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The (lack of) Rose-Colored Glasses in Sag Harbor

  The (lack of) Rose-Colored Glasses in Sag Harbor Sag Harbor is a coming of age story about Benji, the younger version of the narrator, Ben. It follows an impactful summer in Benji’s life that directly mirrors certain personality traits and opinions he has even as an adult. In class we have talked about this book in terms of its nostalgic elements, but the aspects of this book that mirror the present seem to go directly against that. He is trying to relive his past in order to tell us a cohesive story, and through the evident work he put into making this understandable to readers, he also shows us the intense trauma that this part of his life holds. Many events—including the BB gun incident, the freezer incident, and his general feelings of being behind—also show how closely related his current self is to his old self, especially through his trauma. One of the first examples we see in the book of his connection to the present is in the form of the freezer incident. His manager at...
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The Unconscious Forces in Jason’s Mind

  The Unconscious Forces in Jason’s Mind When reading Black Swan Green , it is impossible to understand Jason Taylor without the voices who constantly cloud his inner voice. The ones we hear the most about are Maggot, Hangman, and Unborn Twin, all of whom have some influence on his actions and words. They all play a unique role in influencing him, and together they create chaos and unity inside Jason’s head. These voices seem to take the places of the id, superego, and ego in Jason’s consciousness, a Freudian categorization of the unconscious forces that influence people’s behavior (Lilienfeld et al. 515). Interestingly enough, Jason seems very aware of these internal voices, showing his immense emotional depth in comparison to others around him. The main unconscious forces are id, superego, and ego, each of which parallels with a different internal voice for Jason. The id is the completely unconscious force that operates on pleasure, doing whatever it wants regardless of what is s...
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Fun Home in the context of the Lavender Scare

  Fun Home in the context of the Lavender Scare  Coincidentally, while reading Fun Home , I am also learning about homosexuality, communism, and homophobia during the 1940s-1960s for a project in history class. I found such specific parallels between Alison Bechdel’s view of her dad, Bruce, and the general sentiment towards gay men at the time. First off, for some context, in the 1950s a fear of communism within the gay community was rampant in the United States in the form of the lavender scare. During this time, the Cold War left Americans fearing that communism was seeping into the country through any –supposed– weakness . The red scare was a panic that people, especially those on the left, were encouraging communism and, thus, were going against our country. Similarly, the lavender scare was a panic that gay and lesbian people were more vulnerable to blackmail and threats and, therefore, could be used to push the communist agenda on America. Here was the thought process b...
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Esther’s Attempts at Suicide in The Bell Jar

  Esther’s Attempts at Suicide in The Bell Jar Esther is at an intense and confusing turning point in her life in The Bell Jar , and this is especially evident when she becomes deeply depressed after her trip to New York. Already burnt out from years of trying to stay ahead and still confused about her future, she comes home to the suburbs to stay with her mother. She then finds out she must stay there for the remainder of the summer because she did not get into a writing program she applied to, facing maybe the first rejection in her life. Suddenly, faced with an entire summer in the suburbs she hates, Esther becomes deeply suicidal, trying in many different ways to kill herself. However, each time she tries, no matter what method she uses, life prevails. I think it is incredibly interesting to read this book knowing that the author went through some of these exact events in her own life and is writing from direct experience. The description of failed suicides are especially tell...
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Holden Caulfield’s Internal Monologue and External Persona in Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield’s Internal Monologue and External Persona in Catcher in the Rye In Catcher in the Rye we are shown a main character whose external world and internal monologue show two vastly different perceptions and understandings of the world around him. He often says one thing out loud or experiences one thing in real life, while understanding these things completely differently in his head. Oftentimes, this also shows his deep rooted insecurity about himself and his place in the world, which could both point to mental problems. Not only are his outlooks on life bleak, his past is not exactly pleasant either. He misses his childhood, and now has to try to understand his place in a world he doesn’t feel he is accepted in—and without his favorite person, Allie, immortalized in the past he so desperately clings to.  One example of the disconnect is when he goes to his parents’ house at night to talk to his sister Phoebe. Throughout the book he has talked her character up, saying...
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