green eggs and ham

Oh yes. This is happening.

In Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, Sam plays the role of a questioner, continuously asking his unnamed acquaintance whether or not he likes green eggs and ham despite refusal from his friend. However, on a deeper level, Sam can be seen as a character who achieves a sense of identity and can define himself, whereas his friend lacks such identity, seen as he isn't even given a name. In addition to acting as a work of self-discovery, Dr. Seuss' book also addresses prejudice and the pressures of society on behavior.

In the beginning of the work, Sam says, "I am Sam / I am Sam / Sam I am," showing that he is confident in his realization of self. On the other hand, his friend simply states "I do not like / that Sam-I-Am," indicating his inner frustration for his lack of self-awareness. He gives no reason as to why he dislikes Sam except that Sam is who he is.

The character expresses prejudice towards both Sam and the dish throughout the book in that he shows unexplained disdain for Sam-I-Am and the green eggs and ham. In reference to Sam, his indifference towards him could be due to Sam's ability to self-identify, as mentioned before when he refers to him as "Sam-I-Am." On the other hand, the character's hatred of the green eggs and ham is strange to Sam as he has not even tried them before. In this case, his feelings toward the dish are expressed simply through his belief that he will not like them; therefore, his expected hatred for the green eggs and ham becomes a self-fulfilled prophecy in that he hates them without even trying.

As Sam asks his friend whether or not he likes green eggs and ham, he projects his own appreciation of the dish onto him. By doing this, he's forcing his own identity upon his acquaintance, and though his acquaintance grows frustrated with Sam's actions, he does nothing to discover his own self. However, he also rejects any attempts of Sam to partake in his lifestyle, which shows that he doesn't want Sam's identity to become his own. His friend also represents a character who has not given in to societal pressures, making him isolated both in his lack of name and his refusal to try the green eggs and ham.

When the nameless friend finally refers to Sam as "Sam" rather than "Sam-I-Am," it's when he finally gives in to Sam's insistence to try green eggs and ham, symbolizing his acceptance of Sam's identity as well as his step into finding his own. With his mind made up to try the dish, the character is reuniting himself with society and what is considered the societal norm, also rejecting his previous views of prejudice against the green eggs and ham. 

While Green Eggs and Ham serves mainly as a promoter for children to try new experiences, Dr. Seuss' work also illustrates the imposing qualities that society holds over the individual as well as the struggle to find a sense of identity.

days

Days
Philip Larkin

What are days for?
Days are where we live.
They come, they wake us
Time and time over.
They are happy to be in:
Where can we live but days?

Ah, solving that question
Brings the priest and the doctor
In their long coats
Running over the fields.

Philip Larkin's "Days" discusses the existence of both life and death, treating life with innocence and naivety while treating death with cynicism and morbidity. In addition, the poem makes comments concerning the matters of religion and science associated with death.

The poem begins with a question: "What are days for?" This question resembles a question asked by a child, and so the response resembles a question given to a child; However, if the poem were to be read through an existentialist lens, the narrator could be questioning the reason for life. Without delving too deep into the search for the meaning of life, the response answers that days are where we live. The description of days as being a "where" rather than a "when" provides the idea that days are not a time but a place. This implies a much more permanent state rather than "when," since time passes by while places remain existent.

With the statement that the days "come," the days are portrayed as existing to serve us rather than us to serve the days. Their purpose is to wake the individuals "time and time over," as if their duty and the days are never-ending. This implies the idea that living is endless as the days continue on and on. As the days are said to "wake us" again and again, it's as if the days are permanent. This is ironic as life is known for its brevity due to death, and the suggestion that the days come "time and time over" illustrate the response as an attempt to retain innocence through rejecting the idea of death.

It's suggested that the days are "happy to be in," though it doesn't describe the happiness obtained through living in the days. In addition, this implies that the days are always happy and never upsetting, another indication that the narrator is attempting to maintain innocence and naivety. Along with this lack of description for happiness, the description provided for the days is itself scarce and not very detailed, leaving everything as vague and innocent. However, by the second verse, the tone shifts from pleasant to negative.

