Hamlet the Avenger

If Hamlet never saw the Ghost, would he still avenge his father's death?
I believe he still would because he had built up anger in him, all it took was a ghost (which could've been a figment of his imagination) to push him towards avenging. If the ghost was a figment, then yes he would've avenged no matter what because his subconscious would've imagined the ghost so that he would have a reason to push himself to avenge. I personally believe that the ghost is a figment, but my theory could easily be diminished since others are able to see the ghost. Perhaps the ghost was a real ghost and everyone (except the Queen) could see it, but only Hamlet could hear it because he was making up the words in his head. Or maybe the ghost is the devil and came to destroy the city because of all the corruption that was happening, which would make sense why everyone dies. To me, this theory makes the most sense. The ghost is a devil but everyone sees it as a ghost. The devil talks to Hamlet because he knows if he acts to be Hamlet's dad, then Hamlet will definitely avenge Claudius. The devil/ghost knows that Hamlet will act as a catalyst towards destroying their kingdom.
Is Hamlet actually mad? Are other characters mad?
I believe that anyone who can see the ghost is considered 'mad', so perhaps the Queen is the only sane one. But I personally believe that Hamlet isn't 'mad' because he's just angry. Since he didn't see a therapist, he has anger management issues and built up anger that he's ready to kill because he hasn't developed coping skills to control his anger and frustration. I understand why people argue that he's mad, because he acts incredibly irrational at times, but I believe that he is just so angry that he doesn't know what to do with himself. And in Alice and Wonderland, the Mad Hatter says that everyone's a little mad, so that would make sense in this story.

Hamlet Act 3 Scene 4

Where the first real death takes place...when Hamlet kills Polonius. I understand that he was eavesdropping, but why would he choose to stand behind a curtain? Is this supposed to have a deeper meaning, like 'coming out of the closet'? That's what I thought when I read it. Also, good for Hamlet for sticking it to his mom. At this point, I don't think that he's acting mad because he's able to hold conversations and think for himself. For example, he's able to confront his mom about marrying his uncle. But he does seem violent and angry when he does so, so I believe he may be mad, but not acting mad (if this makes sense). My favorite line from this scene is after Hamlet kills Polonius, the Queen says Hamlet committed a dirty dead and Hamlet says, "A bloody deed- almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother" (171). That is the ultimate burn. He is able to declare that what he did was bad, but he also justifies his actions by saying what his uncle and mother did was worse. I also love the term "good mother" because it's totally mocking the queen, there's no way that she's a "good mother". And what kind of kingdom do they live in where it's okay to kill someone and marry their wife??? And I don't understand why the king killed Hamlet's dad, was it only because he wanted to be king himself?
Also, Hamlet doesn't seem too bothered that he killed the wrong person (Polonius). Could this be because he's possessed by the devil/ghost? That's what I am thinking at the moment. I know that Hamlet is perhaps 'mad' after seeing the ghost, but wouldn't someone who is mad be at least a little apologetic for killing the wrong person? I believe he is possessed, because he doesn't seem to care about the death.

Act 2 Scene 1 Hamlet: The Present Day "White Girl"

If Hamlet's Act 2 Scene 1 was written in modern day language, it would be rather amusing so I'm going to translate it....

Ophelia: Oh my God, Dad I'm so scared!
Polonius: Chill, what happened?
Ophelia: I was on tumblr on my computer in my room and my bae came in.
His jacket was unzipped (omg can you believe that??) and he didn't even have his snapback on! His socks were kinda messed up and he had some weird 50-shades-of-gray-like chains on.
He really needed a spray tan or blush or something, and his knees were moving like he was doing the Elvis dance, but he looked so crazy and he was just trying to gossip to me!
Polonius: Damn he must want you.
Ophelia: Idk but I kinda hope so but I'm kinda scared too.
Polonius: What he say?
Ophelia: He looked like the girl in the Exorcist, flailing around and grabbing my arm and falling everywhere. Then he just walked out.
Polonius: I'm going to text the King, he must want you so bad that he's intoxicated with love. Damn he's desperate for you. I'm sorry to hear that. Were you mean to him?
Ophelia: No, but I blocked him on my phone.
Polonius: That must've done it.

