Lear Reflective Blog Post

Recently in my English class, the topic of the dichotomy between King Lear and Edmund was presented.  The topic proposed that Lear and Edmund were polar opposites; like fire to water.  Lear was presented as a lovable, caring man who brought about his downfall - despite his kind disposition.  Edmund was shown in a much harsher light.  Cold, bitter, and utterly remorseful, Edmund was displayed as the South to Lear's North.  Now I do not entirely agree with these statements.  Albeit, they do have some truth to them.  Edmund is considerably bitter towards his father, brother, and society's social norms in general.  Lear, conversely, is much more emotional and well liked by his underlings.  However I do not agree with the statement that the two are polar opposites.  In fact they share one major factor in common: they are both pitiful.  Yes, throughout the story all I felt for the both of them was pity.  Lear - who ultimately destroyed himself -  was too caught up in appearances to recognize the deceit in his daughters' words.  Edmund, however, was caught up in justice.  All he wanted was to be rightfully recognized as the son of a nobleman, regardless of his parents' martial statuses.  He wanted a better life for himself, something everyone world wide can relate too.  Both were caught up in circumstances they themselves weren't prepared for.  They also were not entirely at fault for their problems.  Lear was greatly manipulated by Regan and Goneril, who made his life a living hell.  Edmund did trick his father and betray his brother, but he was not prepared for Cornwall's brutality or his father's torture.  Towards the end of the play as well, Edmund was caught up between Regan and Goneril's fight and did not mean to cause their deaths.  However he was entirely responsible for the death of Cordelia and indirectly, to Lear's own death.  Now there was a claim made that Lear was lovable in the piece that was read in class.  I could not disagree more with this.  I saw Lear as nothing more than a baby with gray hair.  Because the one thing he truly loved in this world was honest with him he threw a hissy fit.  In fact his tantrum was no different from the ones my sister makes when my mother tells her that she cannot go shoe shopping.  He didn't get what he wanted, so he got angry and made everyone else pay.  That's not lovable, that's pathetic.  While he was dearly loved by both Kent and Cordelia, I saw no reason to love the deluded, pathetic protagonist of this story.  All I saw was the corruption of appearances and another example of arrogance leading to the demise of one society proclaimed to be "great."  No Edmund was not evil, bitter yes, but not evil.  No Lear was not good, loved yes, not good. I felt that both were given labels that didn't truly match their personalities.  Had they statement called them sad of pitiful, this reflection would have taken an entirely different tone.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog Post Number Five

PART IV

Coming back stronger than ever, McMurphy plans a prison break.  Utilizing the lack of night time security and his two prostitute friends, McMurphy bribes the night watch and brings his two accomplices into the ward with enough booze to get Ireland drunk.  Reveling in McMurphy’s accomplishment, the ward members party hardy.  Billy, now having seen Candy twice implores McMurphy for some time with her.  Enthused at Billy’s request, McMurphy obliges and sets Candy and Billy up in one of the cells together and they proceed to bang.  Meanwhile, McMurphy falls asleep and is awoken by the sound of Nurse Ratched coming into the ward.  Furious, Nurse Ratched has her underlings scour the hospital for Billy only to find him naked in a bed with Candy.  Initially confident in his actions, Billy becomes distressed when Nurse Ratched threatens to tell his mother.  Distraught, Billy leaves the seen to head to a cell, where he slices his own throat.  Nurse Ratched blames McMurphy, who in a fit of rage, assaults her - ripping off her clothes and choking her.  Subdued by the security guards, McMurphy is hauled away.  Some time later, Nurse Ratched is no longer in charge of the ward as McMurphy took her ability to speak away, and thus her ability to control.  Returned to the ward as a lobotomized vegetable, McMurphy is set free from his vegetative state from Chief who smothers him with a pillow as an act of mercy.  Feeling as big as a mountain, Chief rips the shower control station from the ground and throws it at the window, creating a huge hole from which he escapes into the outside world.  

Undoubtedly the most powerful ending to any book I’ve ever read.  This ending clearly demonstrates the concept of sacrifice - with McMurphy essentially sacrificing his life for the well being of the other inmates. He won.  He fought the good fight and ran the great race, all while beating Nurse Ratched to the finish line.  An incredible feat of will, McMurphy’s act bring memories of Frodo to the surface - a seemingly insignificant whelp who helps spur and drive a force against incomprehensible odds. McMurphy’s struggle is no different that of the American Revolution and shares stark similarities with the lives of the common teenager and their ongoing rebellion against their tyrannical birth givers. This story is a powerful classic, and rightly so.  It’s unexpected climax and  fun delivery of such a strong message will keep this book in the annals of history.  An imperfect hero, a controlling villain, and a sense of hope inspired by every page makes this book the best I’ve ever read.  

