"The danger of a single story: Chimamanda Adichie"

This summer I attended a 3- week Summer Program at Columbia University. Surrounded by highly educated and global population of students I didn't expect them to underestimate my nationality as much. I went to a store with girls from my dorm and took out my Amex card to pay. One of them just kept staring at it and as soon we stepped out she took a hold of  my arm and asked with utter surprise, "Do you have American Express in Colombia?" I stared at her in disbelief and noticing my reaction she justified, "I thought it was called Colombian Express." At first I wanted to punch her in the face, but then I remembered that Colombia as well as the USA have their single story. 
As a start, for Americans they are the legitimate Americans. Each time someone introduced their nationality as "American" a small irritation would linger in my mind when I thought that being Colombian classified me as an America due to its geographical location. Americans think of Colombia as an extremely underdeveloped place where the only function id drug production. Based on this single story they would judge me and the rest of Colombian teenagers as a drug consumers. The truth is that neither me or most of the people I know have tried drugs. In contrast, most of the Americans I talked to had tried or used drugs in parties.
Single stories change perspective of others and lead to misjudgments. I too was mislead by a the single story of Americans' bad skills of dancing. I was surprised to see some of them salsa in Noche de Sabor. When this type of deceiving judgements occur, we should try to push away the irritation and share a different story that will in effect open a new perspective.

Marlow's Dark Fog

Madness goes hand in hand with isolation. Society, skeptic as aways is the real cause for this relationship. The morality of madness has been a central issues in various literary works. In Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Chief Bromden demonstrates that madness is in fact a protective method against society's oppression. In Heart of Darkness Marlow, like Chief Bromden undergo a change in their reality due to an extreme detachment from their original and respective one.

Men are nurtured by experiences to become what they are. Their life is shaped by who, how and where they live. "We live, as we dream- alone..." (pg 95) Each reality and life is different, but usually tends to be monotonous. This changes however when either the how, who or where are changed. Bromden's who was a major impact on his reality because he went from a native American tribe with family to a place full of lunatics and control freaks like Nurse Ratched. For both the change in where was contradicting. While The Chief was transported from a more primitive and natural place to a more urban one, Marlow left civilized cities to live in a "prehistoric earth" (pg 105).  The how changed for the Chief by taking away his freedom because of a strict routine, Marlow's freedom was cut off too because he had to follow the company's orders and morality.

Routines are dominant in men's lives. They obviously change when one of the three previously discussed factors change. Still, some are more harassing than others, and those tend to happen when change occurs. Most of the times, routines are stimulated by a powerful institution. The Chief's was manipulated by The Combine and Marlow's by The Company. Both of them tedious and recurrent. Everyday the same time.consuming thing is done, pulling them away from the reality. "When you have to attend to things of that sort, to the mere incidents of the surface, the reality- the reality, I tell you-fades. (pg 103)

After a while of going over the same routine, the institution has them under control by dehumanizing them. Soon they are like zombies and follow orders like having "...the appearance of being held there captive by a spell." (pg 104) It is at this point, where one's identity is lost and reality is fading that you are caught in a "fog". This is the term Chief Bromden associated to this state, and Marlow is trapped in "fog" as well. The difference is that under this state one was being tormented while the other was tormented. The Chief was blinded to the oblivious mistreatment in the ward. Meanwhile Marlow was helping to torture people unfairly. "The inner truth is hidden- luckily, luckily." (pg 103) They are so engrossed in their routine that the real intentions behind them are not noticed.

Both of this character's realities change along with their moral perspective. This shift is catalyzed by the oppressing routines that loose them in the "fog". Society plays a central role in it as well by   manipulating institutions into shaping people to it's accordance. Morality was lost for both Bromden and Marlow for accomplishing society's desires.

Women's Hearts of Darkness

In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the main character displays an undermining attitude towards women. This only makes sense when understanding the historical context of the late 1800`s. The complete purpose of women's lives at the time was shaped by men. It consisted on finding a husband, reproducing, and serving them unconditionally. Marlow's sexist attitude is no different from any other man`s from the time. He assigns women inferior characteristics but is however blinded to the fact that women do have power.

"Then – would you believe it? – I tried the women. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work – to get a job... I had an aunt... She wrote: 'It will be delightful. I am ready to do anything, anything for you." (pg 71) Marlow is in a way ashamed of getting a job through a woman. Men at the time were responsible for absolutely everything concerning the work area, including finding a job. If he, as a man is supposed to  have that area under control as well as being independent, why then does he seek for her help?  She is his aunt and  there should be no shame in family help. Perhaps this is due to his personal lack of a "home/familiar environment . This happened because being a seaman leads to a solitary life with. Marlow has no close relationships with anyone, much less with a women and therefore feels threatened by such a sympathetic gesture. 

