Possession

Throughout the class we have talked about possession. Possession of land, of spirits, of thought, of beliefs, of desires, and now, the Shining, seems to be of body....However is it is not just of body. And there seems to be a strong correlation between possession and obsession and between possession and concession. At the beginning of the class we examined how men came to the United States and desired to possess the land and the resources of this new world. It was so possessing in their minds and souls that the became obsessed with the ideas of expansion. The created myths and ideals about witchcraft and religion. The Shining does not seem to be any different. Jack is a man who has never taken possession of his own beliefs or thoughts or actions. He is possession less. While at the Overlook he seems, through insanity, to take possession of his manhood and his environment leading to the detriment of his family. Jack's character in the book is very typical for a man of his time...he was working hard but floundering about trying to find his way after a devastating but deserving dismissal from his school. He is married with the pressures of providing for his family. He was raised by an abusive dad and a mother who could not or did not protect him because she could not protect herself. He was angry and filled with hatred. He self medicates with alcohol to avoid dealing with any feelings. He desperately wants to be considered a man. He must prove his masculinity. Because of Jack's past he refuses to take responsibility for any of his actions. He sees his anger and abuse as a sort of separate being from himself. He always "others" it. There are multiple times throughout the book that Jack discuss this alter personality or being..."For he still felt that the whole range of unhappy Stovington experiences had to be looked at with Jack Torrance in the passive mode. He had not done things; things had been done to him" (159). Jack refuses to take responsibility for his freewill. This can be expected, however, from person who has grown up in an abusive family and continues to perpetuate the cycle of abuse in their own adult life. Never are they the problem, they are merely a victim to the circumstances they are in. Jack ponders why he so unhappy and why he is driven to alcohol and he states, "Hadn't it been the woman he was married to?"(579). He is blaming Wendy for his problems...he sees himself as the victim. Jack also identifies his short-comings with the characters in his plays and stories, "That sick happiness at George's retreat was more typical of Denker in the play tan of Jack Torrance the playwright" (167). In class we discussed how this book was a modern day telling of a Poe-type story. Jack develops a relationship with the hotel. The spirit or manager of the hotel. He is possessed by the ideal of the hotel. As the hotel takes over Jack is unable to sleep...through insomnia Jack is taken to new places. Jack's insomnia leads to rebellion, hyper vigilance, and a very spastic energy. He can not reason. He is working with a primal energy within his corrupted body and spirit. He no longer needs alcohol to avoid his feeling for he is splitting with reality. He freewill is without restraint and he is feeling complete liberation from morality and sanity. Jack is a type of distorted Emerson...he believes as he is possessed that he is his own star. The problem is that his mental state leads to chaos and disaster. Why is Jack so available for possession? In class, many talked about how they thought Jack was such a jerk...yes he definitely was. However when children are subjected to violence all of their lives it affects them permanently. Jack never was allowed as a child to develop his own personality or psyche. He was crushed by his father. He never developed the skills to lead or be assertive. He was diseased or decayed before he was ever a man. This made him an easy target for the spirits of the hotel. He was vulnerable the leadership. It is like the saying, "Stand for something or fall for anything". Jack had no clue what to stand for. When the hotel began to help him assert what he believed to be his manhood he fell for the terror of it. He went overboard. He became a monster. I think what also makes this story so scary or disturbing to us is how ordinary the characters and places are. How Jack's life is so ordinary. That Jack resembles any ordinary man that we could run into on the streets. He presents as sane. He reminds me of serial killers such as Jeffery Dalmer. No one knows what lies beneath until it is exposed and then it is too late. In addition to the typical of Jack is the tools the hotel uses to affect Jack. All of the items we went over in class are so common, such as a scrapbook, or hedges, or a fire hose. Why would any of us think these would be tools of destruction? That is the disturbing part...for each of the items that may send us over the edge would seem just as innocent as these items. Have you ever looked at an item and became enraged? What was the item? Stephen King has done an excellent job of taking an everyday Joe and turning him into Manson... a cold, calculating, psychopath that will make others pay for his demise.

Poe....

