Literary/Critical Analysis

Madness or Miracle

                The influence love has on individuals is overpowering, as it allows ordinary individuals, to do and feel extraordinary things. In the short story, “A bolt of White Cloth” Leon Rooke used examples of ways we respond to love, character archetypes, and colorful symbolism to demonstrate the fact that love is like a never ending  journey, where we go through adventures and unusual circumstances, that only  make the love stronger.

              Love makes an individual lose control, it causes people to act without thinking, and behave in both fabulous and foolish ways. After the man selling white cloth sealed his deal with the couple, the wife repaid him by allowing him to take a drink of water from her well, out of the same dipper that she and her husband drink out of. To further express her gratitude she did the unexpected and gave the stranger a kiss on the lips, with her husband that she loved unconditionally, standing behind her watching. Love has the power to make a person feel so incredibly happy, that they can’t help but share never ending kindness with anyone that they encounter. The influence of love can allow an individual to look past others flaws, and allow them to see their beauty perfectly clear. “In her new dress she struck me down to my bootstraps. She made my chest break” (Pg.61) Love had the power make an individual sallow their pride and agree with the person the love, just to make them happy. The husband demonstrated this wonderfully after questioning the trust he had in the man they just met. “if she’s satisfied than I am. And I can see she’s tickled pink.” (pg.59) Although love can turn people into the kindest individuals, it also follows the human conditions and shows an ugly side to people too. Leon Rooke displayed a strong sense of jealousy for the husband when he wrote “I took hold of her and held her down to grass, because it seemed to me another kiss or two and she’d fly right away with him.” (pg. 60)

              Leon Rooke mentioned “innocence without heartbreak” multiple times, emphasising the fact innocence, and letting go of the hurt, is what makes love so strong and magical. “Truth is, it was the strangest thing. Like we were both so innocent we hadn’t yet shot up out of new ground.” (pg.61) The couple in this short story display the archetype of a school girl crush, and the giddy happiness that comes with it. The way a teenage girl feels, like her life is complete, noting can destroy her happiness, and everything in the world gives off a beauty she’s never noticed before. The wife acted exactly like she was that teenage girl when she confessed her love about the cloth. “This is the most wonderful cloth in the world,”(Pg.58) Even though the original archetype was about a schoolgirl, the husband felt the innocence of their love too. “There was something holy about it. About it and about us and about those rooms and the whole wide world. Something radiant. Like you had to put your foot down easy and hold it down or you’d float on up.” (Pg.61)

                 Throughout the short story, the white cloth was used to make incredible curtains, and a beautiful dress, but the most important role it played, was the symbol of the couples love. “The cloth was sheared clear and clean of his bolt, yet it seemed to me the size of that bolt hadn’t lessened any.” (pg.56) The husband stated, after noticing the cloth was never ending. Never ending just like the love between him and his wife, a love where all the mistakes and wrong is pushed aside, and they can’t help but see nothing but good.“Looks like a long white road, don’t it? You could walk the road and never get dirty.” (pg. 56) After the wife commented on how light the cloth was, the man selling it argued “Not if you’ve been carrying it long as I have” (pg.57) symbolising how the cloth started out just a plain cloth, much like their love, but after going through all the adventures and unusual circumstance throughout the journey, it went from an ordinary cloth to an extraordinary cloth. The couples love was no exception. The husband began to notice all the relations between the cloth and his love as the cloth was unravelled, almost as if his love was unravelled, and he could take a step back and look at the journey him and his wife has overcome. “It certainly did look like prime goods, once you saw it spread out on the grass in that long expanse.” (pg. 54)

                  Love is like a road after lengthy journey, which only makes the love stronger. The adventures and unusual circumstances that people come across, tests, builds, and shapes the love as they hike on they’re journey. The expedition they partake is what takes an ordinary love, and turns it into a passionate, extraordinary love. Throughout the short story, “A bolt of White Cloth” Leon Rooke displayed how individuals are strongly influenced by love, and what magnificent things it can do to a person. When a couple is faced with an unusual circumstance, Rooke took advantage of the moment and revealed that love is overpowering, and can’t be ignored. Not only did the radiant white cloth transform their house, it transformed their love.

