Donne, Herbert, Vaughan

These three poets are wrote in the metaphysical form. Donne came first living from 1572-1631 and his work seemed astonishing, the thought behind it is just unbelievable. Next to come was Herbert who was born in 1593 and lived until 1633. Not so much Herbert but, Vaughan who lived from 1621-1695, don't you think that if he took just the basic ideas from his two predessors that his poems should be the best of the best. Just my thoughts, but I guess it's tough to write any better then the great John Donne...

poetry night

I know i'm a little late about the poetry festivities, but i just wanted to mention some people missed out on some good stuff. I was surprised that i actually stayed the entire 2.5 hours. My favorite part of the night was the songs by tom and doug. they got some laughs and did a great job. congrats to the poetry peeps.

Easter-wings & Herbert

I know Kerth has pointed out alot of good things from Herbert's Bio along with from his poem Easter-Wings. I'm just going to go over different areas of the biography as well as different ideas I have come up with from Easter-Wings.

George Herbert's Biography- His family was quite wealthy and interesting to see that his mother was dedicated the Holy Sonnets by John Donne. Herbert's first two sonnets were sent to his mother in 1610 at the age of 17, right off the bat his poetry evolved around God. Herbert along with his mother had been loyal Anglicans, George was so loyal to them he became an active oppenent of the Puritans and Calvinists. You can see how high of ranking the family must have been by seeing John Donne delivered the funeral sermon his mother's funeral. In 1630 Herbert became rector at Bemerton, he'd do this until his death 3 years later. In the Biography this is when we really find out what kind of man he is. Herbert took his own money to help rebuild the church because he cared that much for his parishoners. He died at the young age of 40, which honestly is ashame because he could have produced many more good things if it hadn't been for his long period of ill health.
Easter-Wings-As kerth has pointed out the stanzas are setup in an interesting structure so that each stanza either starts good and ends bad are vice versa. The first stanza can be summed up as the fall of man from "wealth"(that in holiness) into the "decaying" of life in sinful nature. Thus we see by the width of the stanza it starts good and ends bad. In stanza two we see that Herbert wants to be with the Lord in the sky during his ressurrection. By the end of the stanza the speaker, whom I believe to be Herbert himself, he's completed the 2nd wing. The 3rd stanza starts off good and ends bad; he said in the beginning of his life it was sorrowful and says he wasn't free of punishment. By the end of this stanza he's saying that he's lost purity. Stanza four of course ends good because it is the end of the poem. Herbert tells the lord that he wants to be part of the victory, but not just part of the victory he wants to be a part of the Lord's wing. This ends the poem with Herbert wanting to be very close to the Lord, which is similar to real life because Herbert is so religious.

The imagery in the poem is really present, you can almost feel what's happening in the poem. Not to mention the visual appearence of the stanzas as well..

LOTR-a-thon UPDATE

Oh, my seniors! I come with news:

All three classes have spoken, with the vast majority of those interested in attending our little gathering in favor of June 10th, starting at 11:00 AM. We shall therefore call this date and time CONFIRMED.

Still outstanding is the question of LOCATION. Samantha P. has made the offer of her home; I only await parental confirmation of the acceptability of this offer. Upon recept of confirmation, if there are no other official hosting offers put forward, I will consider this choice as confirmed.

Once location is set, the official signup list will be presented to the classes. At that point, I will also ask the classes to choose where in LOTR they would like to begin reading. Be prepared to make that decision--again, majority rules. Remember that everyone attending the reading must come prepared with their OWN copy of the text--no sharing allowed.

All information will be passed along to my AP class as well; they are invited to participate in the reading, but will not be party to the choices presented to you.

That is all for now--enjoy the long weekend. At some point as you rejoice in the warmth of almost-summer, remember those who have fallen in the service of our country--this weekend is for them, after all.

