Thursday, May 8, 2014
What is "true love"? What defines it? What destroys it? What on Earth do we do when it is threatened or lost?
True love is defined differently to most people. To me it can be defined as the true relationship between 2 individuals. However, my true definition can be summed up in few words, Aunt Stella and Uncle Steve. True love is when people stick by each other's sides through all of life's dilemma's and obstacles. They stick together through life, death, and debilitating illnesses. My Aunt and Uncle, not only stuck by each other, but in their own difficulties, supported their children and were always there to lend a helping hand to the rest of the family. Nothing can destroy true love, not even death, because although we cannot physically be with them, the love still lasts and can never be replaced. My Aunt and Uncle's love can never be destroyed, because it was true love.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Eternal Love
People fall in and out of love throughout a lifetime. They choose who to love forever and hope that the other individual felt the same way. When they do find a partner that feels the same way about them as they do about that person, they have found their true love or eternal love. The song, "All of Me" by John Legend can be connected to the poems What Is True by Ben Kopel, and Stop All The Clocks by W.H. Auden. All three pieces share a common theme of Eternal Love.
Listening to music is a daily activity all people partake in at some point in life. Today, John Legend's song, "All of Me" has been ranked in the top forty musical compositions of 2013. In his song, he talks about how much he loves his partner. He states, "All of me, Loves all of you, Love your curves and all your edges, All your perfect imperfections." In the lyrics he says that he loves his partner with all of his heart and soul and that he doesn't see her weight of imperfections as a problem. He loves his partner with all his might. He also states towards the end of the song, "You're my end and my beginning, Even when I lose I'm winning." These last few lines tell his listeners that he truly loves his partner. When he says, "You're my end and my beginning," he means that his partner is his reason for living. His partner is the reason that he gets up in the morning and when they pass on, he will too pass on figuratively.
"One must be one to ever be two and if you were a day I'd find a way to live through you." Ben Kopel wrote the poem. Similarly to John Legend's song, Kopel writes about how people in a relationship need to love themselves before they can ever love someone else or be a couple. He compares his loved one to a day. In doing so, he gives readers the impression that he lives each day with them or through their memory. In this poem, readers understand that Kopel does not have to be talking about his partner, but could be talking about any loved one.
In relation to Kopel's poem, W.H. Auden's poem, Stop All The Clocks, the author writes about a deceased loved one. He states, "He was my North, my South, my East, and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song." Auden states how important his loved one was to him. In the words he uses, readers form the impression that this loved one was his whole world. "To the world you may be just one person, but to just one person, you may be the world." -Bill Wilson. Wilson's quote can easily be compared to Auden's poem. From the impression readers get, Auden lost his whole world when his loved one passed. Wilson's quote states that one person may just be one person on a big spectrum, but on a small scale among a small group of people, one individual may be inspiration or motivation to keep going.
This past August, my Uncle Steve lost his two year battle to Lung Cancer. Being that he was a young 53-year-old, and non-smoker, his battle was extremely difficult to come to terms with for my family. All three pieces I mentioned, spoke about eternal love. A true example of eternal love is my Aunt and Uncle. When my Uncle Steve passed, I realized that my Aunt was not a wreck because she lived and continues to live each day through him and their children. Everyone has a different definition for the meaning of eternal love. John Legend, Ben Kopel, and W.H. Auden share the definition of eternal love being the love of a loved one for all of time. While I agree with them, my definition is my Aunt Stella and Uncle Steve's love for each other.
Listening to music is a daily activity all people partake in at some point in life. Today, John Legend's song, "All of Me" has been ranked in the top forty musical compositions of 2013. In his song, he talks about how much he loves his partner. He states, "All of me, Loves all of you, Love your curves and all your edges, All your perfect imperfections." In the lyrics he says that he loves his partner with all of his heart and soul and that he doesn't see her weight of imperfections as a problem. He loves his partner with all his might. He also states towards the end of the song, "You're my end and my beginning, Even when I lose I'm winning." These last few lines tell his listeners that he truly loves his partner. When he says, "You're my end and my beginning," he means that his partner is his reason for living. His partner is the reason that he gets up in the morning and when they pass on, he will too pass on figuratively.
"One must be one to ever be two and if you were a day I'd find a way to live through you." Ben Kopel wrote the poem. Similarly to John Legend's song, Kopel writes about how people in a relationship need to love themselves before they can ever love someone else or be a couple. He compares his loved one to a day. In doing so, he gives readers the impression that he lives each day with them or through their memory. In this poem, readers understand that Kopel does not have to be talking about his partner, but could be talking about any loved one.
