the use of lying to make money, it can be inferred that this is so for all or most cases.  However, this question is further complicated later in the story when Huck fails in his attempt to give stolen money back to a family, the disappearance of which he later blames on a group of slaves.

      In a town in Arkansas, Huck witnesses the shooting of a drunkard followed by the attempted lynching of the perpetrator, who is essentially able to escape his demise by making the mob feel cowardly and weak.  This is a tactic that Pap had used on Huck while trying to convince him to drop out of school, though Huck ended up running away in spite of that.  This shooting does not seem to affect Huck as much as did the Grangerford shooting - probably because he did not know this man and probably because the victim was a drunkard like Pap.  However, it still does impact him, which shows that Huck regards all human life the same way - something that nobody except for Jim has demonstrated in this story.

      As the story progresses, Huck becomes increasingly aware that Jim, despite being a black, uneducated slave, is not very different from himself or from any other white men that he has met in that he loves his family.  When something reminds Jim of a time he mistreated his daughter and makes him upset, it became apparent to me that Jim actually loves his children more than Pap loves Huck.  Whether or not Huck had this same revelation, I can only speculate, but Huck certainly knows now that black men are equally capable of producing the same emotions as white men despite everything that Huck has been led to believe until now.  Furthermore, he becomes disappointed when the duke and the dauphin pretend to be the brothers of a recently deceased man who also happen to be the heirs to his fortune.  However, when expressing his discontent with this action, Huck does not say he is disappointed with the white race for committing such an act, but instead he is disappointed in humanity as a whole.

OFOTCN post 4

Now that I have reached the end of the novel, I feel that I am starting to understand the mechanical imagery in the text. Originally, I had thought that the mechanical imagery was something unique to the ward and the hospital, showing the author's criticism for mental institutions. However, when the chief is recalling his father's story to McMurphy, he speaks about "The Combine" and says that "It worked on him for years." This suggests that the image of the combine exists in ordinary life, an idea that is confirmed when the patients go out on a fishing trip. As they are driving along, the chief comments on how he can "see the signs of what the Combine had accomplished..."

After this realization I think that the image of machinery is meant to be critical of society as a whole. In particular, it criticizes the idea that anyone who is too strong for society, that they might find large and threatening, they tear apart because of their strength.

This idea is further emphasized by the fishing trip itself. While on the boat, the imagery of machinery is completely gone and is not once mentioned. Additionally, we see the characters in a different light here, where they no longer seem like patients but like regular people. It is even stated after they return that something has changed.

"They could sense the change that most of us were only suspecting; these weren't the same bunch of weak-knees from a nuthouse that they'd watched take their insults on the dock this morning."

When they return to the hospital, Nurse Ratched gives everyone an idea that McMurphy is doing everything only to benefit himself. However, it becomes obvious that everything he does is only for the benefit of others. On the boat, he keeps his life jacket, allowing others to "be the hero" and become bigger by giving theirs up.
As time goes on, it seems that McMurphy also becomes more and more tired which I would say is due to the fact that he has given his energy to the others. It is as if by building them up, he is draining himself and giving them everything he has.

The idea that he gives everything he has into them is truly present when McMurphy refuses to escape when given the chance, and instead tries to choke Nurse Ratched. Instead of getting out, he gives up his life to fight for the rights of the other members of the ward. After his death, the other members find ways to get out of the ward, and his death is a final blow to Nurse Ratched. She leaves for a week and when she returns she does not have the power she once did. Additionally, McMurphy gave chief the power to finally escape from that place. Many of the other patients left as well, and some went to other institutions instead.

Though at times McMurphy had selfish intentions, he gave up everything he had to make life better for the members of the ward. He taught them how to be big, and not let the "Combine" tear them apart, and he taught them how to laugh again, and be themselves. Essentially, McMurphy joining the ward was a cure for the other members, who never would have escaped the perpetual "fog" without his rebellious tendencies and his strong beliefs.

OFOTCN Post 3

I've just had an interesting realization about the McMurphy's character and his effects on the members of the ward. To me, it seems like McMurphy actually represents society and reality, as he is so clearly unafraid to speak his thoughts. The chief demonstrates this when he asks the question "How can McMurphy be what he is?"(162). By this he means he is unaffected by how people treat him, and by what goes on around him. He simply is himself, and nothing else. The most interesting part is that McMurphy being himself and rebelling as he does seems to be some sort of cure to the rest of the patients, and the chief in particular.