The verse ends with another question: "Where can we live but days?" Although it appears to be a rhetorical question, the narrator provides a cynical response to that answer, commenting that it's not only days in which one can live. The poet claims that the other place to live would bring the "priest and doctor," implying a connection to religion and health to the other living place. Religion and health can be both be tied to death; while religion provides a belief in the afterlife, health indicates the decay of the body after death. 

With their "long coats," the priest and doctor resemble ghosts, casting an almost sinister feeling by the last verse. Their "running over the fields" could be of haste towards a dying individual, perhaps hoping to provide religion to him to ease his mind of death or to provide treatment to him to prolong his life. 

Beli of Wao

In Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the most powerful characters appear to be the women of the work. While Oscar struggles to find a relationship with a girl and Yunior fails to maintain a relationship with a girl, the women are the ones who hold some form of power over their male counterparts. Beli possesses a power over those around her, though her power is often lost through the act of sex. However, she manages to maintain power over her family despite appearing the opposite.

Beli holds power over her family through her stubborn attitude and overconfidence. When she matures, she realizes the control she acquires "By the undeniable concreteness of her desirability which was, in its own way, Power" (94). As a teenager, she uses her attractive features to catch the attention of Jack Pujols, who treats her with "little respect" (99). However, this is unknown to Beli and she still treats their relationship as a position of power in her favor. She believes Jack to be her "husband" (101) and insists that her actions with him are not wrong in any way. 

While their relationship crumbles, Beli finds another partner in the form of the Gangster, a man who appears to reciprocate to her the love she feels for him. Although he "normally would have tired right quick of such an intensely adoring plaything" (126), he makes promises to Beli about buying her houses with twenty rooms in Miami and Havana. Although she no longer possesses "even a modicum of respectability at home" (128), Beli continues to strut around with her head above the clouds, finding herself superior to those around her. When she realizes she's pregnant, Beli refers to it as the "magic she'd been waiting for" (136); she holds a power over the Gangster that guarantees his staying with her. Her power is stripped, however, when it's revealed that the Gangster is married to Trujillo's sister, and Beli is severely beaten up in a canefield. Her child is lost, and therefore her power over the Gangster is also lost. 

Beli's desire to maintain her power over the Gangster is shown in her attempt to keep faith in him. The week before she leaves for New York, she's with him in a love hotel, and although she tries to "hold on to him" (163) in a chance to impregnate herself once more, the attempt fails. Her wish to once again acquire him lasts until her last moment in Santo Domingo; she continues to believe that "the Gangster was going to appear and save her" (164). 

As a mother, Beli is able to exercise power over her family by her commanding ways. Although La Inca treats her kindly, Beli treats her children in an authoritarian manner, her duty being to "keep [her children] crushed under her heel" (55). Her first drop from power occurs when she discovers cancer in her breasts, which could symbolize the moments she loses control due to her sexual encounters. With her cancer, she physically appears weak and thin, and to Lola, she appears "bald as a baby" (70), emphasizing her appearance as innocent. However, when Lola runs from her mother, she's manipulated as her mother is simply pretending to cry, faking it to get her daughter to come back. In addition, Lola comments that she "didn't have to ovaries" (70) to run away from her mother, referring to her ovaries as power or courage. Her mother says "te tengo" (70), which could mean her repossession of her daughter or her repossession of her power.

Rinehart and the idea of self

In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, Rinehart can be seen not only as a a distortion of reality but also reality itself. His multiple identities provides for others their own realities in relation to his personas, and his many classifications act as a mask for him as he's able to portray himself as multiple people. The narrator struggles with this man's life due to his inability to realize the importance of self.

