Reflection

When I first entered Gothic fiction I had a pretty rough idea of what it was about. My stereotypical guess was it was literature out of the ordinary and dark stories. That isn't a wrong idea but it is far from the totality of what Gothic literature is. First of all I didn't realize how much Gothic literature actually changed over time throughout movements like transcendentalism, romantic, also there is the southern gothic. Gothic literature as actually shown it self to be quite useful in society not only as thriller but also to play on our ideas and beliefs within the society we live. GOthic fiction has us step outside the reality around us and then explore our reality from an entirly different perspective. I impact Gothic has had on writers like Poe whom any educated student from gradeschool and beyond knows was a dark romatic writter of the Gothic. gothic fiction wherer film, novel, or short story is a pretty specteacular way to illumite ideas on society to the readers of the work of literature. I have come to like the Gothic, I kinda already like with liking many dark, mysteryious novel like harry potter which are gothic genre.
I really liked the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde book along with the other works provide they offered many different uses of the Gothic Genre and it change over time. I would suggust and hoped that not only would we watch Fight Club but also read the novel. I really like the Movie and I hear the book is even better and has more to it. All in all I enjoyed the class although some days were just those sluggish days where I didn't want to do anything, but the class was incorperative of the students and that helps alot with understanding and paying attention to what is going on in class especially on days when I just was not always there. I am actually interested if Gothic literature will perhaps if it already isn't, take another turn and change into a different form to express and explore the society of that particular present.

A good man is hard to find

O' Connor is using the grandmother in the story "A good man is hard to find" to show what it means to be a good christian and that it is never to late. The grandmother is religious but only on outward appearance. Her own life dipicted in the story is that of a selfish woman and it most seen as she begs for her own life in the presence of Misfit, over her own grandchildren. The grandmother seems completly self absored, she is only concerned with a christian appearance and not a Christian life. O' Connor is showing how Christianity is not an appearance but rather a chosen life style, where your actions by intentions represent your belief not the one's appearance. O' Connor also shows that even if someone does appear to live a christain life but is not living it in their heart, that it is never to late to change and start living a life of actions by intentions, a christian life. This is shown by the grandmothers final act of reaching out for Misfit and calling him her son, showing she now realizes that she was not living a christian life but only trying to appear to be religious. Also, Misfit states that she would have been a good women, meaning she would have lived a christian life forthwith.

terror of Mr. White

Mr. White upon seeing Jacques for the first time, whom come to find out is a leaper, experiences a great amount of terror. Mr. White isn't just afraid of what he sees when he see's the ghostly white figure of Jacques but also smells him (the smell of death as Little White claims). Upon this dreadful sight and the fact that his mind cannot comprehend at the moment that the man is leaper although he Jacques has all human qualities of the living, little White is so baffled by what he sees that he mind cannot rationaliaze. So his imagination goes wild and despite rationality he call him a ghost and is terrified. It is funny to so little white try to convince himself rationally that the figure he sees is human but to no avail will his rational mind at the moment accept or understand that but instead continues to truly believe Jacques is a ghosts.

What is a white man?

From the description of White and Black men in Chesnutt's story "The Sheriffs Children" there is a notion present as to the entitlement of what it means to be white. I would venuture to say that a white men, based on history and Chesnutt's wiriting, is a man endowed with all God indended him and is not hindered by (what Antebellum whites considered) he inferiotity that GOd intenteded of blacks. In other words I am saying that society recogines wheather a man is black or white. The facts of this is first the Color of their skin. A white man can have a black ancestor but if he bears no resemblence then in antebellum society that person would not have been subject to inferior status of haveing a black ancestor. If your skin is white then God intended it to be white and thus intended you to be endowed with knowledge, power, education, law, leadership, etc. over all of the earth (according to antibellum society). The Mullato in "The Sheriff's Children" is the son of the white Sheriff and posses a white spirit but due to the inferor genes given to him by his mover and its effect on his darker skin, he is seen only for his considered inferior genes and thus not worthing of his white blood and is not endowed to have all the rights of whites. If Cicely's son had only had the light skin to go along with his white spirit, the man would have prospered and not been subjected to slave society and had his white sprit crushed and his endowment of white blood taken from him becasue he is darker.
For the antebullum society Race was soley judged by skin and if a white man had any amount of black in his genes that person all needed to keep it a secret and he would be mingled and drafted into society or I should white society which was (belived by divine right of God) the domante race.

