Problematizing Post-The Road

I think it was so interesting how the boy kept asking his father if they were the good guys. "'Are we still the good guys' he said. 'Yes. We're still the good guys'"(McCarthy 77). If the son was so young that he cannot remember the old way of living, then how would he know right from wrong? What's the guiding moral compass? What is the ultimate good that the boy is deriving morals from? This seems to be the direction of the culture we live in. We want people to have morals but we're not willing to admit that there has to be an ultimate from which morals derive. This is what's causing all the sticky, opaque situations that our nation and people are getting lost in. No one is able to stay within the moral compass because we choose to believe there isn't one. It's quite ironic how our culture thinks. This reminds me of the bumper stickers that say, "Tolerance" and "Coexist" and each letter has a symbol of a different religion, including Christianity. Yet, the irony is that the one religion people won't tolerate is Christianity.

Our culture needs to understand that they cannot have morals without having something that defines and creates those morals. Saying that they come of ourselves means that we are gods. And if we are gods, why is their death and reproduction? This whole thought process opens up Pandora's box and if one is not careful their whole world is going to be turned upside down. Jesus is going to make sure they know who He is and how serious He is about their lives. It's funny that Cormac McCarthy mentions God and has his characters question if there is a God and yet he is not a believer himself. "You mean like the good guys? Yes. Or anybody that you wanted them to know where you were. Like who? I don't know. Like God? Yeah. Maybe somebody like that" (McCarthy 246). He just reflects our culture and the journey they are on; finding meaning and purpose without being held responsible for their actions

Peace Like a River-Annotated

Leif Enger, undoubtedly, had religious themes and references laced within the book Peace Like a River. One that many Christians would notice is that Jeremiah seemed to be a Christ-like figure. His name, first of all, is significant. I looked up what the name Jeremiah means in Hebrew and I do not think it is a coincidence that Jeremiah means “Yahweh Exalts”. I would not be surprised if Leif looked it up and subliminally wanted his character to exalt God throughout the book.

The first thing that gives the readers the idea that Jeremiah is a Christ-like figure is when he walks on air one night. Reuben woke in the middle of the night and thought he heard voices. Sneaking outside to take a peek at who might be out there, he noticed it was his father praying aloud and pacing. “And then, as I stood watching, Dad walked right off the edge of the truck” “He went on pacing—God my witness—walking on air, praying relentlessly, a good yard of absolutely nothing between the soles of his boots and the thistles below” (17). One of Jesus’ famous miracles is when he walked on water. This is one of the first indications that Jeremiah is no ordinary man.

When Jeremiah was humiliated in front of all the students, he says absolutely nothing. “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39b). This reflects Christ so much. Christ, while taking his last breaths upon the cross, asked not that his persecutors be punished but that God would forgive them. Jeremiah healed the superintendant’s face. That was his response. After being ridiculed and put down, kindness and forgiveness was reciprocated.

Another characteristic that shows Jeremiah as a Christ figure is the forgiveness he shows. “In this picture I saw no forgiveness for myself—not from Davy, not from Swede, not from anyone but Dad, who was so forgiving that it almost didn’t count” (285). Christ said to Peter, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21). Christ continually forgives us for our stupidity; Jeremiah forgives others in the same manner. He especially forgives his children because they are his pride and joy. Christ views us as his children (1 John 3:1) and he loves us with a love that a parent has for their child.

The last and final Christ-like act is when Jeremiah sacrificed his life so that Reuben could live. Jape hid out beside the house and patiently waited for Davy to leave. Everyone went outside to see Davy off when a loud shot rang through the air. Jeremiah fell onto the hood of the car. He had been shot in the side. Roxanna ran over to try and stop the flow but Jeremiah replied, “Let the blood wash it clean” (306). Christ’s blood washed us clean. It is by His stripes that we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). A few minutes later, Jape shot three more times and Reuben was hit in the lung. “One day he said, ‘Your father should not have died, Reuben. Did you know that?’ I nodded. ‘I mean, injured where he was. I examined him, you know. No organs were damaged. Blood vessels, yes. But he actually shouldn’t have died.’ And I conversely shouldn’t have lived” (307). When Christ died, no bones were broken. In Jeremiah’s case, no organs were damaged. When reflecting later on in life about what happened that day, Reuben states, “That it seemed a transaction had taken place on my behalf” (310). Christ paid the price so that all of us could live with him eternally and that we would no longer be separated from our Heavenly Father by a chasm. There was a transaction taken on our behalf.

