"The Persistence of Desire" by John Updike. pg 560
pg 561. "On the sidewalk, haltered girls identical in all but name with girls he had known strolled past in twos and threes."
This quote shows as well as much of the story shows that not much has changed in the small town he had lived in. The people were still the same. Different people but they still acted the same as the people he knew when he was young. It is a small town so not much goes on. The doctor is still the same, the people are still the same. The linoleum on the floor was still the same and smelled the same.
pg 570. "...he believed he could make out her handwriting - slanted, open, unoriginal - familiar to him from other notes received long ago. This glimpse, through the skin of the paper, of her plain self quickened and sweetened his desire more than touching her hand."
This again touches on the theme of unthinkingness. Everything is the same. His feelings for Janet haven't changed even though they are both married and living ther own separate lives. Persistence means the prolonged existence of and this defiantly describes Clyde's feelings for Janet. His desire for her has not changed since when they were in love. This notes that she has given him brings him back to the time of their love and makes him want it again even more. He loves even just the sight of her handwriting and the comfort in recognizing it.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
3/28/07
The Swimmer by John Cheever
Quote1:
"We've been terrebly sorry to hear about all your misfortunes, Neddy"
"My misfortunes?" Ned asked. "I don't know what you mean."
"Why, we heard that you'd sold the house and that your poor children........"
" I don't recall having sold the house." Ned said. "and the girls are at home."
"Yes," Mrs. Halloran sighed. "Yes....."
Ned is swimming across the county to what he bevies is his house. This quote implies that something bad has happened in his life and maybe his delusions have something to do with this. Trauma may have caused him to forget or maybe he wanted to forget. Maybe he is drunk and cant remember what has happened. He believes that he still has his house and that his daughters are in that house. I don't know where his wife if, he seems to still love her and still think that they are together and in their house. Mrs. Halloran knows what has happened to him but realizes that he doesn't remember such incidents.
Quote 2:
"It was probably the frist time in his adult life that he had ever cried, certinly the first time in his life that he ever felt so miserable, cold, tierd, and bewildered."
This is a very sad quote. I think that he is starting to realize that something is wrong. People are treating him differently and he realizes something has changed. I don't think that he realized his house and family are gone. It's very sad that his life has taken such a bad turn and that he doesn't even though that it has happened. I feel bad for this character because he is so scared and sad and alone. He doesn't even know why he feels this way either or what is wrong in his life.
Quote1:
"We've been terrebly sorry to hear about all your misfortunes, Neddy"
"My misfortunes?" Ned asked. "I don't know what you mean."
"Why, we heard that you'd sold the house and that your poor children........"
" I don't recall having sold the house." Ned said. "and the girls are at home."
"Yes," Mrs. Halloran sighed. "Yes....."
Ned is swimming across the county to what he bevies is his house. This quote implies that something bad has happened in his life and maybe his delusions have something to do with this. Trauma may have caused him to forget or maybe he wanted to forget. Maybe he is drunk and cant remember what has happened. He believes that he still has his house and that his daughters are in that house. I don't know where his wife if, he seems to still love her and still think that they are together and in their house. Mrs. Halloran knows what has happened to him but realizes that he doesn't remember such incidents.
Quote 2:
"It was probably the frist time in his adult life that he had ever cried, certinly the first time in his life that he ever felt so miserable, cold, tierd, and bewildered."
This is a very sad quote. I think that he is starting to realize that something is wrong. People are treating him differently and he realizes something has changed. I don't think that he realized his house and family are gone. It's very sad that his life has taken such a bad turn and that he doesn't even though that it has happened. I feel bad for this character because he is so scared and sad and alone. He doesn't even know why he feels this way either or what is wrong in his life.
3/37/06
Quote: "I thought suddenly of the neglected graves of my three brothers on the mountainside and that death is a loneliness much crueler than any loneliness hinted at in life."
The narrator believes that your soul stays with your body alone in your grave. He believes that they stay there alone with no one and they only thing they have are the care taken of their grave. He hasn't visited or care for his brothers graves. He belies that it is very very lonely and much much worse then being alive. He said that your sole stays with you for all the decomposing of your body. I find this a little creepy and very negative. When most people think of the after life of a good person they think heaven and happiness and a better place. This man thinks it is horrible. This man has a clear phobia of death implied by his visions of people in his family dying in not very pleasant ways.
The narrator believes that your soul stays with your body alone in your grave. He believes that they stay there alone with no one and they only thing they have are the care taken of their grave. He hasn't visited or care for his brothers graves. He belies that it is very very lonely and much much worse then being alive. He said that your sole stays with you for all the decomposing of your body. I find this a little creepy and very negative. When most people think of the after life of a good person they think heaven and happiness and a better place. This man thinks it is horrible. This man has a clear phobia of death implied by his visions of people in his family dying in not very pleasant ways.
Monday, March 26, 2007
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