Marlow judges women as being "out of touch with truth" by believing that "they live in a world of their own". (pg 76) He characterizes them as dreamy and unrealistic, not necessarily in a good way. This demonstrates how much Marlow does not take women seriously. As a result he is automatically pushing their status down by feeling superior. For the most, this social degradation would have seem normal. This is not the case. This woman he is degrading is not only a blood relative of his but she knows powerful people. It is this second part exactly that really matters. Knowing the right people can get you to a better place. As dishonorable as this situation might be for Marlow, it benefits him.


 Women like Marlow`s aunt get bonus points for having contacts instead of being completely overlooked by men. They are still in the end only used , nothing more and nothing less. For the society of the 1890`s women were just convenient utensils. The more convinient the better the social acceptance. Marlow as an isolated and masculine personality treats women like his aunt for his own benefit. 

Irony- “Great Nations of Europe” by Randy Newman

Ironic Examples:
"He [Columbus] shook hands with some Indians and soon they all were dead."
Shaking hands is a greeting and respectful tradition, it can sometimes represent truce. Columbus' shake meant  the opposite, murder to be exact. When first learning about Columbus and this gesture, the normal expectation is a friendly follow-up. However, you immediately realize the irony when learning that  the indians die. 

"He [Balboa] met some friendly Indians whom the Church told him were gay, so he had them torn apart by dogs on religious grounds they say the great nations of Europe were quite holy in their way."
Religious grounds are expected to be holy (saintly and moral) and that I know of, murder on religious grounds is disrespectful and plainly wrong. The song is mocking the nations' religious morality as well as the definition of holy by claiming that the nations were "holy in their way". 

"... the possibility that some bug from out of Africa might come for you and me
destroying everything in its path..."
Based on the great number of death caused by European brought diseases, it would be unexpected to have another disease via vectors affect the dominating and supposedly great nation. 

"The great nations of Europe comin through."
The song depicts continually the harm caused by these nations. There is nothing great about these nations exterminating different cultures.

Not Ironic Examples:
"Some bones hidden in a canyon some paintings in a cave
they're no use tryin to save them, there's nothin left to save."
The left overs as mentioned are only witness to the natives' existence. It is true nevertheless that they are useless because like I mentioned before they are only witness, not the real thing. It hits the realistic point  of their extermination directly.

"Now they're gone, they're gone, they're really gone. Yo never seen anyone so gone."
Like the previous example, it crudely states their wipe-out. By "really" they mean absolutely  gone and none are left. 

"Hide your wives and daughter; hide the groceries too."
This statement exemplifies the fear and magnitude created by the conquistadores' raiding of villages.  They were inhumane and it only seems logical to hide your loved ones from these monsters.

Machinery of Terror

Human's biggest fears are those induced by their own creations. By these creations I'm  referring to lifeless machines, not biological ones. They tend to be unconditionally loyal to their purpose because of their lack of empathy. Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest feels constantly threatened by the presence of this machine. His paranoia however changes after the meeting on Friday when McMurphy gets things going his way. The Chief's paranoia depends on McMurphy's confidence and dominance; the more confidence the less paranoia and vice versa. 

When things in the ward had changed and where running as McMurphy wanted them, Chief Bromden and the others where released to a certain degree from the oppressiveness of the Combine. "I figured the fog machine had broke down in the walls when they turned it up too high for that meeting on Friday; so now they weren't able to circulate fog and gas and foul up the way things looked." (pg. 140)   To McMurphy, the change in the ward was a demonstration of a positive possibility of change in himself.  This opened a door for a new way of thought an lifestyle breaking the monotony. The change produced in him, is the closest to happiness  he has ever been now that he is more in touch with himself. Consequently, the fog machine that used to be his escape was no longer needed because the Chief was actually ok with reality.

"... I woke up... the dorm was full of smoke, wires in the walls... but this one night after the big meeting, I woke up and the dorm was clean and silent..." (pg 141) Bromden was not just happier in the day, but he was finally getting peace of sleep. This simple alteration in his perspective is extremely significant. Night and sleep is a very personal and relieving moment for humans. Being at ease in this intimate moment reflects the newly achieved harmony in his mind. Before he felt the threat of machines by the wires and hided by putting his head under the pillow. Now he was calm and gave him" a sudden yen to get up and do something".