Reflection: Throughout my first critical essay of the year, I  aacquired the importance of a clear structure in my writing. I learned to place the paragraphs in the same order that I iintroduced each topic in the introduction paragraph. (Outcome 2.2.1) I also incorporated prior knowledge by basing my essay on character archetypes, symbolism, and the human condition. (Outcome 2.1.3) I considered new perspectives and was open to experiment with new, helpful ideas of structure to improve my growth in my writing. (Outcome 1) This assignment reflects my openness openness to expand my comfort zone by using new logic I learned from the course. Reflecting on this essay makes me realized how easy I can improve my work by using information I am given, and considering new perspectives.

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Was it worth it?

By looking at Macbeth, by Harcourt Shakespeare, one can see that heavy regrets often follow actions made my individuals when they are strongly focused on achieving an important goal. When an individual has their mind set on what they want, everything else becomes a minority and they begin to not care what happens on the journey along the way, as long as they get what they want. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth share their immediate, as well as long term quilt and regrets throughout the story as they go through troubled thoughts, haunting dreams and hallucinations, and a heart full of regrets.

When Macbeth told Lady Macbeth that he was promised he would become king, she promptly took the role into her hands of making sure there was nothing standing in Macbeths’ way. She easily persuaded Macbeth that Duncan would have to leave everyone in order to be king. The thought of becoming royalty meant so much to her that she bullied around her own husband, accusing him of unmanliness and becoming a coward. Even underneath her tough outside, she had difficulty dealing with the murder. Before Duncan was killed, she prayed she would live guilt free after the deed was done. “Stop up the access and passage to remorse.” (Act I, scene v, line 47) Lady Macbeth was unable to commit the crime without the assistant of alcohol, and after the horrible deed was done she was unable to put her troubled thoughts to rest at night without a nightlight. She would also sleepwalk, allowing secrets and regrets to slip out of her mouth that showed even strangers, how much regret she carried in her heart. “What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged” (Act V, scene i, line 49) announced the doctor as he witnessed Lady Macbeth perform her bizarre nightly tasks.  She even said herself that it’s better to be the person who got murdered than to be the killer and to be tormented with anxiety. “Naught’s had, alls spent, where our desire is got without content. ‘Tis safer to be what we destroy than by destruction dwell in doughtful joy.” (Act III, scene ii, line 6-9) directly affected not only Lady Macbeth, but Macbeth as well.

Originally, Macbeth was excited when 3 witches approached him and Banquo with the news that he was going to be king. Macbeth kept his excitement modest and even questioned if this prophesy would really come true. As it began to grow more promising Macbeth became alarmed by the thought of becoming king because of the overwhelming amount of atrocious thoughts that were talking over his mind. After he shared the news with his wife, and she plotted out a plan to kill Duncan to increase the chance of Macbeth becoming king, Macbeth experienced interrupting hallucinations of a dagger moving towards him in his sleep, as well as taunting voices in his head. Regret was immediately followed by Duncan’s death, as Macbeth can’t even stand to see the results of what he has done.“I’ll go no more; I am afraid to think what I have done; look on ’t again I dare not.” (Act II, scene, ii, line 65) Macbeth explained to his wife that even Neptune’s ocean wouldn’t be enough water to wash the blood and quilt off his hands, and he would end up just contaminating the sea. “No; this my hand will rather the multitude seas incarnadine. Making the green one red” (Act II, scene, ii, line 78) Macbeths conscience began to fade away, as he started to let his evil thoughts completely control his actions, without thinking twice.

