6

The nurse writes on Joe's chest, Merry Christmas. He starts to try and tap out some more Morse Code, and she finally realizes that he is trying to communicate. She can't understand what he is doing, but she assumes that he is doing Morse Code, something she does not understand. So she goes out and finds someone who knows Morse Code. It's a man, and the first thing that he taps out to Joe is, "What do you want?" To Joe, this is a stupid question. What Joe wants is to become an exhibit. He wants to be apart of a sort of freak show, where he could make a profit. He wants to do this because he wants to show people the horrors of war. He wants to be able to interact with people, and he wants to be out of the hospital. He suggests this to the man, but the man replies back by saying that that is against regulations. The army does not want to show him to the world because it would be bad publicity for the U.S. government and the idea of war. They like the idea of saving Joe's "body" but they do not want him to be able to think, they just want him to lay there, and stay alive. They don't care about the inside, just Joe's physical stability.

5 Sedation

Since Joe's typing becomes so irate and so annoying to the medical staff, they sedate him with drugs. These drugs make him feel very weird and he starts to see and hallucinate very interesting and colorful pictures in his dreams and thoughts. Joe has a dream about a woman who is looking for her son in Tucson, Arizona at a train station. It turns out that this young boy is actually Jesus Christ. This Christ could preform many miracles like the real Jesus. This boy claimed that he could "do anything." He made drinks for the soldiers in Joe's dream. Joe, in his dream, is also playing cards with the other soldiers. They are sitting and talking about their deaths, but then they realize that Joe did not die, but he was neither living. He was stuck in the middle. They all agree that Joe's fate is much worse than their fate's. 

TAPPING

Joe has been laying in his bed, counting the days in his head, just thinking. He's extremely bored and wants to try and find something else to do. After realizing that he knows Morse Code, Joe forgets all about his time keeping and starts to tap out SOS in Morse Code. He thinks that maybe he will be able to communicate with the outside world. He thinks that this is going to work, and he gets his hopes up, but in the end the nurse he is tapping too does not know Morse Code. Instead she thinks that Joe is frustrated and is in pain. She tries everything to make him feel better, but Joe still continues to punch out SOS.  This shows that Joe is making progress. It's interesting that he completely lost track of time, and forgot about it, to pay attention to something else. He's entirely focused on being able to communicate with the outside world.

3

On Joe's face, there is a huge open wound that is extremely appalling and has engulfed his entire face. It's pussing and bleeding, and it's just honestly really gross. While laying down at night, a rat comes in his room and starts to crawl onto his face. He cannot do anything about it because he has no arms or legs, and he can't really talk. The rat crawls onto his face and starts to gnaw and chew on his scabs and wounds. This rat acts as a reminder to Joe that he is extremely vulnerable. He's helpless and can't do anything to protect himself. This small little rat was able to torture him, and there was nothing that he could do about. 

The rat also symbolizes how wars, especially the one Joe was in, have accomplished nothing. Soldiers on the other side have also had similar fates. They have lost limbs and blood. The only things that will gain anything are the rats, because they will be able to live off of the humans skin. He thinks that the only people who gain things are the ones who aren't fighting (the politicians).  It's not fair that everyone else has to fight and sacrifice so the rich could keep getting more and more.   

JGHG 2

Joe had just gotten his legs taken off. He no longer had any, and so Joe started to dream about all of the times that he had used his legs. He realized that he had taken his legs for granted and never really thought about how great it is that he was ever able to walk. Joe would walk eleven miles to the bakery that he worked at every day. He would work a lot and late at night. He spent a lot of time there. This bakery was in L.A. Joe actually kind of liked working there. At this bakery, Joe had a coworker by the name of Jose. Jose, once a driver for a family, came to L.A. to work in the movie business. He greatly wanted to do so. Joe liked that Jose had a dream that he was sticking too and was working hard to achieve. He admired that. Jose also is a very considerate person and works very hard at his job. Joe wishes that he could be more like that and he likes Jose's personality very much. Joe also liked Jose because Jose had quit his driving job because the daughter in the family had fallen in love with him, and he didn't love her back. Joe thought that this was a very nice and compassionate thing of Jose to do because Jose easily could have taken advantage of her, but instead, he left because he did not want to cause many problems in his work, and he did not want t cause the young girl pain. 

j

Joe has just gotten back from war and is kind of screwed up mentally and physically. He has wounds and bandages all over his body. He thinks that he is deaf because he can't hear his own heart beat. Joe had been unconscience and had just woken up from it. The ringing in his hear reminds him of when his mother called him on the phone to tell him that his father had died. Although he can't hear, and his eyesight is impaired, he is able to feel of the people working on him. Doctors are working on a procedure and are trying to heal him. While they are doing so, both of his arms are amputated. He is very frightened and feels very helpless. It's a very hectic situation and Joe feels very trapped. He compares it to drowning because he keeps on getting dunked into helplessness. He can't communicate due to his deafness and he can't make hand motions because he has no hands. He can't do anything in the situation and it's bothering him greatly.

