We Can Do It!- Rosy The Riveter

I find "A Vindication on The Rights of Women" and "Equiano" to be both inspiring and discouraging at the same time. Both authors were counter-cultural trying to change the injustices and problems of their society with their work in their own lifetime. In the present day their genius and character are recognized and held in high esteem as well as their contributions to the movements they were a part of and helped start. However, in their own time I'm sure they enjoyed little of the credit due to their characters or their ideas. They were counter-cultural, revolutionary, and ahead of their times and being so never comes without a price.

The advancement for the rights of women and slaves was a slow and dare I say painful process. In the case of Wollestencraft alone we can see the persecutions and scrutiny she suffered for the advocacy of something people in her society didn't want to hear. She was not the only woman to toil and suffer for the advancement of her sex. Similarly, Equiano was not the only one to dedicate his life towards abolition or suffer the consequences of racism and greed. Ultimately, looking back a few hundred years we can see that ultimately these sacrifices paid off and made a difference. They were worth it. However, Wollstencraft and Equiano had no such luxury. I wonder if they ever asked themselves if they really were crazy or wrong. I wonder if some days they chose to go forward with their causes even when they didn't necesarily believe they day would come when their movement would materialize into liberation.

I think history will tell us this is simply a fact of existence. If the French Revolution is any indication, you can't force or rush progress. Only gains earned through a steady struggle and solid foundations can truly bring progress to the human race.

AMERICA!

I LOVE America. I don't think I have EVER appreciated America and its ideals and values more. I think we all find it easy to lose among political rhetoric, international wars, and failing economics. I guess it never struck me how extraordinary, rare, and revolutionary our country was and is. I always took the declaration of independence to be an eloquent part of history that is fun to quote. I never fully grasped the implications of such a document until I looked at it from a historical and philosophical standpoint instead of patriotic propaganda. The Declaration of Independence was the first philosophical and political document of the Enlightenment which held completely to the era's ideals and was made reality. I suddenly realized we will someday have claim to a place in history greater than Athens or the Republic of Rome- of course I give acknowledgement of flaws as all human institutions inevitably possess- past and present. But still- I do not feel we should allow the fact that the world is an imperfect place to take away from appreciating the document which our nation was founded on.

If I coudn't laugh I would probably just cry

I really appreciate Voltaire's story of Candide. It is a satisfying read on many levels, which I fins incredibly engaging. He is able to incorporate politics, philosophy, religion-and yes- humour. He approaches them in such a way that we are forced to look at these issues with new eyes. We suddenly see a satirical version of ideals and values caricatured in front of our eyes. You are forced to look at something from a new perspective when it is presented to you in a new format. Voltaire does this excellently by presenting all of his ideas in a story format where things like Anabaptist and the philosophy movement are given faces, names, and a personality. When something is exaggerated or put into a humorous light I believe it forces you to look at it more critically simply because you can no longer ignore the ugly, ridiculous, or scary aspects of a way of living or thinking. I think that this is perhaps why it is necessary for satire to incorporate so much humour when it critically analyzes parts f our culture. It might be that without the humour we would be to uncomfortable to look at the images that are being fed to us of ourselves and our ridiculous world. When presented with a brutally honest picture of reality it is foten easier to laugh rather than cry.

Getting to Know the Master of The Universe

Discovering truth, let alone the ultimate truth can get a bit complicated at times, especially when that ultimate truth is the master of the universe and creator of all truths to begin with. Reading a poem about trying to grasp at the mysteries of the universe you don't completely understand probably does not add to the feeling of accessibility when it comes to life's burning questions. I think Pope might be confused himself.

First, Pope says we should recognize we should be thankful because we do know quite a bit, even if is pathetic when it comes to the big picture. He reminds us God knows it all and somehow our pathetic existence makes complete sense in his plan. Then... I'm not totally sure but I think he hints subtly at mans ability to discover God through order and existence and laments for the men who never find him this way. But then he also says the unlearned man who has no concept of reason is also blessed because he can experience God through creation and is almost freed from the confines of reason which grasp to see God through dimmed eyes. And then he reminds us that all our faults are a result of trying to understand God. Isn't he being a little hypocritical here? Isn't he trying to understand God by understanding the fact that he cannot understand him? Is he not exploring the concept of finding God through his creation and thus implying it is right to search for God? He is telling us we can see but a glimpse of God's beauty through this world and then telling us we can't know anything at all. He is essentially telling us to think about how we can't think about God.

He actually reminded me a lot of St. Augustine, at least in some of his philosophy about creation being completely good but simply less good than God the creator. However, Augustine believed in the use of reason in finding God. I know Pope is saying God is incomprehensible in total but how is he saying we find him in small ways here on earth and to what degree and what is the best way? Is he saying we can only experience him rather than thinking about him? Maybe humanity will have an answer for my by the end of time...that would be cool.

