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:
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He technically slept naked with no fear that the Arab would uprise against him.
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He fed the Arab prisoner and offered tea.
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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:
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He would go to prison like Daru instructed.
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He would escape.
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
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