Heroes Across the Semester

When I first started this class, I think I had a sort of naive view of a hero. I knew Superman was a hero, and I knew Batman was a hero. I considered all the Packers and Brewers players heroes, and most of the Bears and Cardinals players enemies. To be honest, I don't think I ever really thought of the morality or dynamics of heroes and the fact that some heroes weren't always heroes at all.

Going through the list of books and heroes we analyzed this semester, its obvious that a hero can take many forms and do many different things to be heroic.

In Wool, Juliette is obviously the main hero. She, like a "typical" hero, comes from a poor background with little opportunity, makes the most of it, and eventually gets the chance to defy all odds to make things right in her society. 

Next, we read a series of short stories, and the thing I remember discussing most vividly was vigilante justice. I was very conflicted on this issue because in fiction, it is endorsed via heroes like Batman, yet in real life, it is scorned because of cases like that of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. I still think that if you are in the right place at the right time, and something obviously sketchy is going on, it is ok to step in, but its not ok to intervene with a dangerous weapon when no lives are in obvious jeopardy. 

The first book we read during class was the classic hero's journey epic poem, The Odyssey. In it, Telemachus and Odysseus display heroism that is the basis for classic heroes as we know them today.

After that, we delved into As I Lay Dying. This book was particularly interesting regarding its heroes because nobody in the book was particularly spectacular. Each character had admirable characteristics, such as Darl's extreme love for his uncaring mother, Cash's handiness, Dewey Dell's ability to survive through her terrible teenage pregnancy experience (we hope), and Anse's insistence on fulfilling his unloving dead wife's last wish (despite his possible anterior motives). However, no character ever really solves the families problems. There isn't much improvement on the Bundrens from the beginning of the book to the end.

The next book we read was The Memory of Running. In this book, Smithy quite literally goes on a hero's journey, biking across the country with the ultimate purpose of seeing his dead sister. Although the reason he picks to go to LA is to get his sister, thats not the reason he goes on the bike ride. The reason he goes on the bike ride, in my opinion, is just to go somewhere, to get out of his life in Providence. His bike ride unintentionally becomes a hero's journey as he slowly becomes a better person physically and mentally.

As I was reading The Memory of Running. I was also writing my research paper about Donald Driver, my Packer fandom, and various issues regarding professional football players and the media. Donald Driver is a typical heroic athlete, having grown up extremely poor, he had great success playing football and has given a ton of time and money to charitable causes. However, the media often portrays true heroes, such as Richard Sherman in a negative light because negativity sells, as is shown in the constant stream of headlines regarding Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Aaron Hernandez. Rarely is there a front page article about Driver, Sherman, or the countless other heroic athletes.

Finally, we read Room. Aside from Jack's brief incredibly heroic escape, Ma and Jack do not display typical heroic traits, yet they are heroes in their ability to cope to their entry and re-entry into the outside world.

As is apparent in my views of heroes in each of the books we read, my view of a hero Over the course of the semester has become way more dynamic and debatable than the black and white definition I seemed to have before the class. 

Room and other famous kidnappings

When reading Room, it was clear to me that incidents such as the one occurring in Room has happened in real life many times before. With this information, I decided to do some research to see the outcomes of these various situations.

The first that came to mind was that of the three women whom Ariel Castro, the Puerto Rican man living in Cleveland, kidnapped over the span of three years (one in each of 2002, 2003, and 2004). He kept each of the women locked in bedrooms until his capture in 2013. They survived constant and repeated emotional, physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, as well as frequent death threats. One of the women bore Castro's child, and another was impregnated five times, but Castro starved or beat her so miscarriage was induced. The women were fed a meal a day, went to the bathroom at infrequently emptied plastic toilets, and were allowed to shower at most twice a week. In 2013, Castro left the house unlocked. One of the women thought it was a trick or a "test" (something Castro had done before) so she did not leave. However she did capture the attention of neighbors and Castro was soon arrested. Castro pleaded guilty to kidnap, rape, and aggravated murder and received life in prison without parole plus 1,000 years. A month into his sentence, he hung himself.
This situation obviously closely resembles Ma and Jack's situation in Room. However, I wonder most how the women he kidnapped (and the child, who was at times taken out of the house by Castro) adjusted back into normal life. What I found was quite interesting. The women who were taken by Castro returned to Castro's home and spoke with neighbors about the ordeal. One of the women seemed to relish in the tables being turned so quickly and for Castro to now be locked up. At his trial she told him "You took eleven years of my life away, but now I have it back. I spent eleven years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning". This approach seems like quite the opposite of Ma's, who wants to forget about Old Nick and Room and never have to think of either of them again.