When looking at the name "Rinehart," the narrator establishes two different parts of the man: rind and heart. The rind is defined as the outer layer or skin of something, whereas the heart represents an inner existence. As the narrator refers to Rinehart as "both rind and heart" (498), he contemplates the ability of man to take on so many different identities on the outside while still remaining one true identity on the inside. He relates back to the words of the veteran when he notes that Rinehart regards his world as possibility, repeating word-for-word the veteran's advice to him that "the world is possibility if only [he'll] discover it" (156). In this case, the veteran is emphasizing the discovery of this world or possibility with the reliance on the self to discover it, encouraging the narrator to write his own history rather than have others write it for him.

Rinehart is a runner, a gambler, a briber, a lover, and a Reverend in the novel. Although his identities to others appear as a mask to them, hiding the others and displaying only one at a certain time, he still remains true to himself in that his life is one of multiple identities. He chooses to use these identities out of his own mind, whereas the narrator is forced to take on names pushed onto him out of his free will. 

To the men at the Battle Royal, Norton, and Mary, he's to play the part of the "destiny of [his] people" (32). The attendees of the Battle Royal conclude that the narrator will some day "lead his people i the proper paths" (32), pushing onto him the responsibility for the whole race. According to Norton, he is dependent upon the narrator to "learn [his] fate" (45), which the narrator finds bewildering as the trustee doesn't even know the narrator's name. His disregard for the narrator's identity in place of the identity he places on him shows that the narrator is not in charge of his own being. Mary also extends this leadership role onto the narrator, telling him that he has to lead and fight "and move us all on up a little higher" (255), telling him this even before she learns his name.

For Bledsoe, Kimbro, and Brother Jack, the narrator's identity is unnecessary as his only role will be to be used as a resource of sorts. Bledsoe tells the narrator that he doesn't exist, that he's "nobody" (143). This insistence on the narrator's lack of identity is held when Kimbro instructs him to obey everything he says, leading the narrator to believe that he "wasn't supposed to think" (200). This loss of thinking for one's self displays a plunge out of history in that the narrator loses control of his own history, given more pressure when Brother Jack gives him his new identity. Brother Jack informs the narrator that he is "to answer to no other" (309), encouraging him to forcibly reject his old identity in place of this new one given to him by the Brotherhood.

Throughout the novel., the narrator is unable to discover himself; he states what he "would be no one except [himself]--whoever [he] was" (311). This inability of his to realize his true identity hinders him from reaching a true freedom, from being his own father, as the veteran had advised of him. Although he realizes that "[he'll] be free" (243) once he discovers who he is, his identity is only constructed by the individuals and groups he encounters.

a grandfather's advice

During part of the Norton and college-expulsion seminar, some theories were thrown out about words of the narrator's grandfather and whether they were advice towards the racial struggle or the power struggle.

In Invisible Man, the narrator recalls the dying words of his grandfather, urging his grandchildren to "keep up the good fight" (16). He compares this fight to having one's "head in the lion's mouth" (16), as though he's urging for his children and grandchildren to live dangerously yet under the command of the lion, or the stronger forces. His idea of a fight involves using deception and trickery, with which he encourages his family to "overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller [them] whole till they vomit or bust wide open" (16). This fight represents the narrator's own inner conflict between fiction and reality, between appearing true and being true to himself.

When the narrator drives Mr. Norton around, he thinks back to his grandfather's advice and believes that his actions were, in his grandfather's words, an act of "treachery" (40). This thought comes to the narrator after Mr. Norton refers to his fate and how the narrator plays a part in his destiny. With this, the narrator appears to be under the control of Mr. Norton, although he does not realize this himself. This goes against the grandfather's advice in that he's not submissive to Mr. Norton as a way of undermining him and achieving his power, but rather in a way of seeking praise, knowing that it is "advantageous to flatter rich white folks" (38). 

