Hopeless romantic servant boy saves the day!

I have worked in the castle since I was a little boy. My mom was the Queen’s favorite maid, so as soon as I could work, I became a part of the castles work force. I worked my way up to become one of the Kings best servants. I have always done everything to the best of my abilities, but I am quite aware of my fatal flaw. I am hopelessly and endlessly in love with the princess. She is the most beautiful, compassionate, and kind person that I have ever met. That is why I did what I did.

I was attending to the King, as usual, and he called in his three daughters. I thought nothing of it at the time, I was just excited to see Victoria. The moment they walked in the room changed, everywhere she goes, the room lights up with this happiness. Don’t get me wrong, the other princesses are ok, they’re just a little, well honestly they are self-absorbed and rude. When they came in the king had them sit, he said,

“I have decided to split my kingdom, and for whom ever loves me the most, I will give the largest piece”

I pretended to keep to myself, but I knew in my mind that Victoria would win because there has never been a more loving person. The oldest sister went first and said that she loved him more than all of the money and riches in the world. The King seemed to be quite content with this answer. He moved on to the second daughter, she proceeded to say that she loved him more than all of the gowns and jewelry in the kingdom. When it got to Victoria, I couldn’t help but stare. She looked up gently and smile at her father. She said with a clear and sweet voice,

“I love you more than salt father.”

I almost jumped out of my skin. Why would she say that? She should know that her father would be outraged about a comment like that, but I had to keep my place, so as he yelled and raised fury I devised a plan of how to help. He had come to me and told me to take her to the forest and kill her. But how could I do that? I decided that I would get one of mother’s old mouseskin cloaks and take her to the forest as he said, but I was never going to kill her.

We got to the forest and I took out the cloak. She didn’t plead and didn’t cry, as if she knew that there was no terrible fate for her. I handed her the mouseskin and she looked me straight in the eye and said,

“ I owe you my life. But I still need your help.”

So of course I enlisted into her plan. First, she disguised herself using the mouseskin, and we snuck back into the castle. Then, we headed straight for the kitchen and she started rummaging through the pantry. I tried to keep watch but I had no idea what she was doing. She caught me staring and told me to help her get rid of all of the salt.

It all suddenly clicked, and we took all of the salt and hid it in the shed at the back of the castle. At dinner we stood by the door and listened. The king was outraged with how terrible everything was tasting. Victoria looked at me and smiled. She grabbed my hand and we started to run. Once we got far enough away from the castle, I asked her why she didn’t confront her father. She explained to me that she didn’t need to. He was never going to change. She then looked at me, and for a moment it was just her and me in this whole world. I wanted so badly to take her in my arms and kiss her, but who am I to kiss a princess. I looked away and started to turn back to the castle and she grabbed me and kissed me. And that is how I knew that I was going to spend the rest of my life chasing this complicated woman. She may have owed me her life, but I owe her my love.

Profit over Peace: A Guide to Colonialism

              In the beginning of our twelve month expedition, we were fuelled by our want to win; However, I was very sure that I wanted to take the peaceful route and be as kind as possible to the natives. Kylie and I decided that we were going to only push the natives when necessary, but Tristam wasn’t on board with that idea. When we would hit a rough patch, early on, Tristam was very forward with the idea that we should push the natives for resources but Kylie and I fought for peace.There was a lot of conflict between Tristam and I, because we were both very strong in our opinions, and even though I am a lamb  and he is a lion, he gave into my strive for peace. This did not last long because I had to face the reality of the situation, if we wanted to win, we needed to assert our dominance and use our hostility. 

 As the game went on, Kylie and I had to surrender our idea of peace, because we were scrambling to stay alive. We started pushing the natives more for resources so that we could stay alive, which was not the my intentions from the start. We got greedy. We were no longer being hostile to the natives because it was life or death, we were doing it because we wanted to win and have the most profit. By the end we had plentiful resources and we were alive, but there was definitely major hostility with the natives. I am not proud of the way I gave in, because I was sure that we would be able to get through with peace and kindness.

              This card challenge was very eye opening about colonialism. I very much view myself as a kind person, and I didn’t think that I would sacrifice their well being for me to profit, but alas, I did. It shows that the pressure of the situation, not wanting to die, and the pressure of your peers, Tristam, can really alter your motives. I wanted to start of creating a relationship with the natives, rather than adding all of this hostility that wasn’t necessary.

              Often we read books like Things Fall Apart and we are appalled by the actions that settlers take, but this card game has shown me that we would act the exact same way if put into that position. Even people like me and Kylie, who genuinely want to be as peaceful as possible, succumb to the want to win and be plentiful.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, but there is no sorrow in Hollywood

Chapter 6: When in doubt, It's from Shakespeare

As an avid theater nerd, I live, breathe, and bleed Shakespeare. I have grown up knowing that he is this genius playwright that he is both serious and playful at the same time (two of the most important parts of a play.) I also really respect Shakespeare because, as a playwright, a lot of the things I know about the shape of a play, comes from him. I agree with Fosters assertions about how other authors use Shakespeare to create works of their own. Often when I am reading or watching a film and I recognize the story, I see more concrete details that I didn’t realize before, and it helps me understand the theme and idea of the plot.

               Ever since we read Romeo and Juliet in Mrs. Gay’s class, freshman year, I fell in love with it. Granted, I was a sappy hormonal 14 year old girl who loved love. However, what I really fell in love with was the despair and sadness. Ok… I promise I am not a weirdo and I know that a lot of girls my age do not like Romeo and Juliet because of that. What makes me upset is that there are so many renditions of Romeo and Juliet out there that depict a happy ending taking a twist on the actual story. This is wrong. Romeo and Juliet’s love is supposed to be eternal, and Shakespeare showed that by having the love die with them. To me, that is one of the most important plot choices within the play and no one ever honors that.