The tranquility in the ward was interrupted by McMurphy's talk with the lifeguard. After McMurphy's refusal to continue with his dominance,  the machine was back on just like the fear in the Chief. "Whatever it was went wrong with the haywire in the mechanism, they've just about got it fixed again" (pg 155) In the x-ray room, when the tenssion about McMurphy's commitment peaks the x-ray machine takes life by "hissing and spitting at McMurphy"(pg 166) displaying the return of the old regime.

Nevertheless, each individual machine is part of a big and powerfull one. "It's the whole Combine, the nation-wide Combine that's the really  big force, and the nurse is just a high ranking official for them" (pg 164). The machine, the routine, the personnel is al related because just like a machine every small part matters for the functioning of the whole. 

Holocaust of Fear

   Routine dominates our life in such a way that we are not aware of it. Each individual has its own specialized routine that is actually a variation of a central one. They are all part of a meticulous system that is in constant control.  In our case the system would be society, in Chief Broom`s case it’s the ward. He describes it as a “combine” and is not fully aware of its manipulation. The ward, like everything in society, has a strict routine enforced by a powerful figure to maintain the system`s control. The Chief as a victim uses the "fog" as an escape from the brutality of the system. 

   “So after the nurse gets her staff, efficiency locks the ward like a watchman's clock. Everything the guys think and say and do is all worked out months in advance, based on the little notes the nurse makes during the day. This is typed and fed into the machine I hear humming behind the steel door in the rear of the Nurses' Station. A number of Order Daily Cards are returned, punched with a pattern of little square holes. At the beginning of each day the properly dated OD card is inserted in a slot in the steel door and the walls hum up: Lights flash on in the dorm at six-thirty: the Acutes up out of bed quick as the black boys can prod them out, get them to work buffing the floor, emptying ash trays, polishing the scratch marks off the wall where one old fellow shorted out a day ago, went down in an awful twist of smoke and smell of burned rubber. The Wheelers swing dead log legs out on the floor and wait like seated statues for somebody to roll chairs in to them. The Vegetables piss the bed, activating an electric shock and buzzer, rolls them off on the tile where the black boys can hose them down and get them in clean greens. ... Six-forty-five the shavers buzz and the Acutes line up in alphabetical order at the mirrors, A, B, C, D.” (pg 28, Kesey)

    The whole ward functions around a routine just like the extermination camps did. Both groups wake up early, they shower and in the case of the ward shave, they perform their monotonous tasks, are punished for what the heads consider mistakes, and line up in a certain order. The Kapo is parallel to Nurse Ratched. Both of their jobs and intentions might look good to their respective societies, but in reality it is the opposite. Violence is a source for power.  Scary and true. Whenever an opposing view or threat to the stability emerges, violence is used. For the Jews it was either beatings or death. The patients are treated like nothing but patients. They live in a constant scare of fear oppressed by the thought of visiting The Shock Shop and becoming a “Vegetable”.

   Thus, these vulnerable beings create a way to isolate themselves from the tormenting environment. Our chief interprets this isolation as “fog”. He creates it as a curtain to protect himself from the reality of the world. Whenever he feels threatened, he submerges into this murky world of his. It is after all the only place where the domination of the Combine can’t get to him. The Chief shuts himself from the other people, specially Miss Ratched and the aides. He is closer to what he will  ever be of a comfort zone. This fog is not shaving cream in his eyes, or a drug, it is his own remedy for the reality of society. We blame society, but we still don’t do anything about it because society is actually us. The chief finds a temporary solution, but again it is only temporary.

Tick-Tock

Yesterday, today, tomorrow- what is the difference? In Waiting for Godot Beckett depicts the irrelevancy of time in life through Vladimir and Estragon`s incessant wait. He critiques human's need for time by demonstrating how hopeless and obsessive one can become with it. In the novel the notion of time is constantly questioned putting it in a state of absurdity. Kurt Vonnegut plays with time in a similar way in Slaughterhouse-Five with the Tralfamadorian theory.  It states that time is circular, thus moments exist simultaneously and the linearity is only a deception.  Italo Calvino, in Invisible Cities, breaks the normalcy of linear time as well with Marco Polo’s philosophy. “Journeys to relive your past? … also have been formulated: Journey’s to recover your future?” (Calvino, 29). All three  novels critique human perception of time by supporting the idea that it only creates problems and limitations to people. 

