Has Tateh bought into Capitalism?

1/18/2014 

In class, the question was brought up: did Tateh buy into capitalism? I feel that that is indeed a very interesting question-- while it is true that Tateh does agree to sign the contract to have his flipbooks mass produced, that isn’t his ‘true nature’. In those terms, he is similar to Houdini, who starts as a low class jewish immigrant (precisely like Tateh) and using his art, grows and rises high in society, even though he is unwilling and doesn’t like the idea of being bought. Similarly, Tateh did not have that much money (with only 60 dollars to begin with, and most of it was spent in transportation), so, he does need the money, not only for himself, but also his daughter.

Additionally, the way I read it, Tateh didn’t even know that the manager would like his flipbooks, yet alone mass produce them-- Tateh was just hoping to get a couple of extra dollars on the side to literally be able to live: “ Tateh removed his hat and spoke to a man in a striped shirt with sleeve garters who came forward to meet them. The man was amiable. Sure, he said, let’s see it. Tateh took the girl’s satchel, put it on the counter and, opening it, withdrew the book of the skater. Standing next to the proprietor he held the book at arm’s length and expertly flipped the pages” (Doctorow 132). It is clear that Tateh’s intentions were not to seek profits from capitalism. When he was presented the offer, he decided to take it because he had to. Let’s talk realistically: here’s a guy offering you money on the spot for your talent. Sure Tateh does profit from it, but he doesn’t seem to be thinking from a capitalistic point of view. Once again, he is doing this to keep both his daughter and himself alive. At the end of chapter 17, for example: “For purposes of the contract they were called movie books. Come, Tateh said to his child, we'll find a boardinghouse in a good neighborhood and then we'll have ourselves a meal and a hot bath” (133). These words are not those of someone who is embracing capitalism for his benefits, but rather, of someone simply trying to survive.

Ragtime: First Impressions

In the class discussion on Ragtime( and outside of class, mostly), several people mentioned that they didn't really like the ‘detached’ tone of the book, at times; but I didn’t mind that, in fact, that is what I love about this book. I think that the tone totally fits the style of the book by giving a really unbiased (as of now, at least) view of the situations, that is, telling situations without taking a stand on it. There are moments, however, when the narrative suggests something without saying anything specifically, which I guess is the type of writing you often encounter in novels.

In terms of plot, (and this is my main point; I love this book because of this as well) all I can say is that at times certain events seem totally random and quite meaningless. For example, the mirror scene in the jail between Thaw and Houdini seemed significant, in tonight’s reading, but I failed to draw anything from it (perhaps a connection from the Houdini scene when his car broke down in front of the house?). What’s even better is how the author mentions himself “the unexpected visit [of Harry Houdini]” at the beginning of the third chapter, accepting this arbitrary plot.  The randomness can be seen even from the beginning of the book with “[h]er underpants were white” ( though that too may be a connection to the previously mentioned phrase “everyone wore white”). The best example, though, has to be Theodore Dreiser towards the end of the fourth chapter- his ‘experiment’ to try to align his chair in just the right manner is just so meaningless (I don’t think another connection comes up, unlike the others), which is actually, what I like about this book. I feel that that brings much needed humor to the sometimes dull tone.

Another thing about the plot is that there doesn't actually seem to be one cohesive plot; rather, there seems to be many different plots, each majorly concerning a few limited characters at a time, and these plots tend (as of now) to stay separate from each other. In any case, I think it will be quite fascinating to see how each of these small stories blend into each other, hopefully making for sense(that is not to say that separately they don’t look, they are fun to read, but together might be a different story altogether)...

Open- Genre Project

For my project, I did a video summarizing the Sun Also Rises. For the movie, I used the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, in which 3 freinds decide to go on a bachelor trip to spain. You can read the wikipedia page, or even watch the movie on Netflix (its hilarious) and see that it has absolutely nothing to do with The Sun Also Rises. The summary is followed by a message from Jake about life. I hope you enjoy and laugh a lot. The link is availible at http://youtu.be/ORjcNWrEhxQ. It is also availible at http://youtu.be/LYFAmOrf_Yk

Pilate as the pillar of Song of Solomon: almost like Christophine in Wide Sargasso Sea

I feel that Pilate can almost be seen as one of the biggest protagonist of Song of Solomon as she is the story's moral guide (almost like a Christophine like figure). Although it is true that the narrator of the book hardly ever focuses on what Pilate is feeling or the state she is in, her presence in the book is strongly felt throughout. Ironically, although she is named after the Roman statesman who crucified Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, Pilate has a complete lack of cruelty. Most often, she is actually leading someone who is in need of guidance.

While Pilate's role in the novel isn't as physically visible as someone like Milkman's, it is definitely just as important (perhaps even more).  Pilate is a survivor of the strong racism and yet she is loving and altruistic. Her loving nature implies strength rather than weakness. Most importantly,when a man tries to beat her daughter, Reba, Pilate takes the event very calmly (as Mr. Mitchell mentioned almost like an experienced ‘badass’) pushes a knife within just an inch of his heart and persuades him (and he obviously accepts) to never touch Reba again.  Impressively, Pilate is in her sixties (again old age, like Christophine, where old age shows power, experience and knowledge) and the abuser is a strong young man, Pilate still prevails.