Jeremiah, New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, Tyndale Press, Wheaton, IL, USA 1987.

Writinghood. "Peace Like a River Explored." Writinghood. N.p., 3 Feb. 2011. Web.
20 Apr. 2011.
peace-like-a-river-explored/>.

Water-Reflection Post

"It's more than just rain or snow" was really interesting. I never realized how significant weather was in literature. Like the chapter says, I know the infamous line, "It was a dark and stormy night." It's become a cliché. After hearing it so often, one becomes numb to how weather can affect the story line, unless the author puts it in your face.

An idea the author says is, “So if you want a character to be cleansed, symbolically, let him walk through the rain to get somewhere. He can be quite transformed when he gets there” (77). How true of Christ! There’s a reason He relates himself to living water. Drink of Him and never thirst again. He sustains life and transforms people. There’s a song called, “All My Fountains” by Chris Tomlin that goes with this topic. Here are a few lyrics:

This dry and desert land
I tell myself, “Keep walking on”
Hear something up ahead
Water falling like a song
An everlasting stream
Your river carries me home
Let it flow, let it flow

Verse 2
A flood for my soul
A well that never will run dry
I've rambled on my own
Never believing I would find
An everlasting stream
Your river carries me home
Let it flow, let it flow

Chorus
Open the heavens
Come Living Water
All my fountains are in You
You're strong like a river
Your love is running through
All my fountains are in You

Bridge
Come on, and rain down on us
Rain down on us, Lord

Having Christ rain down on us will transform us even more and continues to change us into the people He wants us to become. We are the vessels that show Christ and His love (fountains) and our source is Him (well that never will run dry). All of who I am should be locked into who He is. Our prayers should be for him to continually rain down and smother us, transform us.

Peace Like River-Creative Post

God, I don't know what to do. You know what's in Davy's heart and what is happening. Was it my parenting? Did I not do a good enough job raising him in your truths? What went wrong? So many questions with so few answers. In a way, I'm glad for what he did. Those boys had done enough damage to Roofing and selfishly, I wanted to see them dead. It makes me sick to think about what they could have done to little Swede. On the other hand, judgement is yours. But I'm looking for your hand through this situation and it's so hard to see. Cloudy fog is blocking the sights I set on you. On this journey, lead me. Take control of this expedition, lead us to Davy, and give us wisdom on what we are to do when we see him. This is all in your hands. Nothing more to do but wait on you. Waiting on you Lord.

Peace Like a River

I love this book. I am really enjoying the narration coming from Reuben. Despite the most difficult problems his family faces, he's lighthearted and you can see he doesn't understand the severity of the circumstances. The word choice is simple and engaging making the story flow and the pages fly by. A funny, normal thought is: "The second, I suppose, is that the doctor turned out wrong about he brain damage. I'm happy to say none surfaced until I entered tenth grade and signed up for Plane Geometry; but since I can still feed myself and grind out a sentence in English, you won't hear me complain." And where is mind is in reference to the situation, for example, "Dread landed flopping in my stomach. We'd never had an enemy before, unless you counted Russia." Also, I like the little interjections he has so that way the book isn't all dialog and it's not all details either. For example, "I'm not even sure why I mention him here-it's not as if he pops up late, holding a clue or moral or other momentous piece of story."

It keeps the story not so serious even though the problems and situations are serious.

God, A Poem (Problematize)

This poem was so fascinating to me, but I'm not really sure why. I believe this poem represents most of society's view on God. He's just a guy sitting up there and he doesn't really care what goes on down below: "'I'm sorry, I must have been pissed-/Though your name rings a sort of a bell,'" Or they believe that He's real but that He removed himself from being active in our everyday lives: "I didn't exist at the Flood/And I won't be around for Salvation/To sort out the sheep from the cud-" Because of those two beliefs, the last two stanzas are what we think God thinks of us, "'You're a nasty surprise in a sandwich./You're a drawing-pin caught in my sock." And, "'You're a serious mistake in a nightie,/You're a grave disappointment all round-/That's all you are,' says th'Almighty,"

The reason why society thinks this about God and think He thinks that way about us is because they think God as a genie. Someone who is supposed to make life easy and give us everything we ask (Matt. 7:7). But it is what fits into His good and perfect will for us. Non-believers who think this haven't had an encounter with God and studied His character. He is everything He says He is, our minds just sometimes can't wrap around who He is. But that doesn't make Him any less real or active.