The grandfather's words are discouraged by the veteran at the Golden Day, a man who reveals unto the narrator his subservience to Mr. Norton. He addresses to the narrator that with Mr. Norton, he's "learned to repress not only his emotions but his humanity" (94). He also adds that the narrator's "blindness is his chief asset" (95) indicating that he's unknowing to his current level or position in comparison to Mr. Norton. As a result, the veteran later advises him to be his "own father" (156), implying that he wishes for the narrator to not be the lion's meat but rather the lion itself.

Just as the veteran represents the anti-grandfather point of view, Mr. Bledsoe reflects the lion's meat who acts as the meat but is in fact the lion. He mentions to the narrator how he says "'Yes, suh' as loudly as any burrhead when it's convenient, but [he's] still the king" (142). His actions are an exact resemblance to what the grandfather advises in that he acts submissive although he is the one in control, and "how much it appears otherwise" (142) indicates that the white men who appear to be above him are unknowing of his power. 

To me, the grandfather is encouraging the narrator to please the people he comes in contact with despite his own beliefs. In this case, he's still advising that his family members cast aside their own fears and desires in order to fulfill this role as lion's meat, or a resource of some sort. However, in doing so, he believes they will be able to turn the tables and be the ones in control. 

sonnet 24

Sonnet 24
William Shakespeare

Mine eye hath played the painter and hath steeled
Thy beauty's form in table of my heart.
My body is the frame wherein 'tis held,
And perspective it is best painter's art.
For through the painter must you see his skill
To find where your true image pictured lies,
Which in my bosom's shop is hanging still,
That hath his windows glazèd with thine eyes.
Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done:
Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me
Are windows to my breast, wherethrough the sun
Delights to peep, to gaze therein on thee.
     Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art;
     They draw but what they see, know not the heart.

Within "Sonnet 24", Shakespeare compares the beauty of an individual to beauty interpreted by the speaker, reflecting the truth of beauty that exists in the individual and the lack of true beauty in his own evaluation.

In the first quatrain, the narrator equates his own body as a painter and the depiction of the individual's beauty as his artwork. As the speakers' eyes play the part of the painter, it's as if the speaker is attempting to capture the beauty of the individual through sight. This emphasis on strictly sight establishes the idea that the one to whom the poem is addressed has only visual beauty, focusing more on appearance. The image of beauty is said to be in "table of [his] heart" (2), expressing the idea that the individual's beauty has permanently left an impression on the speaker. By describing perspective as "best painter's art" (4), the speaker is suggesting that the most skilled artist is the one who is able to most realistically and accurately portray the beauty of the individual. 

By the second quatrain, the speaker continues to emphasize the true beauty as shown through the eyes as opposed to represented through other forms. As he refers to his eye as the "painter" (1), the speaker indicates that the most skilled artist would be his eyes as they are the only things that truly take in the beauty of the individual. The "true image" (6) of the individual's beauty is said to lie in the speaker's "bosom's shop" (7), referring to his heart upon which the beauty is impressed. By mentioning "windows glazèd with thine eyes" (8), the speaker is putting emphasis on the transparency of his heart as if looking onto his love for the individual is as simple as looking through the windows of a shop. In this case, it appears as though the individual's beauty is also reflected onto the speaker himself, making him beautiful as well.

The speaker highlights helpful qualities of both his eyes and the eyes of the individual as well as the almost divine beauty of the individual in the third quatrain. He illustrates the "good turns" (9) that his eyes have provided as their drawing the individual's shape, placing his gratefulness for his eyes upon the fact that they have allowed him to see the individual's beauty. For the eyes of the individual, he's thankful for their acting as "windows to [his] breast" (11), as if by looking through the individual's eyes, the speaker is able to see his own love reflected back at him. As the sun "Delights to peep" (12) through the windows, the speaker uses imagery to cast importance onto the individual. The sun's rays shine upon the individual as a reflection of the beauty that radiates onto the speaker, providing almost a sense of enlightenment in which the truth is found through the window.

