The Shawl

In Ozick's "The Shawl,"  the shawl is considered "a magic shawl."  How is it magical?  In what ways does it nourish?


I believe that the shawl is considered magical because it somehow kept Magda, the small child/baby, alive without much food or water. Somehow, it tasted like nuts and Magda would gnaw on it all day. Her mom, Rosa, was mystified by this and the shawl never left Magda. Until one day, Rosa's niece Stella steals the shawl because she is cold. When Magda cannot find it, she screams until a Nazi guard throws her into the electric fence and she dies. To make herself feel better, Rosa then sucks on the shawl trying to get the same magic nourishment that Magda did. Except Rosa needs hope and a reason to live.

Are there ways to celebrate the human spirit and the strength of humans based on Ozick's text?
Yes. The Shawl highlights the human spirit's ability to stay strong and adapt even in cases of enormous hardship.  Humans will do many things to survive.

The Fly

Though this story was one of the shortest so far, I found it had deep emotional depth. There are many different interpretations of what the fly and the boss are! I hope everyone liked our presentation today. Here is a summary of our theories:
1. Fly = Katherine Mansfield
Boss = God/ Fate
In this theory, it is argued that Mansfield is writing this story about herself. She's angry with how the world has been pushing her down when she struggles to live. After the war killed her brother, she became especially disillusioned with God/fate and feels like no matter how hard she tries, she will just die in thee end. After finishing this story, Mansfield passed away form tuberculosis.

2. Fly = Europe
Boss = War
In this one, Europe is the fly slowly but brutally being destroyed by the war, who is the boss in the story. Mansfield HATED the war because it killed her brother and other family members. Also, at the end of the story when the boss forgets what he was thinking about before the fly, it could be showing that the heroes who died fighting have been forgotten too.

Serrano's question: "Although the story “The Fly” never overtly mentions World War I, make a list of details which indicate that the story is related to WW I and takes place shortly thereafter."

"to the photograph over the table of a grave-looking boy in uniform... It had been there for over six years."  
"The girls were in Belgium last week having a look at poor Reggie's grave, and they happened to come across your boy's."
"There's miles of (graves)."
Although over six years had passed away, the boss never thought of the boy except as lying unchanged, unblemished in his uniform, asleep for ever."

 " The boy had been in the office learning the ropes for a year before the war."

The story references "the war" and "graves" and "six years" and "Belgium." When Mansfield was alive, there was one war that killed more than all the others. It was called The Great War until WWII and it changed the make-up of Europe. It took place in Europe, where Belgium is located, and many mass grave sites were placed throughout the continent. 

Joyce's "The Dead"

To me, I think Joyce is trying to get across in the story that without passion and love, you are "dead." There is no meaning or hope in your life that you get up for in the morning. Because Michael died for his first love Greta, he is actually more alive than anyone else in the story. The others just go through life without really finding something worth dying for. Then you are truly living.

1. There are many references to the dead.
Page 1946- Kate and Julia's brother Pat
Page 1971- Michael Furey
Page 1973- Aunt Julia
1948- Gabriel's mom Ellen
1961- Monks who sleep in a coffin
1963- Gabriel's speech
1966- Sad Irish song that Michael sang about a drowning mother and her child

2. The names Michael and Gabriel are also archangels. In the story, Michael was Greta's(Gabriel's wife) very first love. He died visiting her in the rain right before she left and she was broken hearted. Gabriel just now found out about him when Greta got upset after hearing a song he used to sing. In the bible, Michael is the head archangel and Gabriel is subservient to him. This kinda shows that Greta will never feel the same way about Gabriel as she did Michael, because she never really got over him.

Slimy, Yet Satisfying- "The Metamorphosis"

I wonder what Simba would think about the story...

Though I found this story very strange, I understood what the author, Franz Kafka, was trying to get across. To me, he was stressing the value of human relationships, especially familial ones. At the beginning of the story, it mentions that Gregor really has personal friends outside of the home, and even at home he isn't very close with his family. To them, he is seen mostly as the provider. Of course, the family values his hard work and he is appreciated for it.

However, once Gregor turns into a bug, the family is frightened by him and eventually ignore him all together. Why? Because they no longer have any use for him. His role as the provider is gone, and his sister Greta has stepped in to take his place. When Gregor was in his human body, HE was the one who his family depended on, and Greta stayed out of the spotlight. Yet, at the end of the story it's the parents asking GRETA what she thinks about things and letting her take charge.

Which leads me to pose this next question- Is the "Metamorphosis" mentioned in Kafka's title also referring to Greta, not just Gregor? I think you could argue that it's possible.

Oh, hey brother. Want some rotten cheese?

Now the best evidence for this theory is a quotation from the end of the story, on page 2030 in our books:

"As they were conversing, both Mr. and Mrs. Samsa, upon seeing the daughter becoming more and more vivacious, realized almost in unison that lately, despite all the sorrows that had left her cheeks pale, she had blossomed into a lovely and shapely girl." 

I did not even consider Greta being referred to in the title until Dr. Serrano made a comment about how that sentence provokes imagery of a butterfly coming out of its cocoon to her. No one else really mentioned any agreement, so she carried on the conversation about a different topic. Yet I could not get that thought out of my mind. It makes sense. Greta seems to be as important of a character as Gregor, for it is her transformation of how she views her new hairy legged brother that is a major part of the story. The following days after Gregor wakes up as an insect, Greta really cares for her brother and gives him special attention. However this soon wares off, and she suggests to her mom that they move the furniture out of his room so he can climb up the walls more easily. Her mom thinks on page 2016 that:

"It would be best if we tried to keep the room just as it was, so that when Gregor comes back to us he will find that nothing's been changed and it will be much easier for him to forget what happened."

Yet Greta sees no use in this because Gregor does absolutely nothing with the furniture. This is when Greta starts to first see Gregor as nonhuman and loses hope that he will return. One of the most pivotal remarks of Greta's is when she tell her father this on page 2027:

"You simply have to try and get rid of hte idea that it is Gregor. Our real misfortune is that we believed it for such a long time. Just how can that possible be Gregor? If that were Gregor, he would've realized long that human beings can't possibly live with such an animal, and he would've left of his own accord...Instead, this animal harries us..."

This is the final step in Greta turning into who she is at the end of the story. She no longer sees him as a human, and her parents listen to her calling her own brother an animal and agreeing that he needs to die. Greta believes that for the family to move on and go back to the normal life they once had, Gregor must die, placing her at the head of the family. He parents are already planning on finding her a "decent husband" (page 2030) so that they can mooch off her until the end of their days.

Therefore, though Greta has blossomed into a young woman with the world ahead of her, really, she has only swapped places with Gregor. Her future may look bright, in the long run, will she just turn out like her brother? Going through the motions of life, but not really making a mark? Putting family obligations over self-happiness?
I hope that Greta has learned enough from the pathetic life of her brother not to make the same mistakes. If so, then she really has metamorphosed into a butterfly. If not, then she could meet the same end as Gregor and metamorphosis into a big, ugly insect.

Vanity Post

I'm Isabella.
Freshman.
From Waco, Texas (and no I didn't want to go to Baylor haha).
Pre-Major.
I sit on the front row in class.
Usually my hair is in a hairband because I'm super lazy.
I love eating sweets, watching movies, going to concerts and hanging out with friends. 

Hopefully this helps put a name to my face!