Class Journal 〜
Integrated Skills 〜 Fall in 2014
Millions of Blessings are upon to you, for your Luck, for your Wealth.
Integrated – Class Journal
INTEGRATED CLASS JOURNAL Volume 5(2) Autumn 2014 Contributors: Riku Nishina Fuka Wakita Junna Nakaya Kosuke Shirahashi Yuki Shimada Tomonori Kimura Ryoichi Nagashima Yosuke Nakamura Naomichi Hayashi Yuka Hirose Aiko Muto Minami Saheki Naoki Yoshida Koji Takatsu Haruka Kouchi Naoki Hayashi Tomomi Yanagida Yo Kishimoto Sayuri Nakashima Haruka Tsujimoto Ryoji Tsuchiya Yuka Uchida Fumi Kobayashi Haruka Masuda Tasuku Matsumiya Yui Sato Kazune Moriyama Anju Tanaka
Sophia University Integrated Skills Class Autumn Term 2014
Edited by Richard Pinner. Front Cover design by Yuki Shimada
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial ................................................................................................................................. 6 In Focus Article: The influence of Beowulf on The Lord of the Rings ..................................... 8 Fumi Kobayashi The notion of the hero in Beowulf and Lord of the Rings ........................................................ 11 Kosuke Shirahashi Trace Article: The Lord of the Rings: Orientalism .................................................................. 13 Naoki Hayashi Trace Article: The Origin of Elvish ......................................................................................... 17 Junna Nakaya Good and Evil in the Lord of the Rings ................................................................................... 20 Yui Sato Dual personality of Gollum in Lord of The Rings ................................................................... 22 Yo Kishimoto The long fantastic and influential story The Lord of the Rings ................................................ 24 Kazune Moriyama Causes of The Beat Generation’s Antisocialism...................................................................... 26 Yuki Shimada The Instability of the Story in The Subterraneans ................................................................... 28 Fuka Wakita William Burroughs’s Gaining Success from Drug Addiction ................................................. 31 Minami Saheki The reasons the works by William S. Burroughs are high in favor with people. ..................... 33 Aiko Muto On the Road and its Background ............................................................................................. 35 Riku Nishina One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Artistic Rebellion of the Beat Generation .................. 37 Naomichi Hayashi The relationship between Nirvana and the beat generation ..................................................... 40 Ryoji Tsuchiya The Existence of Father in Sylvia Plath ................................................................................... 42 Yosuke Nakamura The reason of Sylvia Plath's death was under Ted Hughes or not. .......................................... 44 Yuka Hirose The view of death of Sylvia Plath in Poetry ............................................................................ 46 Naoki Yoshida Sylvia commits suicide due to the depression caused by her father's death............................. 48 Haruka Kouchi The emotion of Sylvia Plath in her poems ............................................................................... 50 Tasuku Matsumiya Sylvia Plath’s Idea of Death and Rebirth ................................................................................. 53 Haruka Masuda Reviving from death in “Daddy” and Sylvia’s Poems ............................................................. 55 Tomomi Yanagida The true love for Sylvia Plath .................................................................................................. 57 Ryoichi Nagashima Feminism in “Daddy” .............................................................................................................. 59 Yuka Uchida In Depth Article: Two Male Characters in Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” ........................................ 61 Haruka Tsujimoto
Reaction Pieces .................................................................................................................... 64 Reaction to a Book the Hobbit, With a Comparison of Films ................................................. 65
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Editorial
Essays ..................................................................................................................................... 7
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Junna Nakaya JRR Tolkien ............................................................................................................................. 67 Yosuke Nakamura Reaction piece of J.R.R Tolkien .............................................................................................. 68 Koji Takatsu Reaction Piece Of The Lord Of The Rings .............................................................................. 69 Anju Tanaka About the class of Tolkien ....................................................................................................... 70 Naoki Yoshida Reaction Piece on Tolkien's ability .......................................................................................... 71 Aiko Muto Reaction Piece about JRR Tolkien .......................................................................................... 72 Kosuke Shirahashi Reaction Piece for The Lord of the Lings ................................................................................ 73 Tasuku Matsumiya Reaction Piece on The Lord of the Rings ................................................................................ 74 Haruka Tsujimoto Reaction Piece on William S. Burroughs................................................................................. 75 Aiko Muto The Reaction Piece: William Burroughs ................................................................................. 76 Naoki Hayashi Reaction Piece on the Beat Generation .................................................................................... 77 Haruka Tsujimoto Reaction piece: The Beat Generation ...................................................................................... 78 Naomichi Hayashi Reaction piece to Beat Generation ........................................................................................... 79 Fumi Kobayashi Reaction piece of Daddy .......................................................................................................... 80 Ryoji Tsuchiya The Minotaur ........................................................................................................................... 81 Riku Nishina Reaction Piece to Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes ...................................................................... 82 Fumi Kobayashi Reaction piece of Sylvia Plath ................................................................................................. 83 Koji Takatsu Sylvia Plath .............................................................................................................................. 84 Yosuke Nakamura Reaction of Sylvia Plath .......................................................................................................... 85 Yuki Shimada Reaction to Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” ......................................................................................... 86 Haruka Masuda Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes ................................................................................................... 87 Yui Sato The Unreliable Fact In The Birthday Letters ........................................................................... 88 Anju Tanaka
Creative Writing.................................................................................................................. 89 Creating Original Story ............................................................................................................ 90 Tomonori Kimura Predictable ............................................................................................................................... 91 Ryoichi Nagashima A man ...................................................................................................................................... 94 Koji Takatsu Original Story .......................................................................................................................... 96 Tomomi Yanagida Selected Poetry ........................................................................................................................ 97 Sayuri Nakashima
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“A
nd by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
Editorial
Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals
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Integrated – Class Journal
EDITORIAL This semester has been a very interesting and intense experience for me. My personal life and my professional life are starting to converge and at the same time oppose each other more and more. I am busier than ever and live to work – and yet my son is growing up and I want to spend as much time as I can with my family. So the two things seem to push and pull each other – because I need to work hard for my son’s future, but I also need to work less so I can spend more time with him! I have also been collecting data for my PhD this year, and I wrote several papers and gave presentations in Japan and abroad. On top of all that, I am trying to learn Japanese! So, I have been busy this semester. However, I know that everyone in this class has also been busy, and I can see that people have dedicated themselves to their writing and the projects they produced for this class. What is interesting this year is that although we didn’t have many presentations about Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes (in fact just one video project!) we had nine essays exploring Plath and Hughes – which is more than any other topic. There were seven essays on Tolkien and seven on The Beats this year. I am not quite sure why people’s enthusiasm for Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes came so close to the end of the semester and did not materialise at all when we studied them. For this reason, this semesters’ journal feels different to how the class felt, because as a class most of the presentations were about Tolkien, although many also looked at The Beats. As always I would like to thank everyone for their contribution, and especially I would like to mention Yuki Shimada’s excellent cover design. I would also like to mention Fumi Kobayashi’s excellent In Focus Article which deals with the connection between Beowulf and Lord of the Rings. This was a very interesting and original thesis with some excellent research. Also special mention goes out to the two Trace Article awards to Junna Nakaya and Naoki Hayashi, as well as the In Depth Article award to Haruka Tsujimoto. I would also like to make a special mention to all of those who submitted original creative writing this semester, especially Sayuri Nakashima’s thought provoking, mature and evocative poetry which I am delighted to present here in print. All in all this is a thoroughly exciting volume of our class journal and I am grateful to everyone for their valuable contributions.
Sincerely, Richard Pinner richardpinner@live.com
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ESSAYS
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IN FOCUS ARTICLE: THE INFLUENCE OF BEOWULF ON THE LORD OF THE RINGS F UMI K OBAYASHI The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the most famous high fantasy novels in the world. It was published in 1954 and still now it gives great influence on a lot of people. The Lord of the Rings is set in Middle-Earth which created from Tolkien’s magnificent imagination. The Lord of the Rings is just a part of his imagination then it seemed difficult to focus on what was the important influence on his great fantasy creation. However, there is a noticeable work, which regarded as the one of great imagination’s sources of The Lord of the Rings: it was Beowulf. It was a heroic poem and considered as the highest achievement of Old English literature. Beowulf is the story of Beowulf, the strong man who comes from Denmark fight against monsters. There are many influential aspects of The Lord of the Rings so it cannot say that Beowulf is the only source of imagination. However, in 1936, Tolkien once had a lecture about Beowulf witch titled “Beowulf: Monsters and Critics”. In this lecture, he found “new imaginative influence, the force and function of the mythological imagination and the meaning of fantasy narrative” (Helms 2) and when he delivered this lecture, he had already begun to write The Lord of the Rings (Helm 2). According to author Randel Helms: Tolkien’s imaginative response to the mythological narrative in Beowulf is in fact an eddy in the tremendous imaginative current that had already for many months been flowing into his own narrative of Middle-Earth. In the lecture we see him, perhaps almost without realizing it, identify himself with the Beowulf poet and in his own defense, as it were, provide telling critical justifications for ancient poetic strategies he was even then reviving in his own work. (2) From these sentences, it is certain that Beowulf was one of the most important influences on The Lord of the Rings. I think the influences of Beowulf can be seen in characters and story fundamental themes. First point is characters in the story. I think three types of characters reflect the influence of Beowulf in The Lord of the Rings. Three types are monsters as evil, Beowulf and Aragorn as heroic symbol and Wiglaf and Sam as sprit of loyalty. First, many monsters appeared in the both stories and it is one of great features. In Beowulf, a big and strong monster Grendel, beautiful Grendel’s mother and a fire-Dragon appeared. In The Lord of the Rings, Troll, Shelob, the monster with wings which Nazgul ride on and also Orcs regarded as evil monster. Tolkien thought “the monsters ennoble it with a vision of embodied radical evil, foe of God and man, against with no hero, however great, has hope for victory” (Helm 4). In the both story, the contradiction of justice and evil can know from just appearance not only their action. It is no wonder that the monsters are always awful and ugly but that is very feature and necessary for The Lord of The Rings. Second, Beowulf from Beowulf and Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings represents heroic symbol. Tolkien also thought mythological imagination need “a vital religion” (Helms 5) and he tried to get it in the Beowulf lecture, “it is equally requisite for an imaginatively vital response to heroic literature” (Helms 5). Between two characters, there were many similarities. Beowulf heard that Grendel act violently in a foreign castle so he went to there and fought with him. In The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn was good at swordplay and strong. He suddenly appeared before Hobbits and saved them many times. Also, they became king later in
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their career. They set a throne because “ they were implored by their people to take the responsibility at a time of crisis” (Kundu). They have strength and had popularity from many people. Third, Wiglaf from Beowulf and Sam from The Lord of the Rings represent sprit of loyalty. They were both masters’ attendants. Wiglaf belong to Beowulf and Sam accompanied with Frodo. The most important point between them is a sense of strong loyalty for their master. After Beowulf became a king, a fire-Dragon caused harms around the city. The Dragon was strong so Beowulf’s warrior were knocked down or run away but Wiglaf stayed with Beowulf till the end. Wiglaf “embodies the friendship, loyalty and courage of the perfect thane when he comes to Beowulf’s aid” (Kundu). Same thing can apply for Sam. In the story, Sam always supported Frodo. In the end of Fellowship of the Rings, Frodo tried to go to Mordor alone because the journey was dangerous, but Sam swam in water and he said he wanted to go to Mordor together. Also, in the end of The Return of King, on the way to the valley where the ring has to be broken, Frodo failed. A smoking volcano active lively but Sam carried Frodo to the Valley. They could break the ring finally. The both Wiglaf and Sam accompanied with their master until the end of fighting and journey. Second point is theory of pagan Doom. Beowulf concludes "a confused and deeply flawed mixture of pagan and Christian" (Helms 5). Also, Tolkien “juxtaposes the same themes of pagan Doom and Christian salvation that he defined in his lecture on Beowulf”” (Howard 7) and in The Lord of the Rings, “Tolkien puts this theory into practice” (Howard 7). Pagan means a person who believes a religion which is not any world’s main religions. A word "doom" means terrible fate. In both story, every main character were stranger and force many difficulties in a foreign areas or country. In his lecture about Beowulf, “Tolkien describes the pagan idea of Doom as the conviction that life is a struggle against a hostile world that inevitably ends for all, even the kings and champions, in defeat” (Howard 22). In Beowulf, Beowulf was born in Sweden but went to Denmark to fight against Grendel. After Beowulf became a king, his subordinate steal treasures of a fire-Dragon and made it angry. He was a king but forced to fight against the Dragon alone. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo carried a mission of breaking the ring and go to Mordor. The mission was important for peace of Middle-Earth. However, this was a heavy burden for him. When Frodo and other Hobbits went over the line of Shire, they suddenly threaten by many dangers. Beowulf was a great person but many soldiers could not help him expect Wiglaf. Frodo could break the ring and he could return his hometown. However, other Hobbits did not treat Frodo as a hero and also Frodo himself could not feel happiness after his long journey. These characters reflect the theory of pagan Doom. Tolkien described not only lasting glory of a champion or a hero but also he described opposite sides of glory. Third point is a theory of Christian salvation. Tolkien used this theory with the theory of pagan Doom. Every character received pagan Doom but they also took Christian salvation at the same time. In Tolkien’s letter to his friend Robert Murray, he described The Lord of the Rings as “fundamentally religious and Catholic” (Howard 31) and claiming that a “Christian religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism” (Howard 31). Tolkien put this salvation appeared as Christian apocalyptic images into The Lord of the Rings. Beowulf fought with many monsters but finally he won and defeated the monsters. Especially, in the last battle with the Dragon, his brave warrior, Wiglaf helped Beowulf to give finishing blow on the Dragon then Beowulf finally won. In this scene, Wiglaf can be seen as embodiment of Christ apocalyptic. Christ help suffered people by his hand or words. Wiglaf directly helped Beowulf by himself. In The Lord of the Rings, Christian salvation appeared in Gandalf’s revive. When he falls into Moria,
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he thought he was dead. However, after he knocked Balrong down, he revived and he became more powerful. Christ was crucified on Golgotha Hill but three days later, he reappeared before his pupil. Gandalf's revive was similar to this resurrection of Christ. Also this theory appeared in Middle-Earth itself. Sauron’s great evil power penetrated through the Middle-Earth. It can be compare with the end of the world in Bible. However, thanks to Frodo and Sam, finally the ring broke and Sauron’s power diminished and peace was going back for everyone. Then new era was started. For Middle-Earth, Frodo and Sam represent as Christ apocalyptic of salvation. Tolkien used the influences of Beowulf to The Lord of the Rings, and it can find in characters and fundamental themes of the story. These influences continue throughout the story. Tolkien reflects Beowulf’s aspects on three kinds of characters. Christian aspects also seen in Beowulf and Tolkien put the theory of pagan Doom and Christian salvation in The Lord of the Rings. Every characters of the both story was strangers and in foreign country or area they deceived difficulties. Also with this theory, Christian salvation implied in the story as Biblical apocalypse. Wiglaf’s help, Gandalf’s revive and the quest of breaking the Ring can apply to salvations for pagan Doom. In Tolkien’s lecture “Beowulf: Monsters and Critics”, “Beowulf is not a ‘primitive’ poem; it is a late one, using the materials preserved from a day already changing and passing, a time that has now for ever vanished, swallowed in oblivion; using them for a new purpose, with a wider sweep of imagination” (Tolkien 129). The influence of Beowulf had big influences and these influences assists creating the great fantasy story.
WORKS CITED Helms, Randel. Tolkien’s World. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. Print. Howard, Scott Davis. Recreating Beowulf’s "Pregnant Moment of Poise": Pagan Doom and Christian Eucatastrophe made Incarnate in the Dark Age setting of The Lord of the Rings. B.S., Norwich University. 2008. Digital file. Kundu, Pritha. The Anglo-Saxon War-Culture and The Lord of the Rings: Legacy and Reappraisal. 2014. Digital file. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings. Dir.Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and Ian Mckellen. New Line Cinema, 2001. Film. The Lord of the Rings. The Return of the King. Dir.Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and Ian Mckellen. New Line Cinema, 2003. Film. Tolkien, J.R.R. “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics”. Beowulf: A Verse Translation. Trans. Seamus Heaney. Ed. Daniel Donoghue. America. W.W. Norton& Company, 2000. pp.103-130. Print.
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THE NOTION OF THE HERO IN BEOWULF AND LORD OF THE RINGS This paper will explain the notion of the hero for Tolkien and the effects of the old English poem Beowulf for Lord of the Rings. Tolkien has the idea of the hero and it appears in his various stories. The idea and his works are affected by what he did previously. He had re-evaluated the old English poem, Beowulf, which was strongly criticized at that time by critics. He showed some good point of Beowulf, and inherited some elements of the story for his works. In this way he had made his own idea of hero. Hero is a person who has strong brave heart. Brave heart means if you do not run away for justice when you fight against overwhelming opponent with no hope. This Tolkien’s idea of the hero is partly come from Beowulf and what is described about hero in Beowulf affected Tolkien’s stories. As previously described, Tolkien had re-evaluated Beowulf. At that time critics said that Beowulf is historical material rather than literary work, and there is not reality because what is described in the story is not realistic conflict between tribes but fight against three monsters. So the story is said to be childish. Randel Helms said in his book that “the fault of Beowulf is that the hero is occupied in killing monsters…Beowulf has nothing else to do, when he has killed Grendel and Grendel’s mother: the poem of Beowulf is undeniably weighty.”(3) And “a standard criticism of Beowulf in his time – that the Anglo-Saxons…- that the poem is, in other words, a confused and deeply flawed mixture of pagan and Christian”. (5) But Tolkien opposed the thoughts strongly. He insisted that Beowulf is valuable literature in linguistics because it is longest old English literature. Besides although the three monsters in Beowulf were also criticized to be childish, he disagreed and said it is rather important that the opponents like the three monsters are not human. Tolkien had said in his own essay that “Beowulf’s dragon, if one wishes really to criticize, is not to be blamed for being a dragon, but rather for not being dragon enough, plain pure fairy-story dragon”(Tolkien 36). In this way he had described the fate of all human beings regardless of tribe. There is a description of how Tolkien defended Beowulf that “he attempts to persuade us in the Beowulf lecture that it is equally requisite for an imaginatively vital response to heroic literature… Tolkien urges that this very fusion is the source of much of the poem’s power.” (Randel 5) In this way Tolkien was also a leading person of academic literary criticism. He revolutionized the treatment by literary critics. His these act remains highly influential in the study of Old English literature to this day. Thus Tolkien’s idea of hero was greatly influenced by Beowulf. In his most major story, Lord of the Rings, it can be seen that there is many elements of Beowulf. The idea of hero for Tolkien is a person who has brave heart as mentioned above. A scene of Beowulf showed that the main character of the story, Beowulf, fight for justice with mighty dragon without escape. There is a summary of the battle scene between Beowulf and dragon, “The dragon lands a bite on Beowulf’s neck, and blood begins to flow. Wiglaf rushes to Beowulf’s aid, stabbing the dragon in the belly, and the dragon scorches Wiglaf’s hand. In desperation Beowulf pulls a knife from his belt and stabs it deep into the dragon’s flank.” (Sparknotes Editors) And although he was injured because of the fight, what did Beowulf worry about is not his own things but how the treasure which he gained by defeating the dragon would be used. In the scene it is described that
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K OSUKE S HIRAHASHI
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the hero fights for country at the expense of himself and he has brave heart. In Beowulf, there is such a description about his bravery, “I’ve never known fear; as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old, now, But I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me” (Raffel) It is not only point of hero but also ideal of human beings. Tolkien was affected by these ideas. So the hero like Beowulf is seen in Tolkien’s stories especially in Lord of the Rings. Secondly I will focus on the hero in Lord of the Rings. The character who is clearly appeared to be inheriting Beowulf is Aragorn. As any other character surely inherited it, who is the most easily to understand is Aragorn. He becomes a wonderer in spite of descendant of the king and always inspires fellows by standing in front in the battles. He has no desire for power and the force used only in order to win the freedom. He selects the battle to win the freedom rather than the love with the elves, Arwen. And it is also similar that both of Aragorn and Beowulf becomes the king in the end of the each story. There are many similarities between them. Through these character Tolkien must have wanted to show the hero of old English poem, Beowulf, who has brave heart in desperate battle. Tolkien had thought that a person who can confront without fear desperate battle is universally hero. And one of other character that inherited of Beowulf is Sauron. Sauron is the person who appears in Lord of the Rings and he is a bad character. Randel Helms said “Tolkien, -inspired by the dragon of Beowulf- like the poets he mentions, has created his own “image of the evil spirit,” Sauron, Lord of the Rings.”(7) In Beowulf, the bosses like Grendel are really strong. Tolkien had come to be influenced that strong enemy is necessary in myth. As a result, Sauron was created. In conclusion, Tolkien was strongly affected by Beowulf. These effects can be seen in many Tolkien’s works. He thought that hero is a person who has strong brave heart. His idea of hero and so on had been made through studying about Beowulf. It is one reason but it is very big for Tolkien.
WORKS CITED Helms, Randel. Tolkien's world. United States: Thames and Hudson, 1974. Print. Raffel, Burton. Beowulf. A New Translation. New York, 1963. Print. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Beowulf.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics. London, 1936. Print.
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TRACE ARTICLE: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: ORIENTALISM The Fellowship of the Ring is the movie made by the movie director, Peter Jackson. Originally, this movie is based on the novel written by J.R.R Tolkien. This high fantasy and mythical story is about a Hobbit, a kind of human. The protagonist is Frodo Baggins, an adult Hobbit. Hobbit is very small and pastoral, but brave. This story is also about the fellowship of the ring. Many races such as Hobbits, human beings, Elves, and Dwarves composes the fellowship. Their purpose is to break the evil ring. The ring is made by the dark lord, named Sauron. This Ring is so powerful that it can destroy the world. Frodo Baggins is given the Ring from his foster father Bilbo Baggins when it is Bilbo’s birthday. This is because he is persuaded by his friend, Gandalf. He is also company of fellowship of the ring. In this story, there are so many races such as Human beings, Elves, Dwarfs, and Orcs. Their relationship are so complicated. They have long history. We can find some elements of Orientalism in the movie. These elements are related with geography, the character in the story, and the story itself. This report discusses about the Orientalism of The Lord of the Rings. First of all, this paragraph is about the geographical aspect. According to John Molyneux, this “saga is constructed thought around a West/East dichotomy in which West is invariably identified with goodness and light, and East with darkness and frequently evil.” Tolkien created imaginative world called Middle-earth. Middle-earth resembles our own Earth. The first factor is about the place from where the main imaginative races come in Middle-earth. Hobbits, human beings, and Elves are described as the light side. Mainly they are from western country. Hobbits come from far Western land, Shire. They cooperate with each other to defeat the dark side. On the contrary, Orcs who are described as the dark side are from Eastern land. Tolkien described typical story that the light side from West defeats the dark side from East. In the story, the capital of human beings is Gondor, located in the West, on the other hand, Mordor the capital of the dark side is east. We can see Orientalism from their appearances. Usually, evil or dark monsters look ugly. Simultaneously, Western people describe Eastern culture strangely. These manners are used in the story. Orcs are black and look dark, ugly and dirty. We can consider them as dangerous monsters because of their appearance. Especially, Elves are opposite to Orcs. They usually have blonde long hair, and they are white. They look so sophisticated in the movie. Tolkien described also visual difference. Western races such as Human beings and Elves are usual or more beautiful. In contrast, Eastern races are ugly. This is one aspect of Orientalism. In addition, Easterlings and Southrons have significant factors of Orientalism. Easterlings are from the East of Middle-earth. "Easterlings have kohl-rimmed, almond-shaped eyes and dark skin and, they wear turbans. Return of the King's siege of Minas Tirith features the Easterlings as well as the Southrons, who are large, muscular, face-painted, and black, both groups riding atop enormous oliphaunts (large elephant)." (Kim, 879) They has many factors of Orientalism.
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Next, readers can find Orientalism in the characters. Tolkien wrote the brave story. Because of brave Hobbits, Western side can save the world. Elves are intelligent and rational. Dwarves are aggressive and stubborn, but they have a strong sense of justice. Basically, Elves do not get along with Dwarves, but Legolas, an Elf and Gimli, a Dwarf become good friends. The Lord of the Rings is also the story of friendship. When they are fighting with the enemy, they are always so calm that they can defeat so many Orcs, evil people, and evil animals. On the other hand, Orcs are made angry easily. They are mad. Orcs are mainly composed by evil thing that people have. But they are easily killed by Human beings, Elves, and Dwarves. It is uncountable how many Orcs have been killed in the battles. It represents that Western beings can defeat easily Eastern beings even if they look strong. According to John Yatt, This genetic determinism drives the plot in the most brutal manner. White men are good, "dark" men are bad, orcs are worst of all. While 10,000 orcs are massacred with a kind of Dungeons and Dragons version of biological warfare, the wild men left standing at the end of the battle are packed off back to their homes with nothing more than slapped wrists. Thus this is also symbol that Western culture is stronger than Eastern culture. As to the story line, we can see Orientalism. Basically, Tolkien’s works are related with each other. At the begging of the movie, there is explanation about the background. Sauron, the dark lord boss creates many rings. Before Frodo’s adventure, there are big war. Sauron and Orcs tries to destroy the world, and the war is broken out. But he is defeated by Isildur, the king of Númenor. Númenor is a kind of human beings. The Eastern dark side loses, and that the Western light side wins. It seems that Tolkien tries to accord Allies with Human and Elvish side, and Germany and Austria with the dark side of Sauron. After that Sauron revives, and realigns his army as the Germany did so. As Germany lost the war, Sauron loses again because of Frodo’s achievement. This situation can be read as a reflection of World War I and II, although Tolkien denied such opinion. Tolkien acknowledged, but he strongly denied that his story was an allegory for World War I or II.* Although The Lord of the Rings was written during World War II and follows the rise of a great evil threatening to envelop the world, the ring was not meant to symbolize the atomic bomb. Likewise, the characters Sauron and Saruman, although both tyrants, are imaginary characters and are not meant to represent Hitler or Stalin. ("Influence") This is not completely considered as Orientalism, but in this case, these historical facts coincide with his story line. As the result, Tolkien described the Western/light side is always stronger than the Eastern/dark side. In conclusion, The Lord of the Rings is the work of Orientalism. From geographical, personal, and historical points of view, we can find many factors of Orientalism. Frodo Baggins and his company never give up. They succeeds in breaking the ring because some Hobbits encourage their comrades. Elves are described as ideal people. They are tall and look beautiful. The fellowship of the ring is given many clues by Elves. Their intelligence and calmness help people. Almost all of them from Western countries. On the contrary Orcs have a hot temper. Their boss, Sauron is described as the incarnation of darkness. He brings out the war, but loses once. After his return, he made and commands his army. He has his base in the Eastern country, Mordor. If how strong Sauron is, he is defeated by West/light. Tolkien described that Western people can defeat the East even if they come back again and again. John Yatt said “The Lord of the Rings is
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racist. It is soaked in the logic that race determines behavior.� From these points of view, definitely this is archetypical story that has many aspects of Orientalism.
