Babylon Revisited - F. Scott Fitzgerald

When I first began reading this story I kinda of felt like I was put into the middle of a scene and suppose to use context clues to figure it out. There were a lot of questions about the background and setting that I would of liked to have been given. For instance, Why did they keep refering to different parts of the world? What was the significance in mentioning the french, american, and so on throughout the entire story? I also didn't understand if his type of work was suppose to be clear, or why they didn't mention it.
Overall, the story did not take me through an emotional experience like i feel the author intended. The story was blissful when Charlie was getting together details on taking his daughter home. Even though i did feel a sense of joy, i didn't feel a total 360 when the mood changed and he ended up not getting his daughter. The response that charlie had kind of seemed neutral. Was charlie not THAT devastated about not being able to take his daughter?
I was a little confused on if Charlie had a romantic relationship with Lorraine in the past. Or maybe if that couple tagged along with him when he was "acting badly".
I always enjoy Fitzgerald's pieces, but this one was not my favorite, I didn't find it as dramatic, or emotional, as his other work.

My Response to T. S. Eliot: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Reading

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock to me is the tale of a man that desires social connections but at the same time feels like an outcast, that he just doesn't fit in and fears what others will see in him. First he refers to a room with women talking about Michelangelo where a yellow fog rubs its back and muzzle on the window panes, licked into the corners of the evening. I think that fog represents Prufrock in a way, getting as close as he can to the women in the room but not able to get through to them.

Then he talks about eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, when he is formulated on a pin, wriggling on the wall, and how should he begin. This further shows his feeling of not belonging in my opinion because it shows him being pegged to the wall like he is a bug, exposed in his entirety to them and not having a clue what to do to have is voice heard, to show them who he is.

He talks if he dares or not, they will say his hair is growing thin and that his arms and legs are growing thin. I see this as yet another example of how he sees himself as not being accepted by these women that he so much wants to talk with. Then he describes himself as not being Hamlet but a mere attendant lord that will start a scene or two and even at times be the fool. I think this also shows that he thinks his existence isn't of real importance which further supports his feeling of not belonging.

Eliot has very well depicted a man that feels alienated from society as a whole and is too insecure to change that.

The Love song of Alfred Prufrock

The love song of Alfred Prufrock is about a seemingly pessimistic man. The man is of course Alfred Prufrock. When I was online I found out that “Prufrock” is actually a subliminal connotation of“prude” and “frock”, which describes our shy classy character.  He goes on and describes his location as foggy and yellow. The fog rubs against a window where well dressed women are talking about the artist Michaelangelo. I think the fog is prufrock, the fog is unable to enter the room filled with women, just like he is unable to talk to them because of his type of personality. He also tells us that he is very experienced, that he has been through it all.

“For I have known them all already, known them all:      

Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,                    50

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;             

I know the voices dying with a dying fall               

Beneath the music from a farther room.              

  So how should I presume?

But his experiences doesn't help with building his confidence.Through the eyes of Prufrock, we get a very vivid description on what he feels and see in his life. He states that he should just have been a crab, which probably describes how unimportant he is compared to the rest of the world.

T. S. Eliot: The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock

Prufrock, to me, seems like a very lonely man who wishes he had more. He feels very rejected about his entire life, and to what I believe is socially awkward. He mentions the smog/fog in the air that rubs its back against the window-panes. He wants to mingle with the strangers, but can’t force himself to do so.  On top of that, he sees the world as a dirty and cheap. Now T.S. Eliot was about 21-22 years old when he wrote this poem. The poem is obviously not about him, but who is it in reference to? Maybe it’s the way he sees life in general. Prufrock seems to be a middle-aged man that sees the world as an empty place. Does Eliot see the world the same way? Or maybe he fears of becoming this man in his future. In reference to the fog/smog, a timid cat that observes the society around him and never mingles, I’m sure Eliot does not want to become one who lingers around being creepy. Also, Prufrock is very indecisive and questions himself way too much. I think he puts too much thought into everything, making him very weird. Eliot does a very good job of developing strange characters.