When Ophelia is describing his outfit it sounds like Mr. Klein telling someone that they're not in dress code because the things she describes about his outfit are so insignificant but I guess it was a big deal back then. I wish they modernized this play and Ophelia was the "common white girl". It sounds as stupid as a middle school romance, and I think it's hilarious that Hamlet's like possessed by this ghost and Ophelia and Polonius think it's because he wants her so bad. I wonder how she'll act if she ever finds out that he's only acting this way because he's seen a ghost.
Maybe she secretly wants him......

Hamlet: Act 1

After reading Act 1, I found that Hamlet is a lot easier to read than the other Shakespeare plays that I've read, though I don't find it quite as interesting just yet. It reminded me of "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe, because everything seems dark and dreary in this Act.
I have a really hard time understanding who the characters are and how they're related/what their jobs are, like Marcellus and Horatio?
I believe this play would be considered magical realism because of the encounter with the ghost. The fact that no one seems too worried by the ghost freaks me out a bit, but also is a sign that maybe this is magical realism.
One of the first things I noticed was that the King seems like he's a dick, but maybe it's just how Shakespeare writes? When the King is giving his speech about his brothers death. He seems that he doesn't really care about him dying, especially when he says that he wants the town to celebrate with his marriage rather than focus on his brother dying. So selfish, he's making it all about himself. King Claudius and his wife also seem like they're forcing Hamlet to move on with the death rather than just letting him grieve, which kind of bugs me too. It seems like they aren't phased by the death at all, which also seems weird to me.
Also, how do Ophelia and Hamlet know each other? I hadn't seem any encounter (or maybe I missed it somewhere) with them and then she's talking about him loving her?
I do like how the different scenes skip back and forth from different characters, but sometimes that can make it a bit confusing.
One random question to finish up: Can everyone see the ghost of the King, or can only a select few see it?

A Game of Chess

In a game of chess, everything seems to be clean, neat, and strategic. The connotation of chess seems to show that it's a mathematical, thought-out game. In the part "A Game of Chess" in The Waste Land, the story seems to be anything from a game of chess. The first paragraph/part/verse starts out with a woman in a chair, observing her objects around her. In the page long verse, there are only three periods. The use of commas serves to make it seem like the woman is looking around quickly and taking in all of her surroundings. This passage made me wonder about who the narrator was, and if he or she was in the room with her while she is looking around. It all seems very vivid since there is plenty of imagery and full of sensory details. As the reader gets to the next page, things seem to fall apart for the woman. The passage now switches to dialogue that the lady is having with herself and she seems paranoid and scared. She hears the wind and worries about the noises. But what is she scared of? Is she scared of the man that has, "pearls that were his eyes"? Or is she scared of, "the knock upon the door"? From the last verse, she seems to try to get a grip on herself since she is able to focus on details like "hot water" and "rain". And maybe she even wants to play a game of chess to clear her head and put herself together again, since the connotation of chess is one of order. I really liked this passage; the writing style was very interesting since the reader can see the transition from order to disorder in less than two pages.

The Dead Metaphor and Symbol

Metaphor: "Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet" (Joyce 151).
The tenor is Lily, and the vehicle is feet.
As this is the first line in the story, it sets the tone. By saying, "literally run off her feet", Joyce is showing how hectic the party will be, with people always coming in and out. The sisters and even Lily seem to constantly be running to the door and worrying about who will come in and who won't. There always seems to be people coming in and out as well.
The pace of the novel is quick too, especially with the dashes to indicate conversation and speech. This line can also emphasis the pace of the story.
The story switches from character to character quickly as well, and this can be hinted at from the quote.