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WORKS CITED Chance, Jane. Lord of the Rings: The Mythology of Power. University Press of Kentucky, 2010. Print. “Influences on the Lord of the Ring” National Geographic. Web. 5 Jan. 2015. ＜ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/influences.html＞ Kim, Sue. "Beyond Black and White: Race and postmodernism in The Lord of the Rings films." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 50.4 .2004: 875-907. Print. The Lord of the Ring. "The Fellowship of the Ring" Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood. Wingnut Films, 2001. Film. The Lord of the Ring. "The Return of the King" Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood. Wingnut Films, 2003. Film. The Lord of the Ring. "The Two Towers", Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood. Wingnut Films, 2002. Film. Molyneux , John" "Racism and Sexism" Tolkien’s world –a Marxist Analysis, 31 Oct 2010, Web, 5 Jan, 2015. ＜http://sfblogg.zaramis.se/2013/05/14/en-marxistisk-analys-avtolkien-del-3/＞ Winegar, Astrid. "Aspects of Orientalism in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings." The Grey Book, volume 1, Web. 5 Jan. 2015 Yatt, John. “Wraiths and Race.” Guardian Unlimited 2, Web. 4 Jan.2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/dec/02/jrrtolkien.lordoftherings>
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TRACE ARTICLE: THE ORIGIN OF ELVISH J UNNA N AKAYA This essay is about the origin of Elvish, the language created by J. R. R. Tolkien. I chose this topic because Elves are the most beautiful creature in the world and full of mystery. They are also arrogant in some ways, too. In this essay, I would like to analyse the two different types of Elvish and how and why Tolkien created them. First of all, as it is stated above, two sorts of Elvish exist; Quenya and Sindarin. As we can call both of them Elvish, “the phonology and syllable structure of the two are similar enough” (Baker 9). There are differences not because there are two Elvish tribes against each other but with more historical reason. Taylor Manning explains: The first and contextually older of Tolkien’s two Elvish languages is Quenya or ‘High-Elven.’ By the time of the ring saga it had become a sort of Elvish ‘Latin’ used mainly for ceremony and lore. (16) If we draw a comparison between these two Elvishes with Japanese language, Quenya can be Classical Japanese and Sindarian can be contemporary Japanese, as well as Latin and English. It took a long time for one language to develop and adapt to another form, as we now speak differently from those who lived hundreds years ago. It is incredible that Tolkien made this transition by only himself. Secondly, we will discuss the origin of Quenya. According to Petri Tikka, “The discovery of a Finnish grammar had a profound impact on Tolkien. Qenya was the name of Tolkien’s Finnish-inspired Elven language from its conception until it was changed to Quenya by the end of the 30s” (11; emphasis in original). Even after Qenya developed into Quenya, it still has a “continued Finnicization beside the original inspiration” (Tikka 11). The influence of Finnish is so big that “none of them have denied the existing influence of the Finnish language on the Highelven language” (Tikka 11). That does not mean, however, Finns are able to understand Elvish without problems.
This is how Tolkien truly succeeded to make a new language. It is quite usual that languages are influenced and borrow words each other. The same thing has happened between English and French. In a similar way, Finnish influenced Quenya, though, Finnish is not influenced by Quenya. This can be explained that Elves do not frequently communicate with us, human beings.
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Essays
The influence of Finnish on Quenya is not so large as to be distracting. Quenya is its own language, for sure. But its parallels to many different languages are enough to ignite your imagination and intellect. Tolkien didn’t usually borrow directly. Rather, he was soil in which a garden rose from old linguistic seeds (Tikka 12).
Integrated – Class Journal
In the next part of this essay, we will look into Sindarin. “The other language was Sindarin or ‘Grey-Elven,’ the ‘working’ Elvish of Middle-earth at the time” (Manning 16). A disagreement might arise about calling Sindarin simply ‘working’ Elvish. Since Sindar, what is called GreyElven, are nevertheless noble Elves even if they choose not to go to Valinor. Roman Rausch shows that Sindarin is divided into three groups. “West Sindarin (spoken at the coast) and North Sindarin (spoken in Mithrim, Hithlum and Dor-lómin). Further subdivisions include the speech of Ossiriand, North-West and North-East Sindarin” (1). It is also said “he eventually developed over fifteen Elvish languages, all based in part on these two proto languages” (Baker 8), which are Quenya and Sindarin. They are different kinds of Elvish dialects, as well as people in Japan and Britain speak differently according to where they grow up. Again, local dialects are rooted in each region and sometimes it is nearly impossible to understand for people from other regions. In spite of that, Tolkien created fifteen kinds in the end. Yoko Hemmi mentions that “based on Welsh phoneme system, Tolkien created Sindarin” (70). There is more than “his fondness for the grammatical forms and sounds of Welsh” (Manning 16). that encouraged him to create Sindarin from Welsh. For the reason Tolkien thinks Welsh is important, he mentions that ‘Welsh is of this soil, this island, the senior language of the men of Britain; and Welsh is beautiful’. Although that sounds quite subjective, the fact was strongly connected for him that Welsh is an old language which rooted in the land (Hemmi 73). It becomes clear from this statement that Tolkien tried to create a mythology for Britain by creating Elvish and Middle-Earth. As a linguist, “for Tolkien, it began with language itself” (Manning 16). Languages contribute to a large part of culture formation. The saga of the Lord of the Rings is not just a story, but it is a history and a myth. The question here is why Tolkien chose Welsh among other languages spoken in Britain. It is because “he proposed a unique concept of ‘British-Welsh’ as a ‘native language’ of the people of Britain, including himself, an Englishman, and tried to explain the nature of ‘pleasure’ Welsh stirred in him” (Hemmi 86). This also explains how strong his aim was towards a perfect creation of Elvish languages and the world of MiddleEarth. We have analysed Quenya and Sindarin in term of which languages they are based on and why Tolkien chose the language. Firstly, he was fascinated by Finnish grammar and created Quenya, which is an equivalent of Latin in Elvish and rarely spoken anymore. After that, he decided to create Sindarin followed by other fifteen kinds of Elvish, which are languages used by Elves in Middle-Earth. Sindarin is based on Welsh, one of the oldest languages rooted in the land he grew up. Both Elvish has as much value as those languages actually spoken and developed by human beings. From these points, it is shown that Tolkien succeeded to create a myth of Britain through Elvish. It has rich aspects of other cultures such as Finnish and its own ones such as Welsh.
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WORKS CITED
Essays
Baker, Wendy, et al. “Naming Practices In J.R.R. Tolkien's Invented Languages.” Journal of Literary Onomastics 3.1 (2014). Web. 29 November 2014. <http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=jlo>. Manning, Taylor. Elvish Star Lore. Montana: n.p., December 2003. Web. 25 November 2014. <http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.ips-planetarium.org/resource/resmgr/pdfarticles/elvish.pdf> Rausch, Roman. The Mithrimin Dialect Of Sindarin. n.p. 1 July 2009. Web. 4 December 2014. <http://www.sindanoorie.net/art/Mithrimin.html> Tikka, Petri. Ed. Beregond, Anders Stenström. “The Finnicization Of Quenya.” Arda Philosophy 1. (2007). Stockholm: Arda Society. Web. 1 December 2014. <http://www.oocities.org/petristikka/elvish/tikka.pdf> Yoko, Hemmi. J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings And ‘Things Celtic’. Yokohama: Keio University The Hiyoshi Review Publishing Committee. 2007. Web. 14 September 2014. http://koara.lib.keio.ac.jp/xoonips/modules/xoonips/detail.php?koara_id=AN1003006020070331-0069
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GOOD AND EVIL IN THE LORD OF THE RINGS Y UI S ATO The Lord of the Rings is a magnificent fantasy story written by J. R. R. Tolkien and read all over the world. According to the author Stratford Caldecott, “The Lord of the Rings (together with its prequel, The Hobbit) is said to have been the most widely read book of the twentieth century after the Bible” (1). This story was also made into movies as series and had big hits. This is a story about One Ring that has evil power. This Ring was made by the Dark Lord Sauron and has great power to control the world. After a long time, a party including Frodo, a hobbit, Gandalf, a wizard, Aragorn, a man and others set off on a journey to destroy the Ring and accomplish their mission. This is a story of a battle between good and evil. Good and evil exist in the world, and they are universal. People often conflict between them. Triumphing over evil is difficult. The Lord of the Rings shows the nature of evil, the nature of good against evil and the difference between evil and good. First of all, evil has power to attract people, and sometimes it makes one destructive. In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo, Bilbo, a Frodo’s uncle, and Gollum, a hobbit originally, are attracted by the Ring. As John G. West Jr. says, “The opposite of freedom is the power, which corrupts and enslave. The Ring is a perfect symbol of this…” (46), they are captured by the Ring and cannot escape from it. Frodo goes to a journey to destroy the Ring. However, as he has the Ring, he gradually changes and is attracted by the Ring. At the last of the story, even when he can destroy the Ring, he says, “The Ring is mine” (Tolkien 265). He rejects to fall the Ring into Mount Doom, a volcano which is an only place to destroy the Ring. Bilbo is also captured by the Ring. When he loses it, he rummages to search for it in his house. At the begging of the story, he gives the Ring to Frodo because of Gandalf’s order, yet even after that, he feels any regret for the Ring. When he sees the Ring, his attitude changes, and he asks Frodo to touch the Ring. In addition, Gollum is addicted to the Ring extremely. He is different from former two hobbits. He was spoiled because of the Ring. As a result of his addiction, his appearance changes and he comes to make the coughing noise, Gollum. Therefore, though his original name is Sméagol, he comes to be called “Gollum”. The writer Jane Chance says about Gollum like this: “The two names of Gollum-Sméagol dramatise the fragmenting and divisive consequence of his fall into vice, the ‘Gollum’ the bestial sound of his swallowing as an expression of his gluttony and greed…” (101) Gollum's greedy for the power, which occurs by evil of the Ring, makes him destructive. Next, good has troubles to achieve and needs courage. To reach good, it has to be against evil. It has difficulties. In the Lord of the Rings, the party to destroy the Ring faces with a lot of difficulties. For example, they lose Gandalf on the way of their journey. After that, they have to act separately. They have to battle against enemies over and over. In addition to this, at the end of the story, just when Frodo arrives at the volcano, Mount Doom, and destroys the Ring, he is bitten his finger by Gollum and loses this. They achieve good as a result of troubles. The author George H. Thomson says, “the sacrifice of the hero is necessary that others may be free of his burden and may have their comfort” (53). This means that the sacrifice brings their good. Even when facing with difficulties, there are good beyond them.
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At the same time, the courage is necessary to overcome the troubles. In the Lord of the Rings, the party or each one faces with danger a lot of times. In effect, Frodo and Sam go to a dangerous way to Mordor. Merry and Pippin, hobbits and fellows of Frodo, also fight against soldiers of Sauron. To overcome these danger, they cannot to act without their courage. Finally, the difference between good and evil is whether people can act for others and believe them or not. In the Lord of the Rings, certainly, Sauron’s servants behave for Sauron. However, it is because of their fear for him. The master they serve, Sauron, behaves only for himself. Originally, he made the Ring to control the world. Moreover, Gollum acts to get the Ring. It is for himself. For that, he kills his friend and also deceives Frodo when Gollum guides Frodo to Mordor. On the other hand, others such as Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn act to bring peace to this world. This is for others. It is true that Frodo is captured by the Ring. However, he accomplishes his mission of destroying the Ring. Furthermore, whether people can act for others and believe them or not is similar to whether they have friendship. It is because they may act for their friendship. If there is one like Gollum, he cannot triumph over evil. However, if they have friendship, they will triumph. Actually, the writer West says like this: “friendship is a formidable weapon against evil” (47). In short, friendship is important when people triumph over evil itself. In the story, Frodo and Sam have friendship. This leads to the success of their journey although they have troubles on the way to the journey. In conclusion, in the Lord of the Rings, the conflict between good and evil exist. Through the story, the nature of evil, the nature of good against evil and the difference between evil and good show. Good and evil are general and people conflict with them. All the more, many people may read this story.
WORKS CITED
Essays
Caldecott, Stratford. The Power of the Ring: The Spiritual Vision Behind the Lord of the Rings. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2005. Print. Tolkien, J.R.R The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 1966. Print. Chance, Jane. Tolkien’s Art: ‘A Mythology for England’. Hong Kong: The Macmillan Press LTD, 1979. Print. Thomson, George H. “The Lord of the Rings: The Novel as Traditional Romance.” Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature. 8.1 (1967): 43-59. Print. West Jr. John G. Celebrating Middle-Earth: The Lord of the Rings as a Defense of Western Civilization. Seattle: Inkling Books, 2002. Print.
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DUAL PERSONALITY OF GOLLUM IN LORD OF THE RINGS Y O K ISHIMOTO People would have two sides of their personality. One is a good side. When they meet someone in trouble, many of them would help or do what they can for him. The other is an evil side. When they find something in front of them is what they want absolutely, or fell into an awful predicament, they would become wicked, as they are another person. Almost all people have dual personality like that. In Lord of The Rings, it could be seen that, especially in a one of the characters, Gollum. He seems to have dual personality remarkably compared to other characters. "Gollum's mind was consumed by the Ring, but it was not utterly destroyed. A small part of his former self survived." The evil side is "what was consumed by the Ring," and the good side is "a small part of his former self survived." In my opinion, Tolkien represents Gollum as a symbol of dual personality and conveys to readers through Gollum that people have the two side of their personality. Gollum's evil side is merciless. Gollum is badly a disfigured and evil character. He calls the Ring "My Precious", and always considers that the Ring must belong to himself, not to others. Therefore, Gollum tries to steal the Ring from Frodo many times since they meet for the first time, by cheating, betraying and killing. However, at last, because he seeks the Ring too obstinately, he dies as falling into a volcano with the Ring. He seems an evil character who always thinking of the Rings. I consider that this is one of his two personality. And also it could be the evil side of personality which people have. The good side is kindness. At first, he is not badly disfigured and evil tribe like a monster, but a human named SmĂŠagol. In The two towers, he appears for the first time. Although he tries to rob Frodo of the Ring, after beaten by Sam, he decides to help Frodo and Sam. He suddenly changes into like another person. Afterwards, he keep showing the way to Orodruin, a mountain for which Frodo heading to throw the Ring into its volcano. It is clear that Gollum has some kindness to help others. I consider that this is the other personality, the good side of the personality which people have. In Lord of The Rings, these two personality are directed clearly. There are many scenes in which Gollum's dual personality, the evil side and the good side, come out in turn and have conversations. The evil side of Gollum says that he should steal the Ring, kill Frodo and Sum, and get it back again. On the other hand, the good side of Gollum says that he should not do that because Frodo is always kind to him. This exchange between the two could be considered that the good side is fighting against the evil side. At last, the good side is beaten and the evil side takes over Gollum himself. And the evil side would die with his precious. There is a famous story like this whose theme is dual personality. It is "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", written in 1885, by Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson. The theme is also about dual personality. When Jekyll uses a drug, his looks, voice, and personality, all things of him changes into another person, Hyde. As Jekyll uses the drug to become Hyde more, the time during Hyde is longer. Finally, Hyde perfectly takes over Jekyll, and Jekyll wrote before taken over him that Hyde would kill himself or be executed, and die. The evil side of Gollum takes over himself and he would die. Jekyll is similar to Gollum.
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And another case caused by dual personality happened in 1977. A man in the USA, named Billy Milligan, was arrested for raping and robbery. However, while his lawyer was talking with him, he consisted that Billy was asleep. The lawyer Judy wondered what he meant. But afterwards, Judy realized that Billy must be abnormal. To examine what Billy was, Judy called many doctors. Therefore, it became clear that Billy had 24 personalities. "Milligan's birth name was William, but he was also Ragen, Arthur, Adalana, Christene and nineteen others. He was the first person in American history to successfully use multiple-personality disorder as a defense for a violent crime." Billy was treated cruelly by his stepfather when he was childhood. According to J.J MacIntosh's journal, this ill-treatment leaded to appearance of many other personalities in Billy. It is common between Billy and Gollum that there is something causing to produce another personality. "During his centuries of loneliness and under the Ring's influence, he developed a sort of multiple personality." This causes Gollum's another personality to emerge. Gollum must be the symbol of dual personality in Lord of The Rings. From the view of how Gollum behaves, it is obvious that there are two sides in Gollum's personality. And from the two things, the story "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and the case of Billy Milligan, Gollum could be seen as dual personality. A person could have two sides in themselves at least. Not many people have a conversation between their personalities as Gollum and Billy. However, even a person who usually kind to others and always calm, sometimes his another personality appears to help and support himself when he encounters an accident and other happening which no one expects. Although a few people have different personalities as Billy, another personality might appear without realizing. I consider that this is one thing Tolkien represents thorough Gollum.
Essays
WORKS CITED The Lord of the Rings. New Line Home Entertainment, 2004. Film. Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Raleigh, N.C.: Alex Catalogue, 1999. Print. "Gollum - Tolkien Gateway." Gollum - Tolkien Gateway. Web. 13 Jan. 2015. <http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Gollum#Personality> Maclntosh, J.J. "Adverbs, Identity, and Multiple Personalities." Canadian Journal of Philosophy 3 (1992): 301-21. JSTOR. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Web. 5 Jan. 2015. <https://www.jstor.org/stable/40231785?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents>. "SmĂŠagol / Gollum." SmĂŠagol / Gollum. Web. 13 Jan. 2015. <http://thainsbook.net/gollum.html>. ''30 Years Later, Multiple-personality Case Still Fascinates." The Columbus Dispatch. Web. 13 Jan. 2015. <http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2007/10/28/BILLY.ART_ART_10-2807_A1_EV89AGB.html>.
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THE LONG FANTASTIC AND INFLUENTIAL STORY THE LORD OF THE RINGS K AZUNE M ORIYAMA At the time of writing this essay, the film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is now showing in Japan. This is a film of thrilling and a fitting end to an extraordinary fantasy adventure. The movie is prequel work of The Lord of the Rings, and both of them were written by author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien in the original works. The Lord of the Rings is composed of a story in three parts ant the first one was written by Tolkien in 1948. There was a boom in 1960s in The Lord of the Rings and in 21st century, they were made into movies and became popular films. The works became more famous and popular stories. By the way, the works called the fantasy novel are written for the transcendence of all times characteristics. However, there are a really few successful works in fantasy novels. Almost everybody may have a question what is the difference The Lord of the Rings have and how it could be a top of the bestseller work compared with other fantasy works. I think that their question is hidden in the author Tolkien’s character and there is a relation in his childhood. At first, Tolkien was born in Republic of South Africa but he lost his father in the place, so he was grown up in Birmingham in his boyhood. At that time, Birmingham was one of the largest industrial cities in the United Kingdom. So the sooty scene of Birmingham could be the stage of Mordor, where was the region in The Lord of the Rings. According to Henry Resnik, who is an interviewer, however, in the interview, Tolkien stated: Well, my parents both came from Birmingham in England. I happened to be born there Bloemfontein by accident. But it had this effect; my curliest memories are of Africa, but it was alien to me, and when I came home, therefore, I had for the countryside when I was about 3 and 1/2 or 4 – it seemed to me wonderful. If you really want to know what Middle-earth is based on, it’s my wonder and delight in the earth as it is, particularly the natural earth. In short, it is clear that Birmingham was profoundly memorable place for Tolkien and he made use of the English countryside for The Lord of the Rings. In addition, Lin Carter, who was a prolific American editor and author of science fiction and fantasy, says that Mr. Resnik concludes in the interview that Tolkien shaped rural England, “one of the major interest of his life,” to his own literary purposes(5). Also it is obvious that after Tolkien had lost his parents in Birmingham, his grief changed a love for his children and the fruition of the love would produce The Lord of the Rings. Second, Tolkien had not aimed for publication in The Lord of the Rings at first. It was written for storytelling to his loveable children. So all of the works are exceedingly easy to read for all reader. After he was suggested to sell it by colleagues of college, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit. As the reasons mentioned above, The Lord of the Rings was written. However, there are many stories and fantasy literary works for storytelling to children at that time. For example, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz are famous around the world. In fact, they are popular for not only children but also young and old both sexes. I wonder if there is some reason why The Lord of the Rings
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Above all could get a record-breaking hit. (The Lord of the Rings had a hundred and fifty million of copies in the world.) I think that one of the factors in the reason is that Tolkien incorporated the element of the Northern European myth in The Lord of the Rings. According to John Gough, in his book " Tolkien's Creation Myth in The Silmarillionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Northern or Not?", " Tolkien, as a philologist and professor of literature, was thoroughly familiar with Norse mythology and acknowledged a deep love for it (2)." and " He says he wanted to provide, through his own English works, the kind of epic, mythic literature that already existed in Greek, Celtic, Germanic, Scandinavian, Finnish, and Romance language (2)." Like his comment, and the background, Tolkien was a philologist, and he created The Lord of the Rings little by little with incorporating elements such as North Europe myth "Beowulf" or "Edda" which were his specialized field. As a result, in a sense, The Lord of the Rings, which was written by Tolkien, can be called the best of European legend, which was cooperated many essences of European myths by topflight linguist. As stated above, Tolkien used a part of memories of his childhood and his past in The Lord of the Rings. When Tolkien still lived in South Africa, he was bitten by a poisonous spider. We can interpret that it was the distinct memory, so Shelob, which is a poisonous spider and appears on the story of The Lord of the Rings, was a character which is imitated in his childhood incident. In addition, it is important to know his how to write the story. The biggest his characteristic writing is flooding in proper nouns and lacking explanations in them. For instance, there are no explanations of Maiar, who are gods of lower class in The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings). In conclusion, it is clear that the success of Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings is related to his character, his ability to write stories and his past life, especially included his childhood. Moreover, it is obvious why The Lord of the Rings became the great works around the world and became the top of the bestseller works compared with other fantasy stories. His ability to structure of text and expression of word in the contents are unique and skilful. Moreover, the more readers read contents and the more they get to research The Lord of the Rings, the more interesting it becomes. I think that before reading the stories, it should be good to read The Hobbit at first, and the films can become more famous or popular works every countries in the world.
WORKS CITED
Essays
Carter, Lin. Tolkien: A Look behind the Lord of the Rings: A Look behind the Lord of the Rings. Hachette UK, 2011. Gough, John. "Tolkien's Creation Myth in the Silmarillionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Northern or Not?" Children's Literature in Education 30.1 (1999): 1-8. Resnik, Henry. "The Hobbit-forming World of JRR Tolkien." The Saturday Evening Post (1966): 90. The fellowship of the ring: being the first part of the lord of the rings. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. New Line Home Entertainment, 2003.
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CAUSES OF THE BEAT GENERATION’S ANTISOCIALISM Y UKI S HIMADA The Beat Generation were a group of American poets in 1950s. They are famous for their works that include some anti-social content. Moreover, they are outstanding in regards to their attitude which deviates from social common sense. Picking up some authors, William S Burroughs, Gregory Corso and Ken Kesey are infamous for their ill deeds. Burroughs shot his wife when they imitated William Tell, and he was a heroin addict. Corso was arrested for theft when he was seventeen years old. Kesey took drugs and was arrested for mental problem. There are the other Beats who committed a crime or were absorbed in alcohol. It is questionable why the Beat Generation assumed a rebellious reaction for society. As a thesis in this essay, three backgrounds, American social tendency in 1930s, a trend of culture and WWII influenced The Beat Generation will be discussed. The Beat Generation hated a social tendency in America in 1950s and managed to show humanity of human beings. 1950s were a period of Cold War and atmosphere aimed to reconstruct society from WWII. In addition, economic boom strengthened materialism. However, the Beats were sceptical for this social tendency. This is because they viewed this materialistic tendency as a thing to restrict nature of human beings such as sexuality, and worsen inequality (Rahn). In their work, there are contents that warn a trend of America for cold war and atomic bomb in 1950s, and depict a situation at the period by writing sentences. For instance, Ah Pook by William S Burroughs presents these points. The former work uses a metaphor to liken the destruction of Mayan culture to their contemporary culture. “Ah Pook” is a destroyer of Mayan culture and this work warns the over-control and contradiction of atomic bomb. In Ah Pook, there is no direct description of this army, but some sentences imply this point. “Who really gave that order? Answer: Control. Answer: The Ugly American. Answer: The instrument of Control. Question: If Control’s control is absolute, why does Control need to control?” (Pook) From these sentences, the ruler of the world is American, and these more mentions that if the control of American is perfect, American never need to re-control “control”. “Control” in this is Atomic Bomb. Historically, the chance to induce Atomic War existed between America and Russia. Using atomic bomb means the destruction of the world. Therefore, they were forced to develop dangerous arms and manage these arms to prevent war. Using this weapon means the corruption of this world and this corruption leads to the one of Mayan culture. Burroughs satirized this contradiction situation and antisocial attitude for the contemporary society was revealed. As a second, trend of musical culture in America at that time was related to philosophy of the Beats. In 1940s, jazz became prevalent in New York City. In jazz, there is a term, “beat” and this is originally a meaning of slung. “Beat” was used among jazz musicians and related with a drug culture (Huddleston). Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg listened to jazz music well and especially, Kerouac changed the meaning of “beat” and made use of it in writing. “Beat” originally means “down and out” or “poor and exhausted”. Kerouac meant it as “beatitude, not beat up. You feel this” (Janssen). According to Janssen, Kerouac twisted the original connotation of “beat” in order to achieve his purpose. In addition, Beat authors introduced many terms in jazz to writings. John Clellon Holmes, who was a poet and Beat author stated this phenomenon in his
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work, Go following: “In this modern jazz, they heard something rebel and nameless that spoke for them, and their lives knew a gospel for the first time. It was more than a music; it became an attitude toward life, a way of walking, a language and a costume; and these introverted kids... now felt somewhere at last” (Clellon Holmes). From this, Beat authors recognized that “beat” was requirement for life they made use of terms of jazz in writing. It is possible that the tendency to rebel against society exists if content of works requires a voice for life. As for third point, WWII was a cause that they showed anti-social behaviours. Many Beat authors experienced this war and some of them were engaged in Army. In regard to historical viewpoint, the United States went through WWI and WWII. As a common thing, young male citizens of America had to join these wars and faced up with massacre. There is possibility for them to die. It is true that they may survive, but the condition of mentality can be disordered. In reality, Lost Generation, which were sceptical for and lost their value of society at the period, took place after WWI. This war influenced the style and value of writers of Lost Generation in the way (Otsuka). The Beat Generation is the same. Some writers in this group participated in Great Depression and WWⅡ. These eras were transition of society and unstable in a way of poverty. The writers would choose to pursue their desire in life in such a situation, not following value of society. Therefore, The Beats writers held a rebellions attitude. The Beat Generation assumed an antisocial attitude. Some writers were addicted by alcohol and drugs, and committed suicide. This is because three backgrounds are hidden: hate for value of society at the period, influence of jazz culture, and WWII.
