The road Blog Post 185-210

Questions: Is the boy affected by the dead baby because he only knows a world full of death and destruction does the fact the death is of an infant make a difference?

Parallel: on page 190 the boy says, "what you put in your head is there forever?" this parallels a famous unforgettable line earlier in the book on page 12 " you forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget." this is important because the man is trying to hold on to the good memories of his wife but he only gets a little bit but he remembers fully the last night he saw her when she committed suicide.

Contrast: on page 191 the boy wakes up because he has a bad dream and the father comforts him however the dream was that the father did not comfort because the father did not wake up. this foreshadows that the father is getting sicker and it is obvious that he will not be there forever to comfort the boy when he has a bad dream.

the road blog post 161-184

parallel: on page 173 the old man personifies death by saying "Nobody here but death and his days will be numbered too" earlier in the book his wife makes a similar personification when she says death is a new lover she will take instead of the man on page 58. death is a common theme throughout the book that everybody still living faces on a daily basis.

Contrast: in this passage the man and the boy meet and old man named Ely and the very fact that we know his mane is a contrast for the entire book because we have not yet learned the names the man or the boy.

Question: Why does the boy feel the need to help everyone he meets on the road especially when they would not return the favor as Ely tells the man?

the road blog post 136-160

Question: beards have been associated with bad guys earlier in the book and the man has aboard as well until he shaves it on page 152. does this mean that the man is good because he no longer has a beard? what does shaving off a beard represent in the world they live in?

Contrast: on page 150 McCarthy writes " they passed a metal trashdump where someone had once tried to burn bodies. the charred meat and bones under the damp ash might have been anonymous save for the shape of the skulls." two pages later on 152 he says "they ate a sumptuous meal by candlelight.  ham and green beans and mashed potatoes with biscuits and gravy," these are obviously very contrasting the world around them and the world between them that the father is trying to save.

Parallel: on page 153 McCarthy explains that the man is an alien to the boy because the world he comes from no longer exists and a similar occurrence is stated on page 129 that the boy is alien because he comes from a different world than the man.

the road blog post 119-135

questions: why does the father always leave the boy file searches around for supplies? shouldn't he be tacking the boy what to look for?

contrast: on page 131 McCarthy describes a scene where the he is holding the son in one hand and the revolver in the other and i think this is an important contrast because the son represents life while the revolver represents death. in the last passage the man gives the revolver to the boy in case the boy has to use it as to not be captured the revolver represents would "save" the boy as well.

Parallel: on page 131 the man has a pleasant dream of his wife and this is a reocurring theme in the book that the father wishes was not. he believes the right dreams for a man in peril are dreams of peril. on page 18 he has a similar dream of his wife than that on page 131. it;s interesting that they are so far apart because the ma says soon as who start having good dreams who have given up. is the man forever on the brink of giving up?

the road blog post 72-92

contrast: a big contrast I noted in this passage was the on about good vs. evil that has been a common theme throughout the book. It is clear in the book that the man's job is to keep the son alive, if he fails at that there is no reason for him to live demonstrated by the dad washing brains out if the son's hair. but for other people they may have a different reason to live and therefore are willing to be bad as long as it doesn't violate there reason to live.

parallel: I think a common theme is the boy looking to the man for advice and reassurance. the boy asks of the man many questions like on page 77 when the boy asks if they are still the good guys and the man answers yes they are. on page 83 the boy again asks if they are going to be okay and the man replies yes they are because they carry the fire. the boy doesn't realize yet but  the man will not be there forever and the man is gradually teaching the boy to survive on his own.

questions: why does the boy care so much about the dog when they live in a world where everything is dead or dying? is it because he is trying to hold on to whatever humanity the boy and the man have left?

the road blog post 52-71

question: the mother chooses to take her own life because she says sooner or later they will catch us and rape us and kill us.  she also says that if he cannot do it without her then he should not, there are still two bullets in the gun for him and the son. why does the man choose to stay alive and go on? what does he live for now that the world they knew is gone?

contrast: on page 54 inn the middle of the page at the end of the passage it says " So, he whispered to the sleeping boy. I have you." this means to say that the father has the boy and that is his one responsibility in this world all he has to do is take care of the boy, also the boy is his soul purpose. on the next page the says at the top "I wish i was with my mom" the boy means he wishes he was dead like his mom. this must  be terrible to hear because the father has the boy but the boy doesn't want the father he wants the mom and not only that he wants to be dead with his mom.