Was Poe autistic? They would have never known that diagnosis then.... Poe likes to gloomy side of life...the side that others are not willing to examine. He has a way of showing us the dark side of our souls and psyche....He is willing to say what most want unsaid...Poe's symbolism is outstanding.... Poe writes, "How is it from beauty I have derived a type of unloveliness?---from the covenant of peace, a simile of sorrow?" (13) Poe is pointing out the other of love...or what was termed as perverseness in class. This seems to be the part of love that no one wants to face or deal with... the obsession of love. Everything good must have a bad side...it is the way the world, nature, works. Poe's writing examines the obsessions within relationships. For his characters it seems to be one item or characteristic. For example the evil eye in A Tell Tale Heart, the black cat, or the white teeth of Berenice. What I find most interesting about the latter story is that Poe did not seem to notice Berenice when she was young and vibrant but fell in love with her when she became ill....focusing on the one item of beauty still left on her. Poe describes this obsession as "Monomania" (18). It is the irrational, one-dimensional, fixated, and addictive focus of a lover...this type of love leads to insanity...the lack of sleep, lack of hunger and that leads to delusion. This is an example, "The teeth! the teeth!--they ere here, and there, and everywhere, and visibly and palpably before me; long, narrow and excessively white, with the pale lips writing about them" (18). Often in Domestic violence counseling for victims the question is asked, "how do you want to be loved? What is love to you? Is he loving you the way you want to be loved?" While reading Poe I contemplated these questions. Why did Berenice stay? What did she love about him? Why did the wife stay with the drunken husband who was beating and killing animals? Why did the man stay with the gentlemen with the evil eye? Is Poe turning against love? I do not believe he is... I think he is showing us that every lover, every relationship has an obsession, a torture, a perverseness. For example, whenever a relationship ends or a friendship ends, there is always something we really miss from the other person. We long for it...that things is what makes us cry. Now hopefully we are not out digging in graves to obtain that "thing". It is our sanity that keeps the average person from becoming stalker-like. As I think about love and relationships and obsession, I think that often we are self-obsessed. We see the reflection of others distorted within ourselves. Poe makes me think about the movie 9 1/2 weeks starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke (when he was sexy and only had one color hair). The film is about a man who pursues a woman. He wins her over, he cares for her person, he completely engulfs her in his love, attention, and devotion. He is completely taken by her. At one point in the movie she asked how he knew she would respond to him the way he has and he replied "I saw myself in you." (please find the video clip at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd0yzgA3Yng). Ultimately though, Kim's character leaves Mickey's character and he desperately tries to give her what she really wants and that is him. What is even more interesting about Poe's writing is his use of Gothic Literature style. He takes what I have been referring to as love and relationships and twists it into non-traditional types of love or relationships. It is a relationship between the old man and the caretaker in the Tell Tale Heart. However it is the insanity or supernatural ability of the caretaker to hear the heart of the old man that makes him pounce on him to end the torment of the evil eye, ""there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage" (195). That torment was the obsession of the relationship. Gothic literature describes a deteriorated setting or a decaying episode. It focuses on dread and terror. The dread of the cat loving the drunk...his personal decay allowed him to scoop the eye out of an animal that adored him. He became vexed at the sight of the animal and that let to his demise.

