"White people are unnatural. As a race they are unnatural. And it takes a strong effort of the will to overcome an unnatural enemy"(Morrison 156).
This quote, given by Guitar, is a great example of irony. I think that Guitar is somewhat hypocritical here because the purpose of being in the Seven Days requires that he emulates the murders that Whites perpetrate. In this respect, he doesn't "overcome" whites as an enemy, but instead becomes like them. Macon Jr. especially follows a similar path, as he is trying to obtain the status that normally only whites attain, this makes him as unnatural to his own people as white people seem to Guitar. Even though Milkman and his family are seen as unnatural, Guitar befriends him as treats him as a natural black man.
Later in the book, Guitar tries to kill Milkman, showing that overcoming someone who seems natural takes an even greater effort of will than does killing unnatural white people. Guitar warns Milkman that his time has come, as he can't in good conscious try to kill Milkman, his friend, without warning him.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Canto 34...is actually canto 33
"That soul," my master said, "who suffers most,\Is Judas Iscariot; head locked inside,\He flails his legs. Of the other two, who twist\With their heads down, the black mouth holds the shade\ of Brutus: writhing, but not a word will he scream; Cassius is the sinewy one on the other side." (XXIV. 61-66)
I find, once again, Dante's choice of who is punished to be odd. Certainly the assassination of Caesar is one of the most well known, but to say that is was as bad as the treachery against Jesus is a stretch to me. I suppose it is not Dante's intention to pick these particular people, but rather the acts they perpetrated. When one thinks of famous betrayals, one will eventually come to Caesar's assassination. It is more the "sin" that I disagree with in this case. Betrayal seems, to me, to be a lesser affront to God than does false worship or other, more direct, defiance towards the Almighty. For this reason, I think Dante chose to place betrayers in the final pit because of his own experience. Perhaps Dante felt betrayed when his political party members' exiles were rescinded, but his was not. He wrote Inferno around the time when his people were allowed back into Florence, but having written some especially violent letters to Henry VII (who reconquered much of Italy for the Holy Roman Empire), he was not allowed to come back to Florence, for fear that he would be politically unstabilizing. Having finished this volume of Dante's Divine Comedy, I am more convinced that much of what he wrote was a commentary on his time and personal situation. I may be reading too much into Dante's work, but I think writer bias is an important thing to consider in any piece of literature.
I find, once again, Dante's choice of who is punished to be odd. Certainly the assassination of Caesar is one of the most well known, but to say that is was as bad as the treachery against Jesus is a stretch to me. I suppose it is not Dante's intention to pick these particular people, but rather the acts they perpetrated. When one thinks of famous betrayals, one will eventually come to Caesar's assassination. It is more the "sin" that I disagree with in this case. Betrayal seems, to me, to be a lesser affront to God than does false worship or other, more direct, defiance towards the Almighty. For this reason, I think Dante chose to place betrayers in the final pit because of his own experience. Perhaps Dante felt betrayed when his political party members' exiles were rescinded, but his was not. He wrote Inferno around the time when his people were allowed back into Florence, but having written some especially violent letters to Henry VII (who reconquered much of Italy for the Holy Roman Empire), he was not allowed to come back to Florence, for fear that he would be politically unstabilizing. Having finished this volume of Dante's Divine Comedy, I am more convinced that much of what he wrote was a commentary on his time and personal situation. I may be reading too much into Dante's work, but I think writer bias is an important thing to consider in any piece of literature.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Dante's Enchanting Inferno!
Dante's Inferno has captivated readers for centuries because, for centuries, people have wanted to know what lies beyond death. Dante addresses this like no one before him, and those after him were hardly even imitations. Because of the time period in which he lived, Dante had a unique view of the religion about which he wrote, and his own personal story of exile gave him a unique perspective into the religion that drove him out.
Inferno follows Dante's character of himself, who, having fallen into a midlife crisis of sorts, finds himself at the gates of hell. Reading into Dante (the writer)'s story, it could be seen that this Hell which he travels through is his own exile, and to return home by reaching "Heaven," he must complete his travel through Hell. Assuming such an interpretation to be true, Dante considers his exile to be justified, if not just. To be "admitted" into Hell, one must truly be an evil person, so while Dante would not normally be allowed in, according to Virgil, his status of "damnation" from his life allows him at least to experience Hell in his own way. This creates the unique perspective that Dante shows us in his travels.
The time in which Alighieri lived was the time of Papal corruption. Indulgences saved one's soul from the wrath of God, favors for the Pope earned positions in government and the church. These circumstances appear in Inferno as those that suffer in Hell. Dante uses such events in the real world to insert his political commentary and take shots at the corruption he sees in the church. These views were widely accepted, as many people took advantage of papal "indulgences" to rid themselves of sin. So when Dante uses those events as reason for damnation, his readership would certainly be even more interested in reading Inferno as a piece of controversial literature. Combining his subtle commentary of the Church and the allegory of his own life, Dante has shown us his own personal Hell which, at some point or another, everyone seems to feel. The perspective given to the reader, along with old fashioned good writing has made Dante's literature a captivating piece for centuries.
