Conquest

Conquest...of man, of land, of mind, of life. What I find most intriguing about Cortes is his intelligence. He was, by my standards, a monster, however he was very smart about his tactics in taking over land. Obviously he had no problem killing and pillaging a village or town, however because he knew he was outnumbered by Montezuma and his men... he choose to treat Montezuma with respect. This respect is discussed on page 46 and 47. Diaz tells of the first meeting between Cortes and Montezuma, "he (Cortes) dismounted from his horse, and when he came near to Montezuma each bowed deeply to the other"(47). I think this speaks volumes for the military finesse of Cortes. However Cortes was no different than any other explorer or settler. He believed it was his God given right to take over the land from people he viewed as savages. This writing really shows the dark side of conquest. One example was the description of the men who were sacrificed to the "idols". Men whose chest was cut open and hearts taken from their chests. Their arms and legs cut off and eaten. The text states, "They they ate their flesh with a sauce of peppers and tomatoes" (51). This description supports Cortes' belief that Montezuma and his culture was truly savage. Diaz paints a very graphic picture of what war and conquest is really like. He continues to give the reader distinctive descriptions of the death that engulfed them during the war and conquest, the death of the cities, "We could not walk without treading on the bodies and heads of dead Indians..the dry land and the stockades were piled with corpse. Indeed, the stench was so bad that no one could endure it" (pg53). This detail was thoroughly disgusting and disturbing. As I have reread this blog I began to think about what conquest looks like in the 21st century. Are we still spreading disease and murdering each other because we view the other as a savage? There is the technology conquest. Technology is used to destroy people all of the time. We here of cyber bullying or videos that are released online that exposes people and the private moments of their lives. I just read in the New York Times today about a man who took a picture of a dead woman in New York and posted it on his facebook. Now his account was closed but the damage was done. And I do think that we still enter villages of the middle east and because America views the people and the villages as less than cultured...America feels free to destroy the homes of people who are human just like you and me. Another example is the treatment of prisoners of war that has been recently exposed in the media. In class we discussed the idea of conquest and what can be seized. How conquest can take on varied forms in our lives. This was demonstrated when we documented, on the board, the parallel between The Wedding Crashers and the Cortez text. We watched a portion of the movie Wedding Crashers. We discussed the conquest of sex and women and how this was similar to or paralleled to the conquest of Cortes. In the movie we see male domination through charisma, lies, and drinking. We see women treated as trophies, mere objects to be won and displayed to other men. We see that the conquest of female with be met in anyway, whatever it takes to get the woman. Women in this movie are seen as expendable and non-essential except for as a trophy. Women are present for the entertainment and enjoyment of the men in the movie. Vince Vaughn's character portrays this ideology when he is on the stairs at the country house after being fondled by the young lady with red hair. He is advising his friend to close the deal and to not get personally involved. He also belittles the mother who had exposed her breasts just moments earlier. We finished the week off with watching a documentary on professional wrestling. I found this film to be absolutely offensive and disgusting. Honestly I was sick to my stomach when I left the class. The underlying or maybe not so underlying ideologies in this media exposes the truly deep seed of sexism in this country. The actions of this profession supports every stereotypical belief about masculinity that can be thought of from homo-phobia to woman as sex toys. The documentary explains that professional wrestling supports the notion of male dominance and conquest. Women of professional wrestling are belittle and degraded. There is a hyper-sexuality that runs throughout the business. This is obvious by the dress of the women and men. I found it amazing that whole scenarios and scripts are created to expose homo-sexuality in order to destroy it to continue to prove the extreme masculinity of the male wrestlers. Honestly I think this type of entertainment truly supports and perpetuates the cycle of abuse within the American culture. Professional wrestling is saying that it is ok to hurt others and to establish your manhood at the expense of women and those weaker than you. I believe that this sub-culture is normalizing bullying and violence. I would think that in 2011, America would have moved beyond this type of entertainment to a more enlightened form. But since wrestling is so popular with America's youth, it is a definite indicator of where this country stands on it's views of masculinity, conquest, women, and homo-sexuality.

Whitman and the final thoughts

I am a huge fan of the HBO series Sex and the City. I think that show portrays women in a positive light...The four women in the show are strong-willed, smart, successful, have positive friendships, are mature, communicate well, and are sexy of course. I really appreciate the series because it discusses issues that are relevant to all women, providing laughter, sometimes tears, but perhaps solution or resolution. I found myself think of this show as I read Walt Whitman.

