Upon analyzing these two quotes on can see their connection. The first quote can mean a glorification of self or to raise yourself higher than you were before. In some cases this can simply be bettering oneself yet here in, in this context, it is self-indulgent egotism and a quest only rooted in greed and avarice. Yet at the same time it can be one searching for the good in them, or searching for that answer or question to make it all seem right. Interpretation is a tricky thing.
The second quote deals with the question of whether one is doing something out of pure selfishness or for the greater good. We have to ask ourselves this whenever our desires grasp at our minds. It is also an allusion to the manner the knight sought after the grail simply to raise their own reputation and glorify themselves. Overall it seems these quotes point out that we all have to ask ourselves the questions that determine what type of grail quest we are on and even what we can learn from it all.
The simple cup without unnecessary exaltation and pleasantries prevails. Self-glorification, duty, honors, and maybe even for the greater good. Out of all the cups the simple one and the one that made sense prevailed, just as the simple lesson should be what prevails in the end of a grail quest. I believe all these quests stem from the single idea of self-improvement and understanding your own being.
Perceval needed to learn the knighthood he idolized rooted itself in wickedness, Persse needed to understand the truth about love, and Indy needed to understand his own desires and his relationship with those around him, especially his father.
There are several conclusions one can make as to why the Grail is “unattainable” and lost. One could say the sheer power of the Grail is too much for our minds, while another can say it isn’t the object that matters but the emotions and lessons. I would agree with the latter of the two. The Grail acts as a catalyst for the self. Each character learned from their respective quest and each character came out of their troubles a new person. So in the end the Grail is the divine in all of us. If we find it is up to our own devices and our own wits. In truth it is very much about the means, or the journey. It is there that we learn our lesson or our great truth, in which in most cases we will utilize and amplify for the ends. To sip from the holy cup of Christ is, in truth, to sip into ones own damaged soul and to correct the frayed edges of said spirit.
To conclude I would just say I will truthfully miss this class. I have thoroughly enjoyed the stories and adored the opportunity to blog and have my opinions and thoughts read. Thank you for a wonderful experience.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Small World Part Four
I’m sure we could all discuss the outcomes of each characters ends for pages but I’ll be brief. I enjoyed the ending of Arthur Kingfisher’s story. He regains his creative thinking and therefore sheds his impotency in the same way the Fisher King would have if Perceval asked those questions; Persse asked the question, the original thought Kingfisher yearned for to inspire his mind and restore his role as “king” of academia. I guess I don’t really have a question but rather would just like to have a discussion, a traditional blog post.
The whole ending, for most, as a reaction to Persse’s question was brilliant and excellent filled that gap left by Chrétien’s story; at least in my mind. The way the rejuvenated breeze blowing through New York City brought peace and ease to the mind of the “knights” we have read about and Arthur Kingfisher looked out over this new “kingdom” and simply states “Hey, how d’you like this? The air is like wine. Come over here and breath” to Song-Mi; these talented breezes sweep away the “knights” and it liberates them.
Another fascinating quality of Kingfisher’s end is the way Lodge introduces more of this theme of connected bloodlines. The way relatives seem to be spontaneously rejoined. We saw it in the maternal side of Perceval’s family and we see it here with Kingfisher and Mrs. Maiden being the biological parents of Lily and Angelica.
The whole ending, for most, as a reaction to Persse’s question was brilliant and excellent filled that gap left by Chrétien’s story; at least in my mind. The way the rejuvenated breeze blowing through New York City brought peace and ease to the mind of the “knights” we have read about and Arthur Kingfisher looked out over this new “kingdom” and simply states “Hey, how d’you like this? The air is like wine. Come over here and breath” to Song-Mi; these talented breezes sweep away the “knights” and it liberates them.
Another fascinating quality of Kingfisher’s end is the way Lodge introduces more of this theme of connected bloodlines. The way relatives seem to be spontaneously rejoined. We saw it in the maternal side of Perceval’s family and we see it here with Kingfisher and Mrs. Maiden being the biological parents of Lily and Angelica.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Small World Part Three (p 149-227)
Where can we find a parallel to Persse’s ventures to find Angela? How can we interpret these ventures?
The first parallel I concluded from my reading was to Perceval’s years in search of the grail and the bleeding lance in response to the old hag’s speech. We see Persse in search of something seemingly impossible; to find one person with little to no information. At this point in the text I find myself labeling every desire a character has as the Grail of the story. Almost as if the reader is meant to be searching for an invisible grail. Angelica. The UNESCO chair. Joy. A happy marriage. Whatever it is to whomever, it seems the grail can be translated into several entities of life. To me it seems evident that Angelica embodies Persse’s Grail.
She wanders through the streets of the world as elusively as she slinks through his mind. She carries the same mystery and elegance as the Grail as well as evasiveness. Perhaps Persse isn’t asking the right questions or pursuing the wrong actions. By the end he discovers she is a stripper and evidently a prostitute or some kind of showgirl. All the while he seemingly becomes less and less agitated, or more concealed in his unsettlement over the sin that engulfs his environment. We can see small yet still immature advancements in Persse’s character. All of which leads him to discovering her imaged as a prostitute and ultimately not what he envisions her.
This idea of the object we desire being unsettling upon arrival resonates in Medieval works such as Celestina and even Chrétien’s Grail Quest in which Perceval’s image of knighthood becomes contorted and almost sinful. Ultimately it seems Persse’s venture represent his desire for Angelica, but only in the light he wishes to see her; the innocent and almost helpless. Upon finding he cannot achieve this, instead of approaching her he decides to retire into isolation away form his most basic and primal desire. Yet before embarking on this new journey he states to the stewardess, “You gave me back my appetite for life” (p 208). A peculiar endnote reflecting the manner in which Philip Swallow spoke earlier with Morris Zapp. At this point, having not read ahead I feel like I am at the end of Perceval.