Irwin takes the V CARD!!!!!!!!

When Esther first meets Irwin, she immediately sees the chance to have "sexual relations" with him. throughout the entire novel, Esther had always talked about how she had divided the people into two groups; virgins and. non-virgins. Sex had been something that Esther had always wanted to experience and she thought that by being a virgin, she was being held back. Esther was also ready for sex because she had had a contraceptive (diaphragm) put in recently. She did not want to have a baby because it was something that society had told the common women to do. She thought that babies would tie her down. She did not want to be like the mother who had been in the bed next to her at the hospital. 

Irwin was experienced, which was odd because Esther did not like that in a man, but she was desperate at this point for any action.  She also took comfort in knowing that she never really had to talk again, and would not feel badly about it. In all honestly she wanted to use him for sex once, and get along with her life. She didn't want any strings attached. 

Despite Esther's physical wound from sleeping with Irwin, she was morally and mentally victorious. It's a great boost to her self-esteem. Her scars and pains were proof that she had lost her innocence and she felt great. 

Trapped in a JAR!!!!!!!

The title of the book is for the first time used in the context. She is saying that she is trapped in a Bell Jar. By this she means that, no matter where she goes, she always be trapped. No matter how nice of a place, city, or institution, she always will be covered and trapped by her illness. She is making this claim because Philomena Guinea has decided to put her into a private institution. Sure it's nicer there, but Esther, in a way thinks that there is no way to cure her, no matter how nice of an environment she is in. 

This is quite depressing because well, it seems like there is no hope for Esther. She has lost hope in herself, and I guess this is why she has tried to kill her self multiple times. But, also, after her shock treatment at the new institution, she wakes up from an unconscience state, and walks outside only to find that the Bell Jar has been lifted up over her slightly, giving her fresh air and hope to breathe. This makes me happy because I was quite saddened by Esther's constant state of sadness and depression.

ASYLUM!!!!!

Philomena thinks that it's best that Esther goes to a new asylum because it's private and is more accepting of people like Esther. Philomena goes to Boston and visits with Esther and her mother. They agree that it's a good move to go to this new, private asylum and she is transferred there. Philomena does all of this because she is a writer, and understand the pain that Esther is going through. She wants her to get better, and wants only the best in the business to work on her recovery. This new country club has golf, and seemed very relaxed and ritzy, trying to make it seem like not an asylum. It was very nice and the people there treated Esther well. The room was not a cage, like at her other institute. Her woman doctor, Dr. Nowland, was a new and refreshing thing for her. This in a way calmed her. This new Dr. seems to respect and understand more and has an actual want inside of her to help Esther. This Dr. cares. Esther also has a lot of freedoms in this hospital, as opposed to the other one. Esther also does not have to have shock treatment anymore and she takes comfort in that. I think that if she had stayed at the other institution, she would have gotten a lot worse because they didn't really care about her there. They just sort of threw her into the crowd, putting her away from society so she couldn't be seen. They didn't care about if they would be well or not, as opposed to the nice, private institution. This asylum is there to try and make there patients become better.

Suicide

Esther tries to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills, but instead of dying, is rushed to the nearest hospital for medical care. Esther seems to crazy because throughout points in the book, and from events preceding the book, have created a massive buildup of self-esteem problems, depression, and confusion. Esther, basically is just one whacked out person. She is overwhelmed with society and her life, and is struggling to fit in, but just can't. She tries so hard, but in the end, she realizes that's not who she wants to be, and this makes her sad. She wants to want to fit in and be within society, but that's not who she is, and she cannot want it. From the drunk night with Doreen to the rape attempt by Marco to her inability to be accepted to that writing class, Esther's problems really added up. She was no longer sane in the end, and she could no longer live with all of these problems. On top of all of these problems, she was already messed up from the start. She grew up with no father and a mother who struggled to find a steady income. Esther, also in general is just not a very happy person, she never has been, and when you put all of these other problems with this, it is not a very good mix, but rather is causes craziness, and this is exactly what happens to her. She is crazy because her life has made her this way.

Dr. Gordon

Esther does not like Dr. Gordon for many reasons. Esther though, at first is excited to meet Dr. Gordon because she hopes he can help her find out what's wrong with her and she is hoping that he will help her. But after spending time with him, she decides that he is not a very good person and does not help at all, but in fact makes her feel worse.
The first time we see that Esther does not like Dr. Gordon is when she sees his family. He has a good looking family complete with a cute wife and kids. She does not like this because it represents everything that she was not apart of. She did not want to be married, nor did she want to have a family. She wanted nothing to do with it. Dr. Gordon, during the first therapy session, also asks Esther what she thinks is wrong with her. This confuses Esther because these sessions, in her mind, are supposed to be the doctor finding out what's wrong, not herself. This made her confused and angry. She thought that it was a waste of time. After a couple of therapy sessions, Dr. Gordon decides that she "needs" shock therapy, which conveniently would take place at his hospital.
I think that Dr. Gordon does no good for Esther. The shock therapy greatly hurts her and Dr. Gordon's styles and methods confuse and throw Esther off. She simply wants to learn what's wrong with her, and she wants to know how to get better. Dr. Gordon complicated things and made her think more about herself, when in reality she wanted a quick fix. Now she's just as depressed and even a little bit more confused.