Symbol: Snow
The snow is a motif/symbol in this story, as it comes up many times from the beginning and end. Snow is referenced first on the second page, and as well on the last page of the story. The snow is literal since it's winter and it's snowing. The snow is falling all over Ireland. The snow is also figurative though, since it's falling it lays a heavy covering over everything in Ireland. There is more reference to the snow at the end of the story, when guests are leaving the party. Towards the end, Gabriel and his wife Gretta, become emotional as she explains to him a story of a love that died. On the walk home, Gabriel was excited to rekindle his relationship with Gretta, but since the snow is heavy and covering everything, it seems to cover his mood too since their mood shifts since they're talking about death. Also, the heaviness of snow that's on the ground can relate to how the story changes mood and switches to a darker, more sad mood towards the end because of the talk of death. Snow also falls mostly in winter, and winter represents death.

Reflection of Mrs. Dalloway

If I had to rate this book from 1-10, I would give it a 6.5. In my opinion, it wasn't great but it also wasn't horrible. I grew to like it more and more as I read this book, but at the beginning it was a challenge. I think that anything that is challenging is good for a person because it pushes them, so I think that even though I didn't enjoy this book that much, it was good because I was challenged. I liked Woolf's stream of consciousness writing style, but I wish it was only for 1 character because the transitions were often hard to follow. I also felt that there were too many characters as I struggled to remember names, especially at the party. There wasn't the typical rising action and climax and falling action in this book, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I like having a climax in the book because the book builds to an event, but I also appreciate how this book was different by not having that. My favorite character was definitely Septimus, because I found his stream of consciousness interesting. I thought he was different than all of the rest of the characters because of his PTSD.
I was extremely underwhelmed at the end of this book though. I thought the party would be much more interesting, but it seemed like it was just a description of different characters. It may only seem this was because of the stream of consciousness writing, because it's like Clarissa viewing all of the people walking in, but I thought the party would have a plot twist or a surprise.
I also thought this book reminded me of "The Great Gatsby" because of the party and the theme of love. Though they were written in different styles, they still had similar themes.
There are several questions I still have about the book though...
Why was it titled "Mrs. Dalloway"? Does that mean Mrs. Dalloway was the most important character in the book?
Does Clarissa still love Peter, or does she just love the past? Does Peter love Clarissa?
I didn't like the plot of this book, I often found it dull and uninteresting. But I did like that it was so different than any other book I read because of the writing style and the literary devices she uses.
If I was Woolf and writing this book, I would've added something to signal the transition between characters thoughts, like white space or asterisks. I also would have had more character development but less characters, so that the reader is not overwhelmed with character names and the main characters can have more depth. Lastly, I would've added a plot twist or climax, maybe have Peter do something drastic at the party like have him do something with his knife? Sometimes the book seemed boring because of the lack of action, so throwing something in there like that would've interested the reader more.
Like I said earlier, I did appreciate this book because of Woolf's style and techniques, but overall I didn't like the story line, so therefore it's only rated 6.5/10.

Age

From Peter's section, "I am not old, he cried. . . He was not old, or set, or dried in the least" (Woolf 50), I began to think about age and old versus young. Age is defined by google as, "the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed". 
Young is defined as, "having lived or existed for only a short time" and old is defined as, "having lived for a long time; no longer young". 
But I think that age is so much more than just young and old. Like the poem we read in class, every year you become all of the years that you have already been. Like if you're turning 5 then you're also 4, 3, 2, and 1. 
At what year does someone become old? Can someone who is 80 still be considered young? I think that young versus old has to do with your spirit and the way that you live. If you're full of life and still able to live life to the fullest, I believe that you would be considered young. If you can't do that, I believe you're considered old. 
But even then, what about people who are depressed and not full of life because of their illness? How are they considered old or young? Does that have to do with a specific age? 
I believe a person should be able to decide whether they're young or old. It becomes a self-reflection for them, as they have to consider what makes them young or old. 
For me, I believe I am young because I'm not yet 18, which is considered a legal adult. But who made this rule, that at 18 someone becomes a legal adult? Whose call is it to make, as some 18 year olds are so much mature than others? And when I'm 18, will I be considered old because I'm a legal adult? 
Maturity also plays into age; if you're immature and juvenile you're considered to be young, and if you're mature you're considered to be older. 
When you think of old, you immediately think of a grandparent and when you think of young, you immediately think of a child. But there's so much in between, say from 18-70. What are these people considered? 
I believe age and the idea of young and old has stemmed from society and social norms. I honestly don't think that any of this matters or that even these words should exist in our society because everyone is so different, it's hard to classify and generalize age and youth. 

