Blog # 3

Blog #3 topic # 2 “Argue that you cannot do a close reading of Waiting for Godot”         

         Upon trying to do a close reading of less than twenty lines from “Waiting for Godot,” I came to the conclusion that it is not possible to complete this task. If reading this play had to be compared to something, I would compare it to watching a short clip from a cartoon slowed down to one-tenth speed.

         As the analogy in the introduction suggests, the story is presented at a very slow rate. Trying to target less than twenty lines of this play is a frustrating process as not much significant action is happening. For example, when Pozzo enters the play, over forty five lines are devoted to Vladimir and Estragon confusing Pozzo for Godot and then explaining to a confused Pozzo that they're waiting for someone named Godot; who they don't even know or have met before.  

         It is difficult to not acknowledge that certain meanings may be derived from the example described in the previous paragraph, however the story is trivial and only negligible amounts of analysis may be derived from the discourse. In this situation, it is difficult to dissect, attribute and support any conclusion reached from the targeted lines.

         The real meaning of this play is hidden better than a pirate’s treasure, and the author does not give readers any map, let alone any hints. If a few lines, or even a page of the story were to be deleted, would anyone notice that something is missing? Or if one were to add a few spontaneous lines, would anyone notice the difference? The author is so unpredictable and ambiguous that there is no room for readers to possibly guess the “deeper” picture the author is trying to paint. The results of one completing a close reading of words put together by random letters and one examining this story will yield a similar conclusion.

         Many may argue that there is no story without a meaning. However, in trying find a meaning, they find themselves trying to interrogate the story for a meaning similar to the way Billy Collins portrays readers “reading” in his poem “Introduction to poetry.” Collins writes “They [readers] begin beating it with a hose / to find out what it really means.” Readers need to let a story speak to them, and to discover how it makes them feel, instead of relying on unreliable “meanings” that they beat out of the poem simply because there has to be a meaning. Without beating this poem (and their heads) a reading of this story proves impossible for readers.

            Reading this story does not easily appeal to the Ethos, Pathos or Logos senses of readers. A true and honest reading is not possible for “Waiting for Godot.” Readers often find themselves “waiting for a meaning” to arrive similar in a way to Vladimir and Estragon waiting for Godot to arrive.

Blog Post 3, Topic 1

Benjamin Van 

VLADIMIR:

But yesterday evening it was all black and bare. And now it's covered with leaves.

ESTRAGON:

Leaves?

VLADIMIR:

In a single night.

ESTRAGON:

It must be the Spring.

VLADIMIR:

But in a single night!

ESTRAGON:

I tell you we weren't here yesterday. Another of your nightmares.

VLADIMIR:

And where were we yesterday evening according to you?

ESTRAGON:

How would I know? In another compartment. There's no lack of void.

VLADIMIR:

(sure of himself). Good. We weren't here yesterday evening. Now what did we do yesterday evening?

ESTRAGON:

Do?

VLADIMIR:

Try and remember.

ESTRAGON:

Do . . . I suppose we blathered.

VLADIMIR:

(controlling himself). About what?

ESTRAGON:

Oh . . . this and that I suppose, nothing in particular. (With assurance.) Yes, now I remember, yesterday evening we spent blathering about nothing in particular. That's been going on now for half a century.

From these few lines drawn from the play, “Waiting for Godot”, one can realize the copious amounts of repetition found throughout not only through the repetition of plot but also through the repetition of word usage. From the excerpt shown above, the repetition of word usage is evident. Vladimir and Estragon constantly mirror each other’s words. Immediately when Vladimir points out that the tree in the scene has leaves, Estragon repeats his questioning of the leaves as if they were replicas of each other. This simple action is not only found in this excerpt but throughout the entire play as well.

Less obvious but still very prominent is repetition of plot. From the last few lines of the first act, both Vladimir and Estragon agree to leave the scene and not wait for Godot anymore but neither of them move. Moving forward to the end of the second act, once again Vladimir and Estragon bring up the idea of leaving but neither of them set forth. From the lines above, readers can realize that this whole notion repeats itself day to day because the events happening in this second act seem to be from a completely different climate season from the first act. From the appearance of the tree, the first act is during winter time while the second act is from the beginning of spring. Noting that there are now leaves on the tree means that the events of waiting everyday must have happened a lot of times. Particularly, Estragon recalls that they have been waiting for Godot for half a century as shown in the last line.

Although “Waiting for Godot” is a play and not a poem where sentence structure is of more importance, readers are able to detect a discernable pattern from the exchanges between Vladimir and Estragon. Both characters act as mirrors of each other. Sentences exchanged between the two are usually of the same length. Additionally, neither character’s sentences seem to add any substance to the play as well. It is very arguable that this play could be played out by just one character and his internalizing thoughts rather than have Vladimir and Estragon play the parts.