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog Post Number 4

PART III

The smell of rebellion mires the air once again!  McMurphy continues to solidify his relationship with Chief Bromden as they begin to converse for the first time.  McMurphy begins to empathise with the Chief’s position of solitude.  He regales the Chief of a story of when he was an ignored child and decided to be  silent in order to hear all that was around him.  When he was silent, he was invisible.  Using his invisibility to gain knowledge and leverage of those around him, McMurphy unleashed his knowledge and leverage in a wave of strife, discourse, and havoc.  Initially in utter disbelief that someone so small could cause so much damage, the Chief begins to see that one the size of an ant can do great things as long as the feel like they are the size of mountains.  McMurphy begins to organize a fishing trip and enlists all available inmates to accompany them.  Using his two  “Aunts” (in reality prostitutes) for transportation, McMurphy obtains approval from the executives of the ward. On the day of however, only one of his “Aunts” arrive with one car.  Nurse Ratched declares the lack of two cars to be unacceptable for transporting the group.  Quick to counter, McMurphy invited one of the ward’s doctors (a huge fishing aficionado) to join them.  Taking his car as well, the group heads off to the local harbor where they quickly “borrow” a boat from an unaware dock master.  Heading out to the deep sea to go fishing and get drunk, the men (Billy in particular) are entranced by Candy Starr’s (the prostitute) femininity and beauty.  Being the caring guy that he is, McMurphy arranges a date for Billy so that he may try to court Candy.  Returning to the mainland, the men of the ward are happy and in high spirits, except for McMurphy who has a terrible case of nostalgia once they drive past his old house.  

Undoubtedly comical, this section of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest brings smiles back upon the readers’ faces.  McMurphy is back in the fight and he’s in it to win it.  The book inspires the innate sense of rebellion that lies dormant in every human being.  McMurphy resurfaces old memories of Tom Sawyer, albeit he is not as selfish.  Both share a distinct love for mischief, are capable leaders, and a strong sense of willpower.  McMurphy, while selfish in his own right, does not use people as much for his own goals.  Instead he endeavors to inspire his followers to continue his work once he has left. This dichotomy between to the characters really shines forth in this section of the book.  

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog Post Number Three

PART II

Chief Bromden begins to become more suspicious that Nurse Ratched in catching on to the antics occurring around the ward. During a staff meeting that Chief eavesdrops on one member makes a statement about McMurphy that he isn’t actually mentally ill, and is in fact faking the entire thing. Despite its correctness, the notion isn’t entertained by the staff who is too concerned with fixing his mental status. The powers that be in the hospital conclude that McMurphy is to stay under the stewardship of Nurse Ratched and is not to be sent to disturbed.  Later, McMurphy learns that his release date is not set and that his stay at the hospital is utterly dependent upon the judgement of Nurse Ratched.  With this in mind, McMurphy starts to become more compliant and obedient to Nurse Ratched’s rules.

Disappointment would be the best word to describe this section.  McMurphy should continue the fight, if for nothing else than out of spite.  Don’t give in, don’t give up.  He was winning!  Now he has become not much more than a dog on a leash.  I relate his subordination to that of my own when my parent’s put my balls in a vice by saying I do what they tell me or I don’t get to drive my car.  And when they pull that card, I stick my nose in their face and say “the keys are in my nightstand drawer.”  This kind of subordination is incomprehensible to me.  What if Katniss had simply laid down when the Capitol submitted their demands? No, if the authority is unjust in your mind, it is your duty to rebel, if for nothing more than self satisfaction.  

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog Post Number 2

PART I B

Begin the Revolution!! McMurphy begins his endeavor to drive Nurse Ratched of the cliff of sanity and into the sprawling land of insanity below her.  With the World Series beginning, McMurphy attacks nurse Ratched’s schedule by insisting the ward be able to watch the games. Nurse Ratched, not inclined to let McMurphy have his way, makes a compromise by putting the idea to vote.  Unfortunately, the vote is shot down when nurse Ratched tells McMurphy that in order to have the majority required to win, at least one of the incoherent chronics must also be in favor. With no evidence of even making communication to the other inmates, McMurphy finally seeks out Bromden and gets him to raise his hand, winning the majority. Beaten but not done, in Nurse Ratched insists that the vote was finished by the time Bromden raised his hand.  Infuriating to  McMurphy, goes to the TV to watch the game. Despite the TV being off, the fellow inmates gather around the TV to watch the game. Unable to cope with this act of insubordination, Nurse Ratched loses her temper in front of all her patients. McMurphy won the battle, but the war has just begun.  

