Benji and His Lady Friends

Benji hasn't always been lame like he thought he was. At the end of the book once he's actually been with a girl he actually remembers a bunch of times girls made moves on him that he didn't understand at the time. The girl at the roller rink wouldn't just hold his hand for no reason, ice-cream scooper girl wouldn't just "accidentally" brush her chest against him (I don't really think that would happen accidentally every shift).  Benji, to me, epitomizes the oblivious teenage boy. There ware stories all over the place of people making assumptions about other people's intentions only to support their own insecurity.

Benji has always taken the back seat (literally in the book) instead of believing in his worth. I can't fault Benji for this habit because it's only human, but it is my hope that after the time the book is narrated in, Benji flourishes. I'm sure he does, otherwise it wouldn't be a coming of age. No matter what progress Benji makes though, it will be partially because of the ladies in his life. When Benji reflects he sees all of the missed opportunities he could have taken, leading up to the success he had. Getting a summer sweetheart will hopefully give Benji the confidence to pursue his interests and take what he wants.

This idea even starts to be fulfilled before the book ends, with the club. All of Benji's friends ditched him with regards to the club because they didn't want to drag him along, so he devised a way for himself. The ability to do what he wants without other people is going to be the deciding factor in where Benji goes from the end of the book.

Catcher in the Rye vs. Black Swan Green

Mr. Mitchell mentioned an article in class that suggested that high school teachers substitute Black Swan Green into their curriculum instead of Catcher in the Rye. I absolutely adored Catcher in the Rye and I would be really sad if it were removed from the school curriculum. That being said, Catcher in the Rye is a classic, and I have no doubt that people would read it outside of school at some point. Black Swan Green on the other hand, is not as famous as Catcher in the Rye so it might not be read.

While reading Black Swan Green, I became so attached to it, and it's by far my favorite book from this quarter. At other schools, people might not read it outside of class because they haven't heard of it and in my opinion Black Swan Green is too important and too insightful to be neglected. The lessons this book teaches are more easily absorbed than in Catcher in the Rye because the time in which it's set it more familiar, and the culture is more present in our minds. Therefore, I do think that Black Swan Green should be subbed into the popular high school English curriculum because the likelihood of a student reading Catcher in the Rye on their own is higher than the likelihood of a student reading Black Swan Green.

Spooks

Jason's Spooks adventure, if you will, is a huge chance for development  If he would decide to join up with the Spooks he could climb the social hierarchy. This could lead to one of two ends: he could be  more free to be himself expressing his poetic side and nerd-ing out, or he could become more introverted in an effort to maintain his more popular position. My hope is that neither of these situations occurs. I hope he completely rejects the Spooks and becomes more of a Hugo figure. Like it's been said in class, it's completely different to be invited into the Spooks then rejecting them, and not getting invited at all. In the best possible scenario, Jason rejecting the Spooks will make him appear bad-ass, which would make anything he did bad-ass. No longer would he have to hide his poetry or hurriedly take down his middle-Earth poster--he could flaunt them because he was the kid who was too cool for the Spooks.

Like I said these would be optimal outcomes. It's more likely that he would fall apart, given the tendencies he's displayed already in the book. Jason seems to me to be too scared of social repercussions to embrace the opportunity presented before him to flourish. At first it seems there's no hope in sight, but I'm hoping any social hardships he will face will just make him stronger.

Boy on the Lake

When Jason skates on the lake, once everyone had gone, he sees/hears a little boy directly across from him. Keeping in mind that Jason is still a kid and is very lonely and insecure, this "ghost boy" seems to be an imaginary friend. Jason is constantly creating physical manifestations of his issues to make them easier to deal with--this is where Hangman, Unborn Twin, Maggot, and the ghost boy come from. Hangman personifies Jason's stammering, Unborn Twin and Maggot are his general social anxiety (always telling him not to screw up and the like) and the ghost boy was just keeping him company so he wouldn't have to be alone.

Creating manifestations to cope with difficulties is completely reasonable, especially for a someone of Jason's age.  Personally, I keep forgetting how young Jason is, which is incredibly odd given how important his age is to the story line. If he were older, he would be dealing with school, stammering, and "secret societies" differently. Instead of trying to break into social groups he would probably have the sense to just get through--that's what most kids in today's society do.

I Can't Stand Up for Sylvie Anymore

Until the very end of Housekeeping I was quite defensive of how Sylvie was raising Lucille and Ruth, and later just Ruth. She had no idea what she was supposed to be doing and dropped everything to take of some unfortunate kids which I respect a great deal. Sylvie seemed to be bringing her transience into the home--as opposed to forcing the kids to acclimate to her chosen lifestyle, she conformed to theirs'. I lost my respect for her at the end. She made many decisions I can find no ways to agree with. When raising a teenager, never telling them no is not an option. The girls were able to skip school, but that wasn't my gripe.