LAZ

George Herbert/Easter Wings

After reading his biobragphy i foiund out that George Herbert was an amazing young man who did not let diversity get in his way of becoming educated. I think it is remarkable that he and his siblings all recieved a high quality education even though they were raised by their mother, sister and heiress to Sir Richard Newport. I also found it interesting that Donne and Herbert were close friends and that Donne even delivered the sermon at Herbert's mother's funeral. This also shows that Herbert's family was important and that the sermon must have been well written since Donne was the most respected Preacher in all of Europe at that time.
In regards to Easter-Wings I find it to be a poem that is giving glory to the lord but also criticizing him for giving up all his wealth and assets. By just looking at this poem one can see that there is a pattern to how it was written and that it must be important to the flow of how it should be read. The first and third stanza's go in a descending orderof words per line while the second and fourth go in an ascending order. I can compare this to a piece of music that starts out as a decrescendo but then gets louder and goes through a grescendo but repeats the process to finish with a bang. The lines of the corresponding stanza's also relate to each other. For instance the firt line fo the second and fourth stanza start with 'with thee' then continue to request something from God; 'o let me rist' 'let me combine'. The last lines of these two stanza's also relate to each other. They actually say the same thing but in different wording. The fall and affliction are both things that are negatvie but two things that will make the speaker stronger. The last two lines of the first and third stanza's also relate to one another. The second to last lines are 'Till he became' but then change to that 'that I became'. This shows that the reader has been chagned by the grace of God. The last lines 'Most poor' and 'Most thinne' both show that there is nothing to either the lords name or the speaker's name that makes sense or is valuable in any way. Overall I like this poem and am looking forward to disscussing it in class.

Poetry Night

Just got back from poetry night, and it really wasnt that bad! It was a pretty laid back affair, and it was nice that they gave out food and refreshments too. The $4 fee to get in wasn't so bad since first it was going to a good cause and second they gave out the free food/drinks. Amazing how many people came and how some of the participants that read were that intense..

12-Hour Readathon? Possible date?

How about.. June 10th? That's sounding good to me.

A Poetry Event

Scholars--

While I realize the extreme unliklihood that you will see this during your time amid the wild festivities of prom weekend, I wanted to post this immediately, just in case.

Tuesday May 22, 2007 at 8 p.m.

The National Arts Club presents

A CELEBRATION OF HAIKU AND BASEBALL WITH BILLY COLLINS

Former poet laureate of the United States and bestselling author
Billy Collins will read from and talk about his recent book of haiku,
"She Was Just Seventeen." Former president of the Haiku Society of
America Cor van den Heuvel will then read and discuss haiku from his
new book "Baseball Haiku" (published by W.W. Norton and co-edited
with Nanae Tamura), and three of the featured poets in the book--Alan
Pizzarelli, Ed Markowski, and Brenda Gannam--will read their baseball
haiku.

Wine reception to follow.

The event is free and no reservations are required.

The National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park South
New York City

At the moment, I am planning on attending, because it's Billy, and that's not to be missed. I thought I would inform you all of this opportunity. My plan would be to take the train from Trenton to Penn Station, then probably walk the few additional blocks. If any of you would like to join me, you are welcome along.

Please understand--this is not an official field trip, and I am in no way taking responsibility for you. If you should choose to go, you are taking responsibility for yourself and your own conduct.

See you in class--

LAZ

mi amigo John Donne

I actually love all of these poems by John Donne. They are hard as anything to understand. However the concepts and comparisons are very deep and really make you think. I have had to have help understanding each one. But once I understand them, I really don't want to class discusion to end. Moreover, these poems make you take a look at your own life and how love or whatever the subject may be fits into your life.

The Things They Carried

Even though we read it over a week ago I'd like to say I really enjoyed "The Things They Carried." I liked reading this type of literature a lot more than others we have read. The main idea of the story showed that many soldiers carry more mentally than they do physically. I like how the author weighted everything that they carried to show this theme. There were definately parts of this story that put the reader in the minds of these young men at war.There were also other instances of symbolism that I liked. The main characters name, " Jimmy Cross", "JC" represented Jesus Christ.They are both similar because they both hold a burden and responsibility for others. But by the end of the story,Jimmy Cross realized that he most put his focus on his men and not his perspective love life.

