Duomyth?

This is from awhile ago but I was thinking about how Jeffereson and Jack (both names that start with J, coincidence I THINK NOT) are trapped in small rooms and at the mercy of others. Jack probably has a lot better time considering he knows nothing but Room and isn't waiting his impending doom but that's irrelevant. This got me thinkin' about ma boy Jeff and what he's been up to with his new best friend; Grant. I'll talk about Room next time around I just wanted to blog this because I think it's cool. I wanna get back to something we haven't really talked about as much recently as we used to; The Heroes Journey <- I like this thing.

What I'm here to propose is that Grant and Jefferson, instead of us thinking about how they are going on their own journeys. Are ACTUALLY two sides to the same coin here. Grantman and Jeffboy are both central characters, while the narrative is from Grant's point and he is certainly our main character a lot of the book rides on Jefferson. So you can argue that they are both our heroes. I looked through all the pieces of the heroes journey and often times where Grant doesn't fit the bill Jefferson does and in some instances they both fit.

We start out with the ordinary world, which is a part of the heroes journey I think they can both fit into. Jefferson is the first one we see in the ordinary world when Grant is telling the story of Jefferson's grand heist. Jeffie starts out having a normal day walking on a normal sidewalk when his BFFs show up to give him a ride, then they rob a liquor store, die, and Jefferson goes to jail, FIN. I don't think Jefferson had a particuliar call to adventure. I think Jefferson really just sorta skipped that and the refusal of the call. We also see Grant start off in the ordinary world. It was pretty lame. But then he got the call to ADVENTURE! Which was his aunt asking him to teach and inmate how to be a man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSS5dEeMX64). Grant refuses this call because that's work. But like all heroes--not good heroes, just heroes--Granite does a lil' backflip and changes his mind.

After the refusal of the call we have meeting with the mentor, which is another thing both G-dawg and Jeffie do. For Jefferson it's obviously meeting Grant who is his former teacher. Their first encounter doesn't go very well and neither does their second one. Grant sucks at his job, but he learns. And he goes to see his own mentor! Who basically tells him he can't do it and black people can't be equal to white people (he's right, Camden still beats me in every frickin' race). Grant and Jeffers continue together on their journey when crossing the threshold. Except they do it at different times... Jefferey the giraffe does it when he is sent to prison, one may argue he crosses a mental threshold at this point as well since he begins to act like a pig towards Gant and his food provider. Grant crosses the threshold like way more of a champ than Jeff. He does it over and over (therefore he's the most heroic one we've read about so far because he's done the most journey stuff) when he goes to the jail to speak with Jefferson. It's a very different enviroment involving a security check he has to go through to gain access.

But I wanna move on to the ol' switcheroo. Once we get to the testing of allies and enemies, Jeffalicious takes his place on the journey. There may not be a lot of actually testing people but Jefferson is certainly judging them to see whether they be friend... or foe/dickthathedoesn'tinteract withalot. He judges the gaurds and other inmates, Jefferson comes to different conclusions about and even though he may not express it know some of the people there are good. And, of course he judges Grant, thinking of his as sort of a dog at first but progressively more as an ally. Grant already seems to know who his enemies and his allies are so I don't think he really goes through this, Jefferson has this one covered.

Approach is next really doesn't have to come up with any strategies or prepare anything for his trip to jail so we go back to Grant. Granny starts out completely unprepared but, as he interacts and learns more about Jefferson he gets some ideas on how to help. On top of thinking of "lesson plans" Grant secures a radio, a notebook, and a pencil and these seem to be pretty crucial to the story's end (always be prepared kids). Speaking of the end, Jefferson dies, and the ordeal part of our journey is another Chef Jeff special. During the ordeal the hero is supposed to have to confront death or their greatest fear. Whaddya know that's what Jefferson is doing throughout pretty much the whole book. I think this is just kind of a given, not a lot of explanation needed. I guess Grant has to accept Jefferson's death but I don't think that really fits the ordeal any of my sources are talking about.

