History as Fiction - Erin

One thing that I come back to every time that we talk about Antoinette and Rochester’s relationship is how unhealthy the dynamic seems. I think we mostly agreed that as the book and their relationship develops, it turns darker, as Rochester becomes more jealous and more possessive. However, before we get into Rochester’s controlling tendencies I want to look back and reflect at the beginning. We generally had an optimistic view of Rochester in the beginning, which was the point. He was mostly friendly and more willing to learn about the island and it’s culture than Mr. Mason ever was. It’s also at this point where we see their relationship growing as they get to know each other and figure out what the other expects. Around this time is when we start to see Rochester talking about making her into an English girl. As time goes on we see his efforts in trying to make sure that she fits the ideals he has for her (PSA you should never have to change who you are for your ...

Throughout class I think I’ve made my contempt for Raymond very clear. However, now that we’ve finished the book, I would like to do an overview of Raymond and his actions. The first impression we get of Raymond is when Meursault introduces him as a “warehouse guard”, heavily implying that he is a pimp. From the get-go we as readers are wary of his character, which is further reinforced after his first interaction with Meursault when he describes how he beat his mistress when he thought she was cheating on him. From our perspective as readers, we are understandably horrified, and rightly so. Raymond then proceeds to ask for Meursault's help in writing a letter “apologizing” to get her to come back so he can punish her further for her unfaithfulness. At this point, any shred of respect I have given Raymond was gone. What respect I had for Meursault at this point was further lost a few sentences later, when he agreed to write the letter. After Raymond beat his mistress again, he ret...

Throughout the book, there’s never any specification on what type of bug Gregor turns into. In class, we briefly discussed the significance of this ambiguity, how Kafka purposefully didn’t specify and why. Personally, I think it’s because he wants the reader to place their own spin on Gregor. Different people dislike certain insects more than others and the vagueness of the book allows them to put their own fears into the book because, as we discussed, Kafka is really good at capturing feelings that the reader can relate to and distort it. I know many of us in class were thinking of Gregor as a cockroach or some type of beetle, which makes sense due to the large shell that is described in the book. However, throughout the book there are references to Gregor leaving a trail of slime and other…bodily fluids around the room. At first this disgusted me (it still does), but it also made me wonder about what kind of bug Gregor could possibly be. As far as I know, cockroac...

Over the past few days in class, we’ve been discussing the different sides of Jake’s behavior. As a result, I have found myself torn about how to feel about him. In the beginning, I was somewhat sympathetic of him, he seemed to be suffering from his injury but also, I felt bad that he didn’t feel like he and Brett could make it work. The romantic in me was rooting for them just a little bit and I wanted to see them work it out. Now I’m not so sure. With the realization of Jake’s sense of superiority and xenophobia, it makes me more hesitant to support him. In class, we talked about how Jake judges the men that Brett interacts with based on how he stereotypes them, whether it be racially, socially, or religiously. I find it a bit presumptuous of Jake to judge whether or not men are “worthy” of Brett simply upon whether or not they are rich white men who fit into his idea of masculinity. Perhaps this is my modern day view, but to me, it makes Jake look less worthy of ...