Paul Martel

Sonnet 14

Thought it was interesting when reading the sonnet that the speaker praises God at both the beginning and end of the poem. The idea of God brought up with 3 person (father, son, holy-spirit) shows Donne's traditional orthodox approach to his writing. These sonnets allow us to see Donne's ideas toward religion. Lastly would like to note the metaphors in Sonnet 14; him(his heart) compared to a town, and him being maiden to God's enemy.

-Vincent V.

Sonnet 14

I think a lot of people can relate with this sonnet because Donne is basically saying that he has so many regrets that he is pleading with God to make him new. I get the feeling Donne feels that he can't take back some of the horrible things he has done.

To say he has sided with the enemy is to admit that you have messed up throughout life, and you just kneel before God and ask Him to break you away from the enemy and take me in, until I am once again sober.

Paul Morrison

For Pd.10

Pd. 10 scholars:

We'll be looking at the work of a new poet tomorrow--George Herbert. I'll be doing a bit of biography to start with, but you'll want to read the first poem for our discussion--it's called "Easter Wings." You can find a copy of it here: http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herbert/herbbib.htm

See you tomorrow--

LAZ

Pd. 11 - "The Flea"

Hello, everyone! This post is really only for Pd. 11, for whom I had neglected to run off copies of the next poem - John Donne's "The Flea," which you can find at http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/flea.php

Sorry about the lateness of this post...

And to everyone--you're doing some fine work here--keep it up!

LAZ

The Flea and Holy Sonnets

After reading these three different poems I have come to the conclusion that the Flea is much harder to understand than the holy sonnets. While i get the basic gist of the poem that he thinks of the flea as a thing that unites them in something greater than marriage, I find that it has a good deal of symbolism and hidden meanings in every line which makes it confussing and harder to read and understand. I do get though that he and his lover have been sheltered from the outside world by their parents and this has given them some crazy notions of self killing. He didn't want to believe that the flea was real but once it came and it bit both of them he like the flea becuas their blood now mixed in one thing and this brought them together closer. He also say's that when the flea dies it will take the life from him because the flea held there lives safe and together and peaceful. It was their wedding ring. I agree with chase that this poem is so ridiculous that it is almost comical.
The sonnets are much easier to read and I liked them more. For the first one I understood it to say the he wants salvation from God because he's seent he angles and how they have been healed of there afflictions from earth. He knows that it's too late to ask for it when he reaches heaven so he's calling out to God now so that he can live forever with the countless number of angels. The second sonnet is along the same lines as the first but it describes his feelings of salvation in more detail. It is a much more realization on his part that he can no longer solve his problems by himself so he wants to give it all up to God and knows that if he does this his temptation to be with the enemy will go away and his life will be taken care of. He says that God can come into him and exert his mighty power to liberate him form the enemy but never from God himself. He will always be held by God.

Holy Sonnets VII

i know we haven't read this or discussed it as a class yet but this is my stab at what i think it says.


At the round earth's imagined corners blow
Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise
From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go ;
-hey, angles from all around everywhere is the world, get up and go to all your dead bodies.


All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow,
All whom war, dea[r]th, age, agues, tyrannies,
- all who died from flood, fire, war, death, age, ect.


Despair, law, chance hath slain, and you, whose eyes
Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe.
-everyone that believes will have the grace of god and have eternal life and not go to hell.

