My favorite line in Hour of the Star is, without a doubt, the line in the introduction where Rodrigo asks the reader: "Who has not asked himself at some time or other: am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?" The first time I read this line, I stopped and got a little shiver and I asked myself the same question. This line occurs during Rodrigo's very convoluted opening section. We have finally gotten to the point where Rodrigo actually seems to be starting the story (ie, telling us a bit about Macabea), but then he pauses again to talk about himself. And yet, while the whole of his introduction is dripping with irony and the reader often finds herself loathing him, one cannot deny that he is good at probing into the depths of human nature--just as he purports himself to be. Not only does he break the fourth wall (again), but he sets this paragraph aside and alone in the longer surrounding narration about Macabea herself. Clearly, the question is meant to stand alone, to give us pause, and to offer commentary on the nature of people who have in the midst of those who have not. The tone is chilling and the reader is forced to confront some ugly truths about him/herself. Rodrigo says "this book is a silence; an interrogation." The "am a I monster?" question is one of the first thing that we must be interrogated about.
Isaiah Wachsmuth I agree that this is one of the most powerful lines in the entire book. Something about it hits you; it just feels iconic. I remember reading Hour of the Star on a summer afternoon and when I got to this line, I had to pause and read it to my mom. It is definitely a bit of a scary quote. The idea that ‘human’ and ‘monster’ could be synonymous is not something that we like to think about, but very well could be true. I was wondering what you thought about the meaning of ‘monster’ in this context. Obviously it is not referring to a literal monster, so what is the metaphorical monster in this case?
I love that you paused and read it to your mom. I think that our worst selves--the ones that ignore people in need and treat others poorly--are the monsters because, like Sartre talks about in No Exit, we don't really need torturers other than ourselves.
Isaiah Wachsmuth The beginning of Hour of the Star is probably my favorite part, just because of all of the commentary on life that is given. Although I definitely do not agree with everything that is said, I find the way Lispector questions life to be fascinating and thought-provoking. Many of the quotes seem so mysterious that there is no clear explanation for what they mean, and these are actually my favorite because they can be interpreted so many different ways. Although it is to hard to choose a favorite, one of my favorite quotes is “Now I only wish to possess what might have been but never was” (Lispector 21). Although I am not exactly sure if Lispector was referring to something specific when she wrote this, to me it sparks a host of thoughts. I think this quote is fascinating because it cuts right to the core of one of the hardest facts of life, which is that one cannot change the past. Everyone has things that they want to change or replay in their mind hundreds of time and still cannot believe that they did the wrong thing. Immediately this made me think of sports. When someone makes a big mistake at the end of a game, you can see it in their face, and you know they would give anything in the world to be able to have that chance back. I think this quote also speaks to fate vs. free will. By saying that things “might have been”, Lispector suggests that the universe is not predetermined, which makes mistakes all the more painful.
I like this quote, too. I like your interpretation of it that no one can change the past. When I looked at this quote, I also thought it connected to the idea that everyone looks into the past and sees what was not good and what they did wrong, but we don't always appreciate what was great and how we have things we want right now, too.
My favorite line in Hour of the Star is "My story is almost trivial. The trick is to begin suddenly, like plunging into an icy sea and bearing its intense coldness with suicidal courage." This is my favorite line because it truly reflects what it is like to start writing. In a piece of pseudo-meta fiction like this, it is important to remember that the narrator is trying to come up with a way to express in words what cannot be expressed in words. It really is a suicidal plunge into the sea. You don't know how deep it goes. It could be a shallow reef or it could be a trench, but you don't know until you go under.
One of my favorite lines is “this narrative will combine with something delicate: the creation of an entire human being who is as much alive as I am” (19). This happens when Rodrigo is describing his purpose for writing the book and how he will do it. I know this line isn’t as shocking or thought-provoking as some other lines like the one about being a monster, but I think it is really important to the book. To me, this quote sums up Rodrigo’s main task and challenge in writing about Macabea. Since Macabea pretty much does not exist as far as anyone is concerned (and as Rodrigo had said earlier), his job is to represent her whole life in writing and do it justice. Macabea is just as much a human being as anyone else and is still valuable, and this quote illustrates that idea. This line also represents how Rodrigo is trying to bring Macabea and people like her to the public awareness so people will realize their existence and value and how they are essentially no different than anyone else. I also thought it was really impactful thinking about how Rodrigo is “creating” a human in writing. This reinforces the idea that Macabea doesn’t really exist to anyone else.