parallel: on pages 52-53 the man dreams about a night when the mother is supposedly pregnant and the power goes out and the man gets up to check on the power. it is off. then on pages 56-57 he thinks about the mother again and she gives him a speech about why she is committing suicide. these parallel because they represent the beginning of the son's life the father's reason to live and the end of the mother's life begining the story that they are living now.

the road blog post 32-51

question: what is "The Gap" and why is it important.  what does it mean to the man? he says he and his father also stood there as well.

contrast: on page 38 the man and the boy find a little pool with a waterfall and they go in to wash themselves. I seee this as a good father son moment and ethey are possibly enjoying themselves swimming in this pool. on the very next page at the bottom after they get out of the pool "a rich southern wood that once held mayapple,pipsissewa, Ginseng. the raw dead limbs of the rhododendron twisted and knotted and black." this phrase is very bleak to me and i noted the contrast from the pool and the father son moment to the reality of  the world they are back in.

parallel: on page 34 the father and the boy are sharing a cup of hot chocolate and because the father only has enough for one cup he gives it to the boy and he has a cup of hot water. the boy noties and makes him take some back. i think this parallels back to the scene in the shopping market when the man finds the coke and gives it to the boy but the boy makes him drink some as well. Also the boy is always watching the man making sure he is taking nourishment as well as for advice and guidance. for example. on page 39 the father finds some mushrooms and he tells the boy that they are ok to eat. 

the road questions parallel and contrast to 31

why does he not give the characters names yet?
why is the boy scared to enter his father's childhood house?

on page18 he says, "the right dreams for a man in peril were dreas of peril" then at the bottom of the page there is a contrast because "he could remember everything of her save scent. seated in a theatre with hher besidehim leaning forward listening to the music..." he believes that to dream of his dead wife is wrong because he will never have that again, not in this world and he thinks he needs to forget that life.
a parallel i can think of is near the beggining when he stops at the gas station and collects oil to read a story to his son. then on page 23 they are searching the super market for food and they find the coke and the father gives it to the son. there is a common theme that if theu search long enough the will find a reward. Also the rewards seem to be for the boy. a bedtime story and the coke that the man lets the boy have.

noir words

red
midnight
blackjack
slug
crooked
bruiser
liquor
pistol
informants
sacked
tossed
swig
slant
dead
two-timing
night
crank
sharp
wink
vamp
john
mud
graveyard
broken

L.A. Confidential vs. Double Indemnity

This is the photo from L.A. Confidential that I will compare to a photo from Double Indemnity. The photo features two characters from the movie, Bud White and Pierce Morehouse Patchett. I think the fact that we see a low angle shot of Pierce and Bud here it represents the distribution of power. Pierce seems really big in this photo and they are at his house. he also does not stop hitting golf balls when Bud arrives. Although Bud is all the way at the top of the screen over pierce he appears very small and simple compared to the rich man that pierce is.

This shot of of walter and keys reminds of the previous shot from L.A. Confidential because Keys although smaller than walter and in a seated position seems to be in a position of power as suggested by the fact that he is sitting behind a desk and his name is on the door. the shot we see is also a low angle 2 shot. Walter although taller than Keyes and lighting Keyes cigar seems to be in a position of lesser power. he also knows that Keyes is the man that could tear his plan down if he investigated it. I think the fact that Keyes does;t seem all powerful over Walter refers to the fact that Keyes does;t actually figure out it was Walter. he is eventually told by Walter himself but Keyes never suspects his own coworker and friend so Walter Neff and Keyes are at some sort of stalemate. But ultimately these two pictures remind me of the other because they are both low angle 2 shots that represent a man in power and a man with little or no power.

the quitter journal post II

a visual parallel in the second section is close to the beginning when his dad starts to quiz him on his hebrew there are sitting across from each other at the kitchen table and his dad scolds him for not knowing that much. then he has his bar mitzvah and at the end it is almost the exact same image and harvey is sad because his dad doesn't pay much attention to him. I written parallel is when harvey is talking about playing football and is benched because the coach "doesn't like him" and the player above him is really bad. he chooses to quit that year. Then again a year later he is mad at the coach again for playing a worse player ahead of him... He quits again.
I am choosing to write about images in this journal post. specifically the combined picture of harvey in school being complemented for his fight against Schultz. although it is two frames i think it should be read as one of harvey. in the left frame harvey is in a classroom and in the right frame he is walking in the hallway. his face is split right in the middle. on the left his face is lit up and he is squinting a little bit with a straight line for his mouth, i mean he seems not be happy or sad about what he has done. i the right frae his face is almost all black except for his eye which is wide open and looking to the right as it is in the left frame. the shot is an upper body shot including his shoulders and he is light on the left and dark on the right. I think the fact that he has no smile on his face is because he is not happy about what he has done but he has just done it because it is what he needed to do to feel the way he wants. his gaze is pointed to the right I think signaling that he plans to continue beating up kids in order to feel the way he wants as he does in the rest of the section.