While enjoying her last night, her friends Doreen and Lenny set her up with a woman hater, Marco. When he first meets her he grabs her arm harshly and gives her bruises. He then gave her a diamond stick pin from his suit. He then forces her to dance, telling her to act like she is drowning when she tells him she doesn't want to dance and doesn't know how. He tells her to act like she is drowning so that he can be in complete control. Later that night he tries to rape her, and at first she lets it happen, but then he calls her a slut and she starts to fight back. Eventually she gets out of his grip and she punches him in the face, making him bleed. Marco then preceded to put his blood onto the cheeks of Esther. 

When Esther gets back, her mother tells her that she didn't get accepted into an english honors program. This, on top of her getting raped, was just adding to her depression. When in Boston, Esther also has many problems sleeping at night. Her almost being raped seems like it really screwed Esther up, more than she already had been. Esther also got a letter from Buddy saying that she should come and visit him because he is falling in love with a nurse, and she must win him back. This sort of gets to Esther. In response to this letter, Esther writes claiming that she is engaged and never wants to talk to him again.

Esther quiere dormir con Constatine

Esther is really mad at Buddy, for reasons I don't really understand so she wants to "spite" him and make him feel badly. She want's to "engage" in sexual acts with Constantine to fulfill her goal of making Buddy feel badly. Constantine sort of picks up on these sexy vibes from Esther and figures that he should invite her back to his place to listen to some quality music and consume fine alcoholic beverages. So they go back, and they drink and drink, so much that Esther cannot stay awake any longer and decides to sleep over at Constantine's. Constantine does not make any sexual passes at Esther, which is a strange thing. Esther was very vulnerable and was actually willing for something steamy to happen, but nothing did...they just had a good time. This sort of confused Esther.  In the middle of the night though Constantine comes into room, what we assume for sex, and lies down.  They end up sleeping with each other, but still nothing sexual came from it. 

The way Constantine acted totally threw Esther off. She was expecting  him to seduce her and try to get into her pants at any moment. Esther had this broad and generalized view of how men acted, and Constantine contradicted it by not following threw with what she thought would be a night full of sexual actions. I really like his reaction because Esther seems to not really like men. I don't like her generalized views, but I do think she makes a point when she was talking about how men can live an unpure life, while women cannot. I like Constantine because he isn't a horny dude, he's a guy looking to have fun and just basically, have fun.

bell jar 3

Esther secretly liked Buddy, but never really talked to him because she was to shy and too afraid too. But then one day Buddy stopped by Esther's home, like he had promised at Christmas, he asked her to the prom at the college that he went to, Yale. Esther really, really like Buddy, but wishes that he would be honest with her. Buddy had been sleeping around with this waitress gal, and completely covering it up, acting like he was the most gentlemanly human being on the planet. He even acted like he was more innocent than Esther, which is not true at all. Esther, just like always, does not really care about this, and just wishes that Buddy would act like himself, and not put on a personality for her. Esther, although, did like how Buddy treated her. He treated her like she was the most experienced one in the relationship, even though she knew it wasn't true. He acted like she was in control, and she liked this because it made her feel a lot better about herself. She liked the idea of being in control. It made her really pissed off when she found out that she was not as experienced as Buddy. She wanted to be the experienced one, but she wasn't so, she broke up with him.

Bell jar 222222222222222

Esther is a very bright young students who is very good at a lot of subjects. She is passionate about her school work and gets very good grades. She was majoring in English, but was also very interested and good at Botany. She takes physics, an impossible class which every other girl had failed and she gets an A. Even though she got an A, she hated the equations and numbers that were involved with physics and chemistry, so she devises a plan to get out of taking the hard course of chemistry. She goes to the dean of students and tells her she needs more credits in English to finish her major. She tells her that she needs to take another Shakespeare class, in place of chemistry. But then she tells her that she would still take chemistry but did not need to get any grades for it. Esther convinces the dean that she genuinely wants to learn the material and not just get good grades. Her plan works because the dean respects her as a student for her all As grades. She okays it, and instead of pleasure learning chemistry, Esther in reality sits in the class, paying no attention whatsoever.
Esther did not like chemistry because she is much more of a creative thinker and person. Science in general is more of a practical subject. There is a wrong and right answer, with no room for debate and ones own opinions. Esther has her own opinions and thoughts, which she would like to share. By being in English, she is able to read others and opinions, which enables her to make her own opinions on topics and subjects of her time. This is why she has so many opinions about the role of government in society, and why she is such a cynic as to the people act in society.