The passage I was assigned was number eight, starting with “There is little comfort now” on page 19. I noticed a lot of little details and patterns that have an effect on the reader. One pattern was unusual syntax. At the beginning of my passage on page nineteen, Lispector (as Rodrigo), writes, “There is little comfort now. In order to speak about the girl I mustn’t shave for days. I must acquire dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep: dozing from sheer exhaustion like a manual laborer. Also wearing threadbare clothes.” There are a lot full stops in this passage of simple sentences. This makes Lispector’s writing feel more simple and unsophisticated, reflecting Macabea’s simple existence and how she was uneducated. This plays a role in with the rest of the book, because there is a lot of simple syntax throughout the book. I think this syntax also makes the reader feel uneasy (at least that’s how I felt reading it) because of all the interruptions in thoughts—the short sentences feel too abrupt. Something else I noticed was “purity diction,” for lack of a better term. This appears in the second paragraph on page twenty, with words such as “white,” “ethereal,” and “virgin.” This diction obviously reflects how Macabea is a virgin, but it also illustrates something else. Macabea’s existence seems pure, because she is in such a bad situation but goes through life oblivious and happy. She has not yet been exposed to the reality of her situation and how bad it truly is.
I had passage 4. (From "It is my intention" p.14 to "what is means to be a person?" on p.15)
The first thing I noticed was the fact that the narrator is playing with his own quote, "For surely words are actions?". The passage starts with the narrator saying that he will try to write simply, but does so in a run-on sentence. Throughout the passage, the narrator uses long sentences and complex syntax, all the while saying that they we be frank. The narrator also makes contradictions when introducing characters. At first, the narrator claims not to know much about the characters, yet mere paragraphs later, the passage is entirely a description of Macabea. One last thing, I took special notice that Lispector chose "designate" as the example of a word which Macabea could not type. I think the purpose of this was to show that we, the readers, designate the word "designate" a meaning and we know what Macabea intended when she wrote "desiginate", but we still see it as wrong.
Isaiah Wachsmuth I agree that the narration style is very strange. Until Ms. Ballard mentioned it, I had never really realized how annoying Rodrigo is at the beginning. It seems like he is in a way pretending to be a humble nobody but at the same time pretending to be a genius who has life all figured out. I found it very interesting that Lispector creates a whole different narrator that is not at all related to the story. It seems like there must be a purpose for Rodrigo other than being slightly annoying, but I am not exactly sure what that purpose is.
Isaiah Wachsmuth In reading the passage that I was assigned, (which was the one starting at the bottom of page 15 and ending at the bottom of 17), a few major points stood out. First, in a very unique way, Lispector essentially lets the reader know what to expect in the ensuing narrative. The very personal tone that Lispector uses begins to characterize the narrator, Rodrigo as a very turbulent but also personal character. Commonly in literature, the author can seem to be above the reader or the ‘god’ of the story, but Rodrigo does not want to be like this. He freely admits that “I have no idea how this story will end” (16). I found this to be a really interesting that communicates a few different things to the reader. First, like I previously discussed, it shows Rodrigo’s personality, and that he does not want the reader to believe that he has everything figured out. I think the more important conclusion that can come from this quote is the idea that the end of the story does not define it. In some stories, the ending is really the key part of the story that everything else hinges on. In Hour of the Star, this is not the case, as Rodrigo claims to not even know the ending while writing the story, meaning it is more about the journey than the destination.
This is a very interesting insight into the narrative style of the book. There is definitely a personal tone through the repeated use of first person pronouns and Rodrigo's references to details about himself and how he is feeling. I think this could have the purpose to create a stronger emotional connection between the narrator and reader, especially through Rodrigo's disclosure of personal emotions. I also thought your insight about how Rodrigo is not like a "god" of the story and that the journey is more important. Rodrigo appears to know every little detail about Macabea, including her personal thoughts, though, which intrigued me. If Rodrigo is just some humble writer who doesn't even know how exactly what or how he is going to write, how can he know so much? What are your thoughts on the significance of this juxtaposition?