               One movie that I saw a while ago was Warm Bodies, it is so funny how they adapted this classic love story into an apocalyptic zombie movie. It’s about this zombie guy that falls in love with a human girl( hint hint star crossed lovers) and they change the world. It is different from the original because it ends happily. It is almost backwards because the Romeo character is technically dead (zombie) until he meets his Juliet and it brings him back to life.

              Another cute, but not so accurate spin off is Gnomeo and Juliet. It is way less sad than the original because it is a children’s movie. Essentially, two lawn gnomes from different lawns fall in love and it is forbidden. They seek love anyway and it’s happily ever after for them. It is not my favorite adaptation but if I’m babysitting it’s a cute thing to watch with children.

              I am still waiting for a good, sad adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and maybe if it doesn’t happen, then I will go out and write it myself. I think it is really important to recognize that a lot of authors use Shakespeare’s ideas in their own bodies of work and I think it is equally important to recognize that the changes within the story are significant to how it will be portrayed. For example, taking a tragedy like Romeo and Juliet, and turning it into a sappy little love story with a happy ending.

Can Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy make you a bad person?

              In chapter 23 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster brings the reader’s attention to heart disease. Never did I ever think that a character with an illness that specific would be a symbol for loneliness or cruelty, or that broken hearted isn’t just a metaphor. However, I began to think back to characters with heart disease and their personalities and I realized that this chapter has some truth in it.

              Throughout the summer I have been watching a popular show on Netflix, One Tree Hill. Here’s a quick background of the overly full plot of this show. The two main characters, Nathan and Lucas Scott, are both sons of the well-known car salesman, Dan Scott. The big dramatic conflict of the show (a large joke because this show is drama all the time) is that Dan got two girls pregnant at the same time in high school and only decided to be a father to one of the sons. Fast forward 17 years, then we have both sons playing basketball for the same high school, and Dan is in a bit of a dilemma.

              The reason that Dan is closely linked to this chapter of How to Read Literature Like a Professor is because he is diagnosed with HCM, a deadly heart disease that could eventually kill him. Dan is not a good guy, if you couldn’t tell from his absent fatherhood. He pressures Nathan, the son he did raise, which eventually leads Nathan to overdose on performance enhancers. He shoots his brother and kills him. He threatens to kill his wife. Dan really does everything possible to be a bad guy and everyone hates him.  Foster tells us that the heart isn’t only the organ that is most important to keeping us alive, but that it represents the center of emotions.  Dan Scott’s failing heart is both killing him and showing us that he fails at connecting with people because he doesn’t care about other people’s feelings. His cruelty is evident to both everyone around him and all of the viewers of the show.

              A big thing that stumped me about this whole heart disease equals bad guy idea, is that later in the show, Lucas Scott, the other son, is also diagnosed with HCM and he is overall a good guy. Lucas, during the entire series, is stuck between loving two girls (who happen to be best friends.) He does some bad things in-between his loves and often ends up alone. What I have realized about this is that Dan Scott is heartless and Lucas Scott is just simply heart broken.

              Foster explains that heart disease is a symbol of cruelty and disloyalty, both of which explain Dan Scott. His lack of love for his family is reflected in his lack of health. Dan Scott may not die from his heart disease but all of the relationships around him do.  With HCM, Dan can choose how to live his life and sustain his heath, just as he has a choice of how to treat those around him, which creates a large difference between him and Lucas. He isn’t completely heartless but he sure is close.

Chapter 2: Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion

       As I started reading the assigned book for this class I have realized one very important thing, everything is not exactly what it seems. Often this means it is a symbol: the main character is the knight who will save the day, a trip is a quest, or the meal is a meaning of peace. Foster's second chapter is all about how in literature, many meals are a related to communion. He makes sure that by communion, he doesn't mean technically the Christian idea, but the idea of sharing and peace.

       As I read this chapter the first book to pop into my mind was the classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The main character Scout Finch is a young girl, symbolizing innocence, and at times she can be very ignorant. Once at school there was a very poor boy that didn't bring lunch to school and the teacher tries to offer him money, saying he can pay her back later. Scout jumps in saying he wouldn't pay her back because he's poor, getting Scout into trouble. Later, when she's mad, she bullies him for getting him in trouble, but her brother Jem steps in to offer Walter dinner at the Finch house. At the dinner, Scout is very rude to Walter, therefore she is scolded for her behavior and sent back to the table. This meal is very much like a communion because it opens Scouts eyes to the world, rather than keeping her concealed in her own ignorance. An important factor to this communion is the people surrounding Scout and that even though she is very strict minded and childish, everyone else is sharing and conforming to the needs of others, providing a good moral background for scout to grow up with. 

       Another, not so classic, novel, The Fault in Our Stars, has a very iconic love dinner scene. Basically two cancer riddled star crossed teens, Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, fly to Amsterdam to meet their favorite author,and they are treated to a beautiful dinner date. At this date they talk about life and death a lot and sort of question reality. I think that this is very similar to what foster says about communion, "a communion not of death but of what comes before. Of life." Of course, death is a very scary thing to these two teenagers, but they spend this night sharing their dreams and fears, living life instead of testing it. Their communion is all about sharing their love, rather than saying goodbye. 

       What I have learned from this chapter is that a meal is not just eating some grub just like every other night, it provides a theme for the book and the relationships with in it. The reason, as foster says, that a meal is a communion is because it's a gathering of peace and community, and it shows that even just one meal can bring people together. May it be The Finches and Walter Cunningham or Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, a meal is important.