Satisfying would be the one word to describe this part of the book.  To see Nurse Ratched lose herself in front of the inmates makes McMurphy seem to be the most powerful person in the ward.  This kind of rebellion is reminiscent of Achilles in the Iliad going against the great king Agamemnon.  While Agamemnon (Nurse Ratched) is the de jure leader, everyone knows that Achilles (McMurphy) is the true muscle behind the leadership.  His rebellion resonates with me as all unkind authority is resisted by me, and some authority is resisted just to see the leader squirm with the problems at hand.  

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest Blog Post Number One

PART I A

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest begins with narration from the silent observer, Chief Bromden.  Chief is an inmate of a mental hospital and while he is tormented by constant paranoia, he has a profound understanding of the inner workings of the mental hospital. Having the staff believe him to be deaf, Chief is privy to private information of the staff that they share around him.  After some introductory paragraphs, Chief brings Randall McMurphy - the ecstatic new inmate - to center stage. McMurphy was sent to the institution after he claimed insanity, however the real reason was his unwillingness to work in a prison labor camp. Charismatic and charming, McMurphy soon gains the trust of the inmates by engaging in gambling and other games with them.  In an effort to gain more acceptance, McMurphy bets the inmates that he could drive Nurse Ratched (the head nurse) out of her mind.  A strict, rule oriented woman, Nurse Ratched demands compliance and subordination, something McMurphy cannot and will not do.  

The book begins with an interesting beginning.  Kesey’s character Chief seems to be such a leveled character, most likely with a troubled past.  Nurse Ratched resurfaces old memories of Big Brother from 1984 or Sauron; rule with an iron fist and control all that lays before them, because I believe that I am better.  Excitement spills into me as my imagination runs rampant with ideas of what McMurphy will plague Nurse Ratched’s controlled environment with.  

The Right Stuff

Arguably the greatest American achievement, and certainly the greatest achievement of the last century, the conquest of gravity, our expedition into the Final Frontier, and our moon landing set us apart from the rest of the world throughout all of history.  The Heavens were finally put on an equal stage with the Earth.  However, space was not so easily reached.  It took more than just the Wright Brothers' endeavors in Kitty Hawk or Chuck Yeager's domination of the Sound barrier to pop space's cherry.  It was the collaboration of great minds and men; of science and state; of ambition and ability.  While not the first to suckle at space's teat, we were the ones who finally bedded the fair maiden with Neil Armstrong's fateful first steps onto the moon.  While certainly the most famous of our expeditions, Neil's (rest in peace) was not the first.  The Right Stuff, written by Tom Wolfe is the compelling story of the men that preceded Armstrong and Aldrin and what they went through to place the Apollo 11 mission in the annals of human accomplishment.  This book spins the tale of men such as John Glenn and Alan Shepard and other astronauts whose trials in entering space led to America's victory in the Space Race.

Tom Wolfe is no scientist and he makes that perfectly clear in his book.  The book isn't about the physics behind space and getting into space.  It's about the Space Race and the lives of the men behind it.  The book was published in 1979, ten years after the initial moon landing.  During a time of strife in America  Stagflation had our economy in a vice and the cold war had now been dragging on for over 30 years.  Morale was down after a devastating defeat in Vietnam and increased foreign engagement in Afghanistan.  Nuclear tensions, while not at a record high, were enough to convince the populace that the end could really be nigh.  Wolfe inspires a sense of hope in his book by appealing with bathos.  Reminding people that America hadn't lost its greatness, Wolfe uses the trials that these men faced as a lesson of what to do when combating the impossible and the strange.  Utilizing first hand information gained from interviews with Chuck Yeager and others, Wolfe crafts a book that ties in the politics and the humanity behind the decisions made in the this saga.
The Right Stuff was written for the average American, to show them that any ordinary man can become extraordinary in the right circumstances.  Inspiring in tone, the book compels readers to follow their childish dreams of one day becoming an astronaut.  Truly a delight to read, The Right Stuff fulfilled its purpose, to inspire and to teach so that one day the reader can do something great.  This book fully earns its ten dead cosmonauts out of ten dead cosmonauts rating.  Anyone who wants a revitalization of American spirit should read this book.