Paralysis and Mundane

“Araby” is based on the theme of frustration. The nameless narrator has fallen for Mangan’s sister. He is driven by his desire to win her heart; so without any thought, he offers to buy her something from the bazaar even when she does not ask for it. The anticipation of what might come after he gives her a romantic gift fills him with great joy and fantasies.

The narrator waits for his uncle to come home to give him some money so he can come to the bazaar to buy the gift. During the late night, he happily travels to the bazaar only to discover its shops are closing. However, his tardiness does not matter because he realizes he only has a little bit of money. His price range is way too low to afford anything on sale. In reality, he is poor and can’t afford such a luxury; his financial situation is tight, so there are limitations on what he can and cannot do. He is paralyzed at the moment when he notices that all the items in the bazaar are so expensive. Everything is beyond his affordability; he is going to be ashamed because he can’t buy what he has promised Mangan’s sister. He says to himself, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce 25). He finally realizes his harsh reality. He is stuck in an economic situation, and there is no escape from it.

The nameless narrator’s paralysis is similar to the moment when Lurie looks out the window watching the robbers shoot the dogs one by one in Disgrace. Lurie can’t do anything to prevent that from happening because he himself is also a victim of violence. He has been burned and locked up in the bathroom. His movement has been limited; he is scared. The dogs' killing happens in his presence, it horrifies him. However, he is powerless to intervene and too weak to save those dogs from brutality and death.

The nameless narrator and David Lurie both experience paralysis and epiphany. The narrator assumes that he can carry out his desire to purchase a gift as a symbol of love, but in the end it costs too much for him. As for David Lurie, a once almighty man, is attacked and trapped in a confined place where he is powerless to break free.

Lucy's Story - My Land, My Baby, My Love

Life passes by so quickly; things go so fast. I have spent most of my life on the land that I own. It is a little piece of land that I've considered as my home sweet home. It is a place where I find joy, peace and happiness in my everyday life. I don’t want to give it up because it is engraved in me. It is a piece of me, a part of my life. Now I am pregnant because I never took the emergency contraception after the rape. I do not know what to do right now, but abortion is not an option at all. I have gone through it before, and do not want to do it again. I do not hate children; I do not choose against a child because of who its father is. My father asks that I leave the farm. I really despise that idea. The farm, what farm is he referring to? In fact, it is not a farm, but the place where I grow things. It is the place that embraces my presence and sings me beautiful songs every day and also the place that I hold dear to my heart and will always cherish.

Analysis:
A lot of things happen on the farm that directly affect both Lucy and David. Lucy is the only person that David has been able to maintain a relationship with over the years. He looks upon her place and upon her companionship as a retreat from the things that have gone wrong in his life, for all the misdeeds that he has done. Lucy welcomes him warmly. During his stays he seems to impose his ideology on Lucy’s life and her ways of dealing with things. Despite the fact that Lucy is quite different from David in terms of personality and perceptions of life, they live together quite harmoniously for the time being.

And now that Lucy has been raped, a lot of things have changed; their relationship becomes distant as David tries to influence her further. Lucy says to David, “I have a life of my own, just as important to me as yours is to you, and in my life I am the one who makes the decision" (Coetzee 198). She wants to make decisions for herself and be in control of her life. She wants to keep the child and continues to stay on the plantation even when David says, “Particularly when he [Pollux] may be the father of the child you are carrying. Lucy, your situation is becoming ridiculous, worse than ridiculous, sinister. I plead with you, leave the farm before it is too late. It is the only sane thing left to do" (Coetzee 200). Lucy is upset that David refers the plantation as “the farm.” To Lucy, it is a piece of land where she grows things and she will not give it up. Her decision to keep the child is similar to her desire to keep the land.

Phases of Lurie's Life

Although David Lurie is an independent and controlling man at the beginning of the story, he later transforms into a dependent and vulnerable man. As a professor, he has no respect for the material he teaches, and very little regard for the law, societal rules or ethics that are associated with his position. He teaches because it provides him with a livelihood (Coetzee 4-5). He lives within his income. He can provide and support himself without relying on outside help which reflects his financial security and independence. He also cooks for himself, which is another way of displaying his independence (Coetzee 14).