In relation to Kopel's poem, W.H. Auden's poem, Stop All The Clocks, the author writes about a deceased loved one. He states, "He was my North, my South, my East, and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song." Auden states how important his loved one was to him. In the words he uses, readers form the impression that this loved one was his whole world. "To the world you may be just one person, but to just one person, you may be the world." -Bill Wilson. Wilson's quote can easily be compared to Auden's poem. From the impression readers get, Auden lost his whole world when his loved one passed. Wilson's quote states that one person may just be one person on a big spectrum, but on a small scale among a small group of people, one individual may be inspiration or motivation to keep going.
This past August, my Uncle Steve lost his two year battle to Lung Cancer. Being that he was a young 53-year-old, and non-smoker, his battle was extremely difficult to come to terms with for my family. All three pieces I mentioned, spoke about eternal love. A true example of eternal love is my Aunt and Uncle. When my Uncle Steve passed, I realized that my Aunt was not a wreck because she lived and continues to live each day through him and their children. Everyone has a different definition for the meaning of eternal love. John Legend, Ben Kopel, and W.H. Auden share the definition of eternal love being the love of a loved one for all of time. While I agree with them, my definition is my Aunt Stella and Uncle Steve's love for each other.
Identity by: Julio Polanco
Today we discussed the poem "Identity" by Julio Polanco. The poem states:
Let them be as flowers,
always watered, fed, guarded, admired, but harnessed to a pot of dirt.
I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed,
clinging on cliffs, like an eagle wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.
To have broken through the surface of stone,
to live, to feel exposed to the madness
of the vast, eternal sky.
To be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea, carrying my soul, my seed,
beyond the mountains of time or into the abyss of the bizarre.
I'd rather be unseen, and if
then shunned by everyone,
than to be a pleasant-smelling flower, growing in clusters in the fertile valley, where they're praised, handled, and plucked by greedy, human hands.
I'd rather smell of musty, green stench than of sweet, fragrant lilac.
If I could stand alone, strong and free, I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed.
After our discussion today we spoke about the theme we felt the poem had. I feel like the theme of the poem was independence. When the author states, "I'd rather be unseen, and if then shunned by everyone, than to be a pleasant-smelling flower." The author is stating that they would rather be their own being and self instead of conforming to society and the rest of their peers. The author would rather be different and not fit in than be just like everyone else.
always watered, fed, guarded, admired, but harnessed to a pot of dirt.
I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed,
clinging on cliffs, like an eagle wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.
To have broken through the surface of stone,
to live, to feel exposed to the madness
of the vast, eternal sky.
To be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea, carrying my soul, my seed,
beyond the mountains of time or into the abyss of the bizarre.
I'd rather be unseen, and if
then shunned by everyone,
than to be a pleasant-smelling flower, growing in clusters in the fertile valley, where they're praised, handled, and plucked by greedy, human hands.
I'd rather smell of musty, green stench than of sweet, fragrant lilac.
If I could stand alone, strong and free, I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed.
After our discussion today we spoke about the theme we felt the poem had. I feel like the theme of the poem was independence. When the author states, "I'd rather be unseen, and if then shunned by everyone, than to be a pleasant-smelling flower." The author is stating that they would rather be their own being and self instead of conforming to society and the rest of their peers. The author would rather be different and not fit in than be just like everyone else.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Symbolism
Symbolism is a powerful practice that has been in place for centuries. People have acquired this practice both willfully and instinctively; assigning an object with an abstract idea (dictionary.com). In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, he makes his character, Blanche, use an abundance of symbols throughout her life. In the time she spends in New Orleans, readers understand that she has unintentionally created symbols for Polka Music, bathing, light, and even death with different meanings in her life. Blanche is obsessive over her looks and her true age that many of her symbolisms are revolved around preserving her appearance.
To most people, Polka Music is a Central European music genre that emerged in the 19th century. To Blanche, however, Polka Music is remorse for the death of a deceased loved one. When Blanche was young, she had married a boy named Allan Grey. One night when Blanche walked into a room, she caught Allan with another man and discovered that Allan was gay. The three of them pretended that nothing had happened and went dancing later that night. While dancing to the Varsouviana, Blanche said to Allan, "I saw! I know! You disgust me..." (Blanche, p. 97). Allan broke away and went to the lake. He shot himself in the head and killed himself. When Blanche is faced with stressful situations, she hears the Polka Music that was playing that night, when Allan committed suicide. The only way the music stops in her head is after she hears the shot that she had heard that same night. Blanche has felt remorse for Allan's death all her life. She feels that she is to blame for his death.