Inferno follows Dante's character of himself, who, having fallen into a midlife crisis of sorts, finds himself at the gates of hell. Reading into Dante (the writer)'s story, it could be seen that this Hell which he travels through is his own exile, and to return home by reaching "Heaven," he must complete his travel through Hell. Assuming such an interpretation to be true, Dante considers his exile to be justified, if not just. To be "admitted" into Hell, one must truly be an evil person, so while Dante would not normally be allowed in, according to Virgil, his status of "damnation" from his life allows him at least to experience Hell in his own way. This creates the unique perspective that Dante shows us in his travels.
The time in which Alighieri lived was the time of Papal corruption. Indulgences saved one's soul from the wrath of God, favors for the Pope earned positions in government and the church. These circumstances appear in Inferno as those that suffer in Hell. Dante uses such events in the real world to insert his political commentary and take shots at the corruption he sees in the church. These views were widely accepted, as many people took advantage of papal "indulgences" to rid themselves of sin. So when Dante uses those events as reason for damnation, his readership would certainly be even more interested in reading Inferno as a piece of controversial literature. Combining his subtle commentary of the Church and the allegory of his own life, Dante has shown us his own personal Hell which, at some point or another, everyone seems to feel. The perspective given to the reader, along with old fashioned good writing has made Dante's literature a captivating piece for centuries.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Cantos XXI - XXIII
"...and the devils milled\Toward us, pressing forward, so that I feared\They might not keep the pact. So I once saw\The soldiers frightened when they removed their guard\Out of Caprona by treaty..." (XXI. 90-94)
I think by this time, the references to Dante's home in comparison to events he sees in Hell are a defense mechanism. He creates an image in his mind of something similar happening on Human earth in order to block out some of the gruesome happenings that he encounters in Hell. Virgil's presence also shields Dante from being exposed to the raw harshness of Hell, and by the time he has reached this far into hell, he still retains the same guarded fearfulness. He does not seem to grow more afraid the deeper they go, except in certain instances of terror, because of his feigned calm and Virgil's reassurance. I say this because, at some point, comparing demons and devils to human soldiers is quite a stretch, and I think for any person, it would be hard to draw that similarity, but Dante does it not because he believes it neeccessarily, but because he wants to believe it.
To continue this somewhat the continuity between levels of hell, I address this next passage, several pages later:
"'Stand back, while I enfork him well,'\But to my master: 'ask him what you please-\If there is more you'd like to learn from him\Before he's butchered by another of us." (XXII. 57-60)
At every level, it seems, Dante and Virgil have the opportunity to question damned souls. Certainly I expect them to be trying to have that interaction, as Virgil wants Dante to learn as much as possible about hell, but I don't understand how the responses of the damned have not changed. At every interrogation, they speak to a tortured soul either under duress or under continuous pain and punishment. Despite this, each soul responds levelly and without overly emotional or painful responses. I would think that as one descends deeper into hell, the punishment gets worse, and the souls are more tortured. This, to me, should affect their responses or their willingness to speak to the living, yet in each case, it has not. This lack of change in response or demeanor of the damned souls further down in Hell makes me think that their punishments don't actually get worse, but simply different the deeper into Hell one goes. The other creatures inhabiting each level of Hell seems to be one changing facet, as the demons and devils become more prevalent the further one goes into Hell; however, even the devils don't seem to gain much ruthlessness as Dante's journey progresses, but instead retain the same level of cruelty as when they are first seen.
I think by this time, the references to Dante's home in comparison to events he sees in Hell are a defense mechanism. He creates an image in his mind of something similar happening on Human earth in order to block out some of the gruesome happenings that he encounters in Hell. Virgil's presence also shields Dante from being exposed to the raw harshness of Hell, and by the time he has reached this far into hell, he still retains the same guarded fearfulness. He does not seem to grow more afraid the deeper they go, except in certain instances of terror, because of his feigned calm and Virgil's reassurance. I say this because, at some point, comparing demons and devils to human soldiers is quite a stretch, and I think for any person, it would be hard to draw that similarity, but Dante does it not because he believes it neeccessarily, but because he wants to believe it.
To continue this somewhat the continuity between levels of hell, I address this next passage, several pages later:
"'Stand back, while I enfork him well,'\But to my master: 'ask him what you please-\If there is more you'd like to learn from him\Before he's butchered by another of us." (XXII. 57-60)
At every level, it seems, Dante and Virgil have the opportunity to question damned souls. Certainly I expect them to be trying to have that interaction, as Virgil wants Dante to learn as much as possible about hell, but I don't understand how the responses of the damned have not changed. At every interrogation, they speak to a tortured soul either under duress or under continuous pain and punishment. Despite this, each soul responds levelly and without overly emotional or painful responses. I would think that as one descends deeper into hell, the punishment gets worse, and the souls are more tortured. This, to me, should affect their responses or their willingness to speak to the living, yet in each case, it has not. This lack of change in response or demeanor of the damned souls further down in Hell makes me think that their punishments don't actually get worse, but simply different the deeper into Hell one goes. The other creatures inhabiting each level of Hell seems to be one changing facet, as the demons and devils become more prevalent the further one goes into Hell; however, even the devils don't seem to gain much ruthlessness as Dante's journey progresses, but instead retain the same level of cruelty as when they are first seen.
Cantos r-r-r-reWRiTe
stupid blog erased my post.
*in progress*
something about his sympathy for all the burnin fools...
dante@emotional!
*in progress*
something about his sympathy for all the burnin fools...
dante@emotional!
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