But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space ;
-(TURN!! remember it's a sonnet)lord, please accept them with open arms

For, if above all these my sins abound,
'Tis late to ask abundance of Thy grace,
When we are there. Here on this lowly ground,
-since it is too late for me to ask grace and forgiveness after i die,


Teach me how to repent, for that's as good
As if Thou hadst seal'd my pardon with Thy blood.
- please teach me to repent now while I'm still alive before it is too late

The beginning has a more melancholy tone with talking about past deaths, but after the turn it switches to what can be done before death to ensure eternal life. and the end is more introspective than the beginning which is more general.
This poem tells you just how religious Donne was. (Duh, he was a preacher). i also think this is a big reflection on the time in which it was written, people knew that they could suffer and perhaps die at any moment because of the iron fist rule of the British monarchy with king James.

-Marisa Toniatti

the flea!

my question is why would john donne write a poem about a flea bringing his lover and him together by sucking both of their blood, when his lover wants to kill the flea? The speaker says so much about how the flea makes the two people connected and then how his lover wants to kill the flea. I also questioned how the flea is the marriage bed.

i guess his lover doesnt feel the same about him if she wants to kill this symbolic flea.

-andrea salva

The Flea

So after discussing The Flea in class tomorrow, I am pretty sure that this poem has been my favorite so far. The radical thinking made me laugh and the idea of it all was rather amusing. Honestly, who thinks that it is ok to have sex with someone if they are both bitten by a flea. That is in no way, shape, or form related to marriage or any type of union for that mattter. I think that I liked this poem so much because it is so out there in it's rationilization that I can understand it. What does everyone else think?

The Canonization by John Donne

This poem seems to be just as good as John's first poem we read. The way I take the poem is the speaker talks to someone who disapproves of the speaker's love affair with his lover. The speaker tells that person to be quiet (hold your tongue) or to criticize the speaker for something other than love. The speaker states that he's done no harm or foul by loving and that things would be the same whether he loved the person or if he didn't love the person. Their love must be very strong because the speaker states that if they can't live with their love then they'll die with it.
The speaker also hopes that these poems of him and his lover will "canonize" them, I take it that he means they will never be forgotten cause these poems will always be read. (we're reading them some 300 years after they were written) The speaker believes he's the saint of love and hopes that lovers of the future will look to this poem for guidance.

-Vincent V.

Metaphysical Conceit

I just looked a little bit more into metaphysical conceit because I didn't really understand it. What I read was that metaphysical conceit goes into great depth comparing two objects that are completely unlike. This concept is different in comparision to Petrarchan conceits which would compare two more closely related objects. The example I read was that a Petrarchan conceit would be comparing a rose and love. A metaphysical conceit is supposed to be a complex logic and should govern the whole poem. The point is to to shock the reader and get them to look at something in a new way.

Apparently the metaphysical conceit in A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning is comparing the union of two lovers to the legs of a compass.

I also looked up cavalier poetry. And I had thought that cavalier poetry was supposed to fit the metaphysical model. But what I read compared the two, and apparently cavalier poetry is supposed to be a more straightforward expression while the metaphysical poets would use metaphors and imagery.

Yeah, I don't know.

jonathan donne

i was just reading something on donne, a little biographical history, when i realized where the fire of his poems come from. yeah, we all learned in class that he lost his wife while she was giving birth, and he loved her so incredibly much. but it seems that is not all that he lost so quickly during his lifetime. He lost his father when he was just 3 or 4, and lost several of his siblings early in his life also. he lost a lot of loved ones during his life.

that plus an education at the U of Oxford, AND the U of Cambridge produced a pretty darn good writer, who i as well as many others have had a really difficult time understanding. i see that as a good thing, its a challenge to read and actually has meaning beneath its puzzling, upscale english. one thing is for sure though, his poetry is definitely not flat and boring.