The use of the word blather fits the theme of the play very well. After reading the play, readers get a strong sense of confusion and can’t extract much substance from the play itself besides the main idea of “there are two men who wait by a tree for a man named Godot who never comes.” From the dictionary, blather is defined as “to talk long-windedly without making very much sense.” After doing a close reading of the last line above, we see that not only are the conversations between Vladimir and Estragon seemingly meaningless but the entire play itself lacks meaning.

The idea of repetition additionally manifests itself into a sense of amnesia in the characters. Both Vladimir and Estragon are unable to recall the events of the previous day even though it was less than 24 hours before. This inability to remember additionally reinforces the idea of meaninglessness and lack of substance in the play. Naturally, if something particularly interesting has happened to the characters, they would have been easily to recall it but that does not seem to be the case. Since they are unable to distinguish the days that have gone by from themselves, the memories or lack thereof get lumped together into the past.

Blog post 3 topic 3

            The term insanity can be defined as the inability to make rational decisions. Or the dictionary definition which is “Unsoundness of mind or lack of the ability to understand that prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter a relationship” (Merriam-Webester.com) or “Something utterly foolish or unreasonable” (Merriam-Webester.com). However, what is left out from this official dictionary definition is how Einstein classified insanity which was “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. This is demonstrated in Blanche and even Stanley from “A Streetcar Named Desire”. A cultural idea that can be considered insane is that men need to be in control of their house and by extension the people that live in it. This concept can be interpreted many ways. Unfortunately, there is a very irrational interpretation of this idea. I am referring to the extremes that people go to, to feel in control of their own household. For example, actions that appointing absurd restrictions or rules that interfere in people’s lives. Which could include limited time on a device, forbiddance on extracurricular activities or study groups, or even leaving home for college. It may sound a bit ridiculous but these are real issues that affect real people. They don’t really have a real reason for doing this other than because they said so. That there can be considered illogical and insane.

            Considering Blanche's circumstances her reaction could be considered reasonable. However, that doesn’t mean that she can’t also be considered crazy. She wants to be a first-class lady and be treated like one. Logic would dictate that to accomplish that you should act like a first-class lady. Blanch has done many things that make her the opposite of a lady from sleeping with an underage boy to sleeping with several strangers. At some level, Blanche understands that she is not pure and that she is tainted. That explains her constant long baths. “Oh, I feel so good after my long, hot bath, I feel so good and cool and – rested.” She is trying to cleanse herself of her past and her impurity. If we go back to Einstein’s definition of insanity which was “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”.  She can be considered crazy because she bathes herself in the hopes that she will change, but she never will. Blanche understands that her circumstances are tragic so she tries to alter reality to suit her. “I don’t want realism. I want magic! [Mitch laughs] Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!” This all comes back to her pretending to be something she isn’t. Someone who can’t come to terms with reality is not sane. Because even she gets lost in her fiction, and it becomes difficult to distinguish the truth from her lies as shown in the story when she is caught by Mitch and says “Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart”.  

            

Blog Post #3 Topic 3

Blog Post #3 Topic 3

     A very famous quote of “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" also relates to A Street Car Named Desire and one of its lead protagonists, Blanche. The quote is a perfect example of what the new redefined term of insanity encompasses in today's society.  As the definition from Merriam-Webster states, insanity is "extreme folly or unreasonableness, something utterly foolish or unreasonable." As said, the opposite of insanity would then be being reasonable and not entirely foolish. Therefore, some foolishness and unreasonableness is acceptable but not when taken to the "extreme." This definition is very vague in terms of what a person can determine what insanity is by the range of their consideration of foolishness, reasonableness, and their so to speak tolerance for the reasonableness and foolishness of said action/person. Before further analyzing the newer definition of insanity, it is important to also look at the more dated definition that is still used but less frequently. "[A] severely disordered state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder" is the older definition for insanity.  The older more dated definition is interesting to compare to the more used form because the nature of humanity is visible in the definitions. Where as before, insanity only pertained to the realms of mental condition, the term was blown out of proportion by the population and used in everyday situations by mass society. Instead of it being a word to describe those people that were entirely different than what people considered to be everyday, mundane living individuals became a word to describe actions that these "normal" individuals were now portraying flashes of the qualities that "outcasts" were always displaying. As such, society as a whole changes from simply classifying individuals for being different but alienating them to being more inclusive and now making it a word that really is relatable to any individual that make have qualities different to other people. This definition, however, does leave out the possibility of someone being of so reasonable it makes a paradox of this definition of insanity. In this case, there is so much logic that it becomes too reasonable. For example, when someone follows the rules to the exact letter it may be considered insane simply because others do not expect such rigidness.
     In the play, A Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the sanity of Blanche is indeed questioned from the start of the play. In the start of the play, while her character is shown as an individual that may have anxiety or some sort of stress upon her, she behaves in a way where character development will be necessary to further explain her situation. Still, instead of progressing smoothly to develop her character to understand why she acts anxious and relieve her stress to become unstressed and calm as how Stanley or Stella are supposed to be, she never full does accomplish that state despite her attempts several times throughout the play. Instead, she acts deliberately false. Her actions are usually exaggerated and the way she treats herself in comparison to others is so different despite her environment. She is in a household where she is supposed to be submissive to the alpha male, in this case Stanley, and while she is submissive, she is able to keep her voice in the situation. She is still able to make different choices like stayin at Stella's house while not paying rent, using up all their utilities, go out at night with most likely Stanley's money, and doll herself up with out much interruption all while still complaining about how she is being treated unfairly despite how she also lied to both Stanley and Stella. Therefore, because she had all these accommodations given to her with out her ever realizing and just going through the motions whilst still complaining of not having anything is so twisted it may be described as being insane.