The other situation that was brought up in resemblance to room was one that Claire's student discussion group brought up as the basis for Room. Josef Fritzl had kept his daughter Elizabeth Fritzl locked up in his basement for 24 years. She had eight children, four of whom were kept with her, aged 19, 18, and 5. One of her children died just days after being born. Eventually, Elisabeth's 19 year old daughter was critically ill so Josef arranges her to go to the hospital. A week later he releases Elisabeth and her other two children, saying she has decided to return home after a 24 year absence. He had done all of this without his wife, Rosemarie, ever finding out. Soon, Josef was arrested, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison.
The author of Room, Emma Donoghue, said it is going too far to say that her book was based on the Fritzl case. She does, however, admit that she did get the idea from the Fritzl case, citing the five year old boy kept by Josef Fritzl as the child that sparked the idea for Jack. Similarly to Ma and Jack, the Fritzl's were extremely pale upon release and couldn't stay in the Sun for too long. They were kept in a hospital for several months without publicity as to respect their privacy. They also all suffered from panic attacks and other mental obstacles associated with their previous living conditions. However, it is known that they all made a full recovery and are now doing well. This case is much more similar to Room regarding the aftermath of the situation, and rightfully so considering Donoghue admits getting the idea for her book from this case.

What we can imply from the different cases I have mentioned is that different people cope different ways and that Ma and Jack do not deserve to be judged or ridiculed because of their coping mechanisms (i.e. breastfeeding). Regardless of the ways they handle their release, they went through a horrible situation and anything they do to stay alive or their actions after their release should be applauded.

Smithy and Dumb and Dumber

One of my favorite movies of all time is Dumb and Dumber. It follows the story of Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels), two of the dumbest humans ever. The comparisons start immediately between these two men and Smithy from The Memory of Running. Harry and Lloyd share an apartment in Providence, Rhode Island while Smithy lives in East Providence. Harry, a limo driver, instantly falls in love with a Mary Swanson, a girl he drives to the airport. After seeing that she puts down her briefcase and forgets to pick it up, Harry runs into the airport to retrieve it. As it turns out, the briefcase is filled with ransom money to get her husband returned after he has been kidnapped. Eventually, the dynamic duo embark on a journey across the country from Providence to Aspen, Colorado, where Mary lives. All along the way they are chased by the guys working for the kidnapper.

Harry and Lloyd go on a journey from Rhode Island because they have nothing better to do than to return the briefcase (they're both poor and unemployed, saving all the little money they have for a pet store that specializes in selling worms) just like Smithy seems to go to LA for no particular reason other than his life has essentially fallen apart back in East Providence. Along the way, both have odd and dangerous encounters with various people. Smithy gets hit by a car, shot, and attacked at gunpoint on various occasions, while Lloyd almost gets raped, robbed by a sweet old lady on a motorized cart, takes a wrong turn and ends up in Nebraska instead of Colorado, and trades Harry's car (that is decked out to look like a dog) for a run-down motor bike. Harry gets shot and lights himself on fire. Although the goofs of Harry and Lloyd are meant solely for comedic value, I couldn't help but think of Smithy when re-watching this movie for the nth time.

Last night, I saw the sequel, Dumb and Dumber To at the movie theater. The roots of the plot are similar to the original, with Harry and Lloyd instead traveling to El Paso, Texas to find Harry's daughter since Harry needs a kidney transplant. They even ride a bike down the street to get from their apartment to Harry's parents house.

This comparison is very weird and none of you reading it may agree or even comprehend it at all. I just decided to write about it because Smithy came to my head when I was watching Dumb and Dumber and Dumber and Dumber To.

