All the women in Song of Solomon are exposed to some isolation in their lives that effects how they approach the world around them. Both Ruth and Pilate are isolated similarly in their childhood, but the effects of this isolation manifests itself differently in the two characters.
Ruth yearns for love and tries to maintain the people or things that remind her of times when she was loved, especially the men in her life. This is why she keeps her father from death, even when he wants to die, and why she goes after Hagar when she finds out about Hagar's attempted murdering of Milkman. She clings to the things that she loves so tightly that she forces them away from her, just like how Macon cannot stand her because of how she was close to her father. By keeping Milkman close to her by breastfeeding him for so long, Ruth drives him away when he finds out exactly how he got his nickname in the first place. Ruth striving for control over her husband actually gives her less control in her own life because she pushes not only her husband, but her son and father from her as well. Ruth is connected to love and life but at the same time has a strange connection to death. She shows that she is willing to kill to save the life of her son, just like how Hagar is willing to kill Milkman so that he is unable to leave her side.
Pilate, on the other hand, learns to live without the love of men and survive on the love of her daughter and granddaughter. When she is pushed away from the pickers whom she travels with for three years because of her lack of navel, she decides that she doesn't need the love of a man to keep her alive. Pilate's fear of being pushed away by Reba's father is what makes her step back from society again and strengthen her resolve not to get involved with men or conform to other people's standards. By not requiring love, she actually draws it to her. Her values of consideratiton and respect of privacy make people comfortable around her, like how Milkman finds that he is first truly happy in her winehouse because he is surrounded by people who care for what he has to say and don't have ridiculous expectations of him. She does not expect anything from the men around her because of being deserted by both her father and her brothere. At the same time, while she learns not to require the love of men, she is willing to help women who are in similar situations to herself. When she comes to see her brother, Pilate doesn't come with any connections to men, and she doesn't intend to have that change. She stays near her brother so that she can help Ruth in her plight, not because she expects some change of heart from her brother.
The plights of Ruth and Pilate parallel the struggle that all women go through in Song of Solomon. Both women struggle to live their lives a certain way but end up managing the opposite. Ruth wants love, but she pushes all those who should love her away from her. Pilate expects nothing from the people around her, but she manages to bring together a family, both literally and figuratively, that is very loving, if not also passionate and violent. The women in this novel are like tragic heros in that whatever they try to accomplish, they manage the opposite. Ruth's struggle to make a home filled with love creates a home where both men are uncomfortable and her daughters seem empty and blank. Pilate doesn't try to surround herself by men who love, but she manages to create a sanctuary where many people feel comfortable, including Ruth herself. The women struggle to attain a certain way of life, but their struggles seem pointless because everything they do negated by the fate that seems to control them. The women in the Song of Solomon are bound by a fate stronger than that of Milkman Dead.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Post 7: Caddy, Nameless and Fated
While the novel The Sound and the Fury is about the life and impact of Caddy, she rarely appears in the story. Each of her three brothers has a chapter which they narrate, and there is a third chapter told from an omniscient point of view, but Caddy herself is never graced with a chapter of her own. Adding to her namelessness is the fact that her mother, Mrs. Compson, forbids the rest of the family to mention Caddy's name once Caddy has gotten married and then had her daughter, Miss Quentin.
The lack of a chapter narrated by Caddy shows her powerlessness and inability to change her fate, so to speak. Faulkner called her "beautiful and tragic" because her strengths are what are turned into vices and weaknesses that cause her downfall. Her inability to speak for herself, or control her own life, is shown in the lack of chapter narrated by her. The chapters of her brothers show how they shaped her life. While the chapters directly show how she affects her brothers' lives, the actions of her brothers' lives shape hers too. Even though she has such a strong connection, although different, with all three brothers, she is unable to stop her own demise and that of her family.
Caddy hurries her own demise by attempting to slow it. She feels the breakdown of her own family when she is young and so she tries to get away from her family by gaining independence. However, in the time period, women had very few ways to become independent of their families. Caddy chooses to become promiscuous so that she can gain some freedom from her family. However, by doing this, she loses her virginity which is the downfall of Quentin, her marriage disentrigrates which loses Jason his job, and she is forced to leave the family which leaves Benjy alone and without a truly caring figure in his life. In trying to do good and attain some freedom for herself, she brings destruction closer to both herself and her family.
Caddy's lack of voice in The Sound and the Fury shows her inability to control her own life. She is a truly tragic figure because nothing she does changes how her life will end. All of her actions are for nothing, and no matter how hard she tries to break free of the chains of her society and her family, she is bound more tightly and brings destruction upon herself.
"It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing."
-Macbeth
The lack of a chapter narrated by Caddy shows her powerlessness and inability to change her fate, so to speak. Faulkner called her "beautiful and tragic" because her strengths are what are turned into vices and weaknesses that cause her downfall. Her inability to speak for herself, or control her own life, is shown in the lack of chapter narrated by her. The chapters of her brothers show how they shaped her life. While the chapters directly show how she affects her brothers' lives, the actions of her brothers' lives shape hers too. Even though she has such a strong connection, although different, with all three brothers, she is unable to stop her own demise and that of her family.
