Reader Response Cat's Cradle

A)
I believe that cats cradle serves as a useful message much more than a positive one. In both the speech and in the book, Vonnegut mentions how everyone is sure to die (machine guns that spray death and ice nine) its just how you go about your life that matters. It is not a positive message because Vonnegut is not meaning to convey that life short, he is conveying that your life is probably going to suck but your death is going to suck worse. In Cats Cradle, he expresses, through Jonah, how little hope one could have.

Book 14 of Bokononism
What could a thoughtful man hope for Mankind given the experience of the past Million Years?
Nothing.

This expresses how hopeless Vonnegut sees mankind and the world, which is also expressed through his speech via statements such as

"I know that millions of dollars have been spent to produce this splendid graduating class, and that the main hope of your teachers was, once they got through with you, that you would no longer be superstitious. I'm sorry—I have to undo that now. I beg you to believe in the most ridiculous superstition of all: that humanity is at the center of the universe, the fulfiller or the frustrator of the grandest dreams of God Almighty.
If you can believe that, and make others believe it, then there might be hope for us. Human beings might stop treating each other like garbage, might begin to treasure and protect each other instead. Then it might be all right to have babies again."

B)
Rule #1:
Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

This rule refers to to author writing to the reader. Vonnegut's books tend to be quick reads, especially Cats Cradle. While this was an assignment so I HAD to read, I am glad I did. My time did not feel wasted in doing so. By writing in such an amicable manner, that draws the reader in, Vonnegut can get the story across easily and coherently, and the same goes for the themes in the book.

Rule #6

Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

Out of all 8 rules, this is the one that Vonnegut follows most closely. Even if the characters do not move on, survive, the reader still, through indirect characterization, gets a sense of their person. For example, when the old couple died with the falling bit of fortress, the faced it hand in hand, and we as readers knew that they were strong, and that they had accepted their fate. The use of this, throughout Cat's Cradle, he enhances the characterization and the plot. As awful things befalling the character assists in the plot, as well as the point that society is pretty much evil, vonneguts use of sadism is key to the book as a whole.

No Country for Old Men By: Cormac McCarthy Reflection

1) Now that you have finished the novel and had a chance to reflect, what do you think is the overall meaning of it? (If you had an AP prompt asking you to discuss "the meaning of the work as a whole", what sort of things would you write about?)

I believe that the overall meaning is that no matter what happens the earth keeps turning, and you can't control what happens to you. You can't change what happens to you, you just have to deal with it in anyway you can. For moss, he chose to take the money, and then couldn't change that they were after him and the money. Bell couldn't change that he had to run away from the enemy, and even if he wanted to. He couldn't change that night fell.

2) Discuss your thoughts on the ending -- Moss is dead, Bell retires, Chigurh is out there somewhere. Is there a sense of unfinished business? Is there any closure for the reader?
I think there is a closure for the reader. This is because the author leaves it to the reader to consider where they go in their lives. The conflict is no longer there, Moss is dead, Bell has retired, and Chigurh is on to the next job. I think that in their dispersement lies closure. You may not have a definite explanation, but there is enough information to know that this story has ended and Bell and Chigurh are on to different parts of their lives.

4) Give a one sentence response to how you feel about Chigurh at the end of the novel.

I feel Chigurh has mental issues and could reach a happiness if he got treated, however, there is no hope for this because of his crimes. Therefore I feel a sense of hopelessness, pity, and a tad of disgust towards him.

-Belle

Reflection on Fences By August Wilson

Men

Throughout the plays we have read in class, there have been significant male roles. The first being Willy Loman, the second being Torvald Helmer, and the last being Troy Maxson. Torvald is often the odd one out when comparing and contrasting these characters, as he is not equally incorporated into family life. While Troy and Willy both have huge impacts on their children and their lives. However, the biggest comparison that can be drawn between all three is their relationships with their wives. They all mistreated and betrayed their wives. Both Willy and Troy cheated on their wives, all three tried to control them. For example, Willy  wouldn’t let Linda do whatever she wanted, and Torvald completely controlled most everything in Nora’s life. Troy would try to control

Women

Linda, Nora, and Rose are the wives of the men in the plays we have read. All of them are very strong women, who are still suppressed in one way or another. They all become free of it in the end. Linda’s husband died, freeing her from his lying and depressed grasp; Rose’s husband Troy also died, but he still left her with a child not her own. Nora left her husband of her own accord, but in turn put herself in a terrible socioeconomic position. All of their husbands had been suppressing them, whether it be monetary control, lying, or cheating. 

The definition of independence is not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence. Nora was the most independent of them all, going off from her husband to lead her own life on her own money. However, in the more vernacular definition “free from outside control; not depending on another's authority.” Rose is the most independent of the wives. While she depends on Troy for income, she controls the output of the money in the family, and on what and when it is spent. She also refuses to take Troy’s crap. She tells him she will care for his bastard child, but will not be his woman. She is however his wife, but only in the eyes of the state and government, and the way he should treat her.