The Negative Media and Donald Driver

Even for those of you who don't follow football closely, I'm sure you've heard of Ray Rice, Aaron Hernandez, or Adrian Peterson (maybe). You know that they've done horrible terrible things to other people. I'm sure these people's cases have come up on the nightly news, on any radio station including NPR, newspapers (local and national), and on CNN, as well as many more sports-centric news outlets such as ESPN or Sports Illustrated. As LeBron said last week to a slew of reporters, "... negativity sells and no one wants to hear a good story".

Although its true that negativity sells, it only sells because we, the consumers, prefer drastic, interesting, tragic, eye-opening new stories. It is an extremely sad truth, but I think that its partly just human nature that prefers these types of stories. It may be related to society's obsession with horror films. Regarding the NFL, this truth is known with the stories of the individuals mentioned above, as well as to an even greater extent with OJ Simpson. The OJ trial was so popular that even today, people are increasingly famous for it (the Kardashian's are famous because Kim Kardashians father, Robert, defended OJ in his trial [OJ is Kim's god-father]).  It was followed by news outlets and people all over the world. Why did people find this trial so fascinating though? It involved a high-profile athlete murdering someone. Why don't people find as much captivation as when a high-profile athlete donates a million dollars to a charity, visits children in a hospital, or starts a foundation to provide underprivileged kids with opportunities to be active and learn?

I wrote my research paper about Donald Driver, a man whom I doubt many of you have ever heard of. As well as being the most successful receiver in Packers history, winning a Super Bowl and Dancing with the Stars, and writing a New York Times bestseller autobiography. Driver grew up extremely poor in Houston, stealing cars and selling drugs to get by. At one point, his family was homeless, living out of a U-Hual trailer. Driver went to Alcorn State, where he excelled in football and especially track, qualifying for the 1996 Olympic trials in the high jump. He was also drafted in the 7th (last) round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Packers. After that, the rest is history. Although he became famous for his athletic accomplishments, it is how he used the fortune and fame that his athletic ability gave him to help others and live selflessly. He runs the Donald Driver Foundation, which focuses on serving underprivileged kids and families, health, wellness, and safety, and education and career development. He also has visited various patients at children's hospitals, and before he retired, he hosted an annual Packers offense vs. defense charity softball game.

Driver is not even close to being the only athlete who uses their money and popularity to do good, he's just a Packer, so he's the best of them. When it comes down to it, football is just a job. Sure, it is adored by millions (proudly including myself), but it just makes people who can jump, catch, and run millionaires (thats not to say football players aren't educated or "smart", because a whole lot of them are very intuitive and just smart guys). Are these athletes overpaid? Undoubtedly. But when they use their money for a good cause, it is truly heroic, especially since those millions of fans will see what they're doing and hopefully try to emulate their good deeds.

Smithy

So far, The Memory of Running, has been hero's journey in more ways than one. Smithy has fundamentally changed since leaving on his epic trip. He has started to exercise (obviously), eat healthy, and stop smoking. Because of these physical changes, I think that we start to feel more sympathetic for him in his terrible and uncomfortable situations (past and present) because he now is making an effort to better himself. Additionally, beyond his journey as a hero within his life is his geographical journey across the country.

At this point, we aren't at all sure where this journey will take him geographically other than his destination is Denver then LA. The sole reason for him going is because Bethany's body has been found in Los Angeles. I kind of think that Bethany's body in LA is kind of an excuse that even Smithy himself isn't directly aware of to go somewhere. He already has quite a bit of trauma at home with his parent's sudden death and his awkward encounter with Norma. I get the sense that he just needs to leave. 

The physical changes he goes through seem quite immediate. He goes from beers and pretzels to fruits and tuna sandwiches without much hesitation or complaints. More surprisingly, he quits smoking on a dime with seemingly no remorse or desire to smoke again. We gradually get his transfer from a skinny runner to a fattening smoker in the past scenes and it almost makes sense. He starts gaining weight once he returns for war, which is completely understandable. It makes sense to start gaining weight and being depressed (but is he? he never mentions being specifically depressed) after returning from war after coming very close to death. 

Among the things that Smithy does to make us adore him, is his love for Bethany. His love for his sister is completely unconditional and wonderful. He goes to great lengths to find and comfort her. She is the character the Smithy most often mentions, and he almost always mentions her in a positive light. When he is describing the things she does that would be considered odd and weird normally, he considers beautiful (i.e. her poses). Despite the fact that she is often acting crazy, Smithy still does his best to reason with her. I think it is kind of sad how we read all these endearing and cute chapters about what Smithy does in the past, but we know that eventually he will devolve into a drunk, chain-smoking couch-potato. Sometimes I wonder if this shapes how we view him in his past scenes.