In Song of Solomon, Morrison seems to suggest that Pilate’s powers, strength, and everlasting love above all, come from the African-American cultural traditions. By singing and expressing her feeling indirectly through the songs about Sugarman’s flight, Pilate shows her strength and tries to calm the memories of the past, specifically the oppression that her ancestors had to go through. Not only does she make herself content, she also makes the other characters who live in the present surrounding her joyful. In the end, Pilate becomes the novel’s model character, clearly expressing that power does not have to come at the expense of gentleness (although it is hard), and that freedom does not have to come at the expense of the happiness of others.

In these manners, Pilate is much like Christophine. Christophine was the character who was the mentor to Antoinette in the Wide Sargasso Sea and here, Pilate can be seen almost like a mentor like figure to Milkman (his life is empty without her initial guidance). Another factor is when Christophine makes the love potion, and Pilate does something similar. There is also the fact that both are seen as figures with some kind of “supernatural” power. So all in all, both characters have many similarities.   

Milkman like Antoinette?

Milkman is just like Antoinette in many ways. Milkman was born into a rather privileged household with a want to always escape but has to live through instead.  In order to make his life more peaceful, he tries to make friends with Guitar. He does this because in he does not want to be the part of a household which both the poor blacks resent (because of jealousy for money). Interestingly, this is quite similar the way that Antoinette reaches out to Tia (Tia is from a lower class and is still friends with Antoinette, for a time being). However, the class tensions that are present between these friends are much more pronounced and visible in the case of Antoinette, specifically because she does not even have the option of fitting into any community.  Guitar also mentions something similar to Milkman when he says that ‘you do not fit in either communities’.  And just like Tia throws a rock at Antoinette (which I feel was done with intent to kill), Guitar tries to hang Milkman.

However, they do have their differences. Mainly,  Milkman is a male in a much more modern society (well more modern than that of Antoinette's times) and because of this he does have a shot at actually getting out of the situation he is in, for example, as he so says himself “I’ll buy a plane ticket,” and he does. And while he was stuck there, he was in a relatively comfortable and protective environment.  In somewhat of a contrast, Antoinette was a female in an era wher she could simply not leave, and so was stuck (like Milkman) but stuck forever (unlike Milkman)  She was made to come of age way too fast for her own good.  And as a female in a ante-modern era, she was not able to simply leave.  She had to marry, and thus was stuck forever

The Man Who Wasn't There

On of my most favorite lines from the movie, The Man Who Wasn’t There would probably be the barber shop scene where Ed Crane(I think?) says to his brother-in-law(don’t remember the guy’s name) if he knows about hair. It keeps growing and we just cut it off and throw it away. But it never leaves us, and keeps coming back. I thought that this was one of the strangest things in the movie. Of course, the movie was full of strange things ranging from the court cases to the UFOs (I really don’t know what they were about). What was stranger (ah get it!) was when he continued saying that he was gonna take the hair and mingle it with dirt, common house dirt. Something along those lines. Even if we look at this scene, for a moment avoiding the rest, we can still get a pretty good idea that there are a few loose screws on this guy. This can be seen again and again, with him from the office to Walter’s house. There is certainly something that is not right. And this leads into the fact that the world isn’t the right place for Ed, it is not made for a guy like Ed. On top of that, his actions only make the situation worse. We can, as an example, take the dry cleaning incident. Ed at first is interested in it, but cannot get his mind around whether it would be a good thing or is it a hoax. When he finally does invest his money, all it does is come and bite him back in the end. He is punished for a crime which he didn’t really commit at all: the death of that entrepreneur. Similarly, Mersault is punished for a crime he didn’t really commit: not having any emotions when his mother died and his place in society, specifically, how he does not fit in. This would probably be one of the biggest differences between the book and the movie, and we should expect differences, as this movie never took any copyright permissions to make a movie of The Stranger. But I feel, that although he could have protected himself, like Mersault, he was too tired of life, the society in which he resides (not even resides, maybe a better word would be stuck), and how he has nobody or nothing to look forward to in life.   

Rochester’s Confusion and the latter’s effect on Antoinette

Ever since Rochester has appeared in the novel, starting in part 2, I have felt that he is an emotionally confused character. I am not saying that he is sick (mentally, not physically), but rather confused. Confused because he doesn’t know what is going on in his life. In a primogeniture society, Rochester is the second son, and thus will not be inheriting any of the family estate/money (interestingly enough, primogeniture is still active, even as of today, in the case of the British Crown Hierarchy). Rochester comes to the society in which Antoinette has been residing for so long as a completely new person. Although he does feel superior and does have some self-confidence, it is not anywhere near the confidence of Mr. Mason. Rochester doesn’t understand the terms of the society and the ways that the society resides in. I guess that in this manner he is almost similar to Mr. Mason as he doesn’t understand the black community like Antoinette does. This is another way he is confused: why is Antoinette so close to these people (not sure he considers them people, but anyways), why does she feel o.k. around the company of these people? Because of his ripe and inexperienced age, he isn’t able to answer these questions, that look so easy to answer by the reader. This puts him in utmost dilemma. This dilemma, is causing issues with Antoinette. It appears that Antoinette is unhappy with the way her marriage is going. She is unable to cope up with this and is not understanding what to do with this. I feel sad because her life is just constantly full of tragedies: her real father died when she is really small, leaving the family in disgrace, her house is burned down in the fire, she loses one of her ‘best friends’ upon the burning of the fire, she loses her disabled brother in the fire, and her mother after being proclaimed mad by society is put in an asylum where she later dies. Its full of tragedies, and what's left to see is where the story takes us? Will the marriage between Antoinette and Rochester turn out in a lovey-dovey relationship or will it take a sharp Stranger/Metamorphosis tragic turn? We can only find out in a couple of days.