When I read the short story, I was very surprised. I expected it to be more like the movie. Firstly, his parents kept him. In the movie they don't. But what surprised me the most was how he in personality represented those ages as well, not just in looks and problems with his body. As an old man, he was born 5'7". (Can you say painful??) But he could talk as well. It was very weird.
When he went through the stages he really annoyed me. Like he started out old and got younger in his mind. But when it came to his wife, he seemed to stay the same age almost. He started out liking her for her looks when he was 50 and then as she got older, he stopped liking her because she was no longer pretty. In that point, he never actually seemed mature.
I thought it rather crazy how the author presented the people. They were very fickle and soon forgot things, even who he was. He seemed to have a low opinion of people in general. Then there was the fact that all thought it was his fault rather than a medical miracle. His wife and son complained that he would not stop changing and that he should stop what he was doing. In this way it seemed to be a criticism on society at the time. He criticized how the people all seemed to fit into a norm rather than accepting the differences. People were not worried about the health of the old baby as I would have been. It would have scared me thinking that my baby was about to die because he started out so old. No, they were just worried about what society would think about them when they saw him.
Benjamin Button was a weird character in that I wanted to feel sorry for him and his situation, but really could not. In the beginning I did, but soon afterward I was just disgusted with him because I really expected him to mature instead of immature. But I know this is what the world probably felt about him too and it makes me feel like just one of the crowd when I read it like that. However, in the end I began to feel sorry for him as his helplessness set in and he was forced to rely on people who were simply embarrassed of him. The short story as a whole presented something completely original and different. It made me think of how I would react in the case of something so different. Would I be like the ordinary people or would I make an effort to be sympathetic to the situation?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Two Views of Leda
Two of the poems for this class were about the Greek myth about Leda being ravished by Zeus in the form of a swan. Out of this is born Helen of Troy who then begins the Trojan War because of her amazing beauty. These poems, one by Yeats and the other by H.D., struck me as complete opposite by the tone that they give to the event. Yeats in his poem made it seem more violent and against her will. He also was the one to mention what became of the union. He mentioned the strife in the form of Helen of Troy and how she would tear nations apart and cause the death of many.
H.D. however gives the poem a more loving tone. She makes what happened seem wonderful and loving rather than harsh and hurtful to Leda. On the other hand, Leda is not mentioned in human form in the poem. She is seen as a lily pad that is flowering under the love of the red swan (Zeus). This seems odd because the title is simply "Leda" but the subject seems to be the red swan instead. As a woman at the time when they are just gaining the rights, it seems odd that she doesn't take the side that Yeats takes. She goes for the love rather than the violence that many suffragettes might have stated. H.D. does not end with the fear and suffering that Yeats includes at the end of his poem. Instead, she ends with happiness and "no more regret."
To me, these poems strike different notes to the reader. I favored the poem by H.D. because it seemed a more optimistic view of the situation. It is gentler and beautiful language pervades the whole so that I finished reading with the picture of a beautiful lake scene.
However, the poem by Yeats seems a much more realistic view of what would have happened in the myth. I also like that it does not end with the moment; it tells the future. As a reader, you not only see the struggle of the moment, but the struggle that will kill many in the years to come. It is almost as if there was a warning about rash actions by powerful men.
Though they both cover the same topic, the poems are radically different in both the tone of the poem itself and the tone of how you think of them after you finish reading.
H.D. however gives the poem a more loving tone. She makes what happened seem wonderful and loving rather than harsh and hurtful to Leda. On the other hand, Leda is not mentioned in human form in the poem. She is seen as a lily pad that is flowering under the love of the red swan (Zeus). This seems odd because the title is simply "Leda" but the subject seems to be the red swan instead. As a woman at the time when they are just gaining the rights, it seems odd that she doesn't take the side that Yeats takes. She goes for the love rather than the violence that many suffragettes might have stated. H.D. does not end with the fear and suffering that Yeats includes at the end of his poem. Instead, she ends with happiness and "no more regret."
To me, these poems strike different notes to the reader. I favored the poem by H.D. because it seemed a more optimistic view of the situation. It is gentler and beautiful language pervades the whole so that I finished reading with the picture of a beautiful lake scene.
However, the poem by Yeats seems a much more realistic view of what would have happened in the myth. I also like that it does not end with the moment; it tells the future. As a reader, you not only see the struggle of the moment, but the struggle that will kill many in the years to come. It is almost as if there was a warning about rash actions by powerful men.
Though they both cover the same topic, the poems are radically different in both the tone of the poem itself and the tone of how you think of them after you finish reading.
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