I say the reward goes to Jefferson because that's what I wrote down a while ago and I don't remember why. But I'm gonna reverse that (sorry past me) and say it's Grant because Jefferson died. Also, because in the end we hear about Jefferson's execution and how dignified and "manly" he was. This means Grant was successful in teaching Jefferson to be a man and hearing about how Jefferson died is his reward. After the reward is the the road back which Grant definitely takes because Jefferson isn't going on any roads any more. Also because Grant returns to his normal life of teaching in the classroom. In the road back the hero is supposed to bring and secure the reward however, when we see Grant return to normal life he appears to have left his reward. He doesn't change his teachings at all, they don't reflect what he has just gone through at all. His current students could just as easily end up in Jefferson's position one day as Jefferson himself had. This is, disapointing.

I couldn't figure out what to do for resurrection because Jefferson died, stayed dead, and Grant didn't really do anything to to represent what Jefferson was representing right before his death. Of course I still gave Grant the honor of being the one to return with the elixir because his experience with Jeffers should have changed him or his views and given him what he needs to make changes in his community, even if they're itty bitty. And if Grant is still too lazy I guess we can make it like a TRIOMYTH and bring in the white officer who was moved by Jefferson right before his death as he may have more influence to change things than Grant does.

Anyways that's my story hope you liked it I'm gonna go finish Dying in Room now.

Have some sources:
http://www.mythologyteacher.com/documents/TheHeroJourney.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey#Genres
http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm#Hero
Yahoo answers (you'll never guess what for)

Cash's Heroic Journey

Butler, Camron

Now when you read the title I'm sure at least some people immediately think "how is cash a hero in this story?" While I know others already know what I'm about to talk about so there is probably minimal reason for reading this (except that you gotta get those comments done). Now into the thick of it. I would argue that Cash is the only real heroic figure in this novel because Cash is the only one not looking to benefit from the trip, as well as his selfless behavior and shy demeanor.

First we'll discuss Darl. I don't think Darl can operate as one of our heroes because he is somewhat of an outlier to everything. Cash even describes Darl as not being from this world. It's true that, like Cash, Darl doesn't have any real benefit from the trip. However, Darl and Jewel don't even want to go, they want to bury her in the Bundren plot. And even though Darl was our primary narrator he was kind of creepy at times and strangely obssessed with people's private affairs. Even though I like the effort and feeling Darl does put into the trip I don't think he is our hero.

Jewel is a simpler case, not to talk about in general, just in regards to him not being our hero. Jewel does have some "heroic" traits however I think they are over shadowed or not working in his favor here. Jewel is an "illegitimate" child and in many cases that's how hero's or at least protagonist's stories begin. You don't learn about it at the beginning but it comes up later that Clark Kent (you won't believe this) ISN'T actually the son of a couple of farmers from smallville just like Jewel isn't the son of Anse (Jewel is half preacher). Another trait he shares with some classis heroes is his rebellious nature. However, this trait, ends up working against him. That's because Jewel's rebelliousness seems to be rather self serving while well known heroes are often rebelling in order to help OTHERS. Jewel goes against Anse (by existing) when he does anything with his horse. Just getting the horse went against Anse. He got the horse for himself and got a breed that was so stubborn no one else could even ride it, sounds pretty selfish to me. I don't think Jewel is our hero.

Vardaman is a small child, he doesn't do much and his narratives are hard to read. I'm not voting him our hero. Meanwhile Addie's depressing outlook on life and seemingly malicious intent for Anse root her out as a dead heroine for me (even though the title is about her).

Dewey Dell told on Darl and got him sent to a sanitarium. But I liked Darl so I have a prejudice against her. Anyway, she doesn't help the group out really at all, she only wants to go to fix a personal problem, and once again, she got her own brother sent to a sanitarium for staring at her. I know it's creepy but at this time that's basically sending your own brother to be tortured for the rest of his (now probably shortened) life. Finally Dewey Dell just isn't a vary amiable character, I'm not saying you have to like someone for them to be a hero, nor do you have to have their same values or beliefs but she also just doesn't really do anything to deserve the title of hero.

I don't know who thinks of Anse as a hero anymore after the end of the book.
Positives about Anse: He keeps his word
Negatives about Anse: Everything else
Just undertaking an impressive task does not make you a hero, the journey was hard and some may consider impressive but Loki facing the adventures doesn't make him a hero even though it's impressive.