Bellllll JARRR uno

In the beginning of the book, Sylvia Platt uses the quote “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenberg’s, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York” to introduce her novel. This line set the stage and mood for the emotions that would be portrayed by the main character, Esther, throughout the novel, The Bell Jar. The quote shows how cynical she is and how much she does not want to confrom to society. She wants to ber her own person. She does not feel unique. Her situation is much like the situation of the girls in the fil, Mona Lisa Smile. The majority of the women that attend Wellesley are there just to kill off time before they get married, have a family, and tend to her home. This is what Esther feels like she is doing. She feels like she is just killing time by going to parties, wearing styling outfits, meeting the big shots and celebrities, getting noticed. She hated this. She wanted to be in this magazine for the writing, but because she wasn't in this fashion magazine as a writer, she did not like being there and had a dull and grey outlook on life. She had something missing inside of her, and her being in New York did not help to fill the hole, if not to worsen it.

Decision

I think the decision of the president of the college to tell Katharine off was a very typical decision of the 1950's. Katharine is very upset because Betty had just written a very nasty article in the school paper about her and claimed that she was teaching  against tradition and values of the school and of society. Katharine is extremely angered by this and storms off into the President's office. She asks if the president is honestly proud of these students for the way that they act, and the president responds by saying "yes" she is proud of them. She basically says, look, 100 years ago women were not aloud to college. At least we get the opportunity, so stop complaining, there has been enough change. Katharine thinks that woman should fight and go against modern society. She thinks that women should get jobs, get married when they want or not at all, and most importantly, have their own life. She is upset that even the president of the most prestigious women's school in the U.S. was okay with women not using the great education that they received and going out into the world married and as a homemaker. The presidents decision to "shew" Katharine from her office and to basically tell her to suck it up is a typical decision that a women would have made during this time period.

Time Period

Mona Lisa Smile perfectly, in my opinion, portrays the time period of the 1950's that I had always imagined. I always imagined it as an I Love Lucy or a Happy Days kind of life. Growing up I pictured everyone being happy and easy going, not having a worry. Everyone got a long and there was nothing wrong with the world. But now by reading and studying examples of the 1950's, I realize that in reality all of these shows and the media was just one big cover up. They were covering up all of the bad things that were wrong with the world. Segregation, Nuclear War, assassinations, civil wars, etc. all plagued the world during this time, and it frightened people. Nobody really wanted to deal with it. 

When the men came back from World War II, they kicked the women out of the factories and expected them to go back to their old roles in society; a homemaker. And the women excelled at this greatly. The men started to teach the women that having a family and taking care of a home was their only purpose in life, and that it was very important that they do so. Women started to take it very seriously. I get a lot of this from the movie that we watched in class. 

In the movie, Mona Lisa Smile, the students (specifically Joan and Betty) both exemplify aspiring women "home makers." They explain to their teacher (Julia Roberts) that after they graduate, they are going to get married, and that's it. Julia Roberts' character is very frustrated throughout the movie with how they students of the college act. They were merely acting as sheep, and doing what society had told them to do.

I think that this movie is a very good example of how the society was. It seemed all very fake, just like many marriages were, and it seemed quite boring and unlively. Some of the characters in this movie are very boring and unlively. Take Betty, for example. She is in a "happy marriage." But in reality, she does not really love her husband, she likes the idea of him. This movie really does make you think about the society in the 1950's.

sad

When Stella was in the hospital, preparing to have her baby the next morning, Stanley raped Blanche. He did this because he could not stand her, and wanted to harm her greatly. Blanche was hurt so much by this that she told Stella, who in turn protected Stanley and did not believe her. Stella loved the comfort and security of having Stanley around. She would always fall for it when he would apologize for yelling or beating her. She was a sucker. So she didn't believe that Stanley would do such a thing because she believed Stanley was inherently good. Stella thought that Blanche was crazy, and tricked her into going to a mental hospital. Stella thought that Blanche had ruined her and Stanley's relationship, and she wanted it to go "back to the old way." Blanche also would do many weird things. First, she just in general acted weird. She would talk about hearing music, always take baths, and she would always talk badly about Stanley. Blanche also had had a relationship with a 17 year old and had lied about her past. Blanch had slept around with other men at Hotel Flamingo and then acted as if she was "old fashioned," to Stella, Stanley, and Mitch. She completely lied about her recent past to everyone. Blanche only believed in telling people what she wanted to be true, instead of reality, just like characters in Sunset Boulevard and in The Death of a Salesman. I think that Blanche's "tape recorder" was Stanley when he exposed Blanche's past. 

I think that in the end, sending Blanche to a mental hospital was absolutely the right thing to do because she was flat out crazy. She had been raped, dumped by Mitch, lost her job, lost her husband, kicked out of a town and a sleezy hotel, and just did not have much of a happy life. Everything added up in the end, and she cracked. I wish, though, that Stella had believed that Stanley had raped her because maybe this time Stella would have gathered up the courage to leave Stanley. Stanley had been such an awful husband. 