Leaves of Grass is simply beautiful. It is a combination of sexual liberation, with sensual desire and connection, with a call for equality and reciprocity, while respecting nature and making our love and passion as pure and simply as nature. Whitman wants everyone to experience life for themselves. He is asking for you to make your own decisions, "You shall no longer take things at second or third hand nor look through the eyes of the dead...listen to all sides and filter them for yourself."(26) He believes in erotic behavior because it is natural and free. He is asking his reader to be present and in the now. He wants you to be completely submerged in the experience so that you may experience it physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. You will find this in the passage that starts..." and am not contained between my hat and my boots." (31).

Dead Poet's society did a wonderful job of showing how Whitman wants us to let go of our baggage and find our inner voice and freedom. I think that is shown as Robin Williams character helps that student to shed his preconceived notions and worries that are placed upon him by his father. Honestly I think this is an amazing lesson for future teachers. We have to have the ability to open the minds of students who are burdened with many things in their lives. I find it inspirational.

What I also appreciate about Whitman is idea of empowerment for the individual. This makes me think if Emerson but in a simpler more receptive manner. Whitman asks us to believe in our souls again...not just our minds or bodies. Whitman wants us to "feel" again. I think this is the message in the movie clip we watched in class, Kinsey. We were asked to think about our political body and how it affects us. If we are empowered by more than just our physical being then we are able to surpass that political part of us. Kinsey and his wife let go of the assumed roles and beliefs they had about marriage, sex, and gender. The transcend to a communal body and into one entity. To experience this with someone you love is amazing. It is very liberating and sensual.

I believe this was the essence of the movie Home at the End of the World. Here are three individuals who have faced tragedy but remain very innocent and free from societal laws and norms. They remain very simple. They love each other unconditionally. Their love does not know gender boundaries. It is not angry. It is forgiving and pure. I believe this is what Whitman is trying to say in his work.



There are a few central themes that have seemed to govern this class. The themes are male domination, independence and responsibility, fear, and obsession. Although the class has branched into many different discussions and ideals, the above-mentioned themes seem to be present throughout the course, woven into the literature and media.

Male domination was a prevalent theme early on in the course. However it remained until the end. We began male domination with the puritan culture. Men in that culture believed that women were followers and did not have powerful role within the society. Men considered women weak and prone to fall into bad situations. We examined this through the roles of Hester and Mary Rowlandson. Hester was seen as a whore because she choose to have sex with a married man. She challenged the role of women and did not live in shame because she broke the role that was subscribed to her by the male gender. Mary Rowlandson embodied the Puritan woman. She remained in faith to survive her captivity by Native Americans. She filled her role to prove that a woman who lives properly will be accepted in society even if she has been in a situation that is questionable.

The next type of male domination we examined is the conquest. Most obvious was the conquest of Cortes. He brutally and forcefully went into Montezuma and took over. He would kill and steal to take what he believed was his God-given right to take over land from savage cultures. Not so obvious was the conquest of land by the settlers. The settlers were not so overtly violent but were taking over. Male settlers took leadership roles and either enslaved or put indigenous people to work for them.

Male domination looked at masculinity. We watched the video on wrestlers that exposed how society has helped to shape how men and boys perceive masculinity. Men who are strong and offensive. Men who are willing to engage in violent and physical activity to secure what the want and to defend their manhood. Men are quick to put down those who are weaker than them. This idea of masculinity reflects the way men acted and perceived themselves in the beginning of America, and still perceive themselves today.

It was not until Emerson that we began to redefine masculinity and moved away from male domination. Emerson believed that man should become masters of themselves before they can master anything around them. That the three main aspects of your psyche must be in balance to perform as a citizen. Emerson approached this with affirmative statements and redefining manhood. In addition, Emerson was no longer looking outside of self to determine manhood.

The next central theme that has prevailed throughout the course has been fear. We experienced fear in the beginning readings and then later with Poe. Because people typically fear what the do not know or understand, the "other" it...they make it monstrous. The Salem witch trials had an underlying political agenda to acquire land but to the general public the witch trials allowed the community to save themselves from any unexplained acquisition or question. They could assume it was witchery and rid the community of the offensive creature or person.

The Puritans feared the native Americans. Mary Rowlandson made it through her captivity with the power of God and her bible. She did not understand the ways of the Native Americans so therefor they were barbaric and savages. They were so horrible she was choosing not to eat to avoid what they ate. It was only when hunger prevailed that she forced herself to partake eating their food.

We experience fear again with the writings of Poe. Again fear is found where people do not understand or do not want to understand. Poe exposes the evils of love and relationships. Poe looks into the psyche that is not balance and is actually considered insane with obsession, immortality, and irrational thought processes. Poe examines the dark side of interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships. However it is imperative to know and understand the dark side inorder to recognize and avoid it.