Dalloway Word

"Civilisation" (67).

Dalloway Question

What was Woolf's point in writing this book?

Woolf Punctuation (page 20)

I have never seen an author use punctuation and literary devices like Woolf does, and I mean this in a good way.
While everyone in the story is dazed with this car, a sky-writing plane breaks the spell. Woolf's use of punctuation also adds variety from the previous passage for the reader.
The place where I first noticed it was in the sentence, "actually writing something! making letters in the sky!" (Woolf 20). I've never seen a writer use an exclamation mark in the middle of the sentence and then leave the next word un-capitalized. This adds a voice to the narrator and serves as an interruption, to show how surprised and excited they were to see a plane writing letters. The next sentence has a lot of alliteration, "dropping dream down" and then a list of action verbs, all separated by commas. This is a pretty sentence to read, because of the literary devices used. The alliteration paired with the action verbs emphasizes the plane and its actions. Also, the use of multiple commas (7 in this sentence), allow the sentence to carry on longer. This extension reminded me of a person's eyes following a plane, keeping their eyes on its movement. The next few sentences show Woolf's use of question marks as the viewers try to figure out what the plane is spelling. The question marks serve to show their curiosity, as well as rise to a climax about what the plane will spell out. The last punctuation mark I found interesting was Woolf's use of a semicolon, "Only for a moment did they lie still; then they moved..."(Woolf 20). The semicolon following the world still creates a short, natural pause for the reader, just like the plane paused for a second. After the semicolon, Woolf uses more action verbs to show that the plane resumed writing. By using these literary devices and punctuation, Woolf makes the reader become a part of the crowd, as she builds suspense as both the reader and crowd are waiting to see what the plane will spell out.

Mrs. Dalloway: Flowers

Reading this book is difficult, especially only a few pages in. Every passage seemed like a blur to me as I tried to piece together what exactly was happening. The first passage that really stuck out to me was on page 12, starting with "Nonsense!". This struck me because that's exactly what I felt like the whole book had been about so far, nonsense. It also is repeated twice, "Nonsense! Nonsense!", as if Mrs. Dalloway is shaking herself from an idea, which she is. This diction and repetition shows the seamless transition through Mrs. Dalloway's thoughts and her surroundings, which has happened throughout the novel so far. It seems to be a stream of consciousness style of writing, which I believe is highly affective to show a character's inner thoughts, especially if they have a mental illness which I believe Mrs. Dalloway does. To me, it was interesting how Mrs. Dalloway could say "Nonsense!" and be shaken out of her daze while also having the same effect on the reader. By including this command, the reader also gets pulled out of Mrs. Dalloway's daze, making it seem like they were Mrs. Dalloway.
I also liked the next paragraph that followed, the one that began with, "There were flowers". If I was Mrs. Dalloway and had a mental disease that I knew about, I would probably dream that I were something more beautiful than myself. Sure, this may come from being self-conscious about it if that were the case, but I'd want to see beauty in other things and have people see beauty in me, just like a flower. From this paragraph, I felt like Mrs. Dalloway was comparing herself to a flower, or at least imagining herself as one, again getting caught up in her dreams versus her surroundings. She personifies the flowers, "holding their heads up. . . as if it were the evening and girls in muslin frocks came out. . . every flower seems to burn by itself" (Woolf 13). She may be comparing the flowers to herself, reminding herself to hold her head up even though she has an illness. The "evening and girls" phrase may show how she is a party planner, and the burning may show that her illness is really hurting her. Perhaps this is foreshadowing through flowers, and if that's the case, then I think that's pretty cool.