Hotel Flamingo

We find out that Blanche was attracted to children and that she might have had a problem with children. We also find out about Blanche's husband, Allen. She was very young when she married him. She loved him very much. One day when she came home, she peered into her room and saw her husband in bed with another man. She didn't say anything for a while, but one time when she and her husband got drunk at a casino, she called him out on it and he went out and committed suicide. Ever since then, Blanche has been very guilty about the death of her husband.
Stanley also found out from his buddy, Shaw, that he had seen Blanche at the Hotel Flamingo. Shaw had seen Blanche there and told Stanley that Blanche was kicked out of the hotel because of her immoral actions. Blanche had also been fired instead of "taking a leave of absence." Blanche had a relationship with a 17 year old boy at her school. The father of this boy found out and complained to the school about it.
I think that this was pretty interesting, especially about her cousin. I didn't see this coming. I can see why she feels quite guilty about her husband. I think she should feel guilty because no one should ever tell anyone else that they are disgusting because of their sexuality.

approval

Blanche does not approve Stanley because she thinks that she is in the upper class, and does not think that Stanley is good for Stella, let a lone the DuBois family. Stanley beats and curses Stella, and she does nothing about it. Blanche thinks that Stanley is a brute and that their are more creatures that are more "evolved" than him. Blanche is a very stuck up person and does not agree with the class that Stanley is in. Stanley is part of the working class. He does not have very much money and can not provide much for Stella. He beats her when he's angry, but then will apologize to her, telling her that he wants her back. She falls for his rouse an she usually goes back to him, after a couple of days of quarelling. Stanley also for no good reason smashed all of Stella's shoes on their honey moon, and Stella could really do nothing about it.

CHARACTERRRR: Stan

So this Stanley guy is pretty weird. He's really weird because he changed a lot. Stanley seemed like a simple flirtatious guy. He seemed to come onto Blanche a little bit when he first saw her, but other that, I thought he was pretty cool, and down to clown. Sure, Stanley seems sort of merciless, vicious, and intimidating, but I feel like he honestly does care for Stella and was very nice to her. He respected her in the first scene and was nice to her. They used terms of indeerment like honey, baby, and sweety with each other, making it seem like they were extremely close to each other and had a great relationship. Later in the play, we see that Stanley is a violent, degrading, and drunk brute who does not respect his wife, Stella.
Stanley first starts to show his true side when he starts to freak out about how Blanche has all of this nice stuff. He goes through all of Blanche's stuff and starts to wonder where she got it all. Then when he is drunk he starts to freak out about the music saying that it's too loud. He then eventually throws the radio out the window and proceeded to beat Stella. He is quite an angry person and yells a lot. He curses at Stella and Blanche and accuses Blanche of selling the estate for her personal gain.

PAPeeR

I think that this paper is interesting because we can compare a book to a movie, and still find many similarities. It's very interesting to see that the idea of a dream and the American dream was a large topic in the early to mid 20th century. I didn't realize that it was such a big deal. I like comparing the two characters of Willy and Norma. All they initially seem different, you eventually can draw up many similarities between them...like how they both remember the good things from their past and how they want to be like their past.
I also like how we are using a Langston Hughes poem. It's cool to see how even thirty years before they were talking about dreams. It's interesting because that's what all people have in common. No matter race, social class, and economic class, everyone has a dream. So literature from the Harlem Renaissance can be compared to literature from the "Lost" group and from a movie made in 1950. It's all connected, and it shows how everybody is connected.

NORMAAAAAAAAA AND WILLLLLAAAYYYYYY WILLLAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's really interesting to see the close comparisons and similarities beetween the characters, Norma in Sunset Blvd. and Willy in Death of A Salesman. Norma and Willy are both characters who used to be successful, or so we are told. They both live and reminisce in their glory days, and are sort of whack-o people. They are extremely messed up. I also think their are comparisons beetween their house. Although Norma's is large and full of stuff and Willy's isn't, I still feel like both houses are very empty and are quite lonely. Both houses were both nice houses that their owners obviously liked, but over time Norma's became overgrown with vegetation and Willy's was overcrowded by apartment buildings and urban development.
Both characters are crazy and seem tp not reallly understand modern life. Both Norma and Willy have a dream that they cannot get away from and cannot stop holding, just like in Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Great Gatsby, and The Last American Man. Both Norma and Willy are obsessed with their past. I don't think that Norma was honestly as big as she thinks she was. I think, like Willy, she exagerates her past, and remembers things that only she wants to remember.

Dead

When Willy gets into his car while Biff and Happy are listening, he goes crazy and does some weird things, and he eventually dies in an accident. I think that by purposefully dying, Willy ends his misery. He tries to justify his death by saying he will do it for the $20,000, which to a certain extent is actually true, but deep down, Willy does not have enough will power and desire to keep going. He knows he is unsuccessful, he had just been fired, he ruined his son's life, and he, in general was just a crazy guy. I think that it was not his fault that he died. He could not control it and there was nothing that he could do about it. He was not weak, but he was also not a hero. It just sort of happened. Every lie and exaggeration he told, and every dream about himself that he made up amassed together and eventually built up, and in the end, this bubble of fake lies and dreams popped and he went crazy. He could no longer be the positive dramatacist that he was. Everything caught up to him in the end, and he could not deal.
So, in the end it was not a weak thing of Willy to do, but rather something that was inevitable. He in general was a crazy person. It was his destiny to die the way that he did.