After framing and killing the servants, Macbeth was taught he could lie and get away with it. The intoxication of alcohol that Macbeth’s quests felt was similar to the high that Macbeth was getting off of Power. The more drinks one has, the more they want. Just like Macbeth’s thirst for even more power after he was awarded a small amount. Becoming kind wasn’t good enough for him anymore, he also wanted to feel safe as king. Macbeth was blinded by the thought of becoming king and was unable to see the danger and cost that he would soon pay for killing the innocent people during his uncontrollable path of destruction. Macbeth realized what he was doing was wrong a little too late, and convinced Lady Macbeth that his excuse for continuing to do more wrong, was because he was already in too deep.  “I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er.” (Act III, scene iv, line 167) At the battle Macbeth comes to realize all the damage he has done, as he questions if he really is capable of becoming king, or if he should just back down. Macbeth shared with Macduff the quilt he had been carrying on his shoulders before the battle:  “But get there back. My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already” (Act V, scene viii, line 6)Macbeth didn’t think anyone born of women could harm him, but fear crept into his mind as soon as Macduff shared the story of his birth. Macduff explained how he was cut out of his mother’s womb because she could not bear him naturally. Reality and doubt sunk into Macbeths mind, and his courage was frightened away. The regret of believing the witches, and believing he was invincible hit him like a ton of bricks.

The warning sounds of bells, drums, and trumpets were never enough to prevent Macbeth, and his wife from doing something they would later regret. They both learned when an individual has their mind set on what they want, everything else becomes a minority and they begin to not care what happens on the journey along the way, as long as they get what they want. Harcourt Shakespeare demonstrated the lesson that heavy regrets often follow actions made my individuals when they are strongly focused on achieving an important goal unbelievably throughout Macbeth.

Reflection: My critcal response for Macbeth allowed me to practice and improve creating a in depth thematic statement, rather than just a thematic idea. This reflects on my growth with developing content, and using strategies that I was taught. (Outcome 4.1.3 and 2.1.4) I was also able to demostrate my ability to enhance my thought and understanding by adding support and detail to my text, with quotations or importance details from the story. (Outcome 4.2.1) To continue my sucess with my response writing I will continue to provide evidence and support for my thoughts. This assignment reflects my understanding of the use of evidence and logic because I kept detailed notes while studying Macbeth about possible themes, character development, and evidence to support those ideas. By selecting, recording, and organizing information I displayed my ability to accomplish outcome 3.2.1. By reflecting on this project I have learned how keeping notes while reading can help prepare more support and evidence more efficently.

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A New Set of Eyes

By looking at the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, one can see how a new perspective affects an individual’s interpretation of the world. Pi had to interpret the world as a boundless, open ocean, dripping with endless possibilities in order to preserve his own existence in a situation where others would have normally given up. Without the existence of hope, Pi would not have stood a chance in the harsh climate of the Pacific Ocean. Like most young men; religion, morals, and peers had a strong influence on Pi during the process of discovering his identity. Yann Martel demonstrates the many new perspectives Pi considers throughout his desire for spiritual clarity.

To Pi, it was tremendously important for him to believe in something. As he intensely studied aspects of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islamic beliefs, he came to a conclusion that they all revolved around a similar belief, the existence of a loving higher power. To him, agnostics who lacked faith or beliefs in religion were much like listeners who could not appreciate the non-literal truth of a fictional story. Pi’s faith and spiritual connections strengthened while he was lost at sea. Pi’s belief in God gave him guidance, and a meaning to life. He was extremely grateful for the direction God had continuously given him, and remained to look up to him as if Gods messages were words from a book.(Fixed dropped quotation.)“My great wish-other than salvation- was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One I could read again and again, with new eyes and a fresh understanding each time.” (pg. 262). Pi recognized that the only reason he was still alive was because God was truly with him, and that personal experience was all it took to encourage his continuous fight for survival.

