Justice....?

A Tale of Two Cities by Mr. Charles Dickens made me feel like a young child in an ice cream shop who was struggling to decide between two flavors of ice cream. I am still not sure if I despise this book or unconditionally love it. I think that my taste buds are telling me that I absolutely love this book, even though the ending makes it more of a love-hate relationship for me. I am not going to pour out the ending right now due to the fear you may not have finished yet. However, I will give you this; this is without a doubt, one of the most beautifully written books I have ever had the pleasure to read, with an amazingly bitter-sweet ending. I will stop talking about the ending for fear that I have already said too much. Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, there is much foreshadowing of things yet to come, horrible, gruesome events that will change the lives of not one or two people, but everyone involved. Unfortunately, being that I cannot properly explain much of the foreshadowing as it will give away the ending, I will instead do a close reading on the event that officially started the French Revolution. In reality, the French Revolution had numerous small acts that all contributed to the revolution, according to Dickens however, the official start was due from the fateful act of revenge. Now, unfortunately this particular act of vengeance involved two different people from two very different classes. Monsieur the Marquis, though he was loathed by the poor (remember this fact), was a very powerful and wealthy figure. The other figure was not wealthy or powerful -in wealth anyway, in starting a riot, yes- he was the estranged father of a young child the Monsieur had negligently killed.

"It is extraordinary to me," said he, "that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children. One or the other of you is forever in the way. How do I know what injury you have done on my horses" (Dickens 106).

This man, who has just killed a child, cannot even apologize for the horrifying act he has just committed. In fact, he does the complete opposite by ignorantly criticizing the people for not being able to properly watch their children! It was due to this man's ignorance and stupidity that the spark of vengeance was born into the father, which led to the beginning of the revolution. For the people of France were already hungry and worn to the bone, the only spark that they needed was a little piece of encouragement that a high, powerful leader could be brought down. That little piece of encouragement was brought to them by the father of the child who brought the life of the Monsieur in his hands and carried out his vengeance.

"It lay back on the pillow of Monsieur the Marquis. It was like a fine mask, suddenly startled, made angry, and petrified. Driven home into the heart of the stone figure attached to it, was a knife. Round its hilt was a frill of paper, on which was scrawled: 'Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques' " (123).

According to Dickens, this is the very moment when the French Revolution was born; when the father of the slain child killed the Monsieur the Marquis. At first I thought the father's action was out of justice; but then I thought harder and questioned his motive. His desire to kill the Monsieur I do not doubt, I completely understand, I would feel the same way if someone were to kill a family member of mine. The question is though would I actually do it? I would not for in fear of what my actions would bring to myself and others. The vital fact is that not only did the father kill another man, he killed the Monsieur, a high and powerful leader of society. Was the father thinking of the consequences his actions would bring to himself and all of France? Did he understand that by killing the Monsieur, he would be provoking emotions from two worlds that were already full of unleashed tension.

The members of the Hierarchy did not understand, nor did they particularly care about the poor, "scarecrow like" people they governed. These leaders felt of the poor as more of pests that needed to be disposed of, just as the Monsieur felt of the child. The people themselves were exhausted, weak and increasingly tired of working themselves for little scraps. With both sides feeling this way, all that was needed was one more, deed great enough to seal the deal. The ignorant Monsieur, the poor dead child and the act of vengeance were all enough to lead these two groups over the edge and inspire the riots of the poor.

I do not know the actual reason why the real French Revolution began, all I do know is that I want you to follow your own set of taste buds and deliberate if the father knew what he was doing, if he intentionally wanted war and if the Monsieur discovered his own ignorance and changed, would the revolution still have happened?...