Survival

Survival is an interesting concept. When I think about survival I usual think about providing for my children, my home, and emotionally. But there are many ways that one has to survive...basic needs, emotionally, physically, mentally. We must survive in the work place, in school, in our homes, in a social circles...When Darwin said " survival of the fittest", was he just talking about strength and size or was he talking about the ability to adapt to any situation that is presented to us? Not becoming the extinct species. Is survival ever left to chance? If I am in a plane crash...does that have anything to do with my natural abilities? In the Heart of the sea touches on survival in many of the ways listed above. It was not just about making it on a boat for 4 months after being attacked by a sperm whale. It was about surviving trauma, death, power dynamics, friendships, enemies, strangers, weather, predators, and your own self. What we found in this story was that personality, will, and physical strength all play a role in helping the few men survive, as did chance and the balance of nature. And how the men who were forced to survive were active players in the destruction of the balance of nature. I was appalled by the continued belief that man, or the men of the new world have the god given right to rape this earth of her inhabitants. I keep seeing the cartoon we looked at in class the first week where the woman is laying, draped in the American flag...enduring "man" pillaging of her. We have read of how man has came to America and see her as a place he can ravage and take advantage this land. This continues in this story as the whalers of Nantucket deplete the sperm whale population, the sea turtles and within 5 days all but destroy the natural make-up of Henderson Island. The men of the Essex did not once hesitate and think about the repercussions of their behavior, "In just 5 days, these twenty voracious men had exhausted their portion of the island" (143). They did believe that the earth and it's beauty was here for their taking. I understand that I should not judge by standards of today but I find it still repulsive the way the human populations continue to deplete or annihilate the earth's resources. I do not see much difference in the men of the Essex and the people of today. So the question is what will be the Whale that sinks America? The world? Another correlation that I made was that the men of the Essex were faced with the same decisions that the men and women of 911 were faced with. I am thinking of the people who choose to jump to their death. I have always thought to myself..."what was so bad that the people choose to jump to a sure death?" Is this what the men who stayed on Henderson Island were faced with when they chose to stay on an island that was low on food and may lose and did lose its fresh water source? How do you make that decision? Chase explains of the men who decided to stay on Henderson Island, "(they) were very much affected, and on of them began to cry" (149). I can not even fathom it. Perhaps it was not the fear of returning to the ships and the sea but that the men felt they must take control. Philbrick states of the men, "the men felt an overpowering need to reclaim at least some control of their won destiny" (106). I also think this story really speaks to the human condition and how it is subject to change at a moments notice. Human life is fragile. How do we survive it's fragility? Anyone who has been devastated or has experienced a "tormenting memory" will tell you just how fragile life can be. We are subject to natural disaster, crime, sickness, finances, senate bills that will destroy unions...(sorry)... I wonder to myself how do we organize our lives to safeguard against tragedies outside of our control? We can not. We must do what we can while we can....This ideal of survival has been represented throughout the course. We read about the harshness of the land during settlement...the conquest of explorers, the accusations of being a witch, and now the conquest and exploration of the sea by whalers. I found the discussion in class about Pollard and Chase very interesting. I focused so much on the atrocities the men faced after the wreck and the consumption of natural resources that I never really thought about life after their return. I personally do not think I would have been able to get back on a whaling ship, or any ship for that matter. I think that was extremely courageous of Pollard. Equally courageous was Pollards ability to stay in Nantucket and change his career. Individuals who possess the highest position in a community and change to try something new, I believe are admirable. However I also think Chase tried his hardest to reconcile with the disaster. If you have ever survived an attack by a crazed animal/person, it is a haunting experience. You subject yourself to endless "what if", "could have", and "would have" scenarios. Everything that happens in life after that moment is subject to being questioned. The immense guilt and anger you feel is consuming at times. I am not sure how either man ever survived after having eating a fellow shipmate. How do you come to the terms with this within your psyche? I would imagine they would not have been a day Pollard and Chase did not relive some portion of this disaster. You asked in class about a "tormenting memory". I do have one, or two, or three....lol. but the one that troubles me most involves my oldest son. It was a situation where I was trying to survive emotionally, physically, and mentally. I was involved in an abusive relationship and my son saw this man hit me and my reaction. I will never be able to save him from that....I will never be able to take away what he saw that day. I will always feel guilty for not leaving sooner or protecting him more. I do not try to think about this memory often because it is painful. I took the steps to get out and life is pretty good now for all of us but the lasting effect can still be seen within both of us. This is what I mean when I say that every event or decision made after is subject to being questioned. Things that trigger that memory is when I look into my son's eyes and see his innocence. However I will never forget so that I will never make the same mistake again... Now as hideous as the ordeal in the boats was...I just had a thought....at some point did these men feel free? Completely free from societal norms? I would think that you would have to become free of expectation of society to be able to eat another human. Tragedy and disaster can free one from their inner constraints...this was similar to the character in 'Lost'. Although he had gained his use of his legs....the plane crash and being with people who did not know him allowed him to become whoever he wanted to become....I think that is liberating...and I think this is relevant to the movie Fight Club. Tyler often talks about liberation and how to survive you must intellectually and emotionally liberate yourself. This is obvious in his quote. " I am free in all the ways you are not" or " It is only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything". The latter quote is really intense. When those men were sitting on the make-shift boats, roasting for 4 months, watching friends and enemies die, there had to be a feeling of complete freedom at some point. And perhaps this is what set them free when they returned home, well at lease for Pollard. He had faced his worse demons and could be whoever he wanted to be. After reading Moby Dick and In the Heart of the Sea, I was interested in the black whaler. I found a book entitled, Black Hands, White Sails, the Story of the African-American Whalers. Chapter three was dedicated to the black whalemen of Nantucket. The majority of the black whalemen lived in the all-black community of New Guinea on Nantucket. Absalom Boston was a whaling master. She was the captain of the ship the Industry. He also did fairly well on land as well. He owned land and businesses. He was well respected in a time when the country was at odds about slavery. Fredrick Douglass has ties to Nantucket. Another famous African American sailor from Nantucket was Paul Cuffe. He was an excellent businessman as well a fighter for civil rights for African Americans, "find equality, we must return home"(83). He was instrumental in the development of the American Colonization Society which bought land from Sierra Leonne for the purpose of African Americans moving back to Africa...this land is Liberia. McKissack, Fredrick & Patricia. Black Hands, White Sails, the Story of African-American Whalers. New York: Scholastic Press. 1999.