Ruth becomes a transient, but not solely of her own accord, in my opinion. The only mother figure Ruth ever really attached to was Sylvie and for a long time Sylvie was a fabulous companion for this lost little girl; but, as Ruth aged she became too attached to Sylvie as she was the only person she steadily socialized with. Under this influence she was easily coerced into crossing the bridge into transience. I am quite sure she wouldn't have chosen this on her own so early because of her trip to the island with Sylvie. Ruth didn't like being ditched and alone with her thoughts and she didn't talk the entire time. If she felt that way for a day, how would she feel being that way the rest of her life.

Also, just another tidbit as to Sylvie actually taking care of Ruth at the end: what's going to happen to Ruth when Sylvie dies? Because Ruth has become another part of Sylvie and has attached herself to her. She'll be utterly lost and have nowhere to go without Sylvie. To not consider that before running off, or worse, to consider it and disregard it, is truly cruel and irresponsible. Ruth will be a child no matter how old she gets because she's never had to grow up.

Esther's Bath

In my class, we just talked about the scene where Esther takes a bath. For me, one of the most interesting things about this scene is the fact that Esther feels the need to get clean, but she did nothing wrong. She didn't go out and get drunk and hook up or anything else she may regret later. In fact, she turned down the offer to "call" a guy over. So, if she didn't do anything wrong, why would she want to cleanse herself? I think it's because she's disappointed in herself. It seems to me that she tried to be someone else, she was experimenting with a more glamorous, more confident lifestyle, and she failed. Esther tried to observe a "critical situation"; she tried to be Doreen. She couldn't do it, she had to leave. In my opinion, there is nothing more disappointing than trying to change to "improve" yourself and failing utterly. This is what Esther was washing off. In the bath, she becomes herself; all of her problems "melt away." It is easy to be yourself when there's nothing to force you to change. While Esther is in total solitude in her bath, she doesn't have to adapt her personality/activities.

To clarify, I consider the concept that people act different around different people completely true. It's not that weird of an idea. Depending  on who Esther is with, she acts differently. With Jay Cee, she is professional getting her work done and contemplating her life because Jay Cee is her boss and a role model. However, around Doreen, Esther tries to be rebellious, ignoring planned activities, fabricating new identities for herself, and not doing her work. These are two completely different versions of the same Esther. To me, the bath symbolizes these two versions of Esther coming to a head--and in a way, Esther just kind of decides to ignore them and momentarily just not worry about it. This is why the bath is so relaxing.  Eventually, she kind of decides to be more like Betsy, working hard, attending all of the sanctioned events and everything, but I kind of feel like that's not Esther either. Maybe that's why she gets food poisoning; she was trying to be perfect on the outside without taking care of the inside.

Holden only talks positively about three people in the book (mainly): Jane Gallagher, Allie, and Phoebe. He does say nice thing about people, like the nuns, but the aforementioned three characters are the only ones he could never think bad of. Any negative qualities they might have are completely ignored by Holden and just become endearing to him. I would like to note that all of these people are from his past. Everything about his past is just peachy-keen to Holden.  Allie was alive, Phoebe was killer company, and Jane still kept her kings in a row.  Only the present and the future are unsavory to Holden. In the present he has to deal with so-called phonies, bars not selling him drinks, and being sent to school after depressing school. The future isn't much better to him, but really the only glimpse we get of it is his idealistic idea of the cabin in the woods or the horrible career options he feels he has. So, he isn't very accepting of his present circumstances and refuses to acknowledge what he's going to have to do in the future. When Phoebe asks Holden why he keeps flunking out of school, he doesn't have an answer--I do though, I think. Holden, like so many other teenagers, is afraid of the future. He doesn't want to become a phony or possess any of the qualities he detests. Holden's a smart kid though; he's great with composition, and his analyses of literature and performances (like his critique of Hamlet) are all evidence of his intelligence  If he's so smart, why is he failing? It's obvious Holden isn't trying, to me. I think he isn't trying because he doesn't want to grow up; he doesn't want to reach the future. If he keeps moving from school to school, it's like he never actually has to graduate.

It's kind of obvious his logic is faulty--I mean, he's still aging. You can't be a 20-year old in highschool. That's wear the cabin fantasy comes in. Holden knows he's reaching a point where he can't stay in school avoiding the future, so he concocts this plan to run away. It's just another way to run away from the future.

Holden and Ackley

In class early in the book we started talking about Holden's relationship with Ackley. Some think he's really mean to Ackley because he's always thinking about how annoying and disgusting Ackley is. Other people have commented on how Holden is good to Ackley because he keeps him around even though he doesn't like him. All of this behavior, to me, is utterly selfish on Holden's part. It appears to me that Holden is keeping Ackley around purely as a safety net. We know from various conversations Holden has had with other boys that Ackley isn't well liked in general. Indeed, Holden himself doesn't like Ackley. So, is there any logical reason to keep spending time with Ackley? Not that I can see. I feel like Holden keeps Ackley around just so he doesn't have to be alone, which is ridiculously selfish. He's leading the poor guy on, being nice to him only to insult him and be disgusted later on. It may just be me, but I would prefer to be alone rather than have a friend who is thoroughly and constantly annoyed by me.