Will to live

Admits everything Frado went through she still managed to survive the brutal and hellish beating of Mrs. B and her daughter Mary along with all the calamities in her from her childhood. It amazes me how she was able to survive psycially, emationaly and physically. I feel this novel shows how the will to live is more powerful than any inflicted crualty. However, the novel cleary states that Frado wanted to die in the story and the only thing keeping her alive was the people whom see found refuge and friendship with; James saw her as a human being and cared for her. The will to lived is not dirved from the indivdual wanting just life; the will to live, moreover means the will to be loved. It is out of Frado deisre for some type of comannionship that every human desires by the very nature and core of our being. Humans desire sometype of relationship to be cared for and the fact that Frado was cared by just a few was more than enough to create her into such an tough person that should could indure and live on through the Mrs. B's thrashings.
As the people whom care for Frado die, like the death of James and other move away, as Frado is left alone, her spirit begins to decay and sickness emcoupasses her body and she to is dieng to the malnutritiono some form of positive realtionship. When Frado finally recieves love again, from Mrs. Moore, Frado life began to return and she one again had purpose, a will to live.
This book is quite an role model for all humans. We must realize that there are people whom have gone through much worse than we could ever imagine but if we just hold onto those we care about and allow ourselves to live for the pupose of having positive realtionships then humans can endure any hardship and will to live. This will to live is estalbished some sore of family and you can overcome your hardhships because you are elevated by your family and oversome for their sake rather than your own. It is like a soldiers who go to war are able to make it throught for the sake of protecting their familys, and the person next to them.

Madeline Murder?

Roderick Usher did in fact entomb his twin, his own sister while still alive. One at first would argue for Usher who could have thougth his sister dead due to her illness of which makes her appear as she has dies because she was subject to long cataleptic states. Her character of cataleptic states would have left Madeline motionless and due to loss of muscle control it could appear as if she stop breathing, or maybe she did for a while. However, the end the story unfolds and Usher reveals the horror that he burried his sister alive, and knowingly alive at that. To conclude the story of the fall of the house of Usher it ends in the irony that his sister seemly escapes, two weeks after being entombed and appears before Usher upon his confession of buring his twin alive. Madeline then is said to die "violently" upon her brother, probably in a catalatic state. Her in lies the first irony, Madeline seems to be alive after two weeks then she dies so sudden upon assumed escape and then dies from the very reason her brother, Usher, entombed her in the first place. The second irony lies in that Usher upon the horror of seeing his sister agains after he tried to murder her by burying her alive in the tomb, thus dies from his own fear upon seeing his sister die before his eyes. The final event of the story concluded with both twin dead and now the house crumbles and dies along with them.
In all this it is up to the reader to suspose and deciede upon your own judgement and the information from the story to determine wheather Madeline was murdered only in that the event of her death is the direct result of Roderick Usher.

The rouse of Goodman Brown

The guide for traveler of Goodman brown is a figure of the devil come to entice Goodman in Goodman's own evil and stir the core of Goodman to embrace his evil passions. The guide is a man that appears to look like Goodman or maybe an ancestor and he actually uses stories of the aid he provided for goodman's father and his father's father; the guide shows Goodman his friend, which is appeartly unknown to anyone else, and thus goodmen should follow him into the forest. Once enticed deep into the forest Goodman meets many people whom he knows. He see Faith his wife, Goody Cloyse, Decan Gookin, etc; these people are friends of Goodman's from Salem whom have some how found their way into the forest but Goodman's ugres his Guide to cover him up, to not be seen by them so as not to answer why he is out there and express his deeds. The characters play a big role for Goodman though they each have found their way into the forest for appreatly the same reason as Goodman to statify their evil passion only these people from salem are to watch as Faith becomes a new member by communion into the unholy, devilish church of Indian and English witchcraft.

I am curious is Elizabeth Graskell is playing with notion of grace, faith and prudence within the Novel. It can't be an accident that she named main characters with those names when writting a novel in Puritian, protestant christian society. I am not sure as to what she could be getting at but I would venture from the actions of the characters throughout the novel that Faith is not acting faith, Grace is not acting in grace, Prudence is not acting in prudence. OED describes the action of faith as to put trust into and Faith throught the novel loses any trust she once had in others, in fact she does the opposite and her actions are lies and accusations of a lie that leads prudence to accusse Lois of being a witch. To act in faith is to never lose faith and continue to trust in the lord, especially in puritian society. Grace is a norrow individual who gives Lois the gift of staying in her house but only after persueaded by her husband whom dies shortly thereafter. OED states grace is acting in favor or thanks, grace is not very thankful towards the end of the novel towards lois whom has never done her wrong but Lois only did her absolute best to please her aunt. Prudence would live up to her name if she acted good sense or rather used her ability to recogize good sense and carrying it out in her actions. Instead Prudence acts in an evil sense to sentence her innocent cousin to death from her false accusations and continued fits at the sight of her cousin. Prudence doesn't act in Prudence but in witckedness, which she contfess to at the end of the novel.
Lois is the only person whom I feel in the novel whom has the characterists and actions of faith, prudence, and grace. Lois continued throughout the entire novel did her absulute best to please eveyone else and lead a live a good christain life. When she was confused she had faith in God to give her strength; prudence or the good sense to know that she not only wasn't a witch but that she would be a martyr for the sake of not lieing before God that she is a witch becasue she is not. Most of all Lois displayed grace that even in her turmoil she comforts the indian women and shares the gift of grace with her. Lois is an example of Puritians should have lived their life if they really wanted to be the City on the hill.