The third central theme of the course was obsession. We found obsession in almost every reading of the class. Puritans were obsessed with religion and ensuring that the community did not suffer in regards to immoral acts committed by anyone in the community. The Puritans was obsessed with exposing wrong-doers, even if it meant killing innocent people. Cortes and the early settlers were obsessed with land acquisition and dominance.

Moby Dick and In the Heart of the Sea were obsessed with survival and the ramifications that came with it. This is understandable though. If you were stranded on a shipwreck for month without food or water, I truly believe anyone would become obsessed with survival. The important part of this is that when face with survival, humans will let go of societal norms and recreate the norms that must be lived by to survive. However this obsession for Ahab was not the same. His physical survival was not at stake, although his mental survival was. He too decided to recreate the rules he would live by in order to find Moby Dick and kill him.

We finish obsession with Dickinson and Sexton. Dickinson exposes the obsession of a love lost or that is unattainable. She provides her reader with the emotions of longing and desire for a prize that is outside of her reach. Sexton is expressing the obsession of self. Her writings giver her an outlet for her own personal demons or obsessions. She is obsessed with solving her internal conflict. Her need to feel unconditional love. Her desire to erase or re-write the past through nursery rhymes.

The last theme that was relevant to this class was that of independence and responsibility. Asma discusses the responsibility of an individual to control his desires This is done by balancing the three aspect of the human psyche: reason, emotion, and appetite. According to Asma definition, Hester did not control her appetite. Ahab did not control his emotion. And Poe did not come close to mastering his reason.

Emerson is the next to discuss independence and responsibility. Through his personal relationship with God, Emerson develops that ideology that men are responsible for their mental capabilities. Man must look inside of himself and evaluate his behavior and mental state. Emerson believed that man was no longer defined by Cortes standard of masculinity but by the what was inside of him. How rich a person was did not deal with finances but with character and virtue. Emerson wanted liberation.

Stephen King examines how without liberation, freedom or responsibility for self, man can become possessed beyond recognition. Jack, who never was allowed to discover and develop his self, was never a free man. He was a slave to the cycle of abuse, to societal views, and to alcohol. These masters made it very easy for the Overlook Hotel's spirit to possess Jack's will. Jack no longer had free will, he was doing the bidding of a much darker entity.

Finally with Walt Whitman we reach true liberation, Independence, and freedom. Whitman provides his readers with a holistic view of life. Whitman believes in liberation physically, emotionally, mentally, and sexually. He calls for equality, reciprocity, simplicity, and nurturing through nature. Whitman wants his readers to free themselves of the societal norms that have them chained. He asks his readers to search for themselves to find the answers. Do not listen to another, Whitman warns. He wants his readers to come to life and experience the moment, fully submerged in their surroundings and their feelings. With Whitman we no longer have male dominance because men and women are on the same playing field. Each gender is experiencing life for themselves and not living by the standards or rules of the other genders making. There no longer is fear because readers are looking for answers in a calm and natural fashion. Whitman calls his readers back to nature to explain questions. Obsession is no longer a concern because Whitman asks his reader to return to nature and accept simplicity.

