Oedipus Journal #2

In a moments of intensity in Oedipus characters breakout into long monologues. This is a common feature in both Greek and Shakspearian plays. In Oedipus we find that Oedipus' original claims of innocence are not entirely true and calls into question his reliability as a character. In his long monologue he confesses to his wife that he came upon and killed a group of travelers that may have been his predecessor Laius. This moment is a big step in the plot because it is the first time Oedipus mentions any fault on his part. The long monologue also catches a reader visually as it stands out from the rest of the text.

Oedipus Journal #1

The point of view for Oedipus is third person narrated by the traditional "Greek Chorus". This stays constant throughout the play. The Chorus is put in place to keep the audience informed about the stories progress so they are very reliable. The reader gets to know the characters through their actions. With the part I read there is no insight given about the characters and the reader is expected to make their own conclusions. The character of Oedipus is presended as a strong leader but the way he speaks makes us suspicious of his activities. He seems over eager to find the killer of his predecessor almost as if he is trying to hide something. When the priest is finally convinced to tell who is responsible and points the blame at Oedipus the king is outraged. The writer wants us to distrust Oedipus and side with the wise priest.

Poem XX

When thinking about songs that have the same what as the poem I thought of "When you see my face" by the all American regents. The song focuses on a guy who is trying to get over the loss of a girl. He even contradicts himself like the man in the poem by saying "Truth be told I miss you, but truth be told I'm lying" this show indecision in the person singing the song just like the man in the poem. Both characters deal with the event differently in that in the poem the man feels sad and alone while in the song the man lashes out in anger to cover up his grief. Both these are classic examples of human behavior in this type of situation and make both the poem and the song successful at delivering a message to the listener or reader

Poem XIII

This Poem is about the never ending struggle of love. It begins with a man talking about having sexual relations with a woman but then he shows that despite his best efforts he is unable to express his emotions to her. This leads to him becoming distant from her in both a physical and romantic sense.

The speaker in the poem is a man, I know this because the other person he is in love with is a girl. I can tell by the way he refers to her as a doll that she is obviously female. It could be that the speaker is a girl as well but the idea of ms. Wecker giving is us a poem about lesbians is highly improbable.

This poem was written to show one of the hardest things about love and relationships. The thing is the expression of feelings between two people. If one person it the relationship is unable to express his or her feelings, the relationship is doomed. It also shows that physical relationships with out an emotional connection are also meaningless if the two cannot express feelings to each other.

The poem is written in a way that replaces human emotions with physical things. The begining of the poem starts by having water represent the life of the relationship. As the poem progresses water fades away until he last mentions it by saying, "only a few drops left trembling". This shows that there is little life left in the relationship.

Revised 3rd paragraph

Huxley uses contrast between the society in the World State and the savage reservation to show how materialism has replaced religion. The savage reservation is a very primitive form of a not so far from our own, religion is a huge part of the society and the source of purpose for the people living in it. This is put in contrast to the World State that has no religion, who instead worships the industrial ideas of Henry Ford. These two lifestyles contrast each other in almost every way, where on the reservation pain and suffering are thought a natural part of life the World State has eliminated it completely. This contrast is best expressed by the conversation between John the Savage and Mustapha Mond, the Controller. John expresses what he values; "I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger," (Huxley 240). Mustapha Mond tells him that "God isn't compatible with machinery...we prefer to do things comfortably" (Huxley 234, 240) This shows that the contrast between the reservation and world state is two different ways of life that cannot coexist. Huxley presents us with these to worlds and we see pieces of our own world in both of them. Through the contrast of the two he shows that we are slowly moving toward materialism and away from God.

Rough Draft

Hey so im quite sick but i put together this so you guys will have something to work with, hopefully i will be better by tomorrow but please forward all advice to me so we can get the final in on time

In many traditional religions, God is a figure that gives comfort, is trustworthy, is the Creator of mankind and has many other supernatural characteristics. He is the only thing or being that can bring true fulfillment. While many people believe in God, believers are lessening all the time. People have but their trust is material items, leaving their religious beliefs behind. We are persuaded by media that superficial things are able to bring comfort while this is truly, only temporary. In Brave New World, Huxley uses symbolism, word choice and contrast to show the concept of God being replaced with Ford to warn the reader about the negative effects of replacing religion with superficial pleasures. This occurs due to the materialism that is represented by Ford.

Huxley uses both God and Ford as symbols. God represents old religious customs that are no longer part of the World State. The people on the reservation still worship God, because their culture still values spirituality and emotion. But in the World State, Ford has replaced God as the accepted deity. Because Henry Ford was the inventor of assembly line production, Huxley uses him to represent industrialization and the concept of efficient manufacturing. The World State’s society is very focused on efficient production of material goods. They use the assembly line concept in every aspect of life, even the creation of life – “The principle of mass production at last applied to biology” (Huxley, 6). Ford is their deity because he represents these principles. The assembly line principle represents materialism. Ford first applied it to cars, which were a luxury item. In the World State, it allows people to lead perfectly conditioned, content lives, without families or the need to question their situations. It turns them away from emotional needs, and makes them more focused on material items. By using Ford as a symbol of the assembly line principle, and showing how the principle causes materialism, Huxley makes Ford into a symbol of materialism.

Huxley uses contrast between the society in the world state and the savage reservation to show directly how materialism has replaced religion. The savage reservation is a very primitive form of standard American life as far as values are concerned, religion is a huge part of the society and the source of purpose for the people living in it. This is put in stark contrast to the World State that has no religion, instead they worship the industial ideas of Henery Ford and that lives can be manufactued and maintained just like a Model T assembly line that Mr. Ford is most famous for. These two lifestyles contrast eachother in almost everyway, where on the reservation pain and suffering are thought a natural part of life the World state has eliminated it compleley. This contrast is best expressed by the conversation between John the Savage and Mustapha Mond the controller, John expresses what he values, "I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger" (Huxley 240). Mustapha Mond replys to this by saying that, "God isn't compatatible with machinery...we prefer to do things comfortably" (Huxley 234,240) This shows that the contrast between the reservation and world state is chaos verses organization, each has there value but they cannot coexist, just as the two worlds cannot.

Through the replacement of God with Ford, Huxley demonstrates his negative view towards superficiality. He warns of the risks our society is facing when becoming part of this materialistic world. Huxley uses symbolism, word choice and contrast to show the possible outcome of a society that has leaned more onto the temporary fulfillment of material items rather than leaning on God's power, comfort and undying love for his creation. In the end, the reader is faced to question their life, are they headed to a depressive downfall as the materialistic characters in Brave New World? Or are they heading towards the eternal life only God can bring?

Rough Draft 3rd paragraph

Huxley uses contrast between the society in the world state and the savage reservation to show directly how materialism has replaced religion. The savage reservation is a very primitive form of standard American life as far as values are concerned, religion is a huge part of the society and the source of purpose for the people living in it. This is put in stark contrast to the World State that has no religion, instead they worship the industial ideas of Henery Ford and that lives can be manufactued and maintained just like a Model T assembly line that Mr. Ford is most famous for. These two lifestyles contrast eachother in almost everyway, where on the reservation pain and suffering are thought a natural part of life the World state has eliminated it compleley. This contrast is best expressed by the conversation between John the Savage and Mustapha Mond the controller, John expresses what he values, "I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger" (Huxley 240). Mustapha Mond replys to this by saying that, "God isn't compatatible with machinery...we prefer to do things comfortably" (Huxley 234,240) This shows that the contrast between the reservation and world state is chaos verses organization, each has there value but they cannot coexist, just as the two worlds cannot.