Although Smithy should be considered a sort of hero in Bethany's life, I think the person he has saved most so far is himself. His journey has been nothing but healthy for him (asides from the bumps and bruises he acquires in random scenes), and he has been expanding his horizons (literally and figuratively) with his healthier food, soberness, and non-smoking, and he has started to notice the benefits of them. 

Addie and her effects on the Bundrens

I, as I think most everyone did when reading the first part of As I Lay Dying, thought Addie was a stereotypically hard working, good, caring mother, who was stuck with a dysfunctional husband and ended up doing all the work for the family to keep it functional. When we read Addie's narration in the book, it is obvious that this is simply not true. She absolutely hates raising her children, seems to hate Anse, and doesn't really care for any of her children, except Jewel, whose father isn't even Anse. This brings up a lot of questions in my mind regarding the nature of the family before Addie dies. How did it even function?

I think that Cash must deserve a lot of credit. He had to have helped the family run immensely. During the book, we do see that Cash's mind is always on the task at hand or what he needs to do in the future. He never doddles or wanders or complains. He seems to be the father that Anse never was. I get the feeling that he did most of the grunt work for the family and probably got the other children motivated to help, namely Darl, because Jewel seems completely disinterested most of the time and Vardaman seems too young to be of much use.

Dewey Dell probably also helped quite a bit. We don't know how much Addie did help around the house (presumably preparing dinner, cleaning, standard farm-wive stuff, etc), but it was clear during her chapter that she did not enjoy it and there is a good chance she did not care to do a quality job. I seem to faintly remember Dewey Dell preparing a meal without much trouble at the beginning of the book when her mother is sick, so I doubt she was a stranger to taking over at home.

The fact that Addie loved Jewel so much more than her other children, despite his seemingly lack of interest in her, even when she was dying, shows that she really really really hated Anse, enough to go so far as to be cold to the children that he made with her, despite their loving actions towards her. Faulkner does a great job depicting how Anse's children feel about Addie, with Dewey Dell fanning her, Darl wanting to say goodbye to her, Cash proudly making her casket. Yet she still seems to just not appreciate anything they do. Does she really think they are just destined to be like Anse? Although Anse is dysfunctional, it's not like he's abusive or anything, and from what we see, he does love Addie and does unintentionally create sympathy (or maybe just pathy - he's pathetic) for himself.

I think to really know the full extent of Addie's relationship with the rest of the Bundren's, as well as Jewel, we have to know more about Whitfield, the man that Addie has an affair with. Addie must think highly of him to some degree, considering the way she idolizes her child that she had with him. As the book comes to a close, I hope we get more insight into Whitfield and his relationship with Addie and possibly Jewel.

Vardaman - I Just Don't Understand Him

I was assigned to report on Vardaman in class the other day. I compiled what I thought was a good list of facts but soon I realized I had no idea what I was talking about. I really really just don't understand Vardaman at all. Granted, I do remember little from my early school-aged days, but I definitely remember not thinking my family members were fish. 

I try to make sense of what Vardaman is saying by going into the head of a young boy. Young children always need an explanation for everything, and I think that is what Vardaman is doing when he decides his mother is the fish he caught. His mother dies around the same time the fish is caught and killed, so it is only reasonable for a young boy to believe that his mother is indeed the fish. This idea that Vardaman just needs an explanation also comes up when he is blaming Doctor Peabody for the death of his mother. In Vardaman's mind, the sequence of events basically goes, mother is alive, Peabody arrives, Peabody leaves, mother is dead. If we just had that information, it is not at all implausible to suggest that Peabody killed her. Vardaman probably didn't know he was a doctor just trying to help. 

I find it very interesting how Faulkner writes as a boy of Vardaman's age. Does he really, accurately know what goes through the minds of children at his age, in his situations? I think that just maybe, it is possible that part of the reason that Vardaman is so out there is the author's relative inexperience to being and thinking as a seven year old boy. I do, however, think it is really awesome that we get to see some of the story take place through the eyes of a young boy. I've never read a book where the narrator is so young.