After surviving the unthinkable, the traumatic experiences Pi went through resulted in a loss of innocence. As a child, Pi was an eager, outgoing, and excitable young boy, who depended on his family for protection and guidance. As Pi would put it, the jealousy of life that death possess ripped his family away from him. “Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can.” (pg. 6). Pi was torn from his family in a devastating accident that forced him to become self-sufficient in an instant. Pi grew up with a profound sense of exploration, he loved studying Cosmogony, and he wanted to understand every bit of the world that God had to offer. After witnessing death right in front of him, more than once, Pi had realized the world was not as wonderful as he once thought it was. He discovered the dark, cruel perspectives that other individuals who were not as lucky had known all too well. Since Pi understood that the possibility of him vanishing at sea was immensely greater than making it home he took risks he could not fathom. “The lower you are, the higher your mind will soar.” (pg. 358). Pi abandoned his lifelong vegetarianism and resorted to eating innocent fish and turtles to maintain existence. The acknowledgement of his probability of survival gave him an internal drive to overcome the odds. He came to the conclusion that although times were dark, it would pass and his life would get better. “But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud.” (pg. 7). Not only did he need to encourage and take care of himself, but he was also given the gift of a passenger to accompany him along his life-changing journey, who desired the same needs.

After several days of fighting for survival, Pi was left with a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. After closely observing the tiger for many weeks, Pi acknowledged a case of zoomorphism in his life. He discovered that he obtained animal characteristics or qualities that were almost identical to Richard Parker. This allowed Pi to see a side of him that he never knew existed; a side that frightened him, just as much as a real ferocious tiger would frighten him. Although at the same time, he gained respect for the ferocious tiger. Pi understood that the tiger marked his territory to feel secure, and that he would eat anything if it meant another day of survival. The tiger also felt the need for social structure in order to boost his self-esteem. All these traits followed Maslow’s hierarchy, a motivation theory, which suggests five interdependent levels of basic human needs. These traits seemed reasonable to Pi after considering he would do the exact same things to survive. After learning new ways of survival from Richard Parker, Pi realized their existences had become interdependent. “If I didn’t have you now, I don’t know what I would do.” (pg 236). At the beginning of the shipwreck, the last thing Pi wanted on his lifeboat was a 450-pound Bengal tiger, but by the end of Pi’s experience, he could not have been more grateful for the tiger’s existence. Richard Parker gave Pi an enlightening perspective on the relationship between man and nature, which had been a meaningful topic to Pi throughout his entire life. He could finally comprehend and appreciate why some animals did the extraordinary things they do.

While Pi struggled through what seemed to be undefeatable odds, he was gifted with astonishing outcomes. Motivated by his peers, experiences, and beliefs, Pi considered new perspectives from every angle, which affected his interpretation of the world as an individual, and ultimately was the reason why he survived. Yann Martel displayed that life is a story that can be interpreted in any way the individual wants to view it. After all, “The world isn’t just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no?” (pg. 380).

Reflection: While reflecting on my last critical analysis of the year, I quickly realized how much I improved over the course this year. One of the biggest improvements I am most proud of, is my lack of dropped quotations. Last year was the first year I began to add quotations into my work, and I didn’t fully understand the purpose of them, so I would just drop them anywhere to obtain them. By the end of this semester I not only understand the purpose of quotations, but understand it is equally important build up to the quotation, and make sure the evidence fits with what idea I’m trying to support. This gave me an almost automatic ability to focus on the purpose of the response. (Outcome 3.1.1) I was also given the opportunity to study zoomorphism, anthropomorphism, and Maslow’s hierarchy and incorporate the research and information I learned into my work. (Outcome 3.1.2) Life of Pi allowed me to express my own preferences, and consider new perspectives on how I wanted to view the real story. (Outcome 1.2) While reading Life of Pi my vocabulary expanded immensely, and I was intrigued by all of the colourful metaphors and descriptive sentences. This novel encouraged me to stretch my vocabulary imagery, because I can clearly see the difference it makes as a reader. I was also able to appreciate the effectiveness ans artistry of print and nonprint texts. (Outcome 2.3.3) Reflecting on this essay makes me feel prepared for English 30, and excites me to see I can improve my writing and understanding of different perspectives even further.