R+G Blog #2

"Oh yes, we have no control"(25) states the Player who is speaking to G about fate. This demonstrates the interchangeability in the book, and it emphasizes the outer force that has control on the characters. Since R+G and the Players are all just actors in the book, they are being controlled by an outside force. This carries a postmodern theme because it is almost metaphysical- but not quite there yet. There is an outer force controlling the characters, but it is not yet revealed. "No control" is also furthered by the actor reassures G's phrase "always in character"(34). This is the same idea that they are always actors in their world since there is a ruling force outside of them.
In class we talked about the indifference to what is true or false (27). This demonstrates a changing, fragmented and chaotic world-as in accord with postmodernism-since there is no standard to measure truth. It constantly changes meaning.
I liked the way that Tom Stoppard changes the scene on page 35. After R states, "It was tails", the entire scene changes to that of Ophelia and Hamlet. The significance? Not concrete yet, but i concluded that R+G's life suddenly becomes purposeful with the "tails" of the coin, as a reversal of the story. This is because a new scene with Ophelia and Hamlet occurs right after the coin changes to tails--after being heads for so long. As if R+G's life did not mean anything until they are able to take part in Hamlet's life. Now whether they are just watching the players act this out, or if they are actually involved with Hamlet is a whole new dealio. I'll just have to keep an open mind as I read this section of the novel.

R+G Blog #1

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are only aware of their existence from the time they are sent for to when they are hanged. There life does not seem very purposeful since they are just being used. I find it interesting that R kept getting heads. I thought that he'd get a tails after at least the tenth turn, but the same pattern kept continuing, as if some other force is controlling them. There seems to be some outer force that has the power over them, just in the way that they only remember being summoned. I found it amusing that R was in his own little world, sort of disconnected from G. Although they are companions, they think differently. R just accepts what is going on, while Guildenstern tries to rationalize it. G comes u with theories like the probability of a probability and divine intervention. And the theory that if opportunity is increased, anything is possible ( infinite monkey).

"Fear! The crack that might flood your brain with light"

Hamlet's philosophical/spiritual development

Hamlet transitioned from mourning life, to devaluing the meaning of life.

On page 853, Hamlet is talking about the fake emotions that the King and Queen are showing towards his father's death. He says , "For they are actions that a man might play. But I have that within which passes show; These but the trappings and suits of woe". Being a protestant, Hamlet views life as valuable and therefore spends his time mourning his father, and being angry at King Claudius and Gertrude for moving on so quickly. He is a "black" character since he is melancholy. On page 854, Hamlet wishes he could commit suicide but knows that God says that is wrong. He states, "Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon gainst self-slaughter! O God, God.". Yet he says "to be or not to be, that is the question" on page 889. Here, his value on life is diminished and the only thing keeping him from not killing himself is the mystery of what happens after death. The unknown. When his father's ghost speaks to him, he is truly tormented. He is Protestant(who dont believe in ghosts) yet he sees this ghost for sure. He does not know whether it is really the ghost of his father, or a demon. He tries to rationalize what the ghost says and tries to figure out if Killing Claudius is God's will or not.
When Hamlet visits Ophelia-weirdly- and looks her up and down, is he really pretending or is his conscious dealing with all of its inner turmoil? He knows that murder is wrong, but he thinks it might be God's will to kill Claudius-thus creating confusion.
His value of life is lessened with the killing of Polonius without emotion, his own criticizement when he lacks passion to kill the king-unlike the passionate actors, and Hamlet talks to Yorick in the graveyard as if life is meaningless. All are born to die. Actions are futile.

And even though Hamlet does not value life anymore, he still thinks that everything is part of God's divine plan.

The Dark truths of Christianity

To me, this was a very intersting topic because unlike the nicey nice aspects we are taught about Christianity, we examined the dark truths of Christianity in our class tragedies.
I thought that every group did a great job. The first group showed the structure of the tragedy really well along with having a detailed and thorough plot. It was important to learn that our actions can affect those we care about.
The second group had a very important theme- free will vs. God's will. This is a very complex issue and the tragedy showed that. It showed that if you don't obey God's will, then your world will spiral out of control
The third group's missionary theme was very realistic and relatable. Sometimes our selfishness stands in our way of God. When we put ourselves above those who want God yet have committed some terrible sin or seem unworthy of God's love, we go against what He wants. He desires for us to love mankind and share his love, not selfishly contain it. So i liked that the third group brought that up.

I not only learned the structure of Greek tragedies better, but i learned more about myself and dark truths of Christianity.

senior quote

"Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling in love. "
Albert Einstein

"Evangelizing" oedipus rex

So I'm mostly taking what i learned from the friday class discussion. We discussed that fate is man's replacement for God. Instead of a divine plan for his life, Oedipus is focused on escaping his doomed 'fate'. He thinks that the gods are against him since his life is set for misery. When trying to escape this fate of his, he makes it come to pass. He marries his mother and kills his father.
Also, sin cannot go unpunished. As we have discussed in Crime and Punishment, man is not above sin. So it therefore comes back to get you. This is seen in Oedipus Rex since Oedipus kills his father Laius, even though he didn't know it was his father at the time, he lays with his mother. Even though he was not aware of those he was committing the sin with, it was still a sin. Therefore, he is punished and is a doomed man. He must decline his position as king and he blinds himself.
Anger is a third aspect. This is what ultimately brings about his doom. He gets mad at the man on the road-Laius- and murders him. He then is angry upon hearing of a murder in his province, and says that he must be found and punished. But this murderer was himself all along, so he brought about his own destruction. Then, he is angry that his 'fate' came true so he stabs his eyes, leaving him blind forever.
The shepherd is a biblical symbol. This is because in Oedipus Rex, the shepherd saves the baby on the mountain top because it is about to die. Jesus is our shepherd, and he leads us away from sin and harm. He is our savior.

What I took from our guest speaker's discussion---

I was very excited to look more in depth at Crime and Punishment. The favorite thing that i learned about was existentialism and how Raskolnikov embodies that. It was discussed that Doestoevsky showed "living life always making momentary decisions" in his book. This is an element of existentialism. A.K.A. what vices draw them to make decisions. I was also interested to find out that Doestoevsky was an epileptic and had a tortured soul. This better explains why he wrote such a gloomy and psychological novel.
In his deep analysis of the character's souls, Doestoevsky is able to "rip the mask" off of the characters and tie their emotions to those of the audience. The last thing that stood out to me was when our speaker told us an important theme. He said that "what we do on the external comes onto the internal". And this theme is apparent throughout the entire work of Crime and Punishment.