--Ricky Singh

posting about poems before read in class

just giving a few thoughts about the flea before we read it in class so i'm not restateing what we aready said

Donne seems to be liking the idea that when your in love two hearts become one because as he wrote that him and his wife were a compas he now is writing about how his blood and his wife's blood are in this flea and making them one. i don't think that they were married before this point by the way that hes writing about her.

the idea of love and fleas doesn't seem natural either, posably
one of his conceates?? humm maybe?? but the idea that their blood together to for one make sences in a deep dark kind of way which i think was his intention. it fits Donne's M.O. to do something like that. Blood could go the was of death and infection and goar but it could also go the way of passion and love and all that mushy stuff, exactly what i would expect from donne

the one thing throwing me for a loop now is the talk of death and sin the the second stanza. the theme of death is not a far reach from the subject matter but why put it in when he is talking about his wife? it doesn't make sence to me yet and i'm intrested to see where he is going with that.

noticing the droped hits about how he had to hide away to marry his wife "though parents grudge. and you, we're met, and cloister'd in these living walls of jet." makes the bio about him seem more real and makes you realize that parents were still a pain way back in the day

- Zack Gross

I must be really slow because I can;t understnad these poems. Everyone else has some hint as to what he's saying but i really can't get it. can anyone help?

-andrea salva

Donne

I really like how John Donne contrasts spiritual love vs. physical love, in A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. When I first read the poem, it was a little over my head but now I understand the message he was trying to get across. Donne uses a series of metaphors to produce the idea of him and his lover's separation. He says their souls are one and compares it to gold, meaning gold can be stretched by beating it, just like their love can be stretched to withstand the time apart from one another.

The Canonization is written as if someone opposed his love. He stands up for his love and emotions throughout the poem. He doesn't care what the opposing person thinks or says, as long as he can still love. To him, love is the most important thing in his life.

Jenn Headley

A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning Good or Bad?

This poem seemed very bad at first, but once i understood the words and the meaning it was really good. Donne used metaphors an similies to describe how to people's love can stay together in ways i did not know could be done. He is a good poet and knows how to put his words together in ways most writers can't.

John Donne's Poems

When reading the biography of Donne you see that he was around during the times of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I. He got to see everything that happened with the religion in England and even became part of it. He was Catholic, but by the end of his life he was writing things against that religion (amazing what time can do). Anyways to the poems and their meanings, well atleast what I see. In the first poem Forbidding Mourning the difference is that he is speaking of spiritual love rather then physical love. This poem to me perfectly illustrates how Jone Donne is very spiritual. In the poem is says that no matter how far they are nothing will ever break them apart and he compares the relationship of the two lovers to a compass which is important symbol. In The Canonization you can see that the "addressee" if you will disapproves of the love affair occurring. And the speaker states that if the lovers' love cannot occur in the real world well then it'll become legend in poetry for future lovers to look upon. All I got out of them thus far....

John Donne

I find John Donne to be a very interesting person who was very smart and had an attitude about him that he wanted to do his own thing. This is exemplified by his imprisonment by Sir Thomas Egerton for his seccret love with his Egerton's daughter. I think that Donne was one of those people who gave anything he did 100 percent of his effort even if he didn't think that he would be good at it. This work ethic was shown in his development as a preacher. At first Donne wasn't sure if he would be good at it but over time he developed his style and become one of the best preachers ever known. He was also fond of reading anything and gaining any information possible. This also shows his hard work ethic. The two poems are hard to understand the first time you read them. I think that the first one about forbiding mourning is more easily understood than the second one which is written with a lot of symbolism that hides the message. If you read it more than oncce though and analyze it closer it will make more sense. I can see why Donne was such a popular preacher. His subjects addressed issues that were not normal for that period of time. His poem about forbbidding mourning suggests that we should celebrate a life since it is starting to live its eternal life. This was a rather rennassance based idea and that's what people wanted since he was writing right after rennasance and just at the beggining of the reformation. Overall I don't like these poems as much as the things they carried but it does give a glimpse into the thinking of that time period. If anyone can elaborate on meaning of any the two poems but especially the second one that would be great.

things they carried

After reading this, i realized how much i would love to go back to reading an actual book instead because various reading assignments is really pointless except for the fact that we see many different styles of writing, but its crammed into a short amount of time. I thought that the weight topic in the things they carried was interesting. I thought that it represented the weight that each man carried for the rest of his life because of the scars from the war. It also showed that no matter how much gear that you carried, the weight of intangable things and feelings always weighed more. Also, I like how the author used Cross as the guys last name. His initials are also JC like Jesus Christ. Jesus also carried, and was crucified on a cross. He gave up himself for his people like Lt. Cross did in the story. He burned the letters and photos and gave up his own personal thoughts to make sure that his soldiers were safe. I thought that was interesting.