Besides being independent, he is also controlling. He lives within his emotional means at the expense of others, particularly women (Coetzee 2). For example, he dislikes the stickiness of the makeup that Soraya, a prostitute, puts on her face, so he asks her to wipe it off. He also satisfies himself with a sexual experience with Melanie, a student, even when she averts and feels uncomfortable. These women are passive when dealing with Lurie as he dominates the stage and directs what happen to them and their bodies.

Lurie has always been a man of the city, but once he has made up his mind to leave, there is little to hold him back (Coetzee 59). After the exposure of his sexual misconduct, Lurie leaves the university and settles in the country on his daughter's farm. His settling in the country implies the depletion of his independence. He becomes more and more dependent on external forces. He used to cook for himself, but now he depends on Lucy, his daughter, to provide for him when he is hungry (Coetzee 61). He also depends on his daughter for clothes during the winter and as a guide to help him adapt to the country life (Coetzee 70-71).

The afternoon the three men attack Lurie and Lucy, Lurie receives a blow on the head that knocks him unconscious, and is set on fire with alcohol (Coetzee 96). His daughter is raped, the dogs that he spent some time with are killed and his car is stolen. This shows that he has become susceptible to outside forces more than ever before.The transition from the city to the country has transformed a once independent and controlling man like himself into a person whose survival and wellbeing are rely on others, and whose safety and personal security also depend on others.

Parody to Williams' poem

This Is What I Do

throw
the rotten
plums out
of the kitchen' window,

embrace
the broccoli
that my mother's hands

create
it was delicious
so green and healthy,
and full of love

Just for Fun (not for grading)

Just to Tell

I have put on
the socks
that were left in
the blackshoe

and which
you were probably saving
for special occasion

forgive me
they are new
so comfortable
and so warm

The So-Called American Dream

"A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes speaks for African-Americans in a long struggle for racial justice, for people who believe in the American dream that anything is attainable through hard work. The concept plays on the idea that American is a classless society, although it is obviously not, as any honest examination of the United States will reveal. The idealistic vision of the American Dream also assumes that people are not discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, gender, and national origin, another thing which is unfortunately not true in the United States.

Many people believe that the structure of American society belies the idealistic goal of the American Dream, pointing to examples of inequality rooted in class, race, and ethnic origin which suggest that the American Dream is not attainable for all.

For instance, African Americans in many parts of the nation resisted to racial segregation and discrimination with strategies such as civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, marches, protests and boycotts. However, still they were denied the American Dream that all Americans deserved.

Dream a Little Dream

"Harlem" by Langston Hughes incorporates a series of similes to generate an abstract sense of the possible catastrophe when a dream is put on hold. What happens to such a dream is not clearly stated, but the use of critical verbs gives various senses to hint that a beautiful dream could negatively affect everybody when it’s deferred.

It becomes dark when it’s dried up, and gross when it festers like a sore. Then, it stinks like rotten meat but eventually it gets covered up. In the end, the dream turns into despair and negatively impacts society. These similes give the readers various senses because they could see when something’s dried up, smell when something’s stink, taste when something’s sweet, and hear when something explodes.

Hughes compares a deferred dream to a raisin. He is creating an image that doesn’t have any extreme connotation in it, besides saying that the dream is being deserted and now it turns dark. When he compares a deferred dream to a festering sore, the image is getting negative and gross. The image gets more intense and disturbing when he associates a deferred dream with rotten meat. Lastly, he conceals the negative image with a syrupy sweet. But the dream gets worst and turns into despair and bursts.

Hughes starts the poem out with a main question, and then follows a series of sub-questions, each containing a critical verb that shows the progression of the possible unfortunate event that radiates from a deferred dream. The order of the questions is critical to the construction of this poem. Hughes’ special use of verbs in each question creates a progressive imagery of the temporary stages that a deferred dream resides.

As the poem unfolds and more questions emerge, the tone gets more and more disturbing and eventually ends with something similar to a threat, which may or may not be truly why Langston Hughes organized the questions the way he did in "Harlem."