Pasta and Chrysanthemums?

After writing several weeks on Hamlet, I’ve decided that I simply can no longer do it. It was quite a journey, but that part of my literature life is temporarily on lock down. That being said, I also cannot find it in me to write about sonnets. I am not a romantic and I am not a poet, so sonnets also will not be the subject of my blog. Considering these are the top two things occurring in AP Lit, I found myself in quite the dilemma. Literature typically does not sneak its way into Figo Pasta, but lucky for me, my co-workers are extreme procrastinators when it comes to English papers. Having nothing to really blog about, I decided that tonight would be an opportune time to help out my buddy Andy with his Georgia Perimeter College English paper. Being a Monday night, the restaurant was hardly busy so Andy decided he should probably start writing his midterm paper (that is due by midnight tonight). I immediately began channeling my “inner English professor” as I reviewed his rough draft. Actually, let me rephrase that- I immediately began channeling my “inner English professor” as I reviewed the one sentence that he had. “‘The Chrysanthemums’ by John Steinbeck, is about a couple living on a ranch.” At this point, I had never read “The Chrysanthemums”, but I had inkling that it was a bit more about a couple living on a ranch. I asked if I could look at the copy of his story so that I would have a better idea of what he needed to write about. It turns out that Andy has no idea how to annotate and that “The Chrysanthemums” is a thought provoking short story. Firstly, the imagery is wonderful. Steinbeck includes vivid images of the seasons, weather, plants, and animals, all which add to the somewhat dismal mood of the overall story. Elisa, the woman in the story, perhaps portrays the tension that most women felt or feel about life. She is incredibly moody and unpredictable. She goes from being brutally short to gushing with pride in seconds. Maybe Steinbeck wants to suggest that no single interpretation can exist because people feel a mix of emotions at any single moment. Also, these conflicted emotions stem from the repressed feelings that women suffered through. Women were meant to be a certain way; these expectations probably made it difficult for them to portray their true selves thus leading to build up and unhealthy emotions. Maybe that’s why women are so confusing. Also, she is absolutely elated by the stranger’s compliment regarding her chrysanthemums. That is probably because the chrysanthemums are entirely her own. She is able to do with them what she pleases and they turn out beautifully. Her chrysanthemums represent her independence. Any ways… Andy got a decent amount of his paper done and I got an idea for my blog. Who would have thought that literature could somehow may its way into an Italian restaurant… 

The End

Well, I officially finished Hamlet. I never really thought this day would come… the play seemed abysmal. I really liked it though. This is the first time I have had an appreciation for Shakespeare and I must say, the man is a genius. Everything about the play baffled me because it has so much depth and can therefore be read in so many different ways. The whole “madness” theme was very interesting to me. It seems that the more a person was “ising”, the more mad they were to society. Hamlet struggled throughout the play on whether to be himself, or to act a certain way. That being said, he was one step closer to actually being than any other person in the play. He was the closest thing to truth and was also considered mad. Once Ophelia became mad, she became entirely herself. She allowed the deeper truths in the world to be in the open unlike most members of society. Her nonsensical words held profound reasoning within them. On a madness scale, Ophelia was at a ten. On a “being” scale, Ophelia was also at a ten. There is an evident correspondence between actually being and madness. Hamlet was not completely mad in my opinion, so he never achieved complete self-being. People act a certain way to achieve an image dictated by others in society. Acting is for others while being is for one’s self. Madness strips a person from reality and leaves a person in solitude with him or herself. It makes sense that a person alone with himself would actual be and not act. Additionally, the whole “no one can ever achieve certainty” idea is pretty cool. And it is true. It is hard to ever really know anything for certain and that’s why ceasing opportunities is so important. That also has to be why there are so many questions in the play. Nobody knows anything! Is the ghost real? Is Hamlet insane? Did Claudius confess? Did Ophelia commit suicide? Etc, etc. The point is, nobody in the play is certain about anything. Hamlet’s indecisiveness to kill Claudius in the chapel led to the killing of Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet, Laertes, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. Everything is a mess. Had Hamlet killed Claudius, those deaths probably would not have taken place. But again, who knows. In the end, it seems like Hamlet begins to understand the idea that life is full of uncertainties and you just have to go with it. Rather than stopping the duel as he thought he should, he allowed life to take its course. He realizes that things happen for a reason, and for once, Hamlet let go of being the director to his play called Life.  Although the end is tragic, things end up for the better. Hamlet learns a little more about death, Claudius is caught in his own trap, and Laertes ends up with the rest of his family. Everybody gets what is coming for them. 

Gertrude and such

I would have to simply describe Hamlet as bizarre. I don’t know if he is insane, or just really smart, or maybe so sane that he appears insane. First of all, he has just killed a man and appears to be oddly indifferent to the fact. However, the man who murdered his dad is still alive… So, as the class originally predicted, the little allusion to Pyrrhus was correct. Hamlet had the incentive, he had the weapon, and he had the chance- but his sword stuck in the air. Maybe the visit from his father will persuade him to do it. It is interesting to wonder whether Hamlet is a coward, or if he actually is just being cautious and thoughtful. If he is a coward, why was he so okay with accidentally killing Polonius? And If he is thoughtful, than how much more thinking does he really need? But the person who really puzzles me is Gertrude. I sort of suspect that she knows about the murder and is possibly even associated with it. I would at least like to think this. If Gertrude is not associated with the murder, than she is giving women a horrible name. Yes, of course murder and adultery are terrible, but it’s an embarrassment to women if she is so easily captivated by a man’s charm. To think that she is so vulnerable and dull to almost immediately move on to her brother in law… Gertrude is either a dim-witted, easy lady, or she is incredibly cunning and evil. I’m not sure. Although, Hamlet needed to inherit his smarts from somebody, so maybe it is partially Gertrude. But also, in this past scene, it seems like Hamlet actually goes in and out of madness. He is completely barbaric for a while and then he calmly explains to his mother that he is perfectly sane. But I mean, he did kill a man for no actual reason. That seems a bit spontaneous and mad. It is as if he goes from a tame and calm mind to all of a sudden a jumbled up mind of crazy thoughts. Like, why is he so calm and poised when he is about to kill Claudius? Why is he thinking when anger should be masking all rationality? It seems to me that the person he truly truly hates is his mother. When he was talking to her, the anger that should have existed when he saw Claudius repenting was instead brought up around her. She fuels his anger. Obviously he hates his uncle but he is absolutely disgusted by his mother. And if there is a bit of Oedipus complex up in here, than he probably really really hates her. His uncle drives him to be a smart-ass and incredibly thoughtful; his mother makes him completely livid. He becomes so angry that he turns absolutely mad. I think that as long as his mother is around, he is going to become more and more insane.