On a daily basis, people bathe to cleanse their bodies of filth. Blanche bathes to cleanse her past. In her past, she has done many things that are not pure. To her, bathing is a form of not only cleansing, but also purifying her body and mind. She has had inappropriate interactions with a student of hers, and she has become a prostitute and been with various men. Blanche symbolizes bathing as a way to cleanse her past. In scene two, blanche is bathing and Stella and Stanley are discussing the loss of Belle Reve, the DuBois plantation in the south. Stanley asks Stella where Blanche is and her response is, "She's soaking in a hot tub to quiet her nerves. She's terribly upset," (Stella, p. 32). Blanche says this every time she goes to bathe because she is paranoid that people will find out the truth of her past. In the same scene, when Blanche exits the bathroom, she states, "Here I am, all freshly bathed and scented, and feeling like a brand new human being!" (p. 37). When she states that she feels like a brand new human being, she is referring to the fact that her nerves have calmed and she has "cleansed" away the truth of her past.
Light is a necessity for proper development as human being. Without enough sun-light, humans are not working up to their potentials. The amount of light an individual is exposed to daily can have a dramatic effect on the mental being of a person. Blanche lives her life in fear of light. "I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action," (Blanche, p. 55). Light becomes symbolic of her true self. Blanche fears that if she stands in the light she will be revealed for whom she really is. Not only regarding her past, but also regarding her true age. She has lied to Mitch about being Stella's younger sister and has never truly given her age.
The most inevitable of all fates is what most humans fear the most, death. Death lingers in our minds from the very moment we experience our first funeral. Each occasion is a somber one and each death more difficult than the one before. Blanche has faced a multitude of deaths in her time at Belle Reve, all of which have only reminded her more and more of her age and nearing of her own fate. "... You just came home in time for the funerals, Stella. And funerals are pretty compared to deaths. Funerals are quiet, but deaths-not always. Sometimes their breathing is hoarse, and sometimes it rattles, and sometimes they even cry out to you, 'Don't let me go!' (Blanche, p. 26-27).Blanche says this to Stella out of fear. When Stella starts asking about how Belle Reve was lost, Blanche goes off on a tangent. She fears that she is being accused and turns to the family deaths as her scapegoat. She sees death as a fast approaching event for herself and tries to bury herself in the illusion that she is not the age that she is. She makes herself and everyone around her believe that she is younger than Stella. In reality however, not only is she older than Stella, but her own death is a very slow approaching processes. She scares herself into believing the worst-case scenario that it drives her mad.
A motif is defined as an idea that repeats itself throughout the literary work (literarydevices.net). In A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Blanche faces the same issue throughout the play. She hides her true self from the new people she meets. For example, in a conversation with Mitch, Blanche states, "Yes, Stella is my precious little sister. I call her little in spite of the fact that she's somewhat older than I. Just slightly. Less than a year" (Blanche, p. 55). Blanche lied to Mitch because of her insecurity of her age. Another example of her uneasiness is when she fishes for compliments. Throughout the play she fishes for compliments from all characters, however, Mitch is the only character to give in. When they first meet, Blanche states that she is "an old maid schoolteacher." Mitch immediately responds saying, "You may teach school, but you're certainly not an old maid," (Blanche, p. 56). Blanche purposely said that she was old to see what Mitch's reaction would be.
Symbolism plays an important role in all of human life. All people recreate meanings and interpret them as something different. Blanche fears many things in her life that normal people live with on a daily basis, getting older and responsibilities. Blanche has created many new meanings for her everyday life. Bathing, light, and death have very frightening meanings to her. Bathing symbolizes her need to purify. Light symbolizes her fear of truth. Death symbolizes her fear of aging.
To most people, Polka Music is a Central European music genre that emerged in the 19th century. To Blanche, however, Polka Music is remorse for the death of a deceased loved one. When Blanche was young, she had married a boy named Allan Grey. One night when Blanche walked into a room, she caught Allan with another man and discovered that Allan was gay. The three of them pretended that nothing had happened and went dancing later that night. While dancing to the Varsouviana, Blanche said to Allan, "I saw! I know! You disgust me..." (Blanche, p. 97). Allan broke away and went to the lake. He shot himself in the head and killed himself. When Blanche is faced with stressful situations, she hears the Polka Music that was playing that night, when Allan committed suicide. The only way the music stops in her head is after she hears the shot that she had heard that same night. Blanche has felt remorse for Allan's death all her life. She feels that she is to blame for his death.