MISTRESS

When Biff goes to Boston to tell his father that he had failed, and that he wants Willy to go and talk to his teacher, Mr. Binbaum, about his grade, he notices that there is someone else in the bathroom with Willy. All Biff's life, Biff had looked up to his father. He though of his father as perfect. Biff thought that everybody in Providence and in Boston lived Willy and Willy just made all of this comission money because he was such a great saleman. Nothing Willy did was ever wrong according to Biff, and their relationship was great. Not only did Biff think that his father was perfect, Willy thought that Biff was perfect as well. Willy thought that everybody loved his son, that he was handsome and great with the girls, smart, funny, and athletic. He thought that all of these things would make him successful. This is interesting because this is another example of how Willy is a kid and how he does not act mature. He has tons of these visions and dreams that aren't really true, just like a young kid has. Anyways, when Biff realizes that his father is lying about the woman, he starts to ignore Willy, and the view that Biff had of Willy was completely gone. Biff lost all of his respect of his father, and all of his idea of perfection of Willy also went down the drain. Biff then gave up on his life because he figured no use could come from it. What was the point. Willy had set an awful example for Biff, and Willy also contradicted everything that Biff had ever taught him.

JOB

I personally do not think that Willy made a good decision to not take the job. It was quite silly of him. Willy needed to swallow his pride and jealousy, suck it up, and take the job. He had just gotten fired, he was going crazy, he needed money, wanted to be a role model for his kids, and wanted to be successful, so I think that it was a big time mistake that he did not take the job. He did not have.

Willy was not only jealous that Charley was successful in the business world, he was also jealous that his son had turned out so great. Bernard, who he had thought was a dorky little kid, was now a successful lawyer who was taking cases to the U.S. supreme court in Washington D.C. whereas his sons, especially Biff, were bums who were sitting at home thinking about starting a Sporting Goods company. Willy then starts to think that it was all his fault for the Biffs giving up on life. Willy knows that his affair had something to do with it, and he starts to realize what kind of example he set for his boys. He is upset for himself, and is therefore mad at Charley because Charley has a good son who is highly educated and successful. Also, this job that Charley was going to give Willy was going to pay decently ($50) and would not require Willy to travel, which in the end would work out quite well. I think that Willy is basically miserable and insane, and is an awful decision maker and has no judgement skills. WILLLYYYY

Bennnnnnyyyyy

I think that Ben is a negative influence on Willy, but in a way Ben unintentionally did it. Willy is obsessed with success, and becoming successful, and when his older brother, Ben, reached success and Willy didn't, Will became sad and became infatuated with the fact that his brother had money. Willy becomes crazy and has these illusions about his brother, and these flashbacks about his brother has money, and he loves the "story" of how Ben became successful. I also think that Willy looks up to him too much, and desperately wants to become like him. This is an example of materialistic America, and how people become so obsessed with success in the business and economic world. Willy then teaches this idea of success, which in my opinion is a bad version of success, to his sons and thinks that they will only make it in the world if they are financially successful. So, when one of his sons, Biff, does not reach the level of success that he had wanted him to have, he becomes increasingly dissapointed in him. Willy thinks that since his sons are popular, handsome, and well-liked, they will become successful someday and will become financially stable. Ben is a negative influence because he instilled materialistic ideas of success into Willy, who in turn instilled these ideas into his son's. Willy and his sons are now extremely miserable and unhappy.

WE LOVE SPORTZ

Biff and Happy are sitting around, and decide that they should work together to create a Sporting Goods store. This is something that both of them would like, and would be happy with doing. They get very excited about it, and even their father, Willy, thinks that it's a "Million dollar idea." They starting creating the idea and building a business proposal to show Bill Oliver, a man who works at a bank and would give them a business loan. Biff and Happy think that this will work because they were popular, well liked, jocks in high school, and they figured that this would also apply to themselves in the business world.
I do not think that this plan will work because first of all, they are asking for a lot of money. Second of all, they are not organized and focused enough to complete this job. They have no idea how to run a sports shop, and neither of them have let alone ran a shop. They also think that because they were popular in high school, that they will be successful. Biff also said that he was only happy with working on a farm, and Happy wanted to become a big executive. This business will not work because these boys just aren't focused enough and hard working enough to carry out their plans.