How are we to interpret these side-quests? Particularly Philip Swallows predicament.
These side-quests seem, to me, to represent each professor (or knights) search for their idea of the “holy grail” of the literary, or even their own, world. For example Zapp and the other professor yearning to fill the UNESCO seat represents their vision of this beyond real amazing ideal. It represents their desires and what culminates their achievements. It resembles the ultimate renown the knights yearn for by achieving this Grail quest, in the end it is ultimately masturbatory and a selfish act. Yet we see Philip Swallow diverge from this academic world of knighthood to a place of lust or perhaps love.
Swallow finds his life dull it seems, and at these points in the story he seems to simply settle for his life with Hilary; fueled only by the fire of memory and separate passion. He only begins to question it all upon his hollow visit to Turkey. This peak of his despair and mundane lifestyle burns and cinders to the ground by the fire of his’ discovery that Joy is alive. Then he sets forth on a venture of lust and one could conclude love with Joy. He discovers the child born from his loins and still his heart explodes with desire for a life with only Joy and their child. I find this entire scene although brilliantly written and just as interesting, odd in comparison to Phillip Swallows characterization in the beginning. This love affair is drenched in an aura of utter passion and lust for life. Yet the further I wrap my mind around this idea the more perfect it fits Swallow and his insatiable “appetite for life.” Although one can assume he would eventually grow just as bored with Joy as he did with Hilary, yet I find myself hoping against that conclusion. It is a strange and interesting situation.
At the end he chooses to not tell Hilary, although he clearly had intentions of expelling the situation to her and ultimately divorcing her. Perhaps time will tell the conclusion of their marriage or for the adventurous minded we can perhaps think that he is sparing her emotions form some deep-seated love he still feels for her. Of course, at this point and perhaps further, it is all speculation and interpretation, which is something different to each of us.
The first parallel I concluded from my reading was to Perceval’s years in search of the grail and the bleeding lance in response to the old hag’s speech. We see Persse in search of something seemingly impossible; to find one person with little to no information. At this point in the text I find myself labeling every desire a character has as the Grail of the story. Almost as if the reader is meant to be searching for an invisible grail. Angelica. The UNESCO chair. Joy. A happy marriage. Whatever it is to whomever, it seems the grail can be translated into several entities of life. To me it seems evident that Angelica embodies Persse’s Grail.
She wanders through the streets of the world as elusively as she slinks through his mind. She carries the same mystery and elegance as the Grail as well as evasiveness. Perhaps Persse isn’t asking the right questions or pursuing the wrong actions. By the end he discovers she is a stripper and evidently a prostitute or some kind of showgirl. All the while he seemingly becomes less and less agitated, or more concealed in his unsettlement over the sin that engulfs his environment. We can see small yet still immature advancements in Persse’s character. All of which leads him to discovering her imaged as a prostitute and ultimately not what he envisions her.
This idea of the object we desire being unsettling upon arrival resonates in Medieval works such as Celestina and even Chrétien’s Grail Quest in which Perceval’s image of knighthood becomes contorted and almost sinful. Ultimately it seems Persse’s venture represent his desire for Angelica, but only in the light he wishes to see her; the innocent and almost helpless. Upon finding he cannot achieve this, instead of approaching her he decides to retire into isolation away form his most basic and primal desire. Yet before embarking on this new journey he states to the stewardess, “You gave me back my appetite for life” (p 208). A peculiar endnote reflecting the manner in which Philip Swallow spoke earlier with Morris Zapp. At this point, having not read ahead I feel like I am at the end of Perceval.
How are we to interpret these side-quests? Particularly Philip Swallows predicament.
These side-quests seem, to me, to represent each professor (or knights) search for their idea of the “holy grail” of the literary, or even their own, world. For example Zapp and the other professor yearning to fill the UNESCO seat represents their vision of this beyond real amazing ideal. It represents their desires and what culminates their achievements. It resembles the ultimate renown the knights yearn for by achieving this Grail quest, in the end it is ultimately masturbatory and a selfish act. Yet we see Philip Swallow diverge from this academic world of knighthood to a place of lust or perhaps love.
Swallow finds his life dull it seems, and at these points in the story he seems to simply settle for his life with Hilary; fueled only by the fire of memory and separate passion. He only begins to question it all upon his hollow visit to Turkey. This peak of his despair and mundane lifestyle burns and cinders to the ground by the fire of his’ discovery that Joy is alive. Then he sets forth on a venture of lust and one could conclude love with Joy. He discovers the child born from his loins and still his heart explodes with desire for a life with only Joy and their child. I find this entire scene although brilliantly written and just as interesting, odd in comparison to Phillip Swallows characterization in the beginning. This love affair is drenched in an aura of utter passion and lust for life. Yet the further I wrap my mind around this idea the more perfect it fits Swallow and his insatiable “appetite for life.” Although one can assume he would eventually grow just as bored with Joy as he did with Hilary, yet I find myself hoping against that conclusion. It is a strange and interesting situation.
At the end he chooses to not tell Hilary, although he clearly had intentions of expelling the situation to her and ultimately divorcing her. Perhaps time will tell the conclusion of their marriage or for the adventurous minded we can perhaps think that he is sparing her emotions form some deep-seated love he still feels for her. Of course, at this point and perhaps further, it is all speculation and interpretation, which is something different to each of us.
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