Welcome to Unveiling Literature:
A Multicultural Approach. The topics that we are going to talk about
is Powerlessness and Choice. These are dominant topics to explore
with the works of The Guest by Albert Camus, Requiem by Anna
Akhmatova, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Faust by Johann Wolfgang
Van Goethe. In these powerful pieces of literature, I find myself
guessing what would happen next or what would cause the motives of
the main characters in each section of the story. They actually made
me go on a philosophical journey on the themes that we are going to
discuss today. So let’s jump in.
The Guest by Albert Camus
This story made me question a few
things like what would cause Daru to turn away his own kindred by
sending him to prison? There could be a reason of this happening. The
most dominant motive is his upbringing. According to the story, Camus
wrote that Daru was born in a cold part of France where there was no
one there. He practically lived in the schoolhouse and eventually
became a schoolmaster. When Barducci came, he brought an Arab
prisoner. Barducci, then, decided that he would leave the prisoner
there for the night and tells Daru to turn the captive into prison.
Overnight, there seems to be some kind of bond that was built. This
was unannounced to Daru but he had a sense of it. Daru recognized the
bonding and “snapped” himself out of it. At this point, I believe
that it was too late. This is what I mean:
-
He technically slept naked with
no fear that the Arab would uprise against him.
-
He fed the Arab prisoner and
offered tea.
-
He always had the gun in another
room of the classroom.
Those
show me that he trusted that the Arabic man would not turn on him or
even hurt him.
The
Choice
Daru’s
option was to escort the kindred man to prison in Tinguit but he made
a choice to send the Arab to the place unsupervised. When he did
this, there was words written on the chalkboard saying that he
“turned in a brother” and he “would pay for this”. This is
from Daru’s perspective. Let’s look at the Arab’s perspective.
He was presented by an option by Daru:
However,
the Arab made his choice by going to the place of prison.
Powerlessness
Both
seemed powerless. What would have happened if Daru turned down
Barducci’s request? What if the Arab would have escaped instead of
go to prison? It would seem like Daru would be in a worse situation
than the Arab captive because he would have made an enemy out of
either the French or the Arabic nation. It didn’t matter what
choice he made he would have to fight for his life.
Analysis:
https://www.enotes.com/topics/guest/in-depth
Requiem by Anna Akhmatova
This
story is about a mother doing everything to protect her son from
going into jail. This is kind of emotional because there are so many
mothers that have lost someone or known a mother that has lost a
child. She compared her loss to the Virgin Mary and how she lost her
son Jesus. I find that kind of compelling because she had no idea
what would become of her son. The main character did not know if the
son would be killed or not. So she had to make a choice and things
seemed grim for her in her efforts to be with her son and also the
hope that she had to get him out of prison was diminished.
Choice
The
choice of the main character was to join her son in prison in hopes
to not only give him comfort but to also get him out. However, it
seems like this was going south for her. She did manage to go to
prison to see her son. However, one thing I was not clear on was the
becoming of him. Did he live or did he die? I believe that he had
died because she wouldn’t be comparing her loss to the loss of the
Virgin Mary. It seems like this was tragic and I don’t wish that on
no one not even the main character.
Powerlessness
This
is more of a dominant theme to me because she couldn’t do anything
to stop the fate of losing her son. She tried her best to prevent it
but it seems like there was no one to turn to or no one to help
better the situation.
Analysis:
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Understanding-Anna-Akhmatovas-Poem-Requiem
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
This
story talks about a sales guy named Gregor Samsa. He was apparently
sick of his job and told the Devil to take it all. This kind of
reminds me of what humans do when they are sick of a situtation and
add alittle satire to their situation before knowing that it creates
a negative ripple effect because we actually formulated a plan that
would cause even more pain. Anyway, his body begins to itch and he
turns into a bug. This change made him unable to go to work and he
thought of many ways to get out of the situation he was in but there
was no hope. He finds himself in a really bad dilemma. The ending of
the story didn’t suit well because his family ended up rejecting
him because he turned into a hideous bug and threw him out. Leaving
him alone with no home and no job.
