Absurd Isn't It?

Taking into account the last chapters, I would say that my main observation was irony and how it was present in almost every page. I would say that these last few chapters demonstrate absurdity more than anything else.

“In this country they kill Spaniards, and in Madrid they send them to Heaven.” (Pg. 62) This quotation caught my eye since it represents the catholic mentality of the past. Voltaire shows Spain as the gateway to Heaven.

“How happy our dear Pangloss would be if he had not been hanged!” (Pg. 64) I’m sorry but there are absurd things to say and then there’s this. I think this is a very weird thing to say in that sort of mood. If I were to remember my dead master I would certainly use his memory to express grief instead of joy.

As I read on, I encountered a scene worthy of absurdity. “They found that the cries came from two naked girls who were tripping along the edge of the meadow, while two monkeys followed them nibbling their buttocks.” (Pg. 69) After this, Candide shoots the two monkeys believing he had saved the ladies. Ironically, the two girls denounced them to their tribe and had returned to eat them.

After saving themselves, Candide and Cacambo go through an underground river and reach the hidden country of El Dorado. I would have to confess that if the notes at the beginning of the chapter didn’t specify that it was El Dorado, I would have never noticed.

I’m finally enjoying Candide and have managed to understand the subtle jokes along the way.

*I read chapters 14 through 17. The assignment was 19 through 24. I assumed you made a mistake so I’ll blog what I’ve read up to now…

Bewildering Irony

Chapters X through XIII were very entertaining. Initially, we learn that Cunégonde has no respect for her peers whatsoever. “Cunégonde started to titter with laughter, for it was amusing of the good woman to pretend to be more unfortunate than she. “ (Pg. 48) I think a regular person would never make that kind of assumption. If I were to encounter an old, beat up, poor woman I would never laugh at her.

The next chapter shows a very funny critique that Voltaire does to the Church. “I am the daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina” (Pg. 48) This quotation alone is enough to see what Voltaire is trying to say. He’s showing that there is living proof that not even the Pope is celibate. “Our soldiers defended themselves like the Pope’s guard: they fell to their knees and threw away their arms, begging the pirates for absolution at the point of death. “ (Pg. 50) This quotation shows an ironic event, demonstrating a whole crew of guards as cowards that don’t serve their purpose.

After narrating a very gruesome tale about her life, the old woman then adds “… such experiences are so common that they are not worth the trouble of describing.” (Pg. 51) This quotation made me rethink the whole irony aspect of the story. This takes irony to a whole new level. It’s not every day that the princess daughter of a pope gets gang raped.

Nearing the end of the old woman’s list of misfortunes, we see yet another evidently ironic quotation. “’I was touched by his kindness, and tears started to my eyes as I thanked him. Instead of taking me to Italy, however, he brought me to Algiers and sold me to the Governor of that province.” (Pg. 54) How can someone praise another’s kindness if they are later betrayed and sold as slaves?

Up to now I think Voltaire’s humor is a bit harsh. He seems to enjoy talking about misfortunes and laughing at them. So far, I have managed to pick up little jokes that amuse me. I think this characteristic is what keeps me interested.

Philosophy on Crack

These chapters of Voltaire’s Candide state the history of the characters. Since we’re already a couple of chapters in, I think it’s indispensable to comment on the first chapters to get a better foundation for this particular blog post. In the beginning, we understand that Candide is the bastard son of a high class, high powered Baron. As a member of the upper class, he is taught by the “best” teacher in the whole world. Pangloss is a very weird metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nigologist since his philosophy is “everything happens for a reason” (ON CRACK!). In a certain occasion, I observed that Pangloss explains to Candide that he shouldn’t save an Anabaptist from drowning because the port was made for him to drown.

Other than this, I didn’t find the plot to be that interesting. Still, I have found myself enjoying the satire. I’ve laughed in numerous occasions.

As for the chapters that this blog consists of, we see that Candide encounters several bittersweet moments. He is told that the love of his life, Cunegonde, had her entrails ripped out. After this, we see the he encounters her in his journey and learns about her real ware bouts. Due to the fact that I haven’t understood the novel, I can’t make good observations about what is being read. Still, this was a short section so there isn’t much to hang on to.

Seeing Through Touch

Cathedral

This has been one of the most entertaining short stories I’ve ever read. In the beginning I thought that this would be plain Carver story just talking about a blind man. I soon realized that this one would differ from the others.