Question 6: I think the use of the "He/She" format is used to force the reader to only focus on the dialogue, because that is all there is. Just like how Macabea only focuses on herself, not the world around her. This is further enforced by the quote, "Sitting there, they were indistinguishable from the rest of nothingness." (p.47 in the blue book). This quote comes right before the dialogue begins. I think the reason why the dialogue then switched to only hyphens is because it makes the discussion feel more like someone talking to themselves. In this case, it is Rodrigo's internal monologue. This is very similar to what C. S. Lewis does in his Space Trilogy when he has the main character meet different species. It forces an interaction between a "civilized" character and an "uncivilized character" to become vague.
Question 9: I think the purpose of the "Et tu, Brute?" is to further enforce the existential questions discussed in the book. The original quote is Julius Caesar's last words after he has been stabbed a couple times, one of the killer's was his "friend" Brutus. The quote often bears a fatalistic connotation and by using it for Macabea, Lispector shows that death will come to everyone, no matter what. It doesn't matter if you are the emperor of rome or a poor girl from the North-East, death will come, you have to make life matter.
Question 17: How does the existentialist concept of "everyone is guilty" apply to Rodrigo? What is the purpose of having Macabea have FOUR Marias as room mates?
In response to one of your questions, I think the concept of "everyone is guilty" applies very well to Rodrigo. Rodrigo feels like he is God, as we discussed in class today, and that he is doing something really good for Macabea by writing about her. He feels that he will be helping her and other people like her by bringing everyone's attention to them. However, he does have flaws. Rodrigo is narcissistic, talking about himself all the time and how he is so great. It feels like he is bragging about his own writing during the whole introductory section. This is just one of several flaws Rodrigo has. This ties into the idea that everyone is guilty because even when you think you have done everything right and you are so great, everyone has flaws, and they should not judge other people because of that. Rodrigo is guilty, and he should not treat Macabea as coldly as he does.
Isaiah Wachsmuth I would say that it all depends on how you view the situation. This kind of goes back to the discussion that we had in class. Is Rodrigo a ‘real’ person while Macabea is made up by him? Is Macabea more real than Rodrigo because she is actually the one who the story is about? Are they both real because literature is a reflection of the real world? Are neither of them real because they are both just imagined characters? It’s hard to say. I think that it could be argued that Rodrigo is justified in dehumanizing Macabea because he created her and she is not real, but at the same time he is not real himself and created, so are they the same? I really don’t know.
Lispector uses Rodrigo’s narration to highlight the dehumanizing effects of the urban world, through his own dehumanization of Macabea. There are many examples of when this happens. On page 13, Rodrigo says “It is my duty, however unrewarding, to confront her with her own existence.” Everyone is aware of their own existence, however Rodrigo writes as if Macabea is not, thus dehumanizing her. Lispector brings up this subject again when Rodrigo writes, “Were she foolish enough to ask herself ‘Who am I?’, she would fall flat on her face” (15). This dehumanizes Macabea once again as Rodrigo believes Macabea is unaware of herself—she just goes through life without thinking, like an animal does. Rodrigo also writes that “she was guided entirely by her own remote control” (18), which conveys a similar idea to the other two quotes. Another way Lispector conveys the dehumanizing effects of the urban world is through Rodrigo’s changes he is making to himself to be more like Macabea and to identify with her. “I am doing all this to put myself on the same footing as the girl from the North-east. Fully aware that I might have to present myself in a more convincing manner to societies who demand a great deal from someone who is typing at this very moment”, (19) Rodrigo writes. In a way, Rodrigo’s narration in this part dehumanizes Macabea because Rodrigo is trying to go down to her level and knows that he is actually much higher than her. An example from later in the book is on page 58. Rodrigo describes Macabea as “a suicide case” and that “her life was duller than plain bread and butter.” This is clearly dehumanizing, as Lispector highlights how Rodrigo thinks of Macabea as pretty much worthless, even though he is taking the time to write about her. Rodrigo’s dehumanizing descriptions of Macabea illustrate the dehumanizing effects of the urban world.
Isaiah Wachsmuth That is a really good point about how it is slightly ironic that Rodrigo is taking the time to write about Macabea despite his extremely low view of her. It seems like Rodrigo relishes in Macabea’s perceived worthlessness. It definitely reminds me of how some people look for their own gratification by putting others down, such as bullies. Rodrigo is almost lying to himself, telling himself he is so much better than Macabea that he can barely understand her, all the while also pretending to know her completely, which makes no sense.