Now, back to Cash. Cash, on this trip, gets absolutely nothing. I think he gets a bannana actually but nevermind that. Cash goes on this trip with no ulterior motive other than to drop a toolbox off at Tull's place for a job he'll do later. His gain would be that he wouldn't have to carry it later, it wouldn't even save him time or anything. Additionally, Cash just seems to want to the trip to go well, he doesn't bring up objections and say they should just bury Addie in the Bundren plot, he's just ready to help out Anse in his quest and tries to make everything go as smooth as possible. He tries to inform people of the best ways to do thinks like ways of keeping Addie's coffin safe while on the wagon. Cash is also the only one we really see working for anyone else when he makes Addie's coffin. Obviously he doesn't charge Anse for the coffin and he makes it as nice as he can. The time we see Jewel hard at work on his own, it's for himself. Cash also makes more than one self sacrifice. There's obviously the river scene where he told Darl to get off the wagon while he could which resulted in Cash being seriously injured while Darl was unharmed. And this injury has pretty much ruined Cash. Being a carpentor with only 1 leg would be extremely challenging. And we never even hear Cash complain about this, he doens't even complain about the pain, Cash doesn't want to be a nuisance for anybody and wants to trip to go as planned. Cash didn't even want to stop and get a cast. I vote cash for As I Lay Dying's hero. Someone else should write about whether or not Cash meets Joseph Campbell's requirements for a hero's journey.

Please comment below any counter evidence or arguments you have with ma stuff because:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsYY5NgSyLQ

Greece the Horror Comedy

Butler, Camron

Something touched on in class a little but didn't go very much into is the lack of morals amongst the gods in The Odyssey. The example that led us to the topic was the one of Poseidon and the Paeacians. Odysseus had reached their island home and been greeted as a stranger sent from Zeus. They gave him tons of riches, took him home via their fastest ship, and showed Odysseus a great time when he while he was there. This outrageously generous hospitality was a custom throughout all of Greece and the gods are the reason for this. Since they can disguise themselves as humans and even copy people's appearance, you never know who the strangers knocking on your door truly are. Because this is the case, hosts have to be super generous or risk upsetting a god who they've just disrespected. Upsetting a god is a pretty bad idea (unless you're looking to get stranded on an island for 10 years after watching all your friends die from a co-operative incompetence).

Hospitality seems like a pretty big deal in this world right? But we come across exceptions like Polyphemus who eats his guests. However, one could argue since Odysseus was aiming to abuse Polyphemus's hospitality he got what he deserved. I think the host should still try to be the bigger person though. And Polyphemus is bigger, he's just not a person. He's a son of Poseidon. Which leaves him in a position where he generally knows his visitor(s) already or his visitors are just little snacks with legs.

With Polyphemus we see Odysseus punished for trying to abuse hospitality. I think that strengthens the sense we already had that hospitality is something the gods put value in and everyone should oblige by. However, returning to the example of the Phaeacians, they don't seem to care at all about hospitality. The Phaeacians were the most hospitable people of the entire odyssey yet they are all doomed as a result. If we look at the scene where Zeus and Poseidon are deciding how to ruin their lives we can see there is no hesitation. They are a people who are favorites to Zeus and yet Zeus is the one that thinks of a more horrible fate for them than Poseidon, and Poseidon is the one they pissed off.

This scene, to me, shows the gods have absolutely zero morals, at least in regards to humans. Humans just seem to sort of be their playthings. Poseidon and Zeus don't mention that the Phaeacians are Zeus favorite when discussing their demise nor do they bring up how excellent their hospitality was. Instead Zeus says Poseidon can do whatever he wants as long as it makes him happy. To me that sounds just like when a kid asks their parent if they can do something with their toy, and instead of saying no that'll break it or something, they just tell them it's their toy and they can do what they want with it.

Finally our favorite goddess Athena who is gifted with wisdom seems to be the same way. She gets Odysseus set free because she seems to sympathize with him and wants to see him go home. No one even seems to have a problem with the fact that they're totally betraying Poseidon, they just don't want him there when it goes down so he can't complain or try to interfere. Additionally, Athena is siked for the slaughter and loves to trick and lie to people. Athena being so ready for the slaughter just shows that she doesn't really care what happens to people, she just wants some good ol' entertainment.