Value of Novel Reading

I have really learned the value of Novel Reading much from this previous summer 09 semester in my Theology and Literature Class. We read Novel such as Graham Greene's novel the Honorary Council which is a story filled with Greene's own theological questions and possibles thoeries of who is God and how we describe him.
Novel allow the reader to escape reality in the sense and explore a different world or point of View almost and to expereince anothers life through their insights and experiences as fortold on the pages of the book. In the Novel Honorary council I got to espace my own personal beliefs and tradional beliefs systems and really explore a different POV of a despricption of God and God's interaction with the world.
Novel can also tell us alot about our self. For instant the Novel which you like the most, like for me Honary Council I like becasue I can relate to it, not just in profession but in the theological question presented within the novel. Every Novel more or less can relate you, but the best Novels are the ones that relate in multiple ways. The relations are seemly endless. One can relate from experience, known friends/aquantces expereinces, dreams, philosophy, family, thooughts, etc. The relations that Novel have tie our minds and sometime our soul to them and reveal aspect of ourself as well as explore what our curious mind wonders about but may be against societal norm or just against possibilites in reality itself. All in all Novels have so much to offer for one's overall health and cultural health.

portrayal of Mr. Enfield

Mr. Utterson is a unique character whom tell the events of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If Mr. Enfield was to have given his Point of View on the matter of the events and describe them into detail i venture that it would actually fair pretty close with Mr. Utterson's, only he might of been a little more serious in his explaining of the events. The indicdent at the window with Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield seems to show that Mr. Enflied is almost accostimed or acceptent of the unexplained Jekyll and Hide relations. As Mr. Utterson is shocked at what he sees Mr. Enfield is quiet and continue to walk in silence as if he is moving on from what he just witnessed. I think this shows that Mr. Enfield has a bit of a tough stone like personality when it comes to events or stories of horror. Mr. Enfield would have portrayed the events much like Mr. Utterson only he might have been a bit more serious or direct in the events not going into deep detail but merely pointing out the facts with just enough detail for someone to get the picture of what is going on.

Moral Theme: The sins of the Father

A moral theme that is present in "The Castle of Otronto" is the sins of the father are the sins of the sons. This moral is not meant to say that the sun is sinful because his fathers actions but he is influenced by his father sins and he also inherits his father sins that affect him in a manor that subject him to his father consequences for his sinful act. The act of the prince's grandfather taking over the throne from Antonio the righteous king of Otronto didn't just simply affect himself but affected his generations after him. Richardo, Manfred's grandfather, in succeding the throne of Otronto to his family also succeded his sin that affect his generations after him to suffer from his sin until the sin was attoined and the true succesor of Otronto took the throne. Manfred gained his legacy from his grandfather sin and so lost it becuase Richardo will gave not only kingship but misfortune because one day the true heir to the throne of Ortonto would return and rightfully reclaim his throne but not until time permited the young heir to grow up into a position to where he is mature (thus the sin pass through generation because of the heir necessity of age for reclaiming the throne); mature in the sense that Theodore is strong and wise enought to take the throne and the lineage of Richardo ended to allow for theodore (true heir) to take the throne. Thus the sins of Richardo ened with his household being destroyed in the generation of Manfred. This story shows how a man acts not only affect himself but his family--not just immediate but also in the generations to come. In other words heed your actions becasue evil sins don't just affect thinself but one's family as well and possibly the generations to come.

Introduction

I am a junior Relgion major here at TCU as well as a member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. Not until the last year did I really start getting into ready fiction literature and my reading are more based on that have some theological rellevence to it. Gothic literature is not something I have ever really read and on that Gothic in general is not something I would say I understand. I know the stereotypes that most people would project at me if I ask them, what is Gothic, but I am curious as too its true meaning and to understand what Gothic literature actually is. I am hoping that even if I may not Gothic style the reading assignments and novels will at laeast be thrilling reads. I have read the terms and condition as outlined in the syllabus and understand all the requirement for class.