Isaiah Wachsmuth I chose to do Prompt 4, which is biblical references. At first glance, it may seem that they are few and far between, but there are actually many, of which I will discuss in no particular order. One of the more obvious one occurs within a description of Macabea. Rodrigo states that “she possessed, without knowing it, the emptiness that replenishes the soul of saints.” Rodrigo continues “The girl didn’t know that she was meditating” (Lispector 37). Comparing Macabea to a saint is ironic, because Macabea is seen as a very lowly character. However, Rodrigo is both criticizing saints and also praising Macabea, saying that in the end they are all empty. Similarly, although it is not a direct biblical reference, her seeming obsession but anxiety surrounding Sundays is certainly a religious commentary. Rodrigo says that “on Sundays, she always woke up early in order to be able to spend more time doing absolutely nothing” (34). Rodrigo also comments on Hell “I am afraid of losing my sense to order and of plunging into an abyss resounding with cries and shrieks: the Hell of human freedom” (36). This quote reminded me a lot of No Exit. One more subtle reference: “It was quite alarming to observe how the breath of life surged within Macabea’s parched body” (59). The ‘breath of life’ is what the Bible says God put into Adam when he was created from dust (‘parched?’). This in a way underlines how Macabea is surprising human like the rest. A final reference: “She then asked to be forgiven by the Abstract Being, the Giver and Taker of all things” (66). There is another reference to Job, a book in the Bible in this quote, as in the Bible, Job praises God as the one who ‘gives and takes away’.
Isaiah Wachsmuth I think I will just list all of the dehumanizing quotes and then comment on them at the end. “The doctor took a good look at her and felt sure that she didn’t diet to lose weight. Nevertheless, he found it easier to go on insisting that she shouldn’t diet to lose weight. He knew how things stood and that he was the poor man’s doctor” (67). “He felt no remorse for having ditched Macabea. He was destined to go up in the world and join the privileged” (65). “It strikes me that this God was extremely merciful towards her: He restored what He had taken from her” (63). “For other people, she didn’t exist” (62). “Her life was duller than plain bread and butter” (58). “With time, she had become transformed into mere living matter in its primary state” (38).
Quotes 1 and 2 illustrate how some of the other characters view her. The common denominator between both quotes is that money is a big deal in urban societies as far as determining status. In both cases, the characters use Macabea’s poverty as an excuse to mistreat her. Quotes 3-6 all demonstrate how Rodrigo himself does not value his own character, boiling her down to nearly nothingness. To me, it does not seem fair to go to pretend to know everything about a person, but that is so often what society does about people. We are so quick to write people off or pretend we understand them completely, which I believe is what Lispector is criticizing with these quotes.
1. Page 81, "But who am I to censure the guilty?" AKA everyone is guilty. 2. P.11, "Everything began with a yes." AKA leap of faith. 3.p.14, "nobody cares a damn about their existence." AKA cruel and unloving universe. 4. p.25, the mirror, AKA self reflection 5. the death scene, Self reflection again. 6. The whole playing with characters having characters thing is free will 7. p.41 freedom is difficult
Topic 6: The examples I found that support The Hour of the Star as experimental are: “She had been born with a legacy of misfortune, a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologizes for occupying too much space.” (26) “When she woke up, she no longer knew her own identity. … Only then did she get dressed, and spend the rest of the day passively enacting the role of being.” (35) “She understood what desire meant — although she didn’t know that she understood.” (44) “Precisely who she was, she was unable to say. She had searched in the deep, black essence of her own being, for that breath of life granted by God.” (83)
The first two quotes illustrate how Macabea could be the ordinary or less-than-ordinary anti-hero that the experimental novel has. In the first quote, Macabea appears to be pretty much nothing—”a creature from nowhere,” taking up too much space, though she is small already. The quote makes the reader feel as though Macabea is worthless, making her less-than-ordinary. The second quote reflects Macabea’s ordinariness, because she simply went through her life existing passively. This quote also reflects macabea’s internal conflicts, which is another element of the experimental novel. Macabea frequently questions her own identity throughout the book. The third quote shows how Macabea has some internal conflict between what she knows and doesn’t know; the idea that Macabea knows some things but at the same time knows nothing comes up several times in the book. A final example of Macabea’s internal conflict happens when she was dying. Again, she struggled with her identity and was unable to actually figure out who she was and what her purpose was.