To come on to a stable conclusion one would have to define what time really is. The problem, however, is that no one will ever be sure. Nevertheless, we would have to agree that in the end it really is irrelevant despite human`s desperate need for it. The past, present and future all wrap up to the same thing: life. It is this precisely, that human beings don't understand. 

"POZZO
...(Turning to Vladimir and Estragon.) Thank you, gentlemen, and let me . . . (he fumbles in his pockets) . . . let me wish you . . . (fumbles) . . . wish you . . . (fumbles) . . . what have I done with my watch? (Fumbles.) A genuine half-hunter, gentlemen, with deadbeat escapement! (Sobbing.) Twas my granpa gave it to me! (He searches on the ground, Vladimir and Estragon likewise. Pozzo turns over with his foot the remains of Lucky's hat.) Well now isn't that just—
VLADIMIR 
Perhaps it's in your fob.
POZZO 
Wait! (He doubles up in an attempt to apply his ear to his stomach, listens. Silence.) I hear nothing. (He beckons them to approach, Vladimir and Estragon go over to him, bend over his stomach.) Surely one should hear the tick-tick.
VLADIMIR 
Silence! 
All listen, bent double.
ESTRAGON
I hear something.
POZZO 
Where?
VLADIMIR 
It's the heart.
POZZO 
(disappointed) Damnation!
VLADIMIR 
Silence!
ESTRAGON 
Perhaps it has stopped." (Beckett, 49)

In this quote of the novel, when Estragon confuses the ticking of the missing clock with that of the heart he reveals a simple truth. The only real clock in life is the heart. This machine is what keeps us going and what will eventually stop us. The only time that's actually valuable is the one  that is biologically being kept track of. 
"A country road. A tree.
        Evening. (Beckett, Act I)
The simple setting where the novel takes place reflects the simplicity in the truth. A tree symbolizes life and it is the only thing that really changes throughout time. The characters realize that it grows leaves, suggesting a change in season. Again, it is significant because as I mentioned before its biological. A road symbolizes life too. There are many decisions  that will lead you to a different place but in the end, as I mentioned in the previous post,  it has a final stop. Death. When the biological time runs out the path is cut short. It is here where the simplicity matters. From an existentialist pair of eyes this is all life is and death is insignificant. Camus' philosophy of life being best when meaningless strikes Waiting for Godot. Life is nothing but a recursion of absolutely everything. It has no more meaning than a variation of choices, a repetition of everything, and it all ends when the biological time is over. Period. 

"Life is a series of choices, creating stress"

"To be, or not to be, that is the question" (Shakespeare, Hamlet)
Chocolate or Vanilla? Yes or No? Right or Left? Accomplish or Procrastinate? 

Life is a series of choices, creating stress. From the moment you hesitate within two options stress is already created. Continuously choices come in the way, even unconsciously. Have you ever walked into a room and once there realized you have no idea why you did it? It was absolutely involuntary, at the moment you didn’t stress about the choice but once made conscious about it you did stress about why you made it. Each choice is a brick in the building of life, in the end depending on the way the brick was placed; the building’s shape turns out. At the same time, the building accumulates stress with each brick that is placed.

Most humans build their life this way because those are society’s blueprints. Meursault however refused to follow them. He demonstrated that life doesn’t have to necessarily be a series of choices that create stress. For the most Meursault acted upon instinct. He didn’t rationalize about the future, but rather did as he pleased at the moment. By doing this, he didn’t stress when making the choice or in the future when accepting the consequence. The only thing in his mind was the experience and acceptance of it. “The trigger gave… in that noise, sharp and deafening…is where it all started…” (Chp. 6, Part I, Camus) Meursault never stressed upon killing the Arab, he just went ahead and shot him because he felt like it at the moment. He had no reasons or explanations besides from what it really was for him, “I said it just happened that way” (Chp. 3, Part II, Camus) For him, this criminal act didn’t mean the end of his life, but quite the contrary, it was the beginning of a new experience.

Existentialism is more than clear in Camus, and reflected throughout his character Meursault. Mankind has free will by controlling their choices. Nevertheless, they are responsible to accept what the choice leads them to. It is ok to do as you please like Meursault did by killing the Arab, as long as you acknowledge your responsibility like he did by admitting his criminality and punishment. All choices steer humans to the same stop that makes them equal. Death. Every choice you make is another step towards it. After holding so many bricks, the building comes to a point where one last brick’s weight makes it crumble. In any case it has no importance because everyone will eventually die while others are living, and then those living will eventually die as well, and it goes on. 