WORKS CITED
Essays
Ah Pook is Here. Dir. Philip Hunt. Perf. William S. Burroughs. Filmakademie BadenWürttemberg, 1994. Film. Clellon Holmes, John. Go. New York: The New American Library, 1980. Print. Huddleston, M Diane. “The Beat Generation”. They were Hipsters Not Beatniks, N.p. 2012. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. Janssen, Mike. “Jazz and the Beat Generation”. Literary Kicks, N.p. n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. Otsuka, Juro. “American literary lecture”. 16 Dec. 2014. Rahn, Josh. “The Beat Generation”. The Literature Network, N.p. 2011. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
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THE INSTABILITY OF THE STORY IN THE SUBTERRANEANS F UKA W AKITA Jack Kerouac, who was born in 1922 in Lowell, Masachusetts, is an American writer and he is one of the most typical members of Beat Generation. Beat Generation is a group which swept across the field of American literature from later 1950s to early 1960s. Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and other famous writers are also famous member of it. Beat Generations had a big impact on American Society. About their feature, Gregory Stephenson says that: From the radical tradition, particularly the Industrial Workers of the World, the Beats derived their general libertarian-egalitarian-populist-anarchist orientation and their strategy of forming the new society within the shell of the old. (6) Jack Kerouac wrote many famous novels such as On The Road, and in these novels, there are many essential elements such as drug, alcohol and sex, and these elements are typical keywords that can be seen in the novels of Beat Generation. In The Subterraneans, which is written by Kerouac and published in 1958, also has these factor, then it can be seen as a model of Beatnik’s novel. The story of this novel is that Leo, who is the protagonist and storyteller of this story, fell in love with Mardou who has black skin and a graceful figure and they loved each other and broke up in the end. This story is written in autobiographical style by Leo. There are neither serious affairs nor miracles in this story. But this is exactly the style of Beat Generation, and Stephenson says, “What the Beats have given us in their writings is the record of a condition of spirit, or state of soul that is the image of our common disease.”(9) That is to say, you should focus on not the meaning of what they did but what they did and what they feel when you read a novel of Beat Generations. Then, in The Subterraneans, you can find out one common feeling through the story. It is instability. It can be seen in its form, a word used in the story and Leo’s state of mind. This essay analyzes these 3 points to show this story’s atmosphere of instability. First, this essay focuses on its literary technique. In this novel, you can find out using the stream of consciousness. This technique is originally used in a field of psychology, and gradually permeated into a field of literature. Some famous writers such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf use this technique frequently. The stream of consciousness has a function that makes its story be disordered and makes readers feel as if they look into the character. But this technique itself does not function to show the atmosphere of instability. About stream of consciousness, some writer says: With such a concept of consciousness, we may define stream-of-consciousness fiction as a type of fiction in which the basic emphasis is placed exploration of the prespeech levels of consciousness for the purpose, primarily, of revealing the psychic being of the characters. (Humphrey 4) That is, this technique can make we readers read Leo’s mental process more precisely. Leo’s mental process is very confused, for he mixed up his reality, his dream and a hallucination because of drinking alcohol and using drug. But if stream of consciousness is not used, and if this story is written methodical, Leo’s confusion is weakened. This technique helps the story to show Leo’s unstable mind.
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Next, there is a keyword which is frequently used in The Subterraneans. It is “grey”. This word is used in describing a visible thing, such as “a grey sheet bed” (Kerouac 36) “grey dawn” (74), and also in describing an invisible thing, such as “in the alien grey of the world” (34), “Grey Guilt Dream”(69). It is clear that Kerouac use this word not only for describing several things, but for indicating something. Grey is a neutral color that is not black and white. Therefore, it seems that this word indicates a noncommittal and instable atmosphere. Moreover, interestingly, this story is about a love affair with white man and black woman. Although they have opposite color of skin, they love each other, and this aspect means “grey”. But, in this story, racial consciousness is one of the big problems. Leo is sensible of Mardou being black, and of a rumor from his friends about it, and concerns about that his friends place high value on her but they keep at a distance from her because of her race. Leo says about it, “what would they say if my mansion lady wife was a black Cherokee, it would cut my life in half, and all such sundry awful Americans as if to say white ambition thoughts or white daydreams.” (40) Leo loves Mardou and concern with her race. Then his feeing is noncommittal. Through the story, Kerouac probably indicates instability of Leo and Mardou by using metaphor of “grey”. Thirdly, it is important to focus on Leo’s activity. As the first paragraph says, a literary technique makes Leo’s mental instability. This paragraph analyzes Leo’s lack of stability concretely, especially about a difference of his soul and body. In the story, there are 2 types of his activities. These are a man who is a great writer and a man who spends all his time drinking alcohol, or taking drug, in other words, a man who attaches physical pleasures. In the story, a lot of name of writer such as “Truman-Capote-haired” (6), “a secret Shakespeare of the pillow night”(10), “William Blake”(52) are referred. Leo uses these great writers as a figure of speech. This way to use impresses him an intellectual image. On the other hand, he always drinks alcohol, takes some drug, has sex, and does drunken revelry with his friends. This is his impulsive aspect and these actions cause physical pleasure. Leo has these two images which form a sharp contrast, that is, he shares the image of intelligence and instinctive aspect. In the story, Leo says about this entanglement,
This statement is said when he awoke from a hangover of his life, he noticed that the instability between his mind and his body causes a breakdown of his own life. As stated above, through analyzing a conflict of his mind and body, the instability of this story is more emphasized clearly. In this essay, the first chapter showed that the technique of stream of consciousness contributes Leo’s lack of his mental stability, and the second chapter analyzed that the word of “grey” which is used very frequently in the story creates unstable atmosphere, and the third paragraph mentioned that Leo is torn between his mental and physical aspect. From these points, in The Subterraneans, the instability has an important role, and it is a keyword of the story. Perhaps, the instability is seemed to be negative factor when we readers read a story. But some writer says, “Paradoxically, Kerouac implies that distortion of linear time and destruction of ‘reality’ can approximate his vision more effectively than adherence to chronology and
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feeling now, ‘Boy, this is the real real beginning of the end, you can’t go on much further, how much more vagueness can your positive flesh take and how long will it stay positive if your psyche keeps blaming on it- boy, you are going to die, when birds get bleak- that’s the sign-.(77)
Integrated – Class Journal
rationality.” (Theado 34) In other words, Kerouac’s view of the world is made up of not be in order but incoherent and chaotic style. The Subterraneans means Beat Generation, and in this story, the characters are based on real people, for example, Adam Moorad is based on his friends and one of the members of Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg, Leroy is Neal Cassady, Frank Carmody is William S. Burroughs, Yuri Gligoric is Gregory Corso and so on. This factor shows the importance of the existence of Beat Generation for Jack Kerouac to create his literary world. Add on yet another thing, the story itself also is based on Jack Kerouac’s real life. Kerouac once joined the Navy, but six months later, he was diagnosed schizophrenia and he left the Navy. Probably such an experience is helpful in describing mental instability vividly in this story. This story is just about a short love affair of Leo and Mardou, but it contains a reality because of being based on Kerouac’s real experience and the instability because of the reality. And its instability is a subject matter not only in this story but also Kerouac’s literature itself.
WORKS CITED Kerouac, Jack. The Subterraneans. Penguin Books, UK, 2001.Print Stephenson, Gregory. The Daybreak Boys. Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.Web Humphrey, Robert. Stream of consciousness in the modern novel. University of California Press, 1958.Web Theado, Matt. Understanding Jack Kerouac. University of South Carolina Press, 2000. Web
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WILLIAM BURROUGHS’S GAINING SUCCESS FROM DRUG ADDICTION William S. Burroughs（1914-1997） is the one of Beat Generation writers known for his works Junky and Naked Lunch as well as a person who became addicted of drug. In another way, he was famous for his craziness such as his killing his wife by gun shooting and being homosexual, loving Allen Ginsberg. It can be said, he is a legendary person as an author. William S. He passed away when he was 83 years old, until his death he had been very active in various field not only writing but also in the media, movies, commercial and released a CD as well. Burroughs is the author who enjoyed his life as junkie and gained success while his long life. “Junk”, we learn, refers to opium and its derivatives: morphine, heroin, pantopon, Dialaudid, codeine. But it is much more than that. Junk, he says, “is a way of life.”（American Dream）For him, junk was life. He preferred his junkie life rather than having regretted habit. Before, alcohol was life for him, but it changed as he began using drugs every day. Junky even changed life style. I stopped drinking and going out at night. When you use junk you don’t drink. Seemingly, the body that has a quantity of junk in its cells will not absorb alcohol. The liquor stays in the stomach, slowly building up nausea, discomfort, and dizziness, and there is no kick. Using junk would be a sure cure for alcoholics. I also stopped bathing. When von use junk the feel of water on the skin is unpleasant for some reason, and junkies are reluctant to take a bath.（Junky, 36） Even though junk definitely made his life nonsense one and got off humanness it also let him gain success as an author. How junk dramatically effected on Burroughs with his works until being honorable author and how it motivated him. Firstly, for example, Junkie and Naked Lunch are based on his real experience on drug use. William S. Burroughs himself settled on the subject matter of books. An illustration described by him in the books. It may be said his real experiences are seeds of success. When my wife saw I was getting the habit again, she did something she had never done before. I was cooking up a shot two days after I'd connected with Old Ike. My wife grabbed the spoon and threw the junk on the floor. I slapped her twice across the face and she threw herself on the bed, sobbing … " That this uncredited and now forgotten hack artist should have chosen one of the few episodes featuring the protagonist's wife to use for the cover illustration represents one of those nastily serendipitous ironies that Burroughs himself almost always chose to view as evidence of the magical universe. （Will Self） Authors have no private, they should have not keep anything secret. They would choose reveal anything even which decrease in social status as he wrote in Junkie, if it can make profit in order to make living. These trivial things episodes have much to do with his junk abuse. Actually he lived for his own and was ruled by the desire as completely ignoring his family. He ferried around them to Mexico and even to Arizona. He really seems to be very mean and selfish, however looking the things from distances, even his selfish action is a part of work.
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M INAMI S AHEKI
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Secondly, Burroughs regarded junky as good thing. Though he was arrested because of drug,” he never managed to recover from addiction at all, and he died in 1997 physically dependent on synthetic opiate methodone.”（Will Self）He ever started writing just because he had nothing except writing about his experience with addiction and addicts. The interview was took place towards Burroughs and he answered to the question, “Why did you start taking drug?” He said, “Well, I was just bored. I didn't seem to have much interest in becoming a successful advertising executive or whatever, or living the kind of life Harvard designs for you. After I became addicted in New York in 1944, things began to happen. I got in some trouble with the law, got married, moved to New Orleans, and then went to Mexico. （Paris Review）He thinks drugs are interesting principally as chemical means of altering metabolism. Finally, existence of Allen Ginsberg is a crucial one. To him, William S. Burroughs was not only a best friend but also regarded as his father. Burroughs could become reliable person to him instead of Ginsberg's real father. At first, he was empathetically helped and supported by William and his mental attitude has changed entirely since advice not hesitating to express his own emotion and telling the importance of self-acceptance. Thanks to his advice, Ginsberg succeeded for recovery of pride. Later on, the shoe was on the other foot. Ginsberg became supportive person for Burroughs. "After his quitting job, he called at Burroughs's house and tried to encourage decadent Burroughs who is still caught in drug addiction."（Naked Angel, 140） Although they both were addicted to the drugs, Ginsberg took care of him. Burroughs was often tends to move from one place to another place in order to get away from policeman. He never lived calmly with his wife and a child. He kept on sending the letters about actual condition to Ginsberg. The book named The Yage Letters is published. This is collaborative work and recorded about young poet William S. Burroughs made and the letters to Ginsberg on life in Amazon Jungle. The letters, included the story of drug called yage, which is used by Amazon Indian doctor. This kind of correspondences led his successful work, Naked Lunch. “He started to write Naked Lunch when he thought of having physical relationship with Allen Ginsberg and kept on writing until his body being out of control.” (76) Absolutely, having relationship motivated him as a writer. In conclusion, William S. Burroughs is an author who considers junk as his motivation. When he had nothing to do, he tried it and became addict. And its experience goes into the book material. Without his addiction, his works were not made, and have not exists. Moreover, his conception of drug led him to a legendary person. His personal relationships built what William S. Burroughs is. Allen Ginsberg as Burroughs's best friend supported from the closer position. Although he tried to quit and kick out the habit he relapse it again. He gained success in spite of junkie, and happened many things, including crime like murder. He lived in his own time and got glory.
WORKS CITED Burroughs. William S. “Junkie” 1953. Print. Nathaniel. Rich. "American Dream. 1953; ‘Junky’ by William S. Burroughs”. n.d. web. Tytell. John. (1976). Naked Angel. (Kenzaburou Ohashi & Kiyohiko Murayama, Trans.). Tokyo. Print. 1978. Will Self. “The Guardian” :The Original Junky. 1 February, 2014. Web. “The Paris Review”: William S. Burroughs, The Art of Fiction No. 36. Interviewed by Conrad Knickerbocker. PBS Online.
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THE REASONS THE WORKS BY WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS ARE HIGH IN FAVOR WITH PEOPLE. William S. Burroughs is one of the most famous Beat Generation writers. Many people have read his works and he is considered to have affected people’s culture through the works (Harris3). However, his works are uneasy to understand due to his writing style called cut-up technique. Burroughs took a text from a finished journal or his old drafts and cut it in pieces and then put it onto a new piece. So the work itself written by Burroughs is not as great as ones by other writers. The source of his popularity is not his works but his influential life. In this essay, I will explain how his life moves the readers. The first cause Burroughs are popular is that he wrote his drug experiences on his works. Burroughs was addicted to drugs as long as he lived. He graduated from Harvard University, which is one of the best in the US. It was in the Great Depression at that time, so academic backgrounds did not matter as much. Burroughs tried getting many kinds of jobs such as a military pilot, a copywriter, bartender and even working illegally as a "fence". When he sold stolen goods as a fence, Burroughs started taking morphine and became a drug addict. In 1949, Burroughs moved to Mexico to get cheap drugs and then went to Colombia to have a stronger drug. Like this, drugs were a main focus in his life. That is why almost all his works are based on his drug experience, and his works are his life itself. Naked Lunch is his best-known work. In the novel, William S. Burroughs had a similar experience to William Lee who is the narrator, taking aliases from the US to Mexico and to Tangier. These places the narrator goes are where Burroughs himself went to get drugs and to avoid being arrested. The novel begins with… I can feel the heat closing in, feel them out there making their moves, setting up their devil doll stool pigeons, crooning over my spoon and dropper I throw away at Washington Square Station, vault a turnstile and two flights down the iron stairs, catch an uptown A train…(3) Burroughs tells the readers how the drug addicts feel when they are running away by taking the personal relation such as police, dealer and a partner. And also by putting the instruments for drugs like ‘spoon’ and ‘dropper’ to the sentence, the novel gets more practical. Burroughs outlines "Look down LOOK DOWN along that junk road before you travel there and get in with the Wrong MOb...A word to the wise guy" (54). He likened 'junk road' to the world of the drugs and 'wise guy' to who still do not use the drugs. He warns the unusers not to use the drugs and not to be addicted. Considered to be bad for the people’s culture, Burroughs was not allowed to issue The Naked Lunch by US obscenity law. That made people get interested in his book more. I suppose that it is one of the source which made him famous that Burroughs published the book refused to be issued. The second cause is that he was a homosexual. When he went to the Los Alamos Ranch School, a boarding school, Burroughs became a homosexual. He was bisexual just as many gays are so.
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A IKO M UTO
Integrated – Class Journal
At the time Burroughs published The Naked Lunch, homosexuals were in a disadvantaged position. There was a sodomy law in the US and the law forbade people not only to be homosexual but also to have oral sex and anal sex that were not connected with procreation. In 1953 when Eisenhower became the president of the US, the officers who were homosexual were fired. Homosexuality was something to be punished at this time. However homosexuality changed to be taken as mental illness or social maladjustment instead. A.D. Parkinson says “In Naked Lunch Burroughs shows this “progressive” attitude to be just as steeped in judgemental moralising as the previous methods: it is merely an evolution of methods of control". Burroughs wrote about homosexuality, which was much minor and criticized more than today. Readers got interested in his books because they could know something they did not know such as what a homosexual life was like. More than that, the readers were attracted to Burroughs's attitude to appeal that gays should be treated equally in his books. The incident Burroughs killed his wife is relevant to much of Burroughs’s works. Burroughs was homosexual but he married twice. In Mexico City, Burroughs and his second wife, Joan Vollmer were drunk and were playing William Tell game in 1951. During the game, he was supposed to shoot the glass on her head, but he accidentally shoot in her head. Many people doubted that it was not accident. Burroughs is only the person who knows whether it was really accident or not. The event was eventually accepted as a accident and he was not arrested. Burroughs wrote his first novel Junkie when he was waiting for trial in Mexico. It was reported in the newspaper that Burroughs killed Joan, so people had known him before he was known as a writer. Considering from this, Junkie became famous as the novel written by a murderer at first. The death of his wife led him to be pointed out. Queer was not published until 1985 but in the introduction of the book written in 1953, Burroughs states, I am forced to the appalling conclusion that I would have never become a writer but for Joan’s death ...So the death of Joan brought me into contact with the invader, the Ugly Spirit, and maneuverer me into a lifelong struggle, in which I had no choice except to write my way out. (552) This novel contains Burroughs’s drug and homosexual experiments as usual and also his saddest experiment that he lost something he loved most was showed. I think much of Burroughs’s works are not as interesting as the ones other famous writers wrote because of his incomprehensible words and cut-up technique. However his life was very different from other usual people and was attracting even though it was not in moral ways. And by sharing his odd experiments with the readers, they could get into his world which they could not know without his books. Burroughs had got a lot of money from his parent for travelling around the world and got drugs. He never knew giving up. He just did what he wanted to do such as using the drugs and being homosexual and lived freely. The way how he lived brought him to be one of the most famous Beat Generation writers.
WORKS CITED Harris. Oliver. Junky; The Detective Text of 'Junk'. Penguin Modern Classics. 06. Nov.2008. Print. Parkinson A.D.. Reality Studio.com. 03. Jan. 2015. Web. Burroughs. William. The Naked Lunch. Grove Press. January 26th 2004. Print. --- Queer. Penguin. Books. December 17th 1998. Print.
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ON THE ROAD AND ITS BACKGROUND R IKU N ISHINA Almost all people should have thought once to where this road would take them when they were child or even now. It would be amazing experience if we could go anywhere we want. Outcomes might not go that way we expected, however who would regret them after do whatever we want. In fact, most of them have never tried that. We are living in the world ruled by so many things, surrounded by others. Sal, from On the Road, keeps going out and traveling with hitchhike although he has hard times during the time such as getting into fight with his friends, breaking up with his love, being broke and exhausted. This story shows us not only his road trip but how life is going in general. He jumps into the real world to get off his cosy house where his mother always takes care of him, and tries to see what is waiting for him. The destination or purpose of it is a one of the reasons to go on the road, in other words, the main purpose is things happened on the road. It should be important to make it, get something or win a game. However, life is not only them but also important to go through process and get over difficulties. If he stayed in his house a whole life and lives around with just his neighbours, Kerouac would not have written about this and it does not mean anything. This story is based on real experience of Jack Kerouac. He went out and did road trip with Neal Cassady and some his friends, who is one of the well-known member of Beats and inspired Jack to write On the Road.
Why did he choose to go out and travel? Its background would tell us. This story was written in 1951, and published in 1957. I would like to examine things happened in those days, how Jack and other Beats got influenced, and why it caused hippies or the era called counter culture. Three things mainly happened in the US 50s. First thing is Cold War between the US and USSR. The world was surrounded by fear and anxiety because the two countries competed with which one could make more nuclear weapons that were enough amounts to collapse a whole world. Second, ‘American way of Dream’ became popular that was mass production and consumption. American people thought mass production and consumption could make much enough profit for making American economy sustainable or more. The last one is civilianization. The people was coming to hate communism and being nationalism to work together as an American. It seems very dark, gloomy and melancholic times. It is no wonder that young people wanted to escape from tough things left by ancestors, to find their happiness and free. Members of the generation that came of age after World War 2, who, supposedly as a result of disillusionment stemming from the Cold War, espouse mystical detachment and relaxation of social and sexual tensions. (Kerouac) Therefore, the word ‘Beat’ is supposed to mean tired, exhausted and beaten down. Literally the young people was tired, exhausted and beaten down due to the situation surrounding
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In December 1946 Kerouac met Neal Cassady. The most important even in Kerouac’s writing life. With Cassady, off and on between 1947 and 1950, Kerouac zigzagged back and forth across the country, temporarily settling in Denver, Mexico City, and San Francisco, gaining experiences that were vital to what would become his best known writings (Bisbort) .
Integrated – Class Journal
them without any hope, free and future. However, also ‘Beat’ has another meaning, for example beatific and beat up. Kerouac tried not to face the depressive situation but duck it and find another way to be happy. The alternative way of being happy for them was jazz, road trip, sex, alcohol and drugs sneakily in nights. Other people would think they are slovenly guys or look down them as a looser because they did not choose to fight with things they faced, but to escape and try to find their happiness. I’d not think that. Each people have to have each kind of happiness. They were just clumsy who just complained and had hard time. Kerouac and his friends showed young people how to break rules, past, and how to become happy in their way. This is the reason that young guys got stuck with On the Road, respected and followed them and this lead to after counter culture and hippies. They were looking for someone like him who broke through the situation and past, then created new gulf that people can lose in themselves with happiness, satisfaction and free. ‘The most salient feature of the “Beat Generation,” though, was that Kerouac and his fellow travellers- Cassady, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso, Snyder, and every other figure covered in this book- broke the rules. Further, they broke all of the rules- of writing, artistry, decorum, dress, talk, music, vices. The Beat Generation sought nothing less than a clean break from the past. That, in itself, was enough to condemn anyone associated with it in the eyes of an establishment flush from victory in World War 2 and staking out the moral and political high ground against world communism.’ (Bisbort 13) No one would think loosing themselves in drugs, alcohol, alternative secularism, road trip and loosing ourselves in jazz without any reason in those days even now. They could do them because they were too young to understand how important to adjust to common sense or rules. It might be scary thinking about if we gets despised or looked down on as a looser by others. However, there were problems which forced them to fight with communism, to be a one of the ideal American, and nothing they could do they want. That is tough for young people. Thinking about life, they would wonder whose life they are living. They wanted to change and get enough time and space to think about their own life. They were seeking what their life is on the road. The purpose of travel across the country was to find a free and their life itself.
WORKS CITED: Knight Arthur and Kit 'Kerouac and the Beats' Paragon House Publishers. 1988. United States. Bisbort Alan 'Beatniks' Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication. 2010. United States. Aoyama Minami 'On The Road' Kawade Syobou Syuppan. 2010. Japan.
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ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST AND ARTISTIC REBELLION OF THE BEAT GENERATION N AOMICHI H AYASHI One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was written by Ken Kesey in 1962. This novel criticizes the society after the Second World War because he was disgusted with it, for he thought that it included standardization and robbed people of true freedom. His criticism by writing novel had a big power which encouraged people to raise a cry of protest and take or keep action. The influence was from his literary talent and an observing eye, which were cultivated in studying books of the Beat Generation and exchanging between him and the other beat writers. This Paper will discuss Kesey’s message in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Beat Generation in art. The Beat Generation was a new cultural and literary movement against the government and its policy in America in the 1950s. It was one of the most famous movements at the time, as Rahn explains “the Beat Generation was never a large movement in terms of sheer numbers, but in influence and cultural status they were more visible than any other competing aesthetic”. So it had several effects on the national situation. Since some writers of the Beat Generation were associated with antisocial people like drug-addicts, drifters, prostitutes, and swindlers and their works were often radical and too sexual, they were considered to be uneducated and unrefined by the public and the academic community. Moreover, “established poets and novelists looked down upon the freewheeling abandon of Beat literature” (Rahn) and “politicians such as Joseph McCarthy identified elements of Beat ideology as Communist and a threat to the nation's security” (Rahn). However, in fact, most of them were well-educated and discreet people and their works were worth of art in theme and technique.
In the 1960s, subordinate group which could not appear at the street of American society came to insist on its right and discontent actively, because the population of youth in various races increased and the power which the class of the ruler, white men, decreased (Anderson). Many young people were also educated well in the university which started to expand all over the America in that time. Therefore, the youth except white men grieved their situation and carried out a variety of movement like citizenship movement, the women’s liberation movement,
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Kesey was the latter writer of the Beat Generation and leading person which came to grips with counter-culture movement in 1960s. He was so active for various matters that he spent his youth enjoying outdoor recreation, sports, writing, and drama (Ken Kesey). Then, he entered Oregon University and majored in acting and writing for television and radio. He also won the thespian award at university by writing dramatic and documental scripts. When he decided to be a writer in earnest and studied at Stanford University, he met the beat culture and was attracted to it strongly. He was completely absorbed in works by Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Clellan Holmes, visited the place of the story which is written by them, and finally began drinking wine, smoking marijuana, and swapping wife (Ken Kesey). However, his biggest experience was that he worked in Veterans’ Hospital in Menlo Park. This experience made his most famous work, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
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environmental protection movement, and counter-culture movement. The Beat Generation is closely connected with counter-culture. Kesey had same grief which those who joined the movement felt under the control of the government and wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to help their movement. The title of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest means that a man escapes from a mental hospital and is a quotation from a children’s nursery rhyme. Tingle, ting-le, tang-le toes, she's a good fisherman, catches hens, puts 'em inna pens...wire blier, limber lock, three geese in a flock, one flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo's nest...O-U-T- spells out...goose swoops down and plucks you out (The Poem). This poem has many common points to this novel, so he used it. Moreover, “the full nursery rhyme is quoted in Part 4 by the chief, as he remembers his childhood while awaking from a shock treatment” (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), this quotation has original element as “nursery rhyme” (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) in addition to the meaning which suits the novel. Kesey compared various persons and things and adapted the society of 1960s to the setting of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as main character, Randle McMurphy is himself, the other patients are young people who tried counter-culture movement, a head nurse is the ruler, and a mental hospital is unfree and uniform society in America in those days. In this novel, McMurphy leads to a lot of troubles to escape from the mental hospital and break orderly community as the ruler likes, but he cannot achieve his aim because of punishment of his bad deed. However, Chief, one of the patients and McMurphy’ close friend, successes to get away from the cuckoo’s nest. Though, at first, he cannot escape in both physical and mental aspects, because the hospital is shut to isolate from the outside world and workers in hospital controls the patients mentally, McMurphy’s doing and saying helps independence of the patients and sets them free from spellbinding of the cuckoo’s nest. Kesey wanted to insist that he and writers of the Beat Generation is symbolic existence which spread counter-culture movement and supported activists of it, so McMurphy dies and Chief gets way as he takes over McMurphy’s will. Kesey included a serious problem in those days in a work, let many people know the problem, and showed actions which they should went into. He told the problem and resisted the government and society by writing, which placed great importance on the nature of documentary. On the other hand, the other beat writers made works keeping their individual great importance, like technique of representation as to William Burroughs and radical description as to Allen Ginsburg. Therefore, a lot of writers of the Beat Generation almost succeeded in worthy resistance like Kesey. In conclusion, Kesey’s message of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest reached a lot of people and called their attention to problem or helped their activity. The works of the Beat Generation had been gradually favorably received as the highly artistic in academic community and had great influence since 1960s.