As I said in my last post, I believe that this "fog" we hear so much about is simply a state of mind the chief experiences due to his illnesses. However, after McMurphy is with them for some time, he states that he figures the fog machine has broken down, since there has been no fog lately. Supposing that it is his mind he is referring to, McMurphy's presence is simply curing him of any illness. He even says that he is feeling the floor for the first time on his bare feet, and he goes and looks outside to realize its turning into fall, and has many average human experiences that we don't see coming from him at any other point in the novel. It seems as if he is suddenly seeing things clearly, and experiencing life for what it is.

However, when McMurphy finds out he is committed and cannot leave until the nurse gives the ok, he starts behaving and acting like someone other than himself. At this point the chief starts experiencing "fog" again, and he also gets a ringing in his head, which both bring him back down into his illness. But when McMurphy lashes out at Nurse Ratched in their meeting (201), Chief states that the ringing in his head has stopped. So, in a way McMurphy is the Chief's cure.

Since we cannot see into the heads of the other patients, we can only assume they are getting the same experience that the chief is, which emphasizes an overall message in the novel. Though I do think the idea of defining "crazy" is important to the novel, I am finding it less important with this new theory. Now, I feel it is more clear that the novel is simply making a comment about mental institutions, and how removal from reality only worsens illnesses, as these people need to be exposed to the real world to be able to heal.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (3)

Huck and Jim continue in their "adventures" with the dauphin and the duke and their shenanigans and ripoffs. It starts to get out of hand, and to the point where the dauphin and duke's actions grow more insensitive and mean. They rip off one crowd, and another the next night; after the crowd, knowingly, witness a terrible show and tell more people to go, since it was so "wonderful". Jim becomes a little introspective as he reflects on  his old family and misses them. He regrets beating his daughter for not listening to something he told her to do, to later find out that she because deaf from scarlet fever. They all travel to the next town on a steamboat and encounter a man who believes the duke and dauphin to be his nieces  two lost English uncles, and the duke and dauphin inherit money that was entitled to "them".
These chapters begin to show how cruel the duke and dauphin really are in their schemes, and leads me to believe it will only get worse the longer Jim and Huck stay with them. One person who draws a very large contrast with the duke and dauphin is Jim. He shows a sympathetic side, and opens up emotionally to Huck. From Jim's willingness to open up to Huck, Huck is introduced to a new dimension of humans, and begins to see Jim more as a person than a slave.
The next few chapters are Huck's resolutions to the problems that the duke and dauphin have created, including taking money that isn't entitled to them, seperating a slave family, and telling their "nieces" that they will take them to England. Huck tells one of the Wilks girls (one of the nieces), the entire truth, tells her to go away for a while and not see her "uncles". He hides the money in the coffin, which is sealed, and he later leaves a letter letting the Wilks family know to dig it up. This shows a large step in Huck's development, as he begins to listen to his conscience.

The two real "uncles" appear and the duke and dauphin are exposed as frauds, and to discover which is real, a dispute over a tattoo on the chest of the body is debated. As they go to check, they all find the money, and within the clamor, Huck and Jim escape to the raft and ditch the con men. Huck dances in joy, but it quickly comes to an end when they both approach the raft. Angered, the dauphin almost strangles Huck, but they both think each other are responsible for the money in the coffin to retrieve later without the other knowing. 

The four sail downstream nonstop for days to avoid anyone who has heard of them, and they stop to sketch out the area they arrive in. Huck makes a break for it and realizes that Jim is not at the boat. Here is when Huck's morality and judgement is put to the test. He hears that Jim is captured and sold based off of the fake warrant that the dauphin made earlier in the story, and is stuck on whether or not he should write a letter to Miss Watson, who would sell him anyway, pray for forgiveness for helping a slave escape, or help Jim. He is overcome by the predicament, then finally says, "All right then, I'll go to hell!" and decides to steal Jim out of slavery after considering the raft rides, their friendship, and his kind heart. 

Huck's exclamation, I feel, is significant. After being raised to practice religion, and pray to God in times of trouble, he attempts and, for Jim, decides to "go to hell". He considers Jim being a slave, and himself a white boy, and his kindheartedness, despite being Black. Huck's exclamation shows that he searches the social and religious beliefs he was taught growing up, and finally realizes that he cannot believe them any longer. He cares too much about Jim, and puts his fate at risk for his. Huck finally follows his conscience rather than following the beliefs he was taught, showing a large step in maturity. 