--RJ Murray

Life after Ms. Hughes

I think that the rest of this marking will be relatively easy compared to the first two marking periods where we learned about books that were very old and had not relevance to our culture today. I think that the things they carried is much more interesting Beowulf, Hamlet, even 451 and BNW. This marking period should seriously help my grade since all that has to be done is read and take a quiz on comprehension. The subject matter also helps to keep me interested inthe class and actually pay attention. While this last half won't be as easy as the first half was under Ms. Hughes, I think that it will still be easier than our previous three marking periods. There's only six weeks to go and we already survived most of the year.

New Quiz Policy

When Lazarow first told us that we would have quizzes everyday for the rest of the year I thought it was crazy. But by the end of class I realized that it would be better to have quizzes everyday then to have suprise quizzes. As long as you read the material like your supposed too, you'll be alright for the quiz. I don't want to name names but I think that some people need as many good grades 4th marking period as possible to pass. And I dont think anyone is suprised that Lazarow isnt letting us slack off for the next 6 or 7 weeks of the school year. A lot of teachers might, especially for seniors, but as we all know beginning from the first day of the year Lazarow has no problem being different.


Paul Martel

MMM HEY

Okay, so I carry a lot of stuff with me all day. I knew we were going to have to do this assignment too, I probably should have cleaned out my purse. I think I have a whole page typed of just what trash was in my purse. Nice.

So I was actually wondering if anyone could give me a little bit of insight on what we talked about Monday. I had to leave in the middle of the class for a dentist appt. I left basically exactly when he stopped talking about quizzes everyday and was about to go into the lecture. Help please? Trust me, I wasn't happy to be leaving class. I would have rather been there. She filled two cavities and changed all my fillings to clear. I was so numb it felt like I could have eaten my tongue.

I should probably blog less about my life and more about English class. But I don't know what we did. So I need to. So we can talk about it. Lets make Laz happy.

I could talk about the reading. Which I actually really liked. It kind of annoyed me how creepily obsessed with Martha Jimmy Cross was, but I understood that they kept referring back to it because that was the reason that Ted Lavender died. I really liked the way the story was told because it's kind of different insight on people -- looking @ what they carry and what is really significant in their life. I also liked how it seemed kind of like O'Brien was a character because he was narrating, but he was all in the minds of other people. And I don't care how lucky you thought it was, I would never carry around a dead man's thumb.

holy sonnet VII (7)

did a little research on the holy sonnets since Laz said its what Donne's famous for and found out that his brother and wife died when he was writing them so i guess we can't expect the happy go lucky sonnets that i know we were looking forward to.

the sonnet is reffering to parts of the bible i know that but what part i'm not sure. He talks first about a time when the word of god was all over the globe and it was happy then talks about a time when people were sinful he goes to say; leave them alone god and liston to me mourning. he says he wants to repent for being like them and wants to be totally forgiven.

the sonnet is more like a prayre for forgiveness reminds me of the theme of beowulf that at one time things we're better and since then things have changed and people are not as noble but rather than noble people aren't as dedicated to god ... sounds pretty puritan to me

- Zack Gross

Good Luck Thumb

I really like the point of view from which this story is told, and the brief introductions and descriptions of each of the soldiers, and at one point the narrator describes superstitions good luck charms, Norman Bowker carries a thumb from a VC corpse, how is that considered a good luck charm for the Vietnam solider?