The Underdogs

Recently in class, well actually about a month ago, I read the story of a french gentleman, “The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls” (Marcel Ayme, aka the author) which was literally about a man who possessed the ability to walk through walls! Surprisingly though, it wasn't his supernatural power that made me appreciate the story. It was the fact that I could spot a clear connection between a theme in this story which relates to my kind of news, the world of sports. How, you may wonder, can sports ever possibly have the same theme as the story of the french gentleman with ghostlike powers? Well, it's simple, the overstated theme in this story was the love and appreciation for underdogs, which sports are full of. The gentleman in “The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls” may not be doned an underdog for the same reason as any athlete or team would be but, the same principle still applies. The gentleman, or Dutilleul as is his name (what an awesome name, don't ask me how to say it, because I can't, but it's still awesome) is an underdog, because he was literally like an “Average Joe” before he started using his gift. Once he started using his gift, he became powerful and mysterious, easily sneaking and conniving away from police and authority, which drew the public towards him, just like an underdog team or athlete would. Dutilleul, to the people was an underdog turned superhero, who came from out of nowhere and accomplished something that no normal person could. Speaking of coming out of nowhere, this is where sports fit in. Obviously proffessional athletes do not achieve public affection by stealing and running away from the police, and there are teams, who are beloved by the public who are not known as underdogs, however, similar to Dutilleul, underestimated teams are felt as more relatable to the public. As I said before similar to this story, every sport is full of underdogs. Just last summer, the London 2012 Olympics were going on. The underdog teams weren't the U.S or China, just as the police and authority weren't the underdogs in the story. The underdog teams were countries with one or a few athletes or teams that had never before felt a medal in their hands. Right in the beginning of the story, the author informed us of Dutilleul's backround, that he was a quiet, lonely gentleman who was day after day bullied by his boss. I, right away felt sorry for this man, just as I felt sorry for those countries in the Olympics who had never won a medal. Throughout the story when Dutilleul transformed into the mysterious thief, I was rooting for him, because I wanted him to succeed, and when he failed, I felt that the little spark inside of me died. As I was watching the Olympics I realized, that it is kind of sickening and kind of boring to see a team that always wins and keeps winning (except for the US) in fact after a while everyone expects a team to keep winning. I think this is what the citizens in “The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls” felt as well, the felt that the police always won and always got their bad guy. So when Dutilleul came along and foiled the law enforcement's victory record, they felt excited and stunned that someone who always wins, time and time again finally lost. The story finishes up by Dutillel being stuck forever in a wall that he was trying to walk through, so in reality which is the case for many underdogs, he actually did lose. An underdog team may win a game that they were supposed to lose and after they win they will rejoice and receive love from their fans and new fans, but what happens when the next game they play they lose? Will these newly loved teams lose their fame? Will they have underdog forever stamped on them, just like Dutilleul was forever stamped?

Foul on TillyTilly

This is it, a new moment in history for me, I am now growing as a young adult, my level of wisdom is vastly expanding; I am now writing in my first official blog!! I think Donald Driver would be proud of me. Hey everyone, thank you for listening to my speech of glorious triumph, but now it is time to get serious. To be honest I really wasn't sure what I should blog about; Akhmatova, Tao Te Ching, The Icarus Girl, or A Tale of Two Cities. So, I decided to write my first close reading blog on the piece that caused the most ruckus in class and struck closest to my heart, The Icarus Girl. I really liked The Icarus Girl the moment I first saw the cover, but what makes me really like this book is how the author leaves the ending open, letting us, the readers gather our own opinions on what really happened in the story. The main point of controversy that appeared in my class was whether
or not  the author, Helen Oyeyemi clearly addressed if TillyTilly was an actual live human being, or just a horrible figment of Jess's imagination. My honest opinion, this is not a part that Oyeyemi left open. TillyTilly is real, she's a spirit, there are way too many parts in the book that provide this evidence. You don't believe TillyTilly is real? Well, let's take a look. One of the main parts that clearly show that TillyTilly is real existing spirit is  on pages 101- 106when she takes Jess and herself to Colleen's house (a rude girl who bullies Jess).
"But Mrs. McLain wasn't looking at them. Her eyes seemed to slide over them as if they were part of the pristine, stripy wallpaper that covered the passage walls. How could she have missed them?" (pg. 102)
Ok, a cynic would say "so what if Mrs. McLain did not see them, maybe she wasn't paying much of attention, however if we were to keep reading we would realize that it wasn't Mrs. McLain's fault for not seeing Jess and TillyTilly; TillyTilly was making them invisible. Jess herself, was stunned as to how Mrs. McLain didn't see them.
""...We're invisible... We're invisible!"" "And she can't hear us, either, so I don't know why you were making such a fuss about me laughing," TillyTilly added. "Somewhat experimentally... Jess threw her head back and laughed, then looked quickly at Mrs. McLain... Mrs. McLain didn't turn, made no indication of hearing." (103)
These few lines caused a lot of dispute, many said that Jess was just imaging being at Mrs. McLain's house and that they weren't really invisible, however Jess has never been to the McLain's before how could she just imagine what it looked like? Beyond that even, TillyTilly and Jess were playing around with Mrs. McLain and she heard not a word, when she definitely should have. This tiny little paragraph shows TillyTilly is a spirit, she possess unnatural powers, not only can she turn herself and
Jess invisible, she can shield themselves so that no one can hear them.