The Handmainds Tale 4

The Handmaids Tale 4

There is a scene in chapter 15 where Offred remembers her friend confessing to everyone that she was gang raped at the age of fourteen, and the aunts and all of the Handmaids tell her it was her fault for leading them on. Because of the feminist movement that caused the collapse of the United States of America, every part of the societies religion directly contrast feminist views. Feminist fight against blaming the victim and they believe that leading someone on never justifies rape. And because the society blames feminists for America’s demise they are against everything they stand for even if it’s right. It is really interesting that they use a group called the Aunts to preach all these things to the other women. They are using women to suppress other women. Putting them against each other and they Aunts don’t complain because it gives them at least some power in a world where they have none.

The Society of Gilead’s goal is to restore a pre feminist world because they think it will solve everything. They keep mentioning that the society is at war but they aren’t very detailed about it. It just lets us know that the society does not control everything. There is freedom somewhere. None of the ideology of the society is new; it’s all taken from the past. Its pretty much all the bad beliefs of America from the past put together because one group, which started out good, got out of hand.

Not all the story is bad though, at the beginning of the book Offred mentions the car driver who is a young man named Nick. They have a little moment then but it only confuses Offred. Later in chapter 17 they kiss and he reminds her of Luke her husband. Nick doesn’t want her for the same reasons the Commander does. She thinks about Luke again later and how no one can die from lack of sex, they die from lack of love. Even though she kissed nick she feels like there is no one left for her to love because Luke and her Daughter are gone. I’m so confused though because it seems like she likes him, why can’t she love him to? Luke might be gone forever. If people die from lack of love then this is her chance that is if she ever escaped.

I also just figured out why all the women’s names are so weird. Their real names are taken away and they are called of whatever the name of their master is Ofwarren is a handmaid who belongs to warren, Offred is a handmaid who belongs to Fred, which I’m guessing, is the first name of the Commander. I also realized that Offred chose to be a Handmaid, she wasn’t forced into it. I guess she did it because her daughter and husband were taken away from her and it was a better life then being sent to the colonies or a being a poor mans wife.  The women that cant get pregnant are called unwoman, the babies that are deformed are called unbabies. They consider them not only unworthy but also inhuman. They don’t fit the mold of the society so they are alienated. This is scary similar to Hitler’s views about the Arian race of perfect humans, Jews and disabled people where not considered unworthy to live so they were disposed of. The unwoman and the unbabies are essentially the same thing here in the Gilead society. They dehumanize them and use it as an excuse to kill them just like Hitler did.

Then there is the video about the rallies against pornography and how they make women objects and willing victims. The feminists believe that domestic sexual violence comes from the patriarchal oppression. Aunt Lydia and Gilead agree with them to an extant, but unlike the feminist, they think a patriarchal society can effectively protect women from violence. They seem to have a valid point: in Gilead, women are not judged by their bodies, they don’t have to strive to look a certain way so that someone will want them and they aren’t attacked on the street. But this safety comes at a price. They may not be raped by strangers in Gilead, but they must submit to state-sanctioned rape by the Commanders. Sexual love and romantic love do not exist for them. And the price of this safety is the total forfeit of control over their bodies.

I’m really glad that Offred starts seeing Nick because it gives some more meaning to her existence. She stops feeling comfortable in her state of existence in the Commanders house and her little rebellions are good for her.  The hanging in Harvard yard was kind of weird and extremist but it makes sense for the end because of the secret rebellion. It was actually sad when I found out the Ofglen her friend killed herself because she got caught. If that’s your only way out then the world really isn’t even a remotely good place. The end is sort of confusing and it doesn’t really resolve anything. She gets arrested and put into a van, which to me seems bad because Handmaids who disobey are usually hung. But Offred sees it as a possible new beginning because what else can she do.

Huck Finn 2

      "I've always wanted to get as far as possible from the place where I was born. Far both geographically and spiritually." -Paul Bowles


      After Pap's return to town, he got in a lot of trouble with a lot of different people.  He made a mockery of a lenient judge who was attempting to give Pap a second chance, and when Huck did not head Pap's warnings about going to school, Pap decided to take matters into his own hands.  Like any good father would, Pap forced his son to stop going to school by locking him up in a log cabin in the middle of the woods... But wait, there's more!