Harkness Reflection

Overall, I felt that the Harkness went really well. I definitely enjoyed it better than a test and liked that we had this opportunity, because some people aren't the strongest test takers. Also, it was interesting to have a discussion run solely by the class. The hardest part was jumping in to say something, so maybe next time we can come up with a way to respectfully share our ideas but making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to talk. We could raise our hands or use another method to let others know that we have something to say. I think our conversation also stayed interesting, as we talked about truth versus fiction, death, and Tim O'Brien. By having this discussion, we were able to talk about what we found important and certain stories that stuck with us, rather than having to answer questions about things that we could have forgotten. We could also comment on other people's thoughts in real time.  I would have found it interesting to sit in on another class discussion to see where their conversation went, because I feel like conversations could differ so much depending on the group or students. I wasn't sure how this would play out at first, but I'm happy with how it did. I think everyone spoke up equally and I believe that everything that was shared was important and intelligent. I also think that Dr. Spiegel should hang up the drawings on the wall to make some cool art.

1: "The Things They Carried"

The story that was my favorite was "On The Rainy River". I am a true believer in the fact that 'a little fresh air can cure anything'. I found it interesting that Tim was able to realize that he needed this time to himself, to figure out what he was going to do. He was tired of his monotone job and was anxious about war; overall he was struggling with his life. So he had the courage to pick up and leave. In this circumstance, he just drove until he found a place that he found comfortable. I believe this was his fate. His fate was to have a boring job, get a draft card, become anxious and stressed with his life, and then run off and find Tip Top Lodge. This lodge healed him in a sense, and I believe it was fate that this would happen so he would get the oppurtunity to heal and have self-reflection and figure out what his next step was. I also believe it was his fate to write this book, as another healing process. He opens this chapter with the sentence, "This is one story I've never told before" (O'Brien 37). The reason he hadn't was because of embarresment. In this book, just like at the Lodge, O'Brien is learning healthy ways to cope with feelings. Before the war, he was upset and conflicted about whether or not to go, so he did self-reflection in the Lodge. After the war, he still had a lot of negative feelings, such as embarresment, and he is doing a self-reflection as he writes this book to learn it is okay to open up. Because of this trip to the lodge, Tim ultimately makes a decision that will shape his life, as he chooses to go to war. He was a little shaky on this trip, but as he is leaving he is able to stand on his own two feet, knowing he made the right decision. I believe that without this trip, Tim's confliction would have torn him apart. 

Sueños Jorge Luis tarea

1) Si, yo tengo sueños que te hayan parecido reales mucho noches. Tengo estos sueños cinco noches a la semana.  Si, mucho a veces es difícil a distinguir entre los sueños y la realidad. Que da miedo cuanto tengo una pesadilla porque cuando me despierto no puedo recordar lo que real y lo que es falso. La pesadilla que yo tengo más frecuencia es donde yo estoy pequeño y las cosas a cerca de me están grandes y no puede mover. A veces, yo tengo pesadillas donde yo estoy muy grande y las cosas a cerca de me están más pequeño y otra vez no puede mover. Pero mayoría de las noches, yo tengo sueños vivos con muchos colores. 

3) Cuando el narrador dijo es necesario aceptar los sueños como hemos aceptado el universo, el no dijo nada sobre entendiéndolos. Es importante que comprender cosas, no sólo aceptarlas. Si sólo aceptamos los sueños y la realidad, no vamos a aprender nada. Es importante que cuestionar las cosas como sueños y realidad para que podamos ser más inteligentes a nosotros mismos. El narrado no está explorando nada, sólo la acepta. Creo que es un error porque no está aprendiendo nada y es más importante a distinguir los sueños y la realidad. 