The Windhover

First reading this poem, I could pick up on a few things that Hopkins was saying but overall, I had no idea. That is, until Professor DeBorde explained it further. My eyes were opened to the beautiful words written, line by line, stroke by stroke. A gift to be given to our Heavenly Father.

The part that really struck me, however, is the overall meaning of the poem. In our brokenness is when we're most beautiful to Christ. Just as the hawk/falcon made a dangerous move against the wind, Hopkins relished on how beautiful it looked when it did so. Along with this, when it says, "sheer plod, makes plow down sillion shine, and blue-bleak embers,", it's referencing to how the soil looks like after being tilled. The sun reflects the beautiful specks of many colors. But, if one had not tilled the soil, the beauty would not have been seen.

Lastly the most powerful line, I believe, references to Christ and the blood that was spilled on Calvary: "gash gold-vermilion." Gold usually represents aristocracy or kingship and the gold being a brown rustic color symbolizes Christ's blood. Out of the pain and death, came life and life abundantly!

Childhood is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies

Little one please clutch

the rainbow light

for the world is much

too dangerous for a sprite.

The Great Sleep

means nothing

and yet is a great

something.

Keep the blinders on

for a day will dawn

when light will cease

to carry on.

Evermore, the world is yours.

Reach, teach, walk on all fours,

love like the world means more

than any game of connect four.

Hills Like White Elephants Creative Post

Jig,

I see the struggle. I hear the struggle in your voice. Listening to what you and the American are talking about is heartbreaking. I see the push and the pull like a game of tug of war. Honey, the world will always be there to explore but this, this may never happen again. The risks are high for this kind of procedure; there are no guarantees. Do what you want; thoroughly think through every aspect of this decision. One thing I ask is to not take into account the American. He doesn't sound like he's ready for the next chapter in life. On the train ride to wherever you're going. sit, think, listen, and reason. That's all I ask.

Sincerely,

Overhearer

A Work of Artifice-Problematizing

Even though this poem was written in the 1970s, I believe it is just as true today as it was back then. There's always been pressure on the way females are to act and look but it seems to have really evident in the US within the last 15 to 20 years. There are numerous beauty, anti-aging, teeth whitening, fat reducing products that we can't even name them all. Girls and women alike are feeling the pressures from the beauty and fashion industry to look a certain way. The "certain way" is not attainable for the mass populace. And it's starting younger and younger."With living creatures one must begin very early to dwarf their growth:"Just turn on the TV and you'll see numerous shows about high schoolers getting plastic surgery and little girls wearing make-up with spray on tans. It's out of control.

This poem, to me, is neither puzzling or challenging. It's inspiring. Yes, it's challenging to our culture to make them wake up and smell the roses. In a way, culture is carefully pruning us to ensure that we grow the way they want us to. Yet, the effects are detrimental. More and more girls are succumbing to eating disorders, extreme diets, and plastic surgery. All in the effort of trying to look like women in magazines who are air brushed.

Genesis 1:27 states, "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." The word "created" is used three times and in the Jewish faith, three equals perfection or complete. He didn't say "created" three times for the heck of it. When we read that, we're to know that it was not by mistake the way he made us. We were made like him and created in HIS image. There are no flaws in his eyes. He finds us beautiful. As Christian females, who's opinion matters at the end? The ones who will pass away? Or the One who will be with us for eternity?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we can't wear make-up or do our hair, but who are we doing it for?

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Going into this short story, I had preconceived ideas and notions about it. I have seen the movie with Brad Pitt in it, so I already knew the premise of the story of how he is born old and his age and life is in reverse. However, I had never chosen to go deeper simply because I thought I knew what happened.

But because I read it and the class discussed it, I was able to see beyond the surface and beyond what the movie portrayed. While reading, I viewed it as a "carpe diem" story. I saw the hurt and sadness that surrounded him his whole life. He was almost always considered an outsider and looked down upon. Therefore, I saw the story as one that said to appreciate the life cycle we're given and to live life to the fullest because one day, you won't be able to.