My favorite line in Hour of the Star is, without a doubt, the line in the introduction where Rodrigo asks the reader: "Who has not asked himself at some time or other: am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?" The first time I read this line, I stopped and got a little shiver and I asked myself the same question. This line occurs during Rodrigo's very convoluted opening section. We have finally gotten to the point where Rodrigo actually seems to be starting the story (ie, telling us a bit about Macabea), but then he pauses again to talk about himself. And yet, while the whole of his introduction is dripping with irony and the reader often finds herself loathing him, one cannot deny that he is good at probing into the depths of human nature--just as he purports himself to be. Not only does he break the fourth wall (again), but he sets this paragraph aside and alone in the longer surrounding narration about Macabea herself. Clearly, the question is meant to stand alone, to give us pause, and to offer commentary on the nature of people who have in the midst of those who have not. The tone is chilling and the reader is forced to confront some ugly truths about him/herself. Rodrigo says "this book is a silence; an interrogation." The "am a I monster?" question is one of the first thing that we must be interrogated about.
ReplyDeleteIsaiah Wachsmuth
DeleteI agree that this is one of the most powerful lines in the entire book. Something about it hits you; it just feels iconic. I remember reading Hour of the Star on a summer afternoon and when I got to this line, I had to pause and read it to my mom. It is definitely a bit of a scary quote. The idea that ‘human’ and ‘monster’ could be synonymous is not something that we like to think about, but very well could be true. I was wondering what you thought about the meaning of ‘monster’ in this context. Obviously it is not referring to a literal monster, so what is the metaphorical monster in this case?
I love that you paused and read it to your mom. I think that our worst selves--the ones that ignore people in need and treat others poorly--are the monsters because, like Sartre talks about in No Exit, we don't really need torturers other than ourselves.
DeleteIsaiah Wachsmuth
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of Hour of the Star is probably my favorite part, just because of all of the commentary on life that is given. Although I definitely do not agree with everything that is said, I find the way Lispector questions life to be fascinating and thought-provoking. Many of the quotes seem so mysterious that there is no clear explanation for what they mean, and these are actually my favorite because they can be interpreted so many different ways. Although it is to hard to choose a favorite, one of my favorite quotes is “Now I only wish to possess what might have been but never was” (Lispector 21). Although I am not exactly sure if Lispector was referring to something specific when she wrote this, to me it sparks a host of thoughts. I think this quote is fascinating because it cuts right to the core of one of the hardest facts of life, which is that one cannot change the past. Everyone has things that they want to change or replay in their mind hundreds of time and still cannot believe that they did the wrong thing. Immediately this made me think of sports. When someone makes a big mistake at the end of a game, you can see it in their face, and you know they would give anything in the world to be able to have that chance back. I think this quote also speaks to fate vs. free will. By saying that things “might have been”, Lispector suggests that the universe is not predetermined, which makes mistakes all the more painful.
I like this quote, too. I like your interpretation of it that no one can change the past. When I looked at this quote, I also thought it connected to the idea that everyone looks into the past and sees what was not good and what they did wrong, but we don't always appreciate what was great and how we have things we want right now, too.
DeleteMy favorite line in Hour of the Star is "My story is almost trivial. The trick is to begin suddenly, like plunging into an icy sea and bearing its intense coldness with suicidal courage."
ReplyDeleteThis is my favorite line because it truly reflects what it is like to start writing. In a piece of pseudo-meta fiction like this, it is important to remember that the narrator is trying to come up with a way to express in words what cannot be expressed in words. It really is a suicidal plunge into the sea. You don't know how deep it goes. It could be a shallow reef or it could be a trench, but you don't know until you go under.
One of my favorite lines is “this narrative will combine with something delicate: the creation of an entire human being who is as much alive as I am” (19). This happens when Rodrigo is describing his purpose for writing the book and how he will do it.
ReplyDeleteI know this line isn’t as shocking or thought-provoking as some other lines like the one about being a monster, but I think it is really important to the book. To me, this quote sums up Rodrigo’s main task and challenge in writing about Macabea. Since Macabea pretty much does not exist as far as anyone is concerned (and as Rodrigo had said earlier), his job is to represent her whole life in writing and do it justice. Macabea is just as much a human being as anyone else and is still valuable, and this quote illustrates that idea. This line also represents how Rodrigo is trying to bring Macabea and people like her to the public awareness so people will realize their existence and value and how they are essentially no different than anyone else.
I also thought it was really impactful thinking about how Rodrigo is “creating” a human in writing. This reinforces the idea that Macabea doesn’t really exist to anyone else.