5) No creo que usted puede demostrar que usted existe en la vida real, creo que sólo hay que creer. Nadie sabe si están vivos o sólo un sueño. Creo que usted no sabe la respuesta a estas preguntas hasta que esté muerto. Yo podría ser un sueño de alguien, pero creo que si soy un sueño entonces todos los demás es un sueño también. Todas las personas en esta tierra podría ser el sueño de Dios. Creo que la única cosa que todos podemos hacer es vivir la vida como si estuviéramos en la realidad y creemos que somos reales. Creo que en el final de mi vida cuando me muera, voy a saber la respuesta a esta pregunta. No creo que hay una respuesta real en estos momentos.

Fifth Post: Love Medicine

Examine the relationship between two characters.

One of the relationships I found most interesting in this book, “Love Medicine” was the relationship between Marie Lazarre and Sister Leopolda. When Leopolda is first introduced, she’s in a house for nuns that is for nuns who don’t fit in anywhere else, so right from the start the reader can tell that something is off. Leopolda is extremely conscience about Satan and watched out for him. If she saw him in someone, she would try to beat Satan or get Satan out of him or her. Leopolda sees Satan inside Marie. One day, Marie notices Satan in the room and smiles. Leopolda throws Marie in the closet where Satan was and hit her with her pole. Marie realizes and says, “The real way to overcome Leopolda was this: I’d get to heaven first” (Erdrich 48). So Marie travels to the house in order to get to heaven before Leopolda. They cook together and Marie drops a cup under the stove. As she bends down to get the cup, Leopolda pours hot water on her to try to get Satan out of her. Then Leopolda nurses to Marie’s wounds. All of a sudden, Leopolda keeps repeating the phrase, “Help me”. They go to get the bread out of the oven and Marie pushes her into the oven, but Leopolda stabs her hand and hits her head. Marie is knocked out and when she wakes she’s surrounded by people who are worshiping her, saying she’s a saint because Leopolda told them that the mark on her hand suddenly appeared. Marie has now rid herself of Satan and knows she will beat Leopolda and get to heaven first. Their relationship is one of violence but also care. They look out for each other and try to rid each other of Satan, though they use violence to do so. I’m not sure if that is because they honestly hate each other or that they care for each other so much that they would do anything to rid each other of Satan. I believe that they care about each other because at one point Marie says she wants Leopolda’s love. I think there is also competition between them, because both know that Satan is inside of them and they both want to get rid of it sooner than the other. I believe that Satan might take over in their bodies sometime and cause their violence. I have never read a book with characters like this, so I think it’s very interesting to examine the different types of relationships from different books.

Fourth Post: Love Medicine

Does your novel represent a non-American culture? What does it say about that culture?

My novel, “Love Medicine” represents Native American culture. I do not know much about Native American culture, but I have noticed a theme of “brokenness” in the novel so far. I believe this theme may suggest that the Native American culture is broken. From what I know about Native Americans is that the Whites never treated them well. We took their land and treated them poorly when we settled here. They were never seen as Americans. I believe that the Whites mistreatment of the Indians may have led to the brokenness of their culture. Since they had to deal with the mistreatment, they may have felt broken. Also, I believe that many people often leave reservations, which may pull families apart, adding to the broken culture. This book also shows that the families that live on the reservations are very close. This idea of family closeness makes sense to me because they live in the same place so they can always be together. I am a bit jealous of this because I would love to be closer with my relatives, but they all live far away so it is hard to remain close. The closeness is first shown in part two of chapter one, when Albertine returns to the reservation and they have a family gathering. So far, it is not clear why Albertine has left the reservation in the first place. When her Aunt June dies, Albertine’s mom does not invite her to the funeral and instead sends a letter to inform Albertine of the death. By making inferences, I believe that Albertine may have left the reservation because she wanted a different life. It explains her studying so maybe she wanted a better education and had to leave her family to do so. Perhaps the reason why she was not invited to the funeral was because she left the reservation, adding to this common theme of “brokenness”. I believe that when people return back to the reservation, everyone becomes close again because they want to spend time with whoever is returning. Again, most of this post is filled with inferences that could be wrong, but I am excited to keep reading to find out if any inferences I made were correct.