Mersault Who?

Throughout the whole novel I tried to find what was already in front of me. I wasted thought on what was obvious and in effect what  I already knew. Nevertheless I refused to acknowledge it, even if it was screaming out to me. What is this thing I'm talking about you might be asking? It's about the main character of course.
Meursault: a detached human being from society as well as his emotions; lacks sensitivity or importance. 
Although being the narrator and main character, he barely displays any feelings or concern for anything. I kept on trying to figure him out, to get a sense of who he was on the inside but not once did I get anything more than what I stated above. My eyes pictured him more like a robot than a real person. At times I even compared him to a square, perfectly symmetric with no other purpose than doing things for a clear reason in an impeccable manner. Camus's words seemed more like a list of facts than an actual novel. 
The Stranger as a title know seems reasonable. To me he was a stranger  as I couldn't either relate or understand him. To society he is a stranger  by being so different and dissociated. To the people around him he is a stranger with a lack of interest in their affairs, feelings, or opinions. Finally, as crude as it sounds, he is a stranger to himself. 
This last statement however changed  in the last few chapters of the novel when Meursault's execution was near. I realized that the real Meurault was right before my eyes. Who is the real Meursault then?
Meursault: a detached human being from society as well as his emotions; lacks sensitivity or importance.  

He is nothing more and nothing less than that. Meursault lives for reasoning and logic, and everything he does and thinks revolves around it. To an extent, one might think that this is due to a lack of personality. In reality this describes and builds  his personality: different and straightforward. "... I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. So much like me..." (Part !!, Chapter 5)  This gentle indifference of the world is the absence of value each human life contains. They are nothing, and consequently what they do, think, or say means nothing as well. Experience is all Meursault lived for and under no subjectiveness or social influence. 

Meaningless Change – Wrong

“It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed.” (Chapter 2) Camus’ existentialist perspective is displayed throughout Meursault continuously in the novel. He is revealed as an incredibly neutral and emotionless being through his actions, thoughts, and voice. Hence, the tone of the novel is set as objective not only because of Meursault’s character, but also because of the interruptive pacing it contains.  These characteristics reflect the existentialist believe of life’s lack of meaning. Camus, like any existentialist, sees this as a reasonable theory, “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” In other words, you should just go with whatever life brings up and be ok with it. All events would therefore be on the same level. The end of Sunday, your mother’s funeral, work; they are all the same and shouldn’t alter your routine in any way.

Dark isn’t it? I believe so. To me, the end of Sunday is meaningful as the rest of the events would be (some more than others obviously). Meursault however continues to hold his position in Chapter 5, “…People never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another…” People don’t change their lives directly; it is more like some occurrence makes them force the change. In the end life goes on, but changes big or small occur either by chance or will. For Salamano, change was not good when loosing his dog. Meursault on the other hand released his position on change when claiming that “His [Salamano] life had changed now and he wasn’t too sure what he was going to do.” (Chapter 5) This brings another point in existentialism. Salamano was anguished when loosing his dog under his own actions and responsibility. This, along with the loneliness he new would overcome him, lead him to feel helpless and vulnerable. It is at this point when reaching anguish and helplessness that humans begin their quest for a superior being who can offer them protection. In Salamano’s case, he looks for his dog and hopes to change again upon his finding. “I hope the dogs don’t bark tonight. I always think it’s mine.” (Chapter 5) This will in an existentialist perspective bring him nothing but trouble due to his hope and search for meaning (dog). 

Blue Daisy

" A damp streak of hair lay like a dash of blue paint across her cheek and her hand was wet with glistening drops as I took it to help her from the car" (p. 85)

The Blue Period was hard for Pablo Picasso; he was poor and had recently lost a friend making him sad and depressed. The artist used different shades of blue in his paintings reflecting his gloomy emotions. In chapter five of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses blue paint as well.  Daisy Buchanan, a happy girl on the outside is not on the inside. She seems to be perfectly well even if her heart is incomplete and her feelings enclosed. In this quote Fitzgerald intends for the streak of hair to be interpreted as a tear. The streak is described as being damp like a tear is and then blue. The color symbolizes depression and sadness, complementing the tear by itself that stands for Daisy’s misery. Although her life fulfills her own/society’s standards it does not fulfill her happiness. She is not with her true love, in a way she is alone because all her relationships are superficial, and she is choking on her own hypocrisy as well as others. Nick however is the only one who notices it and by taking her hand, wet because of the rain and helping her, he reassures her and restates her sadness and vulnerability.