Ernest Hemingway

As I started reading the two assigned Hemingway stories I found myself having a hard time understanding what was happening in the stories. I felt like I walked half way into a movie someone was watching and I had no idea what was going on.

The characters in the first story just seem to be a couple, but somehow the fact that the author refers to the characters as "The American and the girl" is kind of odd and makes me wonder what the relationship between them is. Are they lovers? The fact that the author refers to her as "girl" and almost makes her sound like she's just dumb, makes me wonder why he would do that to the female character. I also didn't understand why they seemed to consistently argue over nothing and then be in a good mood again a few lines later. The male character was the all knowing and the female was portrayed as weak and clueless. I really didn't care too much for this short story, felt like it started abruptly and ended in the same manner.

The second story too seemed to jump into the middle of a recount of a soldier's experience while at a hospital. I did look into Hemingway's background and being that he was injured while serving in World War I, I wondered if it was a personal account of his experience while being rehabilitated for his injuries. I did like the story of the major who lost his wife and how he actually cried. As a reader I felt for the guy and conjured the image of losing someone and how hard and difficult it is. I personally have not suffered too much in that way (losing a loved one), but I have often thought about what it would be like and how much it would hurt to not be able to do anything about it. While it was a bit depressing, it definitely tugged at my heartstrings.

I noticed the male characters were portrayed in a better light than the one female character in these stories. I am left wondering did Hemingway have a problem with women? He did have four wives throughout his lifetime, so I'm going to assume he may not have been good at having relationships with women in real life.

Reading Between the Hills

"Hills Like White Elephants" is the perfect example of a bad relationship. This woman wants to talk about problems, but the man does not want to talk about the subject. The couple is waiting on a train at the station. This train station marks the crossroads of their relationship, with one train going to Barcelona and the other to Madrid. Hemingway suggests that there are some communication difficulties in this relationship by using the bartender. The woman cannot speak Spanish and must rely on the american to translate for her and order her drinks. The main problem comes up when she mentions the hills looking like white elephants. A white elephant being a gift that no one wants. This said gift is difficult to understand without reading a little extra material, but it is actually a baby. However, the woman is very indecisive and changes her mind about the hills. She is stuck and cannot make a decision about whether to keep this child or not. The man insists on having this abortion, and the woman just wants the man to be happy. She tries to tell him that she wants the child, and he keeps saying you don't have to unless you want to, but you should get the abortion because it will make me happy. The woman responds by saying she doesn't care about her happiness. They argue a while longer until she begs him to shut up. However, she wants another drink now, but must have the american translate for her, showing us that he still has control over her. The story ends with the woman deciding that she feels fine with the operation. This woman needed to do what she wanted to do. Relationships are two way streets and one should never control another, especially not in a situation like this. Putting subtle hints in between the lines like this is one Hemingway's favorite things to do in his work, and he did a good job in this story.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY (LISA STANTON)

Honestly, I’m not really much of a Ernest Hemingway reader. I do remember watching some biography of his life in high school, but I don’t recall reading much of his stories that he has written. If somebody were to give me a story by him at this moment and ask me to read it I’m not sure how I would feel after I was finished reading it. I mean sure, I would have some opinions here and there, but all in all I think I feel indifferent about Ernest Hemingway. Like right now, I’m sitting on the floor of my room, a few pages into The Snows of Kilimanjaro and I just can’t get myself to finish the rest. Yes, it is interesting, and I do want to figure out what happens to the man and woman, but my mind just isn’t as willed to finish this story as it would be if I were reading a much more modern author, like, let’s say, Jodi Picoult, or Khaled Hosseini, the gentleman who wrote The Kite Runner. Of course, I will force myself to finish this story, but I doubt I’ll really get the full gist of it. I’m sure if I did read more Ernest Hemingway back in high school or in general I would have more appreciation for the guy.