On a daily basis, people bathe to cleanse their bodies of filth. Blanche bathes to cleanse her past. In her past, she has done many things that are not pure. To her, bathing is a form of not only cleansing, but also purifying her body and mind. She has had inappropriate interactions with a student of hers, and she has become a prostitute and been with various men. Blanche symbolizes bathing as a way to cleanse her past. In scene two, blanche is bathing and Stella and Stanley are discussing the loss of Belle Reve, the DuBois plantation in the south. Stanley asks Stella where Blanche is and her response is, "She's soaking in a hot tub to quiet her nerves. She's terribly upset," (Stella, p. 32). Blanche says this every time she goes to bathe because she is paranoid that people will find out the truth of her past. In the same scene, when Blanche exits the bathroom, she states, "Here I am, all freshly bathed and scented, and feeling like a brand new human being!" (p. 37). When she states that she feels like a brand new human being, she is referring to the fact that her nerves have calmed and she has "cleansed" away the truth of her past.
Light is a necessity for proper development as human being. Without enough sun-light, humans are not working up to their potentials. The amount of light an individual is exposed to daily can have a dramatic effect on the mental being of a person. Blanche lives her life in fear of light. "I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action," (Blanche, p. 55). Light becomes symbolic of her true self. Blanche fears that if she stands in the light she will be revealed for whom she really is. Not only regarding her past, but also regarding her true age. She has lied to Mitch about being Stella's younger sister and has never truly given her age.
The most inevitable of all fates is what most humans fear the most, death. Death lingers in our minds from the very moment we experience our first funeral. Each occasion is a somber one and each death more difficult than the one before. Blanche has faced a multitude of deaths in her time at Belle Reve, all of which have only reminded her more and more of her age and nearing of her own fate. "... You just came home in time for the funerals, Stella. And funerals are pretty compared to deaths. Funerals are quiet, but deaths-not always. Sometimes their breathing is hoarse, and sometimes it rattles, and sometimes they even cry out to you, 'Don't let me go!' (Blanche, p. 26-27).Blanche says this to Stella out of fear. When Stella starts asking about how Belle Reve was lost, Blanche goes off on a tangent. She fears that she is being accused and turns to the family deaths as her scapegoat. She sees death as a fast approaching event for herself and tries to bury herself in the illusion that she is not the age that she is. She makes herself and everyone around her believe that she is younger than Stella. In reality however, not only is she older than Stella, but her own death is a very slow approaching processes. She scares herself into believing the worst-case scenario that it drives her mad.
A motif is defined as an idea that repeats itself throughout the literary work (literarydevices.net). In A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Blanche faces the same issue throughout the play. She hides her true self from the new people she meets. For example, in a conversation with Mitch, Blanche states, "Yes, Stella is my precious little sister. I call her little in spite of the fact that she's somewhat older than I. Just slightly. Less than a year" (Blanche, p. 55). Blanche lied to Mitch because of her insecurity of her age. Another example of her uneasiness is when she fishes for compliments. Throughout the play she fishes for compliments from all characters, however, Mitch is the only character to give in. When they first meet, Blanche states that she is "an old maid schoolteacher." Mitch immediately responds saying, "You may teach school, but you're certainly not an old maid," (Blanche, p. 56). Blanche purposely said that she was old to see what Mitch's reaction would be.
Symbolism plays an important role in all of human life. All people recreate meanings and interpret them as something different. Blanche fears many things in her life that normal people live with on a daily basis, getting older and responsibilities. Blanche has created many new meanings for her everyday life. Bathing, light, and death have very frightening meanings to her. Bathing symbolizes her need to purify. Light symbolizes her fear of truth. Death symbolizes her fear of aging.
"Hindsight is twenty-twenty." - Billy Wilder
Selfishness is one of the most common sins humans take part in on a daily basis. There is a constant need to fulfill ones' own desires prior to the desires of those around us. In some cases, helping others and obtaining the self-gratification can fulfil personal desires. However, wanting to fulfill personal priorities is often stalled by other obligations that get in the way. Obligations such as work, school, caring for children, etc. In John Updike's short story, A&P, and in Ernest Hemingway's short story, Hills Like White Elephants, readers experience what selfishness leads to and what occurs when obstacles are present. Similar to these two stories, the popular song from Disney's Frozen, "Let It Go," expressed selfish rebellion after years of obeying orders.