      Inside the cabin, Pap rants on and on about how terrible it is that a mixed race man from his home state of Ohio is allowed to vote and what a terrible path society is headed down before falling asleep, waking up and chasing Huck around the cabin with a knife.  But to be fair, Pap was under the impression that Huck was the Angel of Death, and what would you do in that situation if you were Pap?

      It was at this point in the story that Huck did something that was extremely religiously symbolic.  He killed a pig and used its blood to fake his own murder inside the cabin while Pap was out.  Huck was running away to a new start, but before he could start a new life, he had to end his current one.  This reminded me very much of the death of Christ, who died and came back to life in order to achieve something greater than himself.
     
      After faking his murder, Huck paddles out in a canoe to an island in the Mississippi River where he stays for three nights before discovering that he is not alone on the island.  As a matter of fact, Jim, the superstitious slave from the Widow's house is there and is apparently running away so that he will not have to be resold in New Orleans.  This island is where even more religious imagery comes into play -- a great flood sweeps away houses into the Mississippi, one of which contains a man who has been shot dead.  On the island, Huck plays a prank on Jim which results in Jim getting bitten by a snake as well as the supposed "snakebitten" journey ahead.

      If Huck's fake murder is the death of Christ, then surely his return to shore dressed as a girl is his Resurrection.  However, it is also similar to the story where Jesus disguises himself as a beggar and is refused water.  After discovering that the townspeople are suspicious of Jim hiding on the island, Huck and Jim ride out on a raft together, and after a few days they encounter a wrecked steamboat that is being robbed.  After swiping the robbers' boat with Jim, Huck sends help to pick them up because he has not ruled out the possibility of becoming a murderer one day, which serves as a counterexample to the Christ imagery and also reminds the reader that he is still Pap's son after all.  Later in the book, Huck makes a resolution not to let his conscience influence his decision making.

     

Huck Finn 1

      In the first third of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is already very evident to the reader that Huck does not feel comfortable anywhere in his town.  He is only 13 or 14 years old, certainly not old enough by most standards to take care of himself, but he seems to know what is best for himself.  He rejects the idea of religion, school and all of the "civilizing" that Miss Watson attempts to put him through, but at the same time, he resents his dishonest, reckless drunkard of a father who is the antithesis of civilized life.

      Although he does not like the Miss Watson's attempts to civilize him, Huck at least gives them a shot.  After Miss Watson teaches him about praying to God, he admits that he does not quite understand it and that maybe it is not something for him, but at least it is something that is different from his father.  He also does not like school at all, but it is after Pap returns to town and criticizes Huck for thinking he is better than the rest of his family that he tries even harder in school.  This shows that, although he may not like Miss Watson's influences, he still prefers them to anything his father has to offer.

      There is a lot of religious symbolism in this book.  For example, Miss Watson and Pap are respectively like an angel and a demon.  While Miss Watson encourages Huck to go to school and educate himself while establishing a relationship with God, Pap shows him that the way to deal with life's problems is to drink them away.  However, unlike in a more traditional example of an angel and a devil, Huck does not feel that either lifestyle is right for him, nor does he think that Tom Sawyer's whimsical, juvenile creativity is the proper way, so he decides that he needs to find his own path.

      I wonder what the significance of Jim's "talking" furball will turn out to be.
 

OFOTCN post 2

So I'm about halfway through and I'm starting to rethink some of the things I said in my previous post. First of all, I said that some of the patients were already rebellious and McMurphy wasn't changing their characters a whole lot. However, as I have read on, I have noticed that many of the patients have undergone huge personality changes since his arrival. This is particularly true in the bit with the baseball game on the television. I did not find it to be as obvious in the movie as I did in the book, since in the book Nurse Ratched is yelling at them one by one as they approach the tv set, and they continue to sit down anyways and stare at the screen as if the game was on. This moment is completely instigated by McMurphy, and the first obvious sign of rebellion on the ward. Another part of my first post that I am starting to disagree with is the idea that the mechanical imagery had something to do with electroshock therapy. I am starting to think it is largely connected with the story about the cotton mill on pages 38-40, which I was immediately drawn to. In the description of the story their is even an obvious comparison between the factory and the ward. There are a few things I'm confused about though as well. One is the "dream" that chief has on pages 86-90. I'm having trouble figuring out the significance of this, and I wonder if anyone else who is readin the book has thought much about it and has any say in it. Similarly, the whole concept of this "fog" that chief keeps getting lost in is a bit confusing to me too. I'm not sure whether it's a physical fog machine, or if its more of an emotional state. I'm beginning to get the feeling that things such as the fog and the dream might be for the purpose of getting an insight into the chief's character, and why he is on that ward. It is as if we, the readers, are viewing the ward through the mind of someone who is "crazy," but because we see it through their eyes we might not necessarily consider them to be "crazy." Its as if his train of thought may not be logical, but because it is logical to him and we see the world through his thoughts, it is logical to us as well.