Another huge part that Oyeyemi provides for us that TillyTilly is a real spirit is when TillyTilly takes Jess down into the ground and causes her to vanish right in front of Jess's cousin Dulcie and their babysitter. ( oh by the way this is on page 152)
"... Jess saw Lidia's mouth open to address her, then both Lidia's and Dulcie's mouths stretched wider in amazement and shock as TillyTilly's arms enfolded her from behind and pulled her down" (152).
This was at the exact moment that I realized TillyTilly was a spirit, there is no other explanation for how both Lidia and Dulcie saw Jess disappear. Due to the fact that someone else saw Jess disappearing into the ground shows that there is no possible way that Jess is just imagining TilllyTilly. If Jess was imagining TillyTilly then how come both Lidia and Dulcie saw her disappear, "... then both Lidia's and Dulcie's mouths stretched wider in amazement and shock as TillyTilly's arms enfolded her from behind and pulled her down."
Even though I have already finished the book, I remember what I thought at this part: if TillyTilly can make both her and Jess disappear, how powerful is she and what else can she do? I then realized this is Oyeyemi trying to show us, the reader that TillyTilly's powers are growing and are far beyond what I first thought. Tilly's first true sign of supernatural power was when she turned her and Jess invisible in Mrs. McLain's house. Having the power of invisibility is amazing; but when she added the disappearing act along with it, she become a force not to be reckoned with. It seemed to me that right after TillyTilly showed she could cause her and Jess to disappear, TillyTilly's true spirit existence began to form. More and more parts in the story clued to TillyTilly as a spirit, an evil spirit. Such as the part when TillyTilly informs Jess of her twin sister that she never knew about.


"... You have been so empty, Jessy, without your twin; you have had no one to walk your three worlds with you. I know- I am the same. I have been just like you for such a long time! But now I am Fern, I am your sister, and you are my twin...I'll look after you, Jessy..." (oh sorry this is page 177).
Even if, Jess was making TillyTilly up, how then did she get the information about her sister?! Jess had absolutely no knowledge of her twin, no one had ever told her, so there is no possibility that it was a horrible thought in the back of her mind that was coming out as TillyTilly. Maybe Jess actually knew about Fern, she stumbled across a birth certificate about her sister, like I did. However,  Jess was shocked and devastated to hear about her sister, she didn't forget, that is not something she would forget. The question is then, how did TillyTilly know about Fern? Oyeyemi is giving us a clue as to how, if you look at the part, " you had no one to walk your three worlds with you." TillyTilly is referring to the "in between world" the world between the world as we know it and the spirit world. TillyTilly has to be a real spirit she knows about Fern. However, no matter what anyone says whether or not TillyTilly is a live spirit or just a part of Jess, she is real to Jess. I still think even now, that TillyTilly was an evil spirit who emotionally attached to Jess because of the void of Jess's dead twin caused. That is why TillyTilly said she was like Jess, but instead of just being a friend to Jess, she said she is her sister, she is Fern, woahhh creepy. None of you have to feel the same way; that is the great way Oyeyemi writes, she leaves parts of threads in the story open for readers to put in their own opinions.  I hope all of you have enjoyed reading my... very first college blog!!!! I am sure that this blog will not be my strongest, that I will continue to keep improving as I keep going and I cannot wait! Thank you all for reading my wonderful Donald Driver loving blog and please don't forget to comment especially about Donald Driver.