Caddy hurries her own demise by attempting to slow it. She feels the breakdown of her own family when she is young and so she tries to get away from her family by gaining independence. However, in the time period, women had very few ways to become independent of their families. Caddy chooses to become promiscuous so that she can gain some freedom from her family. However, by doing this, she loses her virginity which is the downfall of Quentin, her marriage disentrigrates which loses Jason his job, and she is forced to leave the family which leaves Benjy alone and without a truly caring figure in his life. In trying to do good and attain some freedom for herself, she brings destruction closer to both herself and her family.
Caddy's lack of voice in The Sound and the Fury shows her inability to control her own life. She is a truly tragic figure because nothing she does changes how her life will end. All of her actions are for nothing, and no matter how hard she tries to break free of the chains of her society and her family, she is bound more tightly and brings destruction upon herself.
"It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing."
-Macbeth
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Post 6: Faulkner
The part about this novel that strikes me the most is the differing connections between the brothers and Caddy. All three are tied to her with no turning back, but she doesn't even appear in a majority of the storyline. While each brother is similarly tied to her, they feel a connection with her for very different reasons.
Benjy is connected to Caddy because she takes care of him while her mother cannot do the job. He associates her with the sounds and feelings of innocence. The happiest times in his life are contained in memories of Caddy where she cared for him, unlike memories of other family members after she has left. He continuously remembers the smell of trees on her throughout his life, even after she has left and the Compson family has disintegrated almost completely. His memory works so that each memory is tied together by viceral things, so that his present and his past are one in the same. This is how, even though Caddy has left to live her own life, she is still a major part of Benjy's. The loss of innocence in the novel is shown especially through Benjy's point of view. His childlike mental state keeps him in the same condition that he was when Caddy left to get married, have her daughter, and then get banned from returning to the Compson family.
Quentin is connected to Caddy, because although he has a more complex thought process than Benjy, he still lives halfway in the past. His fixation is on the moment when Caddy lost her virginity and he was unable to "save" her. Quentin's strong belief in upholding family and personal honor leads him to romanticize what he could have done for Caddy. Even though Mr. Compson does not believe that Quentin slept with Caddy, Quentin still believes that telling his father this is the best possible option for retaining the family honor. Quentin's fixation over time shows how he cannot disconnect himself from that one situation in the past. Like Benjy, his inability to live predominantly in the present keeps him connected to Caddy and the past more than is healthy for him. Quentin commits suicide before the prime of his life because he cannot reconcile in his own mind the actions of Caddy and the decomposition of his own family.
Jason is connected to Caddy for a much more selfish reason. While he manages to live mostly in the present, his actions are made because he believes that he has been wronged by his sister. His anger stems from what he feels was injustice done to him when he lost the job at the bank that he was to get when Caddy originally got married. Because Jason feels that he has been wronged, he believes that it is morally alright for him to be terrible to the people around him, always trying to attain that justice he lost. The injustice he feels that he has suffered causes his actions. Also though, he believes that the redemption of his family will be found through money, which is what he lost when he lost the job at the bank. He shapes his life around bitterness and attempts to attain money which only make him more cruel and unhappy.
Benjy is connected to Caddy because she takes care of him while her mother cannot do the job. He associates her with the sounds and feelings of innocence. The happiest times in his life are contained in memories of Caddy where she cared for him, unlike memories of other family members after she has left. He continuously remembers the smell of trees on her throughout his life, even after she has left and the Compson family has disintegrated almost completely. His memory works so that each memory is tied together by viceral things, so that his present and his past are one in the same. This is how, even though Caddy has left to live her own life, she is still a major part of Benjy's. The loss of innocence in the novel is shown especially through Benjy's point of view. His childlike mental state keeps him in the same condition that he was when Caddy left to get married, have her daughter, and then get banned from returning to the Compson family.
Quentin is connected to Caddy, because although he has a more complex thought process than Benjy, he still lives halfway in the past. His fixation is on the moment when Caddy lost her virginity and he was unable to "save" her. Quentin's strong belief in upholding family and personal honor leads him to romanticize what he could have done for Caddy. Even though Mr. Compson does not believe that Quentin slept with Caddy, Quentin still believes that telling his father this is the best possible option for retaining the family honor. Quentin's fixation over time shows how he cannot disconnect himself from that one situation in the past. Like Benjy, his inability to live predominantly in the present keeps him connected to Caddy and the past more than is healthy for him. Quentin commits suicide before the prime of his life because he cannot reconcile in his own mind the actions of Caddy and the decomposition of his own family.
Jason is connected to Caddy for a much more selfish reason. While he manages to live mostly in the present, his actions are made because he believes that he has been wronged by his sister. His anger stems from what he feels was injustice done to him when he lost the job at the bank that he was to get when Caddy originally got married. Because Jason feels that he has been wronged, he believes that it is morally alright for him to be terrible to the people around him, always trying to attain that justice he lost. The injustice he feels that he has suffered causes his actions. Also though, he believes that the redemption of his family will be found through money, which is what he lost when he lost the job at the bank. He shapes his life around bitterness and attempts to attain money which only make him more cruel and unhappy.
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