The passage I was assigned was number eight, starting with “There is little comfort now” on page 19. I noticed a lot of little details and patterns that have an effect on the reader. One pattern was unusual syntax. At the beginning of my passage on page nineteen, Lispector (as Rodrigo), writes, “There is little comfort now. In order to speak about the girl I mustn’t shave for days. I must acquire dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep: dozing from sheer exhaustion like a manual laborer. Also wearing threadbare clothes.” There are a lot full stops in this passage of simple sentences. This makes Lispector’s writing feel more simple and unsophisticated, reflecting Macabea’s simple existence and how she was uneducated. This plays a role in with the rest of the book, because there is a lot of simple syntax throughout the book. I think this syntax also makes the reader feel uneasy (at least that’s how I felt reading it) because of all the interruptions in thoughts—the short sentences feel too abrupt.
ReplyDeleteSomething else I noticed was “purity diction,” for lack of a better term. This appears in the second paragraph on page twenty, with words such as “white,” “ethereal,” and “virgin.” This diction obviously reflects how Macabea is a virgin, but it also illustrates something else. Macabea’s existence seems pure, because she is in such a bad situation but goes through life oblivious and happy. She has not yet been exposed to the reality of her situation and how bad it truly is.
I had passage 4. (From "It is my intention" p.14 to "what is means to be a person?" on p.15)
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I noticed was the fact that the narrator is playing with his own quote, "For surely words are actions?". The passage starts with the narrator saying that he will try to write simply, but does so in a run-on sentence. Throughout the passage, the narrator uses long sentences and complex syntax, all the while saying that they we be frank.
The narrator also makes contradictions when introducing characters. At first, the narrator claims not to know much about the characters, yet mere paragraphs later, the passage is entirely a description of Macabea.
One last thing, I took special notice that Lispector chose "designate" as the example of a word which Macabea could not type. I think the purpose of this was to show that we, the readers, designate the word "designate" a meaning and we know what Macabea intended when she wrote "desiginate", but we still see it as wrong.
Isaiah Wachsmuth
DeleteI agree that the narration style is very strange. Until Ms. Ballard mentioned it, I had never really realized how annoying Rodrigo is at the beginning. It seems like he is in a way pretending to be a humble nobody but at the same time pretending to be a genius who has life all figured out. I found it very interesting that Lispector creates a whole different narrator that is not at all related to the story. It seems like there must be a purpose for Rodrigo other than being slightly annoying, but I am not exactly sure what that purpose is.
Isaiah Wachsmuth
ReplyDeleteIn reading the passage that I was assigned, (which was the one starting at the bottom of page 15 and ending at the bottom of 17), a few major points stood out. First, in a very unique way, Lispector essentially lets the reader know what to expect in the ensuing narrative. The very personal tone that Lispector uses begins to characterize the narrator, Rodrigo as a very turbulent but also personal character. Commonly in literature, the author can seem to be above the reader or the ‘god’ of the story, but Rodrigo does not want to be like this. He freely admits that “I have no idea how this story will end” (16). I found this to be a really interesting that communicates a few different things to the reader. First, like I previously discussed, it shows Rodrigo’s personality, and that he does not want the reader to believe that he has everything figured out. I think the more important conclusion that can come from this quote is the idea that the end of the story does not define it. In some stories, the ending is really the key part of the story that everything else hinges on. In Hour of the Star, this is not the case, as Rodrigo claims to not even know the ending while writing the story, meaning it is more about the journey than the destination.
This is a very interesting insight into the narrative style of the book. There is definitely a personal tone through the repeated use of first person pronouns and Rodrigo's references to details about himself and how he is feeling. I think this could have the purpose to create a stronger emotional connection between the narrator and reader, especially through Rodrigo's disclosure of personal emotions.
DeleteI also thought your insight about how Rodrigo is not like a "god" of the story and that the journey is more important. Rodrigo appears to know every little detail about Macabea, including her personal thoughts, though, which intrigued me. If Rodrigo is just some humble writer who doesn't even know how exactly what or how he is going to write, how can he know so much? What are your thoughts on the significance of this juxtaposition?