I've noticed some key differences between the film and the movie. First of all, some of the characters who are not present throughout the novel are present throughout the movie. Taber, for example, is released by the time McMurphy enters the hospital, but is seen throughout the movie. Cheswick drowns in the hospital pool halfway through novel, but is seen throughout the movie as well. One key difference is that Chief reminisces in great detail about his life prior to the hospital, speaking of how he was in an indian tribe that was forced to give up their home, as well as being a soldier. In the movie, Chief is seen only a few times, and we never learn of his past life.

The scene in the movie during which McMurphy pretends to narrate the World Series match is much different than in the novel. In the novel, McMurphy doesn't narrate an imaginary match. He sits in front of the TV set with the other patients, refusing to move, as Ratched screams at them forcing them to get back to work. The fishing trip is EXTREMELY different in the movie. While it happens spontaneously and McMurphy seizes the patients' bus in the movie, the trip is actually approved by the hospital authorities, mostly by Dr. Spivey.

The endings are similar in some respects, but mostly very different. Chief reveals to the other patients that he can speak and hear after returning from the Disturbed ward in the novel. However, in the movie, Chief only speaks to McMurphy. Also, when the lobotomized McMurphy is sent back to the regular ward, the patients all see him, thinking that he is faking it to fool Ratched. In the movie, only Chief sees him in his lobotomized state, not the other patients. After Chief escapes, most of the patients leave the hospital as well while Ratched is unable to speak, so she can't stop them. None of the patients are seen leaving at the end of the movie. it fades to black as Chief is seen running through the dawn.

I enjoyed the book thoroughly, as it truly gives a powerful representation of what mental hospitals were like in that time, as well as give a sense of hope and community through dark and troubled times.

To bring arise to our discussion on how McMurphy serves as a Christ figure, I've noted some things that support the idea. He performs "miracles" of some sort, getting Chief to speak to him, as well as stop Billy from stuttering briefly. Also, before he plans to escapes, McMurphy throws a sort of Last Supper party for the men. I see this story so far as the story of Jesus from the eyes of one of the apostles, the apostle being the Chief, for he narrates the story.

What I find really interesting so far is the similarities between McMurphy in the book and in the movie. Both obviously represent joy, freedom, and life. McMurphy bursts into the institution with a smile and a hunger for feeling alive. He does so by going against the establishment by commandeering a fishing boat, and trying to convince Nurse Ratched to put the World Series game on the television so the patients could enjoy the "outside world" a little more. Both in the book and the movie McMurphy's sole ambition is to get under Nurse Ratched's skin and make her break.

The Handmaids Tale 3

The Handmaids Tale 3

           

The society is all about restricting women’s sexual rights, and feminism is all about giving women rights like the right to choose. In the end their goals are the same, the control of women’s' sexuality in one direction or the other. There was a scene where Offred had a flashback to a memory from college where women were burning pornographic pictures. I’m assuming they were feminists. The leaders of the Republic of Gilead are obviously extremists but so are the feminists who take things to far. It's bad to go to far in either direction, which I think, is the point of this book. When I read the first few chapters I was one hundred percent thinking like a feminist, everything was completely wrong and women had no rights and why aren’t these women fighting for themselves? But then I thought about some of the ridiculous things we discussed in class like the whole thing about the empire state building being seen as a phallic symbol and how things are separated black and white. You’re either a feminist or a misogynist; there is no in-between. Which is what’s happening in the book with the societies extremist religious views, its ridiculous.

I wasn’t really sure what happened before the creation of the society of Gilead for a while but now it seems like it was some sort of war against pornography. Which may have been taken to far and the feminists got out of hand. When things get out of control and anarchy ensues people look for something to believe in, something grab onto and follow, and more often then not that thing is religion. This is very similar to the collapse of the Roman Empire, which was a pretty advanced society. What came after it was the dark ages, the world regressed back into chaos and the thing that brought back order and control was religion. Leaders threatened the wrath of God and the people for the most part fell into submission.