The
Choice
Gregor
thought that it would be beneficial to let the devil take it all of
his burdens away. It is quite unclear if he wanted his soul sold or
he was thinking more so about death. With this choice, he had to live
out the painful consequences of turning into a bug. Not only that but
stare at rejection all of his life. That’s a hard pill to swallow.
Powerlessness
Gregor
had no control over his entire situation. Not only his transformed
body, but people perspective about him; the future of his job and his
connection
to his family. It was pretty sad how things ended. I guess the only
benefit is that he doesn’t have to worry too much about family
responsibilities anymore.
Analysis:
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1055&context=the-mall
Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von
Goethe
Faust was a man of philosophical
origin. He studied all of his life and taught the Word of God all of
his life but didn’t quite seem to understand what he was studying.
He then came fustrated because he decided that he was no wiser or not
having a deeper understanding of the meanings of life. He was then
tempted by the devil to sell his soul for understanding. When he
neared the end of his life he spoke to God and was given the answers
that he was seeking. All on the day that happened to be Easter. So
unlike Gregor in Metamorphosis, Faust had a better fate.
Choice
Faust was tempted and feel
straight for the trap of the devil because the devil made him feel
like he (the devil) had the answers. When he found out that he (the
devil) didn’t, he asked for forgiveness and God forgave him then
gave him the answers that he was looking for.
Powerlessness
Faust
could not resist the devils clever tactics and deceptive devices. He
felt like there was no one else that could give him what he was
looking for. He thought the devil had the wisdom like God and then
quickly realized that the devil didn’t have what he was looking
for. Though Faust was a fool for allowing the devil to trick him.
However, he was made wise when he discovered God in all of his glory.
Analysis:
https://www.gradesaver.com/goethes-faust/study-guide/summary-fausts-study
What Can My Students Learn?
A
Worksheet
of Reflection
can help with this kind of work. This worksheet would be throughout
the blog entries that I post because it will definitely help the
students understand the themes of each entry. Also a venn
diagram of
the two options of choice and powerlessness. What this Venn Diagram
would do is have the students distinguish each dominant trait in
choice and powerlessness and the blend of the two which is the motive
or cause of the action that made the effect of those options.
Modern Example of The
Following Themes
The
example that I can think about is the movie Avengers: Endgame.
Endgame
was about the Avengers making choices to stop Thanos from destroying
half of the universe. Not as the Universe as a place but the
population of the universe would be erased by the infinity gauntlet.
There were so many sacrifices and in the end the Avengers lost. There
was a sense of powerlessness because no matter how hard they tried
there were so many people that died, including some to the Avengers
that sworn to protect the weak.
References
Puchner, Martin. The
Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume 2.
https://digital.wwnorton.com/worldlit3v2
Enotes.com.
(2021). The Guest By Albert Camus.
https://www.enotes.com/topics/guest/in-depth
Baker,
Anaya. (2016.) Understanding the Poem Cycle “Requiem” by Anna
Akmatova.
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Understanding-Anna-Akhmatovas-Poem-Requiem
Butler
University Libraries. (2021). Analysis of the Metamorphosis.
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1055&context=the-mall
Gradesaver.
(2021). Goethe’s Faust Story and the Analysis of Faust’s Study.
https://www.gradesaver.com/goethes-faust/study-guide/summary-fausts-study
Bridges,
Carmen. (2021). Reflection Sheet: The Power of Choice Or The
Consequences Due To Powerlessness.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16iHIzb66RSgaZmwu21PhNpNkfxz-ht4TbG2T8q7Ro98/edit?usp=sharing
Student
Handouts. (2021). Venn Diagram.
https://www.studenthandouts.com/00/200811/venn1.pdf
Rotten
Tomatoes. Avengers: Endgame Review.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_endgame