In A&P by John Updike, readers meet Sammy. Sammy is a cashier at a grocery store in the 1960s. While at work, three women wearing only bathing suits come into the store. After Sammy's boss, Lengel, confronts the women about their appearance, the women are in a hurry to leave. After they exit the doors, Sammy quits in an effort to stick with the girls. As Sammy begins to exit Lengel states, "Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and Dad," (Updike). Sammy then has a soliloquy being that he really doesn't want to dothis to his parents. Sammy is faced with his first obstacle, upset his parents or follow the women. Sammy continues to exit and Lengel tells him, "You'll feel this for the rest of your life," (Updike). Sammy again realizes that Lengel was right; he will always feel this decision. He continues to exit for his selfish reason of siding with the women. He describes the women earlier and states, "She held her head so high her neck, coming up out of those white shoulders, looked kind of streched, but I didn't mind. The longer her neck was, the more of her there was," (Updike). From the moment the women came into the store, Sammy wanted nothing more tha to have the women to himself. After Sammy walked out expecting to see the three women, he was disappointed to see that they had left without him. He then realizes just how hard the 'real world' is, "my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be for me hereafter," (Updike). Sammy acted selfishly thinking he would become more enhanced in his life only to be let down. His selfish acts made his life harder for himself and for his parents.
Selfish acts donot only affect one person, they tend to affet multiple people. In Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway readers met the girl and the man. The story is a metaphor for the girl getting an abortion. In an effort to bring comfort, the man tells the girls, "It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It's not really an operation at all," (Hemingway). The man has never experienced an abortion operation and is comforting the women while also implying his view on the situation. Another example of his selfishness is when his answer to the girl asking if the two of them will be alright after everything happens. He states to the girl, "That's the only thing that bothers us. It's the only thing that's made us unhappy," (Hemingway). The girl doesn't respond and instead looks at the window. The man selfishly decided that because he does not want the child, neither does she. The man also refuses to see that the girl can only be happy with both the unborn child and the man.
Disney's Frozen won the academy award for best-animated feature film in 2013. Within the movie, Queen Elsa sings Academy Award winner for Best Original Song, "Let It Go." This song is sung after Queen Elsa accidently freezes the coty of Arendelle. As she is fleeing her city she sings, "Let It Go" and shows the viewer's her selfish rebellion. She sings, "It's time to see what I can do To test the limits and break through No right, no wrong, no rules for me I'm free." This shows the audience that she will do whatever she pleases now because she simply can. As the movie progresses, Queen Elsa's sister, Princess Anna, finds Elsa. Anna urges Elsa to return to Arendelle and return the summer weather and un-freeze the city. Elsa states, "No, Anna. I belong here. Alone. Where I can be who I am wihtout hurting anybody." Elsa tells Anna that she has decided that selfishly she will stay isolated to be bale to be herself without hiding her powers. She is un-selfish in telling Anna that she was to return to Arendelle without her and continue living her life. Frozen shows the audience that selfish acts are not always the answer to solutions. Although Anna selfishly left her city in a time of crisis to find her sister, she would have betrayed her family.
Selfishness doesn't get people anywhere they should be headed. Billy WIlder once said, "Hindsight is always twenty-twenty." This quote means that when people look back at the actions they have taken, there will always be something they wish they could fix. As Sammy walked out of the A&P, he saw just how harsh his life would be. He wanted to go right back in and take back what just occurred, but it was already too late. The girl in, Hills Like White Elephants, wanted to be able to keep her unborn child, but it was already too late by the time she realized. Elsa left her city in a major crisis and thought there was no way she would be able to return and fix what she ruined. Elsa returned however, and did her best to make right what went wrong to begin with. Self-less acts help not only oneself, but also the people directly affected by the intial actions taken.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Discrimination and Imperialism
Discrimination is a huge part of our country's past. It hasn't limited itself soley to the color of one's skin. We have seen discrimination in the for of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and age. In "A White Woman of Color," by Julia Alvarez, readers are faced with the issue of dicrimination within the family. Julia writes in the second paragraph of her story, "I come next, with 'good hair,' and skin that back than was a deep olive, for I was a tomboy - another dark mark against me - who would not stay out of the sun" (page 1). She is referring to her sisters and their complexions. On her mom's side of the family, a whiter skin tone was preferred and even looked at in higher regards. After her family moved to New York in 1960, she explains ow immigrants were regarded by all the "bad" words in the English language. As her story continues, readers see Julia's character changing. She decides to integrate her new culture with her old. A famous line from the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, states, "Don't let the past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you will become." Julia learned to embrace her past and blend it with who she is today. An example of that is when she says, "I am choosing to color my Americanness with my Dominicanness even if it come in a light shade of skin color."