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WORKS CITED
Essays
Anderson, Terry. “The Movement and the Sixties Generation” N.P., 1996. Web. <https://teacher.ocps.net/stephen.hansen/APUSH%20Documents/Movement%20and%2 0the%20Sixties%20Generation.pdf> “Ken Kesey - Encyclopedia of World Biography.” New Yorker , June 14, 2004. Web.<http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Ka-M/Kesey-Ken.Html> “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Summary and AnalysisPart 4: Up on Disturbed.” N.P., n.d. Web. January 13, 2014. ＜http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/one-flew-over-thecuckoos-nest/summary and-analysis/part-4-up-on-disturbed＞ Rahn, Josh. “The Beat Generation - Literature Periods & Movements.” N.p., 2011. Web. <http://www.online-literature.com/periods/beat.php> “The Poem - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.” N.p., n.d. Web. December 29, 2014. <http://allisoneames.weebly.com/the-poem.html> “米国の歴史の概要”[“Outline of U.S. History”]. N.P., n.d. Web. December 30, 2014. <http://aboutusa.japan.usembassy.gov/j/jusaj-ushist13.html>
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NIRVANA AND THE BEAT GENERATION R YOJI T SUCHIYA This report discusses about the relationship between Nirvana and one of the member of the beat generation. William S. Burroughs, who is the member of the beat generation, recorded a song with Kurt Cobain who is the member of Nirvana. There is no point in common between them. William S. Burroughs is a writer. He is not a singer. Also, Kurt Cobain is not a writer. He is a rock singer. This report discusses about their point of common. William S. Burroughs was born in 1914 in the United States and died in 1997. He graduated Harvard University. He was a strange man. He kills his wife by accident. He played William Tell with his wife, and killed by gun. He cut his finger by himself because he had a broken heart. He is gay. He was addicted by heroin. His famous book is the Naked Lunch. He is the one of the famous writer in the beat generation. Kurt Cobain was born in 1967 in the United States and died in 1994. He was the member of Nirvana as a singer and guitarist. Most famous song is “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Their debut album is Bleach. Their most famous album is second album, Nevermind. Their last album is third album, In Utero. Their studio albums are only three. The active periods of Nirvana are seven years. Kurt Cobain had a Clinical depression and drug addiction. Because of these things, he killed himself by a shotgun in 1994. He was troubled by the success of Nevermind, especially the success of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” troubled him. He does not like commercial music. Wherever he went, he asked to play it. The song became a commercial song. This is one cause of his suicide. Moreover, he liked underground culture. However, the song made him popular. He could not be adopted the change of the situation. His mental disease became worse, so he killed himself. There are some common points between William S. Burroughs and Kurt Cobain. For example, they had drug addiction. However, their fields are different. The name of their song is “The “Priest” They Called Him.” This song is played by Kurt Cobain and William S. Burroughs. William S. Burroughs read his short story, Exterminator. Kurt Cobain played the guitar based on “Silent Night” and “To Anacreon in Heaven.” He did not sing a song. It is hard to say that this song is a song. It does not have a melody. The sound of his guitar is distorted hardly. It is almost noise. It can say that the song is underground and it shows that Cobain’s interest in it. This record was released as a limited edition in 1993. William S. Burroughs is a hero for Kurt Cobain (Dangerous Minds). His book Naked Lunch influenced for many musicians, for example, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Kurt Cobain (Keeten). They are very popular musicians. It can say that Cobain was influenced by Burroughs’ works in Cobain’s songs. This is one point that Kurt Cobain made a song with William S. Burroughs.
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The feature of Nirvana’s music is alternative. Their music is called grunge. Cobain wears dirty and old clothes. Moreover, he performed on TV wearing pajamas. He is defiant person. Their music feature is alternative. Before the grunge appears in the music scene, the main stream of music scene is commercialism metal in those days. On the other hand, the grunge music is counter action of them. Metal is brash stage. On the other hand, the stage of grunge is simple. Other grunge bands of those days are Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Melvins. Their feature of music is simple and dirty. These features are clearly counter action against the previous music scene. They liked underground music scene. Their basic state is anti-commercialism. Nirvana has those features. Especially, Kurt Cobain disliked the commercialism rock band. He said that he disliked Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, and Van Halen. He did not like the commercialism. It seems that he thought that music is art. The Beat Generation is a writing movement in the United States. The writers were defined as bad boys (Writers History). Moreover, their works are too difficult to understand. Their works are too artistic. “The Beat Generation left only a few memorable works” (Writers History). This means that people did not accept their works. Their works did not become popular. It can say that their works are anti- commercialism. Kurt Cobain and William S. Burroughs have some same points. First, their state is anticommercialism. Cobain likes underground music scene. Burroughs wrote too difficult works to understand for usual people. Both of them get small number funs. They do not become popular or main stream in their genre. However, Nirvana became popular even though Cobain did not want to be popular. Their attitude against the media or society is very bad. Cobain takes a defiant attitude toward media. They did not want to sing their song which was asked to sing by the people of media on TV. Cobain always wore dingy clothes. Burroughs also takes a defiant attitude toward society. He took heroin and was junky. He killed his wife by accident. He is a bad man for the society. They are defiant attitude against the society. Kurt Cobain also took drugs. Finally, he troubled with it. It is same with Burroughs. Burroughs troubled with heroin. He was cured till he was dead. Cobain was also troubled with drug and it is the one cause of his death. They are troubled with drug. This is also same point between them. In conclusion, they have some same points in their life. They are anti-commercialism. They made works which they wanted to make. Besides, they are misfits in the society. Cobain had a mental disease. Burroughs made big problem to live the society. From those points, Cobain has many same points with Burroughs. Cobain was greatly influenced with Naked Lunch. For Cobain, Burroughs is a hero. Those same points made sympathy. Cobain was longing for Burroughs. They made the song, because of those points. Besides, Cobain’s anti-commercialism attitude and Burroughs’ artistic attitude made the difficult, in other words avant-garde song. They had same taste and took similar interest in the art. They were interested in each other. Those things made them to make the song together.
Dangerous Minds, When Kurt Cobain met William Burroughs, Web, 2015/01/05 Keeten Jeffrey, Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, Web, 2015/01/05 Writers History, Beat Generation, Web, 2015/01/05
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Integrated – Class Journal
THE EXISTENCE OF FATHER IN SYLVIA PLATH Y OSUKE N AKAMURA Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short-story writer. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1932. Her father was Otto Plath, a German American Professor. In 1940, Otto Plath died from diabetes when Sylvia was just eight years old. His death and his existence had a great influence on Sylvia, and obsessed her until Sylvia died. In this paper, I will show the existence of father in Sylvia Plath and how Otto Plath forms Sylvia’s life. To begin with, Sylvia Plath had been influenced by Otto Plath from her childhood because Sylvia was always in the environment shaping her ability. “Sylvia Plath was the daughter of loving and highly educated parents. She was bright, too, eager for information about anything, and loved food, the sea, being read to and attention” (Wagner-Martin, Biography 15). This implies she was a gifted child from then. “Otto, Professor of Entomology at Boston University, did his professional writing at home” (Wagner-Martin, Biography 15). However, “he loved his daughter deeply and insisted she be treated as a unique personality” (Wagner-Martin, Biography 15). This idea of Otto influenced Sylvia from her childhood. One of the important things was Otto Plath asked his wife, Aurelia to give her cooperation with him in educating their children. “Otto even urged his wife to read books on education-among them Frobel’s Education of Man and writings about Maria Montessori’s life and works” (Wagner-Martin, Biography 15). His attitude toward educating children spread out over wife. Otto’s thought might come from his career. Then, Not only did Sylvia’s parents have a great influence on her, but also her grandparents were important in forming her life. “The Schobers, Sylvia’s maternal grandparents, lives nearby, and Sylvia often spent extended periods of time with them” (Wagner-Martin, Literary Life 5). Sylvia’ ability was also inspired by them. “According to Plath’s mother, the warm and loving father figure created in her early fiction was 90% her adoring grandfather, Aurelia’ father, Grampy” (Wagner-Martin, Literary Life 11). Therefore, “whether at home or at Grammy’s, Sylvia’s world was truly shaped by books” (Wagner-Martin, Literary Life 5). As a poet, these elements must form Sylvia Plath from her childhood. Secondly, Sylvia loved her father so much. This is why Sylvia tried to be praised by her father. “Because she was afraid of being abandoned, she learned to develop the language skills that won her parent’s attention” (Wagner-Martin a biography 24). “She talked early, she spoke in complete sentences, she had a large vocabulary, she made up rhymes and stories, and she “read”and, later, wrote” (Wagner-Martin, Biography 24). These efforts also must form Silvia’s sensibility. Sylvia must think that she can obtain Otto’s love only by fulfilling the expectation of him while Otto Plath died when she was too young. In fact, “while he lived, however, even during periods of increasing invalidism, the family’s emphasis on reading, learning, and language permeated every segment of Sylvia’s life” (Wagner-Martin, Literary Life 4). Lastly, as mentioned above, Sylvia made a great effort to be loved by Otto. However, Otto Plath died from diabetes when Sylvia was just eight years old in 1940. “Once her father was dead, Sylvia was less sure about her place in the world, about her mother’s ability to care for herabout her very existence” (Wagner-Martin, Biography 30). The death of her father was so shocking to Sylvia that the impact of losing Otto must be immeasurable. “There is, in fact, some
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suggestion that Sylvia was disoriented enough by her father’s death, or circumstances surrounding it, that she wished to die herself” (Wagner-Martin, Biography 28). With regard to the death of Otto Plath, Sylvia Plath wrote “Daddy” 1962. This poem shows her sadness, and “Daddy” was written just four months before her death. It is not too much to say that the death of Otto Plath possessed Sylvia Plath until she died herself. After Otto’s death, Sylvia was compelled to live her life without man’s love. She lacked love. Therefore, Sylvia needed someone who loves her. In 1956, Sylvia Plath married an English poet, Ted Hughes. “He looked like the best possible man to replace the father whose death had robbed her, she believed, of the man who could have been never to withdraw his love” (Hayman 85). In fact, the appearance of Ted Hughes looked like that of Otto Plath, so Sylvia might recall her father. Moreover, in “Daddy”, Sylvia wrote Ted said he was her father (Plath). Therefore, one of the reasons why Sylvia married Ted Hughes comes from these points. Even in her marriage, Sylvia was influenced by Otto Plath. In conclusion, Sylvia Plath had been influenced by the existence of her father, Otto Plath. Sylvia loved her father so much that Sylvia tried to be loved by Otto Plath. Therefore, Sylvia studied hard in order to be praised by her father. Of course, one of the reasons why Sylvia studied hard was that Sylvia liked books. However, this effort must make Sylvia Plath a great poet. Also, Sylvia lived in a great environment when she was too young. Otto Plath was eager in educating his children, and his wife, Aurelia also read to them, so Sylvia was a gifted child because she was born between Otto and Aurelia. However, Otto Plath died in 1940 when Sylvia was only eight years old. She was so sad that she wished to die herself. The death of Otto Plath was the most shocking accident in Sylvia’s life, so she was obsessed with the death of her father until she died in 1963. In her marriage, Silvia was also influenced by the existence of Otto Plath because Sylvia’s husband, Ted Hughes looks like her father, and he played a role as a substitute of Otto Plath for her. The existence of Otto Plath is so important to form Sylvia’s ability while the death of Otto Plath badly influenced Sylvia Plath until she died in 1963.
WORKS CITED
Essays
Hayman, Ronald. The Death and Life of Sylvia Plath. London: Heinemann, 1991. Print. Plath, Sylvia. “Daddy” Ariel. 1965. London: Harper Perennial, 1999. Print. Wagner-Martin, Linda. Sylvia Plath - A Biography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. Print. ---. Sylvia Plath - A Literary Life. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire New York: MacMillan St. Martin's Press, 1999. Print.
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THE REASON OF SYLVIA PLATH'S DEATH WAS UNDER TED HUGHES OR NOT. Y UKA H IROSE Sylvia Plath was born on October 27th, 1932, in Boston. She was a child of Aurelia Schober, and Otto Plath. Otto Plath was a professor in Boston University, and Aurelia Schober was his student. They were married in January in 1932, but when 8 years had passed, Otto Plath died in 1940. His death had a great influence on Sylvia. Some people say that the reason of Sylvia's death was because of Otto, but most of people thinks that the reason of her suicide was Ted Hughes. In this essay, I am going to examine Ted Hughes was really the reason of Sylvia Plath's death or not. Her first poem was published in regional magazines and newspapers when she graduated from high school. She kept writing her poem since she was eleven. She entered Smith College as a scholarship student. While she was college student, she tried to kill herself by taking sleeping pills. By receiving treatment in mental health facility, she recovered, and in 1955, she got degree at Smith College. After she graduated from Smith College, she got scholarship in Cambridge University where she met Ted Hughes. They were married in 1956, and got two children. Unfortunately, Sylvia fell into a deep depression because Hughes left her for another woman. She killed herself on February 11th, 1963. First of all, I focus on relationship between Sylvia and her father, Otto Plath. Otto began to become ill, lung cancer in 1935. But he refused to take medical care to cure. After he became lung cancer, he died soon in 1940. It was just after Sylvia's eight birthday. She was very depressed. Mondragon said, “Sylvia was still confused and angry about her father’s death – she sometimes felt that, in a way, he had committed suicide because he could have prevented his own death. Her strong and conflicting emotions of love, hate, anger and grief at the loss of her father were to affect Sylvia for the rest of her life.” Therefore, her father’s death really confused her later life. Before her death, she wrote her poem, "Ariel". In this poem, there is "Daddy". And it is about Otto Plath. She wrote this before her death, but it was published after her death. In "Daddy", she created her original image of her father, and describes relationship with her father by using many metaphors. For example, "black shoe, and poor and white" (Plath). I think in the "Daddy", all of her anger, love, and grief for Otto Plath included and explained, but not straightforward. From this poem, I can see that Sylvia was very impressed and respected for her father. Stein mentions in his book, "She would describe her suicide attempt as a bid to get back to her father, and one can imagine that in her case this was a routine reconstruction from a psychoanalytical point of view. But she made much of it, and it played an increasingly dominant role in her recovery and it played and in what her poetry was able to become."(Stein 87). I really get into a feeling of Sylvia's deep grief of death of her father. Second of all, I focus on relationship with Sylvia’s husband, Ted Hughes. Most of articles say that Sylvia committed suicide because of Hughes’s cheating on her with another woman. But, Ted’s second wife, Carol Hughes said, “The people who wrote about Ted were not flies on the
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wall, even if they write as though they were. Nobody really knows what goes on between two people.” (Rahim). I really agree with his second wife’s opinion. We do not know what really had happened between Sylvia and Ted. So it is difficult to define that who was really had bad influences on each other. Sylvia had a little problem because of her father’s death, and she tried to commit suicide. So it is not necessarily that her reasons of suicide is really Ted Hughes or not. Steinberg mentions that Ted mentioned, “I was the one could have helped her, and the only one that couldn’t see that she really needed it this time. No doubt where the blame lies.” Therefore, I think Ted Hughes himself did not know what the reason of Sylvia’s death is. For a long time, Ted Hughes did not reveal about his marriage life with Sylvia Plath, and her death. He might had a secret, or deep thought about her. In the "Last Letters", Ted and Sylvia's complicated relationship was explained. Their relationship was showed in only this poem. After he published Sylvia's poem "Ariel", her poem became popular gradually. As a result of her poem becoming very famous, Otto was under attack as a "murder" by feminists who assist Sylvia a lot. Trilling mentions in his article, "he first started to write simple verse "letters" to Sylvia Plath in the early 1970's. Hughes began writing them piecemeal; later he tried to do it in a more concerted way but found that he couldn't, so he went back to writing them occasionally." So, I think this is one of the reasons that he took more than 20 years to publish his poem "last Letter". In conclusion, I think there is not a little influences of Ted Hughes, but compares between Otto Plath and Ted Hughes, Otto had most influence on Sylvia Plath’s whole life. It might not too much to say that Ted Hughes was poor man because of Otto. I think Sylvia's father had most influence on her mental health problem, but people says that the reasons of her suicide was because of Ted's cheating on her with another woman. We do not really know what is true, and what is wrong. In my opinion, Ted Hughes loved Sylvia Plath even though he had affair with another woman. It is clear that Ted Hughes was not a "murder". He might have fear of Sylvia, so he might wanted to have restoration of serenity.
WORKS CITED
Essays
Mondragon C. Brenda. “Sylvia Plath”. Neurotic Poets. 1997-2015. Web. January, 2015. Plath, Sylvia. Ariel. Na, 1962. Print. Rahim, Sameer. “Muriel Spark: the author as dictator”. The Telegraph. May 18th, 2014. Web. January, 2015. Stein, Jean. Grand Street. "Sylvia Plath and Her Journals -Ted Hughes-." 1981-2004. 86-99. Print. Steinberg K. Peter. A Celebration, This is Sylvia Plath. Info. 1998-2015. Web. January, 2015. Trilling, Daniel. Cultural Capital. "Exclusive: Ted Hughes's poem on the night Sylvia Plath died." Oct, 2010. Web. January, 2015.
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THE VIEW OF DEATH OF SYLVIA PLATH IN POETRY N AOKI Y OSHIDA In the world, death is certainty for everyone, so many people were interested in death and the writer tried to express the death using novel and poetry. Sylvia Plath was one of the writers who tried to do this. Sylvia Plath was born in 1932 in Boston. When she was 8 years old, Otto Plath, her father, died. In her teens, she was very smart, so she wrote much poetry and got many awards. Also these poetry was published in national magazine. When she was undergraduate student, she suffered from the symptoms of severe depression, and, after, this symptom would lead to her death. When she was Cambridge University student, she met Ted Hughes and then they were married. In her marriage life, she got two children, so their life was favorable. However, her husband had an affair with another woman. In 1963, she committed suicide with placing her head in oven. In her life, she was always conscious of death and wrote much poetry about death. About this, Denis Donoghue said that "she showed what self-absorption makes possible in art, and the price that must be paid for it, in the art as clearly as in the death" (Poetry Foundation). In this essay, I will show the view of death of Sylvia Plath in Poetry through "Daddy", "Point Shirley" and "Crossing the water". First, I will show "Daddy". Twenty Two before she wrote this poem, her father died. The relationship between Plath and her father was complex, and we can understand this through this poem. For example, In "Daddy", You do not do, you do not do Any more, black shoe In which I have lived like a foot For thirty years, poor and white, Barely daring to breathe or Achoo. Daddy, I have had to kill you, You died before I had time In this scene, we can understand that Sylvia Plath tried to say that, after her father died, Plath had complex feeling, the loneliness that her father is not, so she tried to get over this feeling. Also, in The Dark Funnel, Robert Phillips said that "the one way the poet was to achieve relief, to become an independent Self, was to kill her father's memory, which, in "Daddy," she does by a metaphorical murder". In addition, this poem showed her life. For example, her father was German emigrant and her mother might have the blood of Jewish, so in this poem she expressed his father as "A man in black with a Meinkampf look", Hitler, and Plath looked on herself as her father and said that "I may be a bit of a Jew". This relationship showed not only the real thing but also her loneliness. Also, Plath wrote "At twenty I tried to die". This sentence leads to the fact which, when she was Smith college student, she tried to kill herself. Moreover, she wrote "The vampire who said he was you/ And dark my blood for a year/ Seven years, if you want to know". In this scene, "The vampire" was Ted Hughes, her husband. Also, "dark my blood for a year" mean that, for a year, Hughes had an affair with another woman, and, "Seven years" means that, for seven years, Plath married with Hughes.
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WORK CITED Round, Jeffery. "Sylvia Plath and Winthrop-By-The-Sea." Literary Traveler. N.p., 10 June 2006. Web. 06 Jan. 2015. Donoghue, Denis. "Sylvia Plath." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2015 Phillips, Robert S. The Dark Funnel: A Reading of Sylvia Plath. Modern Poetry Studies, 1972. Print. "Internal.org Poets." Poems by Sylvia Plath. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2015.
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Second, I will show that “Point Shirley” made us imagine death. When Plath was child, she lived in many places in Massachusetts. According to Jeffery Round, “Of her youthful residences, none is more bleakly picturesque than Winthrop-By-The-Sea and the adjacent Point Shirley. It is a fitting childhood home for a poet whose words are more intensely chilling than almost any other”. Also, when her grandparents lived on Point Shirley, in the poem, grandmother appeared: In my grandmother's sand yard. She is dead, Whose laundry snapped and froze here, who Kept house against What the sluttish, rutted sea could do. In this poem, her grandmother died. Also, Plath tried to impress that the sea destroyed many things near the coast, so, in this scene, “the sluttish, rushed sea” made us imagine death. Another scene showed sea was death, too: Steadily the sea Eats at Point Shirley. She died blessed, And I come by Bones, only bones, pawed and tossed, A dog-faced sea. The sun sinks under Boston, bloody red. In this stanza, sea was compared to a dog, and Point Shirley was compared to bones, and Plath expressed that sea break the surrounding of Point Shirley using “Eats”. Also, to express many people died from sea, Plath wrote that “The sun sinks under Boston, bloody red”. Third, I will explain “Crossing the water” lead to the image of death: Cold worlds shake from the oar. The spirit of blackness is in us, it is in the fishes. A snag is lifting a valedictory, pale hand In this scene, “The spirit of blackness” appeared, and Plath wrote that he “is in us”. This means that people in boat will die, so “A snag is lifting a valedictory, pale hand”. Also, this “pale hand” was hand of the dead person. This paper has argued that, in much poetry by Sylvia Plath, we can understand that Plath tried to express death. As I said above, Plath was suffered from severe depression, and this continued until she died. Also, her life was very hard. For example, her husband was affair with another woman. Plath tried to express this suffering feeling by poem. In the "Daddy", this paper showed that Plath tried to express death by her father and Nazi. In the "Point Shirley", it explained that Plath used grandmother to impress death and expressed death using "sea". In the "Crossing the water", it showed that some points lead to death like "Daddy" and "Point Shirley".
Integrated – Class Journal
SYLVIA COMMITS SUICIDE DUE TO THE DEPRESSION CAUSED BY HER FATHER'S DEATH H ARUKA K OUCHI Sylvia Plath died in 1963. She was depressed for a long time. It seems that there were many reasons she committed suicide because many bad things happened to her. For example, her father's death when she was little, her husband's love affairs. However, the biggest reason why she became depressed was her father's death. That is because in her works, “Daddy” and The Bell Jar show her sadness for father's death and she want to die to go to her father. Firstly, we can see her sadness for her father’s death from her biography because her depression shows her actual sadness for her father’s death. Her father, Otto Plath died in 1940 when Sylvia was eight years old. Moreover, it is said that Sylvia became depression when she was 20 years old and it is said that this trigger was overwork and failure to get into writing class which she wanted to go. However, in 1963, when Sylvia consulted her doctor, she said she made serious suicidal attempt when she was ten years old. Moreover, Cooper also said “The circumstances of his illness and death are strongly suggestive of depression, though neither he nor his wife had any recorded psychiatric history.” Therefore, in fact, when she became depression was earlier. Secondly, in “Daddy”, we can see her sadness for her father’s death. “Daddy” was written in 1962. This poem directly shows her sadness for her father's death. In fact, this poem has many dark words and it seems that she was angry at her father. However, this anger shows us her sadness for her father's death. Harold Bloom also said that "Some critics have questioned whether the intenseness of the daughter’s raw anger at her father actually can coexist with her need for him. Freud and many observers of humanity have answered yes." (41) For example, in this poem, she wrote “Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time—— Marble-heavy, a bag full of God, Ghastly statue with one gray toe Big as a Frisco seal.” (“Daddy”, 222) This sentence show her fierce sadness and that how big her father’s existence is for her. That is because she seems to have used these words such as “statue” or “big as a Frisco seal” to show her heavy spirits for her father’s sadness. Seemingly, these metaphors are difficult to understand. However, common points of these things are “heavy” or “respectable.” Moreover, Nicole Smith also tells about this point. While it may not make sense for the speaker to combine such images as a heavy bad, a grim statue, and a giant seal, it is important to point out that these are all weighty and gray objects or images. It would be easy to think at this early stage of analysis of “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath that this is simply because the man is portly, but as the poem by Sylvia Plath continues it seems as though she is conjuring up a different kind of weight for the reader—a spiritual weight.
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By her insistence, we can understand that for Sylvia, her father’s existence was so big. Therefore, the first sentence of this quotation, “I have had to kill you” means she was too sad to remember his death. That means she became depressed by her father’s death too much. Thirdly, we can also understand her sadness from The Bell Jar. In The Bell Jar, she also wrote her sadness for her father’s death. The Bell Jar was the work written in 1963 and it was the autobiographical novel, and she wrote about her life when she was a college student. In this novel, she sometimes indicated that how big her father’s existence is. In the scene where the main character, Esther Greenwood who is similar to Sylvia, met Constantin, she introduced her feeling as “I felt happier than I had been since I was about nine and running along the hot white beaches with my father the summer before he died.” (The Bell Jar, 39) This sentence shows that when she was little and she had her father, how happy she was. Therefore, for her, when she had her father, it was the happiest time. Moreover, this novel has the scene when she went to her father’s grave. In this scene, she wrote; At the foot of the stone I arranged the rainy armful of azaleas I had picked from a bush at the gateway of the graveyard. Then my legs folded under me, and I sat down in the sopping grass. I couldn't understand why I was crying so hard. Then I remembered that I had never cried for my father's death. (The Bell Jar, 88) When Esther recognized her father’s death directly, for the first time she cried. This scene indicated that father’s death was saddest thing for her. After this scene of The Bell Jar, Esther commits attempted suicide. This happening fits Sylvia’s attempted suicide when she was twenty years old. In Daddy, she wrote about this suicide. “At twenty I tried to die And get back, back, back to you. I thought even the bones would do.” (“Daddy”, 224) She commit suicide with thinking about her father. By this Sylvia’s attempted suicide, we can understand her father’s death was the saddest thing for Sylvia. After Sylvia’s death, nobody knows why she has committed suicide and what the biggest reason she suffered depression so much is. However, by reading “Daddy” and The Bell Jar which show her autobiographical stories, we can understand, in her life, the saddest thing for her was her father’s death. She had many problems in her life such as her husband and her children or something. However, by the fierce sadness in “Daddy”, the feeling for her father in The Bell Jar, and description of her first attempted suicide in “Daddy” and The Bell Jar, we can conclude the most reason why she committed suicide was her father’s death.
Bloom, Harold. “Thematic Analysis of“Daddy”. "Comprehensive Research and Study Guide Sylvia Plath. Chelsea House Publishers: United States, 2001, 41-44. Print. Cooper, Brain. “Sylvia Plath and the depression continuum.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. National Library of Medicine, June. 2003. Web. 14 January 2015. Plath, Sylvia. "Daddy." The Collected Poems, Harper &Row, Publishers: New York, 1981, 222224. Print ---- The Bell Jar. Harper & Row, Publishers: New York, 1971. Print. Smith, Nicole. "Poem Analysis of “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath: The Poetic Weight of History." Article Myriad. 6 December. 2011. Web. 14 January. 2015.