Charliieeee and Willllaaayyy

I think that both Charley and Willy like each other because they have too. They seem to always be competing for something, and they also get really annoyed with each other. They bug each other, and criticize each other. I think it's interesting though, because I think that in a way they are very similar people. When Charley asked Willy if he wanted a job, and Willy got insulted, and then they went on for about a page about how they were insulting each other. It just seemed like they were very similar people. Charlie, like Willy seems sort of washed up, tired, and older.
It was also weird that Willy made fun of Charley's sun, Bernard. Willy asked Bernard if he was anemic and told him to shut up and all of this stuff. I think that Charley dislikes Willy for the way that he treats his son as well.
It was also interesting that through all of their bickering and fighting, they seem to play cards quite often. I thought that this was odd that the liked to spend so much time together, even though they cannot stand to be together sometimes.

Biff and Happy

I think that, although the book portrays Happy as the more successful, ambitious office workers, Biff is the happy one. It seems that even though he is criticized by his father, Willy, for being lazy, that he does what he pleases, and he somewhat enjoys not having a steady job. He doesn't mind it, and I feel like he is in control of his life. I know that he may not be successful, but I do think that he is happy, or at least happier than his brother, Happy (a lot of happies). Biff is still upset about his current state, and his lack of success in the business world, but I think that their are times where he genuinly happy, and I don't think his brother, Happy, is ever happy. Happy, on the other hand is a guy who always wants more, and will never achieve this goal, or dream that he has. He will always have a dream off in the distance. I think that Happy is insecure, and down right miserable in his life. Biff wanted to go out to the West, and take it easy, but happy was so wrapped in work, that he couldn't. Happy also takes bribes, and has sex with his bosses wives, just to get ahead in the business world. He has done very bad things, and I think that Happy knows that has done bad things, and feels guilty, but he thinks that is what he has to do to succeed in the materialistic society. I think that they are not reliable characters though because I don't want to know what's going to happen next, especially to Biff. Biff could find a job that maybe is dangerous and he gets killed off, or something like that, I don't know. Although Happy has a nice job, I think he has the potential to go crazy. All of the bad things that he has done, will eventually catch up too him, and it will all blow up in his face. I think both characters are said, miserable people, I just think that Biff is a little happier, and has a little bit more confidence than Happy. Happy is insecure, so he sleeps with multiple women to make him feel better about himself.

the end

So, this is pretty sad, right. Tea Cake gets rabies from that wild dog that he killed when it was about to kill Janie. So after a couple of weeks, he starts to act very weird and starts to get really sick. He's really thirsty, his mouth foams, and he becomes very hostile. (I didn't know that rabies actually made you want to kill people. I thought it just made you die...) Janie starts to realize that there is a "mad dog" inside of Tea Cake, so she better get her rifle prepared, just in case he goes crazy. She then snuck under his pillow and took out 3 bullets from his revolver so she could buy time if he tried to kill her. He eventually comes into the kitchen and starts to get mad at her, telling her she's a bad wife and what not. After he talks, he starts to shoot, but there are only clicks from the party empty barrel. Then, Janie runs behind a table, and before she knew it, she heard a bang, and Tea Cake was dead on the ground. Pretty sad, I know. So she then is charged with murder because people start to think that she wanted to get rid of him because she didn't want to take care of him anymore due to his sickness.
While at the trial for Tea Cake's "murder," Janie sits still and silently. She had just lost the man that she had lover, the person who had made her dream for passion come true. She missed him desperately, and she didn't care how her life ended out. So, it didn't really matter if she was in jail or not, her life didn't mean anything anymore. She also wanted to let all of Tea Cake's friends know that she didn't murder Tea Cake, because they all hated her and wanted her to rot in jail. She wanted to win their respect back, and she wanted to prove that she loved Tea Cake a lot, and that not only was she saving herself, she also put Tea Cake out of an awful sickness inside of him.

OOOOOOOHHHHHHH YEEAAAAHHHH

Finally, it makes sense as to why it's called "Their Eyes Were Watching God." It just did not make sense to me, but I got it now.
When Janie sees Indians leaving her town, she becomes very curious and starts to inquire as to where they are going. They then predict that a large hurricane is coming. This statement was validated because many of the animals were going crazy and were acting very strangely. Many people leave, but many also decide to stay and wait it out. Those of who stay, take shelter in Tea Cakes house.
In the context, this quote is directly referring their "destiny," or god's will. All Janie's life, she has encountered different people, who all are god. For instance, Jody becomes "God" of the town of Eatonville. He ruled the town and brought it up to where it needed to be. The people greatly respected him, and he instilled his will into them. But, they were wrong, because things or messages from "god" always remind them that god is the all mighty. When Jody dies, god is somewhat sending message of the fact that, Jody was not all powerful and had nothing on him. Also, this Hurricane shows that no one has control over anything, and they cannot determine their fait and make people do what they please, it will all take its natural course.

