Thursday, April 23, 2015

Beatrix Potter - Morality Teacher

The name Beatrix Potter is often associated with the cute children’s books created at the beginning of the 20th century.  Potter was born in 1866 and grew up in a well-to-do household in London.  She did not attend school, but rather, was taught by governesses, which limited her interaction with other children besides her younger brother, Bertram.  Each summer, her father rented a country house for three months, at first in Scotland and later in the Lake District, which allowed Potter to explore the countryside, learning about plants and animals from her own observation.  Her career as a children’s storyteller and illustrator began in 1902 when The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published.  She continued to produce about two books each year until 1910 and in all, she wrote twenty-three Peter Rabbit books.

These books have more to offer than just cute animals and beautiful illustrations – Potter’s short books also offer wonderful lessons of morality for children.  Her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, teaches children to listen to their elders, as they know what is best.  This is demonstrated by the rabbit, Peter, who after his mother tells him not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden, does exactly that, and ends up being chased by Mr. McGregor.  Had Peter listened to his mother, he would not have gotten sick, and could have enjoyed bread, milk, and blackberries for supper with his sisters.  The story continues in 1904 with the book, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny.  In this book, Peter is visited by his cousin Benjamin Bunny, who convinces Peter to go to Mr. McGregor’s garden to retrieve his coat and shoes because Mr. McGregor is gone to town for the day.  While inside the garden, Peter appears nervous and is constantly checking his surroundings.  Peter and his cousin have a run-in with Mr. McGregor’s cat, but are saved by Mr. Benjamin Bunny, Benjamin’s father.  Peter returns home to his mother, who is happy to see that Peter has found his coat and shoes.  Perhaps the lesson in this story is that if you experience a bad feeling about something, go with your instincts and turn around before you get into trouble.

Beatrix Potter’s twenty-three children’s books teach important lessons amongst the cute illustrations of cuddly animals.  These books continue to be widely read today and their moral lessons still resonant with children around the world.

The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter. London: Frederick Warne & Co., 1989. Print.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Narrator Reliability

Reliability is an important quality in a person, no matter their gender or their age.  In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Villette, the main character Lucy is considered an unreliable narrator because she does not always tell the truth, and she withholds information from the reader.  Withholding information and reliability does not just apply to narrators of stories; it also applies to real-life situations.  An example of this is the upcoming trial of a former Auschwitz camp guard in Germany.  Oskar Gröning, now ninety-three years old, has been charged with complicity in the murder of 300,000 Holocaust victims.  During World War II, Gröning was referred to as ‘the accountant of Auschwitz,’ as he was assigned to confiscate the luggage and money of prisoners arriving at Auschwitz concentration camp, in his capacity as an SS guard.  On Monday, April 20, around sixty joint plaintiffs that were due to give evidence expressed a wish that Gröning would use the trial to admit to having been more than just a passive witness to the horrors of the concentration camp.  Christophe Heubner, a German writer who will follow the trial, was quoted stating, “The open wounds caused by the non-existent justice system is an enduring scandal that has lasted since Auschwitz until today and caused huge indignation among the survivors.  The fact that most perpetrators died without seeing the inside of a courtroom, with most of them continuing to live in the middle of society without being confronted with their guilt, is not something we can change.  But it’s very important that these survivors can testify as witnesses now.”

As a history major, I see read flags all over this situation.  Historians are taught to be wary of sources and even people’s testimonies that have been taken down many years after an event took place.  That is why this is alarming because Gröning was twenty years old at the time he worked at Auschwitz, and is now being put on trial seventy-three years after the fact.  How does the court know that the testimonies given by Gröning and the witnesses are reliable?  Seventy years is a large gap in time, where memories could fade or become skewed due to new information released on the issue.  This is very similar to reading Villette and questioning Lucy’s reliability as a narrator.  The information Lucy provides must be evaluated for truth, rather than being taken at face value.  The same can be said for the witnesses of this trial because their testimonies may not be reliable seventy years after their time at Auschwitz.

Connolly, Kate. “Former Auschwitz Death Camp Guard to Go On Trial in Germany.” The Guardian. 20 Apr. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

Consumption in "Dracula"

Literary criticism is a wonderful way for readers to gain new insights into novels, as criticism often provides new ways to look at a text.  Criticism is great for texts with many details to examine, such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  This 19th century novel is filled with symbolism, allegories, and even a unique writing style, that has been analyzed since its publication.  Tanya Pikula in her article, “Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Late-Victorian Advertising Tactics: Earnest Men, Virtuous Ladies, and Porn,” explains the sexuality in the novel that Stoker may or may not have purposefully chose to include in his novel.

Critics of the 19th century may not have noticed the “quasi-pornographic” elements of Dracula, as today’s society has a hyperawareness for such material.  The first critics of Dracula would have focused more on the novel’s sensationalism, its emphasis on medieval lore, 19th century technology, and its ability to terrify.  Pikula makes several important points in her article regarding the sexuality in the novel.  She states, “It is not surprising that many commentators ignore the fact that Dracula is first and foremost a text about material consumption: the sucking and the biting that transpire in the text are unarguably erotic and beg for a psychoanalytic explanation (as oral fetish)” (288).  It is important to consider why consumption is the choice monstrosity in the text, the root of all evil.  In addition to the cravings indulged in by the vampires, the text is strewn with characters that wish to and/or do consume in immoderate amounts.  Pikula describes that the female figures in the novel are vulnerable to Dracula’s powers because of the relationship between women and an immoderate desire to consume.  The specific reference Pikula makes is to the comment Lucy Westernra makes about why a woman cannot marry three men. The women are vulnerable to Dracula’s desire to possess, which is explicit in the words he uses, such as “my” and “mine.”

The desire for possession is a trait that Dracula seems to pass on to the women that he infects, according to Pikula.  She states, “Female consumers, the text seems to imply, are so bent on their never-ending hunger that they are on their way to forgetting the sacred feminine role upon which is founded the family, the quintessential bastion and breeding ground of Victorian morality” (291).  Lucy’s developing vampiric state is betrayed by her seductiveness, as she asks Arthur for a kiss before her death and tries to lure him to her crypt.  She expresses herself as both sexually aggressive and having a desire to hold the object of her yearning.  The capstone of the female vampire monstrosity is their rejection of the nurturing mother role.  This is apparent when Dracula’s female companions feed on a child, while Lucy becomes the “bloofer lady” with a fetish for young blood.  Pikula’s criticism of Draula is just one way of further exploring the many concepts this novel has to offer.

Pikula, Tanya. "Bram Stoker's "Dracula" And Late-Victorian Advertising Tactics: Earnest Men, Virtuous Ladies, And Porn." English Literature In Transition, 1880-1920 55.3 (2012): 283-302. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.