The society in the book is similar to the dark ages in a way, if a women cant conceive its her fault no the mans even though he might be sterile, especially since back then as well as in the book the men are way older then the women they are trying to impregnate. The Commander must be at least sixty-five. Becoming pregnant is an escape though, the woman from several chapters ago was so happy that she was carrying a baby. Offred goes to the doctor and he offers to “help” her, which is kind of creepy but it really would help her because not becoming pregnant is failure. Instead she chooses to remain trapped, which is becoming comfortable for her. Like I said in the last post, after a while it all becomes normal and comfortable. Freedom becomes scary. 

Aunt Lydia says, “blessed be the Meek.” Because she wants Offred and all the women to feel safe trapped in the Commanders compound because they cannot be hurt there like the women were in the past. Aunt Lydia reminds them all of the past how women were rapped and unprotected, she uses fear to control them. I Googled blessed be the Meek and its from the bible. The religion of this society is really messed up; they only use the parts that are convenient for them. The second half of that phrase is “for they will inherit the earth.” Suggesting that someday those oppressed women will have their rights back that they will be in control.

The Handmaids Tale 2

The Handmaids Tale 2

            Offred the main character is a Handmaid, a woman who is assigned to a wealthy man and her job is to get pregnant. There are also women called Martha’s who are assigned to keep house. The ones who belong to the wealthy men only have to do one task, but the women who belong to the poorer men have to try and do everything if they can. The whole society is based on the notion that there is no separation between Church and state, everything revolves around one religion.  All the jobs the men do have titles like Angel, Guardian of the faith, The eyes of God, which is the one that bothers me the most. They use faith as an excuse to spy on everyone and make sure they are not doing anything that isn’t allowed.  The society uses religion as an excuse to oppress women. The Republic of Gilead is more specifically using the name of god to control women’s bodies. They aren’t allowed to learn to read which in turn makes their minds easier to manipulate, an their bodies easier to control because these poor women don’t know any better, or they are afraid.

            In class we talked a lot about feminism and reading with a feminist lens. I have been doing that with this book because in this book for the most part women are objects, but according to aunt Lydia things are the way they are to protect the women. “There is freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.” Before all the new rules, which I personally consider strange and absurd, it was anarchy. Everyone had too much freedom especially men apparently, and women weren’t safe unless they were locked inside their houses. I had never thought about it like that before, freedom from is very important to but clearly there is an imbalance of both in this strange future society known as the Republic of Gilead.

            There is one part where Offered is walking and she comes across the wall, a place where criminals are hung and displayed to set an example. All of them have signs that say they were punished for performing abortions. After I read that it made me feel like this society was moving backwards. Women had to fight for the right to choose weather or not they wanted to bring another life into the world. Now the Handmaids are being used for their ability to become pregnant. Women are being protected in some ways but they have lost all their rights in others. The society sees women’s sexuality as dangerous, which is why they have to dress in what are essentially nun habits only they are red not black. But like any other common activity or notion after a while they won’t question, which I think, is so sad. Aunt Lydia tells Offred that someday it will seem normal, but Offred used to have a husband and a daughter and she seems way to indifferent right now. 

MEDS and JESUS

“Jesus, I mean you guys do nothing but complain about how you can’t stand it in this place here and then you haven’t got the guts just to walk out? What do you think you are for Christ sake, crazy or something? Well, you’re not! You’re not! You’re no crazier than the average asshole out walking around on the streets.” 

This quote by McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, to me is very telling. This quote is a definitive moment in the story when the reader is prompted to ask “are these men really ‘crazy’? ”

Although it could be said that anyone who willingly stays in a place they despise has to be crazy, these men find a twisted sense of comfort, it seems, in forced schedules, and medication. Instead of Randall concluding that they are insane after hearing that they could walk out whenever they want, he tries to convince them that they’re not. This led me to think, what if the only thing that defines one’s craziness is the how easily they allow themselves to be controlled? If this was true, it would further explain why McMurphy does not fit into the confines of the hospital, because he wasn’t there willingly.