Imperialism is defined as a policy of extending the rule or authority through diplomacy or military force. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," John possesses a very imperialistic manner with is wife. She will ask him various questions and his answer is always no. An example is when she asks him to go visit cousins, "But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there..." (p. 113). John feels that because he is a doctor, he knows better than his wife about everything and has more authority over her. For example, "I am a doctor, dear, and I know... I feel really much easier about you" (p. 314). John does not listen to how his wife is feeling or what she is thinking, he assumes he knows what is better for her because of his degree and because he is superior to her.
Imperialism is defined as a policy of extending the rule or authority through diplomacy or military force. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," John possesses a very imperialistic manner with is wife. She will ask him various questions and his answer is always no. An example is when she asks him to go visit cousins, "But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there..." (p. 113). John feels that because he is a doctor, he knows better than his wife about everything and has more authority over her. For example, "I am a doctor, dear, and I know... I feel really much easier about you" (p. 314). John does not listen to how his wife is feeling or what she is thinking, he assumes he knows what is better for her because of his degree and because he is superior to her.
"There is an optical illusion about every person we meet." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
An illusion is defined by dictionary.com as, "something that deceives one by producing a false or misleading impression of reality." In our everyday lives, we are constantly faced with illusions about many different issues; the harshness of death, the truth of life, the honesty of people, etc. In the play by Tennessee Williams, "A Streetcar Named Desire," he introduces his audience to 3 main characters. One character readers meet are Blanche. Ralph Waldo Emerson, famous transcendentalist, once said, "There is an optical illusion about every person we meet," meaning that each person is not who they always seem to be. Blanche uses her lies and illusions as a way to erase her past and believe she has lived the life she has always wanted. She is not who she appears to be, thus making her an optical illusion. Stella, Blanche's sister, believes all of her sister's lies throughout the play. She plays up to Blanche to make her feel good about herself and encourages her husband, Stanley, to do the same. Stanley sees through Blanche and wants no part in her lies and illusions.
In the last few lines of the play, Stella states, "I couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley" (p. 1232). In this line, the reader understands that Stella has had enough of Blanche and her stories. She's believed all the others, however, Blanche told Stella that Stanley raped her. Stella can not begin to believe that being true. At this point in the play, both Stella and Blanche's fantasy lives have been destroyed. Blanche has been forced to face the reality of life and Stella has learned all about the truth in her sister's past.
From my own personal experience, I believed the lies of a "friend" just like Stella, while I was warned by others, as Stanley warned Stella. This individual was a recovering drug addict and lied straight to my face about her relapse. She promised me she was not using. Eventually, as time passed, it became obvious that she was in fact using again. She lost her job, her house, and began asking anyone she knew, including me, for money. Being lied to, or believing someone else's illusions never ends in a positive scenario for any individual involved. Someone always gets hurt; in "A Streetcar Named Desire," it was Stella who got hurt and in my own experience it was me who got hurt.
In the last few lines of the play, Stella states, "I couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley" (p. 1232). In this line, the reader understands that Stella has had enough of Blanche and her stories. She's believed all the others, however, Blanche told Stella that Stanley raped her. Stella can not begin to believe that being true. At this point in the play, both Stella and Blanche's fantasy lives have been destroyed. Blanche has been forced to face the reality of life and Stella has learned all about the truth in her sister's past.
From my own personal experience, I believed the lies of a "friend" just like Stella, while I was warned by others, as Stanley warned Stella. This individual was a recovering drug addict and lied straight to my face about her relapse. She promised me she was not using. Eventually, as time passed, it became obvious that she was in fact using again. She lost her job, her house, and began asking anyone she knew, including me, for money. Being lied to, or believing someone else's illusions never ends in a positive scenario for any individual involved. Someone always gets hurt; in "A Streetcar Named Desire," it was Stella who got hurt and in my own experience it was me who got hurt.
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