Experiencing the Fall

I find myself blown away at what Milton tries to tackle in chapters IX and X because it seems like everything humanity has been trying to explain since the beggining of time- why is there so much human suffering and where does God fit in to the picture. What makes it even more interesting is that Milton's paradise lost is an extremely expounded version of the original, in the Bible this whole sequence of events takes place in a few chapters. Granted, I guess everything that follows Genesis deals with the fall out- but still- Milton might have bitten of more theology and mystery than he could chew.

Is it possible that Milton made the fall more complicated in Paradise Lost than the original in Genesis? Or did he (as I think was his intention) help us to understand the fall with clearer eyes? I dont know. Milton hits on so many issues that theologians and christian denominations have been trying to wrap their heads around and arguing about for centuries. Furthermore, he brought up issues I had never even considered such as God the Son instead of God the Father being the one to pass judgement on Adam and Eve. WHAT!? He even throws in the prefiguration of Mary as the New Eve, whoa Milton whoa. I mean... I like it but its just so dense and I cannot wrap my head around the implications of everything that is transpiring. It's hard trying to grasp the concept of God allowing evil. It's hard trying to imagine humanity having paradise one moment and then waking up to the horror that they had brought sin into the world. The denseness of all the possible theoligical implications is a lot and something maybe humanity will never be able to take in. However, I think thats where Milton's STORY can help us. He makes the fall a human experience. Through the poem we are called to feel more what the fall felt like. To feel the seperation from God, sin for the first time, despair at such a dismal future, and ultimately hope which probably does more to help us understand the implications of the fall than any theology. So maybe Milton did bite off more theology he could chew here, but he did a exactly what needed to be done when it came to making the story of the fall a human experience.

you can contact me at miltonismyhomeboy@yahoo.com, thanks

I absolutely love Milton, though I confess he is a bit dense and it takes a great deal of discipline for me to read him thoroughly. I find Paradise Lost to be poetic, entertaining, personal, and intellectually deep all at the same time. I think the main reason I love Milton so much is that he takes a story and concept which is so central and present in my own faith life and in the mind of western civilization and makes it come alive. He adds flesh to the bones of the story in Genesis and gives my religious history a faith and a circulatory system.

If I believe hell exists wouldn't it be nice to be provided with a poetic description of its dark burning lake? OF COURSE IT WOULD. I find myself absolutely fascinated by the description of legions of fallen angels and especially Beelzebub. He gives color to an invisible world and sequence to an unexperienced past. I am almost certain that any Christian, possibly Muslims and Jewish persons as well who share this common story of the fall of mankind, would find some part of their spiritual life enlightened by reading Milton's expounded version of the fall. It is sometimes hard to grasp abstract ideas such as original sin and evil. It also hard to abstract the foundation for a religion of off a few one liners from the Almighty. LUCKILY, Milton appears to also be divinely inspired by The Holy Spirit, so...I guess it is safe to say that God is using him to fill in gaps with the creation story and help provide us with a more clearly illustrated picture of the abstract theological principles present in the book of Genesis. Furthermore, Milton makes everything more personal. I kind of feel like I know Satan and who my first mother Eve was way back in the day before her story was cut down to a few pages but she was still held responsible for...basically everything that followed. Well done Milton, I both appreciate and enjoy of existence's first story.

Confession: I find the concept of slavery fascinating

I have a slightly embarasing confession: ever since I was a small child I have been fascinated with slavery. I had books about Harriett Tubman, possessed a number of African American dolls, and secretly wished I had been alive during the civil war so I could work with the underground railroad (this confession is probably completely un p.c). My fascination matured and grew less ovbious as I got older. Still, there is something about the whole business that still gets me.

I feel like Oroonoko manages to hit on a key issue slavery brings up. What is most important in life. Clearly, Oroonoko decides that slavery is so contrary to his concept of what it means to live it is better for him to die. This guy is no weakling, he has suffered a number of hardships throughout his life, physical and emotional. And yet, of all human crosses that are reasonable to bear in this life he draws the line at slavery. He concludes without freedom he has nothing. Why? In many ways Oroonoko has the good life even in slavery, hunting, fishing, the love of his life, a family...and yet, all this means little to Oroonoko without freedom. I don't know exactly why the issue of freedom is central to human existence but I think it has something to do with not belonging to yourself. I think the dismemberment of Oroonoko was symbolic, he no longer had control over his own life, his own body, his own choices. What then did he have control over? What significance did his life take as a result of losing his liberty? To Oroonoko, it seems nothing else ultimately matters if he doesn't have freedom. The only act of control he is able to perform is killing himself...or at least that was the plan until catatonic depression set in...