Guided Study Questions:
ReplyDeleteQuestion 6:
I think the use of the "He/She" format is used to force the reader to only focus on the dialogue, because that is all there is. Just like how Macabea only focuses on herself, not the world around her. This is further enforced by the quote, "Sitting there, they were indistinguishable from the rest of nothingness." (p.47 in the blue book). This quote comes right before the dialogue begins. I think the reason why the dialogue then switched to only hyphens is because it makes the discussion feel more like someone talking to themselves. In this case, it is Rodrigo's internal monologue. This is very similar to what C. S. Lewis does in his Space Trilogy when he has the main character meet different species. It forces an interaction between a "civilized" character and an "uncivilized character" to become vague.
Question 9:
I think the purpose of the "Et tu, Brute?" is to further enforce the existential questions discussed in the book. The original quote is Julius Caesar's last words after he has been stabbed a couple times, one of the killer's was his "friend" Brutus. The quote often bears a fatalistic connotation and by using it for Macabea, Lispector shows that death will come to everyone, no matter what. It doesn't matter if you are the emperor of rome or a poor girl from the North-East, death will come, you have to make life matter.
Question 17:
How does the existentialist concept of "everyone is guilty" apply to Rodrigo?
What is the purpose of having Macabea have FOUR Marias as room mates?
In response to one of your questions, I think the concept of "everyone is guilty" applies very well to Rodrigo. Rodrigo feels like he is God, as we discussed in class today, and that he is doing something really good for Macabea by writing about her. He feels that he will be helping her and other people like her by bringing everyone's attention to them. However, he does have flaws. Rodrigo is narcissistic, talking about himself all the time and how he is so great. It feels like he is bragging about his own writing during the whole introductory section. This is just one of several flaws Rodrigo has. This ties into the idea that everyone is guilty because even when you think you have done everything right and you are so great, everyone has flaws, and they should not judge other people because of that. Rodrigo is guilty, and he should not treat Macabea as coldly as he does.
DeleteIsaiah Wachsmuth
DeleteI would say that it all depends on how you view the situation. This kind of goes back to the discussion that we had in class. Is Rodrigo a ‘real’ person while Macabea is made up by him? Is Macabea more real than Rodrigo because she is actually the one who the story is about? Are they both real because literature is a reflection of the real world? Are neither of them real because they are both just imagined characters? It’s hard to say. I think that it could be argued that Rodrigo is justified in dehumanizing Macabea because he created her and she is not real, but at the same time he is not real himself and created, so are they the same? I really don’t know.
Lispector uses Rodrigo’s narration to highlight the dehumanizing effects of the urban world, through his own dehumanization of Macabea. There are many examples of when this happens. On page 13, Rodrigo says “It is my duty, however unrewarding, to confront her with her own existence.” Everyone is aware of their own existence, however Rodrigo writes as if Macabea is not, thus dehumanizing her. Lispector brings up this subject again when Rodrigo writes, “Were she foolish enough to ask herself ‘Who am I?’, she would fall flat on her face” (15). This dehumanizes Macabea once again as Rodrigo believes Macabea is unaware of herself—she just goes through life without thinking, like an animal does. Rodrigo also writes that “she was guided entirely by her own remote control” (18), which conveys a similar idea to the other two quotes.
ReplyDeleteAnother way Lispector conveys the dehumanizing effects of the urban world is through Rodrigo’s changes he is making to himself to be more like Macabea and to identify with her. “I am doing all this to put myself on the same footing as the girl from the North-east. Fully aware that I might have to present myself in a more convincing manner to societies who demand a great deal from someone who is typing at this very moment”, (19) Rodrigo writes. In a way, Rodrigo’s narration in this part dehumanizes Macabea because Rodrigo is trying to go down to her level and knows that he is actually much higher than her.
An example from later in the book is on page 58. Rodrigo describes Macabea as “a suicide case” and that “her life was duller than plain bread and butter.” This is clearly dehumanizing, as Lispector highlights how Rodrigo thinks of Macabea as pretty much worthless, even though he is taking the time to write about her. Rodrigo’s dehumanizing descriptions of Macabea illustrate the dehumanizing effects of the urban world.
Isaiah Wachsmuth
DeleteThat is a really good point about how it is slightly ironic that Rodrigo is taking the time to write about Macabea despite his extremely low view of her. It seems like Rodrigo relishes in Macabea’s perceived worthlessness. It definitely reminds me of how some people look for their own gratification by putting others down, such as bullies. Rodrigo is almost lying to himself, telling himself he is so much better than Macabea that he can barely understand her, all the while also pretending to know her completely, which makes no sense.