Third Post: Unaccustomed Earth

React to the following quote, in regard to your novel:

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.” J.D. Salinger

When I first began reading this book, I was not a fan. I found the first chapter dull and was confused about why the chapters jumped from family to family. When I got further into the book, I began to enjoy it more and more. Suddenly, I couldn’t put it down.

First of all, I hardly ever read books about other cultures, and when I do it has always been for school. I do not know much about other cultures and I realized after reading this book that I would like to.
I wish I could call up Lahiri because I want to know her story. I would like her to tell me her whole life, from beginning to the present. I would like to know what influenced her to write the stories that are in this book. Was she inspired by her own life? Did she go through some of the same situations that these characters did?

I know I can find some of these answers online, most likely in an interview of some sort, but I do not have any desire to do that. I want to hear from Lahiri herself and have a conversation with her.

I felt like all of the stories were dark, none of them had happy endings. I would like to know why. Does she believe no one in this culture receives a happy ending? Does she wish something in her life went differently?

I believe that since this book is so interesting and filled with many different stories, that the writer must have to be interesting and filled with many different stories as well.

I was so surprised at how dark the endings of the stories turned out to be. I feel like no one got what they wanted and nothing turned out well for the people.

This is the part of the book that I’m still struggling with. I just would like to know why the author made this choice and why that happened.

 Overall, I wish I could call Lahiri so that we could have a conversation and so that I could talk to her about her life as well as the choices she made in this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and this book inspires me to read other books about different cultures so that I can become a more rounded individual.

Second Post: Unaccustomed Earth

Examine the cover of the novel. What is it expressing about the story?

It is so easy to judge a book by its cover, hence the cliché phrase. When this book first arrived from Amazon.com, I thought it was going to be a boring book. The cover seemed terribly Photoshop-ed. I am an extremely visual learner and somewhat artistic, so I like to use the cover to try to guess what the book will be about.  I also like to examine the cover art to see how it plays into the story.

At first glance, I believed the gold circle was a crown of some sort. It looked like the ‘gold crown’ had just fallen in the water, which is why it appeared to be floating. My next idea was that maybe the main character had fallen off a boat and drowned. As he or she fell off, his or her crown did as well and they both toppled into the ocean.

Throughout the book, I was looking for water imagery or crown imagery, something to allude me to the cover. I found nothing that seemed to resemble the cover in any of part one.

Between the pages of 312-313, I found my first clue. The narrator is referring to a bangle that Hema owns, “She had always loved the design, small four-petaled flowers threaded along a vine” (Lahiri 312-313). Finally, I realized that what I thought was the crown on the front page was actually Hema’s bangle.

The bangle represents her past because it was her grandmother’s and she had always worn it. Hema’s past is very important because in the third chapter of part two, she reunites with Kaushik, a male from her childhood. Kaushik even remembers that Hema wore the bracelet when she was growing up.

When I finished the book, I was still unsure as to why the bracelet was in the water.

I was confused with the very ending of the book, but I believe that Kaushik drowned in the tsunami. The way it was written, I was unsure if that is how he passed away but I am inferring he did.

Throughout part two, water was a motif throughout Kaushik’s life. His mom loved water and wanted a house with a pool or a waterfront view. Also, in the end of the book before Kaushik moved to Hong Kong, he spends his days on a beach.

Then, he drowns in a tsunami.

So, on the cover of the book, the bangle is getting ‘washed away’ in the tsunami water. This representation shows that any evidence of the past is gone. She had forgotten the bangle at the airport and Kaushik is now dead. Her past is literally washed away, and she is forced to start anew and move into the present and the future with her new husband Navin.