Literature or not?

In Alan Moore’s Light of Thy Countenance, the question is given if it should be considered literature. It is a graphic novel and is basically made up of pictures on every page, but should it be considered literature? I believe that the graphic novel should be considered literature.

If you literally translate the word literature, it means “acquaintance with letters.” It means to make known with letters, which is what any form of literature does. Any form of literature has a story or plot of some sort that allows the reader to gain something after reading it. The author lets their lesson be “known thought letters.” After that definition of literature, the graphic novel written by Moore does the same thing. Before reading the novel, the reader knows nothing about the work except what they can deduce from the cover and the title. The reader goes through the story, picking up bits and pieces that the letters give them, until they arrive at the end with the knowledge of the history of the television and Moore’s thoughts on the subject. In some ways, a graphic novel could be considered better than a regular novel. The pictures that coincide with the words help the reader understand the meaning much easier than if there were only words. This is one reason why Moore’s graphic novel should be considered a piece of literature.

Moore’s thoughts are subtly and bluntly put in throughout the work. I believe that the theme he is trying to show the readers is that television has become too big of a part of American’s lives. It has come to the point that the viewers are almost being controlled by the television itself with the commercials and such. Some people follow their shows religiously while forgetting to go to church or doing their homework. It is a huge distraction. This is the theme that Moore is trying to give to his viewers which is clear in his novel. Therefore, Moore’s Light of They Countenance should be considered literature.

M Butterflyyy

Gender, nationality, and race/ethnicity are only a few of the many themes in David Henry Hwang’s M Butterfly. Rene Gallimard is in a relationship with a Chinese actress, Song. It is thought “The West thinks of itself as masculine—big guns, big industry, big money--so the East is feminine--weak, delicate, poor...but good at art, and full of inscrutable wisdom--the feminine mystique" (Act 3, Scene 1, p.83). However, in this case, Song seems to be submissive to Rene, but in reality she is controlling Rene and giving him the feeling that he is the one with the power in the relationship, while Song manipulates Rene in order to receive information about the west that she can then give back to China. Having Rene “fall” for Song is an easy task because of the ignorance of both the western and eastern cultures. Whether you are from the east or west, there are prejudices that are set on females, males, races, etc. By the end of the novel, after Rene is in love with Song, she is revealed to be a male that dresses up as a female to deceive Rene. This shows that there are common points between western and eastern culture. Universally, it is thought that females are weaker and submissive. In a scene, Rene tries to undress Song, yet she stops him saying that she is a “modest Chinese girl” (40). This instance of weakness and passiveness adds to the prejudice that Rene has already. Song is also a male, so he can use this to his advantage as well. Song knows how females act around men, so he can mimic their actions and seemingly pass off as a female. Song uses this prejudice and knowledge of females to capture Rene’s heart. With this as evidence, M Butterfly displays the ignorance of the western culture that is supposedly the strong side of the world and highlights the deception but also the strength of the eastern culture in getting what they need.

Evidence

Internet and the prospects of online social networks

The Internet plays a crucial part in the progression of the main character, Cayce Pollard, in Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. The use of email throughout the novel is a big piece of evidence. This book was written in 2003, when text messaging was not as popular in use as it is today. With this in mind, Cayce and those around her use email as the main vehicle of communication. An easier way to communicate might be to talk through the telephone, but in most cases Cayce has only talked to her friends through the forum F:F:F and it might be awkward for her to talk to them through the phone as she has mentioned before.

Emails can also be a dangerous form or communication. In some cases outside parties can hack into your email and see who and what you have been writing and all privacy is given up. In other cases, however, email can be used to communicate with those who are difficult to locate. There are mysterious pieces of film that are being uploaded to the Internet and have become the center of attention across the globe. Cayce has been given the job of finding this mysterious maker. After many trips to different countries across the globe, she finds her first real clue as to the true identity of the maker, an email. This email becomes her only form of communication with the maker until she can locate her. In this instance, the use of email is positive.

The F:F:F forum can be called a form of a social network. This forum can be used by anyone who makes a username. The purpose of this forum is to talk and discuss the mysterious video clips that are uploaded to the Internet. This is also where Cayce meets her friends and also an enemy. The concept of a social network seems fun and entertaining, but in reality, it can be scary. Anyone can become a member by filling out a form online. Some people might be stalkers or serial killers with the façade of a nice teenage boy or girl. In social networks, one can never be too cautious or careful of the people they meet online. Through personal experience, there have been cases where random people have friend requested close friends of mine. In all of the cases they ignored them, but it shows that there may be weird and unusual people trying to watch your every single movement through a site such as Facebook.

PATTERN RECOGNITION

Mystery and/or spy genre of fiction

This novel at many points in the story seems like a mystery or spy novel. There are many mysteries that are unsolved that perplex and confuse the people trying to unravel these mysteries. The main mystery in the novel is the odd appearance and uploading of random pieces of video. These videos do not seem to have any relevance to each other, until more research is done and a pattern forms. Cayce travels the world to unravel this mystery in hope of taking one more step forward to answering the questions these videos put forth. It seems like a spy novel in the way Cayce and Boone keep their findings away from their boss, Bigend. They need to keep the information in a tight knit group without informing those outside of their answers. It almost seems like a Sherlock Holmes story in the way they pick up clues one by one to bring them all together in the end to have an answer.