Angela Tontaro

I like the reading. I'm just wondering why the O'brien relates back to Jim Cross and Ted Lavender so much. I'm just wondering if those guys have some bigger meaning.

i liked how in one of the paragraphs that described Kiowa after Ted died the text said: "He wished he could find some great sadness, or even anger, but the emotion wasn't there and he couldn't make it happen." I got a real idea that the soliders we're becoming numb to their own feelings and everything going on around them. All they wanted was to stay alive for themselves. it's really interesting to get this kind of perspective from someone who was with all these soliders during the war.
-andrea salva

What They Carried

I agree with O'Brien about why the carry such items during the Vietnam War, and how he explains each reason in each new paragraph. I think it's strange how he mentions Martha every other second and relates Lavender's death to his own fault in relation to constantly thinking about Martha. It also confuses me how he believes that burning the pictures and letters will help him through it. I also think that O'Brien is somewhat of a confused person in general because of the sketchy pattern in which he writes his story.

Paul Morrison

things they carried

this new reading doesn't seem to bad i think how he is starting out each paragraph in a really factual way and then transitions into a more personal side of the character. I start to get an idea that the more discription of the character the more important they will be. but is this a prereading to the book or is this just taken from the book?

-Z Gross

The Hearth and the Salamader

I think this chapter foreshadowed a future conflict with another fireman with someone programming the mechanical hound to attack him. Montag's relationship with Beatty is also strained because he feels that Montag has been acting differently. Now Montag is starting to disassociate himself the other firemen, much different than his feelings toward them earlier in the story. He feels guilty when the woman burns, and the other firemen don't even think twice about it. Montag also steals a book while at the woman's house and mentions that he did it without even thinking. He mentions that it was his hands not himself or through his own thinking that stole the book. This brings up the idea that Montag is subconsciously doing certain things.It is also mentioned that Clarisse is dead and her family moved away but it takes a while for Montag to find out. Montag's state of mind has as a whole ends up being greatly affected by the woman’s death in the house. He begins to dislike his job more and more and continues to develop a curiosity for books. I wonder how much longer Montag will last acting the way he is.


Paul Martel

Fahrenheit 451

In the last part of this book, there were a couple of references and connections to the Bible. The first one was how he only remembered the book of Ecclesistes. In that book it says that there is "a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build". This directly relates to what the people must do now after their city has been bombed. It has been uprooted, torn down, and killed. Now they must plant, rebuild, and heal as a society. They must realize their mistakes and be born again throught their ashes like a pheonix.

He also quotes Revelations 22:2 saying "on each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yeilding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations". This is reffering to the river of life that God is prophesized to make that runs throught the New Jeruselum. It is to rebuil the world and heal the nations after the apocolopse. Since the city was just bombed like an apocolopse, he sees two trees that he thinks are the trees the Bible reffers to and they will rebuild the world and heal it to its rightful way.

I really dont like the way the book ended. It ended with them traveling back to the city to tell people of books and "convert" them and help them to see their wrongs. It would have beem better to show the world back to normal or at least getting there, not end it before the healing process even begins. Bradbury could have done better.


--RJ Murray

BNW ends

I didn't enjoy the ending of BNW because it really didn't wrap the story up. I didn't like how the author decided to make John majorly depressive and hang himself in a few pages. It looked like the Huxley just needed a tragic ending so he put those pages in to fill space. The story was coming together, but I still don't understand why Huxley incorporated this ending. My reason behind that being that John was totally calm and understanding when speaking with Mustapha Mond, and was really depressed at all. John just wanted to go back to the uncivilized home that he was comfortable with. Instead he goes to an island where he becomes depressed and angry.
I also didn't understand how he was taking a lot of soma and whipping himself and Lenina, I don't understand how that relates with anything at all because I thought soma was supposed to make u feel better. The last few chapters, I think, really threw off the whole story in the sense that it was finally making sense.

Paul Morrison