self-reliance

Can we be self-reliant? Since class on Monday I have really thought about what it means to be self-reliant. Is living off your own land self-reliant? Is not needing anyone emotionally or physically? Is anyone really self-reliant. Initially I thought yes but now I do not think so. I do not think human nature would allow us to be self-reliant. If simply for anything other than to form a human relationship. I could live on an island in a hut, farm the land, boil the ocean water, make my own clothes, etc but I would not be complete if I did not have contact with my children or my family or the one that I love. So no, I do not think we can be.... Ralph Waldo Emerson survived great loss in his life by the age of 20. Coming from a long line of ministers, Emerson was forced to question a God who would be so cruel(Cheever 33). This is the same question that was being asked in the first blog of the class. Harold Kushner, who also suffered great loss in his life, wanted to know how to reconcile with a God that would take so much away. Emerson spent time contemplating this as well. His answer was a more personal relationship with God. He believed that God did not intend for us to be good on Sunday and not so good the rest of the week. (Cheever 34). In Emerson's Revelation he realized that man has lost his way in becoming man. He believes that men believed in material items and wealth to determine their place in the world of men. Emerson rejected this ideology. He believed man could prove his manhood by his actions and beliefs. Through morality, virtue, resolution, conviction, non-conformity, and integrity a man proves his masculinity. In of Self-Reliance, Emerson quotes, "Man is his own star"(1161). Man must light his own way and rely on his self to determine who he is. To continue to support this thought, Emerson stated, "insist on yourself, never imitate"(1176). The last quote that really strikes me is, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind"(1162). Honestly it makes me think of the movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks. Tom Hank's character is stranded on an island for a considerable amount of time. While he is there he must learn to be self-reliant. He learns to start a fire from sticks, fish with a spear, create shelter, heal his wounds, and remain sane. He achieves sanity by accidentally creating a face on a volleyball with his bloody hand. This ball is his salvation. The ball is what keeps him sane. This movie also popped into my mind during our class discussion about intuition and instinct. Tom Hank's character was in a situation where he could only rely on his intuition and instinct. (I could not figure out how to link the video from YouTube...but here is the link... www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TWYDogv4WQ On the handout from class entitled Emerson & self-made masculinity, I was struck by the quote, "It was the woman's job to act as moral restraint, since men, alone, were not capable of restraining their baser emotions, their violence, their aggressive, competitive, acquisitive edge." This quote took me to Moby Dick. Ahab was unable to control his rage and his obsession toward Moby Dick. Ahab rants about the whale that took his leg and how he will chase him around the world to kill him..."Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up"(2314). Ahab's insanity or obsession for this whale is what makes him powerful but also it is what destroys him. He was unable to keep his sanity or his mind. What is even more interesting about the mental instability of Ahab is his crew's willingness to follow him. Yes, Ahab had a one track mind and he was going after Moby Dick, do or die...but why did his crew follow? "More and more strangely and fiercely glad and approving, grew the countenance of the old man at every shout; while the mariners began to gaze curiously at each other, as if marvelling how it was that they themselves became so excited" (2313). Ahab had such a charisma about him and his determination that it convinced his crew to be excited as well. Ahab's insanity allowed him to provide a leadership for the men of the Pequod. Perhaps the crew viewed his leadership as a type of masculinity...rigid and uncompromising. Cheever, Susan. American Bloomsbury. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2006.