Everglades

When they get to the Everglades, Teacake often comes home throughout the day. To Janie, this means that Teacake thinks that she could be cheating on him. But in reality, Teacake just missed Janie and wanted to spend time with her. Teacake than asks her to get a job to muck with him. Janie accepts, and I think that she accepts to get this job for many reasons. Janie was given an option, a choice that she can make for herself, she didn't have to work but she could if she wanted to. Teacake was not forcing her to work, but merely offering so that they could spend more time together. Janie likes this and feels like she has a lot of freedom, something that she has not really ever had before. Another reason that she accepts is because well honestly, she was lonely sitting at home all day. She had nothing to do and didn't necessarily enjoy cooking and whatnot. Not many women were working in the muck either, and she wanted to break away from what she had just been; a trophy wife, sitting at home in her big house cooking and servicing her husband. Doing a dirty job made her feel free from Jody and it made her move on from her last life to her new life.

PASSAGE THAT'S COOL

The quote relates to Janie because Janie had to give up her hopes about true love for security and safety. When Janie talks about showing her jewel to the world, she was talking about how she wanted to show the world who she really was. She wanted to be her own person, with absolute freedom and no restrictions. By marrying Jody she gave up the right to express her inner "jewel." Jody restricted her voice and actions and disabled her from doing what she wanted to do. Just because of her skin and gender, she was not able to do what she wanted to do. Janie's nanny also gave up Janie's freedom. Nanny wanted security for Janie and so she willingly gave her up for the security that Logan had.

MULE

This mule guy, right, is mistreated, overworked, and neglected. The townspeople poked fun of the mule after is escaped from the farmer, and Janie heard this. She thought that it was extremely unfair and mildly objected to it. Jodie, hearing this, bought the mule, to make Janie happy. This act by Jodie is considered to be very "noble" and he was even compared to Abraham Lincoln for the Emancipation Proclamation, which is the most absurd thing that I have ever heard, by the way.
Janie loves this animal because, just like her, the mule doesn't have a voice. It cannot fend for itself. Janie has been told what to do in her marriages, whether it's working for Logan out in the fields, or staying put and being quiet for Jody. She is never able to do what she wants and is always controlled. By standing up for the mule, she in a way stands up for herself. She does not want other creatures to suffer.

Jody is craZzzzZZZZzy. (chapter 5)

Well, Jody realizes he can profit, and also run "the show." Jody starts to buy all of this land and greatly helps out the town of Eatonville. Jody improves the town by building a store and post office. This is greatly appreciated because Eatonville was just a bunch of shacks, and was pretty much in a sad economic state. Jody is allowed to act this way because well, no one else is willing to take charge. He is also a man with money, while they are just poor people. They couldn't touch him, and they also would not want to mess with someone who is actually somewhat interested in their town. Jody was also very strict and got people to do whatever he wanted them to do. He was able to get the town to work for him, and he also flaunted his money. He built a huge house for Janie with nice things inside of it. Jody was also named the mayor of the town. This gives him a ton of power and respect from the people. Jody basically ran the town, and got it to become somewhat sucessful, even though it was still full of shacks. Roads and stores were built in the town, and new residents even bought lots from Jody's newly purchased land. Jody also installed a streat lamp into the town and produced a big party for it, complete with guests from surrounding towns. Jody then even ran a resident out of town after he was caught stealing. All of these town improvements, wealth, and his position as mayor attribute as to why he was able to act the way he did. Their was nothing anybody in the town could do to stop him. Money talks...

NATURE!!!!!!!!!!

WOW! So much nature in chapter 4, especially at the end. It's actually really described quite well, and was honestly some of the best writing in the book so far. The nature scenes that are depicted in the novel help describe the mood, feel, and time of a certain part of the book. It also adds beauty and symbolism to this book and help move it along. The nature scenes described are also used to foreshadow events that could turn out. For example, Janie speaks of the pear tree. The pear tree represents Janie's dreams, passions, and ideas. She wanted to love Logan, but she just couldn't get to love him. Janie is now out to fulfill her dream of finding true love. She desperately wants to be in love.
The sunset that Janie watches is described as nearly going down under the horizon. This is supposed to hint to us that her marriage with Joe will not end to well, and will most likely be ended. The author described the sun as going into a "crack." A crack is not necessarily a positive and exciting word. This crack could be the same crack that Janie had fallen into with her first marriage with Logan. It might as well end the same.

Eyes Who Watch God.....the chapters one and two

So basically, this small little town, is a big gossip town...you know, everyone knows everything. It's pretty annoying actually. They talk badly about Janie's for going around with teabag, and just get really nosey and into Janie's business. Then out of nowhere, the people start to make up rumors about Janie. (the townspeople are also extremely jealous of Janie's beauty...especially her long, thick, straight hair.) Things like her boyfriend jacked her money and dumped her. But then suddenly, Phoebe bravely stands up and puts a stop to all of this behavior. She sticks up for Janie, and for that Janie tells Phoebe the true story of where she had been. This gossip was extremely similar to the gossip of Janie's childhood. The other children were also jealous of Janie for her clothes and stature. She was raised in a good, wealthy, and clean family, whereas the other children were dirt poor. Janie has always been at the point of everyone's jokes in the town and she has grown accustom to it, getting upset by it at first. Now she just ignores and pays no attention to it.

TEST

THIS IS A TEST! THIS IS A TEST!
TEST
TEST
TEST