Sexton and Dickinson

I found both of these readings to be incredibly sad. Sexton more so than Dickinson but still both touched my heart and my soul. Sexton's personal life really is very tragic and had a profound effect on her writings. However, I am sure this is the case for most writers. Sexton's writings are very insightful and challenging to the treatment of women. Her writing seems to be timeless. Dickinson writes: You left me, sweet, two legacies, ---/A legacy of love/A Heavenly Father would content,/ Had he the offer of;//You left me boundaries of pain/Capacious as the sea,/Between eternity and time,/Your consciousness and me (161). I find this poem very intriguing. I think it really touches on the thought that there must be good and bad alike in the world. Love and pain are found in relationships. Dickinson expresses the pain of love that people do not want to talk about or acknowledge. This is similar to Poe. She is talking about the obsession and longing of a loved one. But where Poe only focused on the gloom and doom of love or relationships, Dickinson also speaks to the beauty and happiness of love. But as I type this I wonder which is worse. It is like the saying..."It is better to have loved and lost, than to not loved at all". Sometimes I am not so sure. For anyone who has lost a love it is devastating. It truly can leave you a mental and physical state that is not sane or healthy. Perhaps this is why Dickinson is so wonderful. She has the ability to move you through the entire process of love. She has the ability to take your desires, needs, pain, and joy and move you through all of those emotions in one simply poem. (quote another poem here). When I left class I thought about two aspects: Self-realization and falling in love. The facilitation group explained that Dickinson went into seclusion to discover herself, the true self. I have struggled with this idea. How do we find who we really are if we do not have contact with the world? What experiences would allow us to discover our inner self? I believe that stagnation equals death. This was the first thought I had about being in seclusion. But then we read the 'Master Letters'. And I thought about protection....was she in seclusion to protect herself from life? At the end of relationships, I think it is natural to fall into a self-seclusion...emotionally. At least I know I do. I have thought that I would never be able to love again and that I would never let anyone close again. As the class continued, Suzanne brought up the perverseness of falling in love. I found this comment and discussion to be so time appropriate for my life. I have recently ended a really bad relationship that I had the pleasure of 'falling in love' with the guy. However I have recently met someone who I really care about and think I could love but "falling" has never been the sensation with him. I had been searching and thinking about if I really like him that much if I am not falling. However...after Suzanne talked about it as perverseness I came to the conclusion that maybe not falling is better and that growing is a better way to be in love. Grow in love:) Which takes me to the Master Letters....and the flowers. Although I have not researched the significance of flowers as discussed in class I would like to find out more. I was intrigued with the idea of the Daisy being a powerful flower. Suzanne used the word invader....can we equate Dickinson's love in the letters as a conquest....Dickinson uses language of war such as Tomahawk and bullet. However I do not find the letters to be violent....more like she is trying to conquer him with love and obedience. Dickinson expresses her desire to be anything he wants in the second letter on the last page: take me in forever,/I will never be tired-/I will never be noisy,/ when you want to be/still-I will be/your best little/girl-nobody will/see me, but you-". I really enjoyed the Master Letters from class. The way she plays on the words and subtly is seducing her lover. The way that she is a little sarcastic at times, while always making sure he knows her true feelings and that she will wait for him no matter what. I think it is so romantic and beautiful. This makes me think of so many love stories, such as: The Way We Were, A Star is Born, heck...Priscilla Presley and her love for Elvis...:) How one love has waited and loved so much. In popular culture you could probably find this in the Twilight Saga. These letters also remind me of the song 'Beloved Wife' by Natalie Merchant. It is found on her Tiger Lilly CD. You can listen to the song on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PtB5_eEpLs . She sings about a elderly man who has lost his wife of 50 years. He is begging to go with her. He is asking if it is wrong to "lay down and turn his face away from the light." It is incredibly romantic and heart wrenching. You can also find the same sentiment in this poem: If you were coming in the fall,/ I'd brush the summer by/ With half a smile and half a spurn,/ As housewives do a fly.//If I could see you in a year,/ I'd wind the months in balls,/ And put them each in separate drawers,/Until their time befalls.//If only centuries delayed,/I'd count them on my hand,/ Subtracting till my fingers dropped/Into Van Diemen's land (163) Out of all of the class readings I was most moved by Anne Sexton's work. Simply I identify with her. I understand what it means to be the black sheep of the family and to not fit in. I understand what it is like to look for love outside of the nuclear family. I understand the manic episodes that come from the chaos that lived within her soul. That she needed to feel pain to survive and to know that she was alive... To find that love that will accept you unconditionally and to know that you do not deserve it will make you even more insane. How do reconcile within yourself that the one person you can trust and that loves you, you are hurting? This includes her children. Of all of her stories I enjoyed Rumpelstiltskin the most. I believe that each of us truly has two sides of ourselves, our "Doppelganger"(17). The good, the bad and the ugly. I am a Pisces and I refer to mine as the good fish and the not so good fish. The not so good fish is a little off her rocker. I digress...I believe that this story represents her struggle within herself to do what she wants and what she knows is right. In the story you see a transformation from her seeing the child as ugly and nourishing the child as stupid to the Queen being distraught over her child being taken from her; "She gave him her dumb lactation,...The queen cried two pails of see water"(20) I really believe that Anne was so unhappy with her childhood that she could not see value in childhood or children until she had her own. She knew she must save herself from her evil side in order to protect her children. And the King is her husband. We find her husband in many stories though. He is the prince who waited or the prince who kissed her. I also enjoyed Rapunzel. Sexton describes how Mother Gothel keeps her in "a stone-cold room, as cold as a museum"(40). Mother Gothel is keeping her there for her own selfish needs. This represents how we often hurt the ones we love by trying to keep them to ourselves or restrained in a relationship. If we do not let them grow or be free. Without change there is death and at the end of the story Sexton states, "They lived happily as you might expect proving that mother-me-do can be outgrown, just as fish on Friday, just as a tricycle" (42). This shows Sexton's growth from her turbulent childhood to her adult life.