Decisions, Decisions: "On the Rainy River" Article Response (#2)

The article, “On the Rainy River,” presented a moral question which Tim asks the audience to self search and either relate to his internal struggle or determine how they personally would have handled the situation.  On page 56-58, Tim describes the many questions which he thought up while he was on the boat.  He was contemplating the decision he had made and whether or not it was one which he wanted to continue with.  As he is thinking about this, he wonders if others feel the same way and sees flashes of his past floating by him.  He sees himself as a young boy who runs around in his cowboy hat, playing little league baseball, attending his first prom, etc.  All these memories haunt him and make him question his decision; as well as, seeing all the important figures in his life, and even famous people.  He wanted to know how this decision would impact his life, his future.  

I would agree with many of his feelings on these pages.  Although serving ones country in war is an honor, I cannot say I would do it without wondering how my life would have been if I was not drafted.  I, too, would look back at my past.  I would remember moments which were special to me.  Such as, picking flowers in the field behind my house, selling lemonade on the corner, homecomings, band concerts, cross country races, or going camping.  I would imagine what I could have done with my life if I wasn’t going off to war.  I would long to be around little kids and teach them!  Just as Tim was going to college to pursue a career and dream, as am I.  If I were drafted and that seemed to be “taken away” from me, I would be sad.  

Similar to Tim, I would think of close family and friends.  These people would include my family (Mom, Dad, brother and sister), best friends, and extended family.  However, it would not be limited to these people.  My mind would wander to favorite teachers, ex-boyfriends, and youth group leaders.  These people all made a significant impact on my life.  It would seem like I am going away and never coming back.  Which, I believe, is similar to how Tim was feeling.  He was not sure whether or not he would come back alive or in the same physical/mental/emotional state that he was currently in.  It is one thing to say that it is an honor to serve ones country, and it is.  However, it is quite another to have hopes and dreams of serving your country in a different manner and being drafted into the war, forced to give up the life you have always known.  

Hamlet Response

Throughout the play, Hamlet, most characters are acting as if they are someone that they are not, but, they are all seeking the truth- including Hamlet.  This type of play is called meta-theatre and is a challenge to claim to be simply realistic.  It refers to the self consciousness of performing in the play itself.  Here, meta-theatre refers to Hamlet directly.  Hamlet is always performing and is under surveillance.  In fact, by viewing the online clips (the surveillance camera soliloquy- also seen in class), it was clear that when Hamlet walks into the conversation with Ophelia and Polonius, he realizes that he is in a play within a play.  Hamlet is an actor within an actor.  He takes on several different roles throughout the play.  Similarly, people take on different role in life and sometimes without control.  This can include family or a place where we are born into and how these things affect us.  Hamlet is born into royalty and must uphold a certain standard.  He must make sovereign decisions for his kingdom and act as a ruler.  Yet, he also takes on the role of revenge-seeker for his fathers death.  He feels this is his duty of being the King’s son and is called to do it.  Furthermore, he takes on the role of being crazy versus normal which is influenced by culture.  Hamlet tries to escape these roles several times and just be alone, yet he finds that someone is always watching.  This was seen in one of the clips where Hamlet tries to smash a surveillance camera in order to be alone.  Yet, even though it seems he is alone, he holds a one-sided conversation, rather than simply talking to himself.  It is as if he is still addressing the audience because he knows he is not alone.  The audience is always watching.  Hamlet decides that the only way to actually escape all these roles is death.  As one can see, this is an interesting factor because it adds more thought to the play and with more thought and interpretation from the audience or reader.  

"Parsley" by Rita Dove

My reaction in reading the poem, “Parsley” by Rita Dove, was different after listening to the poem than through simply reading it.  When I first started reading “Parsley,” it felt like I was reading a history text book.  In addition, I skipped over many of the spanish words.  All of these things changed when I heard the poem read aloud.  After hearing the poem, it sounded much more story-like and made more sense.  I heard the emotion coming through the poem.  I also heard the spanish words spoken and heard how the spanish words impacted the content of the poem.  The Spanish words held a significance throughout the life of the poem.  They emphasized the importance of L’s verses R’s in the Spanish language.  Only until I heard this through the speaking of the poem, did I realize this.  By understanding the Ls verses the Rs as an aspect within the poem, I felt I was better able to comprehend the poem to a fuller extent. 

Throughout the poem, the point of view is in first person, but, it is spoken by someone close to the general.  First person is evident through the text, for instance, Dove writes, “the cane appears in our dreams” (line 15)  and “we lie down screaming as rain punches through” (line 7).  Even though it is spoken in first person, we are unsure who is speaking.  I think this person is someone who is close to the general or even works for him, like maybe a servant or his right hand man.  Another reason this person must be close to the general is because he is able to write the first and second stanza.  In the first stanza, the setting is the sugar cane fields and the second stanza takes place in the palace.  The writer must have the ability to be in both places and close to the general.  In addition, this person also fears him. When Dove says, “the cane appears in our dreams...” it sounds like he is scared of getting killed and he fears the general.  This was my initial reaction while reading to the first section of the poem.  

As I continued to read, I assumed that the speaker in the second section of the poem was the general himself.  However, it wasn’t until I re-read the first line that I realized it says, “the word the general’s chosen is parsley” which clearly indicates someone else is speaking of the general.  It is the same person speaking from part one.  This person is watching the general struggle with the death of the general’s mother.  It is ironic because the general is pacing back and forth about who he is going to kill for the day.  He begins by thinking of whom to kill, moves onto thinking of his mother, and is only reminded he must determine who he must kill when he sees his war boots.  It even seems as though his mother becomes the person he is killing.  Almost as, if his mother (who is of African descent) can roll her R’s then why can’t they (they too of African descent)?  Dove writes, “God knows his mother was no stupid woman; she could roll an R like a queen” (line 58).  By saying this, he is justifying the killing that he is doing.  In the speaking of these words, I noticed that it gives the end of the poem an angry feeling.  I would not have as full of an understanding from when simply reading Dove’s poem, “Parsley,” as I do from hearing the words read aloud and expressed through human emotion.