Rambling Psuedo Support of Stephen Not Helping

I think it is important to remember that Stephen is an angsty young person, just like everyone else. Even though he is a university student, he hasn't fully grown out of his immaturity. As the first born son he could plausibly be held accountable for taking care of his family. I think he should help provide for his family, but not because he's the oldest, just because it's a respectable thing to do to help compensate for the resources you took up. That being said, Stephen never asked to be the first son. He never wanted the responsibility of making it up to his family. It is true that his education made him into the man and artist he became, but him having a public school education all along wouldn't have kept him from his calling. We observe his use of language in the book, how he relates to words and sees their beauty; the way Stephen relates to words wasn't made by his education. The amount of respect he has for language is something he had to be born with. So, personally, I don't think Stephen strictly owes his family any certain amount. Would it be kind, respectable, and probably very well looked upon if he did help? Yes--there's a reason it's expected of him.

Many readers may think he owes his family something--some specific monetary amount or something to otherwise compensate. The only thing I think he owes his family is to not be a burden. He didn't ask for a Jesuit education; it was a perk, but he didn't have to have it.

Roundabout Possible Explanation of Stephen's Lust

Before Stephen visited the brothels daily, we never really saw much lust. I mean, it was there, but it wasn’t the only thing he thought about. Most of his fantasies were about him being the sad, romantic hero refusing women or brooding in a corner. His fantasies stayed innocent like this because he knew nothing of sexuality. The church refrained from teaching the boys about these things, so when hormones hit Stephen, he had no information to fall back on to explain what was happening. For this reason, I think he definitely made out his lustful thoughts to be more than they actually were. He didn’t really have a history of fantasizing about sex, as we know, Stephen isn’t really a man of action. However, because of how little he knows about what’s happening to him, I think he is under the impression that if he has this one thought or sexual impulse, every thought, every action, anything he does must also be pure lust and sin. Because of Stephen’s lacking education from the church, he overestimated his sin, thought that everything about him was sinful and so became purely lustful and started taking care of the lust he thought he had by visiting prostitutes.

So, in a possibly more coherent way: the church is the reason Stephen visits prostitutes. They did not educate the boys about sexuality so when Stephen matured in that direction he fell back on what he thought he was supposed to do.

The Encounter

As a child, Stephen Dedalus's only contact with women was on school holidays and such. This doesn't change as he grows older; Stephen is constantly enrolled in boys only schools with exclusively male teachers. Because of this isolation from the so called fairer sex, Stephen has an odd relationship with girls. It's not unusual for young boys to be awkward around girls, but Stephen takes the normal awkwardness to a new level. He freezes around girls, never making the first move. Part of this is due to the character Mercedes from The Counte of Monte Cristo who Stephen compares all females to. He is constantly waiting for a mysterious female figure to "encounter" him as Joyce phrases it. To me, encountering means making the first move. Because of this expectation, Stephen doesn't make a move on Emma or any other girls. This is also why his first sexual experience with a prostitute is so significant. He "wandered" into the red district and waited for one of the prostitutes to come to him.

In class, we discussed what Stephen wanted from the prostitute. The way Joyce words it is "embrace" etc. implying that he wants a maternal relationship, but just before this Stephen goes on about his sin and lust . I don't think anyone could change their mind that easily; it's a bit of a stretch to go from lust and longing to wanting a motherly figure. Then there is apparently a holy part of his interaction with the prostitute(s). Stephen is a little obsessed with the Virgin Mary (Mother Mary, etc.) and the way Joyce writes this section implies at least a marginal amount of religiousness by writing about "heads looking heavenward" and such. Then, there is Stephen's ritual after this encounter. Every night Stephen "wanders" to the red district, almost religiously he sticks to this trend. Once in the brothel area he waits again to be encountered, waiting once more for his Mercedes to make an appearance.

I don't see any reason the prostitute couldn't represent all of these things. The woman fulfills all of the needs Stephen needs a woman to fill. The entire experience starts with Stephen being "encountered" fulfilling his fantasy about Mercedes--having a woman make the first move. He has been kept away from his mother during school with no figure to step in and fill that maternal role, so he wants to be held by the woman just like his mother held him to her breast; he just wants to feel safe like he did with his mother. But, this safety is not unaccompanied by other feelings. Stephen is still lustful, and he is able to satisfy this lust with the woman, as well as his fantasy Mercedes. I think the safety and lust and Mercedes are all intertwined. To Stephen, it's not his fault he is lusting after a woman, she encountered him. Stephen perceives a certain amount of safety in this. It is as bad, as unholy, if it's not his fault. And it isn't as sinful if he's the best at sinning, because he is pursuing what he is best at in his mind.