A turn occurs after the last quatrain and before the couplet as the speaker suggests that the eyes do not have the power to convey the true beauty of the individual as would the heart. As the eyes simply "draw but what they see" (13), the speaker implies that eyes are limited to drawing the physical representations of beauty rather than the emotional backing of beauty. As the heart symbolizes love and emotions associated with love, the heart can capture the true beauty that the eyes cannot.

an invisible shaper

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and John Gardner's Grendel both feature a relationship between manipulator and manipulated. This relationship appears to be detrimental to each position in the novels, the manipulation often involving the obscurity of the truth.

Within Invisible Man, the narrator is given advice early on to "be [his] own father" (Ellison 156), or to make his own decisions, by a "mad" veteran. He is advised to do so after he is found obeying and following the orders of Mr. Norton, a rich trustee of the school he attends. Norton makes assertions that the narrator is a part of his fate and destiny, that the narrator's achievements will be his own achievements. Once realizing this, the veteran describes the narrator as "a mark on the scoreboard of [Norton's] achievement" (Ellison 95); he is also referred to as a "mechanical man" (Ellison 94) as if he is a robot doing Norton's bidding. The narrator is simply something that Norton can show off as if he were a prized possession, or even a son. This relationship between father and son is also mentioned by the veteran, who comments that the narrator is also acting as "a child, or even less--a black amorphous thing" (Ellison 95) that can be manipulated and shaped by Norton. The narrator's inability to understand the vet's word leaves the veteran believing that he fails to "understand the simple facts of life" (Ellison 94) because of Norton's distortion of the truth.

Grendel in Grendel is influenced by the Shaper, a man who maintains the innocence of the Danes by performing songs that speak to his people the "truths" of the world. However, Grendel realizes that his songs only give the people "blissfsul, swinish ignorance" (Gardner 77) as they don't sing of truth but rather warped stories to protest his people. With his eloquence as a harpist, he makes it "all seem true and very fine" (Gardner 43) even to Grendel. Grendel immediately realizes the influence the Shaper holds in shaping the minds of his listeners, believing that he had "changed the world... had transmuted it" (Gardner 43). As Grendel is unable to determine his place in society--made an outcast by all despite his cries for "Mercy! Peace!" (Gardner 51)--he confirms that he "a machine" (Gardner 123), blindly playing into the hands of fate.

The narrator of Ralph Ellison's novel first realizes the influence that others hold over him when he purchases yams from a vendor. Initially he rejected foods that tied him back to his culture, believing his refusal to be an "act of discipline, a sign of the change that was coming over [him]" (Ellison 178). His shame for his Southern background and desire to be accepted by the Northerners affects him with this rejection, though he later discards it as he realizes he's doing "what was expected of [him] instead of what [he himself] had wished to do" (Ellison 266). Despite this realization, he is still manipulated by a "father" figure found in Brother Jack, who tells him that he was "not hired to think" (Ellison 470) but rather to speak what the Brotherhood wanted him to speak. In this case, the narrator is blind to the organization's hold over him, equated with Tod Clifton's Sambo doll with a black thread in the back, which had been invisible to the narrator.

Despite his disdain for "blind mechanism ages old" (Gardner 21), Grendel feels compelled to play into the Shaper's songs and act as "the dark side" (Gardner 51). This is because he is also given an idea from the dragon that the world is meaningless, that "in a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone in several times, in various forms" (Garnder 70). This idea that the world will eventually become nothing upsets Grendel as he "cannot believe such monstrous energy of grief can lead to nothing" (Gardner 123). Although he knows that the Shaper's words are simply masks of the truth, he must play into his work as his is the lesser of two evils; at least through the Shaper, Grendel is given a purpose to life.

While the narrator of Invisible Man plays into the hands of his manipulators unknowingly, Grendel is forced to do so in order to keep from going insane with the possibility that the world will soon be nothing. Grendel's internal struggles greatly outweigh those of Ralph Ellison's narrator.