I also found it interesting that he mentions Jesus two times in this rant. Instead of using god’s name in a religious sense, he uses it to express his outrage- just as he uses the man made contrast of the mental hospital system in his favor, avoiding the use it was designed for. After all what is the difference between following a leader in the sky, dictating your life, and a nurse in charge of everything in your day? Some people don’t use electronics on certain days as their religion instructs them  to do, and some, like patients, cant watch TV because Nurse Retched tell them so.  The use of god in this quote further shows the rebellious nature of  R. P. McMurphy, and the normalcy of the “psychotic”  patients.  Maybe McMurphy is crazy, he is the one that is different in the story.

I am about maybe two thirds of the way through this book and since we have already seen the ending I am curious to know how the end of the book relates to the end of the movie because that was not personally how I had pictured it. Though now reading the book I have the assumption that McMurphy dies I think I look at it differently. I think the poetic justice in his death at least in the movie says something about the authors view on rebellion, violence, aggression, sexuality etc. Not just on what McMurphy has stood for but how he has stood for it. If that makes any sense. McMurphy's outspoken refusal to obey authorities led to his death in the movie and so far in the book has caused unpleasantness for him and Nurse Ratched. Though I am not completely sure, Ken Kesey the author was a somewhat inclusive man as someone who referred to him self as "too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a hippie," and considered himself to be a link between the two, one can assume he neither advocated for violent protest or authoritarian rule. I think maybe thats why he kills McMurphy, because vehement opposition is not a solution. 

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (2)

It seems my prediction of Huck's rebellion is true, as the next series of chapters begin with him escaping his past life with an elaborate plan. He kills a pig and breaks down the cabin door to mask his escape with a seemed robbery. But my predictions of Tom and Huck are incorrect as Huck finds Jim hiding on the Island he escapes to. This, I feel is the beginning of the plot of the story, both Jim and Huck escaping society for personal reasons, Jim for racism and being sold to another family, and Huck for his life as a whole (and previously described in my last post). They both realize that the Island isn't completely isolated from society discovering a murdered man, the house floating down the river, and the snake bite Jim received. Jim hiding the dead man's face from Huck sends me the message that this developing relationship will succeed, since the murdered man is Pap. Huck may act like a child, but Jim's wisdom proves strong through every mishap.

Throughout the next few chapters, Huck's lying seems to be a beneficiary to both him and Jim. He lies to a woman about his origins, then lies on top of that when the woman discovers he is a boy. He then lies to the watchmen, but for a good cause this time, to save the robbers aboard the ferry. But his "adventure" on the sunken ferry both shows that he still has his childish Tom Sawyer-like impulses, and although they escape, both shows he is still a child and that Jim and Huck still are not safe from the violence of their society. Jim's allowance of Huck's shenanigans show that he is still scared to be turned in, even though Huck is his friend, he could, at any time, turn him in, especially since Huck has the lying skills of Jim Carrey in Liar Liar. These suspicions of turning Jim in are tested in the next several chapters, when Huck lies to some white men on shore about his family having smallpox and they ask if he is harboring a runaway slave. He says no, but afterwards pieces together different happenings to assure he did the right thing. He considers Miss Watson being a slave owner and being a good person, all the things he was taught growing up, and his time spent with Jim, then begins to question all the things white society taught him growing up. After this, Huck shows a large step forward in his maturity, as he learns to follow his conscience rather than the rules of white society he has been taught to enforce.

When Huck and Jim are split up, Huck is saved from a pack of dogs ashore by a man who invites him to his estate, owning over 100 slaves. Huck sees a large range of contradictions within this family during his stay including: A dead daughter who, when alive, wrote poems and illustrations about death, a feud between two white families, who held guns between their legs during church services while the pastor talked about loving your brother, and a white killing another white who Huck has become close with, Buck. Aside from the story, I do appreciate Mark Twain's mix of Romeo and Juliet into his story, with Sophia and Harney. Sadly, Huck's stay with this family comes to an end when Buck is killed by the feuding family, he drags his body from the river, crying, and runs off to find Jim, who followed him ashore but didn't want to get caught. They continue in the raft downstream. Two con-artist get on the raft to escape as well and lie saying they are a Duke and the Dauphin. These experiences, I feel, completely twist Huck's view of the world. The contradictions within the family he stayed with, the other slaves Jim threatens while ashore waiting for Huck, and the duke and dauphin. Jim is racist within his own race, and these two criminals, who still remain free white men seem to confuse and blur Huck's view of the world, also worsening it.