Living in this Greek world would be absolutely terrifying but reading it from the outside we can thankfully also get a couple laughs. The lack of sentiment the gods have for humans that aren't special to them really shows and tells (insert kindergarten joke here) us a lot about them and where they stand as the deities of this world.

Why Kindred Clicks

To me Kindred was a more enjoyable novel despite my tastes being in situations involving less realism. Kindred had you hooked from prologue to epilogue with the story of how Dana lost an arm traveling in time. The sudden shifts in time happening at the end of chapters make you want to keep reading to find out what Dana has been thrown into this time. It's partially these sudden involuntary shifts that make Kindred work. If Dana was looking into her crystal ball watching Rufus struggle, she might think things through and come to the conclusion she doesn't need him alive in order to exist, Dana might just try and see what happens if he dies if she's just sitting there watching him from her own time. But the fact that she's simply violently ripped out of her own time right into life or death situations for Rufus and sometimes herself. These leaves things much more up to instinct as she doesn't have the luxury of observing from 3rd person. Time passing in her own world faster than in Rufus' really helps Kindred too because it doesn't allow for Dana to have really much of a reprieve from the unpleasantness of the antebellum south. As such when she's home she really only reflects upon her experience away relative to her experience at home and she somewhat prepares herself for these seemingly inevitable journeys. The cruel hostile environment of the south further facilitates things due to the slave work she is required to do. Though sometimes it may be easier than what any of the other slaves do there is the hostile element of that the white people, who are uneasy around her anyway, can get away with doing whatever they want to her, whenever they want. This leaves Dana in a position in which she has to be constantly vigilant which can be taxing mentally and is not a good situation to have deep thought in. However, Dana having to rely so much on instinct really helped make the book more enjoyable to read because it felt a lot more relatable or Dana's actions felt a lot more understandable. There were times like when she was hidden behind white patrollers, armed with a knife, and she could have gone Rambo and murdered him while he was alone with Alice and her mother or something. But even though some might think that's a smart thing to do to protect them, it makes total sense that's not what was going through Dana's mind given her situation. Also the book was pretty easy to read which was nice since the story was interesting, it was well written and pretty much just laid out what happened, and any more abstract concepts were pretty easily gotten it seemed in class discussions. Blog posts flow a lot better than I thought, I now have a text block, and like 6 more of these to write :).

Vooooooooooooodooooooooooooooooooooo

Butler, Camron

First off, I wanna begin with there is no such thing as "black" voodoo. Unless you're referring to cultures that have really taken it in. But we've associated black magic with voodoo in class before and as it turns out these two are distinctly different in some ways. Voodoo is a religion while black magic is something you either can or can't do, there is no practicing what you can't do. Black magic and voodoo have some effects in common, for example, they can both be used to curse people or contact spirits. However contacting spirits is someplace they are fundamentally different. Voodoo rituals are used to contact spirits when the gate to hell is open (night) and the rituals are supposed to gain their favor, perhaps with a sacrifice, so they will help out the person performing them (these spirits can also be gods). Night is when the gate to hell is open and the spirits can roam to earth for whatever purpose. Harnessing this is referred to as "nocturnal energy". Black magic users however, don't need nocturnal energy (however they do practice ritualistic worship of nocturnal spirits), instead, it is often found that they perform their magic at night because for 1 people are asleep and unable to defend themselves from the magic, and 2. because the nocturnal energy can increase the power of their spells.

Voodoo and black magic also have very different histories. Voodoo originated in west Africa and was brought to Haiti where it is still commonly practiced today. Voodoo is also a combination of different religious aspects from slaves brought from different places in Africa and the native Haitian population. But black magic is much older dating back before the Renaissance. Black magic has its roots in Europe where just as the slaves did. Practitioners had to hide black magic for fear of being executed. Eventually as the slaves disguised voodoo as harmless dance parties, black magic users called it nature magic to avoid prosecution.

So both black magic and Voodoo can heavily involve spirits and both can harness nocturnal power. But they have very different purposes, intentions, and histories.

(btw the only difference between white magic and black magic is what is needed to perform rituals and spells as well as intentions of said rituals or spells.)