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THE EMOTION OF SYLVIA PLATH IN HER POEMS T ASUKU M ATSUMIYA Sylvia Plath, one of the most prestigious writers, died in 1963, which is because she committed suicide at the age of 30, after struggling with her mental disease. While she had special skills in writing, her life was full of tragic events with her father, Otto Plath, and her husband, Ted Hughes. Her works were deeply connected to her life, which means that they are the windows of her emotion, because her works often imply her feelings about her father and husband. I will analyze her emotion seen in her works, by using her relationships with her father and husband, her poem “Daddy” and "The Rabbit Catcher." Firstly, Sylvia Plath was born in Boston in 1932. Her father, Otto Plath was German, and her mother, Aurelia Plath was one of the Austrian descents. Sylvia wrote many works from her childhood. When she was eight years old, Otto died in 1940. This event influenced her life, because she was very shocked. What accelerated her grief was her absence from Otto`s funeral, because of Aurelia`s decision to relieve Sylvia`s grief. However, this made Sylvia feel more lonely, and this made her think, “her mother`s major sin, a sign that she had not really loved her husband” (Butscher 15). After experiencing the death of Otto, she came to feel depression. In 1956, Sylvia met the poet, Ted Hughes and they fell in love. After they got married, they went to UK. They had two children, and their life seemed to be happy. However, he had affair with another woman and left Sylvia, which made her feel lonely and angry. At last, she killed herself in 1963 by putting her head into an oven. The experience of Otto`s death and the collapse of the relations with Ted made her absorbed in writing works. That is why we can know her feelings about these events, by reading her works. Secondly, her poem “Daddy” was written in 1962. This poem is composed of 16
stanzas and is based on Sylvia`s feelings. In this poem, the poet talks to “you” as if Sylvia talks to her father. In the first stanza, she talks to her father, and says she has lived like a foot in the black shoe, which means the oppression by her father. In the 2-3 stanzas, she shows her kindness, but it is tentative. In addition, she says German "du", which implies that Otto was a Nazi. In the 4-10 stanzas, she obviously shows her anger and anguish. The poet says, "Chuffing me off like a Jew / A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen" ("Daddy" 32-33). This also means the oppression by her father. In the 11-12 stanzas, there appears her husband, named "the black man." In the 12-13 stanzas, she tries to kill herself. In the 13-14 stanzas, her father and husband assimilate each other. In the last two stanzas, she killed them in her mind. At first glance, this poem might seem to show her anger, anguish and fear. However, she shows not only her negative feelings, but also positive, like affection. The affection of Sylvia is seen in the poem, "Daddy." For example, the poet says, "Every woman adores a Fascist"(48). This shows that Sylvia hated her father like a Nazi, but also she had affection toward him. In addition to this, In the 12 stanza, she wants to
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go to her lost father, when she tries to kill herself. These sentences show her affection toward her father. In fact, in the poem "Electra on Azalea Path" written in 1959, "I" who is Sylvia, went into the dirt / Into the lightless hibernaculum," when her father died ("Electra on Azalea Pathâ&#x20AC;? 1-2). This means that she has sense of loss and loneliness. Then, in the poem, "Daddy" her feelings change from sense of loss to anger. This change means that she feels loneliness and so she tries to get him away in order to live strong. However, the feeling of loneliness came back to her when Ted left her. That was why her father and her husband were assimilated in the poem. Sylvia talked about this poem in BBC. According to Ariel: The Restored Edition,
Here is a poem spoken by a girl with an Electra complex. Her father died while she thought he was God. Her case is complicated by the fact that her father was also a Nazi and her mother very possibly part Jewish. In the daughter the two strains marry and paralyze each other â&#x20AC;&#x201C; she has to act out the awful little allegory once over before she is free of it (196).
Essays
This comment of her means that she loves her father but he was dead. As mentioned above, she tried to hate and get away Otto Plath in order to live strong. She also changes her loneliness to anger at Ted, after he left. Finally, the poem "The Rabbit Catcher" was written in 1962. This poem implies the anguish of Sylvia about the relationship with Ted. According to Bitter Fame, this poem is "partly a cry for help, partly one of blind terror, and partly an act of emotional blackmail" (Stevenson 244). The poem says, "The wind gagging my mouth with my own blown hair" ("The Rabbit Catcher" 2). This implies that she cannot say anything like a slave. In addition to this, According to the poem, snares "set close like birth pans" (16). About this, Anne Stevenson wrote, "to Sylvia the snares were not only cruel; they were terrifying symbols of an inevitable yet irresistible finality" (244-245). This comment "inevitable yet irresistible finality" means the end of relations between Sylvia and Ted. At the last of the poem, the poet says, "The constriction killing me also" ("The Rabbit Catcher" 30). From this word, the readers can notice that the snares, the symbols of the finality, mean the death Sylvia. She was worried about the relations with Ted and also afraid of death after their relations finished. In this poem, the rabbit stands for her, and snares play an important role in showing her fear. According to Sylvia Plath a Biography, the draft title of this poem was "Snares" (Wagner 205). This means that Sylvia tried to add the deep meanings to the word, "Snares." In fact, the rabbit was caught in the snares. In other words, Ted left Sylvia, she felt lonely and, at last, she committed suicide, while her two children were sleeping. In conclusion, she had contradictory feelings about her father and husband. Like Feminists, she hated the oppression by them, while she truly loved them. In the poem, "Daddy," she changes her feelings from her affection to her anger in order to live strong. In the poem, "The Rabbit Catcher," she strongly feels the cold relationships and has image of the death in the snares. She changes in each poem, but she constantly feels loneliness and the oppression by men. Sylvia showed these feelings by writing poems.
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WORKS CITED Butscher, Edward. Sylvia Plath, Method and Madness. New York: Seabury Press, 1976. Print. "Neurotic Poets. "Electra on Azalea Path" Neurotic Poet. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jan. 2015. Plath, Sylvia. “Daddy” Ariel. 1965. London: Harper Perennial, 1999. Print. --- Ariel: The Restored Edition. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2004. Print. --- "The Rabbit Catcher" The Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. New York: Harper & Row, 1981. Print. --- The Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. New York: Harper & Row, 1981. 293. Print. Stevenson, Anne. Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989. Print. Wagner-Martin, Linda. Sylvia Plath: A Biography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. Print.
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SYLVIA PLATH’S IDEA OF DEATH AND REBIRTH H ARUKA M ASUDA Silvia Plath is one of the most famous poets in twentieth century. She spent excellent student life and she published a lot of great poetry. In spite of such a brilliant student years, she had a depression in her heart because she lost her father at the age of eight. In addition, she fell out with her husband, Ted Hughes, which made her more depressed. From these reasons, she wrote a lot of poems about death and suicide, and some of these poems have common theme; death and rebirth. Especially, in “Edge”, “Lady Lazarus”, and “A Birthday Present”, she described death as a new beginning and a step to resurrection. Firstly, in “Edge”, Sylvia suggests that she can accomplish her perfection through her death. A woman in this poem suggests that: Flows in the scrolls of her toga, Her bare Feet seem to be saying: We have come so far, it is over. (Edge 5-8) The bare feet symbolize that she has no protection and immunity (Mohamad 9). In addition, her feet want to be free from something hardships in her life. In other words, she wants to release herself in week position from the aggressive world through her death, and the liberation leads to her perfection. Moreover, not only her death but also her rebirth is described in this poem. There are dead children and they return to her body. She comes back to life again by these children’s lives. Namely, those children’s death becomes a new beginning for the woman, which shows that Sylvia thought death is not the end or despair but a new beginning.
Essays
Next, in “Lady Lazarus”, she described her rebirth in another situation. Lazarus in the title is a person who was restored to life by Jesus, so the title suggests a woman’s rebirth. In this poem, she tells her some attempts for suicide. The first time was when she was at the age of ten, but she says it was only an accident, not on purpose. In the second time, she tried to die intentionally and shut herself like a seashell until people rescued her. She tried to the third time of suicide, but she understood that she would be saved again. She attempts suicide every ten years because she wants to escape from the people against her. One of these people is Nazis. She compares herself to Jew: “My face a featureless, fine Jew linen. Peel off the napkin O my enemy” (Lady Lazarus 8-9), and the enemy symbolizes Nazis. Another of the people against her is a doctor. She calls him “Herr Enemy” (Lady Lazarus 66). In addition, the doctor is a parent who made her: “I am your opus, I am your valuable, The pure gold baby” (Lady Lazarus 67-69). However, she tried to escape from him by committing a suicide. In actual, she committed a suicide and she was resurrected by God and Lucifer, but they are also the enemies for her. In the last sentence, she says “And I eat men like air” (Lady Lazarus 84). This means that men are enemies for her, so God and Lucifer are also enemies. Shortly, she committed a suicide not only to escape from her enemies but also to oppose them.
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Moreover, Jon Rosenblatt says “Lady Lazarus seems to gather up her energies for an assault on her enemies” (40). In this poem, death is described as her energies. In the latter half of this poem, when people come to find her to rescue her from her suicide, she demands them a charge for looking her scars or blood, hearing her heart or her words, or touching her. This indicates that suicide, in other words dying, is a performance for her. In addition, she says “Dying is an art” (Lady Lazarus 43-44). Shortly, these performance and art by dying are her energies to be against her enemies. Finally, in “A Birthday Present”, death is described as a new birth. In this poem, she asks her friend to help her suicide. In other words, she demands her death for her birthday present from her friend. At first, she says “I would not mind if it were bones, or a pearl button” (A Birthday Present 12). Both bones and a pearl button are white, which indicate death because white is a color which has a cold and empty image. She also says: The diaphanous satins of a January window White as babies’ bedding and glittering with dead breath. O ivory! It must be a tusk there, a ghost column. ("A Birthday Present" 17-19). These satins and a tusk also suggests death because they are white. Then, she looks for her death. “In her poem, she expresses her excitement for wishing death to be her birthday present” (Tashiro). Namely, for her, death is not a negative thing but a positive thing. “There would be a nobility then, there would be a birthday” ("A Birthday Present" 59), this sentence means that her death becomes a new beginning, in other words, a birthday. “Plath’s imagery shows that, unlike Existentialist thinkers, she believed there was something after death” (Logan 106), and it is rebirth. Sylvia Plath’s idea of death is unique. She suggested that death is a positive thing by her poems. In “Edge”, suggests that she can accomplish her perfection through her death. In addition, two children’s death become her new life, which means that death leads a new beginning. In “Lady Lazarus”, she escaped from her enemies by committing a suicide, and she also opposed them by doing it. She suggests that dying is a performance and an art which becomes her energies to fight her enemies. In “A Birthday Present”, she described death as a birthday present, which means that death is a new beginning and it leads to a rebirth. A common point in these three poems is that she thinks death releases her from aggressive world, and it gives her a new beginning, in other words, rebirth.
WORKS CITED Logan, Richard. “Sylvia Plath and Death.” CiNii. Bunkyo University, 1989. Web. 31 Dec. 2014. Hassan, Mohamad. “Death Representation in Sylvia Plath’s Selected Poems.” Academia.edu. N. p. , N. d. Web. 31 Dec. 2014. Plath, Sylvia. “A Birthday Present.” Ariel: The Restored Edition. Faber & Faber, 2010. Print. ---. “Edge.” Collected Poems. HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. Print. ---. “Lady Lazarus.” Ariel: The Restored Edition. Faber & Faber, 2010. Print. Rosenblatt, Jon. “Sylvia Plath: The Poetry of Initiation.” University of North Carolina Press, 12 Mar. 2008. Print. Tashiro, Saki. “Sylvia Plath’s Idea of Death Seen in ‘Lady Lazarus’, ‘The Bell Jar’, and ‘A Birthday Present’.” Class Journal. N. p. , 2014. Print.
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REVIVING FROM DEATH IN “DADDY” AND SYLVIA’S POEMS T OMOMI Y ANAGIDA Sylvia Plath is a famous poet and novelist. In Sylvia’s works, readers can see that Sylvia deals with death. Author Naoko Otsuki says, “Sylvia Plath employed many images of death in her work” (48). When Sylvia was eight years old, she lost her father, Otto Plath to diabetes. Many scholars insist a death of Sylvia’s father had great influence on herself and her works. According to a writer Ellin Sarot, “All of them [scholars] believe that psychic fissures caused by her [Sylvia] father’s death when she was eight contributed to her breakdown and attempted suicide in the summer 1953” (21). Author H.C. Phelps says, “Plath’s grief at the death of her father provides the emotional force of much of her work” (250). Moreover, Otsuki says, “Most readers attribute such [death] images to the experience of losing her father at a young age” (48). Readers also can see the image of death in Sylvia’s famous poem, “Daddy.” In this poem, Sylvia may describe her father’s death. Phelps says, “Sylvia Plath’s famous poem ‘Daddy’ seems to refer quite consistently to her deceased father” (249). However Sylvia treats images of death, she also describes reviving from death or overcoming death in some her works. In the Poem, “Daddy,” readers can see Sylvia’s love and respect for her father and she may want her father to come back to her. So Sylvia tries to show her wish that she want her father to come back to her to describe reviving from death and get over death in her Poems. Critic Peter J. Lowe says, “Plath’s suicide attempt as motivated to a large degree by a wish to regain in some manner the father whose absence so fractured her world” (38).
The first poem “The Colossus” was published in 1960 and in this poem, Sylvia may describe the colossus as her father. Author Kristen Osborne says, “A poem commonly considered to be about Plath's deceased father” and “The title and subject of the poem allude to the ancient Greek idea of the colossus, which was a statue that represented a deceased person.” In this poem the statue may mean the Colossus on the island of Rhodes which was destroyed by an earthquake
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At first, readers may see Sylvia’s love and respect for her father in the poem, “Daddy.” Newman says, “’Daddy’ is undoubtedly one of the most widely known of Plath’s poems” (218). As referred to earlier, readers can interpret Daddy in this poem means Sylvia’s father. In this poem, Sylvia says, “For thirty years poor and white / Barely daring to breathe or Achoo” (4-5). These lines mean that “I (Sylvia)” was pressured by “Daddy (Otto)” and may show Sylvia’s awe in her father. Moreover, Sylvia describes “Daddy,” “Marble-heavy, a bag full of God, / Ghastly statue with one gray toe.” (8-9) and “I have always been scared of you” (45).” These lines may show Sylvia thought her father lofty as God. Lowe writes, “Otto remains an unsettling and yet attractive presence” (37). Furthermore, readers can see Sylvia’s wish which she wants her father to get back to her in this poem. Sylvia says, “I used to pray to recover you,” (14) and “And get back, back, back to you” (64). These lines show Sylvia’s love for her father and she says, “I made a model of you” (68). So readers can see that Sylvia’s love and respect for her father and her wish to regain her father in her poem, “Daddy.”
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(Osborne). Sylvia writes, “Perhaps you consider yourself an oracle, / Mouthpiece of the dead, or of some god or other.” (The Colossus 6-7). Sylvia describes this statue as a god, so these phrases may show Sylvia’s respect for her father. Moreover, Sylvia says, “Thirty years now I have labored” (The Colossus 8). This phrase resembles the phrase in “Daddy”, “For thirty years poor and white” (Daddy 5). So the Colossus may imply Sylvia’s father. In this poem, readers also can see Sylvia’s desire which she regain her father. Sylvia says, “To mend the immense skull-plates and clear” (The Colossus 14). These lines may show Sylvia’s wish her father gets back to her. Kristen insists, “In the poem, Plath uses the colossus to represent her attempt to reconstruct the father whose absence looms so large in her psyche” One of the poems which Sylvia uses the image of death is “Lady Lazarus.” Critic Linda W. Wagner says, “Sylvia Plath’s ‘Lady Lazarus’ is certainly a poem ‘about’ attempted suicide” (50). Sylvia says, “And like the cat I have nine times to die” (Lady 23). The theme of this poem is death of the woman (Wagner 51). So this poem may show death of woman and some scholar says the woman may be Sylvia. In this poem, readers can see rebirth of woman. Sylvia describes, “Soon, soon the flesh/ The grave cave ate will be/ At home on me,” (Lady Lazarus 18-20) and “Comeback in broad day” (Lady 54). These phrases may show Sylvia rebirths. Furthermore, readers can see rebirth in this poem by focusing on myth. Otsuki says, “Her [Sylvia] works express not only her personal sorrow but also symbolize mythical elements,” (48) and “The images of death also symbolize mythical elements” (48). Sylvia uses image of revived woman who resembles the god of Egyptian myth, Osiris (Otsuki 48). Moreover, according to scholar Sanazaro Leonald, he says, “Plath’s Lady Lazarus is condemned to die” (57). Sylvia describes, “Out of the ash/ I rise with my red hair” (Lady 84-85). So readers can see many descriptions of rebirth in this poem. Sylvia describes images of death and reviving from death in her poems. In the poem, “Daddy,” readers can see Sylvia’s love and respect for her father, Otto. So descriptions of death and reviving from death may show her desire to regain her father.
WORKS CITED Collins, Theresa. "Plath's Lady Lazarus.” Explicator. Heldref Publications. Washington. 1998: 156-158. Print. Newman, Charles, ed. The Art of Sylvia Plath. London: Faber, 1970. Lowe, Peter. J. "The Dead Father in Sylvia Plath's Seascapes." Full Fathom Five. University of Texas Press. 2007. 37-38. Print. Phelps, H.C. “Plath’s Daddy.” Explicator. Heldref Publications. Washington. 1994: 249-250. Print. Plath, Sylvia. “Daddy.” Collected Poems. London: Faber, 1981. 222-224. Print. Plath, Sylvia. “Lady Lazarus.” Ariel. New York: Harper Perennial, 1965. 5. Print. Plath, Sylvia. "The Colossus." The Kenyon Review. Kenyon College. 1960. 596. Print. Otsuki, Naoko. Images of Death in Sylvia Plath’s Works. N.p., 2009. Print. Roger, Platizky. “Plath’s Daddy.” Explicator. Heldref Publications. Washington. 1997: 105107. Print. Sarot, Ellin. “One Death, Many Lives.” The Women's Review of Books. Old City Publishing, 1992: 21-22. Print.
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THE TRUE LOVE FOR SYLVIA PLATH Sylvia Plath is one of the most famous women poets and writers in the United States. She was born in a rich family, and her father, Otto Plath was a professor. Then she started to write poems and stories when she was eight years old. She had so great writing skills that there were some famous works in her career as a novelist. For example, there were “Daddy”, The Bell Jar, and so on. I choose this topic because, through the classes, it is important for me to consider what the true love for Sylvia Plath is. She had some troubles about relationships between her and her father, Otto Plath, or between her and her husband, Ted Hughes. These troubles seem to connect with her bipolar disorder and her deadlocks of writing novels and poems. Therefore, in this essay, I would like to research what the true love for Sylvia Plath is by considering the three points of view that are the relationship between Sylvia and Otto, the relationship between Sylvia and Ted Hughes, and the connection between Otto Plath and Ted Hughes in her poem, “Daddy”. First of all, I would like to consider the relationship between Sylvia and Otto. "When Otto Plath died after refusing treatment for his diabetes, his young daughter felt "lost and betrayed". (Axelrod 25). His father, Otto Plath died when Sylvia was eight years old, so she did not have much time to live with him. It must be sure that she wanted to play or to go everywhere with her father. The reason why Sylvia started to write novels and poems from her early childhood is not only that she had a talent for writing but also that she wanted to forget her loneliness. However she suffered from bipolar disorder when she was 20 years old. It must be also sure that one of causes of this disease was her loneliness. It was difficult for her to bear her sad feeling not only by creating works. She could not feel the warmth of her father in reality, so she tried to commit a suicide to meet him in Heaven. Sylvia needed only to live together. It was the most important time when she could feel her father's love to her. Second, I would like to consider the relationship between Sylvia and Ted Hughes. After graduating from Smith College in the United States, Sylvia went to the United Kingdom and entered Cambridge University by Fulbright Scholarships. One day, there was a party that one of Ted’s friends held. Sylvia participated in the party and met Ted there for the first time. This encounter made the start of their love. Then they married in only four months. After the marriage, Sylvia was blessed with two children, and she published her first collection of poems in 1960. Therefore they seemed to be happily married, but this happy life could not continue so long. Sylvia had a lot of troubles that were her miscarriage, the deadlock of writing, and especially the falling out with Ted. Ted was a playboy and he had a love affair with Assia Wevill. This problem made Sylvia feel so sad and she could not believe Ted. This was second betrayal from men who she loved, so her sadness was unfathomable. In 1963, she committed a suicide by using an oven because of this hard situation for her. “He is addressing his tragically dead wife, and this is why we have come to eavesdrop – to discover whether he wants belatedly to admit his guilt for her suicide or to offer intimate glimpses into what seemed to be a closed chapter in his life.” (Bundtzen 165) Ted felt the responsibility for Sylvia’s death after she died. However it was too late. He had to notice that it was the best time for her to feel the love of a husband and wife when they lived together in a same house.
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R YOICHI N AGASHIMA
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Third, I would like to consider the connection between Otto Plath and Ted Hughes in her poem, “Daddy”. As we learned in Integrated skills classes, the subject of this poem is that she seeks the love from her father. Therefore, in this poem, she thought of not only his father but also his husband. If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two— The vampire who said he was you And drank my blood for a year, Seven years, if you want to know. Daddy, you can lie back now. (Plath) In this part, she referred to two men who were ,of course, Otto Plath and Ted Hughes. The two men were important existence because she loved them, but they betrayed her. She wanted to be loved by only a person who she believed, but the dream did not come true. There’s a stake in your fat black heart And the villagers never liked you. They are dancing and stamping on you. They always knew it was you. Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through. (Plath) In the last part, she wrote like this, and it seemed to suggest her suicide. If she had encountered more honest man who had loved her with all his heart, she would not have been worried about being loved. In conclusion, from every point of view, the true love for Sylvia Plath is that she lives with a man who she loves and never betrays her. If she felt the warmth of love from her father or her husband, she was never starved for love and never felt loneliness. She is one of the most famous writers in the world, but we should know not only about her great works, but also about some hardships that she experienced.
WORKS CITED Axelrod, Steven G. Sylvia Plath: the wound and the cure of words. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. Print. Bundtzen, Lynda K. The other Ariel. Amherst, Mass: University of Massachusetts Press, 2001. Print. Plath, Sylvia. "Daddy" Ariel. 1965. London: Harper Perennial, 1999. Print.
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FEMINISM IN “DADDY” Y UKA U CHIDA In the world, the problem of gender discrimination is not solved. Many feminists tried to solve it, so the condition of women comes to be better than old times. However this problem still remains. Many feminists released the stories which show feminism, and Sylvia Plath was the one of them. Her father was authoritarian and restricted her, so she seems to dislike the idea which men restrict women. In “Daddy”, Sylvia Plath, reveals the idea of feminism many times, and the main character who seems to be Plath hates her father and her husband. That is why she is often regarded as a feminist, and that is revealed by her way of narrating, her expressions which reveal her father and her expressions of her father as Fascist. In this poem, the narrator is the main character, so her mind seems to reveal directly. The description of this poem is that it “tells in a disquietingly singsong rhythm the story of a daughter’s fury at the “fascist brute” who is her father” (Mehrpouyan) and ““Daddy” is a kind of elegy, an angry conversation of a daughter with her deceased father” (Hassanpour 125). In this poem, she calls her father “Daddy”. It shows that she is inferior to her father, because the word “Daddy” which is the word little girls use in order to call her father (Hassanpour 126). The title is also “Daddy”, so this poem describes her inferiority.
The words which reveal men are different from that which reveal women. The words “in black”, “screw” and “rack” show men and these words show the image of men which Plath thinks, and the words “scared”, “my pretty red”, “pure” and “white” show women and these words show the incapability of women (Hassanpour 128). These words also seems to show the gender. In this poem, there are many worldly words, for example, ““Atlantic”, “Polish town[s]”, “wars”, “Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen”, “[t]hesnows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna”, “swastika[s]”, “Fascist[s]”, and so forth” (Narbeshuber 189). These worldly words are connected with Plath’s private family matter, and “Plath reframes the private in terms of a public discourse, framing personal, family conflicts within larger cultural processes (language, homogenization,
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Her mind is read by the words and sentences, and the words which reveal her father show her mind well. For example, “Daddy, Daddy, you bastard” (80). This sentence shows that her father’s dictatorial attitude makes her be restricted (Raza 55), so she tells that she wanted to “kill” him. The word “kill” shows her strong mind towards her father. She thinks that she must kill him in order to get her freedom and dignity. (Raza 55) He died before she kills him. It is revealed by the sentence “Daddy, I have had to kill you/ You died before I had time” (6), and this means that he can do nothing in the situation of death, so “The death of father allows the woman’s entity and identity to emerge.” (Hassanpour 125) The words which she expresses her father directly are “Black” and “Black shoe”. “Black” reveals the dark spirit of a father who is in control of the daughter, and “white” and “poor” reveals that she is weak to contrast with “Black”. (Hassanpour 125) “Black shoe” is her father’s metaphor, because “black” is the color which reveals him and “shoe” is described that it restricts her. That is why Plath wants to leave the world which her father builds and claim (Narbeshuber 189).
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technology, politics)” (Narbeshuber 192). In particular, Fascist is described in this poem, because the idea of Fascism is dictatorship. She sometimes uses German language, for example “ich, ich, ich, ich”. This language is used by her father, so this shows that she cannot escape her father and is “seen to mirror the stuttering repetition of the oppressor’s language (“An engine, an engine”), which “chuffs” out the same sound over and over again, revealing itself as a homogenizing, mechanical force” (Narbeshuber 190). She describes the German language as “obscene”, because she hates her father who had “relationship to “Nazi” and “Fascist” system as a symbol of male authority and its hegemony on the society and women as a vulnerable part of the community” (Hassanpour 125). She describes herself as “Jew” and she represents that the relationship to her father is the same as the relationship between “Fascist” as victimizer and “Jew” as victim (Raza 55). That is why the sentence “I think I may well be a Jew” seems to be read that she tries to change her identity properly (Vice 503). However Plath as a young Jewish in this poem searches for her identity and is angry about a men dominated society (Hassanpour 123). The words “panzer-man” and “gobbledygoo” reveal her father as Fascist, and it also can be read that she hates Fascism. She shows the illness of her father, but she also has some loves for him. That is revealed by the sentence “I made a model of you.” (64) It shows that she tries to idealize him. (Raza 55) The word “bright blue eyes” also seems to reveal her love, because she speaks well of him. (Hassanpour 126) In this poem, Plath’s own narrating show her anger mind directly and she is not only angry, but also connect her family’s matter with the worldly problem, “Fascism”. However she seems to hate not men, but the idea of patriarchy, so she seems to try change this idea.
WORKS CITED Hassanpour, Forough. Hashim, Ruzy Suliza. “An Angry Language: A Stylistic Study of the Images of Men in the Sylvia Plath’s“Daddy”. ”CS Canada Studies in Literature and Language. 4.1. (2012):123-128. Print. Mehrpouyan, Azadeh. “Feminist Critical Study on Contemporary Women’s Writing and Female Culture with Special Focus on Sylvia Plath’s Poems.” N.d. Print Narbeshuber, Lisa. “The Poetics of Torture: The Spectacle of Sylvia Plath’s Poetry.” Canadian Review of American Studies. 34.2.(2004):185-203. Print. Plath, Sylvia. “Daddy.” Poetry Foundation, n.d. web. 4 Jan 2015. Raza, Raihan. “Sylvia Plath-An Encounter With Feminism.” (2005):54-61. Print. Vice, Sue. “Sylvia Plath: Ariel.” A Companion to Twentieth- Century Poetry. (2001):500-513. Print.
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IN DEPTH ARTICLE: TWO MALE CHARACTERS IN SYLVIA PLATH’S “DADDY” H ARUKA T SUJIMOTO “Daddy” is one of the most famous works of Sylvia Plath (1932-1963). Obviously from the title of the poem, this poem cries for her feelings about her real father, Otto Plath (1885-1940), who died suddenly when she was eight years old. She calls him “you” in this poem and though he was not a real Nazi, she considers him as a Nazi and expresses her anger against him. She compares herself to a Jew to refer to her mind of being restricted by him. Her anger is aimed at not only her father, but also at Ted Hughes (1938-1998), who was her husband. Sylvia and Ted were married in 1956 and lasted for seven years until her suicide in 1963, but it was not a happy marriage. She had believed Ted, and once she identified him with her father, but she was betrayed by his love affair. The author Wagner-Martin mentions about the poem “Daddy,” “the male figure is portrayed as a dark funnel, drawing the speaker (a child, “guilty of nothing”) down and into an abyss of guilt she cannot get free of” (204). As it is said, to reflect her feelings about them, she describes male characters as evil and awful people in this poem.
