Utopia

     I was in charge of the Literary Lingo powerpoint with Jordan, on allusion. Although I had prior knowledge of allusion and what it entails, I was surprised and my lack of knowledge in its frequency. In my English classes, we are constantly looking for allusion throughout the text, but who knew there were examples of it in everyday life! I am thoroughly enjoying being able to annoy my sister by pointing out examples of allusions when we are out and about. She has completely had it with my repetition of the example using the Odyssey minivan relating back to Homer's story.

     Although I was not in class for the debate about Paradise and Utopia, I have my own idea of the two. I don't believe either exists. Paradise is a make-believe place in my eyes. It is a place where everything is perfect and relaxing. Well, anyone who has ever lived knows there is no place to go without being stressed by one thing or another. I believe paradise is more of a mind set. I think anyone can be in paradise, no matter where they are in the world. It is all about understanding that nothing has to stress you out, make you unhappy, or cause you to make certain decisions. Everything is only what you make it. Somewhat like the offensiveness in The Miller's Tale, it is only what you make it to be.

     Having a place like a Utopia is impossible. That sort of thing could only happen if everyone had the same mind set. It has to include things like war in order to run things "correctly," but that idea of correct is made by people who have lots of different opinions on what is "correct."

    I don't think either place actually exists, really. There will never be a point in time when everyone is on the same page.

A Little Late

     Due to my lack of thumbs, I am a little late on these blog comments. I am officially the person Dr. Mitchell-Buck warned us about in the beginning of the class! Oh well, better late than never...right?

     Bringing us back to the Miller's Tale, I wanted to point out a few things about the story. I was extremely surprised by the amount of people who were offended by this type of writing. Not to sound like I am giving a lecture or anything, but doesn't everyone witness worse things in every day life? I think I could definitely be more offended listening to a conversation on the street rather than reading this particular story.

    Granted,  my amusement with the story may have something to do with the fact that I grew up with five other brothers and sisters. Maybe it is just programmed into my system to find fart jokes hilarious at this point.

    I was not offended by any of the characters, either! Yes, Alisuon may have been fibbing a bit when she made her marital vows, but I don't believe she can be dubbed a "bad person" just for acting that way. She was clearly unhappy with her life and relationship, so, she found someone who made her feel better! Her husband, John, was not really deserving of the husband award himself and was a bit old for her anyway.

    Nicholas was young just like Alisoun and it makes sense to me that they would have an attraction for each other. The way he gets Alisoun's "attention" was a bit harsh, but, hey, it worked! I know it is easy for someone to read that and feel mad at Alisoun's lack of anger in being violated, but if you can look at the story as a whole, it won't be as offensive. The teller of this story is drunk and so as a reader, you can't expect it not to involve anything vulgar or potentially offensive. Plus, I give major props to Nicholas for allowing her to feel comfortable enough to fart in front of him! It is easy to see it as karma coming back to bite him (literally in the butt) when you see his fate at the end of the story.

   It is really hard for me to dislike or even be annoyed by any of the characters or humor used in the story. In my opinion, it is all about not taking life too seriously. That plays into something as simple as an old story.

Beowulf's Now

                Firstly, I was happy to hear I was not the only person who had never previously read Beowulf. Although we went over a few topics of the poem in more detail, one aspect of the poem will not leave me alone.

                I have recently read the book, “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. The result of reading this book? Well, I can’t help but relate the essence of this book to everything I read and experience lately. The book is all about the way in which we focus too intently on the future and past, causing us to miss the amazing time we could be having in the present. The Geats and Danes seem to have an amazing grasp on this concept. And they didn’t even need to read a book to figure it out!

                We spoke briefly about the Dane’s tendency to live in the moment. As shown in this passage, the men very rarely worried about a fight before it happened. 

“Then a bench was cleared in that banquet hall

So the Geats could have room to be together

And the party sat, proud in bearing,

Strong and stalwart. An attendant stood by

With a decorated pitcher, pouring bright

Helpings of mead." (491-496)

                With the exception of the conflict and flyting between Beowulf and Unferth, this passage is directly before Grendel’s attack on Heorot. Instead of tensing up and worrying about the future battle, the Geats and Danes decided it was best to celebrate while they could. Although this isn’t a major focus of the poem, it is one of the major parts I got out of it. Why spend our time worrying about the future when we could be enjoying every moment like the men in Beowulf?!