Meta-fiction all day erry day

Butler, Camron

I don't know how much we discussed meta-fiction in class before ragtime and I don't think we covered how prevalent it really is in today's American culture. I believe it was alluded to that we're exposed to it much more that we think we are so we still find it rather daunting to think about. But if you've seen any parody movie ever, you've already got a heavy dose of meta-fiction. I'm sure it's self-explanatory how a parody works but here's an example anyway. Stan Hellsing is a horror movie about a man named Stan who gets stranded in a ghost town with his token friends. Stan is an average while male who's name is a parody of the famous vampire hunter Van Helsing. In his quest he has to confront some of the best known monsters in popular horror films; Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Pinhead, Leatherface, and Chucky, that stupid doll anyone could punt out of the room. And what makes the movie funny is that it throws away all horror movie conventions and just makes fun of the villains. Chucky for example, does, literally get punted out the window, and eaten by a dog the cast ran over earlier (the creepy owner turned it into a zombie or something).

Our cartoons are often meta, a lot of video games are very meta whether they interact with the player, via talking or the grab a HUD element and use it for something, or say grab the camera you're viewing from and mess with it. Additionally, our comic books are often meta, a lot of live action shows can be meta-fictional, as well as the obvious books and movies. If you think about it, even history can at times be considered meta-fictional. Well I don't know about the fictional aspect here but at least meta. I'm sure there have been plenty of times where important historical figures are aware that they are going to have an impact on the future and for the sake of the stories that will later be told do certain things to help their stories.

It's hard to judge how much I've written on blogger but I don't think I really have anymore to say. Just know meta-fiction is all around us (especially the freaking advertisements (they keep pointing at me)). And know that meta-fiction can open up all sorts of new possibilities that aren't things like denying the holocaust but new ways to move forward with plot, enter comedy, give filler, and so much more.

I like milk a lot more than Milkman

Butler, Camron

Milkman to me, is very much a product of his family, their past, and his surroundings. The very name Milkman is a result of his mother breast-feeding him past the societal norm. When he is a child he seems to be really confined he isn't even allowed to sit on his mother's lap when driving slowly down the street. We later learn he is bullied at school which is where he meets Guitar. And everyone in his family seems to claim to know what's best for him and what he should be. All of these are factors that could lead to Milkman's desires to fly. It's less literal and more of a metaphor. He simply wishes to leaves the confined and demanding (in terms of character not work) clutches of his family as they he just isn't having a happy childhood.

When Milkman becomes an adolescent he becomes more rebellious and tries to do his best to "fly" away from his family. He tries to accomplish this by disobeying his father and trying to be different from him, as well as no longer allowing himself to be pampered by Lena and Corinthians. His going to Pilate's house is obviously out of curiosity and direct defiance of his father however he meets Hagar, his cousin, and learns about a new way of life. The constant attention from his sisters during his youth led to Milkman being self-centered and once he starts having relations with Hagar it's once again all about him and she is yet another escape from his family.

Finally in the stage we're in now Milkman is an adult seeking out his family past, meeting all sorts of new people and ways of life, as well as seeing many different settings. This I see as Milkman really finally flying away from his home, initially to find gold thanks to orders from the man running this home. However, as his journey progresses he seems to kind of change as a person. When we first met adult Milkman he was still really selfish, stuck up, immature, and just really apathetic towards life in general (except the innocent's Guitar is killing, but not even enough to do anything more than tell him it's a futile effort). But now that's he's out having to fend for himself, where everything isn't handed to him we just don't get the same apathetic person, we see him taking more initiative and putting himself out there (I.E to prove himself to the hunters). This hunt that's now all about his families past, just like the rest of his family is now molding his being.

I'm sure there are plenty of holes and stuff in what I'm saying but I think there is still plenty of evidence for this. Additionally, I think this is a good book to end the year on as it probably the most exciting book we've read this semester but it's still plenty deep in it's meanings and brings up a lot of issues. Plus, this book was probably one of the most fun to read, especially with a lot of the off putting events that weren't even necessarily that important but you just have to stop and say "wait, what?". And despite that a number of parts can be kind of dark it never feels like the of the metamorphosis which got so sad the main character willed himself to death.