I guesse the issue of slavery fascinates me because I wonder whether or not I would be able to live in such extreme bondage and whether or not I would find that risking death ( whether it be by the underground railroad or quartering) worth the possibility of freedom. I think Behn proves that Oroonoko IS completely human by the fact that he cannot live in slavery because reasonably no human being should.

The Twisted Web of Reality

I thought the article we read for today's class was interesting. A good portion was full of thought provoking and potentially enlightening thoughts and ideas. There is something to be said through "Othello" about England's relationship with the Ottoman and Islamic cultures in their time period. At first, I did not see much significance in this aspect of the play but now I see how it could have been central for the time period. However, then I realized that this article analyzes almost the entirety of the play in relationship to its own thesis- EVERYTHING. And I suddenly became very uncomfortable (well as uncomfortable as you can get with an assigned reading about Shakespeare). I thought back upon previous experiences involving Othello in my education- 9th grade Humane Letters and 14th grade (just kidding) I mean sophomore year of College. In both instances I could remember different thoughts regarding almost the entire range of subjects and events covered by the article. Which leads me to two other thoughts: 1) Shakespeare is incredibly complex and there is no way this author, or anyone else for that matter, can try to paint the meaning of his plays with one simple theme or central point. Bottom line is you can't try to simplify him, this dude is complex and so are his plays and characters. 2) We have no way of knowing what Shakespeare was really thinking and intending with his plays. Add to that the the complexity and depth of his writing abilities, we have a recipe for relative ignorance regarding the true significance of his plays. I felt plunged into a dark depth regarding Shakespeare with an inability to climb my way out through truth. ALAS! I WILL NEVER KNOW WHY IAGO DID IT! I WILL NEVER THE TRUE MEANING BEHIND OTHELLO'S METHOD OF SUICIDE! I WILL NEVER KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ANYONE OR ANYTHING IN ANY OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS FOR CERTAIN!

and then... I realized I simply needed to make peace with my ignorance and grow in knowledge from all possible theses and themes, hidden meanings and cultural contexts. After all, if we really knew what Shakespeare was intending to tell us we would be missing out on about a million possible different plays, and that would be much much worse than not knowing one for certain.

Why so crazy Othello?

What strikes me above all else in the Othello readings is the ability of Othello to lose himself so easily. We literally see the man fall apart in a matter of days. What is even stranger, is that he managed to keep it together quite well for the entirety of his existence before these few acts which allow us to only a see a small portion of his life. And yet, that is ultimately what defines Othello, the state in which his fate is sealed. I think it is a little unfair to try to judge Othello, after all we see everything from the outside, the twisted Iago, the elaborate plots, Othello sees none of it. It is far more challenging to see things through Othello's eyes and perceive how he could have fallen for the illusion that everything had fallen apart when everything he loved was standing right in front of him and as it should have been. I think we can learn a very wise lesson from our tragic friend Othello. When things look to have fallen to pieces, they really have not. In fact, once we look past our doubts and fears we will probably find everything we need and maybe even want. In essence, our fears and doubts are nothing but the enemies to our realities. Lets not exchange a handkerchief for our sanity!

The Noble Moor

I really appreciate the fact that Shakespeare painted such a non steriotypical picture of religious and ethnic outsider Othello. In other works of Shakespeare, he has chosen to go along with steriotypes ( for what purpose I don't remember enough of my gen ed english class to tell you), such as the greedy Jewish merchant in "The Merchant of Venice". He creates a very simple and virtuous picture of Othello which seems to stand out as exceptional when compared to his counterparts in the play. His simple and virtouos nature also seems to stand in direct contrast with Iago, a complex and maliciously charactered man. Othello even seems to have a certain sense of elegance about him paired with a model citizen award. I cannot help but fall in love with Othello's character, though I know this will only bring me greater pain in the end!

In Summary: I WOULD ELOPE WITH OTHELLO TOO DESDEMONA!

I DO NOT think we can be friends my dear Montaigne

I enjoyed reading Montaigne's and Bacon's thoughts on friendship very much, when reading and thinking on such things one cannot help but get a warm fuzzy feeling regarding the matter. We also get warm fuzzy feelings watching "The Notebook" and "The Little Mermaid" because we are watching an idealized and oversimplified version of romantic relationships. I think the same holds true with Bacon and Montaigne, except in their cases they are idealizing and oversimplifying friendships to unrealistic standards and somewhat unnaplicable formulas. How am I supposed to relate to a friendship Montaigne describes as being of such a character it only occurs once every 300 hundred years. If I am honest with myself, I have to accept I will probably never experience friendship on such an epic proportion. It is about as bogus as claiming my romantic relationships are on par with Romeo and Juliette's intensity. Which leads me to wonder whether or not such idealized relationships are even worth pondering or applicable to my life because they are so far removed from reality. Ideals are good...but sometimes I feel that they may stop us from living the beauty of our own reality and being aware of the truths that our own experiences convey with even more profundity by the very fact that they are REAL.