However, yesterday's class really intrigued me in that this story was about how we treat the elderly or others who aren't quite the "social norm." In America, we do throw away those that aren't moving at our pace or engaging in life really quickly. As Professor DeBorde stated, "Just as his father shut Benjamin up in his room when he was an old man, we too, do the same with our elderly." We tend to hide behind the phrase, "out of sight, out of mind." These different people are to be cherished and appreciated since, after all, they are still human, just with more experience.

Another point a fellow student brought up is that when we put them in nursing homes or assisted living houses, those don't necessarily protect the elderly because there are cases all over the news about nursing home abuse. People take advantage of the elderly. It's just sad. No wonder people are fighting for Euthanasia. If that's how they are going to be treated when they become incoherent, then why stick around? It's so sad.

The elderly sometimes have the best stories and advice. They have lived such full, rich lives but because they cannot operate at a certain speed, we push them aside. I want our generation to take the time to get to know their grandparents and to really listen to what they have to say. Along with that, I think, if we walked and lived at their place, we'd enjoy and appreciate more what this world has to offer.

"Hills Like White Elephants"

A small tiny word that I noticed being used frequently is, “it.” When referring to the child that is inside Jig or the operation, both say “it.” For example, “Doesn't it mean anything to you?” or “It's really not anything.” Dictionary.com defines “it” saying, “ [it’s] used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context.” The phrase in the definition that stands out to me is “used to represent an inanimate thing”. Jig and her significant other never say what “it” is. They never mention a child, animal or object. Therefore, “it” is an allusion to the child that she is carrying and the abortion that the American is trying to convince her to have.

By referring to an unborn child and an operation as large of an abortion as “it”, it downplays the significance of the human and the operation. In a way, it shows that an abortion is not different from any other operation and that the unborn child is no different than an animal. There is no worth. After reading and coming to this conclusion, I was able to re-read, “Traveling through the Dark” in a different light. The driver knew that the doe was carrying a fawn and that he/she was alive but he did not try to save it. He aborted the baby fawn. They were following the saying, “out of sight, out of mind.”

The context in which this was written is when feminism was on the rise and the push for gender equality. Especially when it came to birth control and the right to control if we should have kids. Hemingway was writing this story in a time period where civil rights were being argued, debated, and fought over. Women were done with feeling oppressed by males and wanted to have full reign over their own lives. Such as taking birth control, voting, and what Hemingway wrote about: abortion. Although Jig decided to keep the baby, I think the substance of the story is about her doing what she wants to do or what the American wants her to do. Eventually, she ends up doing what she wants to do which is keep and raise the child. Also, throughout the story, metaphors are used when Jig talks about the hills, other side of the hills, and the curtain. But I believe the plot is significant when talking about the usage of “it.”

Since abortion and women’s rights was such a controversial subject, the usage of “it” allows the reader to draw their own conclusions as to what he could be writing about. The ambiguity makes the reader think below the surface as to what the text is saying. I believe by using “it”, women of that time period were able to relate to the situation. Abortion was something not talked about and the story is a good representation of how women and men acted during the 1920s. I believe if Hemingway had said baby or abortion, it would have taken away from the story. Then it would have been another fictional story and wouldn’t have stood out or made the impact that it did. Literature is about going deeper, further and beyond what is seen and by only saying “it”, Hemingway accomplishes that. "This story was not only intended for the pleasures of reading, but also though provocation" (Gardner).

Gardner, Brian. "Hills Like White Elephants--Literary Analysis." machete.
WordPress, 2007. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. hills-like-white-elephants-literary-analysis/>.

My Mark

I just went to a conference in Atlanta called Passion. While I was there, the speaker, Louie Giglio, asked the same question that Professor DeBorde asked us today: “What mark do you want to leave behind?” My answer is, I do not really know what mark I want to leave behind.

The basic “Christian” answer is that I want people to remember me as someone who followed after Christ whole-heartedly and who’s first priority was to love His people just as He has loved me. I would like everyone who I come in contact with to be affected in some way. And that when I pass, they can say, “She pushed me and challenged me in who I am and in my relationship with Christ.” I want to be the one who asked the hard questions but did it in a loving way.

I guess I want my mark to be one that continues long after I am gone. Just as Emily Dickinson’s poems are still being read by generations, I would like my life to have the same impact. In that, generations after me are thinking, questioning, pushing and living out their faith. Kind of like the domino effect.