The following chapters are a series of adventures with the duke and dauphin, putting on Shakespearean plays for people. These chapters are a little confusing since a man is killed, then they go to lynch the killer, and run away when he comes to the door with a rifle. I do know, though, that the duke and dauphin pose as a large threat to Jim and Huck, even though they seem to be funny men. The circus that Huck attends seems to distort Huck's view of the world even further, since Huck can no longer tell the difference between what is real and what isn't.

I must admit, I'm a little scared for what might happen to Jim and Huck while they are "dragged" around by the duke and dauphin, especially because of their last experience with the two. I hope they can use their combined wits to escape them and continue on their path to freedom. We'll see what happens.

OFOTCN Post 1

Like many other people in our class, I am also reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I am finding it very interesting so far, and it's also really interesting to be reading it at the same time as we are watching the movie. One of the parts I have found most interesting about the book so far that sets it apart from the movie is the description of the black boys working on the ward. On page 30, there is a pretty intense description of one of them and his childhood. It really puts the reader at a different perspective, since we are able to see that he has a troubled past that explains his ability to be so sadistic on the ward. Though we only get a description for one of them, one can only assume the other two have a similar past that puts them on the same level. I think one of the biggest things in this book is something we've discussed with the movie as well, which is what really defines "craziness." Something else I have noticed with this book so far is that there is a lot of electric imagery. For example, the nurse is compared to a robot, and a lot of the inner workings of the ward are compared to the way electronics can be wired. I'm not sure yet what relevance this has to the story, but I am wondering if it relates to the idea of electroshock therapy. I have also noticed that many of the patients in the ward are already rebellious to some extent, without needing McMurphy to make them that way. For example, Taber refuses to take his medicine, and chief is the one who puts it in his mouth and then spits it out later. Because of this, my prediction is that McMurphy will not be as influential as he is in the movie. By this I mean that he will not create any behavior that didn't previously exist, he will only motivate what is already there. By doing this, the rebellion could reach a whole new level of either overthrowing or escape.

#2

As I continue reading, I am alarmed the amount of chaos that is happening in what is supposed to be a therapeutic environment.  Not only do the patients have outbursts on a regular basis, but Nurse Ratched recently had one as well. She stays quiet in an attempt to deter the attention away from her. I couldn’t help but think what the difference is between that type of deliberate silence, and the patient’s silence. When Nurse is very quiet we understand, but when the patient’s chose not to talk the reader, along with the other characters wonders why, for example Chief. On top of the frequent outbursts, Cheswick dies, (commits suicide?) Any patients are subject to be sent away to the “disturbed ward”.  Also, a patient had an epileptic seizure in front of many of the patients, who a few found rather overwhelming.  Also, as shown in the movie as well, there is always some sort of outburst happening in the hospital.  While all of this is happening, I cant help but wonder how all of theses patients are expected to stay “sane”. The Nurse herself said that these men work best under strict routine. With all that being said, it seems inevitable that some of these men would be in the home for years, and even maybe go “crazy” from being in the mental home itself. 

This is Signe but I'm on Lucy Green's email because I have a gmail name thats super embarrassing.

Anyways, I am reading One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I haven't gotten all that far yet, but we also haven't gotten all that far in the movie. So far it seems like the biggest difference would be that the book 's narrator is the Chief, also the physicality of Nurse Ratched, though both Nate and Sarah covered that. So I thought I'd talk a bit about the book in terms of when it was published (context) because I was reading about it and I thought it was pretty interesting and relevant to understanding the novel. The books was published during the 60's and the way Nurse Ratched runs the ward is similar to the totalitarian societies the US was opposing at the time. Kesey the author expresses rebellion against the authority/ norm, but he seems to have also been sort of a hippy, so I don't think he was really agreeing with the US's decisions either. I also read that he started taking LSD as part of some sort of drug testing program, which sparked his interest in "alternative methods of perception" which brought him to a job at a mental hospital where he often talked to patients, being that his story features a mental hospital and the narrator is someone who definitely has experienced some alternate perceptions, I would gather that his experiences as well as the time period were the building blocks for this novel. Though I am not very far I would gather that the author strongly favors the Chief/ McMurphy and that they will sort of win out over Nurse Ratched, maybe not literally like defeat her but at least the idea of her like they end up on top in a sense (or at least I hope they do because she is RACHET.)