Isaiah Wachsmuth
ReplyDeleteI chose to do Prompt 4, which is biblical references. At first glance, it may seem that they are few and far between, but there are actually many, of which I will discuss in no particular order. One of the more obvious one occurs within a description of Macabea. Rodrigo states that “she possessed, without knowing it, the emptiness that replenishes the soul of saints.” Rodrigo continues “The girl didn’t know that she was meditating” (Lispector 37). Comparing Macabea to a saint is ironic, because Macabea is seen as a very lowly character. However, Rodrigo is both criticizing saints and also praising Macabea, saying that in the end they are all empty. Similarly, although it is not a direct biblical reference, her seeming obsession but anxiety surrounding Sundays is certainly a religious commentary. Rodrigo says that “on Sundays, she always woke up early in order to be able to spend more time doing absolutely nothing” (34). Rodrigo also comments on Hell “I am afraid of losing my sense to order and of plunging into an abyss resounding with cries and shrieks: the Hell of human freedom” (36). This quote reminded me a lot of No Exit. One more subtle reference: “It was quite alarming to observe how the breath of life surged within Macabea’s parched body” (59). The ‘breath of life’ is what the Bible says God put into Adam when he was created from dust (‘parched?’). This in a way underlines how Macabea is surprising human like the rest. A final reference: “She then asked to be forgiven by the Abstract Being, the Giver and Taker of all things” (66). There is another reference to Job, a book in the Bible in this quote, as in the Bible, Job praises God as the one who ‘gives and takes away’.
Isaiah Wachsmuth
ReplyDeleteI think I will just list all of the dehumanizing quotes and then comment on them at the end.
“The doctor took a good look at her and felt sure that she didn’t diet to lose weight. Nevertheless, he found it easier to go on insisting that she shouldn’t diet to lose weight. He knew how things stood and that he was the poor man’s doctor” (67).
“He felt no remorse for having ditched Macabea. He was destined to go up in the world and join the privileged” (65).
“It strikes me that this God was extremely merciful towards her: He restored what He had taken from her” (63).
“For other people, she didn’t exist” (62).
“Her life was duller than plain bread and butter” (58).
“With time, she had become transformed into mere living matter in its primary state” (38).
Quotes 1 and 2 illustrate how some of the other characters view her. The common denominator between both quotes is that money is a big deal in urban societies as far as determining status. In both cases, the characters use Macabea’s poverty as an excuse to mistreat her. Quotes 3-6 all demonstrate how Rodrigo himself does not value his own character, boiling her down to nearly nothingness. To me, it does not seem fair to go to pretend to know everything about a person, but that is so often what society does about people. We are so quick to write people off or pretend we understand them completely, which I believe is what Lispector is criticizing with these quotes.
Some traces of existentialism:
ReplyDelete1. Page 81, "But who am I to censure the guilty?" AKA everyone is guilty.
2. P.11, "Everything began with a yes." AKA leap of faith.
3.p.14, "nobody cares a damn about their existence." AKA cruel and unloving universe.
4. p.25, the mirror, AKA self reflection
5. the death scene, Self reflection again.
6. The whole playing with characters having characters thing is free will
7. p.41 freedom is difficult
Topic 6:
ReplyDeleteThe examples I found that support The Hour of the Star as experimental are:
“She had been born with a legacy of misfortune, a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologizes for occupying too much space.” (26)
“When she woke up, she no longer knew her own identity. … Only then did she get dressed, and spend the rest of the day passively enacting the role of being.” (35)
“She understood what desire meant — although she didn’t know that she understood.” (44)
“Precisely who she was, she was unable to say. She had searched in the deep, black essence of her own being, for that breath of life granted by God.” (83)
The first two quotes illustrate how Macabea could be the ordinary or less-than-ordinary anti-hero that the experimental novel has. In the first quote, Macabea appears to be pretty much nothing—”a creature from nowhere,” taking up too much space, though she is small already. The quote makes the reader feel as though Macabea is worthless, making her less-than-ordinary. The second quote reflects Macabea’s ordinariness, because she simply went through her life existing passively. This quote also reflects macabea’s internal conflicts, which is another element of the experimental novel. Macabea frequently questions her own identity throughout the book. The third quote shows how Macabea has some internal conflict between what she knows and doesn’t know; the idea that Macabea knows some things but at the same time knows nothing comes up several times in the book. A final example of Macabea’s internal conflict happens when she was dying. Again, she struggled with her identity and was unable to actually figure out who she was and what her purpose was.