The reason why Sylvia has used a metaphor of Nazis for her father is as already mentioned, he was German American, and he gave her strict upbringings. His disciplines were felt as the Holocaust for her. In fact, she is totally against Nazism. In her essay, she “refers to Nazism when she discusses ‘the danger of the man-god theory’” (Strangeways 81). She describes, at first, her father as “Marble-heavy, a bag full of God / Ghastly statue with one gray toe” (Plath 10-11). As the author McNeil says, “Otto Plath appears coded, first as the patriarchal statue,” it is obvious
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Essays
First, her father appears in the poem. As Sylvia refers to her father as if he is a Nazi, she was strictly brought up. He was completely stronger than her, and she could not say anything to him. It is mentioned in the poem; “For thirty years, poor and white, / Barely daring to breathe or Achoo” (Plath 5-6). Otto Plath’s parents were German and he had a “Germanic theory that the man should be der Herr des Hauses (head of the house)” (qtd. in Barnard 14). Due to this theory, it can be thought that he disciplined her strictly. As the author Wagner-Martin mentions, her father “saw his role in the family as mentor, financial manager, and adviser” (24), more than as a kind father. In addition, “he preferred to eat his meals without the children” (24), and he ate in his study. Meals without father can make children sad and lonesome. From these examples, it is obvious that she was not able to obtain his love which she wanted ideally. Also she could not feel his affection with his strict experiment; “When Sylvia was six months old, Otto held her up to a rope tied to the porch awning and saw ― as he had predicted ― that her feet grasped the rope in the same way her hands did” (16). Since then, when she cried, she was taken away to the porch and held up to a rope. Her experience of strict upbringings is described by using a metaphor; “You. . . / black shoe / In which I have lived like a foot” (Plath 1-3). She felt as if she was confined by him and always observed. As the author Rosenblatt mentions, this metaphor suggests “her submissiveness and entrapment” by her father. Since the Plaths’ strict discipline, she has always been scared of him and even she calls him as “a devil” in the poem; “But no less a devil for that, no not / Any less the black man” (65-66).
Integrated – Class Journal
that her father seemed like a “God” for her. What he says is absolute and she has to obey the orders. It can be thought that she could not oppose him. Then, she felt as if he is a Nazis and she is a Jewish who is tortured and massacred. However, though “he [Otto] was not a Nazi, nor was his daughter Jewish” (McNeil), she uses the metaphor of the Nazis. The reason why she was interested in the Holocaust is because of “her friendship with a South African Jewish couple, Gerry and Jillian Becker” (Strangeways 120). After she had a trouble with Ted Hughes, she became friends with the Beckers. Their relationship was so close that they shared the meal on Christmas Day. In addition, her “interests in the Holocaust was also a response to her general political fears” (120). The couple influenced her very much so that she uses the expressions in the poem, such as, “I have always been scared of you. / With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo” (Plath 50-51). Second male character mentioned in the poem is Ted Hughes, who was Sylvia’s husband for seven years. As the author Gill mentions, they met at the launch party of a literary magazine in February, and “Plath and Hughes married in London just four months later” (7). It was the secret marriage at first because “Sylvia feared losing her scholarship if it became known” (7). Ted was also a poet, and he influenced her writings, as the author Britzolakis mentions, in many of her stories, “marriage with Ted Hughes seemed to offer the ideal reconciliation of heterosexual romance, married domesticity, and female autonomy” (27). At first, Ted looked like “a god-like ‘saviour’” (27) for Silvia. When she wrote a letter to her mother, he was “seen as a prototype of the rugged individualist who is able to establish an original relation to the universe” (27). It was obvious that she was satisfied with her husband and she respected him. She sought love which she could not obtain from her early-dead father. The author Britzolakis asserts that Sylvia had considered Ted as her ideal father; “The idealized, omnipotent father is revealed as a myth, a retrospective or substitutive fiction which, in a compensatory gesture, displaces the actual (dead) father” (20). Ted told her that he would be a substitute of Sylvia’s father, and she believed in him, but their relationship broke down gradually. He began to have an affair with another woman. It made Sylvia anxiety, and she did not want any women to be close. For instance, she was jealous of his relationship with a teenage girl Nicola, who is the daughter of their friend. One of the episodes about their relationship is, “Nicola says that the film The Seven Samurai bored her. Even though it is Ted’s favorite movie, he agrees with her” (Wagner-Martin 201-202). This emotional complications between the couple influenced both of their works. Ted’s works became “either angry or oblique” (202). Also, influence on Sylvia can be seen in “Daddy;” she calls him as “The vampire who said he was you [Sylvia’s father] / And drank my blood for a year, / Seven years, if you want to know” (Plath 86-89). In conclusion, she was angry with her father, who had died early and did not give her enough love, and her husband, who she considered as an ideal father. She uses Nazi expressions to refer to her father because he was German American, and had strict disciplines on her. Her interests in Nazi are influenced by her friends; South African Jewish couple. Sylvia was really sad that she could not feel her daddy’s love sufficiently, so she wanted Ted to make her happy. However, unfortunately, she was betrayed by him and she finally committed suicide. The poem, “Daddy,” is filled with her sadness and anger against two men; her father, and her “ideal father,” who is Ted Hughes.
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WORKS CITED
Essays
Barnard, Caroline King. Sylvia Plath. Woodbridge: Twayne Publishers, 1978. Print. Britzolakis, Christina. Sylvia Plath and the Theatre of Mourning. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999. Print. Gill, Jo. The Cambridge Introduction to Sylvia Plath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print. McNeil, Helen. “Sylvia Plath.” Voices & Visions. Ed. Helen Vendler. New York: Random House (1987): 469-96. Print. Plath, Sylvia. “Daddy” Ariel. 1965. London: Harper Perennial, 1999. Print. Rosenblatt, Jon. Sylvia Plath: The Poetry of Initiation. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1979. Print. Strangeways, Al. Sylvia Plath: The Shaping of Shadows. New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1998. Print. Wagner-Martin, Linda. Sylvia Plath: A Biography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. Print.
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REACTION PIECES
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REACTION TO A BOOK THE HOBBIT, WITH A COMPARISON OF FILMS This is a reaction piece about J. R. R. Tolkien's works and I am going to include a review of a book here as well. I usually read the original book before watching films. For the Hobbit, however, I have already seen the first two films before I started reading. It took me about ten years to go into the world of J. R. R. Tolkien; I tried to read the first volume of the Lord of the Rings in Japanese when I was in an elementary school and gave up even before Frodo leaves the Shire. Now that I know the story and found it interesting thanks for the films, that was the time for me to expand my knowledge about Middle-Earth. I would like to talk about the book with a comparison of films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. There are some points I realised after reading and watching them. At the beginning of these films, it is obvious that they start on the very same day, when Bilbo Baggins has 111th birthday. It describes before the birthday party in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, the party itself then how Bilbo disappears for another adventure of his. We can see how the day starts and how Bilbo recalls his adventures with Dwarves. That is how we are able to understand the lapse of the day by watching both films. Also, there is a mention of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins at The Hobbit and about auction. It makes it easier to understand what Bilbo is talking about here if you read a book beforehand. He means the time when he comes back from the adventure at the end of the Hobbit, only to find out his dearest hobbit hole is on an auction by his kin, Sackville-Baggins. Thus, if we read a book, it is more interesting to see films because we are able to go deeper into the story. I was so shocked when I learned the death of Fíli and Kíli that I regretted I was reading the scene in a train; I got emotional. They are my favourite characters in the Hobbit films, so as in the books. I reckon it a bad thing that they change the story in the adaption of the film, though, I wish they were alive at the last film of the Hobbit. I understand they have to cut many scenes when it comes to adapt films since they should not be the way too long. For other points, however, they should be faithful toward the original. As for the brothers, we tend to miss that Thorin Oakenshield is their uncle from the film. About these family trees including Sackville-Baggins, it is difficult to explain and make audience understand only from the films. Speaking of an adaption, in the films, I reckon many people misunderstand the Great Eagles are Gandalf’s pets or something. They appear both in the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I myself did not recognize them as sophisticated messengers until I read the Hobbit. It is pity that people wonder why the Eagles take everyone to the destination. It is simply not their business to carry others, which does not shown in the films. My favourite scene from the Hobbit is not when Fíli and Kíli appear. It is the famous sentence from the opening of the book, when Bilbo describes his hobbit hole. Every time I read it, I wonder how comfortable would it be like to live there. I especially like a round door with a brass handle on it. I believe I am short enough to go through the door. The role of Dwarves in the Hobbit, in my opinion, is sort of taken by Bard. I did not expect that he would be the one to slay that Smaug with one arrow. “The Battle of the Five Armies” is actually bigger theme than that of Smaug itself within the story, as it becomes the title for the
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J UNNA N AKAYA
Integrated – Class Journal
last film of the Hobbit. It was also an opportunity for Dwarf, Elf, and Man to corporate each other. From these aspects, it is shown the story of Middle-Earth is more like history of it. There is not one particular hero who has absolute power and can do anything by himself, but each species get together for their own sake and in order to make the world better place. Although they fight each other time to time. To sum up, we can understand the flow of a day in the Shire and detailed family trees if we read the original books and then watch films. If it were the other way around, we need to keep adding information when we read the book afterwards, which makes you confuse. Also, the looking of characters is determined without using your imagination, as actors’ appearance. That is why I prefer reading before watching. But when it is the other way around, I enjoy books by imagining which scene in the film I am reading. Now I opened pages of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I am looking forward to finish the series and continue to The Silmarillion.
WORKS CITED The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Dir. Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema, 2012. Film. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. Dir. Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema, 2001. Film. Tolkein, J.R.R. The Hobbit Or There And Back Again. Trans. Shiro Yamashita. Hara Shobo, 2012. Print. Piittinen, Vesa. “Battle Of Five Armies”. Tolkien Gateway. GNU Free Documentation License, 8 November 2014. Web. 15 December 2014. <http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Battle_of_Five_Armies>.
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JRR TOLKIEN Y OSUKE N AKAMURA
Reaction Pieces
I know The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit because they are so famous for movies. As far as The Hobbit is concerned, now we can watch the last series of the movie. I think Tolkien’s works is so famous all over the world. However, I have not heard the name “J.R.R. Tolkien” until I take the class, so I was looking forward to studying him. At first, Tolkien has many points I am so interested in. What is “J.R.R”? Why did Tolkien create some languages? Is he a really genius? I think of them every day. Tolkien created his world. Of course, he was the writer of fantasy, and he made his world so magnificent. This is his talent, so his works are so famous all the time. One of my interesting points is Middle-Earth. Then, I researched and presented it. Tolkien’s world is so complicated and hard to understand that I cannot completely understand it. However, I think the world Tolkien created makes us good and remember some dreams in our childhood. This is because Tolkien also created some races in his world such as Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, and Dragons and so on. Moreover, Tolkien created their language. Tolkien was so genius in language that he could create them. That is to say, He is like god in his world because he created all elements. With regard to his language, I think language has a great power though I cannot explain what it is. However, he must know what it is, so he loved language and specialized in linguistics. Then, he created his languages such as Quenya. I think human being can speak some language. If we lose our language, we cannot live a life. Therefore, it is not too much to say that “language” is the most important thing in the world. Races in Middle-Earth such as elves, dwarves, and hobbits resemble human beings, so Tolkien created their language peculiar to them as we have each language such as Japanese, English, and Spanish. So I think Tolkien is god. Moreover, he creates the detailed history of Middle-Earth. Of course, we have our history, but Middle-Earth has also its history. In this regard, I am so interested. Finally, I think Tolkien is the best author of fantasy in the world. Tolkien created things so closely that Tolkien’s world makes us very excited. Some people love fantasy because it is completely free from reality, and takes them to the world to which they want to go. This is very important for the story of fantasy. I think we usually expect the fantasy to excite us. If the story is boring, we may refuse to read it. Tolkien’s world entertains the reader in every aspect such as language, races, and the world view. Now, Tolkien’s works are well known, read, and watched all over the world. The reason for this is that he was a genius in entertaining people by creating his own world.
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REACTION PIECE OF J.R.R TOLKIEN K OJI T AKATSU I’m going to talk about what I feel about J.R.R Tolkien and about what I learn from him. First is about J.R.R Tolkien. He was born in South Africa. Because of his father’s dead, he grew up in England where his mother had grew up before. He and his mother was converted to Christianity. However, the relatives believed in a different religion, so he and his mother were cut off financial aid from them. After his mother was dead, he was grown up by a priest. He experienced many difficulty in childhood. I think that these experiences in childhood made Tolkien grow up. He was a strong-minded boy. If I were him, I could not stand many difficulties. In childhood, he endured many things. In youth, he also endured. When he was sixteen years old, he was in love with a woman named Edis. However, because of Father Francis, he could not meet and talk and writing to her until twenty-one years. If I were him, I could not stand… He could not approach her completely, but in night when he was just twenty-one years, he declared his love for her. However, she had promised to marry another person……but she broke her promise and married to Tolkien. He was fully rewarded for his endurance. I respect him. He is a man of great patience. These are his life partly. His great work is to write many famous books. One of the great works is “The Lord of the Rings”. The plot of the story is interesting, of course. The amazing point is that he made language in this story. There are many characters in this story, for example elf and oak. He made language of these characters. His creative power is wonderful. He studied many languages from childhood, so I think for him making language must be fun. In that point, he must be crazy. The language of Quenya and Sindarin which was made by Tolkien are especially famous. After all, he must be crazy. Lastly, I’m going to talk about what I learn from him. The most important thing is having endurance. Like Tolkien, I put all other thoughts out my mind and threw myself into what I want. He put up with many difficulties. As a result, he was a success as an author and a scholar. I want to be like him, so I will put up with many things in university life. The next point is craziness. Tolkien was eager for learning language, and he became professional about language. Like him, I want to be crazy. I want to be eager for learning something, so firstly I want to look for something in my life.
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REACTION PIECE OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS A NJU T ANAKA
Reaction Pieces
I decided to choose the work as a reaction piece topic, since it was the most impressed movie for me of all works that I watched last year. The work won many prize. I would like to show the reason that the Lord of the Rings became a popular work. First, I would like to explain about the language in which was used his work. It is the original language that Tolkien made. It is called as Elf language. I think that Tolkien had a strong reason he asked them to speak their line in his original language. Language is an important method of telling what speakers want to say. However, a part of language is not only one. Through languages, we can realize the existence of the cultures and then we also can respect for the identities of the speakers. Therefore, when each cast in the movie spoken in Elf language, they showed the existence of the Elf and their efforts made audience feel as if the characters appeared in the movie were in the real world. I also think that the use of the Elf language means that each character in the movie is respected for each their identity by speakers and it helps to emphasize the meanings that each the characters need to appear in the world of the Lord of the Ring. Next, I would like to explain about the characters in the movie. In the movie, Aragorn is depicted as a human. He is a cool and clever person, so he plays an important part in overcoming various problems to return the ring, and he brings something like hope in other characters. Surely, he is a brave man. However, the bravest character was not him. I think that Frodo had the strongest heart of all characters in the movie. He is about one hundred centimetres long, so he is not so longer even than adults. The Hobbits, including him, look very small and they do not have any magic power as Gandalf uses. In addition, Frodo had not had any knowledge associated with the ring until Gandalf and Aragon advised him, and he did not have any great skills like Legolas. Frodo seems to be hard to make a success to return the ring, and to bring peace in the Middle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Earth where the characters live. However, he stood up for saving the characters in the MiddleEarth from Sauron, who made the ring, while other characters were scared for losing their life. I think Tolkien had a reason to choose Frodo as the main character. Frodo seemed not to be the strongest character, but his efforts to return the ring brought courage in other characters. The attitude of the characters toward the dark power encourages audiences to realize the importance of holding courage and hope when they are in difficulties. So, the Lord of the Ring shows the importance of the respect for humanity and hope. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why the movie was so popular among many people around the world.
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ABOUT THE CLASS OF TOLKIEN N AOKI Y OSHIDA Lord of the Rings is very famous, so I knew this movie. However, before I took this class, I had not ever watch, so I rent this DVD from Tsutaya and watched it to understand the class. This movie divided into three parts, and each part was so long, so after I watched it, I was very tired. However, in the same time, I thought that this movie was very nice fantasy movie. For example, the place which Elves lived was very beautiful, so I was very excited. Also, in this movie, there are many scenes of war, such as first scene which was happened from the ring was very fantastic. However, in this time, I enjoyed the surface content of this movie and beautiful image, but I didn’t understand the deep point of this movie. In this class, I understood a lot of deep things of Lord of the Rings. For example, in the handout, what Tolkien thought this movie was written, and Tolkien said the movie of Lord of the Rings couldn't express like the novel of Lord of the Rings, so this movie was not good. When I read this comment, I was surprised at this thing. Also, in this class, I learned middle earth. When I watched this movie, I thought the concept of Middle-earth can be watched only in Lord of the Rings. However, in this class, I learned that middle earth appeared many stories by Tolkien. For example, the Children of Húrin, which was written in 2007, was on the ground of Middle-earth, and Middle-earth of the Children of Húrin was drowned before Hobbit appeared. Also, in this class, I studied not only Lord of the Rings but also important things of Tolkien. For example, in the class of Tolkien and Language, I learned that language is very important role in culture, so if language disappear, culture disappear, too. This showed that the number of people who used Elvish decreased, so the culture of Elves was disappearing. Also, in this class, I became able to write my name of Elvish. In addition, I enjoyed studying many things of Lord of the Rings because, in this class, there were many things which we can enjoy studying Tolkien. For example, in many print, there are quiz, so we can consider and enjoy learning. For example, in the class of the Children of Húrin, there were the quiz which I sort a story. This quiz made us consider what story was correct and I enjoyed studying.
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REACTION PIECE ON TOLKIEN'S ABILITY A IKO M UTO
Reaction Pieces
I have learned about Tolkien through the class and knew that he excelled in language. Tolkien liked to learn language as a child. I think it was influential for Tolkien and his after life that his mother taught him Latin when he was four. This is because the linguistic ability of child is higher than that of grown-up, so children should start learning languages as early as possible. Tolkien could read and write Latin quite well. For children like his age at that time, it is rare to use the other languages than their first language, so his linguistic ability was already superior in the childhood. Added to Latin, his mother also taught him French and German. At school he learned Middle English, old English, Italian, Greek, Spanish and many other European languages. He was also familiar with Finnish, from which he took the idea for Quenya, one of the languages he constructed. Tolkien studied at Oxford University and after graduating; he served as Rawlinson and Bosworth professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1945. Tolkien wrote many of great works and affected the use of language in fantasy literature. For example, Dwarf becomes dwarves, not dwarfs in plural form. And elf becomes elvish, not elfish in adjective. Like the examples, we commonly accept and use the way Tolkien use language. He also constructed more than fifteen languages. The most developed of these are Quenya and Sindarin. Those language used in Middle-earth are more interesting to me than the contents of his works are. Tolkien had learned and been familiar with languages since when he was little. There is no doubt that the experiences in his childhood had affected his high linguistic ability and his invention. He learned so many kinds of languages that people normally could not do and he was familiar with literature as well. And he also made his own use of language in the way we use today and created several languages. There are many of authors in the world but I suppose that no other author is superior to him in both linguistic career and literal career. By studying Tolkienâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s background and his linguistic career, I could enjoy watching The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit much more in the different point, paying attention to the world of Middle-earth and the language spoken in the world.
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REACTION PIECE ABOUT JRR TOLKIEN K OSUKE S HIRAHASHI In this paper, I’m going to write about what I have felt through this class. First of all to be honest, I could not feel fun or interesting at first time when I saw the movies, Lord of the Rings. I had not seen it at all until this class dealt with the story. But as I said in previous presentation about Tolkien, I felt that the main character, Frodo, is too weak. I thought the main character in fantasy would be able to fight and have some special skills to some extent. But Frodo is always running away from enemies and avoiding from danger. Besides generally speaking, Lord of the Rings is often said it is similar to Hurry Potter. So I cannot help comparing Lord of the Rings with Hurry Potter. Hurry Potter is strong himself. He can use magic and beat opponent by himself and he always confront enemies. If I were Hurry, I could not stand that fears and escape from enemies desperately. I feel I cannot be like Hurry. But Frodo cannot battle alone and on the contrary he get almost always injured. I don’t feel Frodo is special person. And whole story of Lord of the Rings was described gloomy I think. There is not described that happy scene like the scene that everyone is laughing and happy in Hurry Potter. So I could not feel attraction. Especially I feel so when comparing with Hurry Potter. But as I study about Tolkien and Lord of the Rings and various other things, I have been attracted to Lord of the Rings and the world that Tolkien made. The world that Tolkien made is really big and large scale. There are various races, various pasts of many characters, the language of Elf, and world map of the world, and so on. Lord of the Rings is only a part of the story that Tolkien created. It made really big impact to me. It is unbelievable that a person made such largescale things. So I have come to feel Lord of the Rings is fun and become interested in Tolkien’s world. This is a really good thing for me. To tell the truth, I had not have any idea what is obtained things by my being in this department, English Literature, and the things I gained is how helpful for my life after graduation. I have often minded about future. But for the first time I feel it is interesting and want to learn more through English literature. And now, I want to know more about Tolkien. There are many books about him and the world he created. And as his story before Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, is now playing, I am going to watch it. In this way Lord of the Rings has a great affection for me. I’m exciting because it is first time that I found meaning of being student of English literature. From now, I will study about Tolkien more.
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Autumn 2014
REACTION PIECE FOR THE LORD OF THE LINGS
I like the fantasy story, which inspires me. Especially when I read the fantasy story, I can freely imagine the special world of the story. In addition, the fantasy movie is also great because I can easily know the situation of the story and the fighting scene is very exciting. The long story, The Lord of the Lings was written by the famous English writer, J. R. R. Tolkien. This story was made into three movies, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. I have not read the book of him. In fact, when I saw these films for the first time, I was a junior high school student. Then, I was very excited at their story lines and fighting scene. However, in this time, it was only the tip of the iceberg that I could notice. In this semester, I got to know the deep meaning of these stories in the integrated skills class. The most interesting things for me are the creative language by Tolkien and the work of the movies. Tolkien made original languages and I was surprised to see their grammar well organized. From his youth, he liked to learn languages and create new languages. I was really interested in his original languages. The reason he made the original languages is, I think, to make his original world. The human creation, â&#x20AC;&#x153;languageâ&#x20AC;? is based on the history and culture of human beings. Using the established language means that the world in the story is also based on them. by making new languages, Tolkien succeeded in making completely original world in his story. For example, the language elves speak is his original language. listening to this language, the viewers including me can imagine the special history and custom of elves. I was surprised to know the work of three movies. We learned that Adam Tolkien does not like the three movies because he thinks they cannot enough describe the world of the story. Actually, I did not know the background until I learned it in the class. However, I like the movie and it works enough. The original book is so long, and so movies must have cut some scenes in the book to make themselves into two-hour-long movies. However, the most important things in the story are actually described in the movies. For example, One of the most important things is the existence of the ring. In the movies, the ring tempts its owners. I think the ring plays an important role as the symbol of the human feelings. When one has it, he comes to want to put it on his finger. From this fact, the ring was human desire, dissatisfaction, anger, sadness and so on. In the movie, the hero, Frodo Baggins fights against his desire to put the ring on his finger. This means human mental conflict. Through the class, I came to know the deep meaning of the story. As mentioned above, the movies cannot describe whole story of the original book. However, the movies can work enough to show the view of the world in the story. That is why I want to watch all movies again, and I think it is worth doing so.
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Reaction Pieces
T ASUKU M ATSUMIYA
Integrated – Class Journal
REACTION PIECE ON THE LORD OF THE RINGS H ARUKA T SUJIMOTO Of course I have heard the name of The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), because it is very famous, but I had never read or watched the movie of this book. The reasons are, I was not familiar with fantasy, and also the story is quite long as it has more than one thousand pages. For me, it was the first chance to watch the movie of this work, though I have not read yet. My favorite scene of the movie is almost the last of the first part, The Fellowship of the Ring (1954). Frodo decides to go to Mordor to bury the ring by his own. His fellow, Samwise (Sam) chases after Frodo and dives into water, though he cannot swim. Sam is told by Gandalf to look after and be with Frodo whatever happens during his adventure. He carries out his promise, so he is brave enough to dive, but he sinks below the surface of water. Frodo is moved by Sam’s daring action. This scene made me almost cry. I was surprised at Sam’s braveness and kindness. He is very faithful to Frodo and he thinks that he can even sacrifice himself if it is for the sake of Frodo. At last Frodo succeeded to bury the ring and peace finally returned to the world. It can be thought that Frodo’s great efforts brought this happy ending. I agree with it, but I am sure that this achievement could not have done without Sam’s helps. First, he works as a safeguard. Frodo believes in Gollum completely, but Sam does not. Gollum has a split personality; one is the personality which is friendly to Frodo and Sam, but on the other hand, he has one more face which is plotting to rob them of the ring. Though Frodo has fallen into a sleep, Sam is sensitive to Gollum’s noise and protects Frodo. Second, Sam fills the role of Frodo’s supporter. Their supplies become nearly exhausted. Both of them are surely hungry, but Sam’s tenderness can be seen also in this scene. He rejects eating lembas; it is obvious that he thinks much about Frodo, keeping him not hungry. In this point, again, we can see Frodo’s honesty. However, in one scene, Frodo believes Gollum rather than Sam, unfortunately. Because of his scheme for stealing the ring, Gollum tells a lie that he has seen Sam eating lembas. Also he messes up with pieces of lembas to improve its reality. Frodo tells Sam to leave because Sam’s mission is over. This scene also made me cry; I wondered why Frodo believed in Gollum, not Sam, who did a lot for Frodo and always a good fellow. When I watched this scene, I became sad. I felt sorry for Sam and wanted to tell Frodo that he was wrong. Finally, he understood the fact, so I was relieved. The Lord of the Rings is the story of the adventure, but more than that. Friendship of Frodo and Sam, which plays important role in this novel, makes the novel more emotional.
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Autumn 2014
REACTION PIECE ON WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS A IKO M UTO
Reaction Pieces
William S. Burroughs is one of the most famous Beat Generation writers. I do not think his novels are as great as the ones other writers wrote. This is because it is uneasy to understand what he is trying to tell us through his works due to his cut-up technique. So I think it is not his novels but his crazy life that made him famous as a writer. William S. Burroughs is famous for a drug addict. He started to take drugs when he sold stole goods. In 1949, he went to Mexico to get cheap drugs. After that he also went to Colombia for stronger drugs. Burroughs had been to many countries for drugs and those his experiences of drugs are based on almost all his books. I think he could not have been a famous writer without his drug experience. Burroughs is al so known as a homosexual. He became gay when he was a boarding school student in Alamos Ranch School. Added to the contents concerned with drugs, he also wrote on homosexuality in his books. At the time Burroughs wrote novels concerning with homosexual things, gays and lesbians had been regulated under sodomy laws much stricter than today. Even though it could have been a risk of being arrested, he wrote on homosexuality. I think that his attitude against society attracted to the readers. The incident that he killed his wife surprised me. Burroughs appealed that He and his wife, Joan Vollmer played William Tell game, getting drunk and then he was supposed to shoot the cup on her head but he shot her head accidentally. This evidence was accepted and he was not arrested. I know that it was only Burroughs himself who knows whether the incident was really accident or not. But I doubt it. I guess that Burroughs killed his wife just because she was a bar for her. He was a homosexual as I mentioned above. He might had another lover and killed his wife. This is only the way I guess at the incident. No one knows the truth except him. Thus there are three things I can firmly tell you how crazy William S. Burroughs was. He was seen as a crazy writer. But I suppose that it would be better for writers to lead a different or a little crazy life like Burroughs did so as to get a nice idea for attracting readers.
