What A Great Storm!

“So the storm passed and everyone was happy.”

This line is the last line in Kate Chopin’s The Storm, in which as a reader you either love it or hate it and I definitely LOVE IT!

I feel like the short story was ahead of its time, which is why it wasn’t published until 71 years after it was written.

The story is extremely romantic but not in the traditional, monogamy kind of way. A passionate love scene takes place during a storm and after both lovers hide the affair from their spouses, all that is said of it is, “So the storm passed and everyone was happy.”

I think it’s a great ending because it really leaves the door wide open for the reader. Was everyone really happy? Were Calixta and Alcee just happy that no one found out about the affair? Is this a sarcastic ending in which by “happy,” they actually mean horribly miserable?

Maybe Kate Chopin just got tired of writing and said, "So the storm passed and everyone was happy," The End, and called it good? 

Taking into consideration the time period we’re dealing with, I have to wonder if this ending isn’t a poke at marriage. During this time people didn’t get divorced and they certainly didn’t cheat. So maybe this ending is just saying, “Hey, two people “sinned” and the world didn’t collapse.”

The story does bring up some good points about marriage, love, and infidelity:

1)        1) Marriage, it’s not for everyone.

2)        2)  Love, it can take you by surprise, or storm. Your choice.

3)        3)  Infidelity, seems like a good idea at the time, but consider the guilt.

Maybe this story spawned from the unequal responsibilities of men and women in marriage during the time this was written in 1898? The portrayal of marriage just seems so unhealthy and more like a security than a luxury. For example: When Alcee writes his wife and says not to bother hurrying home, “he’s getting along nicely.” And his wife felt more independent by being away from her husband.

It seems that people married for other reasons than love, which is why I like the ending. It basically just says,

 “Yeah, so what?”

In Response...

          Well it appears that both of my group members had concerns about Walt Whitman, so lets start there. 


Before last Friday, I would say that I completely agreed with Kailie's blog about how pretentious Whitman comes off. I had the hardest time getting into "Song of Myself" all three times I've tried to read it. Last Wednesday, I actually gave myself a headache trying to understand a single section. I told my boyfriend that I felt like a "failure"because I just couldn't "get into Whitman" and I must not be smart enough. 


And I love how Dennis just sums Whitman up like this: 


"Take the ideas and thoughts of everything around you, and form your own opinions and live by those. "


While this is a good observation, it is so much deeper, I think?


Whitman kind of reminds me of Bob Dylan in a way, let me explain.
In that, every line could be its own poem, or song. 
Every line is filled with images and passion and genuine expression.


So after class on Friday, I decided that Yes, Whitman is the pretentious guy at the hipster party that is the center of attention, but I'm right there eating out of his hand. 


Sections 6, 24, and 51 of "Song" are the three sections that really changed my mind. It's these sections that lead me to believe that Whitman isn't pretentious, he's a real romantic. 


On another note, I don't think anyone should ever feel like they have to understand someone in order to prove they are smart. It's ok to like what you like, and you shouldn't have to feel bad. It's even ok to contradict yourself. I don't think Walt would want people to be force fed his poems to feel good about themselves, or maybe he would? He had kind eyes and I have a hard time believing he was a jerk. 
Cheers Walt!

Post-Bellum-Post

“And The War Came…”

These are the four powerful words spoken by Abraham Lincoln on March 4^th, 1865 – that sum up so much and are still echoing in my brain. 

How can only four years scar eternity? 

After last weeks class, I had so many questions and not enough answers.

Not enough, because there is no way we will ever know.

How different would the world be if the south won the war?

What if Lincoln lived?

Is it better to kill if it saves lives?

I just don’t know.

         After reading Melville’s The Martyr, and realizing my entire body was covered in goosebumps, I became curious about the line, “Bare the iron hand.”

                           “But the people in their weeping

                                    Bare the iron hand”  - Melville

The “iron hand” is possibly the government that they had to face, without Honest Abe to lead them.

Perhaps.

Or maybe they bare a conscious? The guilt of being blind to evil and wrong doers has struck them down and taken their leader, their President.

Perhaps.

After John Wilkes Booth killed the President, he ran. He wasn’t thought of as a hero, he murdered the only chance the south had at a real reconstruction.

         Andrew Johnson, who became president after Lincoln was shot, was a southern racist who was interested in restoring only the seceded states and not helping the freed men and women. It was this particular reason that lead to his impeachment by a disgusted congress.

I don't know what the world would be today if the south won, but I have a feeling it might look alot like the movie The Postman, starring Kevin Kostner. If you haven't seen the film it is highly reccomended, especially for Tom Petty fans. Sorry if I digress, but here is a short clip:

And lastly because I feel like people need to know more about Fredrick Douglas, I give you this, Drunk History, Enjoy.