Blog 3

Insanity, law definition by Merriam-Webster dictionary, is unsoundness of mind or lack of the ability to understand that prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a particular relationship, status, or transaction or that releases one from criminal or civil responsibility. This word also has simple definition: A, extreme folly or unreasonableness; B, something utterly foolish or unreasonable. To common sense, a man is insane if he do something that is not “normal”, or if he or she is suffering a mental breakdown. For example, if you received an offer from Harvard but you refused to go to college, you will be considered insane. Or, we also say someone is crazy when his action can not be understood. 

 In the story, Blanche is not crazy but she was considered crazy by everyone of every situations she was in. A girl of southern noble class always seems to be struggling surviving in the cold cruel world consist of “lower class”.  She was first betrayed by her husband as she caught him having sex with another man who was her friend. Then her husband committed suicide after he was caught. After that she sought her sister Stella in desperation. Blanche has always been deeply insecure. She created a fictional boyfriend to hide that from others, and that “boyfriend” is a symbol of everything she hoped for. She also feared to be talked about by other men, fearing that her past be known of. However, she was eventually broken by her sister’s husband Stanley. Blanche always despised Stanley and Stanley knows that. As a noble class in Belle Reve, she still lives in her fantasy of the old south, and Stanley teared her illusion down. He exposed her immoral past to her new lover Mitch and also raped her. She can no longer face Mitch and Stella, and even Stella wouldn't believe her word. Then as we know she was sent to a mental hospital and finally lost grasp on reality.  

Now if we look at Blanche’s action as an ordinary person we could understand what she did is just try to survive in that world she was living in, the world she was not familiar with. However, in that world she was crazy, judged by others. Times changing also changes our definition of insanity. Because as time shift the value and moral of society changes and our definition changes with it. It was just at that time people could not understand her action and consider her behavior as action of insanity, and other outside force such as Stanley finally drives her into mental breakdown. It was just like story of Bartleby: people can not understand his action at that time and they drove him into mental breakdown.

Blog 3 Topic 3

There are many terms in society that are tossed around without the intention or knowledge of using the word with its proper definition. Insanity, for example, is defined by Google as “the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness” or “extreme foolishness or irrationality.” The word has different diction meanings depending on the context of the use. The most used definition of the word has nothing to do with mental illness, instead it is used as more of an insult to a person who is being “risky.” In “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, a once high class southern belle named Blanche Dubois becomes overwhelmed due to unfortunate circumstances with loved ones around her. Blanche’s condition was merely insanity, but realistically coping mechanisms used for her circumstances.   

            Blanche’s previous marriage was one unfortunate circumstance that affected her to become the nervous and overly emotional person she was. When Blanche described finding out her husband was a homosexual, she said, “I didn't know anything except I loved him unendurably but without being able to help him or help myself.” Blanche’s husband committed suicide which took a toll on her. Though Blanche may have her issues in the present tense of the play, this dramatic and traumatizing event in her past has affected her in negative ways, but not enough to deem her as insane. Blanche also coped with her husband’s death by sleeping many people- including students from the school which caused her to be fired from her job. Although Blanche’s actions were not the best for her, her future, or her mind, she had a rational reason to act the way she did due to her husband’s death.   

            Another reason Blanche might be seen as “crazy” is due to her imaginary boyfriend, Shep Huntleigh. At first Shep was brought up as an old friend but at the end of the play Blanche honestly thought of his as her rich boyfriend. As the doctor was taking her away, she exclaimed, “You are not the gentleman I was expecting. That man isn't Shep Huntleigh.” She also refused to go with the doctor and armored herself with a chair. Though Blanche was acting out tremendously in this situation, it is again understood as to why she acted this way. Blanche needed a male figure in her life due to the fact her husband was dead, she casually slept around, and Stanley had raped her. She grasped onto the idea of Shep, her dream man, becoming reality and saving her from her situation. Blanche’s actions were again seen as rational because of the past events having such a large impact on her.

            In many parts of the play, Blanche was deemed as “insane” or “crazy” because of events that had impacted her. All her responses to these events were completely rational, though it may not seem that way without the full details. Blanche’s “insanity” is only truly seen by those who are foolish enough to not see the repercussions events had on her life.