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Integrated – Class Journal
THE REACTION PIECE: WILLIAM BURROUGHS N AOKI H AYASHI William Burroughs is the most famous novelist of the Beat Generation. He is also known as an essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer. He is also known as a major postmodernist author. His influences many culture as well as literature. He has 18 novels and novellas, including famous work Naked Lunch. And he also write 6 collections of short stories. I am mainly impressed by his crazy biography. In 1914 (Just 100 years ago) on February 5th, he was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His grandfather is an inventor, and he got much income by concessions. After his grandfather died, his suns, including William’s father sold all shares and concessions, therefore William Burroughs was not indebted to his grandfather’s estate. His father ran the glass factory. He spent boring college life. His hobby were fishing, hunting, hiking and reading. Especially he was lost in reading. He entered Harvard University, and majored in English literature. The reason why he chose English literature is that there are nothing interested him in his university. I also majored in English literature, I think that his motivation is strange. If I were him, not interested in any subject, maybe I would major in the business administration, because it would be more useful than literature when I work in a company. After his graduation, he earned much income, so he did not have to work. He was a talented man that he earned by writing. He had so much money that he could travel to Europe. But something made him work. It is drugs. Drugs costed him much money. He also went to New York, and met writers, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg in 1940’s. These men are called as first Beat Generation. In 1945, Burroughs started to live with Joan Vollmer, as his second wife, but at that time, he revealed himself as a homosexual man. He was also attracted by Ginsberg. This fact is interesting. He published his first novel, Junky, because he is junky. This novel is published under the name William Lee. Then he published his most famous work, Naked Lunch. He finished writing up with the help of Ginsberg and Kerouac. It is said that this is a so crazy work that many people cannot understand, and Naked Lunch was not in stores because of obsceneness. It made him into the spotlight. Although this work is banned initially, Naked Lunch influenced so many musicians at that time. Burroughs was also a musician. I think that talented people do not have to limit how they live. He has many aspects as an artist. In addition he is an actor. It is admirable. When I read his biography, I think that we cannot decide the bound between craziness and genius. He is famous as crazy writer, and is also crazy in private. But he is admired as a Beat Generation’s writer. It is not only difficult to define him as a mere crazy man, but also to define as a genius man.
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Autumn 2014
REACTION PIECE ON THE BEAT GENERATION H ARUKA T SUJIMOTO I did not know anything about the beat generation before I learned in the class. The first beat work I read in the class was Allen Ginsberg's Howl (1956). I was shocked at first because there were a lot of obscene, illegal words, which ordinary writers do not use in their works. Most of the words were not familiar with me, and I had to use the dictionary to read the poem. It was not possible for me to understand and read whole of the poem. I have found the common points of the beat writers; many of them are homosexuals and drug dependents. It can be said to Neal Cassady (1926-1968), too. I researched about him to make a presentation. I was interested in him because he influenced many beat writers, such as Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), Ken Kesey (1935-2001), and so on. His life was full of adventures; he was homosexual and had relationships with men, but also he had with women. He married three times in his life, but his marriages were both bigamies. His second wife is Carolyn Cassady (19232013), also the beat writer. She observed her husband in the bed, naked with Allen Ginsberg and LuAnne Henderson, Neal's first wife. At first, I felt sorry for her, but I was so surprised that Carolyn had an affair with Jack Kerouac, too. However Jack also had relationship with his first wife, and surprisingly with his mother. I thought their sexual relationships were too complicated to comprehend perfectly. There should be other relationships which have not been made public. Their lives were crazy and very different from common lives, so I wondered if their works make sense to readers. However, when I read William S. Burroughs's poem, “Ah Pook,” I understood why the Beats are highly respected within academic literature. At a glance, it was so difficult to understand what is written, because it begins with unfamiliar words, which are the names of Mayan Gods. This poem is written about the end of the world, referring to Mayan civilization and World War II. I was interested in this connection. Burroughs enumerates the gods of Mayan in a stanza, and it ends with the lines, “Ah Pook, the destroyer. / Hiroshima, 1945, August 6, sixteen minutes past 8 AM.” These lines mean that the atomic bomb thrown down by America killed so a large number of people that we bring up the image of the destruction of the world. Also, Mayan civilization is famous for its own prediction of ending of the world in 2012. Both of them have same impression and they can let us imagine the earth would not exist anymore. He criticizes America and completely is not proud of being American. He thinks that America did the terrible thing enough to destroy the world. It can be read from his expressions such as “The Ugly American,” or “stupid vulgar greedy ugly American death-sucker.” It is impossible to be thought that these expressions are written by American person. When we read the poem roughly, it is difficult to understand how Mayan civilization and World War II are related, but if we read intensively, we can read his criticism on America. I think this is the reason of why the Beats are respected as literature.
Reaction Pieces
WORK CITED Burroughs, William S. “Ah Pook is Here.” New York: J. Calder, 1979. Print.
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Integrated – Class Journal
REACTION PIECE: THE BEAT GENERATION N AOMICHI H AYASHI The Beat Generation often had been against the law and humanity, but had the support of public opinion, though much of them was the hippies. The support was deeply related to an idea which the Beat Generation had had at root of its activity. The Beat Generation took action and thought of various affairs looking the general situation at the time. It revolted oppressive, inhuman system of society and conservative sense of values which the petite bourgeoisie had, while did primitive mutual aid to free human nature. The literature of the Beat Generation which Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac created is various and has different styles, but possesses basic thought of the post-America and post-society. All writers of the Beat Generation put ardent feelings for closed world, surface peace, uniformization of human life into their novels and poems. This paper will particularly refer to two writers of it: Allen Ginsberg and Ken Kesey. This two men’s lives comparatively seem to be easy to grasp because there are a lot of aspects of sympathy which beginners of the Beat Generation are able to hold. Allen Ginsberg deplored that American dream of freedom and democracy was suppressed and criticized that it changed into standardization. Through "Howl", his masterpiece, he stated that he devoted himself to jazz and drag, wore ragged clothes, and lived in shabby house giving himself up to primitive emotion. He showed a rebellious spirit against strictly organized society. After the war, people in that time seemed to be blessed with freedom at last, but they just got freedom in name only. The freedom was given by the government as it controlled people easily and put down discharge of complaints. Ginsberg tried to get people in such environment to notice false freedom and appealed that everyone resisted their situation. In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Ken Kesey compared a ward where main character, Randle McMurphy, who dislike to be tied to any rules, is hospitalized to the then, narrow, closed world and described an ideal that resists hospital which forces strict rule on patients in it and controls their human nature. The title of the work came from a poem of Mother Goose’s Melody and has an important meaning that cuckoo (crazy people) flies over (escapes from) the cuckoo’s nest (a mental hospital). He insisted that people should get the freedom which human beings originally have through this novel. Though a main character cannot escape from ward, one of his comrades accomplishes the escape. It is thought that a hero is compared to Kesey and his comrade to believers of Kesey and people living in America those days, so this metaphor suggests that he entrusted them to escape real society which is under the government. The thought of the Beat Generation is filled with madness and hard to understand at first sight, but, in fact, because the actions and works which were found by reasonable, a lot of people support and its works are ranked highly in academic estimate.
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Autumn 2014
REACTION PIECE TO BEAT GENERATION F UMI K OBAYASHI
Reaction Pieces
Among Beat Generation writers, I like William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. I think they are cool but Burroughs is too crazy. If I were in the same period, I don’t want to become their friend and get acquainted with them. However, I’m interested in their works so much. In a class, we read Burroughs poem, “Ah Pook is Here" and watched the movie. Also, I watched the short movie of “Howl” which came from the movie Howl. They were extraordinary fascinating ones and I love them. In the “Ah Pook is Here” movie, there is a character like chicken’s crest appears. He looks like grotesque but I like it. I cannot understand exactly what the character and the poem wants to say but I think his looking is a good representative of a confusing poem. I already watched it many times but I cannot understand the poem yet. On the contrary, I’m enchanted by it more and more. In this poem, I disagree with “Death needs time for what it kills to grow in”. Of course, we grow older we are tend to be threatened by diseases, accidents and many dangers more and more. However, my opinion is all people, even though new born baby, have equal mortality. I think “Death” does not need time for grow in. We don’t know what happened to us tomorrow. We live peacefully but there are terrible affaires, natural disaster and something which threatens our self occurs every day in the world. There is no guarantee we can live tomorrow. We cannot expect what happen in the next moment. Then I think we have to thank for everyday life but we tend to forget about it. I think the short movie of “Howl” which comes from same title movie is very chaotic one, too. When I read the poem, I think it is also complicated and very long. However, I watched the movie then I feel that I can grasp what he wanted to say a little than just reading. The short film starts with the scene which Ginsberg is typing "Howl". Beat Generation is the culture group which against materialized society, so through the movie I can feel their spirit. The last part of the movie, there is a big, black and horrible character appears. He produce fire and fire swallow babies and they become soldiers. I was impressed by this scene because I think it is the most terrible part of the movie. I feel he covered whole world with darkness and fear in this poem. However, there are also beautiful scenes in this movie. A beautiful sky and grassland and many stars fall down from sky. I think irony between our dream and reality is shown in this scene. The very last scene, a tired man come into Ginsberg's house and it looks like Ginsberg welcomed him kindly. From this scene, I think Ginsberg tried to write the poem which encouraged people who are out of the world and this hart warming scenes represents their resistance against the materialized world and their hope and dream which Beat Generation want to make come true. Before watching two short movies, I didn't like Beat Generation so much because they are difficult and crazy. Now after I watched them, I cannot still understand. However, I like them because I can touch their minds through the movies. They were crazy but had passion to live and write their works.
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Integrated – Class Journal
REACTION PIECE OF DADDY R YOJI T SUCHIYA This poem, Daddy, was written by Sylvia Plath. This poem is founded on her experiences. Her works are said confession poet. This poem is also confession poet. Her father was dead when she was eight years old. He was the German immigrant. When she was twenty first years old, she committed suicide by taken a lot of sleeping drugs. She was married with Ted Hughes. However, it ended soon. She was divorced from him. Their married life was only seven years. These things influenced on her work. This poem was written in the same year when she was divorced from him. This poem has an animosity against her father and husband. At the first part, “Daddy, I had to kill you.” This is an animosity against her father. However, “You died before I had time.” This is her experience. She hated her father so much. She disliked him. She really wanted to kill him. However, before she killed him, he has dead when she was childhood. She had a complex against the German immigrant. This attitude appears in this poem. The main scene of this poem is world war two. Nazi appear in this poem. Nazi is the symbol of evil and male. “I think I may well be a Jew.” From this point, she was tortured by her father and husband. Nazi persecuted Jews in world war two. In this poem, Nazi is her father and husband, and Jews is herself. Her father and husband tortured her. In the last part of this poem, “If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two” and “And drank my blood for a year, Seven years, if you want to know.” The “two” means her father and husband. The sentence of “for a year” means the term when her husband had an affair and “Seven years” means their married years. In the last part, there is hatred toward her husband. It is so hard. She hated her husband. Her married life was like a Jew’s camp for her. This poem is founded on her hatred. She hates her father and husband. It is so hard hatred toward male. The foundation of this poem is not only her experiences but also general experiences. It is one cause that many people read and feel sympathy with this poem. I think that she dislikes her father, but sometimes it seems that she loves her father. In the last part of this poem, she wrote “Daddy, you can lie back now.” She told her father to rest. She hates her father, but she could not hate him wholly. On the other hand, she really hated her husband. In this poem, it seems that there is no description about her husband in the soft way. In this poem she criticized the man center society. However, this poem is extreme. From that, her rage against her father and husband is extreme. From her that passion, this work was born.
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Autumn 2014
THE MINOTAUR R IKU N ISHINA
Reaction Pieces
'The Minotaur' by Ted Hughes is published in 'Birthday Letters'(1998). This poem is written about his ex-wife Sylvia Plath. And this paper will talk about his feeling in this poem, also how he saw Sylvia Plath as. There are some strong words, for example smashed, hammer and bloody. From this point, we can tell this poem is not happy or peaceful but depress, violence, sad or pessimistic. In first stanza, the 'you' is Sylvia and she broke the mahogany table with the hammer (from 2nd stanza). She must have gotten mad badly at something. The most impressive one is 3rd stanza, which Ted says and this can be said to be the trigger to cause tragedy later. "That's the stuff you're keeping out of your poems!" He was amazed at her power of anger or sadness that ordinary people would not have, and he tried to persuade her into writing down a poem with the power. Then in 4th stanza, the line 'the goblin snapped his fingers. So what had I given him?' is the key to read this poem. The goblin means her switch, that she got extreme melancholy or depress although she was usually fine. Therefore, she should have started writing down her insane power as a poem. And that was back fire. Her syndrome of depress got worse and worse, and then ended up committed suicide with gas oven. She might have not been able to stop taking advantage of her inside insane dark power, and that was not her who took advantage of the power 'The Minotaur' but the Minotaur who made her fall into hell. She could not save herself from way bigger power than she could hold inside. She was eaten by the Minotaur that is her insane power itself. In the last 2 stanzas he mentioned to children, marriage and her dead. In the 2ns one from the bottom, the line 'Left your children echoing, like tunnels in a labyrinth' is very interesting. We cannot tell how old they are at this time, anyway this line let us see a picture, which the Minotaur is Sylviaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;dark side and children are lost and left in her labyrinth. So who is Ted Hughes? He must be a soldier who killed Minotaur even though he did not mean. And in the last stanza, he says 'Brought you to the horned, bellowing', that means he pushed her switch that he mustn't. And he regrets he killed Sylvia after all regardless he did not mean.
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Integrated – Class Journal
REACTION PIECE TO SYLVIA PLATH AND TED HUGHES F UMI K OBAYASHI I’m interested in the relation between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. I think they are like sun and moon. Ted is sun and Sylvia is moon. Ted was successful poet but Sylvia did not leaped into the spotlight so much while she was living. I read Sylvia’s poem “Daddy” and Ted’s poem “The Minotaur”. I think these poems reflected their relation and personality. “Daddy” is the poem about Sylvia’s father who died when she was only 8 years old. Honestly, I did not like this poem so much because I feel complicated darkness and strong dislike towards her father. I cannot sympathize whit her. However, this darkness attracts many readers and this is one of her characteristics. I’m also interested in the darkness of this poem. I read some criticism of it in my class. I agree with the criticism which said her love toward her father changed into hate for him. He died when she was very young so she felt she could not take his kindness and affection so much. In “Daddy”, she said “Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time”. I think these lines express not only her dislike towards his father but also her serious love for him. His death caused her mental health program and she had depression. She tried committed suicide when she was teenager. When she was 30 years old, she threw her head into an oven and died. Her suicide is one of reasons why I did not like “Daddy” so much. It’s also interested that Sylvia used the words about Nazi and Jewish in the poem. I think she compared her father with Hitler and Sylvia was Jewish. Her father, Otto Plath, was born in Germany but he and her mother did not have relation with Nazi and Jewish. Hitler was regarded as a cruel leader and the history of Nazi was very terrible. I guess Sylvia’s hate for her father was very deep and strong. I cannot compare my father with one of the cruellest person but she did. I also read Ted Hughes’s poem “The Minotaur”. This is the one of poems which describes his feelings towards his wife, Sylvia Plath and response to “Daddy”. When Sylvia committed suicide, many people asked him what happened to her but he did not answer. However, he broke silence before he died and published poems. In my class, we learned what he wanted to say through this poem. In this poem, Ted said he just only encouraged her to write poems because her anger had very strong power. The title of this poem “The Minotaur” represents negative man symbol. Ted used this word for Sylvia’s father. He described her mental health problem and depression connected with her father and not with him. I think it has great impact because Sylvia was his ex-wife so once they loved each other. However, in this poem, I cannot feel any friendly feeling for her. He wrote this poem due to emphasize that he did not connected with Sylvia’s suicide. He just protected himself. Regarding two poems, it seems like “The Minotaur” controlled “Daddy”. I think “The Minotaur” represents Ted’s strength but “Daddy” represents Sylvia’s weakness. So I think they are like sun and moon because sun is hot and bright and no one can approach it but moon is not hot, not bright and human can approach it. Also, we can see moon because of sun and moon needs sun to shine. I think that why Plath is famous is partly connected Hughes' existence. If she did not marry him, she could create "Daddy"? Many people have interested in her after suicide? So, I think they are like sun and moon.
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Autumn 2014
REACTION PIECE OF SYLVIA PLATH K OJI T AKATSU
Reaction Pieces
I'm going to write firstly what I feel about Sylvia Plath, secondly about Ted Hughes, and lastly about what I learn from their relationship. First is about Sylvia Plath. I think she is a much pitiful girl. Some people say that she committed suicide only because she was crazy. But I want to ask them," why do you think she was crazy?" They might say with funny face, "she was a green-eyed monster, having many troubles that make her difficult to communicate with other people, and she was easy to be angry and tended to kill herself. SO, SHE WAS CRAZY!!!" "How about you?" do you agree with their opinion? I never agree with them. Surely, I recognize she had such shortcoming. However, I consider even if she did not have such difficulties in her character, she would decide to kill herself. Moreover, she had also many good points in her character, For example, she had much affection for Ted Hughes, she was completely absorbed in him, she gave herself perfectly to housework such as cooking and taking care of their children, and she spent much her time to support his work to write a poem. "What good wife she was!!"" can you do that like her?" "Can you do selfsacrificing to others like her?" There are few people who have affection as much as Sylvia had. thanks to her devotion to Ted Hughes, he was able to get a prize of poem. But sad to say, although she had such many efforts and much passion for him, he had many affairs with other girls and made a woman of them pregnant. That is, ha gave her tremendous shock and despair. Even for a strong-minded woman, it is natural to decide to kill herself in this situation, So, I think she is much pitiful girl. Second, I will talk about Ted Hughes. From now on, I'm going to abuse him and say the reason. I look on him as bad, wicked, terrible monkey who like to go to bed with woman. The reason why I think so, is that he thinks only having sex with many girls, and he learns nothing from failure. "Do you know his conduct, after Sylvia killed herself? After Sylvia dying, Ted Hughes continued to associate with the woman whom he made a pregnant, however, she also committed suicide with their child. "Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you think it is strange that the way Sylvia died is same to the way the woman died? It is obvious that he gave horrible damage to the heart of the woman. The evidence is that only one year after the woman died, he got married to a new girlfriend. He wouldn't have much affection for the second woman. Moreover, in his poem, he describes evil as justice and virtue. "How terrible he was!!" he was the very crazy, just a playboy, and just a monkey. Lastly, I'm going to say what I learned from the relationship of Sylvia and Ted Hughes. Sylvia was much poor and pity, and Ted Hughes was a playboy and seems to enjoy his life. So, it is irony that Sylvia who good conduct couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get the benefit from the behavior, on the other hand, Ted Hughes didn't suffer from his own character, changing lovers one after another. So, what I want to say is that although I criticize Ted Hughes very badly, I long for his life a little, and I want to get much attention from many girls like him.
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Integrated – Class Journal
SYLVIA PLATH Y OSUKE N AKAMURA I do not know Sylvia Plath until I take this class. Also, I do not like poem because I am not good at understanding poem at all. In this class, we read “Daddy” in Sylvia Plath’s section. At first, I do not know why you choose this poem though Sylvia Plath wrote many famous poems. After reading “Daddy” at first, I cannot understand why Sylvia Plath wrote this poem at all. I think she had a mental illness because “Daddy” has various grotesque expressions. Maybe, the common man cannot think of those expressions. Then, I wrote essay about Sylvia and Otto, so I finally understand why Sylvia wrote “Daddy”, and I feel this poem is the most powerful poem in her poems. Therefore, you choose “Daddy” in this class. I research the relationship between Otto Plath and Sylvia Plath in my essay, and it is not too much to say that the existence of Otto Plath had a great influence not only on her ability but also Sylvia Plath herself. I think Sylvia was so inspired by her father that she became unhappy at last. Sylvia became disoriented, and tried to suicide when Otto Plath died in 1940. Sylvia loved her father very much. She lived in an extraordinary surrounding. Her parents were highly educated. I think they were crazy for educating their children, and Sylvia might know it. Therefore, Sylvia tried to come up to their expectations so hard. Maybe, that became her religion in her childhood. That is so pity for Sylvia Plath though her continuous efforts made her a great poet. However, Otto Plath died when Sylvia was just eight years old. I think that is too shocking for eight-year-old girl. As mentioned above, Sylvia was in an eccentric surrounding, and Sylvia loves her father so much that the death of Otto Plath possessed Sylvia Plath permanently. This also made Sylvia unhappy. I think if Sylvia Plath born in a common family or surrounding, then she lived an ordinal life whether happily or unhappily though we cannot define what common family is. Of course, I do not think Otto Plath is a bad father. He must be a great father. Sylvia married an English poet, Ted Hughes in 1956. At first, I think Sylvia became happy at last because she found the man who loves her. However, she finally died herself. Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes lived separately. Sylvia killed herself leaving two children. How pity she was!! It is well known that the reason for Sylvia’s death was that Ted Hughes committed adultery. I think Ted was playboy, and Sylvia’s heart was so delicate that she decided to die herself. One of the remarkable points is that Assia Wevill, who had a relationship with Ted Hughes, killed herself by the same way of Sylvia Plath. I think this is Sylvia’s course on Assia Wevill. Finally, after Sylvia Plath’s death, her works was appreciated. Maybe, Sylvia was rewarded for her great efforts at last.
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Autumn 2014
REACTION OF SYLVIA PLATH Y UKI S HIMADA
Reaction Pieces
Sylvia Plath, who was an American poet, wrote poems in her life and some works show her fury for her father. Especially, “Daddy”, that was written by Plath in 1962 before her death described the anger. When I read this poem, I got an impression that this poem includes a lot of metaphor which evinces her feelings and a situation where she was in. She lost her father, Otto Plath when she was eight years old. She began to suffer from heavy depression since then, and sometimes tried to commit a suicide. In “Daddy”, she wreaked hatred and insane feelings with implying and depicting clearly. As one of the examples, one phrase remarkably shows her pain and hatred for him. “Black shoe in which I have lived like a foot for thirty years, poor and white, barely daring to breathe or Achoo” is written in the part of the beginning, and this is a metaphor that means she was shut in a “pain” of fatherlessness and suffered from heavy depression for thirty years. This is because we can view “a shoe” as a circumstance where Sylvia forced to live. Foots are enclosed in shoes when we wear them. Generally, shoes cannot be taken off unless an outside factor is exerted on. Like this, Sylvia could not escape from this “airtight circumstance” such as heavy depression. As another point, Sylvia likened a character to his husband, Ted Hughes. In this work, she mentioned a vampire, and following the content, this vampire drinks her blood for seven years. Analyzing the content, this vampire is a metaphor of Ted Hughes and there is a hint which implies this. She spent her marriage with her husband for seven years and their marriage life was not satisfying. For Sylvia, who lost father’s love and was thirsty for relief in life, Ted was only a person who could save her from the pain of depression. However, he actually committed an affair with another woman and more scourged her as a vampire to drink blood and burden human beings. Moreover, she wrote a sentence that readers could realize as the refusal between Sylvia and Ted. Sylvia used a black telephone in this work, and a telephone is originally an instrument which connects others and gives contact. In this case, readers can guess whom she would make a contact with. Usually, whom a wife keeps a contact with by phone is a husband. However, she cut off this telephone and this means separation between Sylvia and Ted because she would try to revenge her husband, a vampire and refuse him as well her father. From these, Sylvia compared characters to her husband and father. Daddy focuses on her rage and hatred for her husband and father. To express this feeling, Sylvia made use of a lot of metaphor and this way more strengthens her fury for them.
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REACTION TO PLATH’S “LADY LAZARUS” H ARUKA M ASUDA Sylvia Plath wrote a lot of poems about death and suicide, and some of them indicate resurrection. Resurrection is one of the most important key words in her poems, and I think it is described most clearly in “Lady Lazarus.” First of all, the title “Lady Lazarus” is relation to resurrection. This is because “Lazarus” is a person who was restored to life by Jesus. Therefore, maybe “Lady Lazarus” means herself, Sylvia. Next, the first half of this poem describes her experiences of suicide. However, they are described not as negative acts but as positive acts for her. This is because she thinks “Dying is an art” (43-44). In other words, she describes suicide as a performance to newly born again in this poem: There is a charge For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge For the hearing of my heart— It really goes. And there is a charge, a very large charge For a word or a touch Or a bit of blood Or a piece of my hair or my clothes. (57-64)
These sentences means that she demands the people who come to see her state which she tried to commit a suicide some charges for watching, hearing, or touching her. In this point, those people are audience and she is a performer to show her commitment for suicide. In addition, these performances to trying to die lead to her new rebirth. At the climax of this poem, she achieves her resurrection. She says: So, so, Herr Doktor. So, Herr Enemy. I am your opus, I am your valuable, The pure gold baby (65-69)
These sentences mean that she is a work made by a doctor, one of the enemies for her. From the words “opus”, “valuable”, and “The pure gold baby”, she does not think badly of the work, herself. However, she is not satisfied with it, so she tries to die and born again. At the last of this poem, she appears as a new figure with her red hair from the ash. It is her reincarnation. Moreover, at the last sentence, she says “And I eat men like air” (84). This expression suggests that she tries to defeat men after she is born again. Namely, she tries to defeat her enemies by being born again to a stronger herself. In this poem, she indicates that her enemies are a doctor, God, and Lucifer. There is a common point of them, and it is that they are men. Therefore, in this poem, she shows her resistance to men. In conclusion, “Lady Lazarus” suggests her resurrection by doing her dying performance and being born again as a new stronger herself. In addition, coming back to life again as a new figure is one of the means for her to defeat her enemies, men. Therefore, themes of her poems, death and suicide, are steps for her to accomplish her desire to be born again as a new herself and defeat her enemies.
WORK CITED Plath, Sylvia. “Lady Lazarus.” Ariel: The Restored Edition. Faber & Faber, 2010. Print.