the quitter journal post I

one visual contrast that I found is when Harvey is excited about his little brother so they show a picture of harvey with his brother and a couple of toys but then Harvey talks about a boxing match and it shows the two boxers and a shot of the end of the fight. at the bottom of the page it shows harvey with his brother again dissapointed that he is not a companion yet.
I am choosing to write about the frames in the book. specifically the 6 images on page 11. there are 6 frames placed evenly on the page all with equal sizes. I think the frames being all the same size represents a personal conflict inside harvey because he is arguing with himself about his mother's ways and his own ways. there is a good contrast between dark harvey with a light background and light harvey with a dark background. they are all the same size to say that each point is equal to the other and they are both equal in terms of getting from point A to point B, so to speak. this arrangement of images encourages me to red it at a slower speed and consider each image and point he makes. on the page there is a zig zag in harvey's movements. in the first frame his fists are up and again in the 4th frame and  5th frame. in 2 and 3 he is examining his fingers.

Minority Report image review

The very first thing I notice about the Picture is the bright light that shines on the characters from the main part of the mall. I think that because there aren't any people around that the phot also suggests they are off in a back room or a closed part of the mall. The man facing Agatha and Anderton seems a little scared but also humbled because he views Agatha as a higher power. In addition to Agatha being able to see the future, this is suggested by him being very short in comparison to Anderton and Agatha. The man's face is in shadow in this picture but his arm is in the light. Because John has come to this man for a helping hand, the man's hand in light may be a representation of the man's willingness to help but the fact that the man's other arm and face are in shadow suggests that his help only extends so far.

Summer Reading Answers

1. I think that although Oedipus' may play a part in his fate he is not the main contributor. For example, his parents lied to him by not telling him that his father was Laius. As he tells Jocasta what happened he shows guilt for what happened. The old man almost killed him and he defended himself even though he threw the first blow to the driver. Even though the blame is not Oedipus' alone he is still the one that almost went crazy trying to exonerate himself. he accused Creon of trying to steal his throne in order to avoid accepting what he did.
2. It is pretty clear that Oedipus' excelled as a king and leader of the people of Thebes because the people look up to him and display great respect for him. His people are thankful to him for liberating them and he is concerned for their well being as well. I think that when the procession of priests comes to pray to him in the first scene is a testament to the admiration his people hold for him. I think he excels at knowing what his people need to survive and finding out how to give them that because he sent Creon to find a "cure" for this plague that is sweeping the city.
3. I think his tragic mistake is knowing what he did and even though he sees the signs he still does not accept that it was him that must leave and accept his fate of exile earlier. if he had done that much of this could have been avoided. However, it is not as easy as it sounds, after all he worked for to get to where he is; he would have to give all that up.
4. John Anderton supports Oedipus' notion of destiny because it is that destiny can be changed which John does in the scene where he stops that man from killing his wife who is having an affair with another man. When he receives his own name, much like Oedipus' he tries to exonerate himself instead of accepting his destiny.
5. the act of seeing for the Precogs is relatively obvious; the goal is to see the future and prevent that future. the Precogs are merely a device for seeing that future. John Anderton uses the act of seeing to relive a life where he had a family and he uses drugs and a 3D projector to relive those times to the best of his ability. Because he sees his family he avoids letting go and holds on to the idea that he still has a family. The act of seeing or not seeing is used and referenced throughout the film starting with the husband that forgets his glasses at home and goes back for them only to find that what he saw was not what he wanted to see. Then with the drug dealer who is blind but says that in a world of blind people the one-eyed man is king; however it is not necessarily great to be king.
6. I think one thing that reflects in American culture today is the need to control things. the Precog program represents the ultimate control, to see future events and stop them from happening. I think eventually the need to control things will ultimately consume us and lead to our downfall. if we look back to the Vietnam war the reason for fighting it was to prevent the country from becoming communist and we fought it to control the country and prevent them from becoming communist and the war was a great example of the downfall of trying to control things beyond our means. I think the contingencies that we prepare for ultimately become reality because we cannot prepare for them without ultimately causing them in the end.

Noteworthy movies I saw this summer

the last 10 noteworthy movies I saw
1) 42
2) Life of Pi
3) Ted
4) superbad
5) anchorman
6) prometheus
7) FIght club
8) Middle men
9) swingers
10) mud