The characters in the story were very interesting. The wife for example was married to an officer and once tried to commit suicide. “She went in and swallowed all the pills and capsules in the medicine chest and washed them down with a bottle of gin.” (Pg. 211) As for the blind guy, he married a black woman, but then she died from cancer. Like the narrator, I wondered how it would be like to marry a blind person, and found myself agreeing with what he said. “Imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one.” (Pg. 213) I would say that facial expressions and body language overall can say more than talking. Finally, the narrator doesn’t explain his past, but we get a good idea of his personality. “’ Maybe I could take him bowling…’” (Pg. 212) I thought this remark was very funny although kind of harsh. Other than this, he’s a pothead. “Then I asked him if he wanted to smoke some dope with me. I said I’d just rolled a number. I hadn’t, but I planned to do so in two shakes.” (Pg. 219), “Every night I smoked dope and stayed up as long as I could before I fell asleep.” (Pg. 222) I thought that it would be very irresponsible to give a blind guy some weed. What if he freaks out? He might hurt himself pretty badly!

As read the story I reflected upon how it would be to be blind. Everything would be very strange since you never know where you are (exactly) or not knowing how beautiful a sunset is. Furthermore, I wondered whether it would be better to be born blind or to lose your vision halfway through life. In one hand, you wouldn’t know what seeing is like and therefore not miss it. On the other hand, if you lose your sight you would miss seeing, but you would know what colors are like and be able to treasure those vision filled memories. I finally found myself praying and hoping I never lose my sight, ever.

Desperate Apartmentcomplexwives

The Birdle

I would say that this story incarnates what would be the apartment complex version of Desperate Housewives. The whole story is about a hairstylist that watches her neighbors and goes to their houses. I thought the whole thing was boring, although I can point out some of the things I found a little bit interesting (for the sake of writing a good blog).

Initially, I thought that the main character is a very social person and enjoys company. “We went, but we didn’t care for the company.” (Pg. 195) This disproves my assumption. The hairstylist and her husband go to a party and just sit and sulk in the corner.

Regarding the tone of the story I would say that the narrator is completely disinterested in what she is saying. She just tells the story as a list of occurrences. She did this… He did that… The narrator doesn’t include any reflection whatsoever.

Finally, I managed to infer that the people living here had some money of their own. “This particular racehorse, he bought it…” (Pg. 199) Race horses are very expensive; some of them can range from six hundred thousand to a million dollars.

As for the two stories I haven’t read, I hope they’re better than The Birdle.

Fever Made Me Sick

Fever

Just when I was beginning to appreciate Carver, I read this story and my appreciation went down the drain. I didn’t get the point of the apparent negativity that the main character had. His wife had left him months ago and it was time for him to move on. “’I never want to see your face again. I’ll never forgive you for this, you crazy bitch.’ Then, a minute later, ‘Come back, sweetheart, please. I love you and I need you. ‘” (Pg. 162) This was the most entertaining part of the story, the rest was completely boring. The fact that his wife had some kind of psychic powers or that the baby sitter was a good person made the whole story a blur of boring material. I thought it was ridiculous how nothing changes. The tone of the narrator is indifferent making the story much less appealing. It was like if Meursault (from The Stranger) was narrating the story.

I thought I was making progress with this kind of writing, but having read FEVER made me a little sick.

An Acquired Taste

A Small, Good Thing

I think that if I were to sum up this story into one word I would say it would be suspense. The story starts out with an ordinary mom ordering a cake for her son’s birthday. My first impression was that this would be another boring story like Feathers. I soon found out I was wrong. The story quickly escalates into a very tense mood when the child is hit by a car. I was constantly wondering whether the child would perish or wake up. To be honest, I thought the kid would wake up. “He’s out of any real danger, I’d say that for certain…” (Pg. 66) I think Carver used the dressed up doctor as figure of truth so he could mislead the reader into thinking the child is going to survive. In my case, I would say that he succeeded.

“… as if suddenly remembering and feeling guilty.” (Pg. 69) I thought it was very weird that Scotty’s parents felt guilty about leaving their son in the hospital. I think that to feel guilty you have to do something bad previously. Neither Howard nor Ann did something wrong, why were they feeling so guilty? As the story went on, I noticed that Ann would act weird because of her guilt. In page 74, she explains her son’s situation to a family of strangers instead of just asking for the location of the elevator. Why was this necessary?

During the scene of the black family I noticed that Carver gives us foreshadowing. “…these people who were in the same kind of waiting she was in.” Then, in page 78, the nurses tell Ann that the black kid had died. At this time we still didn’t know what was going to happen with Scotty, but these clues gave me a little bit of information to work with.

Yet again, Carver uses repetition to give a scene a certain mood. In page 75, almost every sentence begins with the word “She”. I concluded that Carver wanted to stress that she was completely alone when she arrived to her house.

Towards the end, I thought the story changed course completely. First there was this tense and suspenseful mood, but the couple goes to the baker, the mood changes into this mushy heartbroken scene that ruins the whole story.

Even though I didn’t appreciate the end, I enjoyed the story as a whole. Carver’s writing has grown on me.