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SYLVIA PLATH AND TED HUGHES Y UI S ATO Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes are poets, and at the same time they are a couple. Their works are deeply related to their lives and the works are very interesting. In the works, I had an interest in “The Minotaur” written by Ted Hughes. First of all, he refers to Sylvia. This is interesting. Actually, “The Minotaur” is one of poems in “Birthday Letters”, in which Ted told about Sylvia though he had hardly referred to her ever. Therefore, we can know the relationship between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes from the poem. After Sylvia Plath committed suicide, Ted was accused of her death. It is true that Ted may have a fault. However, in this poem, we can see their relationship from Ted’s view and know that he also had difficulties with her and was concerned about her. According to the poem, she destroyed his mahogany table-top which was an old important one for Ted. For that, Ted was angry, yet at the same time, he encouraged her to write works with the angry energy. She was depressed because of her father’s death. At that time, he expected catharsis and gave an advice for her to treat by writing. In knowing this story, it seems that Ted does not have all faults for Sylvia’s death. In addition, the words in this poem are impressive. Reading this poem, we can feel Ted’s angry or darkness. They are shown the words such as “smashed”, “hammer”, “demented” and “bloody”. In addition, the goblin is also remarkable. This represents Sylvia’s mental depression. The goblin brings the Minotaur, and the Minotaur indicates Sylvia’s father. Ted encouraged her to write to treat. However, this made her unable to part from her father all the more. She could not escape from the negative chain. Finally, the link between this poem and the story of the Minotaur is interesting. Originally, the Minotaur is a creature that has a bull-headed man in the Greek myths. He is confined in the labyrinth and preys on humans who come to the maze. Actually, the title of this poem is “The Minotaur”, and the story of the Minotaur is similar to this poem. As I mentioned before, in this poem, the Minotaur describes Sylvia’s father. After he died, she could not accept the fact of his death and stuck to him. This situation is as if she is preyed on by her father and lost in the labyrinth. At the same time, he refers to their children. Though Sylvia had a big shock and the anger for her father leaving her behind, she did same thing for her children. Therefore, it seems that he points out that the children will have a big shock for their mother’s death like her. In other words, they will wander in the labyrinth, and he described that like this: “Left your [Sylvia’s] children echoing Like tunnels in a labyrinth” (Hughes). He compares this poem to the story of the Minotaur. At this point, the relevance is intriguing. Thus, this poem, “The Minotaur”, becomes a trigger to know the relationship between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes and shows unknown sides of them.
Hughes, Ted. “The Minotaur”. Birthday Letters. Class Print. 1998. Print.
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Reaction Pieces
WORK CITED
Integrated – Class Journal
THE UNRELIABLE FACT IN THE BIRTHDAY LETTERS A NJU T ANAKA Birthday Letters shows what his life with Sylvia Plath was like. He implied, in this work, that he felt very sorry for her death. In addition, after the death of Plath, he experienced another tragedy. Assia Wevill, who was his lover and later a mother of his children who were born between Sylvia and Ted, also committed a suicide. Hughes was so shocked for two women’s deaths that he had not felt like writing again after his wife died. However, he finally decided to show his private life. Bundtzen said Birthday Letters help readers to know the part of his life, because he had not revealed his private life in his works and he did not even talk about his married life until he wrote Birthday Letters. So, when the work was published in 1998, the literary world was very surprised at the news. In Birthday Letters, Hughes implied that he was angry for the death of Sylvia Plath. Surely, she should not have committed a suicide and she must have continued to raise her children even if she was involved in any troubles or she had any tragic experiences. According to Ted, Plath should have done her duty to take care of children who Plath gave birth to until children would be able to become adults (Bundtzen). I agree with him in this point. However, readers need to make sure whether it is really a proper answer to believe in what he said in Birthday Letters. According to “The Minotaur”, which was one of poems published in Birthday Letters, he implied that the cause of her death was associated with the death of her father. Ted showed in “The Minotaur” that Sylvia suffered from her mental problem caused that thought the death of her father caused. However, I cannot accept easily what Hughes implied in the work. In fact, there were no evidences that proved that it was true that the death of Sylvia Plath’s father influenced on her life and it caused to her suicide (Michiko). Although Sylvia and Ted acquire something like a hint through their poems each other, there were few analysis of each their poems that were compared with each their works, to comprehend what happened to their married life (Clark). I think that Hughes cared about other people’s criticisms, and he also wanted to escape from his responsibility for causing the death of Sylvia Plath. If Ted really thinks so, what he implied in Birthday Letters might include false incidents in his marriage life with Sylvia. To understand what their real married life was like, readers have to compare with and research contradictions between each their work. It is important for readers not to believe in all his confessions in Birthday Letters.
WORKS CITED Bundtzen, Lynda K. “Mourning Eurydice: Ted Hughes as Orpheus in Birthday Letters.” Journal of Modern Literature. 23. 3-4 (2000). 455-469. Print. Clark, Heather. "The Grief of Influence: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes." Plath Profiles: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Sylvia Plath Studies 3 (2010): 158. Print. Hughes, Ted. Birthday letters. London: Faber & Faber. 2009. Print. Kakutani Michiko. “'Birthday Letters': A Portrait of Plath in Poetry for Its Own Sake”. Books of the Times. 13 Feb. 1998. Web. 6 Jan, 2015.
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Creative Writing
CREATIVE WRITING
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CREATING ORIGINAL STORY T OMONORI K IMURA One Japanese man was standing in front of a hotel. He was shivered in the cool early morning air. “What a hell!” she whispered in his mind. The reason is that he had to wait a few hours to check in and the owner of the hotel did not permit him to enter and wait in the building. Here is Roma. The city was one of the cities he had been wanted to visit in his life. Frankly, there was no reason he thought that. He was fascinated by the name recognition and the deep history. However, such emotion easily disappeared out of his mind. “How cold here.” It was the first thought when I arrived to Roma, and really the coldness was very harsh to him. Particularly, the time is bad because he came here through the United Arab Emirates and Turkey and Greek. He felt something was gone with such hotter climate. The nature of people in Roma was very different from people in those countries. Besides, the painful thing was lacks of sleeping. The flight from Greek left in midnight and was late to leave so he had to wait for a few hours in airport and first of all he could not sleep at all in the flight. Immediately he looked for a café to rest but there was not such open place, every shop was closed, of course. It was five o’clock. And then he found a park and decided to rest there. But the terrible cold was against him much more. About seven o’clock, he awaked and thought that it is time to walk around the city and it got hotter. He went back to the hotel and left his backpack there and went toward central. Surely, the town was so great that any place had historical atmosphere and shop, café, restaurant, and so on ― everything was fashionable. After taking a walk for a few hours he went toward a famous place, Piazz di Spagna. It is the place where in Roman Holiday the heroine ate gelato on the steps. When I arrived here I did not feel anything. And he never thought the thing happened to him here. He looked out over the square and steps from the top of the steps and there is guard before him. Then, a strange man talked to him in English and said a few Japanese
words like Tokyo, hello. The man was very tall and fat, and his skin was not white but brown. “You are, Japanese?” “Yes,” I answered. Then, the man said some Japanese soccer players and tried to put his fist to his one as a friendship. “ I gonna show you something, it’s Italian magic,” the man said, and quickly started to wind a misanga on his right wrist. “Oops!” He noticed the strange behavior and thought this was the action of pickpocket by his cautiousness and intuition. And he turned his neck to opposite side and then as he had feared another old man just came next having a scissors in his hand. “Dammit! I will never give you anything!” he shouted. His front is guard, and on right and left he was sandwiched between them. So, he tried to run away back―but it was not possible. Other two men enclosed him. “Like this I was robbed of my money and had no choice to give it,” he explained the accident to some roommates in the hotel. There were two American, Italian, Belarusian. And after that accident he found through guide book that the men who robbed him of money was reported by some Japanese and always did so to Japanese. When he got the information he got a lot of angry to them and decided to get back the money from them in next day. After he said to the roommates about the plan they proposed their help. Next day, as we expected the bad men were at same place. The strategy was very simple. When the fat man who talked him at first become alone we would enclose the man. And the strategy was well done. He fought back as same way of the bad guys. And he got back his money―actually more than the much. The man did not resist so much. I found that in this country and people the side person who cheat was regarded as cunning, and the side cheated person was done as stupid. Actually, as Italian accompany said to him. But the most surprisingly, the finishing off was the what the two American said and did. “Take out your billfold.” This story was inspired by my true story.
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PREDICTABLE R YOICHI N AGASHIMA Mike was an 18 years-old, high school student. He was slender, had black short hair, and wore brown-framed glasses. One day, after classes, he went to a park on the way to go home. Then he sat on the bench and looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were hanging low, so he felt depressed about his unexciting daily life. He didn’t belong to a club and didn’t have a part-time job. He couldn’t detect happiness or pleasure in anything. When Mike stopped thinking about these meaningless things and was about to stand up from the bench, a man appeared in front of Mike and said, “Do you want to spot satisfaction in your life?” He was an old man with a heavy mustache, wearing black-framed glasses and a brown hat. Mike’s first impression was mysterious and doubtful because the man’s clothes were dingy and there were no intensity in his voice. “Yes, of course, but it is difficult to discover joy in my life. There is no means to find it. It’s my life.” “Try to study hard.” The man stared Mike in the face. "Why should I study so hard? Delight doesn't come to me even if I am more diligent than any other student." Mike was in a bad mood. "You should confide in me." The man voiced this opinion and he walked away. "Who is he? What does he understand of me?” Mike muttered in a small voice. The lingering glow of the sunset was seen between dark clouds. At night, Mike lay down on his bed, and worried about the words of the man. His head felt fuzzy. Then he talked to himself.
"There is nothing to be enthusiastic in my life, so I'll study a little." After that night, Mike started to study everything hard, and then his grades were difficulties of each subject. Mike gained confidence in his own learning ability, and he gradually sensed that it was one of his pleasures to study hard and know new things. After that, Mike continued to study well, so he could enter a famous national university directly upon graduation from high school. Seven years later, Mike was 25 years old, and he worked at a national bank. His grades at the university were also great, so he could easily obtain a job in the bank. He was relied on by fellow workers because he was efficient at his work. Every people seemed that his future would be good with and no setbacks. However, one day, he was confronted with a great difficulty. The problem was that he leaked out the bank account numbers of one customer to another customer by mistake. Fortunately, there was no monetary problem for the customer, but he bothered about whether he should tell the fact to his boss or conceal it. Of course, it was better to tell the truth, but he had huge hope for promotion at that time, so he was anxious about which he should do. To try to forget this bad feeling, he went to a park near his place of employment, sat on a bench, drank a cup of coffee, and looked up at the sky. The sky was covered by a lot of black clouds. They were very similar to the clouds that he saw when he was a high school student. I looked back on the feeling with nostalgia. Just then, one man appeared in front of Mike.
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Creative Writing
CASE 1
Integrated – Class Journal
“You should be honest to admit your fault. Honesty is the best policy for a good life.” He was with an ardent look. “How do you know my trouble? It is not easy to decide. This timing may be important for my future.” Mike was impatient. “Can you imagine a really fortunate future life? Even if you disguised this fact.” “I know which is better, but I’m terrified of my position after I tell my boss.” “I realize your mind, but choose the choice you won’t regret.” The man left this massage and went away. “I can’t know what is right for my future, but I don’t want to regret my decision.” Mike talked to himself and went back to his office. Ten years later, Mike was 35 years old, and he still continued to work at the bank. Although he had a trouble in his youth, he was not criticized because of his earnest and honest apology. He was trusted by everyone as before, and there were a lot of new employees who followed him. When he was 30 years old, he married Terry who was a classmate from his college days. He had two children, so he seemed to live a full life. However one problem happened to him. He learned Terry had a love affair with one of Mike’s fellow workers. He couldn’t understand why this trouble happened. He didn’t know how they would settle this fact. They couldn’t find a key to the settlement of the affair. This trouble was a great shock to him because they had got along with each other until then. He was worried about whether they would get a divorce or not. To get rid of gloom, he went to the park near his newly built house. Winter was beginning, so he exposed himself to the cold wind. The chilliness seemed to show his mind. He sat on a bench and drank a cup of strong coffee. The bitterness reminded him of having met
“the man” ten years before, so Mike had a feeling that he would meet him again. His expecting was accurate. The man appeared and sat next to Mike. “You underwent a distressful experience. I sympathize with you. However it is not good to consider only yourself because you have two children.” He addressed Mike in a gentle voice. “I expected that you to tell me this I comprehend that I have to care about my sweet children.” Mike breathed a sigh. “I’m relieved to hear it from you.” He left the park. “I’ve had a question about who he is for a long time.” Mike went back to his home. He felt that his gloom was lighter a little. After that, Mike forgave her mistake, and they were reconciled. Then he continued to live a full life till his death. There was no chance for Mike to realize who the man was, and Mike wanted to show the man his deepest gratitude all the time.
CASE 2 Mike was an 18 years-old, a high school student. He was slender, had black short hair, and wore brown-framed glasses. One day, Mike went to a park as in “Case 1” because there was nothing for him to do and he needed to kill time until dinner. When he sat on a bench and looked at Facebook on his cellphone, one man appeared in front of him. “Try to study hard if you want to have pleasant future days.” The man suddenly suggested this. “Why do I have to study hard? Studying is not worth a hill of beans in my life. I can live a full life by only doing what I want to do.” “You should trust me so as not to regret this meaningless days.” “I won’t take orders from you. I also don’t know who you are.”
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Seven years later, Mike was 25 years old, and he worked at a city bank. His grades at the college were not so good, so it was very hard to get a job. Luckily, he could start to work at a local city bank. There were a lot of times when he was scolded by older workers because of his faults. Sometimes he wanted to resign from the bank. One day, Mike faced up to a great trouble. He mistakenly remitted a different sum of money to a private corporation. He somehow managed to weather this problem by himself, but he would be in hot water if he were caught. He was irresolute about whether he should confess this mistake to his boss or not. To get away from deciding, he went to a park near the bank as "Case 1." He sat on the bench and when he was about to smoke, the man appeared again. "You should apologize to boss if you made a mistake. It is sure that your secret will come out." "The matter was brought to a settlement, so there is no need to tell my boss about it, I think." "You should be honest. It is only thing that I can say to you." The man disappeared from the park. "I cannot swallow what the stranger said." Mike went back to his bank.
After this day, he continued to conceal his mistake. However what he did was detected by fellow workers two years later, so he was transferred to the different post. Also 10 years later, Mike was 35 years old and he had a wife and two children. After his marriage, he tried to work seriously. Then he got relied in by his fellow workers gradually. However another problem happened to him. It was that his wife played around with another man. Mike had a terrible quarrel with his wife and after that, he went to a park near his house because he can't stand the sight of her. When he sat on a bench and looked up to the sky, the man appeared next to him again. "Your wife is responsible for this trouble, but you should be generous to her. You also have two children. You should protect them." The man tried to cheer him up. "I understand what I should do, but I cannot forgive her." "Don't forget that she has been kind to you thus far." "He never understands my hard feelings." Mike complained about it and went back to his home. After that, he couldn't make it up with his wife and they got a divorce through mutual agreement. He could bring up his children by himself, although he experienced various hardships. Both children married their sweethearts, so Mike began to feel a deep sense of isolation. When Mike was 64 years old, he noticed that he had become similar to "the man." He comprehended who the man was at last. If you encounter a person like "the man," would you believe what the person tells you?
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Creative Writing
“I won’t say anything further.” The man left the park. “He may be a terrible liar.” Mike went back to his home because he grew impatient. He didn’t try to study hard, so he couldn't find his future goal. Of course, his grades didn't go up in his high school days, so he failed his college entrance examinations and studied one more year to take them again. Mike couldn't enter a highranking colleges. He got to feel inferior to his friends in studies.
Integrated – Class Journal
A MAN K OJI T AKATSU This story has a man who is not special but normal as its main character. His name is John. This story is that John grow up as a man who is nice through a lot of incidents. John is a university student majoring in history. He does not belong to any circle and club in university because of his character. He is not good at making friends. He does not talk to person well. That is to say, it is hard for him to come in contact with people. He is timid, he cannot speak to girls. Of course, he has no girlfriend. Though he is not good man, there is one thing that he can do well. This is study. He loves history, especially Japanese history. His only strength is his earnestness in study. However, he was not man like these. He was cheerful, social and popular among classmate. One event made him change. It was time when he was high school student. In high school, he associated with a girl whose name was Yuri. She was short and slightly fat. He and she were madly in love with each other, but he thought that “something” was different. He tried to discovered “something”, but thinking was a waste of time. After all, why he began to think that “something” was different was that her action sometimes strange. One day, they promised to go to Tokyo Tower. As usual, he arrived at station early where they got together. Suddenly, he received an e-mail from her. The content of e-mail was that she could not go to the station because she had no clothes which she put on. This date was cancelled at the last minute because of her selfishness. He cried out “What a day” in grief. Because he was generous to her, he did not get angry with her then. This is one of her strange action. And what was even worse, she did not apologize to him and she did not seem to repent at all. He loved her very much, so he overlooked what she did to some extent. Thanks to his tolerance, they greeted a memorial day for two years. It was the day that an unforgettable event occurred. He prepared for this day. He bought a present, a necklace which was expensive. He also made a reservation of restaurant. He made a desperate effort to delight her. When he was in high spirits, she came. Suddenly, she said “I can no longer go about with you.” She continued to say “I don’t like you, you are delicate, behave like a man, you should get over the way you eat, I doesn’t like the way you eat like chewing gum noisily. Your kindness make me sick, feel disgusted your tolerance. Good-bye.” She left. He could not understand what happened. Tears welled up in his eyes. He received heartless treatment. He tried to say something, but he was choked with tears and was unable to speak. This occurrence made him change. After this happened, he came to keep away from people. He kept his feelings to himself to the end of high school. Now, he is a university student. He wants to change his character, so he decided to go abroad for one month. He decided to change himself and forget her. And he go to New Zealand. He studied hard and actively tried to come in contact with a lot of people there. At then, he met a girl whose name is Saki. She is not cute but a good girl. She is smart and is considerate to many persons. She also is a student studying abroad from Japan, so they soon opened up to each other. Thanks to her, he enjoyed studying abroad, and he became more social than he was. In the final day of studying abroad, he was declared by her. He liked her as a friend, so he do not like her as a girl. However, he said “Be happy together”. He decided to associate with her because he wanted to change. He believed that he will forget everything he had experienced before if he get along with her.
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Creative Writing
One month has passed since he got back from studying abroad. He still goes about with Saki. He changed a little. He comes to take an active part in conversations of classmate in university and he comes to speak to girls very commonly. He conquered various difficulties step by step. However, there is one problem. This is that he just cannot come to like Saki. He is thankful to her because she made him chance to change himself. He said in an undertone “Ah, how do I say this…” He is afraid of saying good-by to her because he had undergone an unforgettable experience, so he thought he hurt her if he talk about breaking off their relationship. One day he went to the bookstore and he met Yuri by chance. He tried to leave at once, but she invited him to tea. “Do you want to have some tea with me?” He was at a loss what to do, but he said, “Yes! Ok!” They entered a café nearby bookstore. They enjoyed talking each other as if there were no discord between them. She said “You became good man. You have really changed. I like who you are now more than who you were.” He was very surprised and his heart leaped to hear these. He come to love her again. After they enjoyed talking, they came back home. He decided to break up Saki on his way home. The next day, he met Saki in the park. He said “How can I say this? I think we should break up. I think you and I had some good times and it’s been really fun knowing you. But I don’t think this relationship is working, so I want to break up with you. Let’s just stay friends.” He told her what he wanted to say. She only nodded. She only nodded two times and she turned her head away lest he see her tears and she left. He thought she is a good girl and strong. There is another one thing that he decided in mind that is to declare his love for Yuri again. He was sure to succeed because he felt good atmosphere between them when they had met before. He told Yuri to come and see him. They met in park nearby his house. He said straight “You are always in my mind. I love everything about you, so will you be my girlfriend? She said “you are fool. I never have loved you. You are just one of friends for me. Good-bye.” And she left. He said “uhhhuhhuhhuhuhhuhuhhh”. He muttered some words which did not make sense. He went off his rocker and he became crazy. Because of his persistence in Yuri, his life was ruined.
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Integrated – Class Journal
ORIGINAL STORY T OMOMI Y ANAGIDA Once upon a time, a girl lives in a small village. Her name is Yuka. Yuka is a very kind girl. She lives in a small house with her old grandfather and she is not so wealthy but they are very happy everyday. He has a heavy back pain. Grandfather always goes to mountain to get bamboo shoots because that is his daily routine. One day grandfather tries to go to mountain, but his back pain grows more serious. So he has to stay in the house. Yuka says, "I'll go to the mountain." but the mountain is very steep and she has to cross a river. Her grandfather is very worry about Yuka, but she says "Don’t worry, I'm OK." Yuka leaves the village and goes toward the mountain. After a short time, she can see river. It was fast-flowing river and she has to across this river to get to the mountain which is located in opposite side of the river. She across the river carefully putting her feet on slippery rocks. Some times, she nearly slips and falls into the river. Finally, she gets the other side of the river. After that, she starts going up the mountain. The mountain is very steep and she is very tired, but finally, she can reaches the area which his grandfather always gets bamboo shoots. When Yuka arrives at the area, it is getting dark. There are many bamboo shoots and she digs up many bamboo shoots. Then, she finds the biggest bamboo shoot. She thinks if she brings this biggest one, her grandfather will be glad. So she tries to dig up it. She tries to dig the bamboo shoot, but the bamboo shoot doesn't come out. She dig it up more strongly, and then, the ground quivers and she feels something moving under her ground. She grasps the bamboo strongly and she find the bamboo is a horn. So she digs up a big monster's horn. She trembles violently and cries. And then, the monster says, “good evening, girl." The monster has very big mouse and his skin is very rough. The monster is very kind and he tells the girl he send her to the house. On the way to the house they become very good friends. When she arrives at house, her grandfather waits her in the front of her house. She brings the bamboo shoots to her house and grandfather is very surprised because she brings many ones. After that, they eat delicious bamboo shoots dishes.
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Autumn 2014
SELECTED POETRY S AYURI N AKASHIMA PATH (2011) Everyone has their own path to take. They pass, piling up their luggage on the carrier. They are no straight paths. Curve, clutter, and dead ends on the path…… Yeah, in our lives, not everything goes well. When we stop worrying, we give up on our dreams and shed tears for no reasons …….no one will experience And your path splits definitively. You can choose the best path. You can seek and walk an endless path. And you can find the best place. There is definitely a path to your destination This poem would be the first poem, which was written in Japanese when I was 16 years old. Path means life in this poem. Every person has various ways to live. On our paths, we experience good things and bad things. We can choose and walk on the best paths in our own lives
BROKEN MOON (2014) One round moon starts collapsing, The broken drops of light from the sky are, Still fired up turning its color, Above ground. Tonight they are reflecting us walking, In the jet black. This world interweaving light and shadow, And my heart are, Integrated over one slide, Which penetrates everything.
Creative Writing
This world we live in might have received drops of light from moon in the night sky, in order to enlighten us. Tonight light and shadow in my heart is reflected through transparency windows.
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Integrated – Class Journal
THE LIGHT (2011) The light What makes the gap in my mind wet The rain’s downpour is pleasant. I wish it would wash this feeling away right now. The orange color in the depths of my mind. One light burning for some time, No matter how much time passes, it won’t be put out. If it means a lot to me, it won’t change easily. Until the time comes, quietly, Perhaps I’ll keep it as it is. One day, time will tell. Right now, let it be, let it be. I’ll live my life with care. One day the warm, bright, and orange light that have put on the candle in my mind. It cannot be blew out and keeps burning for a long time, so let it be and I need to focus on the present moment that happens to me.
I LOVE YOU. (2014) Just remember now, The person I was thinking of, In the darkness before I slept, Was you. Just realized then, You meant a lot to me. I was just afraid, When you would go somewhere one day, Not from me, But from this world. I couldn’t stand it. Because I care for you, Because I love you.
I do not need to mention about this poem. This poem depicts the feeling that one girl thinks the person she loves. One day she realizes how much she loves him and fears of when he leaves this world.
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Autumn 2014
MARCH IN SPRING (2011) The person, He was very nice… Him, sitting in a seat in front of me, Looking apprehensive, Looking into the distance. To the woman he loves, In March’s setting sun. Those sweet flowers that tell us the wonderfulness of life, They smile in his arms, Waiting for “that” moment. Around houses standing in a row, Near my house, On the way from the bus stop, Where nobody is, He turns left, I turn right, Walking with no worries… I closed my eyes for the rest of this story_____ They waited for “this” moment. Filled with sweetness and the warmth. The small happiness on my way home, In Spring March left cold.
Creative Writing
This poem was written based on the fact that I have seen in the life in Canada at the age of 16. I got impressed and happy to see the man with a bunch of flowers on the bus sitting in front of me. He seemed nervous to go to see probably his fiancé. We got off, and I imagined the rest of his happy story looking he walks on his way. It was the March Spring left cold.
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Integrated – Class Journal
MR. CHAMELEON (2014) Mr. Chameleon, Mr. Chameleon, Why are you hiding? Why are you trying to be the same color as everybody? Are you afraid of being different? If so, Mr. Chameleon, There are dozens of chameleons like you. They hide themselves quietly. It’s like a game of hide-and-seek. But, aren’t you found, In the end?
Who can find you out from the millions of people if you try to hide yourself not to be found, and do the same things as others? Be the way you are. Show yourself. Your uniqueness is only yours. Just keep it and open it up!
INFINITE SPACE . (2014) From a place I do not know, One meteorite has fallen down, Hitting this heart of mine, Strongly, Violently. The depression still remains, Deep inside. My heart is empty. Who will rescue me? What can fix my world? I’m spacing out, Outside of my world, In infinite space.
Suddenly, one huge pain hits the deepest of my heart strongly and violently. Who could rescue the little inner girl on my damaged planet? She is deeply in shock and sorrow out of her world in the endless huge space.
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Autumn 2014
COLDEST MORNING EVER. (2014) It is freezing, More than any other morning. Snow covers all, Piled up on the ground, Never to be seen, "The truth." Not too cold, Not too cold, Because this is winter.. So I have pretended, For myself. The sun rises up, The ground shimmers, With melting water. My distorted sight, Blends drops of water, With the cold ground.
Creative Writing
You could imagine the field covered with the freezing white snow. But you never know the truth is hidden on the ground. Sunrise gradually melts snow and the surface of the ground shows up. The time has come that you have to face to the truth you have avoided to protect yourself for a long time. Your tears filling your eyes just drop and blend into the cold ground.
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Integrated – Class Journal
FALLING IN LOVE WITH THAT SKY (2012) I love that sky. Every now and then, It could be cloudy, rainy, or even with the strike lightning. It has many faces, And I love them all. I float in an exhilaration of pure white on the blue canvas. I love that sky as it goes orange. Yet, it is saddening as it marks the end of summer. It shows I’m alive, and here. I love that night sky. I want to tell the stars a million light years away, “You keep on shining”. How marvelous it would be, If gathered, Each drop of light. I love this sky, My air passage to other worlds. I head for a country far away in the distance, But an infinite sky propels me to possibilities. The sky we look at in this place, That sky they look at in that place, That sky you look at, The same sky. This is my most favorite and popular poem. I described my love for that sky with many faces. He always gives me energy, and teaches me life and nature of this world. Also, he reminds me that I have much possibilities to make my dreams come true. No matter how much we are far way in the distance in this world, the sky each person looks at is the same sky.
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Autumn 2014
ROLLING STONES WITHIN US (2014) The core that exists inside of us, Is consist of a hard and big stone. It is hard to move it by yourself. So you need somebody to help you out. In the long long life, Every single person that you meet, Shapes the original stone within you. From the top of a river, This endless stream has carried us to the seashore, Every minute and every day, Since we were born. Crushes and scratches each other, More round, More smooth, And more small. At the bank, In the deepest of the sea, You will find what you are, Turning to be a sand of star.
All rights reserved by Sayuri Nakashima.
http://flowercurtains.tumblr.com/
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Creative Writing
Every person has own stone. As the time goes by, gradually the stone gets scratches and small. Your character might be sharpened and become various by the people who you meet in your life. Becoming a sand of star, your life closes at the end. This poem depicts the story since you go down from the top of the river where you were born until you reach to the deepest sea where you die.
Follow your Passion. by Richard Pinner