Marketing and/or commodification

Cayce, the main protagonist of Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, is a advertising counselor that the company, Blue Ant, uses to figure out if their logo is “cool.” It is quite ironic that Cayce is a “coolhunter” when she is almost allergic to brand names and labels. She creates CPU’s, Cayce Pollard Units, which are her clothes that consist of black, gray, and white colors that have all of the brand labels cut off and covered. For a person that consults on brands that will sell well, it seems odd that she would herself be scared of some of these brands. But it is odd in the way brands become popular and how they become products that sell well. In the novel, Cayce uses pattern recognition to check and see if the product will do well in the market. In today’s market, if the product is endorsed by someone famous, the product will most likely succeed. It is no longer about the product being durable or well made, but by who endorsed it and how much it cost.

A Rose for Tobe?

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” the first person plural point of view plays a crucial part in the telling of the story. If the point of view was changed to Tobe for instance, the story would change dramatically. A drastic change that would change would be that the reader would have more of the full story. Tobe is the only character that interacts with Emily and the townspeople that watch Ms. Rose from the outside. Tobe is Emily’s servant and has the most contact with her, so he is the one that can most likely answer the townspeople’s questions. If the story was in Tobe’s point of view, the reader would be able to see everything that Emily does in her house. Some points that would become more visible to the reader would be the problems and sickness that have affected Emily because the original point of view only has hypotheses of Emily’s status. Some facts of the story that would become more hidden would be the thoughts of the people for Emily Rose. The townspeople are somewhat the main voices of the story and Tobe does not interact with the people except to purchase groceries, so the part of the story that is the townspeople’s thoughts would be totally hidden. The new point of view would also take away some of the themes that are in the story. With the short story from the point of view from Tobe, it is possible that the reader might possibly feel sad for Emily or on the other side, know that Emily is crazy.

ALL WATCHED OVER BY MACHINES OF LOVING GRACE

In All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace, Brautigan has a seemingly positive tone towards machines and animals living in harmony, but it seems to have a different meaning. In the first paragraph, Brautigan mentions a “cybernetic meadow” (3) where the mammals and computers can interact with each other. Although a meadow does bring images of a grassy plain where animals graze, Brautigan calls it a cybernetic meadow giving it a computer-like feel that cannot have animals.

In the second paragraph, Brautigan comments on the “deer [strolling] peacefully past computers as if they were flowers” (13-15). In this image, it seems as if the computers are on the ground as flowers are and they are not functioning. Brautigan seems to be revealing that the kind of peace that comes with animals strolling peacefully will only come when computers are extinct. In the third paragraph, Brautigan talks about all of our mammal brothers and sisters being watched over by the “machines of loving grace” (24). This line gives a feeling of a Big Brother watching over all of the actions of the people.

On the other hand, Braugtigan also sheds a positive light on a possible future where technology and animals can interact peacefully. The image of the mammals and computers living together in “programming harmony like pure water touching clear sky” (6-8) has a peaceful feeling as if everything is as it should be in that moment. Brautigan also gives an image of a utopia where we are “free of our labors and joined back to nature” (20-21). This evokes an image of a time where people will not have to work anymore and can go to a peaceful future.

At first read, it seemed like the poem only had good things to say about computers and animals living together. After reading a few more times, it seems like Brautigan has more negative than positive comments to say about computers and technology. As the evidence was being searched for for the first part, there was more to say about the negative Brautigan was trying to convey through his poem. The reader needs to pay much attention if he/she is going to see the message Brautigan is sending to his readers.

Casabianca

· Burning deck

· A creature of heroic blood

· A proud, though childlike form

· Chieftain

There are many symbols and images used in Felicia Dorothea Heman’s Casabianca. The child is certainly a main symbol in the poem. He is a “creature of heroic blood” (7) who is “proud, though childlike (in) form” (7). He is seen as “born to rule the storm” (6), giving off the feeling of a ruler at sea. This boy was a master of the sea and had it in the palm of his hand. Although this is true, the boy only got to this point with the help of his father. This is shown when “he would not go without his father’s word” (6-7). The ship is burning and if he does not leave he will surely die, yet he stays on because his father does not say otherwise. It seems like Heman is pointing out that hubris leads to downfall. The child is proud of himself and what he has accomplished, but is too proud to leave a ship that is about to sink. However, it can be the pride in himself, but it can also be the pride the child has in his father and his choices. The father tends to make the choices for the child and nothing but greatness has followed the son because of it. If the child does not listen now, his greatness could leave him in an instant. So throughout the poem, the child waits for an answer that will not come which leads to his death.

The ship is the boy’s life. He is the master of it because it is his life. The father is there as a helping hand that guides the boy through his life as a parent does. The ship catches fire which could symbolize a life changing problem the boy has run into. The boy naturally turns to his father as he has for his whole life. However, the father is unconscious, which may symbolize an illness or something of that nature, and cannot help the boy. The boy who has listened to his parents his whole life must now make decisions of his own, but cannot muster the courage to take action. He asks his father for answers that will never come. Because the child does not take action, he dies a horrible death which can symbolize the death of his future.